Movie:
James Bond, the suave, sophisticated, womanising and deadly
British agent from MI6 with a licence to kill. I don’t think that there is a
soul that has not at least heard of this legendary character. Starting it’s
movie life way back in 1962 with Dr No, and currently on its 21st official movie
(Not including Never say never again which is not classed as an official James
Bond movie), Casino Royale which has just been released at the cinema, surely
this is one of the most successful if not THE most successful book to film
series ever.
Everyone has their favourite bond out of the six actors that
have played him. After having seen Daniel Craig in the new Casino Royale I am
thinking that he may be very close to the top of my list, if not THE top,
although there were questions about him not being “Bond” like, however It’s
worth mentioning that Sean Connery was not “Bond” in the eyes of Ian Fleming,
He wanted David Niven to play him, but hindsight is a wonderful thing and
although he didn’t live to see many of his books made to film he must have
thanked his lucky stars that Connery took to the role like a duck to water, so
much so that to many he is generally classed as the definitive Bond that every
other actor has been compared too.
However I digress and this review is about Dr No, the first
film that started it all off.
Our man Bond (Sean Connery) is packed off to Jamaica to
investigate the disappearance and probable murder of a British agent called
Strangways (Tim Moxon) and his secretary. Once there he begins to unravel the
murder and finds out about the mysterious Dr No (Patrick Wiseman) on Crab Key. His
investigations take him into the very heart of Dr No’s complex and it is down
to our hero to thwart the plans of the enemy.
It had taken Cubby Broccoli some time and patience before he
finally managed to see the Bond films spring to life. Dr No was chosen as the
initial film, even though it was not the initial book by Ian Fleming (That was
actually Casino Royale) because it was essentially the easiest to make, that
and the fact that there were legal reasons that Thunderball, which was
originally going to be the first film could not go ahead.
What is apparent was that it was all a learning and building
process. We can see some of the traits that make Bond who he is, the Vodka
Martini shaken not stirred for example, and the amusing one liners, the
fantastic locations and of course Miss Moneypenny and the rest of the crew
(excluding Q) but also missing are the array of gadgets that we associate him
with, and the famous theme tune makes only one appearance during the opening
credits.
In fact looking back on it now the movie can feel a little
slow paced in places, and on occasion the acting isn’t the greatest but at the
same time you can see that in Bond we have a superb character who is as much at
home dressed to the nines in a casino or shooting bad guys in the dead of night
through to bedding beautiful women before turning them over to the law. But
lets not forget that this first film did not have the massive budgets of the
ones that have come after it, although as we know big budgets does not
necessarily go hand in hand with a good film, also because the budget was
limited we saw a bond who had to rely on cunning and wits, a Bond who got hurt
in the line of duty and that made the character much more human, and I suspect
in a way was what allowed ordinary people back in the 60’s to relate to the
character that they saw on screen. Holding his hat up to block the
photographers’ picture at the airport, as well as checking out Mr Jones the
chauffer before getting into the car are some examples of this.
Of course a Bond film would not be a Bond film without the
women, or the Bond girl, the main one being the stunning Honey Ryder (Ursula
Andress) but we also have Sylvia Trench (Eunice Grayson), whom you think more
will happen with but doesn’t and Miss Taro (Zena Marshall) to feast our eyes
upon. One point that I would like to mention here is that Ursula did not sing
on the film, that was actually dubbed over by Diana Coupland whom you may
remember as Jean Abbott in Bless this house (with Sid James).
Lastly the bad guy, Dr No himself (Patrick Wiseman) he lives
lavishly, has plans for world domination (don’t they all?) and wears ankle
swinging trousers! Don’t believe me? Look at the bedroom scene after Bond has
been taken to his complex and drugged. But jokes aside he isn’t the baddest
baddie that Bond has ever faced, but he plays sufficiently, in a calm
calculating deadly manner which turns out to be a trait of many a villain. The
success of the film seems to have been a surprise to Mr Wiseman as he was
quoted with the following "I had no idea what I was letting myself in for.
I had no idea it would achieve the success it did. I know nothing about
mysteries. I don't take to them. As far as I was concerned, I thought it might
be just another Grade-B Charlie Chan mystery".
The rest they say is history, 21 films later and we are on
the 6th actor to play Bond and Dr No opened the floodgates to allow it all to
happen, sure the special effects are sparse (due to budget constraints) but in
a way it nice to see it back to its basic level (something that Casino Royale
has done too). And so it is a good film to start with and one that is still
enjoyable to watch today.
Picture and Sound:
Wow, what more can I say, picture quality is fantastic, the
restoration job that has been done is second to none, colours are crisp and
clear with that colour palette that seems unique to movies of this era.
Sound wise we have Dolby 5.1 and DTS soundtracks which are
booming and loud and clear, although on occasion dialogue seemed a tad low in
places although this by no means detracts from the film what so ever.
Extras
Most of the bonus footage comes on the second disk. And wow
what a lot of footage, but is it up to much?
Top Level Access
007 : Licence to Restore
Approx 10 minute look into the restoration process of the
bond films, not really specific to Dr No although it is mentioned within the documentary.
This is quite interesting as it shows some examples of un-restored footage and
restored footage as well as a look into the impressive array of MACs that were
used in the restoration process. A nice little extra!
Declassified: MI6 Vault
The Guns of James Bond
B&W footage, introduced by Sean Connery that outlines
the guns used in the film, Geoffrey Boothroyd, a friend of Ian Fleming talks
through firearms which were used by Bond.
Premiere Bond
A look back at all the premiere openings of Bond movies,
quite and interesting look into the Bond world.
007 : Mission Control
007
> The Gun Barrel
The infamous theme tune coupled with the opening credits to
Dr No.
> The Gun Barrel (Textless)
As above but without any of the credits.
> Bond. James Bond
A slightly pointless few second clip of Dr No where we hear
the famous Words “my name is Bond. James Bond”.
> The Private Life of 007
Again another short clip of a scene in the film, pointless
filler.
> The Well Dressed Spy
Formal Wear, Dressed to Kill, Caribbean Style, Asian Flair
Still more very short clips of the film where Bond is wearing
different attire.
Shaken not Stirred
Martini in the Hotel & Drinks with the Doctor
Bond ordering drinks
Women
Sylvia Trench, Miss Taro and Honey Ryder.
Short clips of the girls in Dr No, I am surprised that Miss
Moneypenny was left out.
Allies
Shorts on Bond Allies in Dr No, includes Moneypenny, Major
Boothroyd, Strangeways, Quarrel and Felx Leiter.
Villains
Short on Bonds many enemies
Dr No himself, The three blind mice, Mr Jones, Professor
Dent, The Photographer, Miss Taro and Spectre
Mission Combat manual
Interrogation 101
How to kill a spider
Defensive driving
You’ve had your six
Back-stabbing
Man Vs dragon
Going nuclear
Q Branch
Geiger counter
Cyanide cigarette
Mechanical dragon
Million dollar aquarium
Exotic Locations
A short 2 minute look at the locations that Dr No was filmed
in, even though this is short its interesting to hear actual location names
used in the film.
Mission Dossier
Inside Dr No
Narrated by Patrick McNee of Avengers fame, this is a 40
minute documentary about the birth of the James Bond films. I really enjoyed
this extra, we saw some of the cast as they are “now” and find out lots of
things specific to Dr No. a worthy extra.
Terence Young: Bond Vivant
This is the regular back slapping and lets praise up the
director extra, although I am not familiar with anything outside of James Bond
that Terence young has done, he does seem to have transferred a lot of himself
into the James Bond character. From this extra we find out that he was a
ruthless yet friendly guy that had many traits of the 007 agent.
Dr No 1963 Featurette
Very rough B&W footage which essentially seems like a
60s “making of” documentary the guy that introduces this says everything in
that awkward, 60s scripted im-reading-from-a-board kind of way.
Ministry of propaganda
Theatrical Archive, TV Broadcasts and Radio
communication
What struck me after watching this lot is how trailers have
changed over the years, the speech over is terrible for the most part and the
trailers under theatrical archive may as well tell you the entire Dr No story,
although it maybe because I’ve seen the movie, make up your own mind.
Image Database
Still images from the film, good if you like that sort of
thing.
Overall
For its shortcomings and lack of gadgets and not so bad
baddie, this is still a very good Bond Movie, we have whom some say is the best
Bond Girl in terms of sex appeal (although that isn’t this reviewer’s opinion)
and the exotic locations and it was only the budget that held back the other
stuff. If buying the entire boxset as I did via the attaché case then you get
this film (obviously) by default, but it is still a worthy addition to your
collection even if you are buying individually.