Phantom Hand Blooper in "From Russia With Love" (1963) (video)

When Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) greets Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) at the door in the second James Bond movie "From Russia With Love" (1963, with Sean Connery), something odd happens--a phantom hand appears where you might least expect it.  See if you can spot it!


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Hope you enjoy it!

Phantom Hand Blooper in "From Russia With Love" (1963) (video)

Nudity In The Sean Connery "James Bond" Films? (video)

Connery's Bond operated in the less-permissive 60s.  

Thus, little or no nudity was seen.

Ursula Andress seems to briefly bare all in "Dr. No."
But a closer look reveals her dignity remains intact.

As for the bedroom shot of Daniela Bianchi in "From Russia With Love"...
...is she, or isn't she?

"Goldfinger" comes close a couple of times.

Most of the time, however, a bit of suggestion was enough.

(Note: the emphasis here is on shots intentionally staged by the director, not accidental slips.)


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Nudity In The Sean Connery "James Bond" Films? (video)

JAMES BOND: Breaking The Fourth Wall (video)

 

 

 

Sure, he's always shooting at us through that gun barrel. 

 

But how often has James Bond really broken the 4th wall and acknowledged our presence? 

Or even talked to us? 

I count three, and here they are... 

 

 I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

 

JAMES BOND: Breaking The Fourth Wall (video)

Sean Connery's Kid Brother In A James Bond Rip-Off? ("Operation Kid Brother", 1967) (video)

Sean Connery's James Bond movies were so popular in the 60s...

...that in 1967, Sean's younger brother Neil was courted to star in a Bond clone.
It was called "Operation Kid Brother", aka "O.K. Connery."

Neil bore a resemblance to Sean, but with little of his screen presence.
And although he sounded much like his brother, Neil's voice was dubbed by another actor...
...because he'd suffered a throat injury prior to the ADR sessions.

The producers cast as many familiar faces as possible from the actual Bond films.

The music was composed by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai.
The movie itself was your typical Italian "spy-ghetti" romp.

Sean Connery was so upset by it that he didn't speak to any of the participants for some time.
But most earned more for this film than for their Bond movie roles.

And it still has its fans.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Sean Connery's Kid Brother In A James Bond Rip-Off? ("Operation Kid Brother", 1967) (video)

Was "You Only Live Twice" Inspired By "Lost In Space"? (video)

The Jupiter 16 space capsule hijack scene in the James Bond film "You Only Live Twice" (1967)…

...bears a strong similarity to the Jupiter 2 hijack scene...

...in "Lost In Space" Season 1: Episode 2 "The Derelict" (1965).

(Watch them both and see if you agree.)

Coincidence? Or inspiration?


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Was "You Only Live Twice" Inspired By "Lost In Space"? (video)

QUANTUM OF SOLACE -- Movie Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 6/4/16

 

First things first--much of the editing in QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008) is horrible.  I mean, it's shockingly bad.  Sometimes damn near incomprehensible, in fact.

If you're going to stage elaborate and expensive action setpieces, you don't chop the footage into confetti and blast it at the audience with a salad shooter.  Imagine the best scenes in CASINO ROYALE done in this style.  It would've been a jumbled mess, too, instead of a generally recognized success.

I'd love to see the raw footage of this film given over to someone who knows what to do with it. Imagine it in the hands of original Bond editor Peter Hunt, who helped create the series' style.

 

Fun stuff like Bond's womanizing and sexual innuendos have been toned down.  (At the time I feared this was because everyone was afraid of offending Barbara Broccoli.) He doesn't even score with the main "Bond girl" of the film, Camille, well played by Olga Kurylenko ("Magic City") as an emotionally-damaged survivor out for revenge.

Bond does have a quick fling with MI6 field agent Miss Fields (Gemma Arterton, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED).  We never learn her first name, but being that she's a redhead and this is a Bond film, it isn't hard to imagine. 

At any rate, subsequent viewings of QUANTUM OF SOLACE, during which I no longer have to spend all my time figuring out what's going on, have caused me to grow increasingly fond of it.

 

Not only is there a whole lot of action, but the continuation of the previous film's storyline relating to Vesper Lind and the mysterious "Quantum" organization is quite satisfying to me, as is its resolution, which is like something right out of a bonafide spy thriller. (Shades of DR. NO and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE.)

Some sequences, such as the airplane setpiece, the various hotel scenes, and the explosive desert finale, are quite well done.  There's a nice scene between Bond and his CIA friend Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) in a seedy bar, and a reunion with Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini, HANNIBAL) from CASINO ROYALE which is sublime.

We get what may be the first "breaking the fourth wall" moment in an Eon Bond film [not counting the one in the pre-titles sequence for ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE] when 007 is pulled over by Bolivian cops and ordered to open his trunk.  Bond glances right at us for half a tick and mutters aloud, "Now why would he want me to do that?"

 

The evil megalomaniac Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) isn't the best Bond bad guy of all time, but this neurotic, narcissistic flake isn't the worst either. And his scheme to control all the precious water rights in an entire South American country is plausible enough, even if it isn't all that exciting.  (It's just a McGuffin anyway.)
    
Plus, we finally get to see what all the hostility between Bond and M (Judi Dench) has been leading up to.  With her faith in everyone else around her eroding, and the supposed good guys making Faustian deals with the bad guys left and right (this is the most politically pessimistic of all the Bond films), M realizes that Bond is the one person she can depend on because he's the only one who doggedly insists on actually trying to do the right thing.

"He's my agent," she tells her aide Tanner, "and I trust him."  And Bond proves that he's been worthy of this trust all along. It's a cathartic moment, one of the most important of the entire Daniel Craig era.

But best of all...we finally get to see the return of NUDE SILHOUETTE BABES in the title sequence!

Not all that crazy about the theme song, though.  Here's one I came up with, which I think is much more Bond-like:

GREENE FINGER (to the tune of "Goldfinger" by John Barry, Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley)

Greene Finger
He's the man, the man with Polanski's puss
An evil wuss

Thus, a mean finger
Buying up, the stuff that's worth more than gold
His water's cold

H2O he will pour up your nose
And no telling what else, I suppose
For an oily girl, knows when he's dipped her
It's the dip of death, from mister

Greene Finger
Beckons you to jump in his lake of sin
But don't dive in

Stay away from his desert abode
If you go there, you just might explode
When he catches you, trying to sneak out
He will grab an axe, and freak out

Greene Finger
Pretty girls, you're not what excites him so
It's H2O

He loves H2O, H2O
He loves H2O, H2O
H2 OOOOOOOOOOOOOH

QUANTUM OF SOLACE -- Movie Review by Porfle

JAMES BOND: Breaking the Fourth Wall (video)

Sure, he's always shooting at us through that gun barrel. 

But how many times has James Bond really broken the 4th wall and acknowledged our presence? And maybe even talked to us?

I count three, and here they are... 

 

I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

JAMES BOND: Breaking the Fourth Wall (video)

James Bond's "Man With The Golden Gun" Corkscrew Car Jump With NO Slide Whistle! (video)

 

 

The Roger Moore "James Bond" era played fast and loose with 007's serious image...

...even during some of its best and most impressive stunts.

A key example is the infamous corkscrew car jump from "The Man With The Golden Gun", which, although thrilling on its own, is ruined by a cartoony slide-whistle sound effect.

But what if, instead of that silly whistle, we got to hear the fabulous James Bond theme in all of its glory?

As we can see and hear in this video, it makes quite a difference.

 

Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for listening!

 

James Bond's "Man With The Golden Gun" Corkscrew Car Jump With NO Slide Whistle! (video)

Why "OCTOPUSSY" Is The WORST James Bond Movie (video)

There are more reasons why OCTOPUSSY is the worst James Bond movie ever, but these are the most egregious. 

Gags, gags, and more gags--all of them bad.

And culminating in our having to see James Bond 007 not only reduced to wearing a gorilla suit, but to being literally turned into a clown.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

Why "OCTOPUSSY" Is The WORST James Bond Movie (video)

She Acted In 2 Of The Most Iconic Films Of The 60s (video)

In 1964, exotic model Margaret Nolan gained cinematic immortality...

...by appearing in two of the most iconic films of the decade.

"Goldfinger" (1964)
We first see Margaret as the "golden girl" in the opening titles...
...and later as Bond's friend "Dink."

"A Hard Day's Night" (1964)
Margaret plays the sexy casino escort of Paul's grandfather (Wilfrid Brambell).  

 

I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

She Acted In 2 Of The Most Iconic Films Of The 60s (video)

Dog Lifts Leg In "THUNDERBALL" (James Bond, 1965) (video)

 

Bond's in trouble...

Wounded, and chased by armed thugs...
...led by lovely but deadly Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi).

And as if that weren't enough...
Could that be Agent 00-K9, providing a distraction for Bond?

Oh well, they did say "Thunderball" would be Bond's wettest adventure yet.

I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

Dog Lifts Leg In "THUNDERBALL" (James Bond, 1965) (video)

"MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN" Corkscrew Car Jump: NO Slide Whistle! (video)

 

The cartoony slide whistle always ruined the effect of this great stunt.

In fact, it may be the worst "comic" moment in a Bond film until the use of "California Girls" in "A View To A Kill."

So I took it out and replaced it with cool Bond music!



I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Hope you enjoy it!

 

"MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN" Corkscrew Car Jump: NO Slide Whistle! (video)

James Bond's Best Friend: All The Felix Leiters (1962-2008) (video)

 

James Bond's best friend is American CIA operative Felix Leiter.  

In the unofficial Bond film "Never Say Never Again" (1983) he's played by Bernie Casey.

In the official Eon films Leiter has been played by 7 different actors.

"Dr. No" (1962) Jack Lord
"Goldfinger" (1964) Cec Linder
"Thunderball" (1965) Rik Van Nutter
"Diamonds Are Forever" (1971) Norman Burton
"Live and Let Die" (1973) David Hedison
"The Living Daylights" (1987) John Terry
"License to Kill" (1989) David Hedison
"Casino Royale" (2006) Jeffrey Wright
"Quantum of Solace" (2008) Jeffrey Wright

I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

 

James Bond's Best Friend: All The Felix Leiters (1962-2008) (video)

A Trip Down Product Placement Row In "MOONRAKER" (1979)(video)

 

There's just something about the cable car scene...

...that always makes me thirsty for a 7-Up.

Then Bond's ambulance heads down Product Placement Row...

...and there's 7-Up again.

Along with Seiko watches...

Marlboro cigarettes...

...and finally British Airways.

Plus one last plug as the "Magnificent 7" theme plays us out...

...with 007 looking remarkably like the Marlboro Man.



I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

A Trip Down Product Placement Row In "MOONRAKER" (1979)(video)

James Bond Car Stunt Blooper: "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971) (video)

Sean Connery's final official Bond film... 

...contains a cool car chase in downtown Las Vegas...
...as Bond and Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) elude the local police.

In some shots you can see the crowds gathered on the sidewalks to watch the filming.

The scene's highlight is when Bond navigates a narrow alley on two wheels.
But it contains a blooper.

The stunt begins with Bond's side of the car in the air.
The car seems to level out.
But now, inexplicably, Tiffany's side is in the air.

But it's still a cool stunt...and a fun scene.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

James Bond Car Stunt Blooper: "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971) (video)

"Goldfinger": Bond's Atomic Bomb Countdown Blooper (video)

(spoilers)

In the exciting climax of "Goldfinger", the atomic bomb is deactivated...

...with only 007 seconds (get it?) to spare.

But apparently the bomb was originally intended to stop at three seconds.

Thus, this discrepancy in the dialogue which still remains...

"Three more ticks"


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

"Goldfinger": Bond's Atomic Bomb Countdown Blooper (video)

First Time We See James Bond Kill: "Dr. No" (1962) (video)

We first meet Sean Connery's James Bond 007 in 1962's "Dr. No."

He has a license to kill...but his first foe offs himself.

His next ones crash and burn of their own accord.

It's Bond's encounter with Dr. No's wretched henchman Dent where we see his first kill...

...and get a definitive look at Bond at his most ruthless. 


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

First Time We See James Bond Kill: "Dr. No" (1962) (video)

He Acted In 2 Of The Most Iconic Films Of The 60s (video)

In 1964, Richard Vernon gained cinematic immortality...

...by appearing in two of the most iconic films of the decade.

"Goldfinger" (1964)
As Col. Smithers, he gives M and 007 a briefing on one Auric Goldfinger.

"A Hard Day's Night" (1964)
Here, he appears as the Beatles' grumpy traveling companion. 


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

He Acted In 2 Of The Most Iconic Films Of The 60s (video)

Camera Crew Visible In "Man With The Golden Gun" (James Bond, 1974) (video)

In this one, Bond (Roger Moore) needs to retrieve a golden slug...

...which a belly dancer is wearing in her navel.
Bond is rudely interrupted.

A mirror is knocked askew, and...
...the camera crew becomes visible.

You have to slow it way down to see it.
But it's fun knowing that it's there.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Camera Crew Visible In "Man With The Golden Gun" (James Bond, 1974) (video)

Where 007 Got His "Bond...James Bond" Intro ("Dr. No", 1962)

We've all heard him introduce himself many times as "Bond...James Bond."

But what is the origin of that famous phrase?

It's right here in Bond's very first screen appearance in "Dr. No" (1962).

"I admire your courage, Miss..."

"Trench...Sylvia Trench.  And I admire your luck, Mister..."

"Bond... James Bond."


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Where 007 Got His "Bond...James Bond" Intro ("Dr. No", 1962)