Movies…with a little bit of obscure culture and sports mixed in
There is always something special about the first. In 1962, Ian Fleming’s international spy debuted in Terence Young’s Dr. No. Sean Connery isn’t on the screen to open the movie, but when he introduces himself at the poker table, it is impossible not to go all in.
“A resourceful British government agent seeks answers in a case involving the disappearance of a colleague and the disruption of the American space program.”
Director: Terence Young
Writers: Richard Maibaum, Ian Fleming, Johanna Harwood, Berkely Mather, Terence Young, Wolf Mankowitz
Cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Lord, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell
Release Date: October 10, 1962
IMDB
There is always something special about the first. In 1962, Ian Fleming’s international spy debuted in Terence Young’s Dr. No. Sean Connery isn’t on the screen to open the movie, but when he introduces himself at the poker table, it is impossible not to go all in.
Perhaps the enthusiasm for the rest of Dr. No is sugar-coated by what this franchise becomes. One can’t watch Dr. No without knowing Bond’s legacy on cinema and the world. The character breaks the mold, then resets it for all of time, and it starts with this movie.
Dr. No doesn’t feel like what a Bond movie would become. There are no major set pieces and the action is a tad clunky. But Dr. No has the classic bad guy giving a monologue, and it certainly has the quintessential bond girls. Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) coming out of the water is iconic in itself, and it is brought back to life by Halle Berry in Die Another Day and Daniel Craig in Casino Royale.
The ending to Dr. No is slightly anticlimactic, and the movie’s stakes are confounding. The movie feels much more like a detective than an action movie, but this franchise evolves just like anything over time. It isn’t a bad thing, but it is a notable observation to those who have seen many of these movies.
STANKO RATING: B
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