Normally when James Bond interacts with wait staff or passersby, the scene is normally short and sweet, and his own quips and charm make the scene somewhat memorable, if at all. It’s not the case in this scene from The Man With The Golden Gun (1974), however.
As Bond searches for Scaramanga’s girl, Andrea Anders, in a hotel, this helpful worker asks Bond (Roger Moore) if he needs help with his champagne on ice delivery. Bond declines, but gladly has uses him to open the door to room 602, Andrea Anders’ room. Does Bond want the staff member to open the champage? Nope – no further assistance is needed from staff, as Bond says he wants his visit to be “a surprise.”
The hotel worker’s response is hilarious in its giddiness and glee. I wonder if it was improvised?
This scene from The Living Daylights (1987) is how I like my Timothy Dalton James Bond: rough around the edges and disgruntled with superiors – has his own disagreeable opinions and agendas but in the end always wants to get the job done, and does.
This scene takes place in M’s office with M, Bond and Frederick Gray, the Minister of Defense assessing the catastrophic event that just occurred, where a defected Georgi Koskov was re-captured by the KGB and MI6 made a “laughingstock” in the intelligence community as a results, as relayed by Gray.
I like this scene so much because everyone expresses their own frustrations in unique ways. M grumpily cleaning out his pipe, Gray begrudgingly leaving to meet the Prime Minister evoking his disdain, and Bond defiantly bending to M’s orders to take out Pushkin. This is a relatively rare direct “termination order” issued by M to Bond in his office, and although Bond has a license to kill, in this case Bond is skeptical that Pushkin could be behind the plot. M senses his defiance instantly (you can sense this isn’t the first time this has happened between the two) and his “What? Do you think I don’t?” is expertly delivered as a “STFU, obey my orders” declaration to Bond.
M, Bond and Frederick Gray meeting in M’s office in The Living Daylights (1987)
Despite Bond’s pleas, M demurs and tells him to either do the job or leave for a fortnight and 008 will do it – since 008 will follow “orders, not instincts.” I always love when other double-oh agents are mentioned in Bond movies. 🙂 And it happens doubly so here, since 004 was killed in the Gibraltar training exercise at the start of the movie, as a result of the Smernt Spionom (Death to Spies) agenda that has commenced. So even though M attempts to allay Bond’s hesitations, Bond still relents and says he would like to delay the operation to obtain more information. M’s job transfer threat is all Bond needs to hear, and he takes the mission.
Knowing this James Bond, however, we know that his agenda will come before MI6’s, for better or worse.
The Q Branch scene from GoldenEye (1995) is one of my favorites of the series. It has it all: physical humor, great chemistry between Bond (Pierce Brosnan) and Q (Desmond Llewelyn), funny one-liners and quips and…the only time another movie’s theme is mentioned in a previous movie? Although it’s great, it does have its flaws.
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The Quantum Of Solace (2008) gun barrel sequence is unique because it comes at the end of the movie, not at the traditional start. I actually enjoyed this subtle change more than I thought I would – specifically because there’s nothing better than hearing the Bond theme blaring at the end of a Bond movie. It’s an exclamation point!
Following this gun barrel sequence is a cool animation to incorporate the gun barrel circle into the movie’s logo, as seen below. Nothing crazy, but another way the series has had fun with the 007 logo and movie title logos over the years. Kudos!
The Quantum Of Solace Gun Barrel Logo
In the above scene from Casino Royale (2006), Judi Dench’s M and Daniel Craig’s James Bond have a heated exchange at her abode about his disastrous, headline-grabbing mission at the start of the movie. His sloppy parkour chase ended with an unarmed man (albeit an international terrorist bombmaker) killed and a headache for MI6.
After grilling him for a bit, M is also perplexed as to how Bond found out where she lived. To which Bond replies that it was just as easy as finding out what the M actually stood for. M quickly interjected her disdain and threat of murder (!). I remember this exchange piquing a lot of interest in Bond fans when Casino Royale came out, but much to our chagrin her name was never referenced again for the remainder of the movie.
In later Craig Bond movies, however, her name is referenced a few other times, albeit in different circumstances and still leading to more questions than answers.
Most notably:
- “Mum” – In Skyfall (2012), Bond oddly (affectionately?) refers to her as ‘mum’ on several occasions. Maybe this is an MI6 inside joke/reference to her being a woman M, so “mum”? Or just British slang or a drawl?
- Emma/Em – Also later in Skyfall, Kincaid brazenly refers to her as “Emma” – leaving the question open as to whether that’s her actual given name, or just another English play on words of the letter M? Or does he think Bond is shortening “Emma” to “Em” and doesn’t know that M is her MI6 code name
But, all is not so. As seen in the below screenshot, Dench’s M’s real name is actually revealed at the end of Skyfall (2012), where Moneypenny hands Bond a box containing the dreaded figurine of Jack, the Union Jack bulldog.
The real name of M (Judi Dench) is revealed in Skyfall (2012) as Olivia Mansfield
It’s a single frame, but you can clearly see M’s full name Olivia Mansfield visible and the package recipient’s name, James Bond (here it is zoomed in):
The real name of M (Judi Dench) is revealed in Skyfall (2012) as Olivia Mansfield
As Olivia Mansfield was deemed as canon by EON Productions, the name speculation is put to bed. Some fans have gone a bit further though, and deemed the name a play on words of the male-dominated field of espionage and the head of MI6 (code named “C” in real life actually) as a “man’s” “field.” It would have been interesting to have heard Dench’s M finally referred to as Mansfield for once, but oh well.
Regardless, if the above revelation didn’t happen, I still like to guess what name Dench’s M could have possibly have been. Here are my top 007 “M” guesses (all of which according to Google were the most popular girls names in the 1930s, the decade when Judi Dench was born):
- Margaret
- Mary
- Marilyn
- Martha
- Marie
- Mildred
- Marjorie
In No Time To Die (2021), right before Bond (Daniel Craig) gets coaxed out of “retirement,” we see the simple solitary island life he leads, content with the world. After a successful snapper catch/diving session, he comes to port in his sweet sailboat (with Red Ensign flag on the stern) and his speargun, flippers and snorkel in tow. He’s not dressed to impress here, as his t-shirt has multiple holes and I’d advise not to wear those dorky croakies anywhere in public. He seems carefree.
Eagle-eyed James Bond fans would recognize the setting as the real-world Goldeneye estate where Ian Fleming first started writing the James Bond novels – an awesome hat-tip to Bond history. My only complaint is that we didn’t see more of Bond’s island life. It would have been great to go along with him on his diving session or see how he passes the time.
The first minute of Skyfall (2012) is just awesome. Like other Craig Bond movies, it dabbles in change from the traditional Bond formula and in this case, the gunbarrel sequence with a blaring James Bond theme is nowhere to be found. The originalist in me was first skeptical against this change, but tacking it on to the end (as in this movie and in Quantum Of Solace (2008)) adds a certain awesome celebratory bookend to a James Bond movie. I remember feeling refreshed at the end of Quantum because of this.
But back to the start of Skyfall – I remember the high anticipation as the vanity logos appeared for MGM and their Leo the Lion roar, and the silent, classic Columbia logo. And instead of the traditional gunbarrel, the camera isn’t even in focus for the last 20 seconds of the first minute of the movie but it didn’t matter. When Bond’s figure appears and the horns make that signature James Bond intro sound – wow! The hair stood up on the back of my neck and I was locked in. A perfect way to start a James Bond movie!
Daniel Craig looking like a spy in Skyfall (2012)
Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) is merciless in Moonraker (1979). In this scene, he’s had enough with his incompetent employee Corinne Dufour (Corinne Clery) who slept with Bond and led 007 to the safe in Drax’s study. She was an easy mark for Bond – giddy chatting him on the helicopter ride to the Drax estate and a asinine glance at the safe’s location in Drax’s study. Her fate was inevitable – a simple snap of his fingers and henchmen Chang (Toshiro Suga) releases the hunting dogs to maul her to death.
Oddly enough, the subsequent dog chase scene in the eerie forest and its accompanying harrowing music feels more like a horror movie than a James Bond movie.
Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) fires Corinne Dufour (Corinne Clery) in Moonraker (1979)
The World Is Not Enough (1999) boasts one of the quickest gambling sequences in any of the James Bond movies. Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) playfully joins James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) at Valentin Zukovsky’s (Robbie Coltrane) casino, L’Or Noir (Black Gold). Bond fears for her safety as the casino is filled with people from rival oil companies, so he insists they leave right away.
Although she doesn’t seem like the gambling type anyway, King abides. They are taken to a private room where Zukovsky credits her with $1 million dollars from her late father’s casino account. Instead of risking it on blackjack or other casino games, however, King prefers a straight up single, high card draw. A pity – since a private blackjack sequence with Bond, King and Zukovsky would be pure entertainment.
The cards for the shortest game of war are revealed and King loses – her queen of hearts is beaten by Zukovsky’s ace of clubs. But not before she drops a significant quote: “There is no point in living if you can’t feel alive.” …the same quote used by Renard later in the movie that lets Bond know that Elektra is not who she seems.
The quickest gambling sequence of any James Bond movie in The World Is Not Enough (1999)…PS peek the cameo by producer Michael G. Wilson!
It’s cool we get a sneak peek into Commander James Bond of the Royal Navy’s funeral in You Only Live Twice (1967). As a secret agent, however, it’s surprising to see his funeral well attended and “known” judging by the crowds and mystery man using binoculars to verify Bond’s body is “buried” at sea. But it makes sense after the start of the movie reveals that “our man in Hong Kong” was “killed” while on assignment investigating the stolen US spacecraft. Surely his actions and efforts prevented further escalations in the international incident, and maybe even the next world war.
Bond’s memorial is short-lived though. As the movie’s title suggests, he’s saved from his grave at sea and boards a British Navy vessel to get back on the job, now with better cover.
