The billion dollar Bond. Skyfall marks 007’s 50th anniversary in existence on the big screen and I think you can say things turned out pretty well. The picture is the first in the series to earn over one billion dollars worldwide. It’s the first entry that garnered serious talk as to whether it would receive a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. It did not.

Nevertheless, from a financial standpoint, Skyfall has put the series in uncharted territory and helped solidify Daniel Craig as a 007 for the ages. So, how is the movie??

Well, it begins with one of the greatest opening sequences in the series: a rousing, go-for-broke action set piece with 007 engaging in a chase in a car, on a motorcycle, and on a train. He is assisted by Eve (Naomie Harris), a fellow agent. The 13 minute opener concludes with M (Judi Dench) ordering Eve to take a difficult shot as Bond battles a baddie atop the train. It doesn’t end well. Bond is shot and plummets to the water, presumed dead.

We move on to the title credits and one of the best Bond theme songs (I ranked it #4). The marriage of a Bond theme and British singer Adele sounded like a natural fit when it was announced. It is. My apologies, with the recent “newness” of the film, there is no high quality version of the actual title credits I could find. Here is the official music video:

After Bond’s plunge off the train, M is forced to write his obituary and the agent is left on his own on an island with a female companion and a lot of alcohol. Meanwhile, all hell is breaking loose in London. An unseen villain has stolen a list of every NATO agent embedded in terrorist organizations and threatening to post the information publicly. M is getting blamed for the latest mishaps by the British government and is told her “voluntary retirement” will come soon by Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), an operative in the intelligence services. Matters take an even more awful turn for the worse when MI6 headquarters in bombed.

This all leads to 007 coming back to help, but he’s told he must first be cleared for active duty. The wounded Bond actually fails all his tests, both the physical and psychological portions. M clears him anyway. She trusts him. The psych evaluation is of particular interest, since one word (Skyfall) seems to set Bond on edge.

Once he is cleared, 007 is sent to meet with the new Quartermaster… yes, a new “Q”, played by the young Ben Whishaw. His first scene with Bond provides some humor, just as Desmond Llewelyn’s interplay with Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, and Brosnan usually did. The Bond/Q meeting sheds some light on the new reality of 007’s world. There’s really no fancy gadgets anymore. Just the essentials. He gets a gun that only he can fire and a radio.

Bond follows the train suspect who stole that important covert list to Shanghai. This leads to a very cool fight scene at a high rise. The lighting in the scene is of particular coolness.

We move on to Macau as 007 keeps following leads to get to the shadowy main villain. Here, we have a memorable casino sequence. Again, I reiterate that it should be required for every picture in the series to have a casino scene. Mission accomplished here! Bond meets Severine (Berenice Marlohe), who’s working for the main villain. 007 figures out that she was sold into a child slavery ring at an early age and wants to break out of her horrible existence. She agrees to help him if he promises to kill the unknown head bad guy. Severine’s character is a good one and I actually thought she was given too little screen time. The casino sequence ends with more terrific action, as Bond fights some henchman in a pit that happens to have a komodo dragon in it.

Severine does lead 007 to who he (and we as an audience) have been looking for. Turns out our villain is Silva (Javier Bardem), an ex-agent who’s behind all the mayhem. Silva was left for dead in a mission years ago by M and he has plans to repay her. Bond meets Silva at a deserted island that the villain has commandeered. Their initial meeting is a wonderful scene. It takes just this sequence together for us, as an audience, to know that Silva is one unique villain. And also one of the finest villains in the Bond franchise.

Like in the first picture, 1962’s Dr. No, the introduction of Silva comes nearly halfway through the proceedings, at the 70 minute mark. Unlike Dr. No, where the villain didn’t have much time to make an impression, it is far different with Silva. First off, Oscar winner Javier Bardem is just an amazing actor. Silva embodies the finest qualities of a great Bond villain: you believe he can go toe-to-toe with Bond and his schemes are slightly exaggerated and crazy. Bardem’s Silva is in the grand tradition of Goldfinger, Blofeld, and others. Whereas neither villain in Craig’s first two entries was of particular note, Silva is a classic character and Bardem’s performance is astonishing. Silva is captured (it turns out he wanted it to happen) and he reveals to M what the cyanide capsule he bit into when she left him hanging out to dry did to him. Creepy stuff, my friends.

Of course, Silva escapes and this leads to Bond’s most personal mission yet: protecting M. The two are on the run together and we end up at 007’s childhood home… a mansion in Scotland called Skyfall. We’ve always known Bond was an orphan, but we certainly hear more details on his life than ever before. We meet the gatekeeper at the home, played by Albert Finney (who is always good). And we experience a final battle between Bond and Silva at the estate that has major consequences on the future of the series.

Judi Dench is making her seventh appearance as M. This includes the four Brosnans and the three Craigs. It is with the Daniel Craig movies that her character became even more integral to the stories. Her relationship with Bond has been a focal point. The rapport of Craig and Dench is magnificent. For their characters, it isn’t just a boss/employee dynamic. She recruited him. She trusts his judgment. And he trusts her. Bond could have ended up like Silva, but his love of country, duty, and (yes) M prevented that. The unique dynamic between these two characters reaches its crescendo in Skyfall. There are tragic results and yet it feels right.

Being that it’s Bond 50th anniversary, we do get some nice nods to past features. Most notably, we see the beloved Aston Martin yet again. Bond at one point utters the line “I must be dreaming”, a nod to the famous introduction of Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. 

However, in many ways, Skyfall is a unique and different Bond film. It has the distinction of being the first entry directed by an Oscar winner, Sam Mendes (winner for American Beauty, he also directed Road to Perdition and Jarhead). Veterans screewriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are joined by John Logan, screenwriter of Gladiator. The action scenes are at a high level… we see that $200 million dollars on screen.

Yet Skyfall sometimes feels like a smaller film, interestingly enough. There is more concentration on the Bond-M relationship than ever before. The extended climax at Bond’s boyhood home is free of any fancy gadgets… it’s just 007 fighting the villains with an old rifle and things he found around the house.

There are other sequences where I felt the influence of a current popular director, Christopher Nolan. Thomas Newman’s score sounds occasionally derivative of Nolan’s Dark Knight series. A scene where M is testifying in a hearing with her voice over reading a poem as Silva and his henchman wreak havoc seems like something straight out of Nolan. I know some Bond fanatics may not like reading this, but Nolan’s influence here is undeniable in my view. That’s not necessarily a bad thing either, but some of it feels like it doesn’t belong in a Bond movie.

By the end of Skyfall, we see that the series is moving in a new direction. SPOILER ALERT: M dies, Mallory becomes the new M, and it turns out fellow agent Eve’s last name is Moneypenny.

We have all grown to appreciate just how wonderful Daniel Craig is as Bond. It’s hard to believe now that his casting was originally met with skepticism and derision. Bardem is one of the greatest Bond villains ever. Dench is fabulous in her final appearance.

I do have some minor quibbles, as usual. The finale at Skyfall does feel strangely anticlimactic at times and goes on too long. Even though Eve is apparently the main Bond girl here, her character doesn’t make much of an impression and the other girl, Severine, is a good character not given enough time to shine.

None of this hides the fact that Skyfall delivers on the promise that Casino Royale set up for future Daniel Craig pictures in a way that Quantum of Solace did not. However, it is not quite the masterpiece that Casino Royale was. It’s a near masterpiece. And that puts it in a small company of other Bond entries, near the top of the list of 23 007 pictures in the first half century of the franchise.

Here are the facts:

Film: Skyfall

U.S. Release Date: November 9, 2012

Director: Sam Mendes

Screenplay: John Logan, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade

Bond: Daniel Craig

Main Bond Villain: Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem)

Main Bond Girl: Eve (Naomie Harris)

Theme Song: “Skyfall” – performed by Adele

Budget: $200 million

Worldwide Box Office: $1.1 billion

My James Bond blog series will return with The 007 Files: Spectre

Keeping with my theme of wrapping up “The 007 Files” with the release of Skyfall on Blu Ray tomorrow and the fact that I’ve watched all 23 official Bond films in a very short amount of time, today we add my (00) 7 Best Bond Girls.

Of course, this is just my personal opinion and I’m sure 007 lovers might strenuously disagree with my picks, but here they are. Please note that this list does not include female Bond villains… there’s going to be another blog post for greatest villains later this week. These are the officials “Bond girls” who wanna love James, not fight him.

Without further adieu, my picks for the seven greatest women in 007’s life.

7. Octopussy (Maud Adams) in Octopussy

Ms. Adams actually has the distinction of playing two totally different Bond gals, once in 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun and here, as the title character in 1983’s Roger Moore entry. Her character is pretty badass and she even has a totally hot army of women she trains.

6. Teresa di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg) in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

I am standing firm in my belief that OHMSS is pretty damn overrated (some consider it the best Bond film… not this guy). However, the movie does have the distinction of having Rigg’s character, referred to as Tracy, being the first gal to steal 007’s heart. He even marries her! The marriage, alas, is extraordinarily short-lived. Rigg, well-known from the TV series “The Avengers”, is a bright spot in an otherwise very uneven Bond flick.

5. Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) in Goldfinger

She certainly has a memorable name and is considered by many to be Bond’s greatest girl. I wouldn’t go quite that far, but Blackman gives a winning performance in one of the very best 007 pictures. Bond’s introduction to her is a classic.

4. Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) in The Spy Who Loved Me

Roger Moore’s best 007 movie has the best girl he got to romance, KGB agent Anya. Barbara Bach’s performance is average, but it’s the dynamic of her character with Bond that makes her interesting. It seems James killed her boyfriend on a previous mission (something Anya doesn’t discover until later in the picture). The backstory between 007 and Anya is well-written and gives Bach a role to play that’s not your typical Bond gal.

3. Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) in From Russia with Love

Tatiana is the second main Bond gal and she’s a great one. Stunningly beautiful, Daniela Bianchi has a wonderful chemistry with Sean Connery. Her character is also notable for a memorable scene in which leered at by Rosa Klebb, the main villain. The homosexual undertones were pretty darn risque for 1963.

2. Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in Casino Royale

Vesper, played in a fine performance from Eva Green, makes Bond fall the hardest he has for any girl since that brief marriage 27 years before (in movie release time). Daniel Craig’s chemistry with Green is wonderful. We actually believe he’d want to quit MI6 to be with her.

1. Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) in Dr. No

Just because Dr. No is the first 007 picture doesn’t mean it’s the best (it’s not) or has the best villain (it doesn’t). But I’ll be damned if it doesn’t have the best girl with Ursula Andress playing Honey Ryder, whose entrance coming out of the ocean is legendary. Is her character particularly fascinating? Truthfully, no. Andress is absolutely gorgeous, though, and her interplay with Connery works quite well. This is the Bond gal that all others are measured against. Some others have come very close, but not quite Ursula territory.

Followers of my blog are aware that I’ve been blogging on each and every James Bond film with my thoughts on them all for the past month and a half. It will culminate this week when Skyfall is released on Blu Ray. Following my blog post on that picture, I will write a post ranking every 007 movie from #1 to #23.

In the meantime, all that Bond watching has given me an opportunity to hear every James Bond theme song that plays over the opening credits. So today seems like an appropriate time to share with you my favorites of the 007 theme songs… and even it’s even more appropriate to pick seven of them. So without further adieu, the (00) 7 Best James Bond Theme Songs picked by yours truly.

7. “Diamonds Are Forever” – performed by Shirley Bassey

This is not Shirley Bassey’s first James Bond theme song or her last (she would return for 1979’s Moonraker). While her first 007 theme will rank higher, this song is a memorable Bond theme… and be used later in a Kanye West sample. Great work from Bassey, though not quite her best.

6. “You Only Live Twice” – performed by Nancy Sinatra

From the Chairman of the Board’s daughter comes this lush theme. It definitely sticks in your head and was sampled later by Robbie Williams for his terrific song “Millenium”. 

5. “A View to a Kill” – performed by Duran Duran

Not one of the best 007 movies, but definitely a fantastic theme song. Performed by Duran Duran (a “boy” band who happened to make brilliant pop music in the 80s), this happens to be the only Bond theme I’ve seen performed live.

4. “Skyfall” – performed by Adele

There was a long break between great theme songs… about twenty seven years to be exact between A View to a Kill and this. There were some decent ones (The World Is Not Enough by Garbage, You Don’t Know My Name from Casino Royale by Chris Cornell) and some bad to mediocre ones (Sheryl Crow’s Tomorrow Never Dies, Madonna’s Die Another Day). With the 2012 Bond and Skyfall, the marriage of Adele and Bond theme seemed like a perfect idea the moment it was announced. And it was.

3. “Nobody Does It Better” – performed by Carly Simon

From one of the very best Bond pictures, 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me, comes this classic Bond theme. With its wonderful piano arrangement and Carly Simon’s vocals, this epitomizes what’s special about 007 music.

2. “Live and Let Die” – performed by Paul McCartney and Wings

Seems like a natural fit to have someone from Britain’s most famous band do a theme song for Britain’s most famous film character. The result is this classic song.

1. “Goldfinger” – performed by Shirley Bassey

The theme song that every other Bond song is measured against… and there’s a reason for it. From the moment those classic strings come in and Shirley Bassey starts singing, “Goldfinger” takes its place as the quintessential 007 tune.

So there you have it – my favorite 007 theme songs! My thoughts on Skyfall are coming soon, my friends, along with my ultimate rankings of all 007 movies!

Quantum of Solace, the 22nd entry in the 007 franchise and Daniel Craig’s second as Bond, is likely destined to forever be known as “the one between Casino Royale and Skyfall.” Frankly, it’s easy to see why. While the picture has its moments, it simply doesn’t hold a candle to its predecessor or follow-up.

The film breaks the tradition of all entries that came before it: Quantum is a direct sequel to Casino Royale. It continues the story of 007 going after further bad guys who were ultimately responsible for events that unfolded in Casino Royale. We pick up right where the predecessor left off with the opening sequence and a car chase with Mr. White (who Bond captured at Casino‘s close) locked up in the trunk.

For the theme song, we get two immensely talented artists, Jack White and Alicia Keys, performing “Another Way to Die”. It’s not bad, but it’s a forgettable tune that should have been better, considering the players involved.

Considering the movie is a direct sequel, the mission for Bond is personal this time around. He’s searching for the people responsible for the death of Vesper, who Bond fell in love with in Casino Royale. 

This leads 007 to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), the head of a shady organization known as Quantum. He has dastardly plans to control the water supply in Bolivia. If that sounds like kind of a weak plot line, it kind of is. As an audience, we simply aren’t invested much in it and the character of Greene is not one of the stronger villains, even though Amalric’s performance is solid.

Our main Bond girl also isn’t terribly interesting. Played by the lovely Olga Kurylenko, Bolivian agent Camille Montes is also on a personal mission. Her family was killed by General Medrano, a secondary villain. Her story isn’t very fleshed out and she doesn’t make much of an impression. I found myself much preferring the secondary Bond gal, MI6 agent Strawberry Fields (in a good performance from Gemma Arterton) and wished she would have been the main Bond female character. Unfortunately, she doesn’t make it the whole way and her demise is a nice nod to 1964’s Goldfinger.

We also have Judi Dench back in her sixth go-round as M and Jeffrey Wright reprising his Casino role as Felix Leiter. Also back: Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis, who helps out Bond for a final time.

Of course, there are a whole lot of action sequences. Quantum is directed by Marc Forster, most known for his work in 2001’s Monster’s Ball and 2004’s Finding Neverland. I actually found Forster’s direction for many of the action-oriented scenes a little lacking, with some of the scenes being too jumpy and others just typical fare. There are exceptions: the scene at the opera house is extremely well-done. It is definitely one of the picture’s high points.

Quantum of Solace has the interesting distinction of being the shortest Bond ever. While most entries clock in at over two hours, this one runs a quick 106 minutes. This makes sense because it illustrates my main criticism: there’s just not a lot of there there. The plot isn’t that good, the characters aren’t fleshed out, and the action sequences that get us from point A to point B are a mixed bag.

Journalists had a lot of fun with this film’s rather strange title. Starting with Goldeneye, Bond makers had to start coming up with their own names (after the majority of Ian Fleming titles were used up). This meant some generic ones in the Brosnan era – think Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, and Die Another Day. This one isn’t too great either but I suppose it sounds better than Amount of Consolation or Portion of Comfort. 

While critics and audiences experienced an understandable letdown here, it’s box office numbers didn’t suffer. Quantum of Solace earned $586 million worldwide, just slightly under Casino‘s haul. It took in $168 million in the United States, barely edging its predecessor’s $167 million domestic take.

Quantum has some decent moments but is missing a key element that made Casino Royale such a rousing success. While this film maintains the serious and gritter tone of Casino, it fails to put in the sense of fun that was also present in the first Craig feature. And while it’s certainly watchable and moves along pretty briskly, its reputation as a disappointing follow-up to a great film is deserved.

Here are the facts:

Film: Quantum of Solace

U.S. Release Date: November 14, 2008

Director: Marc Forster

Screenplay: Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade

Bond: Daniel Craig

Main Bond Villain: Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric)

Main Bond Girl: Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko)

Theme Song: “Another Way to Die” – performed by Jack White and Alicia Keys

Budget: $200 million

Worldwide Box Office: $586 million

My James Bond blog series will return in “The 007 Files: Skyfall”

After 44 years and 20 films, the makers of the James Bond franchise decided to go in a bold and brave direction by reinventing the series with 2006’s Casino Royale. To put it in proper perspective, 2002’s Die Another Day, the fourth 007 pic starring Pierce Brosnan, wound up being the highest grosser of the series.

It would have been an easy choice to do at least one or two more features with Brosnan, who probably would have been game for the job. Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson chose to go in another direction and finally bring Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel to the big screen. By doing so, Casino Royale would essentially be a reboot of the series. Due to that, it meant Pierce Brosnan was out and a new 007 would have to be found. If you’re asking yourself why Fleming’s first novel hadn’t been made as an official Bond film, good question. The answer involves a lengthy, protracted battle over the rights to the book, which Fleming signed away before the “official” Bond films began. This actually resulted in Casino Royale being made into a 1954 TV movie and as a badly received 1967 007 spoof with an all-star cast that included Peter Sellers and Woody Allen. The entire history of the Bond producers finally gaining back the rights to the property is explained in great detail in an extra feature on the DVD/Blu Ray. If you own it, I’d strongly encourage you to watch it. It’s fascinating stuff.

As always, the search for a new 007 was the subject of much gossip. Actors like Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale, and Hugh Jackman were talked about. Ultimately, producers turned to Daniel Craig, who had a nice little career going with roles in Road to Perdition, Layer Cake, and Munich. It may be hard to remember now, but the casting of Craig was not met with major enthusiasm. A blond Bond?!?!?! Beyond that, while he certainly showed acting chops in his previous work, there was high uncertainty as to whether he would fit into 007’s shoes, Aston Martin, and tuxedo.

After endless media speculation, audiences got their answer in November 2006. The opening scene of Casino Royale immediately informs us that we’re in true reboot mode, as Bond kills a turncoat MI6 section chief. This is his second kill as an agent and we see black&white flashbacks of his first. The significance of this? His two kills earns James Bond “00” status. This brief introductory scene is electrifying for two reasons: first, it’s just a well-written and action packed sequence. Second, it puts the audience in great anticipation of something we’ve never seen before in the franchise… an origin story.

Casino Royale is the first Bond picture to not open with the famous shot of 007 through the cross hairs of a gun barrel. We don’t get that iconic shot until the end of the great three and a half minutes opening sequence.

The theme song is “You Know My Name” by Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell. It’s a decent harder edged rock track that doesn’t rank with the best Bond songs, but is also not among the worst.

The action moves to Uganda, where we’re introduced to the main villain, Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), an international banker who funds the world’s top terrorist organizations. The scenes in Uganda provide us with an absolutely incredible action set piece with Bond battling a baddie at a construction site and at an embassy where 007 likely violates several international laws. When Bond figures out he can’t take his prisoner out of the embassy, he uses his licence to kill. The tone is set early: our new Bond can be a ruthless badass if need be.

When Casino Royale moves to the Bahamas (nice touch), Bond uses a bad guy’s wife to get some information in typical fashion. We also get a shot of 007 coming out of the ocean that is reminiscent of Ursula Andress in Dr. No, though I suspect this particular shot pleased the series female fans to a higher degree. Additionally, as has been tradition when a new 007 is introduced, he takes the Aston Martin for a spin. Casino Royale has great moments of humor as well. A personal favorite is when a hotel guest mistakes Bond for a parking attendant and 007 obliges his request while not leaving his vehicle in pristine condition.

The events in the Bahamas lead Bond to Miami and we witness yet another fabulous action scene. This time, it’s 007 stopping the bad guys from blowing up the largest commercial jetliner in the world. Bond’s smile at the end of this sequence when he knows he’s got the best of the bad guy is priceless.

All of this truly exciting action takes place just in the first hour and looking back, I marveled at how fast-paced Casino Royale‘s first act is. What follows for the next nearly 90 minutes is more of a deliberate pace. 

We begin with Bond’s introduction to Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), an agent of the treasury. She’s assigned to accompany 007 to Montenegro and keep an eye on him as he’s been entered in a high stakes poker tournament at Casino Royale. On the train where they meet, the audience immediately sees the spark between Bond and Vesper. This isn’t going to be your average Bond girl. Much of this is due to Green’s fine performance (we’ll get to Craig later).

This isn’t just any card game. It’s been put together by Le Chiffre with a $10 million dollar buy-in. The game is of extreme importance to the protagonist and the antagonist: Le Chiffre got screwed over financially when Bond stopped the airplane attack and is depending on the winnings to pay off clients or risk getting killed. If Bond doesn’t win the tournament, he’ll be directly responsible for financing international terrorism. In other words, not your average Saturday night poker game with your drinking buddies.

The poker tournament sequence is something to behold. It lasts over half an hour, but before you go thinking it’s like watching half an episode of the World Poker Tournament, not so fast. The sequence jumps back and forth between the tournament, breaks in the tournament, back to the tournament, and events taking place the following morning. We see Le Chiffre being threatened by his clients, Bond and Vesper battling bad guys, Bond getting poisoned, and, yes, a few poker hands. This whole sequence is a marvelous achievement in editing and screenwriting. Quite honestly, everything about it works.

I realize I’m going over the plot points of Casino Royale probably more than other Bond blog entries. I think I’m doing so because everything in the film seems worth mentioning because it works so damn well. I’ll hurry it up. We get a scene with Le Chiffre torturing Bond that’s quite memorable. Right before that, a great car chase where Bond is forced to crash his precious automobile.

Finally, we get to Bond falling heads over heels for Vesper. It is at this point when audiences might feel the picture beginning to drag a little. All of this takes place after our main bad guy is, well, out of the picture. Soon enough, though, we understand why the film is showing their love blossom. Not everything is at it seems. Vesper has ulterior motives. Bond learns this after he’s tendered his resignation with MI6. He figures out that if he doesn’t, he’ll never have a normal life where he’s capable of love and he decides that isn’t what he wants. This is heavy stuff for a Bond film, but the screenwriters handle it so well that it’s totally believable.

Furthermore, it is the wonderful performance of Daniel Craig that sells it. When he was cast as 007, many (including this blogger) didn’t know what to make of it. Casino Royale silenced all his critics. Big time. Craig is the best Bond since Sean Connery.

The whole cast is first-rate, from Green and Mikkelsen to Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter and Judi Dench, still getting it done as M. As Mathis, one of 007’s contacts who may or may not be on his side, Giancarlo Giannini does a fine job.

Martin Campbell, who kicked off the Brosnan era in Goldeneye, return to direct the start of the Craig era. Veterans Bond screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade return and are aided by Paul Haggis, screenwriter of the Oscar-winning Crash and many others.

Audiences and critics embraced the reinvention and it grossed just under $600 million worldwide.

When the Pierce Brosnan movies got underway after a long absence, we got a mix of previous 007s – a little Connery, a little Moore, a little Dalton. And for three films (excluding the disastrous Die Another Day), the formula worked fairly well.

Here we have something much different. Casino Royale is a reinvention. An origin story. It’s a bold decision by the Bond makers to have gone this route and it succeeds on a level that is truly unanticipated. It brings an energy to the Bond films unseen since Connery’s heyday.

And it still maintains nods to the old films that only a true Bond aficionado would cherish. The screenplay makes Bond more human than we’ve ever seen before (with the possible exception of the greatly inferior On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) and they pull it off and then some. We believe the romance between Bond and Vesper. And when it goes south, we understand that Bond’s likely future habits of not getting too close to anyone make a lot of sense.

Casino Royale is not a great Bond film. It’s a great film. I highly suspect it will rank high (very high) in my final rankings of 007 pictures.

Here are the facts:

Film: Casino Royale

U.S. Release Date: November 17, 2006

Director: Martin Campbell

Screenplay: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis

Bond: Daniel Craig

Main Bond Villain: Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen)

Main Bond Girl: Vesper Lynd (Eva Green)

Theme Song: “You Know My Name” – performed by Chris Cornell

Budget: $150 million

Worldwide Box Office: $599 million

My James Bond blog series will return in “The 007 Files: Quantum of Solace”

Die Another Day marks the 40th year in the Bond film franchise and it brings the series to a level it hasn’t reached since 1979’s Moonraker. And that, my friends, is anything but a compliment.

Pierce Brosnan’s fourth and final 007 adventure opens in North Korea with Bond being captured and held prisoner for 14 months, after a hovercraft chase and some business about conflict diamonds and weapons trade. During his captivity, we do get the strange sight of seeing Mr. Bond with long hair and a beard which is rather disconcerting.

We also have a title song by Madonna that is a bad techno concoction and totally out of place for a Bond theme. It ranks among the very worst Bond songs, which is appropriate considering the movie. The material girl also has a lame cameo as a fencing instructor.

After spending those 14 months being tortured, Bond is released after being traded for Zao (Rick Yune), the henchman of the son of the North Korean colonel that Bond kills in the opening sequence. Got that? I really don’t see a point explaining the plot because it’s utterly ridiculous even by Bond standards. It involves the North Korean colonel 007 thought he killed actually being alive because he did a face transplant and has actually taken the form of Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens), a billionaire entrepreneur. The face transplant stuff looks like something out of a really crappy sci-fi B-movie. Ugh.

For our Bond gals, we have Halle Berry as NSA agent Jinx. The casting of Berry was highly touted because the actress was fresh off winning an Oscar for Monster’s Ball. She is probably the most high-profile actress to be cast in a 007 adventure. And… she pretty much sucks in it and the character is poorly written. A particular low: Jinx yelling “Yo mama!” while a villain is torturing her. Ugh.

She looks good getting out of the water, though, in a scene meant to remind us of a good Bond film, Dr. No:

For a secondary Bond gal, we have Rosamund Pike playing Miranda Frost, an MI6 agent who is actually working with the bad guys. Her performance is just OK and there’s nothing particularly interesting about her character either.

Weak performances are the norm in Die Another Day. Without strong material to work with, Brosnan goes through the motions. Toby Stephens is one of the least interesting Bond villains and his acting is atrocious in some scenes. For the finale, he battles Bond in something resembling a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers outfit. Ugh.

Michael Madsen shows up for some reason, but has very little to do as a U.S. agent. The character of Zao, with his disfigured face, is just a strange character and Rick Yune does little to make him interesting.

I want to find something good to say, so there’s a sword fight between Bond and Graves that’s well-choreographed and pretty entertaining.

The scene with our new Q (John Cleese) is decent as well. We see a lot of the old gadgets from earlier pictures which is a nice touch, but it does remind of better Bond entries… which is just about all of them. Bond gets an invisible car here, which sounds cool but really isn’t.

I’ll try to be mercifully brief with the rest of this entry. Other than those couple of compliments, Die Another Day fails on every level. It even fails on unexpected levels. Most notable is the completely horrible and I mean horrible special effects and CG shots that we witness. It’s embarrassing. CG technology was developing in 2002, but that’s no excuse. Some of the action scenes, particularly in the final half hour, look terrible and that’s something you could never say about 007 movies before this one. I actually found myself laughing unintentionally at the shoddy effects shots. Ugh.

The last portion of the movie takes place at the Ice Palace, a garish example of production design that serves as Gustav’s lair. Even in lesser Bond entries, I usually compliment the production design. Not this time.

New director Lee Tamahori, who made the critically acclaimed 1994 indie darling Once Were Warriors, fills the movie with weird slo-mo shots mixed with jump cuts and quick zooms. It’s a bad directing job; the worst I’ve witnessed in the franchise.

The script, by Brosnan pic vets Neil Purvis and Robert Wade, gives us a dumb plot and lame dialogue. Because its Bond’s 40th anniversary, they put in a lot of references to earlier pictures. Like I’ve stated, that succeeds in reminding us of better days and greater viewing experiences.

Inexplicably, Die Another Day went on to become the highest grossing Bond picture yet. I saw in the theater so I’m guilty of contributing to its big gross. I’m sorry.

I could go on and on complaining. You get the idea. Pierce Brosnan had three decent 007 entries before this. It’s a shame he went out on this note. I saw someone on a website once describe James Bond films as like pizza… even when it’s bad, it’s good. For the vast majority of 007 pictures, that holds very true.

However, I have had bad pizza on rare occasions. And there is such thing as a bad Bond film. It’s called Die Another Day.

Here are the facts:

Film: Die Another Day

U.S. Release Date: November 22, 2002

Director: Lee Tamahori

Screenplay: Neal Purvis and Robert Wade

Bond: Pierce Brosnan

Main Bond Villain: Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens)

Main Bond Girl: Giacinta ‘Jinx’ Johnson (Halle Berry)

Theme Song: “Die Another Day” – performed by Madonna

Budget: $142 million

Worldwide Box Office: $431.9 million

My James Bond blog series will return in “The 007 Files: Casino Royale”

The World Is Not Enough, the final 007 entry of the 20th century, is a mixed bag of an experience. It’s a little better than its general reputation and the film’s shortcomings (Denise Richards and more) have been highlighted much greater than its strengths.

The picture opens with the longest pre-title credit sequence in the series history (14 minutes). It’s an action sequence involving boats and a hot air balloon. With its outrageous and very fun stunt choreography, this opener actually felt more reminiscent of the Roger Moore entries. Most importantly, the sequence brings in the main plot when a close friend of M’s, a wealthy oil tycoon is killed.

As for the title track, Garbage does the honors here and it’s a pretty decent tune and definitely the best so far in the Brosnan films, being a definite improvement over the Tina Turner and Sheryl Crow tracks.

Bond actually sustains some injuries from all the spy work in the beginning, but of course he’s cleared for duty when he, um, convinces his female doctor. He is soon tasked with protecting the daughter of the slain oil tycoon. She is Elektra King (Sophie Marceau), who has a fascinating history as having once been a kidnap victim of the picture’s villain, Renard (Robert Carlyle). Renard is an interesting character himself… he’s got a bullet lodged in his brain that makes him impervious to pain. 007 and Elektra (and therefore Brosnan and Marceau) have a terrific on-screen chemistry. And Elektra is not all that she seems. Spoiler alert: she actually turns out to be the film’s main villain. She orchestrated her father’s demise and is hellbent on using her inherited oil empire to do really bad things (I could explain further, but it’s not all that important). I found Elektra to be one of the better female characters in the Bond franchise and Marceau puts in an effective performance. The dynamic with her and 007 is a major strong point.

It’s the other Bond girl here that got a lot of negative publicity. That would be Denise Richards, of Starship Troopers and Wild Things, as Dr. Christmas Jones (yep), a nuclear physicist helping James out on his mission. Yes, I used Denise Richards and nuclear physicist in the same sentence. There’s not a lot to be said about her character that hasn’t already been said… and little of it is positive. She’s a pretty girl and I don’t want to pick on anyone too hard that had to be married to Charlie Sheen, but Denise is not a very strong actress. And watching her spout lines like “THE HYDROGEN GAS LEVEL IS TOO HIGH!” is both wince and laugh inducing. Her name does allow 007 for a classic one-liner: “I thought Christmas only comes once a year.” Oh, James.

Robert Carlyle is a good actor and is effective as Renard, even if Elektra is the real show as the villain. Robbie Coltrane’s ex KGB agent character from Goldeneye makes a welcome return. Judi Dench definitely gets more screen time than ever as M and she’s always good. Brosnan, it should go without saying, is in fine form per usual.

And on a sad note, The World Is Not Enough marks Desmond Llewelyn’s final appearance as Q. It seemed the actor knew he was retiring after World because his character is also hanging it up in the film and “Monty Python” star John Cleese joins here as his replacement. Tragically, just days after this picture opened, Llewelyn was killed in an auto accident at age 85. Here he is briefing 007 for the last time, followed by a wonderful video tribute from the Bond 50 collection:

Director Michael Apted, known more for dramas like Coal Miner’s Daughter and Nell, does a perfectly suitable job here. And while the action sequences are first-rate, other than the opening scene, none of them really stuck out in my mind. We get another 007 on skis scene that isn’t as great as some others we’ve seen.

The World Is Not Enough is definitely too long and the climax drags quite a bit especially. Yes, Denise Richards and her character are silly and distracting. In all honesty, though, she’s no worse than, say, Tanya Roberts in A View to a Kill. On the other hand, a lot of the plot elements involving Elektra were very well-handled and I tremendously enjoyed those aspects.

So, back to where I started… a mixed bag, much like previous entry Tomorrow Never Dies. And also like its predecessor, it was an enormous hit with $361 million worldwide and $126 million domestically, further solidifying audiences stamp of approval with Mr. Brosnan.

Here are the facts:

Film: The World Is Not Enough

U.S. Release Date: November 19, 1999

Director: Michael Apted

Screenplay: Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, and Bruce Feirstein

Bond: Pierce Brosnan

Main Bond Villain (s): Renard (Robert Carlyle) and Elekta King (Sophie Marceau)

Main Bond Girl: Christmas Jones (Denise Richards)

Theme Song: “The World Is Not Enough” – performed by Garbage

Budget: $135 million

Worldwide Box Office: $361.8 million

My James Bond blog series will return in “The 007 Files: Die Another Day”

After a very extended six and a half year lay-off between 007 entries, 1995’s Goldeneye brought Pierce Brosnan into the mix and returned the series to huge box office numbers and general critical and audience acclaim. Bond was back in a big way and so was the film schedule that fans had become accustomed to. The 18th picture, Tomorrow Never Dies, would follow Goldeneye two years later and continue Mr. Brosnan’s successful run as the British superspy.

The well-received Goldeneye would provide its follow-up with the largest Bond budget by an enormous margin. While Brosnan’s first entry set the record at $58 million, the budget for Tomorrow Never Dies would balloon to $110 million. Clearly, the series producers knew that Bond needed to compete with the other high-profile action pictures of the era that were budgeted at similar numbers.

The picture opens at a weapons bazaar along the Russian border that 007 infiltrates in grand fashion, culminating with Bond battling a baddie in an airplane he commandeered. It’s a nice start.

Not so solid is the film’s theme song, performed by Sheryl Crow. She’s a good musician but her vocal abilities just don’t translate too well to a Bond composition. This is one of the more forgettable theme songs in the franchise.

The plot of Tomorrow Never Dies is pretty straightforward. The bad guy is media and cable kingpin Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), a demented man who causes worldwide catastrophes in order to boost his ratings and solidify his empire. This includes sinking a British submarine along Chinese waters in an attempt to start World War III between the east and west. The plot itself is one of the movie’s problems. It’s a little silly and Pryce goes a bit too over-the-top. He’s a fine actor (check him out as a jilted sales customer in Glengarry Glen Ross), but he really hams it up here.

Bond is put on the case and it turns out he had a relationship with Carver’s wife, Paris (Teri Hatcher). He is told by M (Judi Dench, great as always) to use his previous dalliance with Paris as a way to infiltrate Elliot’s inner circle. As M puts it, if he must with Paris… “pump her for information”. 007 is sent along on his mission and picks up a new whip with the BMW 750, tricked out to the max.

Bond’s relationship with Paris is written differently than nearly all previous female encounters. We are given the impression that Bond was in love with Paris. At first, Mrs. Carver resists 007’s advances, but it turns out she’s a desperate housewife after all and she succumbs to his charm once again. The problem with this plot line: we never really understand why 007 fell hard for her of all women, especially since we know he’s had hundreds (thousands?) of these conquests in the past. This might be the producers attempt to make James more sensitive and less misogynistic, but it didn’t really work for me. Hatcher is fair in the role. However, the last time 007 really showed he was capable of real love is 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. In that film, the story line was more believable. Heck, we even got a montage scene with 007 and the future Mrs. Bond horseback riding and stuff while falling for each other. Here, the Bond/Paris love connection seems forced.

Turns out Paris is not the main Bond girl though. That honor goes to Colonel Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh), a Chinese superspy who helps 007 out on his mission. Her character does provide some fine moments in the picture, including when Bond learns she’s got just as many sweet gadgets as he does.

Of course, Tomorrow Never Dies has its share of large scale action set pieces. One of the best is Bond putting the BMW 750 to good use. A special feature of the vehicle: it can be operated by remote control and 007 puts that to good use.

Joe Don Baker makes a brief and welcome return as Bond’s CIA contact. The late Vincent Shiavelli (who you may recognize from the 1990 Patrick Swayze hit Ghost) is memorable as one of Carver’s assassins.

Journeyman director Roger Spottiswoode, maker of films as varied as 1972’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and 1989’s Turner and Hooch, is behind the camera here. He does a respectable job. One quibble: there’s a few uses of slow motion in the action scenes that seems out of place. Bruce Feirstein, one of four co-writers for Goldeneye, gets sole writing credit here.

One major improvement over Goldeneye: the score by David Arnold. While Brosnan’s first adventure had a mediocre musical score, newcomer Arnold fares much better with a soundtrack that hearkens back to John Barry’s classic compositions.

Tomorrow Never Dies is what I’d describe as a standard entry in the franchise. Most of the action works well and we certainly see the huge budget on the screen. I wasn’t a big fan of the villain and that was a drawback. The gimmicky plot hinders things a bit too. Still, it moves along and is highly watchable. Yeoh adds some nice moments, even if the character of secondary Bond girl Paris Carver seems unbelievable.

Audiences would continue to respond to Brosnan in the role with their dollars. Worldwide, Tomorrow Never Dies would earn slightly less than Goldeneye. In the States, however, it would earn $125 million, an improvement over its predecessor.

Here are the facts:

Film: Tomorrow Never Dies

U.S. Release Date: December 19, 1997

Director: Roger Spottiswoode

Screenplay: Bruce Feirstein

Bond: Pierce Brosnan

Main Bond Villain: Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce)

Main Bond Girl: Colonel Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh)

Theme Song: “Tomorrow Never Dies” – performed by Sheryl Crow

Budget: $110 million

Worldwide Box Office: $333 million

My James Blog blog series will return in “The 007 Files: The World Is Not Enough”

007 fans would experience a very long wait to see 1995’s Goldeneye, which kicks off the Pierce Brosnan era in Bond world. Before, the biggest gap between pictures was a two and a half year wait between 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun and 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me. Following the release of 1989’s Licence to Kill, financial difficulties from parent company MGM would tie up the series. The result? A nearly six and a half year wait between Licence and Goldeneye.

During that prolonged time period, a lot of questions were raised. Would the Bond series be relevant in the 1990s or would audiences see the character as a Cold War era relic? After all, the Berlin Wall came down and Communism basically ended during the long break. Would James Bond’s character, with his sexual proclivities and often cavalier attitude, translate to the nineties?

Another potential issue: 1989’s Licence to Kill was the lowest grossing 007 flick (when factoring inflation) in the franchise’s history. MGM’s problems led to scrapping a third Timothy Dalton installment that was to be called The Property of a Lady. The fact that the series had ended on such a soft financial note, especially in the United States, led to legitimate questions regarding Bond’s box office drawing power.

All these questions were talked about incessantly leading up to the release of Goldeneye. Pierce Brosnan, the “Remington Steele” star who was cast in 1986 but had to drop out due to TV commitments, was finally available to assume the 007 mantle. His casting was met with praise, even with so many unsure whether the series would remain successful.

First impressions mean a lot and the opening sequence of Goldeneye is fabulous, as we see Brosnan’s Bond in an awesome free fall to infiltrate a chemical weapons warehouse. This scene is set in 1986 and continues with 007 witnessing the murder of agent 006 Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean). The opening sequence concludes with a very nifty plane stunt.

This leads to title credits and theme song and here’s one with immense talent behind it: Tina Turner singing from a song written by Bono and The Edge. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty standard and uninspiring track.

Goldeneye picks up nine years later with a fun car chase sequence, involving a memorable secondary villain, Xenia Onatopp, played by Famke Janssen (who would move on to the X-Men series a few years later). The character of Onatopp is a sadist who gets turned on by shooting her weapons and murders some victims while in sexual situations with them.  The car chase also allows the return of the sweet Aston Martin, too!

The plot involves the stealing of a helicopter that can withstand an EMP (electro magnetic pulse). The plans of the baddies are eventually revealed as destroying the city of London and collapsing the world financial market. That main bond villain turns out to be the thought to be dead 006 himself Alec, now known as crime syndicate head Janus. This provides an interesting story for the villain, as he’s a former colleague and friend of 007. Bean, a fine actor, is quite good in the role. As mentioned before, Janssen certainly makes an impression and Alan Cumming (also in the X-Men flicks) has some humorous moments as a demented computer geek.

The main Bond girl is Natalya (Izabella Scorupco), a computer programmer who is the only survivor of an attack by the villains. Scorupco, while not one of the classic Bond gals, certainly holds her own with 007 and has she has good rapport with Brosnan.

Some of the secondary characters work. Joe Don Baker, who portrayed a villain in The Living Daylights, is back here as a totally different character. Here, he plays a CIA agent and his dialogue with Bond (referring to him as “Jimmy” and “Jimbo”) provides some decent comic relief. Robbie Coltrane shines in his scene as an ex KGB agent who helps out Bond. In Coltrane’s scene, his mistress (shown singing a terrible Karaoke version of “Stand By Your Man”) is played by Minnie Driver, two years before she became famous in Good Will Hunting. 

As for the series characters we expect to see, Samantha Bond (no relation) is the new Moneypenny and like Caroline Bliss from the Dalton films, she’s seen briefly and doesn’t make too much of an impression. While almost everything is new for 90s Bond, we do get the welcome sight of Desmond Llewelyn back as Q. The six year absence has noticeably aged the actor, but he’s terrific as always and has some great lines in his main scene (the lunch line in particular).

And, last but not least: M. Goldeneye begins the seven picture run of the incomparable Judi Dench as Bond’s boss. The character has changed. She doesn’t particularly care for 007 and his ways. M seems to think Bond is a Cold War relic who’s overstayed his welcome, much like many were wondering about the franchise itself. Dench’s M provides a real spark here.

The real star of Goldeneye is the action sequences. A personal favorite: 007 chasing baddies with a tank.

Pierce Brosnan is impressive in his debut. It helps that he just looks like James Bond should. He doesn’t have quite the menacing demeanor of Connery (and Dalton, as he started showing in Licence to Kill) or quite the comedic sensibilities of Moore. His Bond works somewhere in the middle because he’s capable of all those qualities to a certain degree. It’s a happy enough medium.

We have a lot of new people joining the series here. Director Martin Campbell provides a steady hand and he would return to the series later in a major way (we’ll get there soon). We also have four new screenwriters joining the mix. The James Bond compositions are usually first-rate (mostly due to John Barry), but this film’s score by newbie Eric Serra is disappointing. Another quibble: some occasionally poor special effects work (not something we’re used to with this franchise).

Goldeneye works for the most part and is a welcome return back. The writers seem to be purposely trying to get all the old Bond trademarks in from time to time while making it clear that it is a new Bond. Particular evidence of this is M’s referring to Bond as a dinosaur. Also, a humorous scene where an apparent villain wants Bond to immediately give up information. He responds: “No one takes the time to do a sinister interrogation anymore!” The self-referential jokes are handled pretty well.

Despite all the worries about the series coming back, they were quickly alleviated. Goldeneye was a smash hit, earning over $350 million worldwide, including $106 million in the U.S. Keep in mind that Licence to Kill, six years prior, made only $32 million domestically.

The makers of Goldeneye were successful in introducing Brosnan and reintroducing the character to the old and a new audience after the extended layoff. They do a commendable job. It’s worth noting that Goldeneye is the first Bond title to not be derived in one form or another from the works of Ian Fleming. However, Goldeneye was the name of Ian Fleming’s estate in Jamaica so it’s a nice little nod to the 007 author.

The film is a bit overlong (not uncommon, some things never change). I must confess that there were times where I had the feeling of watching all the Bond trademarks being systematically checked off. Some of it worked better than others. Goldeneye is unquestionably solid, but I didn’t find it quite as entertaining as other entries I admired. In the words of Winnie Cooper from “The Wonder Years”, I liked it. But, I didn’t really like it, like it.

Lastly, no blog post of the movie can be written without at least a passing mention of the video game. The N64 first-person shooter game was a smash success as well and is widely considered one of the greatest video games of all time. The film isn’t one of all-time best Bonds, but it’s fun enough while it lasts and has some truly great moments.

Here are the facts:

Film: Goldeneye

U.S. Release Date: November 17, 1995

Director: Martin Campbell

Screenplay: Michael France, Jeffrey Caine, Kevin Wade, and Bruce Feirstein

Bond: Pierce Brosnan

Main Bond Villain: Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean)

Main Bond Girl: Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco)

Theme Song: “Goldeneye” – performed by Tina Turner

Budget: $58 million

Worldwide Box Office: $352.1 million

My James Bond blog series will return in “The 007 Files: Tomorrow Never Dies”

Licence to Kill, the 16th installment of the 007 franchise and Timothy Dalton’s second and final outing as Bond, is perhaps the most underrated film in the series history. For many years, Bond lovers considered 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service the under appreciated picture of the bunch. That movie has since gained a reputation among a number of aficionados as one of the best. This, by the way, is not a sentiment I share. For my thoughts on that particular picture, my blog post is available on the site. Licence to Kill was a major commercial disappointment in the United States. It presented a much more intense 007 than we had seen before. It came out in a very crowded 1989 summer and got lost in the shuffle of blockbusters like Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Back to the Future Part II, and more. And it was the last Bond outing for an extended period of time due mostly to MGM’s financial difficulties. With all that negative energy surrounding Licence to Kill, it doesn’t alter what I took away from it… this is in the upper echelon of 007 pictures.

Let’s get the theme song handled first. It’s a pretty standard tune by Gladys Knight and it’s not among the Bond themes you’ll be humming along to later.

Onto the positive and there’s a lot of it. The film opens with Bond’s ally Felix Leiter getting married in Miami. Felix and Bond get word that the biggest and most wanted Latin American drug kingpin Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi) has been spotted in town. So they have to make a quick stop before the wedding to capture him. They nab him after an exciting action sequence.

Unfortunately, Sanchez isn’t kept in custody for long and after his escape, he enacts revenge on Felix and his new bride. That bride is played by Priscilla Barnes, who you may know as Terri from TV’s “Three’s Company”! She doesn’t make it too long in the picture and while Felix is not killed, he is fed to a hungry shark… and once again, the shark does not have a giant laser beam attached to its frickin head.

All of this messing with Felix and his bride makes Bond pissed off. Like, more pissed than we’ve ever seen him before. He makes it his mission to track down Sanchez and his army of bad guys, much to the chagrin of M. When M confronts Bond in Miami and tells him that the Americans will take care of the Sanchez case, 007 resigns. And unlike all other entries in the series to that point, this mission for Bond is strictly personal, adding a new and exciting dimension.

This eventually leads to Bond going undercover and befriending Sanchez, gaining access to the inner circle. Along the way, he teams up with CIA informant Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell), who serves as our main Bond girl.

The casting is first-rate across the board. Davi’s performance as Sanchez is terrific. I wasn’t timing it, but it seems like Sanchez has more screen time than any other Bond baddie I’ve seen before. He’s a well-written character and Davi shines as he’s given ample time to develop the character.

Carey Lowell is a solid Bond girl and her interplay with Dalton works well. As Davi’s girlfriend Lupe, Talisa Soto is given a few good moments. As Leiter, it’s nice to see actor David Hedison in the part, as he also played the character sixteen years earlier in Live and Let Die. This makes him the first (but not last) actor to play Felix more than once. As one of Sanchez’s sadistic henchman, we see a young and intense Benicio Del Toro! Even Desmond Llewelyn’s Q gets much more screen time than normal and he shines in a few scenes, as he always does.

Much like Dalton’s other entry, The Living Daylights, the plot incorporates current events into the story. While Daylights made use of the Russian/Afghan conflict in the 1980s, Licence to Kill focuses on the Latin American drug trade that was in the headlines at that time. Sanchez, in many ways, is a Noriega-like figure.

There is no doubt that Licence to Kill is a more somber and downbeat Bond adventure than normal, especially after the run of Roger Moore pictures. It’s also one of the most violent. The film seems influenced just as much by other 80s action flicks like Lethal Weapon and Die Hard than earlier 007 adventures. Some of the deaths here are brutal… Benicio Del Toro’s fate is a prime example. So is the fate of this character who Sanchez thinks double crossed him.

The screenplay, by veterans Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum, is one of the best we’ve seen, period. The characters are well-developed and the plot is quite inventive, as Bond sets up elaborate schemes to fool Sanchez into trusting him and distrusting other associates.

John Glen’s direction (this is his fifth Bond flick in a row) is rock solid per usual and the action scenes are dynamite. The climactic chase is one of several examples:

While I’ve gone out of my way (deservedly) to praise the production design of Ken Adam in earlier films, Peter Lamont’s work here is marvelous. The sets for Licence to Kill are fantastic. You’ll want to live in Sanchez’s home after seeing it.

There are minor quibbles, including a love triangle between James/Pam/Lupe that feels a little forced. Wayne Newton is cast as TV evangelist and while his character is unnecessary, he does provide a bit of comic relief for a mostly intense experience.

As for Mr. Dalton, my appreciation for him grew with this movie. He doesn’t have the Connery “It” factor, but he’s a good actor and his performance in Licence to Kill is solid. I couldn’t help but wonder after watching it whether he would have continued to grow into the role.

That, however, is a moot point. While Licence to Kill would do decent overseas business, it would not fare well in the United States, grossing just $32 million in the summer of 1989. Adjusted for inflation, it has the distinction of being the lowest grossing 007 film in the U.S. of all time.

This to me is a shame. The financial failure of Licence to Kill is based on many factors, including that crowded summer marketplace. Strangely enough, I suspect that it may also be due to the audience’s unwillingness to accept a Bond this dark and brooding, especially coming so soon after the light and humorous (and financially successful) Moore films. 

Upon viewing Licence to Kill for the first time in many years, it almost seems like a template for the wildly successful Daniel Craig movies that would come nearly two decades later. That’s a high compliment.

MGM, the studio behind Bond, would experience financial problems shortly after this film’s release. This would mean no James Bond movies for a whole six years, by far the longest gap between pictures. Because of that, Licence to Kill marked a whole lot of “lasts” in the series. The long lay-off caused Dalton to resign from the role (though it’s unclear as to whether producers would have asked him back). This would be director Glen’s final effort after directing all five 007 movies released in the 1980s. Maurice Binder, who did the title credit sequences in every single Bond film through this one, passed away in 1991. It would be the swan song for Robert Brown, who assumed the role of M after Bernard Lee’s death. And last but certainly not least, Licence to Kill is the final film to be produced by Albert “Cubby” Broccoli. He is the man more responsible for the success of the 007 franchise than anyone in its history.

For those who haven’t seen Licence to Kill, I highly recommend it. To those who greatly admire the Daniel Craig entries, I think you’ll admire this one, too. Every aspect of this picture is first-rate. This is the most under appreciated 007 feature in the series history and as its audience expands though time and people discover and rediscover it, I hope its reputation grows.

Here are the facts:

Film: Licence to Kill

U.S. Release Date: July 14, 1989

Director: John Glen

Screenplay: Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum

Bond: Timothy Dalton

Main Bond Villain: Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi)

Main Bond Girl: Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell)

Theme Song: “Licence to Kill” – performed by Gladys Knight

Budget: $32 million

Worldwide Box Office: $156.2 million

My James Bond blog series will return in “The 007 Files: Goldeneye”