"50 Years of Bond" Retrospective - #7: Diamonds Are Forever

Much like Thunderball to Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever had a lot to live up to after On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, George Lazenby’s only cinematic appearance as James Bond. After Lazenby left the series, Saltzman and Broccoli had no choice but to return to Sean Connery. This would be his last appearance as James Bond in the official EON canon (I am NOT reviewing Never Say Never Again), and thankfully so.

One thing that had been made apparent after seeing Lazenby take on the role of 007 was how far Connery had gone. He started out in high fashion, coming off strongly in the first three Bond films… but boy, did he get old fast. Connery had long overstayed his welcome (Just like someone else we’ll get to), and his send off was horribly weak.

"50 Years of Bond" Retrospective - #6: On Her Majesty's Secret Service

With You Only Live Twice concluded, Sean Connery had reached the end of his five picture deal with EON. He planned on retiring from the character, but that was not the case. He would come back in the future release Diamonds Are Forever, but in the middle of all that, new talent had emerged for the role. Australian actor George Lazenby hadn’t hit it big in the business, but he screen tested for, and eventually won the role of Bond. Compared to the likes of Connery, Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnan, Lazenby is the most under the radar. Some even forget who he was, due to the fact that this was first and only Bond film he’d ever starred in. Every other actor, even Timothy Dalton, played the character at least twice. This made me think he must be so bad that he almost ruined the movie. In actuality, he’s responsible for one of the best Bond movies yet.

"50 Years of Bond" Retrospective - #5: You Only Live Twice

Saltzman and Broccoli had long been building up the SPECTRE storyline first introduced in Dr. No, and this was the beginning of the end of that saga. You Only Live Twice is interesting in the way that it had some strange decisions behind its production. Chief among this was the fact that the script was written by author Roald Dahl, who most readers would know best as the author of Matilda, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, and Fantastic Mr. Fox.  Some could argue that he was out of his element, but what he turned in isn’t all that bad. It’s incredibly silly at times, but it at least has some much needed stamina behind it.

"50 Years of Bond" Retrospective - #4: Thunderball

Goldfinger had been such a success in its original release that everyone and their dog went to see it. It literally kept theater chains open 24/7, made the Bond series the cream of the crop, and the film even won an Oscar, one of only three Bond films to do so. The creators were on top of the world. Their next follow up had some serious potential. With just the right amount of hard work, this could even best Goldfinger. What could possibly go wr-OH, COME ON! You had to return to the SPECTRE storyline?!

Yep. Turns out Thunderball isn’t the anticipated follow up it should be, serving as more of a disappointment to its predecessor.

"50 Years of Bond" Retrospective - #3: Goldfinger

Now THIS is more like it. Following the success of Dr. No and From Russia with Love, Broccoli and Saltzman were quick to get the third James Bond feature out, and boy was it gonna be a special one. It feels like they finally started examining what worked for their previous two features, and what they needed to improve on. The result of their hard work was Goldfinger, the third movie featuring Sean Connery as Bond, and the first directed by Guy Hamilton. Often considered by many to be the best Bond movie ever made, Goldfinger gave us more of the iconic Bond staples we loved, and upped the bar for themselves big time. If you’re going to make a breezy, light, funny and thrilling action movie, this is the standard you need to hold yourself up to.

"50 Years of Bond" Retrospective - #2: From Russia With Love

After the success of Dr. No, Albert Broccoli and Henry Saltzman were quick to put out their next James Bond feature film From Russia with Love. The film was once again directed by Terence Young, and had Sean Connery come back as 007. So… I don’t know if it’s me, but this seemed like a step backwards. They tried to stay true to what made the first film a success, and while it does have its fair share of enjoyment, this movie really seemed to fail at engaging me like Dr. No had done.

"50 Years of Bond" Retrospective - #1: Dr. No

To start off my retrospective, we take a look at Bond’s first cinematic appearance, Dr. No. James Bond was originally created by English author Ian Fleming, and who should seek out the rights to make a film based on his books? Why, none other than Albert Broccoli and Henry Saltzman, who formed a partnership in bringing Bond to the big screen. The two had initially wanted to start with Thunderball, but due to circumstances, they opted for Dr. No. The film was to be directed by Terence Young, but casting Bond himself was an issue. They had initially thought of Cary Grant, and even considered the likes of Roger Moore (And we’ll get to him real soon). Enter Scottish actor Sean Connery. That’s right, the guy Darrel Hammond used to play in the SNL parodies of Jeopardy!, that was this guy. Connery was 30 when he signed on for five feature films, and the movie’s production was set in stone.