In Licence To Kill (1989) as Bond investigates Leiter’s shark attack at Milton Krest’s warehouse, 007 tosses a security guard into a fish food drawer to a seemingly horrifying death. “Food for the fish food.”
This scene has a particular significance for me, as it’s the earliest memory I have of watching a James Bond movie in my life. I can distinctly remember this scene during a live ABC or NBC broadcast of this movie in the early 1990s. I also distinctly remembering the pity I felt for the security guard, banished to die by tiny bites in a claustrophobic drawerful of menacing-looking fish food.
At the same time, I can remember wiggling and eventually pulling a tooth out of my mouth. I was six or seven years old.
The sign for the Le Cercle club, where we first meet James Bond in Dr. No (1962)
I’m not sure you could dream of a more perfect way to introduce the world to secret agent James Bond, 007. From the start, an indirect request at a club entrance for James Bond, and a casual discreet walk through the casino until we end up in a seemingly high intensity baccarat game. The sexual tension is obvious and the facial expressions are memorable. We owe Trench, Sylvia Trench a debt of gratitude for teaching Bond, James Bond how to properly introduce himself in future movies. It truly is a scene all other James Bond movies would be well advised to replicate.
Paloma (Ana de Armas) is critically underutilized in No Time To Die (2021) and this 1 minute scene proves it!
Aside from the great chemistry between Paloma (Ana de Armas) and James Bond (Daniel Craig), this ass-kicking fight sequence was awesome! That amazing dress paired with those amazing legs made for an effective visual in the fight in Cuba after the Spectre party. Why on earth didn’t we see more of Paloma?! However, I do concede that the salud/booze shot sequence was a bit contrived and forced – not really sure why that made the final cut…
But despite her short on-screen time, I’d argue that Paloma and Bond’s chemistry rivaled or bested that between Bond and Madeleine Swann. Maybe it’s the dress, her naivete, cuteness, humor or a combination of it all that made Paloma stand out. Dare I say it’d be cool to see her return in a future Bond movie to further develop the Bond/Paloma work/personal relationship? It’d be more interesting than the tired and dreary Swann/child plotline we got from NTTD – Bond (and the audience) wasn’t enthused at the prospect!
Maybe in an alternate timeline as well – Swann is murdered, Mathilde doesn’t exist, Bond seeks his revenge with a Paloma assist and they get together. Kind of like the Vesper plot from Casino Royale (2006) without the backstabbing and the suicide, and a little more meaningful than the Anya Amasova/Tiple X relationship from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). One can dream…
Paloma (Ana de Armas) and her legs in an awesome fight sequence from No Time To Die (2021)
Jaws’ (Richard Kiel) intro in Moonraker (1979) has to be the best henchmen intro of any James Bond movie.
We catch the tail end of villain Hugo Drax’s (Michael Lonsdale) phone conversation searching for a replacement henchman for the recently deceased Chang (it’s so weird he refers to him as “Cha” in the phone conversation, but whatever). As he sits atop his ivory tower, he’s pleasantly surprised to hear the prospect of Jaws (Richard Kiel) as his next henchman to help carry out his nefarious plot and subdue James Bond in the process. I also wonder who Drax is on the phone with – is there a villain’s HR department?!
Fast forward to Jaws’ hilariously oversized arrival in Rio de Janeiro – we see him set off the metal detectors for obvious reasons. Without a word (just a smile), he explains the beeping to the Rodney Dangerfield doppelganger customs worker, totally freaking him out. LOL!
Jaws (Richard Kiel) shows his signature metal smile in Moonraker (1979)
In this short, dialogue-free sequence from No Time To Die (2021), James Bond (Daniel Craig) hops back on the double-oh saddle in style after getting lost at sea. In London, and on his way back to MI6, he visits a garage and dusts off an old Aston Martin V8 Vantage (hat-tip to Dalton’s Bond who drives it in The Living Daylights (1987) with the same license plate number, “B549 WUU”). We also see where he stores M’s infamous Jack the Bulldog figurine (“the whole office goes up in smoke and that bloody thing survives”) – obviously not in a prominent place and seemingly halfway in the trash.
In an oddly-edited shot, we see Bond turn on his invisibility superpowers and magically hop in the car, only to deftly spin his wheels on the way to the office. No offense to the Aston Martin DB5, but I was glad to see the unveiled automobile wasn’t the DB5. Overall, I think we are at capacity with the DB5’s onscreen time, and any more exposure or throwbacks to it in future movies would be overkill. I love the DB5, of course, and I get that it’s iconic and it deserved the exposure it has gotten, but now I think it’s time to move on.
In typical Craig Bond fashion, his car and any subsequent gadgets are tragically underutilized, and here we see it serve the minimal auto purpose – getting from point A to B in a commute. What a bummer! But at least we get to hear the Bond theme and we get an awesome shot of him exiting the vehicle in one of the most memorable shots from NTTD promo materials and arguably the coolest Craig has looked in his entire 007 career.
James Bond (Daniel Craig) looking suave AF in No Time To Die (2021)
This is a cool two-scene sequence from Live And Let Die (1973).
As Bond (Roger Moore) and Felix Leiter (David Hedison) prepare to investigate Mr. Big further, we get a glimpse into their literal dressing room. As Felix ties up loose ends with the “airplane matter” from the previous scene, Bond shows his diva side by working with a tailor for his mission outfits, with room service in tow, nonetheless.
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In this 30 second interstitial scene from Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), we catch the rare sight of James Bond, 007 drinking shots of vodka. And warm ones at that! Yuck!
While James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) recovers from the brawl at the Carver Media Group Network (CMGN) event, he apparently can’t find the time to mix up a traditional vodka martini, shaken not stirred. Instead, he opts for the quick numbing effects of Smirnoff vodka shots, after which ensuring the silencer is properly attached to his Walther PPK. As one does.
You may remember that Bond rips shots of tequila in Skyfall (2012) with his scorpion friend, but I think this is the only time we see him take vodka shots in the entire series. Salut!
James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) rips shome warm shots of Smirnoff vodka (yuck!) in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The nerd in me likes when the title of a movie is explicitly stated in the movie itself, like in this scene from A View To A Kill (1985).
As Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) and Mayday (Grace Jones) get a bird’s eye view of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco, CA from the Zorin blimp, they call out the name of the movie in this quick exchange. To this day, I *still* don’t really think it’s that great of a movie title, or quote in this context, but it’s still cool, I guess.
These psychopaths are hyped for the great view of a city they are about to destroy, which is a bit morbid. And Mayday’s look here, as in all of her scenes is…something. And here, her over-accentuated eye shadow and misplaced painted-on “mean” eyebrows are fitting for the lunatic these two are.
Well, here it is. The actual “view to a kill” from A View To A Kill (1985)
It really is a great view of the city, though. And of course, who can forget the shot of Zorin’s eponymous blimp in the same frame as the Golden Gate bridge – an iconic shot of the series, for sure!
Zorin’s blimo next to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA in A View To A Kill (1985)
In this scene from Dr. No (1962), James Bond (Sean Connery) does his best crime scene investigator impression, and let’s just say – an episode of C.S.I. or The First 48 it is not.
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James Bond (Sean Connery) mentions this weird item in a saying I’ve never heard of in Diamonds Are Forever (1971).
Leading up to this quote, Bond is gassed and captured by Blofeld after breaking into his penthouse. Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd get a second shot of disposing of James Bond (hence their “try, try again” musing), transporting an unconscious 007 to a desert construction site. It’s another scene where Wint and Kidd just feel creepy, with odd mannerisms and curt interactions. They seem to be laughing and almost giddy as they drive to dispose of Bond’s body. Are they high?!
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