BEFORE: Switching Bonds, going back to the first Bond film made (not including the lame-o 1960's "Casino Royale", of course). I think there's something of a facial resemblance between the current Daniel Craig and the young Sean Connery - of course there are those who would suggest that Bond could get extensive facial surgery to change his look after every few adventures, or even that there may be a group of secret agents using the same name and I.D. number. But then, what's the point of issuing the license to kill to an individual?
Linking from "Quantum of Solace", an actor named Tim Pigott-Smith, who played a foreign secretary, was also in "Clash of the Titans" with Ursula Andress.
THE PLOT: Bond's investigation of a missing colleague in Jamaica leads him to the island of the mysterious Dr. No and a scheme to end the U.S. space program.
AFTER: This is the most jarring glitch in my experimental Bond continuity - I just went from a film made in 2008 to one made in 1962. This affects the look of the film, the referenced technology, and of course topical references to things like "moon rockets".
This one moves at a glacial pace - it's a full 80 minutes before the titular villain gets any screen time, and Bond's Caribbean investigation takes its own sweet time. I think maybe he's stretching things out to have a sort of vacation.
It's funny, when we were in Jamaica on our honeymoon, a tour guide told us that all of the James Bond films were shot there. It is, after all, where Ian Fleming spent a great deal of his time, but the claim still seemed far-fetched - what about those clips I've seen of Bond skiing? Maybe she meant that PART of each film was shot in Jamaice - but this first one definitely was, I recognized the Dunn's River Falls at Ocho Rios. I'll be counting over the next few weeks to see how right that tour guide was.
The science here is sketchy at best - Dr. No is working with radiation to...do what, exactly? To make a radio beam that will affect a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral? Is that even possible? Can I see some paperwork on that? And then just when the film starts to kick into high-gear, BOOM, it's over.
I find it funny that some people complain that the more recent Bond films are full of product placements - Omega watches, Heineken beer, particular cars - but the practice goes all the way back to the first film, which prominently features Red Stripe beer, Smirnoff vodka, Pan Am airlines, and Rolex watches.
LOCATIONS: Jamaica, mostly
VILLAIN: Dr. No (no, duh!)
BABES: Sylvia Trench (that's an unfortunate name...), Honey Ryder (ah, that's better)
ALLIES: M (a new one, maybe the other one's on holiday), Felix Leiter (now he's a white guy - or maybe a master of disguise!), Quarrel
PASTIMES: Chemin-du-fer, solitaire
CARS: A 1961 Sunbeam Alpine Series 5 that's apparently powered by rear-screen projection, but mostly boats here.
GADGETS: Walther PPK, and a human hair (Bond's low-tech in this one)
THEME SONG: Just the now-famous Monty Norman instrumental. Formula still being worked out.
Also starring Jack Lord, Joseph Wiseman, Bernard Lee,
RATING: 4 out of 10 seashells (Sorry, but "Casino Royale" set the bar pretty high, and I don't think this one has aged well by comparison)
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