27 replies to this topic

[Walecs]

I started with the movies, more specifically GoldenEye, then Dr. No, From Russia with Love and Goldfinger.

At some point, I started reading the books before watching the movies (for example Thunderball, For Your Eyes Only, both Dalton's entries)

Edited by Walecs, 22 December 2013 - 09:57 PM.

[Dustin]

Started with one film - TSWLM - and proceeded to the books right after that, MOONRAKER and GOLDFINGER being my first two Flemings, shortly followed by FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and DOCTOR NO. Quite different from the stuff I've seen on the screen.

[OmarB]

I really couldnt tell you but it must have been the movies.  From Jamaica, father a huge Bond fan, just something I was always aware of.  The first movie I remember seeing in the theater was LTK.

[Major Tallon]

Except for "Goldfinger," I read the books first.  That was my first movie, and I'd read half the books, but not that book, before I saw it. 

[Grard Bond]

I first saw For your eyes only three times in the cinema (in The Netherlands in 1981) and then I read my first Bondnovel, the Wood novelisation of Moonraker.

After that I'm not realy sure.

In the same summer of '81 I started to read all the Fleming novels, but I went also in the winter of '81/82 to my local cinema to rereleases of Dr. No, FRWL and Goldfinger.

So I probably read all the other ones first before I saw the movies on my VCR.

Edited by Grard Bond, 23 December 2013 - 12:37 AM.

[AMC Hornet]

DAF in '71. I started reading the books in 73, by which time I'd seen all the existing films. By the time TSWLM came out in 77 I'd  already started rereading the Flemings (+ Amis & Pearson). Everything else I got to read and see as they were released.

 

Fortunately I discovered Doctor Who in 85, so I've had something else to look forward to between Bond films/books.

[saint mark]

I discovered the Saint novels by Leslie Charteris and by the same publisher were the novels by Cheyney, Fleming, Jean Bruce.

 

They were all in my dads bookcase and gradually change to mine. By the time I had finished with Fleming I still did not know about the movies.

 

I went to this scifi movie called Moonraker and was flabbergasted to find out that the main character was James Bond 007, then discovered both Wood novels and the movie series.

[Double Naught spy]

For me, it was a double-feature of MR and DAF on HBO during the summer of 1980 when I was visiting my cousin.  In retrospect, MR was probably the best Roger Moore film for an 11 year old boy to watch in order to get "hooked" on 007.  Space shuttles!  Outer space laser battles!  Larger-than-life villains who couldn't be killed!  And the hero even "flew in the air" during the PTS!  -  a "perfect '10' says an 11 year old critic!   Of course, being of that age, I even enjoyed the things like the hovercraft gondola, the double-taking pigeons, the python attack, and all the other things that now make me now cringe.   And, although I probably didn't quite "get the significance of it", the fact that the hero kept sneaking out of bed after his lady friends fell asleep to go on some adventure, struck me as a really cool thing to do.

 

Then, after 007 is discovered by M, etc. romping around in zero-G with Holly Goodhead, the credits rolled and HBO announced there was another 007 movie on the way.  With the now-familiar gun-barrel logo, DAF started off strong - the South American clone (more like some bizarre Third World version of plastic surgery!) lab, the mouse-trap in the shoulder holster, the apparent death of this Blofeld (11 year-old's "note to self" - look into this Blofeld character, he and 007 apparently have some history from a previous film) - seemed like I was in for another round of new-found 007 fun. 

 

Then the wheels came off.

 

After having watched the dashing and charming Roger Moore, I distinctly recall being immediately put off by the 'paunchy' Sean Connery.  At the time, the TV show Barney Miller was popular and I couldn't help but make the comparison to Abe Vigoda.  (Keep in mind - I was only 11, so anyone over 30 or 35 looked "old" to me.)  In fact, many of the characters reminded me of American TV stars - WInt and Kidd made me think of Paul Lynde and Rob "Meat-head" Reiner and whenever I saw Felix, I was instantly reminded of David "Bosley" Doyle from Charlie's Angels!   And, when it came to Blofeld, although he didn't remind me of anyone on TV, he was far from menacing (unless that is you consider his "Want some candy, little boy?" creepiness-factor my 11 year old mind couldn't help but sense.)  I also recall thinking that there was something inherently "wrong" with my new hero having his ass handed to him by Bambi & Thumper. 

 

All in all, between the odd casting choices, the 1971 vs. 1979 special effects, and the overall "weirdness" that is DAF, it was not a good 2nd exposure to 007 for an 11 year old.  That being said, I do remember thinking that this Sean Connery fellow has got "something about him" (the word 'charisma' wasn't in my vocabulary back then!)  that made me curious to see more of his Bond films.  So, despite my previous comments on his appearance, I became a fan of Connery's 007 by the end of that (fateful - LOL!) night.   And, of course, I immediately began reading the Fleming novels afterwards.  (And thank goodness I did read some of the books before finally getting to see Mr. Lazenby in OHMSS so I could fully appreciate his performance in that movie.) 

Edited by Double Naught spy, 23 December 2013 - 11:28 PM.

[billy007]

Saw Thunderball,Goldfinger and Dr. No(Double Features) at an early age. Started reading Fleming at 12 (Playboy excerpts- we do read the fiction and articles). Understood early the difference between Fleming and movies and learned to appreciate both.

[Guy Haines]

Films first - after some successful nagging on my part, no doubt, I was taken to see OHMSS as an eight year old. Didn't get the sex stuff (yet!), but I enjoyed the action scenes and the music score. Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever followed, then Dr No, Thunderball, From Russia With Love and You Only Live Twice.

 

And then I came across some slightly dog eared paperback copies of the Fleming books on a bookstall on the town market when I was 11, and so I started reading the novels and watching the films again. The rest, as they say......

 

I came to Bond via those classic ITC crime/spy series which were frequently shown on UK TV in the 1960s and 1970s - The Saint, Danger Man (John Drake - Bond with a moral compass?) The Baron, The Champions, Department S, Man In A Suitcase, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), The Prisoner and so on. Plus US shows such as The Man From UNCLE, of course. And not forgetting the series which featured three actors who appeared in Bond films - The Avengers.

 

(As an aside, I mentioned the Bond music. I started liking John Barry's music at a very early age without realising he'd written it - my first Barry theme being "Vendetta", from a long forgotten BBC crime series of the 1960s. It was only when I bought a John Barry LP some years later that I found out he'd written it.)

[Professor Pi]

I was 9 when my family took me, at my sister's suggestion, to see The Spy Who Loved Me.  Later that year there was a Bond film festival at a second run theater that showed Dr. No up through Live and Let Die, in chronological order.  I was partial to Moore then, didn't initially take to Connery, and hated OHMSS.  How times have changed.

 

So I started reading The Man With the Golden Gun in the fourth grade as that was the one movie I hadn't seen.  All its references to the previous literary Bond adventures (I didn't realize it was Fleming's last at the time), whetted my appetite for more.  That being said, I think I actually read John Gardner's Licence Renewed before plowing into Fleming (Gardner is filled with nostalgic Fleming references.)  This must have been 1982 by now as I don't remember anything familiar in For Your Eyes Only, but completely recall the Nazi gold backstory referenced in 1983's Octopussy.  I remember A View to A Kill borrowing liberally from the first four Gardner novels (blimps, elevator and snow escapes, Ascot horse racing.)  Also, Licence to Kill's mining unfilmed Fleming chapters from Live and Let Die and The Hildebrand Rarity stories.  Later reading Live and Let Die when Mr. Big ties Bond and Solitaire to his boat for shark trolling, going, "Oh yeah, that was in FYEO."  And the Colonel Sun character in Die Another Day.

 

I'm pretty sure I read Casino Royale before seeing the 1967 film, possibly for the first time at that theater's second Bond festival in the mid 80s (with a OHMSS/FYEO double bill.)  But the real treat was re-reading Casino Royale a week before the 2006 film and knowing exactly the Fleming source material (Solange is even referenced in a 007 short story) before watching it unfold onscreen.  Never thought we'd see the chair torture scene faithfully filmed (not just hinted at like in TWINE.)

 

Don't think I'll ever again be able to read a Bond story before seeing the film, as it's unlikely EON will film one of the continuation novels.  I've found it more rewarding to read the book after the movie, as they're often better and go into more character depth, even the novelisations.  Still hoping to see the Castle of Death in Craig's final Bond outing...

Edited by Professor Pi, 24 December 2013 - 05:34 PM.

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

I read the books and watched the films concurrently in the early days of fanhood.

[Colossus]

Completely the movies first. I've only read one after all the rest, Moonraker which was ironically perfect as none of the movies really do this storyline.

[plankattack]

Seven years old and taken to see LALD by my Dad. Was familiar with Sir Rog from The Saint and The Persuaders and after two hours (and an ice cream with a wooden spoon!) in the Odeon in Kensington, was completely blown away and hooked. Hard to say what the singular moment was where I thought "this was the greatest thing ever" but nostalgia now has it that it's was the opening titles and song then got me going, and then the Rolex buzz saw that sealed the deal.

From there it was a couple of films via the telly and the double-bills that circulated the UK in the 70s (OHMSS and DAF were always together). Then it was into the books (in no particular order) and then catching the SC films in either double-bills or special showings. The only film I've never seen on the big screen is DN, but I do confess, I'm not a continuation or Young Bond reader. A couple of Gardners, and Colonel Sun (which I think is brilliant) but I'd rather re-read FRWL or TB then try say, The Man From Barborossa.

Safe to say it's same with the films now - some I'll always watch when they're on the telly, but others I'm more than happy to turn off.

[Janus Assassin]

I watched all of the movies first. Then when I read the books, I envision the actor who was in the movie in the book as well. I was amazed with some of the movies not even following remotely close to the books such as TMWTGG. 

[elizabeth]

I watched the movies first, then found out they were books, and read some of those.

[mrevans]

I grew up on the movies and then got into the books as a teenager and young adult.

[kaiserthegreat]

Movies first, but read CASINO ROYALE before the film was released. Currently only on the fourth Fleming novel. 

[JamesBondBlog]

For me, I'd seen a few of the films on the ABC Sunday Night movie back in the early 80's when I was a kid. My great-grandfather had a used bookstore in his garage, and rummaging through there one day when I was probably 14 or so, I came across the entire Signet paperback collection of Fleming Bond novels, and I took them home and I've been reading them, and re-reading, and re-reading since!

[S K Y F A L L]

Movies 1st. I was around 10 I guess when I started watching the films and I don't think I even know there was books then.

[The Krynoid man]

The films, I didn't even know about the books until years later.

[Iceskater101]

Movies! I didn't know about the books and I am trying to get through them now but I am having issues. It's hard to read them when the books are so racist and so god damn sexist. 

[AMC Hornet]

Welcome to the 1950s, my dear.

[ChickenStu]

With the exception of Casino Royale which I first read before the film came out - I saw all the movies before I read the books. 

[glidrose]

With the exception of Casino Royale which I first read before the film came out - I saw all the movies before I read the books. 

 

You read it before 1967?

[ChickenStu]

 

With the exception of Casino Royale which I first read before the film came out - I saw all the movies before I read the books. 

 

You read it before 1967?

 

 

No - that would have been an impressive feat though since that was 11 years before I was born! 

[glidrose]

With the exception of Casino Royale which I first read before the film came out - I saw all the movies before I read the books.

 
You read it before 1967?

 
No - that would have been an impressive feat though since that was 11 years before I was born! 

So you didn't read it before the film came out.

[ChickenStu]

 

 

 

With the exception of Casino Royale which I first read before the film came out - I saw all the movies before I read the books.

 
You read it before 1967?

 

 
No - that would have been an impressive feat though since that was 11 years before I was born! 

 

So you didn't read it before the film came out.

 

 

*sigh*

 

I think it's fairly common knowledge around here that there was a SECOND film with the title Casino Royale which was released in 2006. I think by now everyone would have assumed I was talking about that one.