Bond. James Bond.
We all know the man. We all know the name. James Bond has been a front-liner of the movie industry for more than 55 years (Perhaps the longest-running, if not officially the longest-running movie hero). Bond has been in service of the cinemas for so long that many moviegoers might consider that the spotlight for him will fade, within the next few years.
The trouble with Bond is that it has an aged feel to it. When the words "James Bond" appear as a reference, the one who made the reference is almost always automatically considered a corny or a cringy man in his late 50s. It seems hard to introduce Bond to younger audiences. However, there are still others who can proclaim love for the 55-year old movie series.
How do you introduce Bond to a younger audience? During the release of the 24th official Bond film "Spectre", I was with my girlfriend in the theaters to watch said film. She has seen Bond a few times before during TV various screenings.
The film "Spectre" gave a lot of problems to Bond fans with its somewhat forced plot and ties with the previous Craig films. Another problem with the film was that it almost seemed like the 50th Anniversary Bond offering and not Skyfall, with all of its homage to the previous films.
That may have been the problem in our case. As a result, my girlfriend did not become fond of Bond after the said watch of "Spectre".
The film required its watchers to have still remembered most of the events, if not all, of all of Craig's past films. You would have to remember 2006's "Casino Royale" up until 2012's "Skyfall". From the eyes of a first-time Bond viewer, that would fail big-time. Only a long-time viewer of Bond would get the inevitable jokes and references that "Spectre" made.
Going back to the question, how do you make somebody want to binge watch the Bond film series?
As for me, I strongly think that you should start with a Bond film that very much followed the Bond formula, provided that they are also stand alone Bond films. Example films are 1964's "Goldfinger", 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me", and 1997's "Tomorrow Never Dies".
Binge-watching the Bond film series will not be as hard as it once was after you have finished watching those three "basic" Bond films.
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