The first Bond film, Dr. No takes place in Jamaica, and would now be viewed as a cliched spy film about a man who wants to take over the world. Bond follows the trail left by the murder of the British agent stationed in Jamaica to discover who killed him. This trails leads him to the base of Dr Julius No who is planning to ruin a rocket launch with a radioactive powered ratio beam. This film is famous for so many reasons, not least for starting one of the most successful franchises in movie history. There are so many memorable moments, the most famous of which is Ursula Andress coming out of the sea in 'that' white bikini. The scene with the 'dragon' also sticks in my mind. This was produced on a very low budget, but you wouldn't have guessed this, which undoubtedly contributed to the success of the film. Sean Connery was a relatively unknown actor at the time, and James Bond helped to catapult him into the public eye. Another iconic scene is the first view we ever have of James Bond, featuring the truly iconic line: "Bond, James Bond".
Following Dr. No, the next film, From Russia With Love, had some very high standards to live up to, and it managed this perfectly. From Russia With Love was even more successful than Dr. No, and picks up on SPECTRE which was a common feature of the Ian Fleming books. The story follows Bond's attempts to find a cryptograph machine which was stolen from the Soviets. However, Bond is being followed by an assassin who has been instructed to kill him. The stand out scene of this film is when Bond and Tatiana Romanova board the Orient Express and meet the assassin, pretending to be a British agent in order to gain Bond's trust. This is where the traditional Bond gadget comes in. Q has provided Bond with an attache case, and for me this is the ultimate in gadgetry. The following fight scene is one of the finest in the Bond series, and when Bond and Romanova finally reach Venice with the Lektor device, we see the fight between Bond and the truly sinister Rosa Klebb. From Russia With Love is another diamond in the James Bond crown and is up there as one of my favourites. It firmly cemented James Bond as one of the most iconic cinematic characters ever.
Some how the next film tops the previous two. Goldfinger is absolutely phenomenal and many people consider it to be the best Bond film. Bond's investigation of Goldfinger and Goldfinger's plot to attack the US gold supply provided some incredible moments. The most obvious one is the horrific scene where Bond discovers that Jill Masterson has been killed by being painted gold all over by the sinister henchman who haunts the early part of the film, Odd Ball. Equally iconic is the laser scene with the classic line "Do you expect me to talk?" "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die". Goldfinger also features many people's favourite Bond girl. Honor Blackman is wonderful as Pussy Galore, breaking with the tradition of many Bond films where the girl is hopelessly reliant on Bond. Finally, there is nothing more perfect about Goldfinger than another Q masterpiece. The Aston Martin DB5 and all it's adaptations, quirks and tricks has to be one of the greatest movie cars ever. Goldfinger is by far the ultimate Sean Connery James Bond film, and if you have to watch just one of his films, this should be it.
After the three films preceding it, Thunderball was always going to struggle in my eyes. It's by no means a bad film, in fact it's very good, but in comparison to the previous films it pales. Nevertheless, the underwater fight scene is another iconic James Bond moment, and financially, after inflation has been adjusted for it is the most successful ever. Thunderball sees even more of SPECTRE which has been lingering through all the previous films. The villain in Thunderball is the sinister Emilio Largo who has stolen two atomic bombs and is holding the world to ransom for £100 million in diamonds. Bond, helped by his timeless friend Felix Leiter and Largo's mistress Domino eventually defeats Largo and saves the day, as ever. In my opinion, Thunderball is an excellent Bond film. The jetpack in the opening scene sticks in my mind as one of the moments of the film, and the re-appearance of the DB5 can only ever be a welcome addition to a series which was now rapidly promising to be one of the most successful ever.
My favourite Sean Connery Bond film is You Only Love Twice, or YOLT as some of the youth of today would probably say. A little known fact about You Only Live Twice is that the script was written by Roald Dahl, and is the first Bond film to reject a lot of the original Ian Fleming story. You Only Live Twice revolves around the disappearance of two spacecrafts which was engineered by SPECTRE to force the world into war. Bond tries to solve the puzzle and is eventually confronted by Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who has appeared in most of the previous films, but has never actually been seen. I have used the word 'sinister' a couple of times in this particular post, but a new word is necessary to describe Blofeld in this installment. Horrifying seems to do him justice. For me, this is the image of Blofeld that lingers in my mind, and every portrayal following You Only Live Twice doesn't quite live up to it. I can't decide whether it is the piranhas, used to punish anyone who fails Blofeld, or whether it is the epic nature of the film, or even if it's the storyline itself, but I absolutely love You Only Live Twice. It's not as good as Goldfinger, or even From Russia With Love, but I enjoyed it more, and for me that's the killer.
You Only Live Twice was to be Connery's last appearance as James Bond due to an argument with the producer Albert Broccoli, and he was followed by George Lazenby. However, they evidently resolved their dispute, and Connery was back for Diamonds Are Forever. This sees Bond impersonate a diamond smuggler in order to uncover a blot by Blofeld to build a giant laser. Bond has to fight his ultimate nemesis for the final time to defeat Blofeld once and for all. Naturally he does this with all due sophistication. No classic Bond film would be complete without a secondary villain though, and the slightly camp Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are threaded throughout the film creating a very scary effect. I am always a bit apprehensive whenever I see them in the movie, and this can only be a tribute to Bruce Glover and Putter Smith, however they are nowhere in comparison to some of the other Bond villains. The real shame about Diamonds Are Forever is that it is a black mark on the James Bond record of Sean Connery. Many critics have slated it, and it's without a doubt the worst of all Connery's Bond films.
Nevertheless Sean Connery is the best bond. Five out of his six Bond films are up there with the best for me. His witty one-liners, ultimate sophistication and timeless charm cement him as 'the' James Bond. The opening sequence in Goldfinger where he comes out of the water in his scuba suit, blows up the nitro and then, as entering the bar, strips off to reveal a perfectly crafted white tuxedo is beyond comparison. His films see some of the most iconic cars, villains, gadgets, songs, and women of the whole franchise and because of this, Connery will always stand as the quintessential British spy.
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