Random News From The World Of James Bond

Random News From The World Of James Bond

It seems like only yesterday that George Lazenby's agent advised him that the heyday of James Bond popularity was past.  Now, just a mere 43 years later,  every single day is filled with interesting news and happenings about the world and phenomenon known as James Bond.  Here are just a few noteworthy items:

1.     Subscribers to Netflix were outraged to learn that they were losing access to all of the James Bond Film Collection, plus many more titles owned by MGM Studios, effective May 1, 2013 as a result of an attempt to foster parent company, Warner Bros.'s, competing service by making these products exclusive.   This decision was bad for Netflix fans but it demonstrates that the Bond Films are still a valuable asset to any film collection.

2.    Wanna drive around town like 007?  Well the opportunity to live the secret agent's lifestyle may be at hand in not just one, but two, separate sales of famous Bond Aston Martins.  Sean Connery's iconic car of Goldfinger and Thunderball is yours to own for a mere $4.7 million dollars "fully loaded".  If the classic is a little beyond your budget, there is still a shot at the rare, Aston Martin V8 Volante driven by Timothy Dalton in 1987's The Living Daylights for sale by Classic Driver for considerably less.

3.     Sir Roger Moore is lending his star power to celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the founding of STARS (Syncope Trust and Reflex Anoxic Seizures).  This charity, an international organization, has assisted 50,000 people since it's inception who suffer from unexplained blackouts.   Sir Roger suffered one such blackout in 2003 due to a later diagnosed, low heart rate.  The installation of a pacemaker helped him to address this problem and he has committed himself to spreading the word about the foundation's good work.  That is up there with the most heroic of Bond's deeds.

4.     Pierce Brosnan, in a recent interview surrounding the opening of his new film "Love Is All You Need", had high praise for Daniel Craig's portrayal of the world's most famous secret agent.  "..I loved it.  I did.  I really did.  I've covered a lot of ground since playing James Bond.  I knew Daniel.  We passed in the night..and we spoke about life and how wonderful it was for him to do 007."   As for his time playing Bond, "Bond was a glorious time for me.  I have nothing but gratitude for having played such a role...and Daniel is magnificent."

Brosnan really gets it.   His perspective on playing Bond in a difficult transitional time, where so much of the source material was experimental and where the public and the producers were unsure of what Bond-type they were looking to associate the series, with is terrific.  "My era of playing Bond was still a cross-pollination of Sean Connery and Roger Moore.  They hadn't made the leap into the next phase: the huge action, and more Brutal Bond."  In retrospect, I think this open minded, embracing perspective is one of the reasons why, although the source materials for his Bond films were not all that memorable, his portrayal of the character was infinitely more likable than his immediate predecessor.

5.     George Lazenby really doesn't seem to get it at all.   In a recent interview for Entertainment Tonight he talks about his decision not to return to the role of James Bond, not because he was lackluster in the role, but because the days of Bond were winding down.  That was 43 three years ago, and here we are with the series making a robust comeback.  In fairness to Lazenby he succeeded the iconic Sean Connery, who was inextricably linked to the character itself.  He also was faced with a time period which he referred to as "the hippie era" and it was hard for him to see the clean cut Bond character competing in the movie world alongside an  "Easy Rider" movie audience.  Falling in step with the other Bonds, however, Lazenby did praise Craig's acting in the lead role, although he longs for license to kill who "could still shed a tear over someone dying".  Maybe that is the major difference between Craig and Lazenby's portrayal of Bond; Lazenby longs for a 007 who sheds a tear with every killing and Craig, to quote Casino Royale "...wouldn't be very good at my job if I did."   I am with Craig.

More news for the World Of James Bond to follow....