MOVIE REVIEW: Dr. No Part 2

Welcome to the second part of the Dr. No movie review.

Bond is welcomed to Jamaica by an uninvited guest. Bond learns that the driver was not sent by the government, but was from the man who wanted Strangways dead. Bond tried to dig information from the driver, however, he sacrificed himself opting to be kept silent through a cigarette filled with cyanide poison.

Bond learns about Strangways’ colleagues in the island, the most notable one being Professor Dent who also tested Strangways’ samples from Crab Key. Now, Crab Key is a secluded portion where fishermen and the likes do not dare to come near. They were scared of the dragon that is guarding the place. (Bond will know later on that the dragon they are afraid of is just a mechanical robot dragon, perhaps placed by the mastermind of everything that has happened on the island.)

We also meet Felix Leiter, Bond’s friend and ally from the CIA. He will occasionally pop in and out of Bond movies, often played by different actors. In this film, he is almost equal to Bond. They both look cool, wearing suits on sunny beaches, neatly-combed hairs, and menacing physiques that complete the package of being the ultimate spy.

Being an ultimate spy can give you ultimate danger. James Bond is in deep trouble in Jamaica. The Three Blind Mice tried to have a shot at Bond, but for some reason, they did not try at all. Professor Dent becomes bothered by Bond’s investigations leading him to go to Crab Key himself, revealing the lair, and the voice of the main villain Doctor Julius No. We learn here that the doctor does not tolerate failures, which explains the cyanide death scene earlier. Dr. No gives dent the deadliest creature that can possibly end James Bond – 007, a tarantula.

Waking up to a tarantula

Of course, James Bond survives the tarantula with a help of a cartoon-like musical score.

The next few scenes are building up to probably the second best scene in this film – the cold-blood shooting of Bond at Professor Dent. Bond discovers that the secretary, Miss Taro, is working for Professor Dent. He arranges to meet up with her, making her believe that hey we’re going out on a date. Bond insists that they meet.

Before reaching Miss Taro’s house, Bond was disturbed again by the Three Blind Mice in an effort to finish the spy off. Bond survives the very first car chase of the series which, to be honest, has not dated well. It still looked magnificent and massive, though. Bond bangs Miss Taro and then, gives her to the police. He then waits for someone to reach Miss Taro. He has his suspicions proven right after seeing Professor Dent at the door.

Bond, being the spy that he is, creates a decoy on the bed and waits behind the door. Dent shoots the decoy, using up all of his bullets. Bond takes advantage as he says, “You’ve had your six.”

Shooting Dent

Bond, Leiter, and Quarrel, the fisherman friend of Strangways, meet up at the docks. Bond opted to go with Quarrel to help him reach Crab Key, the forbidden island. Reluctantly, Quarrel agrees despite his fear of the dragon. They wait up until the next morning before they make their move as Bond wakes up to the very first Bond girl’s song. 

Honey Ryder

Bond meets Honey Ryder who was looking for shells, while Bond was just looking, at her in her swimsuit. Who wouldn’t?

The next scenes do not do much except that Quarrel is burnt alive by the fire-breathing mechanical dragon, and Bond and Honey Ryder are caught leading to their stay in the Doctor No Hotel.

Yes. A hotel.

Dr. No and Bond

They are treated very well in the villain lair, complete with bed, bath, breakfast and new clothes for their dinner with Dr. No. Dr. No reveals that he is not alone in his evil schemes. He reveals that he is a part of the group SPECTRE – Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion. Bond is not happy with his plan, so then he is locked up in a dungeon, or a room which is very escapable.

Bond foils Dr, No’s plan after a lousy fight due to Dr. No’s metal hands. Yes, he has metal hands. And as we go deep into the Bond movie franchise, you will get to know more villains who have physical irregularities.

Dr. No

Honey Rider rides with Bond at the end of the film away from their audience from the theaters, and their rescuers for privacy.

Do I like this film?

 Yes, no reason not to, but to be fair, this film has its flaws. Aside from its technical aspects, there are also scenes in the movie that can really be unaccepted by today’s audience. An example is when Bond tells Quarrel this, “Fetch my shoes.” And of course, another one is the womanizing antics of James Bond.

It is the perfect Bond movie to jumpstart the franchise, this film actually has the right ingredients. Not too much and not too dull. Shaken, not stirred.

This review will return with From Russia With Love.

*Photos are grabbed from the Internet and all thanks are for those who own it. For sharing purposes only. Thank you.

MOVIE REVIEW: Dr. No Part 1

This is going to be good for all James Bond fans around the world, provided that this will reach them all. As we all wait for more news and, ultimately, the release of Bond 25, I am going to review all previous Bond films made by EON Productions.

Whatever that is going to be written here, they are all from my thoughts and does not represent any outside organization nor do they mean any harm to the beloved franchise. Needless to say, I love Bond but this is going to be as honest and factual as much as possible.

1962 Movie Poster

Let's start with Bond 1, Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as James Bond - 007, Ursula Andress, and Joseph Wiseman as the titular Dr. No.

The film starts with a series of white dots appearing across the screen, only to reveal a mysterious man walking away and firing his handgun as he reached the middle. This is the gun barrel sequence that started it all. It started the movie, yes, but on its own, it started a tradition for the James Bond franchise. After that raw gun barrel sequence, we now go into the title sequence which features a sea of colorful dots and somewhat psychedelic couples dancing to the tune of the James Bond theme song composed by Monty Norman, and arranged by John Barry.

John Barry would then go on to compose songs for James Bond movies up until 1987’s The Living Daylights. He skipped some films though over the course of that period.

The film opens with an introduction to the Three Blind Mice, a group of assassins pretending to be, uhm, blind. They assassinate Commander Strangways and his secretary.

The film then shows the man with a license to kill, dressed in the finest clothes a man could, enjoying himself in a casino with the first Bond girl of the series, Sylvia Trench. During this moment, James Bond utters his most iconic line that is "Bond. James Bond."

However, Bond's affairs in the casino are soon ended as he is needed to report at Universal Export's headquarters, MI6's cover. There, he meets the armorer Major Boothroyd, M's secretary Miss Moneypenny, and M himself. M briefs Bond about the disappearance of Strangways and his secretary. His mission - to find out why, but fast!

In the film's first few minutes, we are already showered with various Bond elements and/or moments which we will still go on to see for the next 23 Bond films (25, if you want to include 1967's Casino Royale and 1983's Never Say Never Again).

Let's turn for a bit and see this list of Bond elements present in this first film.

1. Gun Barrel Scene. A fun fact for old and new Bond fans, it was not Sean Connery on this and the next two film's gun barrel scene. It was stuntman Bob Simmons who walked and fired the gun.

The first gun barrel sequence

2. Title Sequence. At that time, they could've made it a simple presentation of the films cast and crew. Thanks to Maurice Binder, that was not what happened and what we got was a unique take on presenting the title sequence.

3. Bond's Introduction. I personally think that Bond's "Bond. James Bond." is just a response to Trench's "Trench. Sylvia Trench." 

"Bond. James Bond."

4. Casino. Bond is regarded by M as a great card player in the novels by Ian Fleming. It is just right to see him play every once in a while and outsmart his opponents.

5. Bond Girl. Most of the time in the Bond series, the BG's are silly both in their characters as well as their names.

Bond and Honey Rider

6. The MI6 Trio (M, Q, Moneypenny) and the Mission Briefing. The great thing with this Bond element is that almost all action-thriller-adventure films have adapted this sequence. A problem surfaces, the main protagonist is then called up and is told of the mission. Just add bits of helpful pieces of equipment and a flirting secretary to spice things up.

Before I continue onto the movie, I just learned on the news that the very first cinematic Bond Girl Sylvia Trench actress Eunice Gayson has now passed away. Both Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli have already released statements honoring the woman who played Miss Trench, Sylvia Trench.

Sylvia Trench

As my way of honoring her, let's pause for a bit, remember and pray for her. This will be continued on my next blog post which will be part 2 of this Dr. No movie review. 

*Photos are grabbed from the Internet and all thanks are for those who own it. For sharing purposes only. Thank you.

The Trouble with Bond

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 in the theaters to watch said film.  I have 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, some 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.

x