(Desmond Llewellyn, who had played “Q” opposite every Bond actor starting with From Russia With Love, died shortly after the penultimate Pierce Brosnan entry, The World is Not Enough, in which he introduced his putative successor, John Cleese - a role Cleese reprised only in Brosnan’s final outing, Die Another Day.) Gone are Moneypenny and “Q,” with their bantering relationships with our hero.

Gone are the camp humor and silly gadgets of earlier incarnations, the winking double-entendres and comic/fantasy sexiness. When The Bourne Identity opened, some critics pronounced James Bond obsolete - and he was, as he had been for years, until Casino Royale. Perhaps it was the Jason Bourne films, with their grim violence, chilly realism, and broken protagonist, that helped Bond find a new direction. It is also almost the only film ( On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is another, to a degree) that treats Bond as an actual character, not just a glamorous, romantic action hero.Ĭasino Royale breaks sharply with the previous direction of the franchise - rut, really - which the series’ producers had been trying to do for years without success. Without prejudice to the Connery/Craig debate, I consider Casino Royale, directed by Martin Campbell, possibly the best Bond film, and certainly the most indispensable - the one that offers moral and psychological perspective on all the others, playing as a kind of commentary and critique of the whole franchise. (Some aficionados may push for Lazenby’s lone offering, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.) Which 007 film is the best? Connery fans might pick Goldfinger or From Russia With Love, while Craig fans will go with Casino Royale or Skyfall. Who is the best James Bond? Most fans tend to pick either Connery or Daniel Craig.

How James Bond lost his soul: Casino Royale SDG Original source: Crux

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