The new James Bond movie, Skyfall, is coming out tomorrow. I'm beyond thrilled. The James Bond movies are absolutely incredible. I remember going to the theater to see Casino Royale, my first Bond film. I was mesmerized. The opening sequence, the theme song, the Bond girl, the storyline, the action, the martinis, the villain...all of it seemed so fresh and new and wonderful to me. I was hooked. I knew that I needed to see more.
I was the luckiest guy ever. It just so happened that I was dating a girl at the time who had access to every single Bond movie that had ever been released. Over the next two months, I consumed the movies as if they were Pop-Tarts. I would go through three a week. I would examine the nuances of the different performances, the exotic locales, the similarities between the other films, the cultural references, and everything else. I loved the fact that there was always a new theme song, a new villain hell-bent on destroying the world, a new honey (sometimes literally - Honey Ryder anyone?), and new gadgets that just so happened to come in extremely handy at the most opportune times. I think one of the most amazing aspects was the sheer predicability of it all. Bond would be in a seemingly inescapable situation and then escape in a blaze of British glory. His villains would have endless chances to kill him and would instead feed him and explain their plan for world domination first. There would be pools of sharks and double agents. Basically it was everything that Austin Powers parodied, but portrayed with a straight face. I loved it. I couldn't get enough.
Many times people go to the movies to see something different. They want to be wowed by the unexpected. They want to be blown away by the unpredictable. But when it came to James Bond, I wanted the same. I was so upset that the last two movies didn't have Q or Moneypenny. I hated that Bond started having feelings and not sleeping with every hot young lady within arm's reach. I didn't like how his tuxedo would sometimes get wrinkled. That kind of stuff didn't happen to Bond. When watching Quantum of Solace, I thought that I had somehow walked into a Jason Bourne movie. The old-fashioned one-liners were gone, to be replaced by brooding and revenge. Not my cup of tea.
I thought that it was so much fun to see the little differences. Where was the action taking place this time? What new gadgets has Q thought up this time around? Who's the hottie that Bond will conquer next? What will be the villains bizarre trait? It created a sort of comfort zone for me. I felt like I was "in the club" or something. I knew what would happen before it happened.
I've had the immense pleasure to write multiple papers about James Bond, both in high school and in college. I talked about how the Bond movies had a pulse on the goings-on in the world - Goldeneye after the fall of Communism being filmed in Russia, A View to a Kill concerning itself with computer warfare when Silicon Valley is just on the cusp of superstardom (for lack of a better term), and Moonraker capitalizing on the Star Wars craze and launching Bond to space. I wrote a paper about Live and Let Die and the blaxploitation effect. I've discussed the all-too-real (in my eyes) possibility of a takeover of Fort Knox. I've talked about how homosexuals were presented onscreen in Diamonds are Forever. Bond movies were always, it seems, breaking walls and maintaining position. Bond wouldn't be able to last 50 years if the movies didn't change with the times, and change they have, at least subtly. But now I'm looking for a return to the good old days. No more of this all action, no tongue-in-cheek humor, emotional Bond. Let's go back to what made him great!
But no matter what happens, I will not abandon him. He's brought me way too much joy. Get ready for Skyfall!
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