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Review:
Made in 1962, the first James Bond
film, Dr. No, produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman,
and directed by Terence Young, is a cool and atmospheric old style
travelogue thriller. Set in Jamaica, it's easily the most sexy and
sadistic Bond film, for it's time, and perhaps also in an unadjusted
measure. This was back when it was all about shooting bad guys and
having sex with women. These where the days baby!
In the first 007 adventure, Bond is sent
to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of a fellow agent. Evidence
in the form of radioactive rock samples lead Bond to Crab Key, island of
the mysterious Dr. No. It's there he meets Honey Ryder (in the legendary
scene where she emerges from the sea wearing a white bikini), and
uncovers a plot by the Doctor, and criminal organisation SPECTRE, to
sabotage American rocket launches.
Sean Connery is James Bond. I love they way Bond is presented in Dr.
No. It' still one of the best portrayal of Bond as a character on
the screen. There are so many terrific Bond character moments (only
Thunderball could claim to have as many) in this film: The
introduction at the card table, Bond and Sylvia, the scene with the
spider, Bond looking at his watch while making out with Miss Taro,
Bond's shooting of Dent, Bond's stabbing of the guard. All of them great
scenes, showing different aspects of the character.
It may not be Connery's most polished performance as Bond, but he's
still very, very good. I like how Bonds more curt, very short-tempered
in this one. I like the rough edges. It's a part of Bond's character
that is very important, but has been a little too diluted in last, well,
from The Spy Who Loved Me onwards. It's seems in those films that
we're really only getting half of the character, and not the interesting
half at that. And that's not Bond. Bond should be a wolf in sheep's
clothing, not a sheep in sheep's clothing.
In that scene at the restaurant, Connery really looks like he might
break the photographers arm. I can't imagine any of the other Bonds
being as convincing in this, not even Dalton (I am fond of the similar
scene in The Man with the Golden Gun, but Moore doesn't look like
he's really going to break her arm, not like this).
I also like how in Dr No. it's Bond who drives the story. In some
of the Bond films that would follow, particularly You Only Live Twice
(also one of my favourites though) Bond's a bit of a passenger, he
seems to be a small character who gets lost among the giant set and the
huge battle. Dr. No, however, is all about Bond: following leads
and dodging the obstacles that are thrown at him as he gets closer to
uncovering the truth. This more detective style of story-telling is
different from the more action-oriented approach that the take nowadays
and it's something to savour.
Dr. No is like a rock band's debut album: Raw and edgy, the sheer
talent shining, without the baggage of expectations that can hamper
subsequent works. A little rough around the sides, but with more flavour
and a clearer vision, Dr. No represents when the Bond series was
purely “about the music”. |
