Fan Reviews
(Dr. No)
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The British End Up" discussion forums. The views expressed
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"Dr. No" by Barracuda
To the
soundtrack of a low but almost screeching percussive arpeggio,
a fast moving succession of white dots moves across a black background,
pausing centre-screen to allow the names of the producers to
show for a split-second. The dots continue their journey towards
the
right hand side of the screen until the final dot enlarges to
a larger circle and within it the profile of a silhouetted figure
enters. While the figure takes a few steps towards the centre,
the spiral design of the rifling of a gun barrel is revealed
around
the circle; suddenly the figure swivels to face the camera and
shoots. You can almost smell the cordite as blood starts to trickle
down the screen and a brass section belts out the chorus to the “James
Bond Theme”. 007 has arrived on the big screen in no uncertain
terms.
Following the disappearance of the head of the local secret
service station in Jamaica and his assistant, M send James Bond
to investigate. Bond quickly teams up with the CIA’s Felix
Leiter and with the help of the CIA man and his local hand, Quarrel,
Bond follows up a series of leads. His investigations point him
towards Crab Key, home to the enigmatic Dr No, and he and Quarrel
set sail at night to investigate. After arriving, Bond awakes
to find a bikini-clad girl collecting shells on the beach. It
turns out that Honey Ryder also sailed overnight, but alerted
by the sail on her dinghy, Dr No sends a motor patrol boat to
deal with the trespassers. Disappearing into the mangrove swamp,
the three come face to face with a march buggy armed with a flamethrower
dressed up to look like a dragon. After seeing Quarrel being
scorched to death, Bond and Honey are taken to Dr No’s
base after surrendering, where the two are surprised to find
they have been expected in what appears to be some kind of luxury
clinic. After dinner with the Doctor, during which he reveals
that he has been interfering with American missile tests on behalf
of SPECTRE, Bond is taken to a cell. Escaping though a ventilation
shaft, Bond tracks Dr No down to his laboratory and kills him.
While a chain of gigantic explosions begins to rock the complex
all around, Bond rescues Honey, and they make their escape from
the island in a boat.
Although following Ian Fleming’s plot quite closely, the
scriptwriters added some characters, such as Felix Leiter, Professor
Dent and Miss Taro. They also added a central section in which
Bond has time to firstly bed Miss Taro, and then kill Dent in
cold blood. However, the script ignores
one of the best
sections
of the book, in which rather then escape through a ventilation
shaft, Bond enters Dr No’s obstacle course, designed as
part of his experiments on human endurance.
It is difficult to imagine the impact that Dr No would have
made on an unsuspecting public in 1962. Although audiences have
come to expect the gun barrel sequence and opening credits from
40 years of James Bond films, the groundbreaking start to Dr
No was hugely influential. With a strong visual identity, fast
pace and tight editing the straightforward plot cracks along
with just the right balance between action and humour, while
a combination of spy craft with an absence of gadgets make the
film both harder and more believable than more recent Bond outings.
It is, of course, also the film in which Sean Connery first introduced
two iconic phrases to modern culture, without which the English
language would be all the poorer; “Bond, James Bond” and “shaken,
not stirred”.
Connery’s hard edge, flawless delivery of one liners,
a simple plot and absence of gadgets all work in the film’s
favour and with a freshness that has evaded the series since
Goldfinger, Dr No remains one of the best Bond films.
Rating
"Dr. No" by Mark Brown
October 5th 1962 is a date that will remain a part of cinematic
history, possibly not because of this film in itself but because
it’s the date cinema audiences first came face to face
with James Bond 007(and of course the apparition that was Andress
emerging scantily clad from the ocean). No one can argue that
as a first outing this film was unlike anything of its day,
a handsome, witty and seemingly cold hearted hero (shown as
Bond
pumps two more shots into an already dead Professor Dent),
a mysterious villain and an exotic location. To audiences of
the
day it seemed to have everything but if you are a Bond fan
of today wanting to discover how it all started you will be
left
a little disappointed.
There are no gadgets, no dastardly henchmen and no Aston Martin.
Here we have James Bond pretty much left to his own devices (except
for a Geiger counter and new colleague CIA Agent Felix Leiter).
It has in the past been admitted that this film more than any
of the series sticks closer to the plot of the original Ian Fleming
book rather dishing up the cinematic treats we are used to. That
might explain why this film falls a little flat.
Bond seems to work things out a little too quickly and it makes
you wonder why a British Secret Agent was needed at all (although
I suspect in reality this is down to a rather suspect plot it
could be testament to Bonds skills as a Secret Agent and why
he is seen as Her Majesty’s best).
It’s not all doom and gloom however. We have Connery (widely
regarded as the best of all the Bond actors) who as it is shown
in later outings(as he begins to mould the Bond character) was
perfect for the role after first choice Cary Grant was said to
have turned down the offer to play Bond because he did not want
to become type cast in what film bosses could see had every chance
of becoming a successful movie series (if only they knew!!).
We have Ursula Andress whose mere appearance in the film more
than makes up for the films short comings. She is very sexy and
totally believable in the part of Honey Ryder and more notably
has remained even today the most famous of all Bond girls. There
is the appearance of Felix Leiter who later in the series becomes
a close friend of Bonds and the very first appearance of Major
Boothroyd, later and more famously known as Q and of course we
are introduced to SPECTRE the organisation that certainly in
the early films becomes hell bent on world domination.
If nothing else this first outing is good for the fact that
it quietly brings together most of the elements that as the Bond
series matures has made James Bond 007 the best known Secret
Agent the world over.
Rating
"Dr. No" by Overkill
He’s a ruthless killer. He slaps women around. He causes
road accidents. He shoots unarmed men. He sends an ally to his
death without a beat, and drops another man into a nuclear reactor.
All through this he smiles and jokes and never has a hair out
of place. And he’s the hero!
When a tuxedo clad man lit up a cigarette and told a lady his
name a cinematic legend was born. The world was introduced to
Bond, James Bond.
Dr No was not expected to be a huge hit. Successful? Maybe.
Make its money back? Probably? Launch the most successful film
series of all time? Yeah, right!
Whilst its true that Dr No did all that, it’s fair to
say that it wasn’t the film that created the phenomenon
of Bond movies that we all know and love. It does have some of
the elements that are a familiar part of the series (beautiful
women, exotic locations, quips, casinos and so on), but it doesn’t
quite feel like a Bond movie. It’s a bit like watching
early episodes of The Simpsons, where the voices are a bit different
and the animations a little jerky.
With Dr No, the character of the cinematic Bond was yet to be
created, so Connery plays him as a slightly lighter version of
Fleming’s creation: he retains the tough no nonsense approach
to his work, whilst showing signs of a sense of humour (as well
as a questionable singing voice).
The action is competent, but low-key. With only a few fistfights,
a car chase and an explosive ending, the action almost feels
tacked on. For the most part the film plays more like a detective
story (think Sam Spade crossed with Raffles), with Bond actually
deducing things rather than allowing the answers to come to fall
into his lap. This is actually quite refreshing when compared
to today’s standard of action film where the plot is explained
by peripheral characters whilst the hero avoids explosive debris.
Of course, no mention of Dr No is complete without mentioning
THAT scene. One short scene of a movie that has been talked about,
analysed and, to this day, is still one of the most famous and
best loved pieces of cinema ever: Honey Ryder emerges from the
sea.
It’s easy to dismiss Ursula Andress as just another model/model/whatever
who got a lucky break. But can you possibly imagine ANY other
actress doing that with quite the same impact? Halle Berry? Do
me a favour! Whatever Ms Andress may lack in acting talent (and
bear in mind her voice was entirely dubbed by another actress)
she certainly makes up for it in screen presence. And that look
Connery gives from behind that tree… every man in the world
looked like that when they first saw it.
Dr No is still, over 40 years on, very good entertainment. In
hindsight it may have been overshadowed by its immediate predecessors
in terms of scale (Thunderball), humour (Goldfinger) or intensity
(From Russia With Love), but it’s still interesting to
see how the character has developed and how this, slightly overlooked
film, did its part to change the course of cinema history.
Rating
"Dr. No" by Stromberg
In 1962, the first James Bond film was released, Dr. No. Forty-one
years later, this film is still the excellent watch that it was
so many years ago. Filmgoers were introduced to lovable characters
such as M, Miss Moneypenny, and of course, James Bond.
Here, we see Sean Connery play James Bond, and he pulls the
role off perfectly. Joseph Wiseman plays Dr. No, a cruel villain
interested in destroying the US space program. He has the suspense
that so many villains aspire to have. In Jamaica, James encounters
the lovely Honey Ryder, a sweet girl that gets tied up in the
world of James Bond. Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell put in excellent
efforts as M and Miss Moneypenny. Other characters, such as the
photographer, Miss Taro, Professor Dent, and Sylvia Trench are
nice additions that complement the film nicely.
The storyline and sets, albeit simple ones, are effective and
interesting. James Bond must foil Dr. No's plans to destroy the
US space programs. To do this, he travels to Crab Key, Jamaica,
where Dr. No has his massive headquarters. The clever design
of Dr. No's headquarters combined with the tropical theme of
Jamaica makes a perfect set that is a pleasure to watch. In the
dying moments of the film, Dr. No and Bond battle it out, atop
a bubbling vat of heavy water. Dr. No slides to his death in
the heavy water, and Honey is rescued by Bond. The rather short
ending may polarise some opinions, but I feel it wraps the film
up cleverly.
To sum it up, Dr. No combines all the right elements, pulls
them off perfectly, and sets James Bond up for years to come.
Rating
