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DVD Dr. No (Special Edition)
Released in 1962, this first James Bond movie remains one of the best, and serves as an entertaining reminder that the Bond series began (in keeping with Ian Fleming's novels) with a surprising lack of gadgetry and big-budget fireworks. Sean Connery was just 32 years old when he won the role of Agent 007. In his first adventure James Bond is called to Jamaica where a colleague and secretary have been mysteriously killed. With an American CIA agent (Jack Lord, pre-Hawaii Five-O), they discover that the nefarious Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) is scheming to blackmail the U.S. government with a device capable of deflecting and destroying U.S. rockets launched from Cape Canaveral. Of course, Bond takes time off from his exploits to enjoy the company of a few gorgeous women, including the bikini-clad Ursula Andress. She gloriously kicks off the long-standing tradition of Bond women who know how to please their favorite secret agent. A sexist anachronism? Maybe, but this is Bond at his purest, kicking off a series of movies that shows no sign of slowing down. --Jeff Shannon
Though Casino Royale had been made for British television twice in the 50's, Dr. No is the first Bond movie and introduced James Bond to the world on the big screen. The visions of Ian Fleming, Harry Saltzman, and Cubby Broccoli. The talents of Terrence Young, Richard Maibaum, Monty Norman, John Barry, Ted Moore, Ken Adam, & Maurice Binder. The representation of the Fleming characters by Sean Connery, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Ursula Andress and Joseph Wiseman. All in all, a tremendously fortunate collaboration of talent and vision. On a relatively shoe-string budget and having to make necessary changes to the book's plot and tone, the filmmakers created a moviegoing experience unique in its time. Here we see MI5, the walther PPK, M, Moneypenny, Felix Leiter, the martini shaken not stirred, baccarat, the striking sets, Major Boothroyd (later Q), Spectre, the exotic locale, the iconic Bond Babe, the nefarious cartoonish Bond Villian, the hidden lair, the Bond theme, and the creative title sequence. All would become staples familiar to even non-Bond fans. There is no pretitle sequence or outlandish gadgets. They and the Bond songs, Desmond Llewelyn and the cartoonish henchmen would have to wait until From Russia w/ Love. Bond movies would get better and much bigger but Dr. No has always been a crowd pleaser and holds a special spot in the heart of any real Bond fan.
Fine first outing for the legendary British spy
Outside of Bond fandom very few people know that Sean Connery was actually the second actor to play the character of James Bond. In the 1950s there had been a television production based around Ian Fleming's first spy novel "Casino Royale" in which American actor Barry Nelson had played 007 as a US spy with Clarence Leiter as his British counterpart.
Fast forward to the early 1960s and work is once again getting underway to bring the fictional spy to the screen. Cast in the lead role is what one UA executive referred to as a "lorry driver" and with a small budget (a measly $1 million) there seems to be little hope for the fledgling franchise. Yet when Doctor No (the final choice for the first of the series) hits screens it changes the film industry, sending reverberations the likes of which are still being felt today.
Staying largely faithful to the Fleming book of the same name (something that was not to last) the rather modest movie set screens afire, helped enormously by the performances of Sean Connery and Swiss beauty Ursula Andress. In fact for many, Andress is the quintessential Bond girl, establishing one of cinema's most iconic images as she emerges from the sea in a white bikini).
Right away the trademark violence is evident as three assassins murder a British operative and his pretty secretary in Jamaica. The break in communication has the British nervous and they send for their top agent.
Switch to a smoky casino in London. And we see the back of a man, his hands moving his cards about the table and then taking a cigarette out of its case. Lighting it he is fully revealed and the trademark line "Bond, James Bond" is heard on cinema screens for the very first time.
Arriving in Jamaica Bond learns that the missing operative was investigating the mysterious character of Doctor No who operates from a private island named Crab Key. Determined to learn the truth he arranges to sneak onto the island with his colleague Quarrel to discover the truth behind the disappearance.
Taken on its own Doctor No is a nice, taut, suspenseful movie with some wonderful performances from its leads. New York actor Joseph Wiseman is particularly chilling as the title character with his metal hands (some disfigurement or quirk has since become a necessity for Bond villains). Taken as the initial outing in a franchise the movie is a low-key effort that ably sets the stage for the films that were to follow. Today this movie rarely tops people's lists as a favorite in the series, but that is largely because in the ensuing years the Bond series came to mean spectacle and special effects, often at the expense of good storytelling.
Initially released on DVD in the cardboard snapper cases with only Bond trivia to complement it, in 2000 MGM did the movie justice by reissuing it as a special edition with improved video and audio and a nice collection of extra's. For the time the Bond special editions were considered the "cream of the crop" as far as DVD releases were concerned.
Here we have an audio commentary which is comprised of spliced together interviews from earlier - many behind the camera had since passed on including director Terence Young. Added to that is a documentary on the making of the movie including on-camera interviews, some archival and some new and a documentary on the aforementioned director. Rounding out the set us the usual collection of promotional material.
An easy movie and DVD to recommend.
On a sidenote - work is currently underway by Lowry Digital to restore this movie, if audio and video is of primary importance to you then you might want to wait until that is released in 2006.
Interesting only as the Debut for Connery and the Franchise - FROM RUSSIA is much better to start with!
Dr. No is indeed the original film - and people will often defend an original, no matter what. But this film is ultimately slow, painfully outdated, and downright silly in parts - combined to be one of the least entertaining entry in the series. I give it cred for being the inaugural film, but that's as far as I go.
The main issues here is that the film just belongs to a different time, when audiences didn't expect big explosions, lavish car chases, and intriguing villains. This movie is mainly focused on introducing us to Bond and his world - it sets him up as walking the line between mysoginy and sexual addiction - it introduces us to his cold-blooded nature - and it shows us MI6 and, most importantly for the Connery years, sets up SPECTRE and SMERSH. It also introduces us to two of the four types of Bond girls - unconvertable bad girls and innocent girls - (the other two are convertable bad girls and throw-away girls, both of which will be introduced in the next two films). We meet Felix Leiter, Moneypenny, and M for the first time. Finally, it shows us the exotic nature of the Bond settings that will wisk us round the world over the next 20 adventures.
But, for all this set-up, the overall film is lackluster at best. Aside from some interesting "hidden island lair" action near the end, most of the film is very talky. The most painful to watch scenes involve a car chase that is almost entirely shoot against a green screen (which was not very polished in the 60s) and the campy 60s "hi-tech" look of men in full plastic radiation suits.
I think the moment that really hits home to me is when Bond has a tarantula crawling on his shoulder (you can see the glass separating the two) and then finally throws it to the floor. He lunges at it and hammers it with his shoe five or six times as the orchestra dramatically accentuates each hit. Connery's hair flop all over the place - it's just a very disheveled moment for Bond - very 50s . . . it just kills the whole movie.
I realize this is a hallowed film to fans - but I just have to say that FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is a far better film to begin the series with!
To own Goldfinger (1964) on digital video disc is to have at your fingertips the proof that Sean Connery is the definitive James Bond. Dry as ice, dripping with deadpan witticisms, only Connery's Bond would dare disparage the Beatles, that other 1964 phenomenon. No one but Connery can believably seduce women so effortlessly, kill with almost as much ease, and then pull another bottle of Dom Perignon '53 out of the fridge. Goldfinger contains many of the most memorable scenes in the Bond series: gorgeous Shirley Eaton (as Jill Masterson) coated in gold paint by evil Auric Goldfinger and deposited in Bond's bed; silent Oddjob, flipping a razor-sharp derby like a Frisbee to sever heads; our hero spread-eagle on a table while a laser beam moves threateningly toward his crotch.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sean Connery - Honor Blackman - Gert Fröbe Director(s): Guy Hamilton DVD Release Date: Released the 22 October 2002 This item is currently not available.
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From Russia With Love (FRWL) is one of the 2 James Bond movies I would give 6 stars out of five if I could. Goldfinger is the other. Extremely well done movie and not just a great Bond movie but a great movie in its own right. Terence Young superbly directs an excellent cast. FRWL is only the 2nd Bond movie of the series but Connery makes it look like he's an old hand at playing 007. He has the emotions, the toughness and the dry wit down perfectly. Robert Shaw is spectacular as the henchman Red Grant. I really could believe him as a sociopath. Lotte Lenya turns in a suberb performance as Rosa Klebb, a former Soviet agent now working for the worldwide ciminal organization, SPECTRE. Pedro Armendariz almost steals the show as the larger than life Karim Bey. The train fight is perfectly... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sean Connery - Lotte Lenya - Robert Shaw Director(s): Terence Young DVD Release Date: Released the 17 October 2000 THIS TITLE IS CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE. If you would like to purchase this title, we recommend that you occasionally check this page to see if it has become available.
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James Bond's fourth adventure takes him to the Bahamas, where a NATO warplane with a nuclear payload has disappeared into the sea. Bond (Sean Connery) travels from a tony health spa (where he tangles with a mechanized masseuse run amuck) to the casinos of Nassau and soon picks up the trail of SPECTRE's number-two man, Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), and his beautiful mistress, Domino (Claudine Auger), whom Bond soon seduces to his side. Equipped with more gadgets than ever, courtesy of the resourceful "Q" (Desmond Llewelyn), agent 007 escapes an ambush with a personal-size jet pack and takes to the water as he searches for the undersea plane, battles Largo's pet sharks, and finally leads the battle against Largo's scuba-equipped henchmen in a spectacular underwater climax. This thrilling Bond... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sean Connery - Claudine Auger Director(s): Terence Young DVD Release Date: Released the 19 October 1999 This item is currently not available.
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The film boasts the best of the Bond title songs (this one sung on a dreamy track by Nancy Sinatra), but the movie itself is one of the weaker ones of the Sean Connery phase of the 007 franchise. The story concerns an effort by the evil organization SPECTRE to start a world war, but the not-so-super villain behind the plot is the awfully civilized Donald Pleasence. The thin script is by Roald Dahl (shouldn't we have expected a better Bond nemesis from the creator of mad genius Willy Wonka?), and direction is by British veteran Lewis Gilbert (Alfie). But the movie can't hold a candle to Dr. No, From Russia with Love, or Goldfinger. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sean Connery - Akiko Wakabayashi Director(s): Lewis Gilbert (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 17 October 2000 This item is currently not available.
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Sean Connery retired from the 007 franchise after You Only Live Twice (replaced by George Lazenby in the underrated and underperforming On Her Majesty's Secret Service) but was lured back for one last official appearance as James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever. He's in fine form--cool but ruthless--in a sharp precredits sequence hunting the unkillable Blofeld (a suavely menacing Charles Gray in this incarnation), but the MacGuffin of a story (involving diamond smuggling, a superlaser on a satellite, and Blofeld's latest plot to rule the world ) is full of the groaning tongue-in-cheek gags that Roger Moore would make his signature. Goldfinger director Guy Hamilton keeps the film zipping along gamely from one entertaining set piece to another, including a terrific... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sean Connery - Jill St. John Director(s): Guy Hamilton DVD Release Date: Released the 17 October 2000 This item is currently not available.
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