Bond Films: Virgin Film

by Jim Smith

The Bond films are the longest running and most financially successful movie franchise in the history of cinema. From Dr No in 1962 through to Die Another Day in 2002, the twenty films span forty years and have featured five actors in the starring role (six if you count Daid Niven in Casino Royale). Using the successful format of previous titles in the Virgin Film series, this guide will include categories including Source to Screen, Set Pieces and, of course, Gadgets. It also has ongoing counters of on-screen deaths, martinis ordered and successful seductions! The ultimate guide to James Bond in the movies.

293 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Jim Smith, the laziest (yet still professional) teacher in town, is a head of school, education consultant, Independent Thinking Associate, speaker and bestselling author.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over the years there have been many 'companion' books that act as a sort of guide to the Bond films, and this is one of the best efforts to date.
As expected, you get the usual information about each of the films that you'd anticipate ( A list of the principal cast, Director & crew on each film, the main characters, Bond's allies & enemies etc etc) and each of these are very well detailed, but also included are other more trivial facts and information about each film. For example, there is a "memorable quotes" section on each film ("You always were a cunning linguist James"-Moneypeny-Tomorrow Never Dies) a look at the 'Fashion victims' of each film (such as Roger Moore's yellow ski suit from the opening ski jump in 'The Spy who Loved Me') and an amusing breakdown of how many kills Bond makes in each film, how many Vodka Martinins he drinks and how many young ladies he seduces in a "Martinis, Girls and Guns" section.
There is a wealth of information on offer and a nice balance which should satisfy those who want to unearth every aspect of the Bond films and for those who simply prefer to just 'dip into' this book periodically.
Inevitably with any Bond book, as each film is released the book becomes a little more outdated, but it's good to see that an attempt has been made to keep this right up to date and even though 'Die Another Day' hadn't been released when this book was originally published, they have managed to include a chapter on it, although it is not nearly as detailed as the other sections. Brownie points should be awarded as they also include chapters on the unofficial Bond films 'Never say Never Again' and 'Casnio Royale'.
A fine book worthy of a place in your collection.

[Mark Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers all the films pre Daniel Craig though to be fair, Die another day hadn't been released on publication. It also includes the unofficial Bond films. I've read a lot about Bond but still found out new stuff. Interesting to see the author's views on the films. OHMSS, originally panned is now seen as a classic!

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's more critical than Andy Lane's "Bond Files" (which I like), and it's designed in the familiar "Discontinuity Guide" style, pioneered by Day, Cornell, & Topping. But what it's missing is Andy Lane's pithy writing style, as well as the lack of follow up to statements made in the critiques, implying that the information was already discussed...when it seems conspicuous by its absence. Enjoyable, but still below the standard set by Keith Topping's "Buffy" and "Angel" guides. We'll call it the low end of three stars...