Bond Revisited: Dr No (1962)

Dr No, the first Bond film where Sean Connery became a star by playing the fictional MI6 agent 007 - James Bond. A character first made famous by the series of books written by Ian Fleming. The author himself disapproved of the casting of Sean Connery, though later incorporated the fact that Bond's family were originally Scottish and so-on, besides inserting a character similar to that of Honey Ryder played by Ursula Andress in the unforgettable beach scene, getting out of the water in a white bikini.

In this one Bond is sent to Jamaica to find out why another fellow agent got murdered while investigating. It turns out that one of the privately owned islands is covered in radio active materials, it's owned by a man called Dr No, hence the title of the film, who's supposed to be half-Chinese and half-German, though the actor is 100% white, but made up to look Asian (unfortunately common at the time, as Breakfast at Tiffanies is probably the worst example of that). He's also one of the few villains in the earlier Bond films that hasn't been dubbed. Anyway Dr No is up to no good, and is working with a group called Spectre, but James Bond destroys his evil lair, besides getting the girl.

I know, you're thinking, Emily, didn't you pay better attention to the film? The plot is like clear. Yes, it is, but to be honest Dr No - drags. As a character piece it's excellent. We see the sort of man James Bond is, from the second he awaits a man who's ready to kill him, playing solitaire to pass the time and finally shoots the man who discovers his own gun is emptied out.

"That's a Smith & Wesson and you've had your six."

Besides being late for his mission in Jamaica after entertaining a woman in his flat. And of course the infamous scene that leads up to the woman being in his flat, where she asks for his name, and he's got a cigarette dangling in the corner of his mouth - "Bond, James Bond."

It's so fucking iconic. So is the theme, the ever so famous Bond theme, which is recognizable every where, and to this day still brings childish joy to my heart. I grew up with these films, watching them with my dad, and am very familiar with Dr No. My dad and I were always determined to watch it when it came on the telly. However, it's not my favourite of the Bond outings. It's a great start that introduces the character rather well, with the droll sense of humour that fits neatly, and the over sexualized, sexist, sort of archetype, with the drinking and the smoking that we all know.

But the plot tends to get lost to me at times. So, Dr No has a private underground lair on an island and is doing experiments with radioactive stuff, and is gonna send a beam to disrupt a space launch. Okay bro, good for u. Also his metal hands, that are like rubber black gloves. He's cool and cold though, which is cool. Also he works for Spectre, the big bad terrorist network that likes to do evil shit, for shit and giggles, besides money. Mostly money.

We're hardly at his lair, however, which is quite tasteful with antiquities and modern furniture (for the time). Most of the film is Bond uncovering what's going on, while Dr No is sending stooge after stooge of both sexes to kill him off - or get him off. Dr No would probably gain more from not doing anything, as Bond figures out more by them being sent his way anyway.


Highlights

- Honey Ryder getting out of the water, and Ursula Andress, despite how beautiful she is, is clearly nervous by the way she keeps holding her stomach in. I feel ya gurl.
- Intro scene to Bond.
- Theme song.
- UNDERNEATH THE MANGO TREE ME HONEY that frankly gets jammed into my brain every time I hear it, so it plays on an internal loop.
- Sean Connery
- Dr No's metal hands.
- The towel dress on that one girl, that should have just been towels, but Bond manages to unzip. I HAVE QUESTIONS.
- ICONIC

Downsides

- Quarrel dying at the hands of what looks like a car that spouts out flames, but he referred to as a dragon (it's got a mouth with teeth painted on, hilarious). Couldn't it have been cool to let him manage to escape the island to save the others, then again he'd probably get slowly killed by the contact they had with the radioactive stuff. Still Quarrel was cute.
- A cool, kinda suave Felix Lighter that gets replaced later. It's the replaced later bit that sucks.
- Ursula Andress being dubbed. I wanna hear her accent.
- Honey Ryder telling about her father dying, and then some older dude trying to use her for sexual favours when she's financially dependent on him. And James being all judgmental when she tells that she snuck a black widow in the man's bungalow. Yes, I know killing people isn't cool, that's all good, and you should have a license. But we don't even know how old she's in this story. She could have been like 12.
- Two actors made up to look Asian. Awkward. Especially the one chick that Bond even beds with a fake wig. I get why Dr No is Asian, but, her, no point honestly.
- It drags, yet it's one of the shortest Bond films.