007: Dr. No

The 007 films, I just love them. I love the action, the girls, the actors, the villains, the stories, the gadgets and I especially love James Bond himself, who is my all time favorite hero. If I'm going to review any Bond film, I might as start with the first Bond film...


After knowing that this is the first Bond Film, I was expecting the story to be about how James got to be an agent, unfortunately that's not the story line. The films about James Bond (Sean Connery) investigating a murder of a British agent in Jamaica (where the author Ian Fleming wrote some of the 007 novels) and he finds out that the murder trail leads to an Island run by the evil Doctor No (Joseph Wiseman). Along the trail Bond meets Quarrel the fisherman (John Kitzmiller); an agent named Felix Leiter (Jack Lord); the dangerous Bond Girl Miss Taro (Zena Marshall); and who could forget the Beautiful Bond girl from the beach Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress).

Sean Connery's performance as 007 is fantastic and let me tell you he wasn't even half bad. Every time you see him, he has the face that gives you the idea that he has a plan, or when he knows something's not right. When he says his lines he gives the character an even cooler tone, like in the beginning of the film when he says his famous catch phrase while playing cards with Sylvia Trench (Eunice Gayson) "Bond…James Bond". The scenes that I loved him in the most are the action scenes. The reason why is because we see how clever and prepared he is when something bad is going to happen to him. I also love him the in action scenes when he kicks ass, cause let me tell you, he really does know how to kick some ass. Of course at times when I see some of those action scenes the fighting can get kind of cheesy; and in the car chase scenes I was kind of expecting those scenes to be more intense, but still I found them satisfying and cool. Some people say 007 would never survive without "Q Gadgets", but in this film, he doesn't use any. This film proves he can take care of himself without gadgets which makes the film very special, even though it's only the start for the hero. The other scenes I also loved him in are when he interrogates people for information like in the scene when he meets a mysterious photographer or when he first meets Quarrel. I loved the idea that they played the famous James Bond theme throughout the movie because it really does fit in with the scenes when he's sneaking around; making love to a Bond girl; or when he's fighting the bad guys. Some people complain that Sean Connery shouldn't play Bond since he's Scottish, my answer to that is I think it's a nitpick because I think he plays the British spy very well and to be honest I think he hides his Scottish accent fine. Bob Hospkins plays an American in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and you wouldn't be able to tell that he's British. It's called acting people, think!


The scenes I'm sure a lot of Bond fans like are the scenes when he's with the girls. I mean he really goes for the women even if one of them is trying to kill him. He even flirts with a secretary named Moneypenny. His best scenes with the girls is when he's with Honey Ryder, and even though they're together throughout the middle of the film you still pick up a chemistry between the two of them and Ursula Andress who plays her, makes it convincing. But if I know Bond, he'll go for another Bond girl in the next movie.

Now, finally the villains in the Bond film, what's a Bond film without villains. Our main villain Dr.No is never seen on screen until we get to the third act. All we hear or see of him is just his voice. The build up to him is really good, and when we finally do meet him, he's a gentleman and welcomes Bond to his lab, but as the scene progresses he's just a stone cold heartless mastermind with an evil plan. His henchman and assassins are threatening, mysterious and unforgettable. You first got the "Three Blind Mice" who may look blind to the public when they're really deadly assassins who are sneaky and won't stop until the jobs done. Then there's Professor Dent, who figures out ways to kill Bond by using Dr. No's henchmen to kill Bond, study him and lure him into a trap while being disguised as civilians on the Island. I'm not going to tell you what happens to him, but lets say the scene caused a little controversy to the Bond character, kind of like the controversial scene with Han Solo and Greedo.

This film as being the first 007 film really started off the series on the right foot.

Rating 5/5