50 Years of James Bond: Origins, Adaptations, and Impact

Bond. James Bond. My name's Bond. James Bond.

My name is Bond. Who are you? Bond. James Bond.

My name's Bond. James Bond. Bond. James Bond.

The name's Bond. James Bond. The name's Bond.

James Bond. 007 hello and welcome to radio geek

cast radio in this episode. We're talking about

bond James Bond I am one of your hoste of June

Mike and joining me is movie role Dan. Hello.

Hello. How are you? I'm pretty good. How are

you? I'm doing well Yes, and This month in November.

We are going to be Dan and I are gonna take a

very very long arduous journey November through

December. We are going to be reviewing eighteen

of the twenty three bond films over movie we

can review but before we get to that we're going

to be talking about james bond in general uh...

in a few moments will each get to how we knew

the character knew the movies uh... the books

the games the music del god give me a break uh...

you know all that good stuff so before we get

started i'm gonna give a brief synopsis of who

James Bond is. James Bond, codenamed 007, is

a fictional character created in 1953 by writer

Ian Fleming who featured him in 12 novels and

two short story collections. There have been

six other authors who wrote authorized Bond novels

or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964.

The fictional British Secret Service agent has

also been adapted for television, radio, comic

strip, and video game formats as well as being

used in the longest continually running and the

second highest grossing film franchise to date,

which started in 1962 with Dr. Noh starring Sean

Connery as Bond. As of 2012, there have been

22 films in the Eon production series with a

23rd Skyfall due for release on November 9th,

2012. The films are renowned for a number of

features including the musical accompaniment

with theme songs to the films having picked up

Academy Award nominations in several occasions.

Other important elements which run through most

of the films include Bon's cars, his guns, his

gadgets. He is supplied with by Q -branch. So,

yeah, where did you first... Okay, what was your

first exposure to... the character in the franchise?

I think my first real exposure came actually

not in film form or in book form, but in video

game form. I think when I first really got into

James Bond, it was because of GoldenEye on the

Nintendo 64. Before that, I knew who James Bond

was. You couldn't not know who he was. He was

so iconic, but I really didn't have that much

interest into the character. But when GoldenEye

came out, it kind of... it kind of blew my mind

because there's all these different characters

and I had no idea who they were but I had a good

friend who was a huge James Bond fan and he kind

of you know guided me into that world and let

me know who Jaws was and who ticked you know

knickknack was and like all these different you

know characters and being like a fan of superheroes

at the time it was like I saw a lot of parallels

between James Bond and you know superheroes and

he kind of is one of the like a first superhero

movie in a way just how You know out there and

some of the different concepts are but yeah,

my first experience was was definitely golden

eye not the most Probably, you know for a lot

of people our age like I think that kind of revolutionized

the Bond character because he was kind of gone

for such a long time and then That movie came

out that game came out both were huge hits. So

I think that was my real first experience with

the characters Yeah for me I've said in For those

of you who are long -time listeners of Geekcast

Radio or of any of the other GCRN podcasts, I've

often said about stuff that, you know, as a kid,

my mom would let me watch anything, pretty much.

And I vaguely remember 90 or 91, 10 or 11 years

old, I remember seeing License to Kill on VHS.

Yeah, I remember seeing License to Kill. I remember

seeing... Man with a golden gun briefly, I remember

seeing Life and let die and a view to a kill

I remember seeing the stuff as a kid. I don't

remember every little aspect of it, but yeah,

you're right 1995 was huge it was everywhere

I may need to refresh my memory and look this

up, but I believe is a bit of trivia here Brosnan

wasn't He Goldeneye wasn't his first rodeo he

was originally supposed to take the living daylights

and license to kill yeah, that's correct. He

was actually but sorry he couldn't because of

Believe his wife passed away and he had a previous

commitment to Remington Steel the television

show. Yeah. What happened basically was Actually,

he was he was cast as Bond They announced that

he was gonna be in the next Bond movie and what

happened Remington Steel was cancelled It was

done with but it correct him becoming Bond kind

of renewed interest in that show and it became

even more popular So they renewed it for more

episodes and he was still tied to it. So By doing

that, he couldn't do that film. He was removed

and he was stuck with Remington Steel, which

was canceled only a few episodes later. And then

Timothy Dalton kind of took his place. Anything

about Timothy Dalton, he was originally thought

of to be cast to take the place of Sean Connery

when he left after... You only live twice, but

he turned it down because he thought it was too

young So it's been kind of a mismatch of all

these different actors that you have had the

part and didn't take it and then but yeah person

was originally he he could have been in in a

lot more bond films than he was but because of

a Remington steal kind of you stole that from

him Yeah, you know but 1995 it it was an epic

year because As I said for me, it was one of

those things where I remember the everyone knows

the James Bond theme song If you don't know the

James Bond theme song, you're either too young

or you've been living under a friggin rock You

know as soon as I heard that theme song and as

soon as I saw him in the The bullet I think the

classic, you know walk into sheet, you know walk

into shot and then shoot the screen James Bond

scene I was like, yes Yes, yes. Yes, and the

only thing I had seen him in previous I like

I had seen as a kid I it's probably seen maybe

one or two episodes of Remington Steel, but I

didn't really know what it was But the only other

thing I had seen rosin into that point was um,

this is doubt fire Yeah, I was gonna say the

same thing. I think I'm like the guy from Mrs.

Mrs. Doubtfire James Bond Yeah, and yeah, so

that's how I get into it really really really

get into it I love I don't care what everybody

says about you know sure we can pick Movies apart

all we want I don't care what everybody says

about dying of the day I still enjoy that film

because it is Brosnan I don't care what anybody

says about any of the Brosnan films. I love all

of them Just because Brosnan for me was the one

bond that got me back into the franchise Yeah,

you know he was you know at the time it was you

know the time was right You know I was like what

fit you were 15 when he started in 95, so it's

like you know The time was just right from you

know for my young mind to be molded by that version

of James Bond. It was just amazing Yeah, the

GoldenEye did a lot of great things with kind

of melding what the 90s with the James Bond character

because I know a lot of people were scared that

You know the Cold War is over. I mean is this

character is he done? Can he can he survive past

the Cold War and they kind of proved that he

could Did you did you see GoldenEye in theaters

or did you just catch it on? Oh, yes, many many

many many many times year from the time it released

to the time it hit media I saw GoldenEye I think

throughout 95 throughout its run in the theaters

I saw it maybe ten times I loved it I loved it

just absolutely loved that movie my other exposures

to it outside of the older films again was you

know just like you what was video games I loved

Nightfire was a PC game, I believe. The N64 Goldeneye,

the Goldeneye game for N64 might be one of the

best first person shooters ever, but I hate the

N64 controller. So that's, yeah, I didn't fare

too well at Goldeneye. But yeah, I mean, ever

since Brosnan, it's just been... I love this

character. I love his version of the character

and going back and watching some of the other

films I do enjoy them Going forward Yeah, Daniel

Craig is not my wookie bitch now My heart just

kind of sank after dying of the day when it was

like oh We're going to take Bond in a new direction.

We're going to show you him before he got his

double -O status. And I'm like, how the hell

are you going to do that now? I think they kind

of, in a lot of ways, I think they felt they

took that character in a current kind of incarnation

as far as they could. And I think, too, I think

Die Another Day I think gave a lot of people

a sour taste in their mouth. I know you're a

big fan of it, but I know There's a good amount

of people who weren't I don't think it was that

great at the box office So they kind of and it's

a common theme for bond. I mean usually They

do that all the time. I mean they did the same

thing They didn't technically reboot the franchise

with the living daylights, but it's definitely

a different take compared to like Roger Moore

They've kind of kind of molded bond to fit Whatever

is kind of popular at the time and actually though

GoldenEye was my first experience with Bond I

really didn't really get into the movies until

the Craig version not that I just for whatever

reason I just Never could get all that invested

in in the Brosnan films. I read not that I actually

just you're dead to me. I Not that I dislike

them because I love GoldenEye I think it's one

of the best Bond films ever and I actually even

like Going back and be watching them. I really

I'm like wow uh... tomorrow never dies about

was really good too but uh... personally i'd

i think what really got me back in was the craig

series what i guess we'll get into that more

when i go over the movies individually but that's

what that's kinda got me back into the franchise

was when they when they uh... casino rally there

was just an epic feel from from ninety five to

oh two every every year of a bond film was announced

or released or there was a trailer for Again,

I'm not looking at the information. I'm gonna

have to look this up, but I believe from 95 to

02 every Brosnan film was released in November

sometime in November, maybe Early December I

doubt it, but I think most of the time it's Bond

is a November movie and it was like You know,

you know from 95 with GoldenEye to 97 with Tomorrow

Never Dies is like every two years you got Well

in the case of from the world's not enough to

Down to the day it was three years, but from

95 to 99 every two years you got a new Brosnan

Bond film and you got For me it was just it was

just so exciting. It was just so awesome It was

just amazing just amazing as far as some of his

character traits uh... he is a member of the

secret uh... intelligence service a k m i six

bond was given in the code name double o seven

and held the rank of royal naval reserve commander

uh... strangely enough uh... in flamings name

the character after american ornithologist a

branch of zoology that studies birds who wrote

the definitive the definite Field Guide, Birds

of the West, Indies. Fleming was aware of the

guide because he was an avid bird watcher himself.

Ian Fleming has explained why he chose the name

James Bond for the character he stated in quote,

When I wrote the first one in 1953, I wanted

Bond to be an extremely dull, uninteresting man

to whom things happened. I wanted him to be a

blunt instrument. When I was casting around for

the name for my protagonist, I thought, by God,

James Bond is the dullest name I have ever heard.

Ian Fleming, The New Yorker, April 21, 1962.

The funny thing is, is when a license came out

in 89, Actually, my best friend as a kid was

Jonathan Bond. So that was the other reason why

we we like license to kill And plus that you

know, I don't think you have it in this in from

this part of the information, but there's also

sadly There was a James Bond jr. Animated series

And there was a book series to go along with

that But I do I do find it interesting that Fleming

picked the character name because he thought

it was boring which I never would I guess because

his name is so iconic I mean the term Bond James

Bond has become everyone knows what that is and

You think when you're creating a character that

like I want to get a name that really You know

catches your ear and really get kind of gives

you everything you need to know about the character

and he picked it because it was bland and boring

which is funny because it kind of shows you that

a name does can mean it what a name is meaningless

and The way you kind of approach the character

makes that name have meaning So I found that

really interesting that that's what he wanted

the character Initially to be and how much it

kind of has changed over time I just I can kind

of see it though because if you look at I Can

kind of see the blandness and why he thought

it was dull though because if you look at the

beginning of tomorrow never dies Brosnan puts

on this strange accent and he pretends to be

a banker from Zurich or whatever it is and You

know you as the audience don't assume even though

we know we don't assume that that is a secret

agent because the villain probably doesn't assume

it until they find out, you know, cuz Carver's

man Gupta goes and does some digging but it's

like even though we as the audience know That

that is bond The characters are the people he's

interacting with in the film. They don't know

that Yeah, it could basically could just be John

Smith at that point Yeah, and and and again,

I think it's not only because it's even though

Fleming thought it was a dull name. It's really

It's really common really I mean, it's like it's

one of those names that people will easily forget

and also easily remember because Once you hear

one of his enemies call him commander bond you

never forget that. Other part of the character,

the inspiration of the character was a mashup

of individuals Fleming came across during World

War II. One in particular was his brother Peter,

who was involved in behind -the -lines operations

in Greece. That's interesting. And of course,

most authors and writers and creators of any

kind of content, they're going to base a character

of their creation on someone they know. So that's

pretty interesting that Peter Fleming is the

real James Bond. Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty sure

that's something he would throw around parties

and bars all the time. It's like, you know that

James Bond, that's really me. Though the character

was inspired by other individuals, much of Bond's

tastes were Fleming's own, including his love

of golf and gambling and taste for scrambled

eggs, and both used the same toiletries. The

look of Bond was meant to be a mashup of American

singer Hoagy Carmichael and himself. It was literally

stated in a few of the novels that Bond looks

like Hoagy Carmichael. You know, the person that

all, you know, Hoagie Carmichael, the person

that all girls swoon over. Yeah. Now, I know

people are going to be screaming at their iPods

at me, but I have never read the books. The books

were before my time. I honestly have not either.

I've always wanted to, but I always find it difficult

to read a book that I watched the movie of. But

I've I've wanted to before this but just didn't

have the time but I've also not read the Fleming

novels. I've read a lot about them I've kind

of gotten an understanding of what they're about

and their tone but personally have not really

sat down to read the novels is probably something

Jeff definitely should do and hopefully I can

get done someday Yeah one of these days we'll

get around to it as As I said before, Fleming

came up with the idea while surveying the Navy.

He notably told a friend that his is going to

write the spy story to end all spy stories. He

began writing the first novel, Casino Royale,

in 1952 at his Goldeneye Estate in Jamaica. Ha

ha, funny. The first novel was published in 1953

largely due to the recommendation of his older

brother who was an established travel writer.

Twelve novels and two short story collections

were published. The last two books The Man with

the Golden Gun, 1965, and Octopussy. In the Living

Daylights, 1966, were published posthumously.

I can't say this word. Post -thumously. After

he passed away. He passed away, yeah. It doesn't

seem... It seems like his authoring career...

I mean, I know the guy passed away, but it seems

like his writing career wasn't very long. No,

really, I mean... In large part went about 13

years Which I mean it's and considering about

you average about a novel a year or you know

novel short story a year but yeah, it really

wasn't that long and considering like how short

of time span and How quickly those fit like those

movies that transition to popular film is it's

kind of crazy in a way he didn't I don't think

he's really he saw the How much bond exploded

until after his death? I think Bob, you know,

obviously dr. No already came out but I think

the kind of the Bond became even larger after

he passed away. Unfortunately, I don't think

he really got to see it at his height levels

Yeah, I don't think he passed away in 64 didn't

he yeah dr. No was already released but I think

they were still working on Goldfinger. Goldfinger

came out in 64, but I think they were, by the

time he passed at the time of his death, it was

probably in post -production. Yeah, and that

wasn't a movie that put Bond, I think, at a completely

different level. I mean, For Marsha With Love

and Dr. Nell were definitely popular and big

hits, but Goldfinger and I was like... A movie

to end. Goldfinger was a movie to end all movies.

It's still kind of looked at as the gold standard

for the franchise. I don't think he really got

to see the huge success it became. I think in

his shorter career, he did accomplish a lot.

No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die. As far as

the other, the post -Fleming stuff, after Fleming's

death, the continuation novel called Colonel's

Son was written by Kingsley Armis as Robert Markham

and published in 1968. Amis had already written

a literary study of Fleming's Bond novels in

his 1965 work, The James Bond Dossier. Although

novelizations of two of the Eon productions Bond

films appeared in print, James Bond, The Spy

Who Loved Me, and James Bond Moonraker, both

written by screenwriter Christopher Wood, the

series of novels did not continue until the 1980s.

Yeah, I mean, basically after he died, as you

would expect, it was so popular that it wasn't

going to stop. So, you know, multiple authors

have kind of... continued the series and you

know put their own spin on it for the most part

and think most recently they've kind of updated

the character to be more post nine eleven you

know the fitness current world but yet there's

a lot of the novels that came out after plumbing

that have actually kind of made it into films

as well but yet it's it's one of those characters

i think that will probably continue and always

be there because of how popular it is yeah uh...

just as a you know just kind of a A cliff note

here kind of ending the book stuff because we

don't know neither one of us have read the original

Flemings or the post -Flemings original old books

There are some other ones that we'll talk about

here in a second, but the only I know this is

very very sad I mentioned earlier that James

Bond jr. Animated series there were books For

that I remember having those as a kid. Yeah,

the the young bond novels, which is yeah I mean

I remember having that stuff and it would kind

of make sense that after Fleming's death that

it kind of would dissipate away until the 80s

because if you think about it every film or I

think every film you can correct me if I'm wrong

every film would always end with James Bond will

return in mostly whatever yeah mostly mostly

all of them I think there was a few that didn't

because they were different legal issues that

But a lot of them did say returning and I don't

know if I think the one that pops in my head

that didn't was probably honor majesty secret

service I think that one didn't because I think

they weren't sure where they were gonna go with

the character but for the most part, yeah, they

would name it and sometimes they got the name

wrong because after The man with the golden gun,

I think they said, you know coming next for your

eyes only and in the next movie was actually

moonraker I think I might have to the Timing

different but uh, they kind of threw moon breaker

in there to kind of compete with like the Star

Wars and trying to hit that when it was hot so

but yeah, they usually would announce what's

coming next or at least indicate that he's returning

and you kind of see the kind of a continuation

of that with the Avengers now because after all

the Avengers movies they already see like oh

Thor will return in the Avengers or you know

I think that's something they borrowed definitely

from the Bond franchise. As far as other books,

I was huge. From the time I was probably 10 to

17, whenever a film came out, if I really, really

liked it, I also knew that there was novelizations

based on it. It's just like today where they

have prequel comics and this, that, and everything

else. Same thing. Back in the 90s, The novelization

to accompany a film just like a soundtrack or

whatever else was huge and I remember having

the GoldenEye novelization and oh man it was

just it was so cool to read it before seeing

the film and back then I didn't remember anything

between the time I read the book to the time

I saw the movie. I was still fresh going into

the film after reading the book and I haven't

read that book in years. So the other ones kind

of close out the book section here. There were

two other Bond novel series, Young Bond and The

Moneypenny Diaries. Young Bond series novels

and short stories were written by Charlie Hinkson

from 2005 to 2009. The first Young Bond novel,

Silverfin, was also adapted into a graphic novel.

The Moneypenny Diaries were a trilogy of novels

chronicling the life of Miss Moneypenny M's personal

secretary. The novels were written by Kate Westbrook.

Now... The Young Bond series and what I'm talking

about James Bond jr. To totally different things

Young Bond is not James Bond jr. James Bond jr.

Was something so totally different I remember

the only reason why I remember James Bond jr.

Books is because my mom used to get them for

me through the school scholastic Book fair thing.

Yeah But yeah, there was two totally different

things We are gonna talk about some TV now Again,

it was before both of our times, but in 1954

Ian Fleming was paid $1 ,000, $8 ,654 in 2012

standards, to adapt the novel Casino Royale into

a one -hour television adventure as part of the...

climax series. It aired in October 1954 and starred

Barry Nelson and James Jimmy Bond. The novel

was adapted for American audiences as Bond was

made into an American agent working for combined

intelligence. Yeah, and that actually is really

hard to get hold of. I've actually tried to...

located to watch it, but it's it's very rare.

I mean, it's back then a lot of TV wasn't saved

to begin with. Yeah, it's definitely difficult

to find. I mean, it's out there in certain locations,

but it is funny how they had to change everything

to, you know, to fit American audiences. What's

not there? They also made Felix Unger into a

British Agent, you know, who's usually a CIA

agent. So of course they have to make American

and changing his name from James Jimmy Which

I think I mean, it's such a Jimmy you think of

the 1950s is just one of those names that kind

of it's I don't know. It's kind of it's Something

you don't see Nowadays where someone like I kind

of character is gonna be called Jimmy usually

it's kind of more kiddish in a way Yeah, there

is no kryptonite for mr. Olsen We have some radio

stuff as well. In 1956 the novel Moonraker was

adapted into a radio broadcast on South African

radio. You Only Live Twice was adapted into a

90 minute radio play for BBC radio in 1990 and

in 2008 a Dr. No 2008 was adapted for radio as

well. 2010 Goldfinger was adapted and in 2012

From Russia With Love was adapted. I never knew

there were radio stuff for Bond. No, I didn't

either. I don't think they really made their

way over to the US all that much. I think they

were broadcast on BBC, but I never would have

thought if you told me that there are radio spots

or radio adaptations for Bond that they would

happen recently. But yeah, that's I mean, that's

pretty cool. I actually would like to definitely

check those out one day, but I don't even know

if they're available. Don't know yeah, I'm not

too up on these I don't I'm not sure and it's

not that we're not doing our research here It's

just that we've never been exposed to this stuff

But like you would think like in the night, you

know in 1956 anywhere from the 50s all the way

up to the 80s There were radio plays of stuff.

I mean, there's radio plays of Superman stuff.

There's radio plays of you know Anything you

can think of so I can see that and I can see

it working but as far as stuff for today's Market,

I don't know about that. Yeah Speaking of speaking

the radio plays actually long story short there's

this thing I go to that's called World War II

weekend and they kind of do a lot of things that

happen during that time and one thing they do

a radio play is you actually see them kind of

acting out what it would be like at that time

and they and they did a James Bond radio play

and it was pretty cool just to see how that whole

thing would go down and how you know and how

much it was kind of like you know It was an experience

definitely because seeing how much goes into

a radio play You know how you have the sound

people on the one side and how everything has

to be so in sync to make it work Obviously in

today's standards, it's so much easier. But during

that time I mean you had like everything was

happening as it happened, you know sound yeah,

you know It was almost like a live broadcast.

It was you know, you you had people running around

like chickens with their heads cut off Exactly.

I mean you it was perfectly timed. It's like

you can tell you know how disciplined they had

to be But it's kind of cool that they're coming

back with it. And the last section we're going

to talk about before we take a break is comics.

Fleming was first apprehensive to have his books

adapted into strips as he felt they lacked the

quality of his writing, but he eventually agreed.

The first strip, Casino Royale, was published

from 7 July 1958 to 13 December 1958 and was

written by Anthony Hearn and illustrated by John

McCluskey. Most of the Bond novels and short

stories have since been adapted for illustration.

Marvel Comics published two issue adaptation

of For Your Eyes Only in 1981, and Marvel also

published accompanying comic books to Octopussy

in 1983. Again, something that I just... Would

never know. Yeah, I've seen copies of those.

I've never read them per se I mean when I first

started it wasn't a comic book form. Obviously

it was in the classic strips like yeah, like

Dick Tracy and you know things like that and

Obviously you can't see but if you look at the

way that Bond was kind of depicted in those he

kind of looked like a cross between like Lynn

Eastwood and James and John Wayne just the way

they made him look definitely a lot different

than Sean Connery it was kind of an interesting

take on him before the films came out but yeah,

I mean I'm surprised they haven't kind of tried

to go back and do more comic books with the Bond

character, but Has comic books or comic strips?

I mean, can you can you imagine opening a Sunday

paper? Here's your Garfield, here's your, what's

that stupid bitch's name? Is it Kathy? I forget,

you know, there's Garfield, here's Peanuts, here's

Family Circus, here's James Bondstraw, James

Bondstrup, what the hell? I mean, you know. That

would have just been simply simply amazing. So

we're gonna take a quick break You are gonna

hear some some film trailers couple film trailers

and we'll come back to talk about the movies

of James Bond This man has a secret ambition.

I propose to end the domination of Silicon Valley.

Project Main Strike. A secret plan. For which

each of you will pay me 100 million dollars.

And a secret weapon. mayday someone will take

care of you oh you'll see to that personally

will you there's only one man who can stop them

In the world of high adventure, the highest number

is still 007. his match. Find out this summer

in A View to a Chill. Title song performed by

Duran Duran. Stop. Look. He's gunning for trouble.

007. of every woman. Who are you? James Bond.

The envy of every man. The nemesis of the treacherous

Mr. Goldfinger. Pussy Galore. Isn't it customary

to grant a condemned man his last request? You've

asked for this. Come and purr over Anna Blackmon

as Pussy Galore. The female who is all feline.

Also starring Gert Frober as Goldfinger. International

cheat. International menace. Gentlemen! Goldfinger,

why weren't we told the New York and the West

Coast weren't on this? I made a delivery. Where

is my money? And you owe me one million bucks.

Goldfinger, the man with a finger in every pie.

His goal, Fort Knox, the world's biggest bank.

His enemy, 007, the world's wildest, toughest

gentleman agent with a license to kill. 007,

it spells Bond. James Bond, mixing business with

girls. Girls and fun. Girls and danger. The hotter

the danger, the cooler he takes it. I think you've

made your point, Goldfinger. Thank you for the

demonstration. Choose your next wit as isn't

carefully, Mr. Bond. It may be your last. Do

you expect me to talk? No, Mr. Bond, I expect

you to. Goodbye. is the target 72 hours ago a

secret weapon system was detonated over 7i and

the threat is real golden eye exists a radiation

surge that destroys everything with an electronic

circuit you can still depend on one man i want

you to find golden eye three find who took it

two and stop it one A secret agent is back. We

aim to please. And this time, 007 is facing the

ultimate enemy. The man who knows him best. Hello,

James. What an unpleasant surprise. 006. What's

the matter? No pithy comeback? He was your friend,

and now he's your enemy and you will kill him.

Is the satellite in range? Target is London.

Now, the entire world is about to be caught in

the crossfire. What do you in hell, James? You

first. Kill her. The pleasure will be on mine.

Did you check her out? Time to tell. Three clicks,

arms the fuse. Don't say it. The writing's on

the wall? Grow up, 007. I think you're a sexist,

misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War.

You know, James, I was always better. Both of

you, stop it! Good luck. Boys with toys. The

trick is to quit while you're still a kid. I

wouldn't think of it. Charming, sophisticated,

secret agent. Shaken, but not disturbed. Get

us out of here! Bond. Only Bond. The man just

won't take a hint. You don't need the gun. That

depends on your definition of safe sex. On November

17th. Rami! United Artists brings you, trust

me, James Bond. Why can't you just be a good

boy and die? That's one trick I've never learned.

The man with the golden gun. He always uses a

golden bullet. This trinket is set with a note

requesting special delivery to you. I have never

seen Mr. Scaramanga. This is impossible. I can't...

I can't tell you. Don't kill me. Who? Scaramanga.

Roger Moore. Back in action in the exotic East

as James Bond. 007 on a collision course with

the most dangerous man alive. The man with the

golden gun. Hold on, sir. James Bond on the job.

The girls are willing. Dreamed about you setting

me free. The pace is killing. He plays a deadly

game and the stakes are sky high. insists we're

inside their territory of waters and he will

fire an act of violence. Torpedo, torpedo, torpedo.

It was an unprovoked attack on a ship in international

waters. The promise of war. And instead of decisive

action, all you want to do is investigate. My

goal is to prevent World War III. Now the world

has only one chance for peace. When will our

ships be in position? 48 hours. And just one

man for the job. Bond. James Bond. What did you

know about Elliot Carver, WC? Worldwide media

pattern. Most newspapers, radio, satellite TV.

There's no news. Like bad news. I understand

you once had a relationship with Carver as well.

Was it something I said? How about the words,

I'll be right back? I'm from the new China news

agency. Looking for a new story? You could have

taken care of him. Let the mayhem begin. Your

new BMW. Will you need collision coverage? Yes.

Property destruction? Definitely. Personal injury?

Accidents do happen. Throw up 007. You seem to

have developed a certain attachment. I get to

work with a decadent agent of a corrupt Western

power. I think you've found the right decadent

corrupt Western agent as a partner. Phase two

is underway. This holiday season, the hell is

he doing? His job, the world belongs. Mr. Bond's

heart. There should just be enough time for him

to watch it stop beating. I would have thought

watching your TV shows was torture enough. We

are back, and we hope you enjoyed that trailer

-filled Bond goodness there. The films. Oh boy,

the films. In 1962, Eon Productions, the company

of Canadian Harry Saltzman... and American Albert

R. Cubby Broccoli released the first cinema adaptation

of Ian Fleming's novel Dr. No, featuring Sean

Connery's 007. Connery starred in the further

four films before leaving the role after You

Only Live Twice, which was taken up by George

Lazenby for On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Lazenby left the role after just one appearance,

and Connery was tempted back for his last Eon

-produced film, Diamonds Are Forever. In 73,

Roger Moore was appointed to the role of 007

for Live and Let Die and played Bond a further

six times over 12 years before being replaced

by Timothy Dalton for two films. After a six

-year hiatus during which legal wrangle threatened

Eon's productions of the Bond films, Irish actor

Piers Brosnan was cast as Bond in GoldenEye released

in 1995. He remained the role for the total of

four films before leaving in 2002 and of course

in 06. Daniel Craig was given the role of Bond

for Casino Royale, which rebooted the franchise.

Eon Productions' series has grossed... Is that

$4 ,910 ,000 ,000? That's correct. Oh my god.

Four... Let me repeat that to you listeners.

The Eon Productions films have, over time, grossed

$4 ,910 ,000 ,000. Over is it that's just 12

over 12 trillion with inflation. I don't know

how accurate that is I mean and when we get to

a place and I get to kind of messy, but yeah

Officially, it's it's about four billion nine

hundred and ten thousand Considering, you know,

it's been 50 years all the different movies,

you know all the we releases and things like

that But yeah, it's currently this. Yeah, it's

only it's the second highest grossing film series

behind Harry plopper Yeah, and I'm sure I'm certain

it will we take its top spot eventually, either

with Skyfall or eventually, because its bond

is going to continue and obviously Harry Potter

is over with, so it will eventually reclaim that

top spot. As we said at the beginning of the

podcast, our first introduction pretty much was

GoldenEye. I mean, yes, I do remember seeing

License as a kid, but I remember seeing some

of the other ones, but these films are just amazing.

I'm surprised now at one point earlier this year

or the end of 2011, I had joined Netflix at one

point. I forget how long I've been on there.

I think I've been on there like a year and a

half, two years. I joined Netflix and at one

point I think a good majority of all 22 were

on Netflix and now there's only like seven. that

are now available for streaming on Netflix. Yeah,

it was weird. For a short time, it was only a

short window of that. They had almost all the

films streaming, and then none of them were streaming

for the longest time. And then a few weeks ago,

a few were streaming, like a couple Roger Moore,

a couple random ones. So it's all the weird licensing

stuff when it comes to streaming. But hopefully,

maybe they'll all be eventually streaming. But

as of right now, there's only a few. There's

only a few on Netflix as far as iTunes goes.

Oh my god I I could not believe this a couple

weeks ago or about a month ago before we recorded

this here in November Was I saw you know when

you open the iTunes store and they'll have the

main page thing You'll have a little scroller

showing you what the top thing is. I saw a thing

that said 007. I'm like what I Clicked on it

at the time the first time I clicked on it. It

was only a handful of the films I went back and

looked at it again All 22 are in iTunes to buy

for HD or SD. And I thought that was just simply

amazing. And they recently came out with the

50th anniversary pack that has the huge Blu -ray

collection has all the films on Blu -ray that

came out I think in September. And I think that's

probably why they're now available again on iTunes.

Yeah. Yeah. But these movies, oh my god, and

I know that Dan and I are going to be reviewing

18 of the 23 films now. People will be saying,

why aren't you doing them all? Well, time constraints

number one and number two, that's a lot of movies

to watch within a month and a half, two months

time, because we're going to be doing our Bond

Spotlight from... November 7th to I believe December

15th. I don't remember when the last Saturday

is before Christmas. Let me look that up really

quick. Yeah, December 15th is the final Saturday

before the Christmas jump starts happening again.

So we're gonna try to fit 18 of the 23 films

in. The only films we decided that we would not

cover is because there's way too much more here.

uh... we are not covering thunderball we are

not covering diamonds are forever we're not covering

moon raker we're not coming for your eyes only

and we're not covering octopus e now i know i

know a lot of bond fans might say oh my god why

aren't you covering octopus e it's got the best

bond title ever separate separate sector uh...

you know but we had to pick and choose and you

know between my choices and dan's choices Those,

you know, those other 18 are the ones that we

came up with. And we are going to be reviewing

them and releasing them on MWIRE in a series

of films for MWIRE called Shaken, Not Stirred.

Yes, that's right. That's how we like our martinis,

damn it. And we're going to do them in theatrical

release date order. So you're going to get from

Dr. No to Skyfall all the way through. And then

we're not. We don't have an episode of MR dedicated

to every movie. We'll be touching on each film

in some way or another via different articles

or something like that. But it's just like Mike

said, we would love to do every film, but it's

just based upon time. There'll be plenty there

for you to listen to. You listeners might be

saying, why the hell are two Americans reviewing

Bond films? Well, number one, they're not just

British spy movies. They're also spy movies in

general that are just simply, for the most part,

simply awesome. I will send you all over to earth

-2 .net. Look up a podcast called For Your Ears

Only. That is Ian Wilson and Adam Fisher. They

reviewed, to date, up until skyfall they've reviewed

all twenty two films and they will be reviewing

skyfall on for your years of years only i'll

put the link in the show notes all the good stuff

so you guys can check that out of the itunes

uh... subscribe link in there it's essentially

two brits reviewing bond and it's just simply

an amazing podcast everyone should everyone who's

a james bond fan needs to listen to this podcast

is just amazing So the films. What else do we

want to say about the films in general? Well,

I guess what we can also touch upon is all the

different bonds. I mean, you talked about Piers

Brosnan. It's probably your favorite bond. Would

you say that's for certain? As a personal favorite,

yes, I will say that. I would say my top three

are Piers Brosnan, uh... sean connery and then

timothy dalton uh... roger moore he was born

for way too damn long and they there are movies

that you have to pick and choose uh... i love

the man with the golden gun not because it's

a roger moore bond film but just because it's

an amazing spy movie i watched it recently on

netflix just because and i'm not trying to skip

ahead in our in our coverage but i i i was i

was curious to to remember that film again and

i think one of the reasons why i remembered it

so fondly was because i did see it whether it

was rented through a video store as a kid or

something i did remember seeing it but you know

the whole time i was expecting look boss de plane

de plane because of knick knack of who he is

um but no i watched the man with the golden gun

a couple weeks ago and it really made me think

of what a good, not necessarily just a spy movie,

but what a good mystery movie. And what good

mystery movies that there used to be. Because

I hadn't seen that movie in so, I hadn't seen

that movie in probably 20 years. Even though

I did have one of the other bond sets I I still

don't remember watching it when I had it I had

one of the older I think it was 2008 21 box set

or whatever it was I don't remember watching

it back then when I had the DVDs and Watching

it again. It was like it kept me on the edge

of my seat because I didn't know what the hell

was gonna happen Yeah It it's a testament to

old cinema Yeah, it definitely I mean that the

film and a lot of Roger Moore films like he think

his error was probably the most distinct compared

to all the other bonds in a way like I think

He each one of his films was almost like a different

type of film like, you know live and let die

It was very like almost like a black exploitation

film Moonraker was a science fiction man with

the golden gun was almost like a mystery Like

you said almost like a pseudo Western too with

you know, the dual aspect. But yeah, he's yeah,

I think he and His career like he's probably

had the most inconsistent careers like I think

he's had some really great bond movies and some

you know Some of the worst bond movies um like

personally for me I think kind of like I mentioned

like where I got into the really got into the

films with daniel craig and casino royale and

I liked his take I felt like Where they were

going with it is where I what I really appreciated

you saw like the The influence of the Bourne

franchise and help the more serious take of it

But going back and be watching some of the older

films. I mean comedy obviously is great I think

he is always gonna be the best bond just by any

person I think everyone's always kind of trying

to live up to what he did But I think Timothy

Dalton gets kind of a bad rap in in George Lazenby

both kind of get a bad rap because obviously

one He let's me had one Dalton had two, but I

think they had more of a career, you know They

could have had a better career if you know don't

don't I think deserved another movie and Lazenby

wasn't the greatest actor in the world He I mean

he was a model turned turn actor for that movie,

but I think he I think for For what he did I

think he pulled it off for the most part. I mean

he was going after Connery that's like, you know

trying to replace Babe Ruth. No one wants that

and I think unfortunately he kind of He wasn't

really up to the challenge at the time, but if

he was given more time, I think he could have

held his own. I would piggyback off of that and

say that from Connery to Lazenby is kind of like

going from Peter Cullen to Neil Kaplan. Neil

Kaplan was the voice actor that voiced Optimus

Prime in Robots in Disguise, and he was trying

to do a horrible Peter Cullen impression, and

that's not good at all. If I'm not going by personal

choice and ranking them as best overall, I would

say Connery, I would say Brosnan, and then I

would probably put Moore, and then Dalton, and

then Lazenby would be last. The thing about Dalton

though is so funny, with License to Kill, two

years later, He would be a German Nazi and the

Rocketeer Yeah, it's it's funny because I think

each like Bond had a different like they did

other things well like Roger Moore, I think had

a really good dry weight to him and I think he

could really sell the one -liners But he couldn't

do the action, especially near the end, because

he was really getting up there in age. It was

getting more and more evident that the person

doing the action scene was not Roger Moore. It

was a stunt double. But when Timothy Dalton came,

he could really do the action. He kind of brought

a physicality to it that wasn't there probably

since, you know, Connie was there. And then kind

of... Pierce Brosnan I felt was kind of in between

Roger Moore and Sean Connery because he can he's

humorous He he can sell the romance but he can

also he has a lot of physicality as well like

he he can sell the action scenes and Greg Daniel

Craig, I think if they're the one knock on him

is he doesn't look like he's having fun in the

role up to this point. I haven't seen Skyfall

yet. Unfortunately, it's not out, but even with

Quantum Assault and Casino Royale, it's definitely

more serious. The romance isn't as realistic,

but though I love his performance, it definitely

feels, doesn't feel like a Bond performance in

a way compared to what's came before. Well, and

the thing is is that Alright, we've had from

what is it 62 to 80 now 62 to 89 was essentially

the and again Bond fans, you know, don't send

me hate mail here, but 62 to 89 1962 to 1989

was essentially the golden age of James Bond

Where you had multiple actors playing the role

when Brosnan bought brought it back. He brought

his you know his swagger to it, his attitude,

you know, just all these little nuances to Bond,

and 95 to 02 is the Silver Age of Bond, and from

2006 to now is the New Age of Bond, where they've

gone back and they've said, hey, we're rebooting

the franchise, which, to me, it kind of makes

sense. It does because... you know every few

years there would be a new bond or you know and

that's all well and good did did i think after

dying of the day would that pierce brosnan would

go on to play three or four or five more movies

no but i mean it's just like anything where you

know you you see an announcement and if you're

not happy with it you're not happy with it i

was not like i was like daniel craig who the

fuck is this guy you know i was like what the

hell you know you know give me my bond back dammit

and it was one of those things where I get it

now to where it's okay the the Craig era is is

the new era they're gonna go back they're gonna

rebuild his story in Casino Royale by putting

him before he gets his double -o status And not

necessarily a young agent, but a green agent

that's still learning and has really, really

raw methods. I think The Quantum of Boredom could

have been a little bit better, though, because

that was just nothing but a revenge film. I don't

think I've ever seen a Bond movie where I'm like,

why am I watching this? Well, there are those

few, like Moonraker, but like... The the problem

with the Craig era for me is from Casino Royale

the Quantum of Solus They tried to set it up

as sequels instead of Individual adventures if

you look at Brosnan Goldeneye was its own adventure

tomorrow never dies Was its own adventure that

kind of took place afterwards as the Brosnan

era era had Progressed you saw him get older

and you know different things happen to him in

this than anything else with craig what they

tried to do was instead of doing single adventures

that have some sort of overlying continuity in

them somewhere they tried to make a sequel in

quantum of boredom and i was like no yeah i mean

they've attempted a little bit of that i mean

uh... like diamond I don't think it had a direct

sequel, really. I mean, Diamonds Are Forever

has the opening sequence is directly related

to On Air, Majesty's Secret, or For Your Majesty's

Secret Service. But I think with Quantum of Solace,

I think the issue with that movie is clearly

the script. And what happened was... A big part

of that reason was the writer's strike. I think

they kind of had to haphazardly put that all

together, and I think they even admit that that

movie was not nearly as good as it could have

been. And like you mentioned, it was kind of

a mangled mess, and it was overly complicated,

and it felt rushed the entire time. So I'm hoping...

And as I said, it's solely a revenge film, because

he's trying to get vengeance for them killing

his chick from the first... from Casino Royale.

Yeah, and I think... Revenge has never really

played well with a lot of Bond fans, especially

when you go back to License of Kill, a lot of

people don't like that movie because of the revenge

plot and how it kind of went away from what made

Bond great. But yeah, hopefully with Skyfall,

they can kind of correct their mistakes and we

can see what Daniel wants to see with a better

director this time around. I think we're hopefully

going to get a better film. Is it Martin Campbell

again? No, it's Sam Mendes who directed it. Sam

Mendes, okay. Wait, Martin Campbell did two of

them. He did GoldenEye and what was the other

one? He did GoldenEye and he did Concealer Royale.

Okay, okay. Yeah, I mean, you know, so far I'm

loving the Skyfall trailers. I can't wait to

go see it on the 9th of this month. It's one

of those things where that teaser that they showed

of the flashes and then the interrogation and

you know it's like let's play a word game blah

blah blah and they do all these words and then

the and then the guy says skyfall and Vaughn

says done or completed or whatever it was i don't

i can't remember if Tom had what he said but

you know it was just like one of those things

where it's pulling me in like where where Quantum

of Solace was the first Bond film since I have

been seeing them in theaters that I did not go

see in the theater I did not want to see Quantum

of Solace Skyfall I'm coming around to it. It's

I'm still coming around to Daniel Craig I'm not

sure how far the producers and writers and directors

and whoever else the people that are in charge

are gonna go forward with him as Bond but If

I can just erase the memory of quantum and just

stick with Casino Royale, I was pretty happy

with Casino Royale, even though I'm still jaded

about it not being Brosnan. Like I said, I think

that this is the new age of Bond, and this is

kind of rebooting the franchise to the point

of, hey, let's tell his story from his origins

of becoming an agent and stuff. So I do like

that aspect of it. There are non -Eon films,

surprisingly. I knew about these, but I don't

think I've ever seen any of them. In 1967, Casino

Royale was adapted into a parody Bond film starring

David Niven as Sir James Bond and Ursula Andress

as Vesper Lind. David Niven had been... Ian Fleming's

preference for the part of James Bond. The result?

Sorry. Go ahead. I've watched Casino Royale over

the 1967 version. It's a movie you do not need

to see. It's not very good. Of all the different

James Bond parodies, it's probably one of the

weaker ones. It's probably more star -studded.

I mean, Woody Allen's even in it, but it was

streaming on HBO Go and I watched it and I was

like, no, it's not really worth it. It's one

you can skip and you're not missing anything.

Yeah. As far as Eon versus non -Eon, anything

that's not in the official MGMUA Eon, whatever

you want to call it, anything that's not in the

official film franchise, I have not or nor will

I ever see. The result of a court case in the

High Court in London in 1963 allowed Kevin McClory

to produce a remake of Thunderball titled Never

Say Never Again. In 1983, the film starring Sean

Connery as Bond was not part of the Eon series

of Bond films. uh... ninety seven sony corporation

acquired all or some of the mcclory's rights

and undisclosed deal which were then subsequently

acquired by m g m whilst on four december nineteen

ninety seven m g m announced that the company

had purchased the rights and never say never

again from schwarzenegger company telefilm tartalia

film eon now currently as of twenty twelve holds

the full adaptation rights to all of the fleming

bond novels now this is interesting because they

could do so much of it Yeah, I mean that that

court I mean that there's been legal battles

for the with the bond franchise forever So hopefully

I mean that's a big reason part of the reasons

why it's there's been delays. I mean MG I mean

skyfall has been kind of development for a long

time because of you know MGM wouldn't bankrupt

and everything but hopefully with this all squared

away they can kind of you know, look Hopefully,

you know, it's smooth sailing from here on and

yeah And as I just said for me personally as

far as eon versus non -eon anything that's not

official production. I don't care Yeah, and never

never seen ever again again. It's it actually

came out the same year as I believe uh for your

eyes only um They both came out around the same

time and it's funny because it's that's crazy

that there'd be two James Bond films at the same

time but uh, yeah it it It's, I think Sean Connery

at that time took the role back because his career

was not in the greatest place during those years.

It's funny that in 1983 he's doing James Bond

and then... 1989 he's in the last crusade and

like how old he how much how much he aged in

that six -year period It's kind of crazy. I mean,

he's been bald forever He's been wearing a toupee,

but I think he finally once I think he played

bond for the last time He finally kind of accepted

his age and I get made his it did dividends for

his career Yeah And yeah, I mean that's yeah

Now the music of Bond. Oh my god, the music.

The music is just amazing. The James Bond theme

was written by Monty Norman and was first orchestrated

by the John Berry Orchestra for 1962's Dr. No.

Bond film stapler theme songs heard during their

title sequences sung by well -known popular singers.

Several of the songs produced for the films have

been nominated for Academy Awards for original

song, including Paul McCartney's Live and Let

Die, Carly Simon's Nobody Does It Better, and

Sheena Easton's For Your Eyes Only. For the non

-Eon produced Casino Royale, Burt Baccarra's

score included The Lock of Love, which was nominated

for an Academy Award for Best Song as well. But

just like the overall main Bond theme, the actual

songs that tell you about the films are key.

They're so key. Do you have a favorite Bond song?

Only cuz I like the artist Chris Cornell's a

song for Casino Royale. I think it is I like

that but Again going back to my bond roots here

Tina Turner and gold and I everybody loves that

song. Yeah, everybody should love that song What

you don't like it? No, I think it's good. I like

I like okay I was gonna say I thought you know,

I don't know. I like that song. I think it's

very it kind of It really played homage to kind

of the classic Bond themes of past. But yeah,

I do like that song. I also like the man, and

it's because I like the movie, but again, I haven't

heard it in years, or I haven't seen it in years,

but I like the Man with the Golden Gun song.

I like that one as well. What about you? Did

you have a favorite? Probably my favorite is

Probably Live and Let Die. It's sexy. When I

heard it, I didn't realize it was a Bond song

for a long time, but that's probably my favorite.

I think it's also used really well in the movie.

Nobody does its betters really well, and I also

really like Goldfinger. The other one I really,

really enjoyed, and it's simply because I'm an

80s kid, sadly, of Yurokko Duran Duran. Yeah,

that's also a really good one. It's one of the

probably more popular ones. It was a huge hit

during its day. So we've got the music out of

the way. The music is just simply amazing. And

how they work in, and again, I found this more

with Brosnan. I know I keep going back to that.

I know people are probably screaming at their

iPods, leave the Brosnan there alone you bastard.

But I notice more things in those four films

than any of the other ones that I've seen. Like,

in the world is not enough when he steals the

boat to go after the chick. He has to at one

point dive and it's a, you know, the boat is,

it can dive and whatever else. And you hear the

Bond theme as he's doing the, you know, as the

boat's doing the dive. It cuts the underwater

scene and you hear this little nuance as underwater

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond is adjusting his

tie as like, this doesn't bother me at all. You

know, that's why I like Brosnan so much is because

of those little nuances and the music fit that

because it was kind of like, ha ha. It was almost

like a laugh in a musical note where it's like,

ha ha ha. You know, it was just it was so awesome.

Yeah, you're actually right I mean in the early

bond film is really up to the living daylights

The bond theme was not used all that often. It

was I mean it was reserved for certain moments,

but I think kind of the big influence that changed

that was probably Indiana Jones that used its

theme anytime like Indiana Jones was doing Indiana

Jones things and I think they saw that and then

they kind of kept up with that and they kind

of used it more and I Like you I appreciate it

wanted to use more and opportunity used in little

pieces here and there But yeah, I mean that's

that that theme song to me never gets old I mean,

it's 50 years old and I it still holds up to

this day. It's it can be used in a variety of

different scenes and really You know hardcore

action scenes or more, you know soft, you know

dramatic moments, but yeah It's a great theme

song probably probably one of the best if not

the best theme songs Yeah Bond has also been

in video games since 1983 This is really interesting

here people The first Bond video game developed

and published by Parker Brothers, oh my god,

was released for the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200,

and the Atari 800, and the Commodore 64, and

the Colequio Vision. In 97, the first first -person

shooter video game, GoldenEye 007, was developed

by Rare for the Nintendo 64, based on the 1995

Pierce Brosnan film. The game received very positive

reviews and won the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment

Award for UK Developer of the Year 1998 and sold

over 8 million copies worldwide, grossing $250

million. Oh my god! $250 million in the 90s?

Holy crap! In 99 Electronic Arts acquired the

license and released Tomorrow Never Dies on 16

December 99. On October 2000, they released The

World Is Not Enough for the Nintendo 64, followed

by 007 Racing for the PlayStation. In 03, the

company released Everything or Nothing, which

is one game I always wanted to play and never

did. It includes the likenesses and voices of

Pierce Brosnan, Willem Dafoe, Heidi Klum, Judi

Dench, and John Cleese, amongst others. November

2005 electronic arts released video game adaptation

from Russia with love Which involves Sean Connery's

image and voiceover for bond now, that's interesting

That that that's interesting cuz okay when was

his last film off -topic 1983 never say never

again was his last Bond film. All right 1983

to 2005 obviously the man's voice isn't going

to degrade over time. I mean, Sean Connery has

one of the most imitatable voice, and everyone

has a Sean Connery impression, okay? But just

think that, you know, almost three decades later,

he comes back and does... the voiceover for a

Bond video game. That's just amazing to me. Yeah,

and considering he's been retired for a long

time, he has not been in movies. And with that

video game, they kind of combined, you know,

some of the footage or some of the dialogue from

the original movie, along with his new voiceover.

And I think you could kind of tell when it was

new and was old, because obviously he's older,

so his voice is a little bit different. But yeah,

it was pretty cool that he would still go back

and kind of, you know, he's not sick of being

bombed. I think he still appreciates what that

did for him. And in 2006, Electronic Arts announced

a game based on the then -upcoming film Casino

Royale. The game was cancelled because it would

not be ready by the film's release in November

of that year. Now the only thing that's not mentioned

in here is the PC game. I believe it was 97.

No, not 97. I think it was 2005. Nightfire for

the PC. I believe that was a... Let me actually

look it up here. I believe that that was Pierce

Brosnan involved with that as far as the voiceover

and likeness. Because I remember playing that

on the PC and I absolutely loved it. I thought

it was a great story that they did. James Bond

007 Nightfire's first person shooter video game

featuring the character of the British secret

agent James Bond. Sequel to Agent Under Fire,

published by Electronic Arts in 2002. The game

was developed by Economa. Let me see here. Yes,

it is. It's essentially almost a sequel. It looks

like a sequel to, at least by the cover here,

the game cover. It looks like a sequel. Not really

a sequel, but it looks like a follow -up to The

World Is Not Enough. Because it's got Christmas

Jones in it on the cover. But I love playing

that game. Have you played any of the Bond games?

Obviously GoldenEye, like we mentioned. I played

a little bit of From Russia With Love. And I

think the one I also played was The Well Is Not

Enough for the N64. I didn't own a PlayStation

1, so I didn't play any of those games. But I

did play the... Some of the EA stuff probably

I mean I think the best one I well maybe not

the best one But the thing probably the most

iconic is GoldenEye, but I even I've enjoyed

the world is not enough It wasn't as good as

GoldenEye, but I kind of just enjoyed going through

that story but I I do wish I got a chance to

play everything or nothing because it does sound

like an interesting concept kind of like a Making

a new Bond film just in video game form and the

funny thing was with everything or nothing 2003

yeah It was right after Dying of the Day. And

at first, when I first heard about it in 03,

I was like, wait, everything or nothing? Is that

the new? Is that going to be the next Bond film?

I didn't realize it was a damn video game at

the time. I was like, wait, what is a video game?

And I so wanted to play it, but I never got a

chance to. I never did. You know, James Bond,

you know, the first -person shooter stuff with

GoldenEye, with Nightfire, with the other games.

For me, it's probably the only way to play a

James Bond game is as, you know, have it a first

-person shooter instead of, you know, a third

-person, you know, walkthrough game. I couldn't...

There's no way that I can envision a a James

Bond Grand Theft Auto mashup kind of you know

what I mean that open world kind of game I just

don't think that would work for For the Bond

franchise because the whole point of it is the

whole point of the video games is They want you

to envision yourself as Bond as you play and

get they did try the The third person, but it

was not nearly as successful, but and they do

have that newer game coming up I don't know if

it's out yet, but like James Bond legends or

something like that that I will try why I will

check out But I'm heard I'm hearing that it's

not the greatest game in the world So I might

hold off but uh, that's that's coming out this

year as well I kind of go along with all the

crazy bond this that's going on this year Yeah,

I mean, you know and you know this, you know,

we'll talk about this here in a bit, but we got

to talk about We gotta talk about his guns and

his weapons because what is James Bond without

a pistol, right? For the first five novels Fleming

armed Bond with a Beretta 418 Until he received

a letter from a 31 year old Bond enthusiast a

gun expert Jeffrey Boothroyd Criticizing Fleming's

choice of a firearm for Bond calling it a lady's

gun and not a very nice lady at that Boothroyd

suggested that Bond should swap his Beretta for

a Walther PPK 7 .65mm and this exchange of arms

made it to the film Dr. No. In thanks Fleming

gave the MI6 armorer in his novels the name Major

Boothroyd and in Dr. No M introduces him to Bond

as the greatest small arms expert in the world.

Since Tomorrow Never Dies Bond's main weapon

has been the Walther P99 semi -automatic pistol.

It doesn't matter. At least in films, for me

it doesn't matter what he's carrying as a gun,

besides the classic guns. When Pierce is using

the machine gun and sliding down the conveyor

belt in GoldenEye, that's just an awesome action

scene. As far as bonds classic gun, yeah, I don't

think I don't think a Beretta would have worked

in film Yeah, and it's the bread is not the most

reliable or powerful gun and I think the reason

why He said he should go to the Walter PPK is

because it was actually what the CIA was using

at the time So it made sense that you know a

secret agent would be using that type of weapon

And from that from then on it's always like when

people talk about the Walter PPK. It's always

referred to as James Bond's gun kind of like

how the You know dirty Harry and his Magnum is

that those are kind of iconic wouldn't put together

It's the same thing with bond and his Walter

PPK Yeah, simply amazing As far as vehicles in

the early bond stories Fleming gave bond a battleship

gray Bentley four and a half liter After bonds

car was written off by Hugo Drake's and moon

raker Fleming gave bond a mark to continental

Bentley which he used in the remaining books

of the series. Bond was issued with the Aston

Martin DB Mark III with homing device which he

used to track Goldfinger across France. Bond

returned to his Bentley for the subsequent novels.

The Bond of the films has driven a number of

cars including the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. during

the 1980s, the V12 Vanquish and the DB5 during

the 2000s, as well as the Lotus Spirit and the

BMW Z3, BMW 750 IL, and the BMW Z8. He has, however,

also needed to drive a number of other vehicles

ranging from... I don't know what that is. You've

been using a hovercraft to us to you know, actually

move actually Move vehicles and diamonds are

forever. So yeah, he's pretty much if it has

wheels. He's probably driven it in some way And

I think just like a lot of people love Batman

in in Frank Miller's Dark Knight In that is it

dark knight returns no, I don't remember it's

the So just like you know just like Batman and

the dark knight returns Having a Batmobile as

a tank in Goldeneye you have bond driving a fucking

tank That's simply amazing. Yeah, that was pretty

pretty fun action sequence. It's kind of hard

to Maneuver a tank, but you know he finds a way

Yeah Do you have a favorite Bond car? Not necessarily.

I kind of appreciate it when he kind of gets

in kind of the more odd vehicles like and live

in And liver let die when he's in like the double

decker bus or when he's using I do like the Ashton

Martin. I think that's probably the Bond car

that's probably the most memorable, but I appreciate

it more when he gets into kind of the more wacky

cars that really don't make any sense or sometimes

they can get too wacky, but I think it's kind

of fun when you see him try to drive an 18 -wheeler

on, you know, only on half its wheels, you know,

down at bad guys. I think those are more impressive

stunts than kind of when you're taking a car

that's designed to be fast to go really fast,

but yeah, those are probably my favorite Bond

vehicles. For me, mine would probably be... It

honestly depends on what the car does. Honestly,

it depends on the action of the film. And for

me, again, I know I'm a whore for this era, but

in Brosnan era... And tomorrow never dies. It

was absolutely hilarious that he auto -drived

the damn car in the parking garage scene. You

know what I mean? In Dying of the Day, I liked

the Aston Martin Vanquish because of the abilities

it had with the cloaking and the camouflage and

all that stuff. That was pretty cool. And also,

I should probably mention, in the Spy Who'd Love

Me, the submarine car that can also go underwater.

That's a pretty cool feature they have for your

car. Yes, it is it very much is Alright, so let's

talk about some bond gadgets here Fleming's novels

and early screen adaptations present minimal

equipment such as the booby -trapped attache

case and from Russia would love Though that change

in the novels due to the success of the films

the man with the golden guns novel increased

the number of gadgets for the film adaptations

upon the pre -mission briefing by cube branch

became one of the motifs that ran through the

series The first ever on -screen spy gadget was

the Atesia case shown in From Russia with Love,

which had described as a classic 007 product.

The gadgets assumed a higher profile in the 1964

film Goldfinger. The film's success encouraged

further espionage equipment from Q Branch to

be supplied to Bond. Through the increased use

of technology, it led to accusations that Bond

was over -reliant on equipment, particularly

in the later films. Don't agree with that because

it the equipment fits the mission to me Depending

on what he has to do. I Don't know that's yeah,

I agree and I think I mean some of the equipment's

better than others, but I think to what I think

the best bond films are ones who kind of set

up a piece of cue equipment and you think, okay,

I know how that's going to be used. But then

it gets used in a completely unexpected manner.

And you're like, oh, because it shows, yes, he

does have the equipment, but he also knows how

to use it. And I think that's also part of what

makes him great. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know,

the gadgets, the whole cue branch thing, it was

just amazing. And it's just amazing what they

can come up with. And I think one of the most

amazing ones was, um, and again, it goes to the

humor, it goes to the, you know, the, um, the

way that the, the silver age of Bond was with

Brosnan and just the humor. He's like, x -ray

document scanner 007. And he's, he's picking

up the sandwich and he's like, what's this? That's

my lunch in the, in the exploding pen. He's like,

The writing's on the wall, along with the rest

of it. Yeah. I mean, his relationship with Q

has always been great. The bickering and everything

has always been one of the best parts of the

Bond franchise. I really miss Desmond Llewellyn.

I liked when they transferred to John Cleese.

I thought it was okay. It wasn't one of those

soap opera moments where in Tomorrow Never Dies,

it was... q and then world is not enough that

they didn't just be like you know a voice didn't

just come on screen say q is now being played

by insert actor name here they had desmond there

is sadly world's not enough was his final film

uh... you know but they had in there with his

you know his protege are I'm so glad R did not

stick. Yeah. I'm very happy with that because

that was a little weird. Yeah, a little too on

the nose. Yeah. But I think Cleese could have

been an amazing cue if they had given him a chance

without the reboot of, you know, without the

new age of Craig. Yeah, if they continue the

bond. the Bronson type of films, I think he definitely

could have worked. I loved how Q went out. It's

a very simple moment, but I think it's very moving.

It's very emotional. They don't overplay it.

It just happens. You can easily miss it, but

for those that are a fan of the franchise, I

appreciate how he went out. I think it's probably

one of the better things they handled. Yeah,

it is just yeah So yeah, we've got all that stuff

out of the way Let's you want to talk about some

of the cultural impacts sure well obviously since

it first came out It's it's been a huge success,

so it's impacted a lot of different It's infected

film TV comic books like we've mentioned what's

kind of crazy actually if you go back to 1966

there were 22 Secret agent films. This is just

1966 alone that were kind of meant to capitalize

on the popularity of Bond success so you can

see like it's bond is a movie that completely

changed film and It did it immediately You know

the film was has been period period millions

of times. The first one was done in 1964 It was

called carrying carry -on spying in the villain

was called. Dr. Crow and the you know, the Bond

woman was actually called our bond girl I should

say or I guess it wasn't bond girl because the

character's name was James spined but the the

woman in the film was Daphne honey, but which

obviously, you know playing on the different

type of things like Octopussy and stuff like

that. And more recently we have things like Austin

Powers, of course, Johnny English, which is not

as successful, but you can see how that's portraying

Bond. Recently, the famous quote, Bond, James

Bond, is one of the most notable quotes in movie

history. In 2001, it was voted best -loved one

-liner in cinema by British cinema -goers. It

was honored as the 22nd greatest quotation in

cinema history by the American Film Institute

and the... 100 year series. Also in the 100 year

series, James Bond was noted as the third greatest

film hero. He was just behind Indiana Jones at

number two and Adidas Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird

at number one. And it's estimated since Dr. No

that a quarter of the world's population has

seen a Bond film since the release of Dr. No.

So one fourth of the world has probably seen

One at least one James Bond film, which is kind

of crazy I don't think there's another franchise

that can claim that claim that statement And

then recently in 2012, of course in the opening

ceremony because of how big and important James

Bond is he was out He was featured in the Olympic

ceremony this this past summer with the with

the Queen So his culture impact has been seen

all over from the Olympics to movies to television.

I mean You know everyday life. I think how many

people have You know recited that quote He's

he's definitely James Bond is more than a movie.

He's more than a book. He's You know, he's a

bond like he's an event like it's it's almost

like a pseudo religion in a way because there's

so much to it There's so many different elements,

but yeah, there's yeah There's so many different

things to like and there's so many different

things to you know, pick apart and dislike as

well I mean there there just are Yeah, but it's

just amazing so I think we're going to take a

quick commercial break and we're going to come

back to kind of give final thoughts and to uh

to kind of tease you guys on what the m -wire

uh shaking on stern spotlight will be and we'll

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Charming, sophisticated, secret agent. Shaken,

but not disturbed. So we are back and I can't

believe it's been 50 years of Bond being 007.

I mean, it's just, it's just amazing. As you

said earlier, this is probably one of the, if

not the most long, the longest running film franchise

with one character. You know, at one main character

at the head of it and all the adventures that

James Bond has had over the years, whether it

be in video games, television, film, radio, comic

strips, books, whatever. It's just something

about James Bond and something about his universe.

Any part of it will appeal to anyone in some

way shape or form Yeah, definitely. I think if

whatever your film tastes are there's probably

a bond film that fits those tastes I mean, there's

more romantic films. There's more action oriented.

There's more comedic oriented I mean, it's a

franchise really that I think anyone can kind

of find Something in there that they would like

and I think that's why it's lasted so long I

mean you think about it teenagers today are going

to see a movie that their grandparents went to

go see when they were teenagers That's kind of

crazy to think about that's lasted that long

generations over generations And I don't see

it stopping anytime soon I think it's probably

gonna continue and it's if the popularity just

seems growing it seems it's still high and people

are still super excited for James Bond and There's

millions reasons why and we I think we touched

on most of the most important ones Yeah, I mean

the only thing we didn't really touch on at at

this point while the sirens go off in the background

The only thing we didn't really touch on was

the whole sexuality of the film franchise and

the fact that Bond girl is a term in pop culture

now. Yes and Every female actress wants to be

a Bond girl at one point in her life. Yeah, and

I mean, it's had some of the biggest names during

the time. I mean, people recently like Halle

Berry, Denise Richards. Maybe Denise Richards

wasn't the biggest name anymore. But yeah. And

it's it's funny when you look at the 60 film

as compared to the films now and how sexuality

has changed. It was a lot more open in the 60s,

obviously, because of, you know, things like,

you know, there weren't as sex wasn't Was a lot

more open obviously it was you know free love

and sex all over the place but and it's kind

of the Bond girls in today's films I think a

lot more dialed down and it's it's crazy that

you would think it gets it to be more censored

in today's world compared to the 1960s that would

continually the push buttons and they get really

kind of it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way

during the time but like now people kind of are

more accepting of it and I think it in a lot

of ways is a big reason why you know I think

you know I think a lot of the the openness of

the older films is going to shock me when I watch

them for our Shaken Out Stard series because

as I said earlier I did go back and just for

fun I watched Man with a Golden Gun and I cannot

believe he smacked her around James Bond hit

a woman I was like what yeah and he does worse

than that I mean he does not I mean His character,

I mean, it's the 60s, so obviously women's rights

aren't completely where they are now, but he

was not afraid to hit women. I mean, I couldn't

imagine that happening today and people not being

upset about it, but it's kind of crazy what they

got away with during the time. I don't know if

you remember this, but there was actually a pretty

funny skit in SNL way back when, when Pierce

Brosnan was still the character, and it basically

was him getting a call from his doctor, and they

were going over all the STDs he's gotten over

the years. so much sex with people and it was

just kind of funny because you're like well how

do you what do you expect when you're sleeping

around so much what do you think what's gonna

happen but it was just it's one of those things

that's always stuck with me and i don't think

and i i could be wrong here but um every bond

film that has a sex scene in it essentially is

a soft core porno because um And it's so against

sexual education because they never show or they

never even hint at the fact that he's going to

use a condom. Yeah, Vaughn never practiced safe

sex. I think he was, or they say they make it

very blatant. You know, he's very open. No, not

at all. So yeah, this month, you know, November

through December. Dan and I are going to take

a journey. Dan's going to do several different

blogs. What blogs are you doing for Bond Month?

I'm going to do a few. I mean, I'm going to kind

of cover why Bond has been so iconic. Like, what

are the reasons why he's lasted over the years

compared to other franchises? Looking at who

the best villains are, the best Bond girls, and

actually going to rank the Bond films in order

from the best to the worst. And obviously, I

could see that causing some controversy. I think

my picks may not be the same as everyone's. I

tried to be fair and kind of leave my own personal

bias out of it. But yeah, and hopefully maybe

a couple more Different bond articles. I'll try

to definitely highlight films that we aren't

going over an M wire So we kind of touch on all

the different aspects. Yeah, I mean if you want

to do written reviews of the ones we're not Reviewing

in the shaking out stirred series and M wire

go right ahead. Yeah, I May I may try to do that

as well. I will definitely be doing a written

review of skyfall as well once right? Yes We

will both be going to see Skyfall individually

and we will be reviewing Skyfall for our series

as well. And I think, you know, over the years,

as I've said before, you know, there's just something

to offer to everyone with this franchise. And

going forward, you never know what's going to

happen next. I just have to wait and see until

after the Skyfalls. We hope you enjoyed this

episode of GeekCast Radio. Wish you'll join us

next time when we will be doing our 2012 Year

in Review. That will be coming up in December.

Year in Review for 2012 will be aired New Year's

Eve, so we will see you then. I've always tried

to teach you two things. First, never let them

see you bleed. And the second, always have an

escape plan. Country England Gun Shot Agent Provocateur

Murder Employment Skyfall Skyfall Done kill him

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