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Catching Bullets: Memoirs of a Bond Fan
'Catching Bullets' is a love-letter to James Bond, Duran Duran title sequences and bolting down your tea quick enough to watch Roger Moore falling out of a plane without a parachute.
- GenresNonfictionBiographyFilm
384 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 26, 2012
As someone with a shelf filled with Bond books, my standards are pretty high when it comes to any new arrivals. A bit like when Pierce Brosnan was replaced by Daniel Craig.
Thankfully Catching Bullets is the best Bond book to have been published in many a year, a fresh insight into a film series which has been analysed to death by scholars, critics and bloggers over the years.
The author brings a fans-eye-view to 22 of the films (Skyfall hadn't been released at the time of publication) and recalls where he was when he saw each of them. Whether watching them on ITV at Christmas, on VHS or at a special screening hosted by Eon Productions (O'Connell's grandad, Jimmy, was chauffeur to Cubby Brocolli), we follow him as both he and the series mature.
Each film is analysed in detail, with an enthusiasm that will send every jaded fan back to their DVDs and Blu-rays with renewed vigour.
One of the finest books I've read in a long time in any genre, Catching Bullets will help you remember why you became a Bond fan in the first place.
Thankfully Catching Bullets is the best Bond book to have been published in many a year, a fresh insight into a film series which has been analysed to death by scholars, critics and bloggers over the years.
The author brings a fans-eye-view to 22 of the films (Skyfall hadn't been released at the time of publication) and recalls where he was when he saw each of them. Whether watching them on ITV at Christmas, on VHS or at a special screening hosted by Eon Productions (O'Connell's grandad, Jimmy, was chauffeur to Cubby Brocolli), we follow him as both he and the series mature.
Each film is analysed in detail, with an enthusiasm that will send every jaded fan back to their DVDs and Blu-rays with renewed vigour.
One of the finest books I've read in a long time in any genre, Catching Bullets will help you remember why you became a Bond fan in the first place.
March 27, 2015
The first thing I noticed when I saw the cover to Mark O’Connell’s book Catching Bullets was its subtitle: Memoirs of a Bond Fan. I thought, You can do that? You can write a book about being a Bond fan? Why have I been knocking myself out writing a teen spy novel when I could have been writing my memoirs?
That supposes writing your memoirs is easier than writing a novel, which I doubt. I also doubt my memoirs would be more interesting than O’Connell’s. He has a hook to make the rest of us Bond fans envious: his grandfather, Jimmy O’Connell, was the chauffeur to Bond producer extraordinaire Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli.
O’Connell’s second, and actually better, hook is that he remembers the order he saw the Bond films and the exact date he first saw each film. He is able to chronicle his evolution as a Bond fan, and later on as a person, from one viewing experience to the next.
Now I’ve always considered myself an obsessive Bond fan, and those who knew me in high school could testify to this, but I could not tell you exactly when I saw every movie for the first time or the order I saw them. Like O’Connell I grew up in a time when the only way to see an older Bond movie was on network television, and you never knew which one ABC would broadcast next. There was the time Home Box Office had a James Bond film festival, showing one Bond movie a month for nine months. Inexplicably they skipped Live and Let Die and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but HBO at least offered me my first chance to see most of the movies uncut and without commercials.
ABC would show a Bond movie every three or four months, but there would be nothing special about the date. According to O’Connell, Bond movies were close to a ritual on Britain’s ITV. Bond would appear on Christmas for sure, right after the queen’s speech, and would often show up on bank holidays. I suspect this made it easier for O’Connell to exactly tally his history with the 007 movies.
At any rate, this gives Catching Bullets an inviting narrative throughline, living life from Bond movie to Bond movie. “It is the biography of watching James Bond movies,” O’Connell writes in his opening chapter. He got hooked on Bond several years younger and a few films later than I. O’Connell was 7 when his father took him to see Octopussy when it opened in the summer of 1983 (just after I graduated from high school). At the same time, O’Connell was starting to realize his grandfather worked for the man who produced the film and often drove its star, Roger Moore, around London.
When I picked up the book I thought I would read tales of the young O’Connell playing Spritle and Chim-Chim from Speed Racer to sneak into the back seat of the famed Rolls Royce with the CUB 1 license plate and steal some quality time with Cubby or Roger. It turns out O’Connell’s grandfather kept his family life and professional life separate. Mark O’Connell never met Cubby Broccoli, and met Roger Moore only after his book was published. However, Jimmy O’Connell was able to get his grandson into the cast and crew screenings of Bond movies from The Living Daylights onward. There’s that envy again. His grandfather also presented him with posters, soundtrack albums and T-shirts straight from the Eon offices. It’s a wonder I don’t hate Mark O’Connell.
After reading a few pages, though, it would be impossible to hate O’Connell. He comes across as the kind of easy-going Bond fan I would enjoy killing a few hours with discussing the finer points of 007 lore. O’Connell is not any sort of purist (he never really got into the Fleming novels) and his view of Bond is an ecumenical one, finding the good in every actor to play the role.
It helps that O’Connell’s opinions are mostly in line with mine. We both grew up with Roger Moore and share a similar soft spot for his suave interpretation of Bond. I wouldn’t go as far in my praise of A View to a Kill, but at least O’Connell isn’t a member of the “Let’s Hate Moonraker Because It’s Moonraker” club.
O’Connell’s reminiscences are far warmer than those in the only other Bond fan memoir I’m aware of, Simon Winder’s acerbic The Man Who Saved Britain. Many Bond fans despise Winder’s book, which is as much social criticism as memoir, because he just stops short of disowning his childhood love of Bond. I enjoyed Winder’s book, respecting his opinions even when I disagreed with them.
You won’t find any sort of recriminations in O’Connell’s recollections. Even when discussing a movie he likes less than the rest — such as The World Is Not Enough, which he categorizes as “the misfired bullet” — he finds kind things to say about them. Me, I would be at a loss to say anything charitable about The World Is Not Enough, the one film in the series I come close to hating.
When O’Connell does express the occasional unkind word he can be very funny (he has found his place as a comedy writer for British television). Of Eric Serra’s notorious GoldenEye orchestrations, he writes, “The rest of his score is a weird musical potpourri of Santa’s sleigh bells, cod Russian singing apparently played backwards and what sounds like a series of heavy manhole covers being dropped down numerous lift shafts.” You will not find a more accurate description of the GoldenEye soundtrack.
If Catching Bullets has a fault, it’s that the comedy writer in O’Connell doesn’t know when to cool it. Some pages are crammed with contorted, Bond-related metaphors. And with any pop culture-laden memoir that describes life in another country, Catching Bullets is filled with references to British TV personalities I’ve never heard of.
Speaking of British television references, in a famed Alan Partridge clip, Steve Coogan shouts, “Stop getting Bond wrong!” Only Bond fans can understand that rage, when someone says For Your Eyes Only when they mean Live and Let Die, and I am happy to report O’Connell never gets Bond wrong. Not once. Hell, even Ian Fleming slipped up from time to time, but O’Connell gets every character name, every background actor, and every quote right. Bravo.
The narration shifts from O’Connell’s experiences watching Bond to the development of his personal life beyond Bond (yes, it is possible) to updates on his grandfather. Although Mark O’Connell never met Cubby Broccoli, we learn a lot about the producer from the way he treated his chauffeur, allowing him to “house sit” the Broccoli home in Beverly Hills as a paid vacation, and we learn a lot about the Broccoli family when Cubby’s daughter Barbara (one of the two Broccoli children now running the Bond films) attends Jimmy O’Connell’s funeral and spends several hours afterwards at a pub sharing memories of the man who used to drive her to school. Eon still sends cast-and-crew screening invitations to the O’Connell family, and Mark O’Connell still gets an early look at the movies.
As O’Connell moves through adolescence and beyond he realizes he is gay. He briefly wonders if this disqualifies him from continuing to idolize that most heterosexual of British heroes, then shrugs and says, “Why not?”
Overall, the Bond films bring escapist fun to O’Connell and he wastes no effort trying to discredit or debunk them. He allows fellow Bond fans to experience anew that thrill we felt the first time we watched every Bond film, even if we don’t recall the details as clearly as he does. He’s my kind of Bond fan.
That supposes writing your memoirs is easier than writing a novel, which I doubt. I also doubt my memoirs would be more interesting than O’Connell’s. He has a hook to make the rest of us Bond fans envious: his grandfather, Jimmy O’Connell, was the chauffeur to Bond producer extraordinaire Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli.
O’Connell’s second, and actually better, hook is that he remembers the order he saw the Bond films and the exact date he first saw each film. He is able to chronicle his evolution as a Bond fan, and later on as a person, from one viewing experience to the next.
Now I’ve always considered myself an obsessive Bond fan, and those who knew me in high school could testify to this, but I could not tell you exactly when I saw every movie for the first time or the order I saw them. Like O’Connell I grew up in a time when the only way to see an older Bond movie was on network television, and you never knew which one ABC would broadcast next. There was the time Home Box Office had a James Bond film festival, showing one Bond movie a month for nine months. Inexplicably they skipped Live and Let Die and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but HBO at least offered me my first chance to see most of the movies uncut and without commercials.
ABC would show a Bond movie every three or four months, but there would be nothing special about the date. According to O’Connell, Bond movies were close to a ritual on Britain’s ITV. Bond would appear on Christmas for sure, right after the queen’s speech, and would often show up on bank holidays. I suspect this made it easier for O’Connell to exactly tally his history with the 007 movies.
At any rate, this gives Catching Bullets an inviting narrative throughline, living life from Bond movie to Bond movie. “It is the biography of watching James Bond movies,” O’Connell writes in his opening chapter. He got hooked on Bond several years younger and a few films later than I. O’Connell was 7 when his father took him to see Octopussy when it opened in the summer of 1983 (just after I graduated from high school). At the same time, O’Connell was starting to realize his grandfather worked for the man who produced the film and often drove its star, Roger Moore, around London.
When I picked up the book I thought I would read tales of the young O’Connell playing Spritle and Chim-Chim from Speed Racer to sneak into the back seat of the famed Rolls Royce with the CUB 1 license plate and steal some quality time with Cubby or Roger. It turns out O’Connell’s grandfather kept his family life and professional life separate. Mark O’Connell never met Cubby Broccoli, and met Roger Moore only after his book was published. However, Jimmy O’Connell was able to get his grandson into the cast and crew screenings of Bond movies from The Living Daylights onward. There’s that envy again. His grandfather also presented him with posters, soundtrack albums and T-shirts straight from the Eon offices. It’s a wonder I don’t hate Mark O’Connell.
After reading a few pages, though, it would be impossible to hate O’Connell. He comes across as the kind of easy-going Bond fan I would enjoy killing a few hours with discussing the finer points of 007 lore. O’Connell is not any sort of purist (he never really got into the Fleming novels) and his view of Bond is an ecumenical one, finding the good in every actor to play the role.
It helps that O’Connell’s opinions are mostly in line with mine. We both grew up with Roger Moore and share a similar soft spot for his suave interpretation of Bond. I wouldn’t go as far in my praise of A View to a Kill, but at least O’Connell isn’t a member of the “Let’s Hate Moonraker Because It’s Moonraker” club.
O’Connell’s reminiscences are far warmer than those in the only other Bond fan memoir I’m aware of, Simon Winder’s acerbic The Man Who Saved Britain. Many Bond fans despise Winder’s book, which is as much social criticism as memoir, because he just stops short of disowning his childhood love of Bond. I enjoyed Winder’s book, respecting his opinions even when I disagreed with them.
You won’t find any sort of recriminations in O’Connell’s recollections. Even when discussing a movie he likes less than the rest — such as The World Is Not Enough, which he categorizes as “the misfired bullet” — he finds kind things to say about them. Me, I would be at a loss to say anything charitable about The World Is Not Enough, the one film in the series I come close to hating.
When O’Connell does express the occasional unkind word he can be very funny (he has found his place as a comedy writer for British television). Of Eric Serra’s notorious GoldenEye orchestrations, he writes, “The rest of his score is a weird musical potpourri of Santa’s sleigh bells, cod Russian singing apparently played backwards and what sounds like a series of heavy manhole covers being dropped down numerous lift shafts.” You will not find a more accurate description of the GoldenEye soundtrack.
If Catching Bullets has a fault, it’s that the comedy writer in O’Connell doesn’t know when to cool it. Some pages are crammed with contorted, Bond-related metaphors. And with any pop culture-laden memoir that describes life in another country, Catching Bullets is filled with references to British TV personalities I’ve never heard of.
Speaking of British television references, in a famed Alan Partridge clip, Steve Coogan shouts, “Stop getting Bond wrong!” Only Bond fans can understand that rage, when someone says For Your Eyes Only when they mean Live and Let Die, and I am happy to report O’Connell never gets Bond wrong. Not once. Hell, even Ian Fleming slipped up from time to time, but O’Connell gets every character name, every background actor, and every quote right. Bravo.
The narration shifts from O’Connell’s experiences watching Bond to the development of his personal life beyond Bond (yes, it is possible) to updates on his grandfather. Although Mark O’Connell never met Cubby Broccoli, we learn a lot about the producer from the way he treated his chauffeur, allowing him to “house sit” the Broccoli home in Beverly Hills as a paid vacation, and we learn a lot about the Broccoli family when Cubby’s daughter Barbara (one of the two Broccoli children now running the Bond films) attends Jimmy O’Connell’s funeral and spends several hours afterwards at a pub sharing memories of the man who used to drive her to school. Eon still sends cast-and-crew screening invitations to the O’Connell family, and Mark O’Connell still gets an early look at the movies.
As O’Connell moves through adolescence and beyond he realizes he is gay. He briefly wonders if this disqualifies him from continuing to idolize that most heterosexual of British heroes, then shrugs and says, “Why not?”
Overall, the Bond films bring escapist fun to O’Connell and he wastes no effort trying to discredit or debunk them. He allows fellow Bond fans to experience anew that thrill we felt the first time we watched every Bond film, even if we don’t recall the details as clearly as he does. He’s my kind of Bond fan.
October 5, 2020
Very entertaining and droll account of the Bond films as told from the perspective of the writer's growing up years. In part it's a review of the movies, but mostly it's about how they juxtapose with Mark's formative years. The detail is great, and for those of a similar age like me there's some wonderful stuff covering the perils of watching 007 on TV. This was the only way to catch the extensive back catalogue for a long time, and what we put up with - pan and scan editions to clumsily fit a widescreen feature onto standard 4:3 sets, with bits cut out so that afternoon audiences couldn't be offended - seems unholy now. Imagine seeing a visually luscious entry like YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE in this way, which is of course exactly what we did because it was this or nothing...
May 25, 2019
As the author's grandfather was Cubby Broccoli's chauffeur for many years, I was expecting more in the way of inside dope from EON Studios. What I got instead was a sweet memoir about a 1980s childhood not dissimilar to my own. Had me at the point where the young O'Connell names a golden retriever puppy after Kara Milovy.
June 3, 2015
To put my cards on the table straight away, I’m a big Bond fan. I grew up in the 70s and 80s, the Roger Moore era and he remains my favourite actor in the role, indeed the first two Bond films I saw at the cinema (on a double-bill) were “Live And Let Die” and “The Spy Who Loved Me”. “Catching Bullets” is a charming, warm and funny memoir-cum-Bond review, written by someone who clearly loves the films as much as I do, who also rates Sir Roger as the best Bond (though Mark’s favourite film is “Octopussy”, mine is “Spy”). To my envy, he also has a personal connection to the films, since his grandfather Jimmy was a prized chauffeur for 007 producer Cubby Broccoli and Mark still gets tickets to private EON showings. The memoir is wonderfully nostalgic, from a time of rushing to watch the films for the first time on TV (since you didn’t know when they’d get repeated), of taping them and re-watching them, of sticking up Look-In posters on the wall whilst also designing your own and convincing your parents to buy different cereals so you could get the latest stickers. A slowly dawning realisation of sexuality, hiding behind the ‘straight shield’ of Maud Adams, is well handled and quite touching and as life progresses for the author and good things happen, it’s nicely heartening. In addition to the memoir, each film is detailed in the order Mark saw them (which is why “Octopussy” and “A View To A Kill” lead the way), with each review a mixture of on-screen action, behind the scenes tidbits and learned opinion. I agreed with most of the reviews, though I find it difficult to warm to the ridiculous “Die Another Day” (poor old Pierce) and still can’t find a good thing to say about the (frankly terrible) “Quantum Of Solace”. Warm-hearted, good fun, I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend it (though non-Bond fans may find their mileage varies).
January 20, 2015
Mark O'Connell's memoir of his James Bond fandom is unique, touching, full of humor and wit, and very endrearing. Instead of taking the traditional approach of chronologically analyzing each Bond film as many other books do, O'Connell recounts his personal journey of Bond fandom by taking us along for the ride as he recalls the Bond films in the order that he got to view them growing up in Cranleigh, England first being introduced to the franchise at around 9 years old. He also has a personal connection to the franchise as his grandfather, Jimmy O'Connell, was a longtime chauffeur for the Broccoli family, who own EON the company that produces the Bond films. Catching most of the films on Britian's ITV channels on Bank Holidays, O'Connell not only provides a fresh look at each of the films, he also let's readers into his life as fan making his own Roger Moore poster art and obsessing over Maud Adams using the actress as his "straight shield" until he was ready to come out to his friends and family. The irony of a gay young man becoming a fan of the very iconically heterosexual James Bond isn't lost on O'Connell, yet from the very beginning of his introduction to the franchise it is his fandom that helps shape a huge part of his identity as he became an adult and forged his own writing career in British television. This book approaches the subject of the Bond films with the kind of love and admiration that could only come from a fan. O'Connell's book is instantly approachable and provided me with a fun read with its unique and personal approach combining the best aspects you might get from a fan guide with the unique personal story of O'Connell's memoir of his fandom.
August 16, 2013
I grew up a huge JB fan. As Mark was reliving his childhood, I was almost giddily cringing because I did many of the same things. Buying the movie book, obsessively recording the movies, loving the soundtracks. Who knows how many hours I've spent with JB. These were shared father-son moments, and they were important because they were one of the few times that we could ever - umm - bond.
It was great to find someone who just loved JB and was unapologetic for it. My first time (written with a little bit of irony) in the theater was For Your Eyes Only and I was a wee lad of eight. And it's a glorious day built up by two or three years' worth of anticipation when a new one arrives. When Mark proudly announces A View to a Kill is his favorite, I almost passed out because I found a kindred spirit! He nails it when he talks about "your Bond" versus the "best Bond." Adoration and acceptance is a great thing. It's great that he basically measures his milestones by JB movies, and sprinkled throughout are bits and pieces of his story. And his love of Maud Adams probably formed the foundation for his current relationship - who could ask for more than that? His writing is witty, self-depricating, and respectful of the true Bond fan. Loved every moment of it!
It was great to find someone who just loved JB and was unapologetic for it. My first time (written with a little bit of irony) in the theater was For Your Eyes Only and I was a wee lad of eight. And it's a glorious day built up by two or three years' worth of anticipation when a new one arrives. When Mark proudly announces A View to a Kill is his favorite, I almost passed out because I found a kindred spirit! He nails it when he talks about "your Bond" versus the "best Bond." Adoration and acceptance is a great thing. It's great that he basically measures his milestones by JB movies, and sprinkled throughout are bits and pieces of his story. And his love of Maud Adams probably formed the foundation for his current relationship - who could ask for more than that? His writing is witty, self-depricating, and respectful of the true Bond fan. Loved every moment of it!
November 4, 2012
This is a excellent book for any one who has, like myself, been obsessed with all things Bond. Very well written, by a fan and comedy writer and aimed for primarily a fan readership, it is also worth a read by non Bond obsessives just to see how 007 can effect one's life and appreciate the films for what they are, Escapism, fun and a way of life.
This isn't my life as a Bond fan, but it's not a million miles away either.
This isn't my life as a Bond fan, but it's not a million miles away either.
November 27, 2013
What a fantastic trip down memory lane. And not just the Bond movies, but life in the eighties as well. It read like a cross between reading Empire magazine movie reviews but with the benefit of hindsight and the personal autobiographical touch that made you keep going through all 22 Bond movies. The author's humour helped a lot. I'd suggest you need to be a Bond movie fan to want to take it on though.
December 20, 2012
Fantastic. A Bond book for Bond fans by a Bond fan. Makes me want to rewatch them all! Cracking stuff
January 31, 2024
A quirky look at James Bond but one that many will relate to. Mark O’Connell is introduced to the Bond films at age nine. We see his excitement grow into an obsession as he catches up with the various films and Bond actors. These were the years before saturation TV so a Christmas Bond film was a big thing, as was a new film release. You forget how starved of information fans were pre internet and the joy of magazines like “Look In” having a Bond article or news.
Alongside the perspective of his youthful obsession we get some adult analysis of the films.
Two other aspects here, Mark’s Grandfather was actually Cubby Broccoli’s driver, so had a close association with Eon Productions and the Bond films! Young Mark didn’t abuse that relationship anything like I would have done!
Finally Mark is gay so there is also a coming of age/self discovery link here, again gently told against the context of a masculine Bond character and plenty of Bond girls.
Well written and interesting stuff.
Alongside the perspective of his youthful obsession we get some adult analysis of the films.
Two other aspects here, Mark’s Grandfather was actually Cubby Broccoli’s driver, so had a close association with Eon Productions and the Bond films! Young Mark didn’t abuse that relationship anything like I would have done!
Finally Mark is gay so there is also a coming of age/self discovery link here, again gently told against the context of a masculine Bond character and plenty of Bond girls.
Well written and interesting stuff.
February 14, 2018
I loved this book - it's uncanny how the author taps into similar fandom as me - we are a similar age, so I feel a massive connection to the eras and the whole saga of how you had to build up your Bond film viewing and knowledge back in those days. The book brought back many memories that I thought had long since been forgotten and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
March 16, 2020
I tried; I really did. I gave it 125 pages, but as much as I love 007 I just couldn't push on any further & I've got to put this one in the DNF category. I may give it another go in November, when No Time To Die finally gets released, but for now it's no time to continue this book. 🙁
July 25, 2020
Fails to realise how uninteresting the minutiae of taping from the TV is.
March 18, 2021
A funny and relatable memoir of growing up a Bond fan. Loses points for its positive review of Quantum of Fuckface though. Anyone who likes Daniel Craig's second Bond film is dead to me.
December 28, 2015
A wonderfully enjoyable coming-of age autobiography and a family story intertwined with Bond, EON and the Broccoli family. Along the way Mark O'Connell includes personal reviews of the Bond movies in the order he saw them. Growing up gay and being a fan of flaming heterosexual Bond? No problem. Humorous and always in good humor. Equally good the second time through.
Author interview:
http://jamesbondradio.com/catching-bu...
Author interview:
http://jamesbondradio.com/catching-bu...
April 13, 2016
This book tries so hard to be a different kind of Bond book, than the ones that are out there; the dictionaries, encyclopedias, compendiums, collections, film almanacs, etc. Apart from a few pages of amusement, it fails. One loose collection with the EON family is milked completely for about 25 pages, and the "different viewing" history is pretty much over by the middle half of the book, when it becomes an average Bond film review book.
August 11, 2015
I had heard good things about this book and had it on my phone via the kindle app hence why it took so long to read. This is great! The reminiscences about Bond exposure take you back. Yours may not have been the same brut they resonate. Some good observations.
Good to read along with listening to the interview with the author on JamesBond Radio podcast.
Good to read along with listening to the interview with the author on JamesBond Radio podcast.
February 26, 2016
Really enjoyed Mark O'Connell's fun and frequently touching memoir of growing up a Bond fan and his out-of-order viewing of the Bond films (isn't that how we all experienced them?)
Very much hoping that as his closing line homage says, "Mark O'Connell will return" - recommended.
Very much hoping that as his closing line homage says, "Mark O'Connell will return" - recommended.
August 4, 2013
On pg 333, when referring to fanfic and appreciations of Bond o'Connell writes, "In all examples... the end quality is mixed but the passion and dedication are unmatched."
Quite.
Quite.
January 27, 2013
This is a very clever book that manages to discuss Bond in very Different way. Really loved it!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews