What's Your Personal Bond Journey?

Revolver66Revolver66 Melbourne, AustraliaPosts: 470MI6 Agent
edited August 2016 in The James Bond Films
Hi guys,

I do some film writing every so often, and I just wrote something about Bond and my own Bond journey. I'd thought I'd share it. Read if you have the time

A boy doesn't truly become a man until he encounters James Bond. It is at this moment, upon where he meets the British spy with an empty martini glass in one hand in and a fully loaded Walther PPK in the other, that the young child meets the world and all its materialistic delights and takes the first step to manhood. For that young boy, the world is suddenly an exciting and dangerous place, it is scenic and glamorous, it is beautiful and gorgeous and decadent, it is adventure and intrigue, it is the thrill of an escape made under the cover of darkness, or a fast paced chase, either in vehicle or on foot, through one of the world's most exciting cities in the brightness of daylight. For me, when I first met James at the age of 9, it was no different. Suddenly I knew the meaning of the word thrilling, I knew the pleasure of a clean kill and the roar of a charging Aston, machine guns ablaze as tailing Koreans fell away in its shimmering silver wake. I was lifted away from drudgery and the dullness of everyday life by the blazing glory of James' theme tune, thundering victoriously over images of glorious explosions, miraculous escapes and gadget laden vehicles laying their opponents to waste via the deft touch of our ever green hero. For me, at the tender age of 11, true euphoric happiness was Sean Connery clad all in black sneaking around the opulent beach mansion of Palmera, evading nameless henchmen, firing his Walther off into the darkness, sneaking over white rooftops to then climatically fight one on one with an opponent underwater in a shark infested swimming pool, only to escape courtesy of a well placed knife thrust and Q's ingenious underwater breather. "Better luck next time, old chap". Excitement came from watching George Lazenby glide and dodge down magnificent moonlit Swiss Alps on one ski, as a formidable Blofeld and his loyal charges followed in lethal pursuit. Whilst Roger Moore gave meaning to the words adventure and glee, either through his immaculate and dapper escape across the bare backs of deadly crocodiles and alligators, or his perfectly timed wit and amusingly droll mid-quip facial expressions, which brought equal bouts of wonderment and laughter. Honestly, I love Roger Moore.

Danger was Timothy Dalton, as ice cool and cunning as you would hope a dashing British assassin could be, using his endless smarts and toughness to overcome a formidable drug lord on the top of an oil tanker on a desolate length of road. I watched the climax to Licence to kill over and over and over. "Don't you want to know why?" I know why...because the tankers were thrilling, the explosions were incredible and our Timothy was lethal. James Bond and his films were an incredible fantasy land to me as a youngster. An escape from illnesses and an often difficult home life, EON productions offered endless entertainment and joy, with 007 being pure sunshine on an otherwise dreary day. One moment, you could be a regular, relatively nondescript kid, dependent on others and yet to gain your own sense of self, to being Pierce Brosnan the next, smooth, charming, and utterly cool and collected, driving a Russian tank through Moscow, causing totally justifiable havoc and excessive damage to public infrastructure in noble pursuit of a gorgeous Russian computer programmer. James Bond is the ultimate boyhood hero. Incidentally, Goldeneye, was the moment where I first walked through the cushioned double doors and met the Commander, at the age of 9, in 1999, where I caught the film on television. I'd never seen anything quite like it. Before this moment, my hero's were Superman and Tintin, clean cut, completely pure, and good as gold figures who did and said everything that was right and just. Then suddenly, I was privy to a new hero, one that drank hard liquor, seduced beautiful women both femme fatale and heroine alike, killed people in cold blood, and caused chaos via sometimes huge amounts of destruction. And he did it all in a suit, with not a hair out of place, the epitome of self-confidence.

James Bond really is a unique figure, and the films, whilst obviously self- derivative, are completely individual and identifiable from other films. All the tropes are familiar yet endlessly exciting, the beautiful creation that is the gun barrel sequence, the genius of the pre-title adventure, the glamour and artistry of the titles themselves, which are almost always accompanied with a suitably brassy and sultry theme tune. The mechanics of a James Bond film are akin to your favourite meal, you know exactly what's going to be in it, you know what it tastes like, and you've had it more times than you care to remember, but the feeling you get when you eat it is something special, and you want to have it over and over again for the rest of your life. The Bond villain and his lair, Q and his trinkets, the third act of a Bond film where the characters collide and everything goes to hell, the final scene seduction which often takes place on water (I love that), a James Bond film is as warm and soothing as an old jumper yet feels as great as the thrill of trying on a new suit. A suit that is perfectly tailored and made just for you.

It has often been said by the true 007 fanatics that the second time you meet Bond is when you become a fan, and that is certainly true of me, with my sophomore encounter of 007 the moment where I became officially hooked. It was For Your Eyes Only, and it was simply thrilling. Roger Moore embodied every conceivable definition of the word cool, and after it was over, all I wanted was more. To this day it is still one of my favourite Bond films, and I suspect that the reason for that is because it was the film that marked the beginning of my fandom. Which leads me to feel that nostalgia plays a big role in having a love of Bond, as I often find myself reminiscing about the past moments of discovering the films or of longing for the old world glamour and intrigue of a bygone era whilst watching them. It's the look and feel of those films which makes them so special and such a pleasure to be immersed in, which is why it is often the aesthetic of the Bond film that makes it so great. The plots can sometimes be flimsy, the characters underdeveloped, but boy do the films look good. The colours so rich, the set designs so original and fantastical, the women so glamorous and other-worldly, with locations such as the Jamaica of Dr. No and the Bahamas of Thunderball so exotic and adventurous that it is impossible not to be pulled in by the richness of the Bond universe. It is the countless visual moments scattered throughout the series which makes me love it. For instance, I can put on You Only Live Twice and witness Sean Connery move like a predator cat through the streets of Tokyo in all of its 60s, Neon lit glory. Or I can watch Roger Moore sneak around the mighty pyramids of Egypt, caught somewhere inbetween a doomed middle man, a 7 foot cast iron behemoth, and a mysterious and beautiful Russian spy. Elsewhere I can see Timothy Dalton slink through darkened Eastern European streets outside a grand opera house as he enters the front door of a nondescript shop, up a winding, metal staircase to a bedsit, where he camps window side with a sniper rival, acutely aware that death may be about to visit the picturesque surroundings of Bratislava

Even the latest entry, Spectre, possesses similarly eye popping moments of old-world Bond, whether it be Daniel Craig strutting across a Mexican roof top with a gun in his hand, or him awaiting a French beau on a golden lit train carriage, wearing Sean's white tuxedo and looking every bit the man that many other men want to be, all the while offering visual thrills of an exotic world gone by that you can only ever truly witness in a Bond film. Incidentally, it is Daniel Craig's era that is largely responsible for my Bond fan resurgence, with Die Another Day temporarily muting my 007 affection right up until the moment I walked into the cinema with next to no expectations on a November day in 2006 to witness the 'blonde Bond' tangle with the latest evils of this world in Casino Royale. Still to this day, it is one of only a handful of the most profound experiences I've ever experienced at a movie theatre. It was simply incredible. It reinvigorated the franchise and my own love of the series. From the lean, mean and thrilling black and white opening that introduces us to this new version of Fleming's alter ego, to the simply sublime parkour chase that follows the brilliantly designed title sequence, Bond suddenly had it all again and was back in the casino with the biggest stack of chips at the blackjack table. Furthermore, Daniel Craig, an initially unlikely Bond, turned out to be a complete revelation. He was hard and cold and cool and the finest possible choice for a 21st century Bond that I could imagine. The close-up of his face in the pre-title sequence after he's just drowned his quarry in the bathroom sink completely sums up his Bond to me. The look of pain, self-doubt, yet at the same time, toughness and stern resolve on display by Craig in that one close-up, sets the tone of the film and his tenure as Bond. It's a small moment. yet one of the best in the series, and Casino Royale was full of this little revelatory scenes. It was everything I wanted a Bond film to be, and it is for this reason that like many, many other Bond fans, it is probably my favourite.

But there are many favourites, in fact, there are 7 films in the Bond canon that stand above the rest for me. Those being, and in chronological order: From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, Casino Royale, and Skyfall. For different reasons, they are for me the chosen Bond films that perfectly personify everything that is great about the James Bond character and his film series. Other firm favourites of mine are: Dr. No, You Only Live Twice, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, and Goldeneye. Though nearly every Bond film is great in their own way, with even the least worthy films in the series possessing their share of memorable scenes, characters and lines. An example of this can be found in the wonderful opera shootout scene during the midway point of Quantum of Solace, which is generally considered a flawed Bond outing. Indeed, the film may have its faults, but the scene is brilliant, with Bonds intrusion of Quantum’s opera-side rendezvous fantastically staged, intercut with dramatic snippets of Tosca whilst 007 clammers through dining areas and flaming kitchens in order to evade the enemy, climatically throwing someone off a roof in real Roger Moore fashion. A magnificent scene. Elsewhere, in Diamonds are Forever, another lesser light, there is great moment where Bond, after an assumingly, enjoyable debriefing with Tiffany Case, gets dressed and affixes a red rose to his tuxedo, after which he climbs out the window of his luxurious hotel suite, where he proceeds to 'mountaineer' outside the top levels of the casino whilst the gaudy lights of the Las Vegas strip glitter in the background. James Bond at his best. These 2 moments to me attest to the fact that the series may ebb and flow in terms of overall quality, however even in the adventures that receive relatively muted responses, there are always gems and rubies to be found.

I'm now in my mid-20s, and as it stands, Bond means more than to me than ever. As a child I revelled in the elaborate escapades of our well-bred hero, and now as an adult, the films still spell total adventure and escape. A couple of colourful and fanciful hours out of the humdrum of everyday life. Like going on holiday to a sun kissed, beach side location with an exotic beauty, or gunning down a highway in high speed car, wind in the hair and a cigarette in the mouth, a James Bond film offers a similar rush of adrenaline, a feeling of euphoria and a hint of sex, mixed with a sense of danger, which one simply does not get from everyday life. Additionally, as a series that is now well over 50, James Bond is now for each generation, and as such, it transcends youth and age and provides a cross-generational touchstone for both age and youth to connect with. A perfect example of this can be found in my own life, through my Father and I. When growing up, my Father and I had a difficult relationship, and common ground was often few and far between. However, we both had a fondness for James Bond, and my Dad would often regale myself and my brother with the tale of how in 1964, at the age of 13, he saw Goldfinger at a theatre in the city, and it totally blew him away. That was his special Bond moment, and he had never forgotten it. For me, my special Bond moment had happened watching For Your Eyes Only on TV, and whilst I had had that moment on my own, every so often, ,my dad and I would both sit on the couch, and watch a Bond film, and smile and laugh throughout, and they were also, special Bond moments. Without getting too sentimental, it was during those instances that I often felt closet to him, and in hindsight are now special memories, and James Bond can be thanked for that.

With there being some doubt as to the return of our current Bond, the series seems to currently be in an interesting place. Whether or not Daniel does walk towards the left side of our screens framed in a gun barrel again remains to be seen, however I rest completely assured that in one form or another, on whatever adventure he may happen to find himself in, that James Bond will return and grace our screens for a new and glorious outing. I'm 26, and throughout the course of my life, James Bond and his films have always existed. I feel completely confident, that in 26 years time, James and his films will still exist. See, James Bond is now a myth, a legend, and legends never die, they simply continue to endure. I await with anxious anticipation the film adventures that are yet to happen. Some will be great, some will be weak, but they will all be Bond films, and that is exciting. Long has James Bond been king, and long may be reign.



And that, is my Bond journey. What's yours?

Comments

  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    That was a great read, Revolver, thanks for posting it.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    -{ Agreed, a great bit of writing. :)
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Revolver66Revolver66 Melbourne, AustraliaPosts: 470MI6 Agent
    Thanks guys :) And thanks for reading!
  • IcePakIcePak Perth, Western AustraliaPosts: 170MI6 Agent
    Wow! I loved reading about your journey, Revolver.
    1. CR 2. OHMSS 3. GE 4. TLD 5. FRwL 6. TMWTGG 7. FYEO
    8. OP 9. TSWLM 10. SF 11. TND 12. LtK 13. NTtD 14. GF
    15. AVtaK 16. LaLD 17. TWiNE 18. MR 19. YOLT 20. DN 21. TB
    22. SP 23. DAD 24. QoS 25. DaF
  • chrisisallchrisisall Western Mass, USAPosts: 9,061MI6 Agent
    At 11 I saw DAF.
    At 13 I saw LALD.
    At 14 I saw DN, FRWL, GF, TB, & YOLT in revival showings.
    The rest is history.
    Dalton & Connery rule. Brozz was cool.
    #1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
  • Miles MesservyMiles Messervy Posts: 1,757MI6 Agent
    Well-written and from the heart. I really enjoyed it. {[]
  • HowardBHowardB USAPosts: 2,737MI6 Agent
    That was great. Well written and truly from the heart. What really touched me is how Bond has spanned generations. Revolver66 is a young man of 26 and I am more than twice his age but our bond is Bond. The same shot of adrenaline shoots through us when we hear the theme and see the gun barrel. I will never forget taking my son, who is 24 now to his first Bond film, TND and seeing the look of excitement, awe and joy on his face during the film. He may not be quite the Bond fanatic his Dad is, but he hasn't missed a Bond film in the theater since. For me, James Bond is like Santa Clause except he only comes around every three years now. -{
  • OrnithologistOrnithologist BerlinPosts: 583MI6 Agent
    This reads like a declaration of love and that's probably because it is -{
    "I'm afraid I'm a complicated woman. "
    "- That is something to be afraid of."
  • Revolver66Revolver66 Melbourne, AustraliaPosts: 470MI6 Agent
    Thanks for reading guys :)) -{
  • eric7064eric7064 USAPosts: 343MI6 Agent
    That was awesome! Great read and captured many of the exact feeling we all have as Bond fans.
  • Penfold HeartPenfold Heart Posts: 159MI6 Agent
    When I was a kid (born in '76) I preferred the Roger Moore Bonds.

    I found the Sean Connery ones a bit boring back then, now of course, the Connery ones are my favourite group of Bond films.

    One of my main memories of growing up with Bond was that I absolutely thought Timothy Dalton was excellent, and none of my other friends seemed to think the same way. I began to think I was wrong about him, but now I know I was right and the general public at large just weren't ready for a Bond like him, I am glad I was!

    The Living Daylights is my personal favourite Bond film, and Timothy Dalton's performance in it is my favourite portrayal of Bond.

    I think Connery beats Dalton as the overall "Bond package" though. IE: best series of films and multiple performances". And Connery laid the original Blueprint for the others to follow, you can't really argue with that.
  • Agent KinoAgent Kino New YorkPosts: 202MI6 Agent
    Awesome original post. Great writing for sure.

    My Bond journey takes me back to watching them on Spike in the early 2000's with my grandpa. I remember asking him what movie that was and I was enthralled in the movie. It was Goldfinger remembering at the time. I could watch Bond movies over and over. After that I always paid attention to when the Bond marathons were going to be on. The first Bond film I saw at the theater was Casino Royale in 2008. It was such an amazing movie. After that I waited and I've seen Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and SPECTRE all in theaters. I also purchased the 50th Anniversary Bluray set and have watched these movies time after time again. I even got my girlfriend hooked.

    Bond is just a huge part of my life. I love his manliness, the cocktails he drinks, the cigars he smokes, and the amazing way he acts around women. I miss that time and wish I was alive back then.
    1. Goldfinger 2. Skyfall 3. Goldeneye 4. The Spy Who Loved Me 5. OHMSS
    Check out my Instagram: @livingthebondlife
    "I never joke about my work, 007."
  • MakeMonroeMakeMonroe Posts: 4MI6 Agent
    Well my first James Bond movie was Dalton’s Licence to Kill back in 1990? I was 6 or 7 years old and my couple years older friend had somehow got pirated vhs tape of the movie. Quality of the tape wasn’t the best but oh boy uncut bond goodness in the time when every little bloody scene was cut from the movies. I don't even remember that well did i even know back then that i was watching a bond film :D if my memory serves me right i just thought it was a damn cool action movie and i loved the ending with the trucks and all. Back in the time here in Finland every fricking movie was cut to shreds and i didn’t even know until 98? that the bad guy in Lethal Weapon died because in the version I watched police came to arrest him and that was that. >_> Perhaps because of that pirated vhs tape I became Dalton fan and been Dalton fan ever since. Somehow I just don’t like that much of the other bond films and seems like that I’m more of Dalton fan than a bond fan. I haven’t got over the fact that Dalton did only two bond movies and because of it I’ve collected lot of fan stuff from that period. Bond interviews, Posters, Figures, magazines, articles, soundtracks, little plastic cars and I even have living daylights coffee mug. If you have some interesting memorabilia from that period and you are ready to sell it then contact me : D
  • Revolver66Revolver66 Melbourne, AustraliaPosts: 470MI6 Agent
    Yes Agent Kino I got pulled into Bond by the tv marathons as well. I live in Australia and they used to show a bond film every Friday night. It was the greatest. Great to hear you got to watch your first Bond with your Grandpa, that's a special memory for you i'm sure :). Make Monroe good to see Timmy getting a bit of love. He was a great Bond and his films are very very solid. Terrible shame that he never made a third.
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