007 – Dr. No Review

My name is Bond. James Bond. My instructions

were implicit. I was to leave for Jamaica in

two hours. Licensed to kill. Now you may be missing

it. You don't miss a thing. I decided to accept

your invitation. I have to leave immediately.

Just as things were getting interesting again.

007, licensed to kill whom he pleases, where

he pleases, when he pleases. From the elegant

club rooms of Mayfair to exotic island night

spots. Good evening. Who pays you? You. Tell

us. A strange adventure of intrigue, treachery,

and love. Oh, Mr. Barth, I was thinking, why

don't you collect me at my apartment? It's lovely

up here in the mountains. Her directions were

easy to follow, and she sent a few of her friends

to make sure I didn't get lost. She thought I

was dead, but I proceeded to prove her wrong.

I thought it was always polite to knock first.

before shooting. Honey, from her very first meeting

was everything her name implied. She clung to

me like a wet bathing suit. But business as usual

came first. The pace was killing. I thought you

less stupid. I could have had you killed in the

swamp. And why didn't you? You damaged my organization.

Unfortunately, I misjudged you. You are just

a stupid policeman whose luck is run out. Maybe

it was my luck. Up to my neck in hot water. Or

something blowing up in my face. You'll live

dangerously with his superbly resourceful James

Bond. dramatization of the book that has entertained

millions of readers. The exotic and tantalizing

Dr. No. Some people will go to any extremes for

a little privacy. This is M -Wire, movie we can

review. M -Wire is brought to you by Audible

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underscore com And now the latest and greatest

in movies with M wire Shaken not stirred hello

and welcome to shaken not stirred M wire spotlight

on bond films Which is brought to you by the

geek cast radio network and audible .com. I am

one of your hostage young Mike And joining me

is movie role Dan. Hello. Hello How are you,

sir? I am very anxious to get all this started.

How are you? I'm anxious to get it over with.

It hasn't even begun yet, and I'm like, can this

be over, please? But no, I'm good. Hot water

works. I don't have a broken box spring anymore.

I guess from whatever leftover weather from,

you know, Frankenstorm 2012. we've got people

coming in to check the roofs check the roof tomorrow

or well by the time this airs the other day but

no i'm doing very well i'm excited to uh to get

into the shaken out stern spotlight where we

are reviewing 18 of the 23 bond films um For

those of you who did not listen to the Geekcast

radio episode where Dan and I went over the overall

history of Bond, first of all, stop this podcast,

go over and listen to that. Second of all, I'm

going to run down the list of films we aren't

covering. These will not be covered in Shaken

Not Stirred, Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever,

Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, and Octofussy.

We wanted to do all 23, but doing all 23 in the

midst of Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays,

there's no friggin' way. There's just no way.

I mean, even when we're recording two or three

once a week, and then releasing them weekly,

there's just no way. So Dan and I got together,

we picked our 18 favorites, and we're gonna go

from there. Yeah, and we are both going to be

seeing Skyfall and we'll be reviewing that as

well, so that'll be one of the 18 as well. Alright,

today we are going to be discussing the very

first Bond film as he goes up against Dr. No.

And now we're going to cut over to JT from Saskatoon

with his amazing Just the Facts on Dr. No. We'll

be back after he tells you all about Dr. No.

Special Agent James Bond, also known as 007,

is sent to Jamaica to investigate the death of

John Strangway, a British intelligence station

chief. Bond's superior, known only as M, directs

the special agent to determine whether or not

the death was connected to the chief's involvement

in a CIA investigation. Upon his arrival in Kingston,

Jamaica, Bond notices he is being followed by

two men before he is picked up by a waiting chauffeur.

While escaping from the two men, Bond recognizes

the man as an enemy agent, and after a brief

scuffle, the fake chauffeur commits suicide with

a poison cigarette. Returning to town, Bond goes

to investigate Strangway's home, where he finds

a picture of Strangway's with a boatman. When

Bond goes to question the boatman, he recognizes

him and another man there as the two who are

following him at the airport. The other man identifies

himself as CIA agent Felix Leiter, and the boatman

as a local named Coral. Leiter then confirms

that the CIA is looking into the sabotage of

rocket launches in Cape Canaveral, Florida by

radio jamming which has been traced to somewhere

in the Kingston area. Quarrel also informs Bond

that he had been escorting the former station

chief around nearby islands, including Crab Key,

which is owned by a reclusive man named Dr. No.

The island is also said to contain a mine which

is heavily guarded. Bond then goes to question

Professor R .J. Dent after discovering a receipt

with his name in Stringway's home. The professor

tells Bond that he was just analyzing rock samples

for Stringway's. However, once 007 leaves, Professor

Dent goes to Crab Key to meet with Dr. No, who

is very displeased that Dent did not kill Bond.

He orders him to try again that night with a

poisonous tarantula. Bond survives the assassination

attempt, then traps Dent and questions him before

ultimately killing him. Bond then deduces that

the rock samples were important as they proved

to be radioactive when he's investigating Coral's

boat. Bond and Coral then travel to Crab Key

where 007 meets the beautiful Honey Rider. Though

suspicious of their intentions, Miss Rider leads

the two men further into the island where they

are attacked by an armored, flame -throwing tractor.

Coral is killed in the skirmish and Bond and

Honey are drugged and taken prisoner. Upon waking,

the pair are introduced to Dr. Noh, who is a

member of an evil spy network called SPECTR,

which stands for Special Executive for Counterintelligence

Terrorism Revenge and Extortion. Noh monologues,

revealing his plan to disrupt the Project Mercury

space launch with an atomic -powered radio beacon.

Bond is then beaten and imprisoned while Honey

is taken away. After escaping through an air

vent, Bond disguises himself as a worker and

discovers Dr. No's multi -tiered command center

complete with its own atomic reactor. Bond fiddles

with the reactor causing it to overload and save

the rocket launch. Dr. No then attempts to defeat

007 in hand -to -hand combat and Bond defeats

him by pushing him into the cooling vent of the

reactor which boils the evil doctor alive. Bond

then rescues the captive Honey and escapes with

her just as the island lair explodes. Based on

the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name,

Dr. No opened in theaters on October 5, 1962.

The film was budgeted for a seemingly paltry

$1 .1 million, but ultimately went on to make

nearly $60 million worldwide during its theatrical

run. James Bond himself was played for the first

time by actor Sean Connery, who set the bar for

every actor in the series after him. Dr. No was

played by actor Joseph Wiseman. Jack Lord, Steve

McGarrett from the original Hawaii Five -O, played

CIA agent Felix Leiter, and Ms. Ursula Andrus

played the world's first Bond girl, Honey Rider.

Though I wasn't able to find any reviews from

the time the film was first released, I did find

that a lot of modern critics loved the film.

Critics such as Nick Rogers of Sweet101 .com,

who said the film was more low -key mystery than

action -adventure spy film, but it was a lot

of fun to look back at the genesis of the franchise.

And Chicago Reader critic Dave Kerr echoed this,

noting that all the traditional elements of Bond

were here but in moderation when you compare

it to the rest of the series. and my favorite

review came from Tim Brayton of Antagony and

Ecstasy who said the low -key mystery plot and

the human -sized drama of it all makes this one

of the sanest of all Bond pictures and that's

kind of saying something because they get kind

of crazy as we go on. There are several interesting

pieces of trivia regarding the film. One is that

actor Roger Moore Who wouldn't become 007 until

Live and Let Die in 1973 would debut on British

television as adventurer Simon Templer in the

Saint drama series just one day before Dr. No

opened in 1962. Another is that when Bond is

dining with Dr. No, he's surprised to see the

portrait of the Duke of Wellington by Goya hanging

on the wall. In reality, the painting had been

stolen just prior to the filming, so designer

Ken Adam and Tate a slide of the picture from

the National Gallery in England and had a copy

painted over just one weekend. And of course,

we can't forget to mention some of the iconic

trademarks that first began with this film. One

is the stylized gun barrel intro sequence which

is actually shot by putting a pinhole camera

in an actual .38 caliber handgun. And another

is the distinctive jazz meets surf rock theme

music by composer Monty Norman. And of course,

we cannot forget that this film gave us one of

the most awesome and distinctive and just plain

badass introductions to a character of all movie

history in just three little words. Bond. James

Bond. While this was not the first Bond film

I ever saw, Doctor No is by far one of my favorites.

It's got the style, the swagger, the flair that

many of the other Bond films try to reach for,

but fall just a little short of. And besides

being a great Bond film, it's a great film overall.

There's just something about the production values

from movies of that period of history that just

have this feel about them that make them so damn

fun to watch. If you haven't seen this film,

or it's just been a while, run, don't walk to

Netflix, and get to clicking. This has been Just

the Facts for Ian Fleming's Dr. No. I'm JT from

Saskatoon. Back to you Mike. Thank you so much

JT for the Just the Facts on Dr. No. Okay obviously

neither one of us were alive or growing up during

the 60s when this came out in 1962 50 years ago

as of October 5th. When did you first see this?

The first time I think I saw this was probably

back in the day when I think it was either TNT

or TBS, one of those channels, maybe even AMC.

They would always kind of do the bond marathons.

I would catch it on cable. But when I was younger,

I think that's when I first saw it. It's not

always the best way to watch movie the first

time with commercial breaks and and and whatnot

But I think when it finally came on DVD I saw

it again, but I think and then recently this

year rewatched it I think I really got my first

understanding of it earlier this year when I

kind of went back and saw it in And with more

open eyes, but yeah I think the first time I

saw it was back when I was younger when it was

that on cable This is going to shock and awe

people. If you're driving, I'm sorry. Please

do not drive off the road when you're screaming

or dropping your iPods or iPads or iPhones. Back

in, was it 2008? I think it was 2008. They released

the 21 DVD box set. It was right after, it was

like two years after Casino Royale came out.

It might have been two, I forget when the original

big 21 DVD box set came out. bought that because

I love Bond but I only really liked certain films

mostly Brosnan since I am a Brosnan fanboy but

I you know my mom got that for me for Christmas

that year whatever else I watched pretty much

every film in that box except for the Sean Connery

stuff I don't know what the hell is wrong with

me about Two hours before we recorded this episode,

I finally saw Dr. No for the first time from

the very beginning. I knew of the Honey Rider

scene. I knew of Dr. No himself, but I never

actually ever saw the film until right before

we recorded this show. I absolutely loved it.

It was great. Sean Connery is his films that

definitely don't I think appeal to a younger

audience like a Roger Moore Pierce brothers and

once I mean They're a lot older to begin with

and with that the overall Tone of the film how

how long it goes. It feels a lot longer for modern

audiences So I think I could see why why when

we're younger it may not appeal to us But being

you know older and wiser is like we like to think

I think I definitely appreciate Connery a lot

more than I did when I was younger when I think

I was more a fan of Roger Moore Because he was

the funny bond. He was more charismatic. He was

more, you know A little a little more hyper.

I guess you would say but yeah And the thing

of it was, was for me, Connery is Dr. Henry Jones

Senior. Connery is the guy from Entrapment. Connery

is Finding Forrester. I knew Connery as his older

self, not his younger self, as far as his appearance.

And what amazed me watching this film is he essentially

sounds the same. in his as he's aged he his voice

has gotten a little bit more gravely but it's

like okay i know like some people when they're

younger might have a different sounding voice

or whatever or if you're from boston you might

sound like you know you know you might sound

like that you know and all that stuff but watching

Dr. No and then maybe going back and watching

Last Crusade or like I said Finding Forrest or

any other Sean Connery film you can think of

as he's older. It doesn't seem like there's much

change in his voice from 1962 to now. You're

breaking up there, dude. Am I? Yeah. Yeah, you

keep breaking up. Damn it. Are you hitting your

weird button? That's weird. Is your internet

connection alright? Because like I said, you

keep breaking up. I keep hearing like less than

every other word. Ooh. What the hell? Are you

downloading something? No. Hold on, let me close

out everything. Cause my call quality went red

there for a second and now it's back to yellow.

I know I'm not downloading anything. No. That's

weird. Close this out. All right. Talk for a

second. Let me just clear all this out so that

some windows open. So maybe that was causing

some issues. OK. Because now it says it's fine.

Now it says that the connection is fast. OK.

All right. Where the hell were we? Sorry. I was

talking about Connery's voice. It's gotten gravely

over the years, but it hasn't changed, so I guess

you can just respond to that. Back in the GeekCast

Radio episode, we talked about the video games

from Russia with Love video game, and how he

came back and needed a voice for that game. Like

you mentioned, it sounds very similar to the

movie. Even though it's you know 40 years later

at that time, but yeah, he hasn't changed that

much He looks a lot different, but his voice

is always it's an iconic voice. No, it's kind

of it's uh But yeah, so I definitely agree that

his voice is a big part of that character and

it's kind of lasted throughout the years What

I found interesting about this film is is because

I had never seen it before all the way through

until My viewing before recording this episode

uh... i don't know if you remember a game uh...

goldeneye rogue agent was a ps2 game i i'm familiar

with it i don't think ever played it though right

i love the hell out of that game and it it's

essentially where it puts you as the agent but

it's it's essentially putting you yourself in

the role of kind of like alec trevelyan or something

like that where you're a rogue agent uh... it's

a brosnan based game where uh... It's Brosnan

in the beginning scenes, and it's M, Dame Judi

Dench, and all that. But it's essentially your

own character. You don't play as James Bond.

You don't play as Odd Job or whatever else. But

one of the levels in that game is Crab Key, and

one of the villains is Dr. No. That was really

my first experience with the character and the

setting of Crab Key. until I watch the film,

obviously. So going over the cast here, we kind

of mentioned Sean Connery as Bond. You've got

Ursula Andress as Honey Rider. Apparently, her

spoken voice was Nikki Vanderzeel. Yeah, they

kind of dubbed her voice over. And honestly,

I didn't notice when I first watched it. I had

no idea, but as I've watched, rewatched it with

that knowledge, it's definitely more noticeable,

but if you're not aware of it, you may not even

pick up on it. You got Joseph Wiseman, as Dr.

Julius know, who is the main antagonist, obviously,

of Spectre. That reminds me of a horrible Marvel

character. I know it's not the same thing, but

still. You got Jack Lord as Felix Leiter. Bernard

Lee as M, Anthony Dawson as Professor Dent, John

Kitzmiller as Quarrel, you got Zena Marshall

as Miss Taro, Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny,

Peter Burton as Major Boothroyd, who is the head

of Q Branch, Ladies gun, that's so funny. Yeah,

we talked about that too in the key cast ready

episode where Boothroids actually named after

a fan of the series that wrote to Ian Fleming

about the gun that Bonnie uses and how the Beretta

was what his gun and how he should be using the

Walter PPK so he ended up naming that character

off off of that weapons expert because yeah Yeah

That was yeah, I mean that you know that's really

cool as far as that goes um The music and this

was great. I thought I was a little taken back

when when it first came on because you think

James Bond you think of like all these iconic

songs like Goldfinger and in live and let die

and the first bond song is three blind mice and

Will the first you know, it just wasn't something

I expected I'm like, wow not would have never

what I guess that would be the first bond song

But I like how it transitions that that song

right into the first scene and you see the three

blind mice assassins I thought that was pretty

cool. But yeah, I enjoy the score and We don't

really get a technical like bong song really

but uh We don't get one until From Russia with

Love, I think. Yeah, that's the first one. Even

that doesn't have the opening title sequence.

It happens at the end of the film, yeah. I do

like the score. I think it really fits the...

Fits the setting with it being set in Jamaica.

I think it kind of incorporates a lot of the

music You know of that time and I love you know

enjoy the 60s music So I like that blend of that

tropical music with you know, the more classical

60 scores of the time Yeah You know and the thing

about the music is like I Like I thought dr.

No did an amazing job of using the bond theme

to introduce the film And it did an amazing job

of using the theme when Bond is doing something

epic or when he's doing something just even small

and simple. It didn't overuse the theme where

it's like, hey, Bond is on screen. He needs his

background music. You know, I felt they used

it properly and they used it at key points in

the movie instead of just every time he was on

screen. That it played. Yeah, definitely. I guess

we should also mention the Under underneath the

mango tree, which I guess is kind of a technical

bond song. It was written for the movie, but

it's not used like it's kind of just. use sparingly

throughout the film. It's really just more so

when Honey Rider comes out of the water, it's

really used. Besides that, I'm not a huge fan

of that song. It makes sense, it fits the area

like I mentioned. I agree that they don't overuse

the theme. It's really used sparingly throughout

most of the Bond films and this is definitely

one of them. Yeah, this is definitely one of

them and we'll be getting to one where it's not

so much So we've written down Highlights and

lowlights different things that we liked and

didn't like about the film the way I write my

highlights and lowlights is as the film progresses,

so mine might essentially be, oh, you're recapping

the plot. I'm really not. It was just little

moments that I noticed. And for me, some highlights

are, as I said, I didn't say this exactly, but

I love seeing a young Sean Connery, but it's

still kind of weird for me, because I only knew

him later in his life in film. the beginning

car chase i thought i thought that was done very

well for a 60s movie i didn't realize that you

know car chases were that good back then um i

i guess i'd have to disagree i mean i i do think

for the time it was good i mean i'm not a fan

yes rear projection even for rear projection

of the 60s was kind of i mean You know during

the 60s you had a movie like bullet and that

car chase is far greater than Then the one in

dr. No, and right you also have to consider the

fact that dr No, and he had a million dollar

budget which for nothing for today That's nothing

and even for the 60s. It wasn't that much so

they were limited in their resources, but I'm

not a huge fan like overall doctor I appreciate

it more than I enjoy it But and I think it tends

to show its budget and I think in a certain especially

when it comes to the action sequences, but uh,

yeah No, I mean, I just thought that the The

angles that the car chase used like and I'm talking

about the car chase from the airport Yeah, right

when he gets when he gets right right when he

right when he lands in Jamaica, I think it is

That's the chase that I really liked Yeah, I

prefer I definitely prefer that one over the

one that happens later in the film. It's like

in a construction site Yeah, I didn't like that

at all. That was that was a little too weird

for me. That was that wasn't a damn car chase.

That was Something completely staged. Yeah, but

the one in the beginning felt like oh, hey Lose

this guy or lose these guys you know and it just

the way the camera angles were and the way that

the shots were like one shot you'd have James

and his taxi guy drive through a shot and the

next shot would be exactly almost the same shot

but with the other car and it just it had that

momentum and feel of of what a car chase should

be and that's what I really liked about it in

the beginning when Oh, what's the professor's

prep dent? I loved when he went to Crab Key or

he went to Dr. No, and we don't see Dr. No, we

just hear his voice. I love the whole mystery

thing behind his character. I really enjoyed

that. Yeah, I mean and that's kind of a motif

that's common in pun films like not showing the

face or holding off on showing you everything

about the character But they do build up a lot

of mystery with dr. No, and it takes a while

before we actually you know see him in full force

Mmm, yeah I love again. I have to praise the

music the dun dun dun for every time bond hits

the spider I thought that was a great use of

of the film and of the music intertwined with

each other. I thought that was great, but the

whole time that the spider was on him and you

could see him getting sweatier and sweatier,

I was just freaking the hell out because I don't

like spiders at all. What's funny about that

moment is that Connery, I believe he's very afraid

of spiders as well. I don't know if you noticed,

but there's that shot of the spider on Sean Connery.

And you can obviously see that there's a piece

of glass on top of the spider. And the only time

that the spider's on him is actually a stuntman.

But it was just kind of funny. And because during

that time, I think people were desperately afraid

of tarantulas. And they thought they're deadly.

But in fact, they really aren't. But they were

really careful and didn't want to obviously hurt

their star. So they made sure that he was not

in danger during that scene. And of course, we

can't go without mentioning the very first Bond

girl in Honey Rider and her coming up out of

the water. Yes, a very iconic moment. One that's

kind of repeated over and over in Bond movies

and pretty much throughout cinematic history.

I'm not sure if this is the first movie to use

that, but it's the one that I think has perfected

it. Very very awesome Let's see. I only got two

more highlights here again going back to dr.

No very interesting finally meeting him and I

loved his scenes with him and bond going back

and forth and Essentially no calling him. You

know just a policeman Thought that was cool And

I don't you know, I know this I think this happened

after dr. No, I'm pretty sure it did. Oh, no

it didn't No, it happened in the 40s, that's

right. The end music in this reminds me of the

40s Fleischer Superman cartoons. I almost heard

the Fleischer Superman theme in the very beginning

of that end music. Go back and listen to it.

It kind of had that feel for me. I really have

no complaints about this one. I didn't write

anything like any negatives down for this one

at all because It's just so great. The story

flows well. Plot point A, B, C, D. There's nothing

that... There are no things just thrown in there.

Certain movies, television shows, whatever, will

have characters just thrown in there to be a

red herring or just thrown in there to fill a

scene. Doctor No did none of that. It went from

point A to point B and it told an amazing story.

What did you like or not like about Dr. No? I

think my biggest highlights, I think, begin with

Sean Connery and his performance. We touched

a little bit on it, but he has a huge swagger.

He's very charismatic. He owns the screen. He's

a big reason why James Bond became what it was.

Terrence Young, the director, I think we have

to credit him a lot for that. I think he really

knew how to make Bond an important character

and he started right from the beginning like

the first time we see bond He just doesn't show

him right away. He lets it build up and we kind

of we hear him talking We see him kind of going

through the card game, you know talking with

people at the table slowly building it up into

the To the final moment where we see him and

he's like he got the perfect suit the perfect

hair the cigarette You know dangling from his

mouth and he says those iconic words You know

bond James Bond and I think those a big reason

why those words became so memorable It's not

just because of what he said but of everything

that Terrence Young did to build up to that moment

So I think a lot of it has to go to him I also

think Connery has the ability to kind of switch

on a dime and become that cold -blooded killer

Because Bond, you know, we know Bond is a flamboyant

playboy, but he also is an assassin. And Connery

can do both. Not all Bonds can do both. Some

Bonds can kind of, you know, are more charismatic

or more comedic. I think Bond hits every category,

or Connery hits every category that you need

to be Bond. I think it's why he's looked at as

the best Bond overall. Yeah, I would totally

agree with that. What I also appreciate, I mentioned

I think I appreciate Dr. No more than I enjoy

it. I think looking back on it, the way I kind

of associate Dr. No is if it's kind of like a

TV pilot, like if you... if you go to any tv

show that you've watched over the years and you

go back and watch the first episode you notice

like things are a little bit different the themes

are aren't quite the same the characters are

a little bit different things that you come to

know aren't there yet but a lot of what you know

a lot of the core has been established and that's

kind of dr no not everything's there q is not

there yet um the open title sequence isn't quite

there i think sean connery is still becoming

comfortable with the role he's his performance

is great but i think he's better in other movies

um but i do appreciate seeing all those legendary

themes come, you know, be born in Dr. No, I enjoyed

that. I enjoyed Spectre. I liked that idea of

this other agency that's trying to cause the

West and the East to kind of go into war and

to warm up the Cold War. I liked that idea. And

I think it's very comic booky, but I really,

really enjoy it. I now realize And I'm sure I'm

going to point this out on other things that

I see during the Shaken Not Stirred special spotlight

here in MWIRE. I now see where Control and Chaos

came from in Get Smart, where you have MI6 and

Spectre in this. Yeah, it's funny how sometimes

we become aware of the parodies before we're...

Aware of what they're parading. I think that

happens a lot with like the Simpsons I'll watch

the Simpsons episode and not know what they're

talking about and then I'm like, oh they're talking

about the Planet of the Apes or they're talking

about James Bond But yeah, I was more of a fan

I was fan of get smart way before I watched James

Bond and you can appreciate that a lot more after

you watch a movie like this I also enjoyed how

they use the locale of Jamaica. I mentioned how

and incorporated the music it incorporated a

lot of thematic imagery Especially for right

from the opening title sequence So I enjoyed

that. What else did I enjoy? Oh, there's a lot

of great Bond moments. One was when he goes to

Miss Tarot's home and it was iconic Bond. He

goes to the secretary's home. He sleep with her.

Then he tricks her and gets her arrested. He

sets a trap for Dent. Dent attempts to assassinate

him, and then he kills him in cold blood. That

all happens in one night, and that's all Bond.

He goes from making love to this secretary to

killing someone in cold blood within a few hours,

which is pretty awesome for the Bond character.

I enjoyed that moment. The first opening sequence,

that was also staged really well. The other thing

I noticed was... How quickly they showed someone

die in this movie with the dude on the street

or not on the street But on the side of the road

with the cigarettes in the cyanide. I was like,

whoa Yeah, and because that was kind of shocking

Definitely when you consider this was during

I mean the braiding system wasn't established

yet. Everything had to go You know everything

was censored and they push a lot of boundaries

I mean having bond kill someone in cold blood

like that that was a huge deal and I took them

I took a lot for them they get that in the movie

and like you mentioned they they didn't really

hold back and I think you know as we look back

in our and Movies today doesn't seem like you

know doesn't seem like it does that much but

when you consider the time it's it's rather shocking

Yeah, I am And what I love about the scene with

Dent is that when James, like you said, when

Bond sets the trap for him, I love that he actually

went and used the silencer for the Walther instead

of just having it be a loud ass gunshot. I loved

how he actually sat there, put the silencer on,

and waited. I thought that was really, really

calculating and really, really awesome. That

way, hey, No real witnesses are gonna hear, you

know, if they hear a pop nobody is gonna really

know what's going on Yeah, it told you a lot

about the character that he would just sit there

and wait and like he didn't have to really kill

that character but he wanted to and I think having

him Sit there and plot out what he was gonna

do is kind of tells you all really you need to

know about James Bond It's pretty much all we

kind of touch on most of my other highlights.

Some of my lowlights, we talked about this too,

was this was an experiment. So they didn't put

a lot of money into it. It was a million dollar

budget. So it had a lot of limitations. And you

can see some of those limitations. Though I do

think the layer for Dr. Now was pretty fantastic.

I think that's where they probably spent most

of their money. But at times, like I mentioned,

I think the action sequences in Dr. Now are Probably

often get in the way there they tend to kill

the tension rather than amp it up and those smaller

those smaller moments like the like the The moment

in the misterious house are far better than like

the final action sequence the final climax It's

kind of it. I think they ran out of money and

they were just trying to figure out how to end

it But that's probably the biggest complaint

I have about it. But um What else? Honestly,

I know this might A lot of Bond fans might dislike

what I'm about to say, but I'm not a huge fan

of the character of Dr. No. I think the performance

is fine. I just don't think once we see him and

once he's established, once he comes on screen,

he kind of just like there's nothing really about

him that grabbed me. I enjoyed the mystery, but

once that mystery was revealed, there really

wasn't much to him that I found all that intriguing.

Like I know he has these like hands that are

like mechanical, but I never really felt sound.

Sorry. I never saw that as a threat to Bond.

He never seemed like he was someone that could

overtake Bond. I never felt that Bond was ever

in trouble, even when he was captured or he was

in his lair. It seemed like you kind of you knew

what was going to happen. Obviously, it's a Bond

movie. But even you wish I just wish there was

some sort of threat or some sort of henchmen

that you thought, OK, this person can actually

challenge Bond. And I'm sorry, are you going

to say something? Well, the whole plot here is.

nuclear, right? Yeah, nuclear kind of ties into

the space race. They're trying to kind of mess

with Cape Canaveral and use some radio active

rays to kind of shut down their space program.

Yeah, I mean, like I said before, I like the

way that the story is laid out, but when you

really boil down what Dr. No's plot was, it's

just, oh, hey. You know, we're gonna steal nuclear

weapons or we're gonna do this with nuclear things

and we're gonna Destroy the world and this and

the other thing Yeah, the bond films have a certain

recipe certain formula and it's they're usually

that I mean they're they're typically there is

a character that has to get something because

he's gonna do something and then Right. And then

the key is do the people in the film make that

plot? You know in the issues with it or they're

the easier to forgive and with this one I don't

think they did nearly as much as they do with

other films Yeah, and then I guess my last thing

was just I I disliked how they kind of ended

the movie with that final climactic battle with

dr. No and Sean Connery it was kind of it was

clumsy it it It was shot really poorly. I thought

it almost like they just left the camera there

and forgot to go back to it and but Like I mentioned

you kind of have to appreciate the fact that

this was trying something new. It was very experimental

They didn't not many people had faith in it and

thought, you know It may may not be as successful

as they were hoping but and I think once they

get a bigger budget You kind of see how you know

the Bond films get better and better What I found

interesting not necessarily what doctor knows

kind of a side note I was listening to the until

Mike and Laura project over in this week and

geek net and they pointed out that Original casting

for Bond was another 60s icon before Sean Connery

took it. And I did not know this. Even when we

recorded our GCR episode, I did not find this

in the research that I did. No, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no They originally went to Adam West

and Adam West told them no this character has

to be British Yeah, they went to a lot of strange

people. I think they went to Cary Grant as well

I mean Sean Connery was kind of you know wasn't

a household name at the time I think he really

wasn't a known actor he right at Before before

dr. No, his biggest claim the fame was the fact

that he won. Mr. Universe He wasn't really known

as an actor Yeah, Adam West as Bond, I think

that would be very odd. I couldn't imagine him

playing the character. If anything, he'd be far

more like Roger more than he would be like Sean

Connery. Yeah. I mean, like, you know, I like

Connery as Bond, at least in this first film.

You know, all the points that you made, I agree

with about how he... acts as Bond and I think

with a film franchise like this at this time

in the 60s you needed to start with someone that

wasn't established because if you started with

a Cary Grant or not Jimmy Durante, Jimmy Stewart

if you started with a Jimmy Stewart or anyone

like that it wouldn't have worked as well and

I don't think those actors had the necessary

chops to go as dark as Bond can go. Because Bond

is a character in all of his incarnations where

he goes dark a lot of the times as an assassin.

And sometimes there are some sadistic things

that he will do to get the job done. Yeah, you're

very right. I think, like you mentioned, I think

going to a no -name actor was the way to go because

you didn't want to see a known star playing James

Bond. You wanted to see James Bond kind of like

how they don't want, when they choose Superman,

they don't want to get a big star because they

want you to see Superman, not the actor. So you're

completely right. Getting it going, Sean Connery,

was the right choice to make. So we are going

to go to a quick ad break and we're going to

come back with some final thoughts on Dr. No

and we're also going to talk about some other

Bond stuff as well. We'll be back after this.

Yes. Shut up. Beyond the Night is the GCRN's

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are back and before we give our final thoughts

on Dr. No we have to talk about the James Bond

fan theory again the first time I heard about

this again was on the Unturned Mike and Laura

project episode 59 over at thisweekgeek .net

this is the very first time I've heard about

this essentially the fan theory is that James

Bond is not a man, but a code name that traverses

There has been a theory among fans that there

is no one single James Bond, but that James Bond,

in quotations, is a code name passed on from

one agent to the next as each retires, just as

the titles of M &Q pinball from agent to agent.

Theory explains the agelessness of Bond. Note

that Daniel Craig's Bond became 11 years younger,

whereas Judi Dench's M aged by four years. This

also explains how James Bond's personality changes

dramatically from actor to actor. For example,

in one film you have Timothy Dalton's Bond burning

a man alive around the nine -minute mark. Pop

in another DVD and you see Roger Moore's Bond

is doddering around in a clown costume. I don't

know about this theory. What are your thoughts

on it? I think it's a nice theory, but there's

a lot of issues with it, mostly because a lot

of the movies tie together, especially if you

like Honor Magic, Secret Service. Spoilers, but

we'll get into that episode, but he gets married

and they and they talk about that It directly

leads into diamonds are forever with Sean Connery

So and that doesn't work either because Sean

Carney wasn't bond Then he came back and he was

bond again and I think they continuously tie

back to the films again I think and for your

eyes only there's a a scene with Roger Moore

visiting the grave of his you know wife who's

who's passed theirs and I think die another day

or yes the last the Brosnan film but they go

into the one room and they have all the relics

from the old James Bond mission and they do the

same thing and on her majesty secret service

where he kind of goes through all the relics

from all the missions that Connery did so I get

the theory but and it makes a lot of sense but

when you actually watch the movies and see how

they connect. It doesn't work, unfortunately.

I mean, I think that there are many James Bond's.

I think they are all plural because not all of

them have the same continuity. Not all of them

have the same like they have the same vague backstory.

Like in Dr. No, he says, I've been using a Beretta

for the last 10 years. So we can assume that

Sean Connery bond has been a double O for at

least 10 years. Okay. And you flash forward to

say someone like Brosnan who it's very vague

how long he has been a double O, but it seems

like he's been there at least I would say 10

or 15 years. You know what I mean? you know they

build up this little background history they

build up all these iconic things and I don't

know I don't know if I subscribe to the fan theory

at all of it being one name one thing because

an M M changed once in 50 years As far as I know

Bernard Lee played him up until license to kill

right? No, they they changed them a few times

Yeah, he was I believe so I he's been a few different

people But before Judy Dench came in Okay Did

the there's all see the theory mostly from dr.

Who fans that James Bond is a timeloid? Which

can make a little more sense would kind of fits

in it a little bit better than that. It's the

you know Different person just with the same

name Yeah, I'm not too sure about that, you know

Time -traveling is done in DeLorean not a police

box. Damn it All right, so Final thoughts on

dr. No, I think if you're a movie fan, even if

you're not a Bond fan It's a movie that you have

to see just because of what it spawned and how

important is and movie history I think it's Not

a perfect movie. There's a lot of issues with

it, but you have to appreciate the fact It's

a trying something new. It's trying to kind of

change the landscape of movies and it did that

I don't think it's one of the best bonds. I think

it kind of Rates in the middle in a way, but

if you're at all a movie fan You have to watch

it and it's one like I appreciate far more than

I enjoy It's kind of the way I walk out of it

Yeah for me I like the overall allure and mystery

of the film. I like that it is essentially a

one -shot story, kind of, up until we get to

the next episode we'll be doing next week. It

seems like this has a beginning, middle, and

end. They set up the whole thing with Spectre

and how it's this giant organization, blah, blah,

blah, blah. But nothing really comes of that

until the next film, which we'll be talking about

next week. as i said overall i like doctor no

i think it was great i think it was paced very

well there weren't times in it where i either

had to fast forward or pause it and be like yeah

i can't watch this for a while you know there

wasn't a time where i needed to take a break

it pulled me in it made me want to watch it And

it was absolutely great. Thank you for joining

us here on MWIRE movie we can review. There are

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about From Russia With Love. For now, I am TF2

and Mike with Movie Revolt Dan. Thank you for

listening. Until next time. Usually when a man

gets in my way. But you were different. You cost

me time, money, effort. You damaged my organization

and my pride. I was curious to see what kind

of a man you were. I thought there might even

be a place for you with Spectre. Well, I'm flattered.

I prefer the revenge department. Of course, my

first job would be finding the man who killed

Strangways and Quarrel. Unfortunately, I misjudged

you. You are just a stupid policeman. Whose luck

is run out. They're waiting for you in the control

room, Dr. Nall. No hurry. They won't have started

their countdown check yet. You won't get away

with it this time, Dr. Nall. You've just listened

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