56 replies to this topic

[AirJordanFan93]

It was 2001 and I was 8 years old. My dad rented The World Is Not Enough from the video store on the night my mum worked late I would usually watch movies with him on these Thursday nights. I remember watching The World Is Not Enough and loving it. Being 8 and having a N64 I was introduced to the Goldeneye game which became a huge part of my childhood over the next 2 years or so. A majority of my early Bond fandom came from playing Goldeneye with my friends at each others houses seeing most of us had the N64 at the time. I remember ultimatley seeing the other 2 Brosnan films that were out at the time and I remember loving Goldeneye a lot and not being that interested in Tomorrow Never Dies. In 2002 I remember they released the 007 Spy Files Magazine Series and that being my first real introduction into the pre Brosnan films though they only reffered to people as the characters and never mentioned actors. In 2002 I began renting the older movies on VHS from my local video store so I remember watching the Connery and Moore movies when I was 9 and loving them particuarly the Connery ones. By the later part of of 2002 Die Another Day was about to be released and the 40th Anniversary was under way so I remember going on the computers at school before class started and going on jamesbond.com all the time. My first theatrical experiance with bond was the release of Die Another Day and going with my Dad and my 2 best friends. Now we all know that Die Another Day is a pretty bad film but I was 9 years old and to me it was the greatest thing in the world. Around this time one of the TV stations here in Australia was airing the old movies on TV and I remember recording a bunch of them and I have fond memories watching my copy of License To Kill all the time and loving all the Bond related adverts they ran at that time. Christmas 2002 I remember getting a James Bond Movie Encyclopeida from my Uncle which listed every actor and crew member to work on the Bond films from Dr No to Die Another Day and reviewed all 20 EON films plus the TV version of Casino, The 1967 Film and Never Say Never Again. By the mid point of 2003 I had finished off all 20 films after finding copies of A View To A Kill and The Living Daylights while on weekend away. I still followed Bond over the coming years but kinda lost interest between the 4 year gap between Die Another Day and Casino. After Casino came out in 2006 I went with one of my best friends who I saw Die Another Day with on a Friday morning when we were on Summer vacation and I loved it just a great damn movie. I guess my Bond would technically be Brosnan which I find kind of depressing just because I find his movies lacking aside from Goldeneye. My favorite Bond will always be Connery.

[sharpshooter]

I think I became a Bond fan after getting Goldeneye out on VHS. I was excited about the cover, watched the film - loved it, and wanted to see the rest. I think I watched the Moore films afterwards, then Connery and the others. Around this time the N64 game was out, and I ate it all up. Then followed TND on the big screen, TWINE and by then, Bond was engrained in me.

[S K Y F A L L]

That 'Looking for a little piece and  quiet' Bond trailer at the start of the VHS's were excellent. 

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

Happy Anniversary 007 special shown in the Finnish television, Summer 1987 awakened my interest and renting Goldfinger on my 9th birthday a few months later sealed the deal. Sean Connery, Daniel Craig and George Lazenby are the ones whom I consider to be definitive portrayers of 007.

[jmarks4life]

I was born in '73 the same year Moore did his first Bond movie LALD. The first Bond I saw was FYEO. I was instantly hooked on the Bond character. Then I found out there were previous Bond films prior, so I was determined to see them all, and I did(through marathons that used to come on tv in the 80's). I've been a huge fan since.

[The Krynoid man]

As far as I can remember I've always been a Bond fan. The first one I can remember watching is Moonraker, although my mother tells I watched one before that where a woman is running down a beach. I didn't have any of the videos but I did have a number of them taped off of ITV. Funnily enough the version of Tomorrow Never Dies I had was the uncut version. I don't know if ITV broadcast it by mistake but I'm glad they did. The ones I watched the most were Live and Let Die and Man With the Golden Gun, which I had on the same tape, so I guess Roger Moore was my Bond even though the Broz was the current one at the time.

[glidrose]

although my mother tells I watched one before that where a woman is running down a beach.

OHMSS? FYEO?

[The Krynoid man]

She thinks it might of been OHMSS, although I suspect it was FYEO because she remembers the woman shouting "James!". She remembers this because I spent the rest of the day running around shouting "catch me James!" (I have no idea where the "catch me" part came from)

[hilly]

I can remember being taken to see a kids film at the cinema and seeing a commercial for milk and a speedboat leaping over a car...it was years later, when I saw LALD on tv that I made the connection...

ITV started showing the Bond films in order, from about 1975, so my first viewing of a Bond film would have been Dr No, when I was 7. 

1977 was when it all really kicked off though, when I was taken to see TSWLM at the cinema. I had been caught up in all the hype and knew there was a bloke with steel teeth and a car that went underwater etc etc. I was on holiday in Bournemouth with my grandparents, who were pestered into taking me...This was in the days when the films were run continuously in a cinema. We were late, so missed the first half hour or so ( I seem to recall arriving during the Pyramids scenes), so we stayed and watched the beginning of the next showing.. I had absolutely no idea what the hell was going on, but didn't care. I was hooked......

[Aziz Fekkesh]

The first Bond film I saw was "Live and Let Die" but my very first glimpse of Bond was in the trailer for "Diamonds are Forever" which must have been for a rerelease, given the timing. It was a long shot of the exploding oil rig surrounded by helicopters and accompanied by Dame Shirley singing "Forevaaaaaah!" that stuck with me.

 

My Dad took us all to see "Live and Let Die" at the Keystone Theater on Kadena Air Force Base on Okinawa when I was eight or nine years old. I remember being terrified by the coconut-headed scarecrows and asking my Dad if we could leave but, bless 'im, he told me to cover my eyes and that it would all be over soon. I'm very happy to say that, forty years on, it isn't over yet.

 

Roger, then, is certainly my first and "formative" Bond and "The Spy Who Loved Me" is probably my favourite film in the series, but I'd have to say that Timothy Dalton is "my" Bond. For me, his performances embody just the right combination of sophistication, believability, humor, physicality and intelligence.

[Juraquagmire]

I was 6 years old, play toys and half watch TV with dad when 'The Spy Who Loved Me' was on. Dad was excited and I didn't see him excite about anything before. So I drop toys and pay attention to TV, by then I fall love with it. Later on, I forget about  'James Bond', until in 2002, my friend bought 'GoldenEye' for his new DVD recorder. I found it familiar. After that I become Bond fan, basically Moore/Brosnan're my Bond. But My favourite Bond are Fleming/Dalton.

Edited by Juraquagmire, 14 May 2014 - 05:00 PM.

[Agent Spriggan Ominae]

This should be a fun trip down memory lane. I can say I'm a near life-long Bond fan, the seeds for me were planted at an early age. Infact one of my earliest memories is that of Bond, among films i.e Ghostbusters, Star Wars. I can't remember exactly when but it had to be sometime in the late '80s/ early '90s and I was around 2-3 years old. My grandpa was watching DAF on one of the alphabet networks i.e ABC, NBC, CBS. I remember bits from the PTS and Blofeld being boiled in mud, which I thought was lava back then haha, the persian cat in the titles, the part with the fire extinguisher, and then the crematory scene which traumatized me as a child and I don't remember or stopped watching after that point. That would cause some issues again but more on that a bit later.

 

The next Bond film I remember was LTK, and it was either we were having a free showing of one of the premium paid channels i.e HBO, Cinemax, Showtime or a rental from the Tower Records at the bottom of the hill, possibly the later but we may have been having the free showing around the same time. From LTK I actually recall the gunbarrel scene and from the PTS bits involving an airplane and Bond parachuting into a wedding, after the titles the bit with the lighter stands out and then there's the shark scene and next thing I remember is when Bond is infiltrating the warehouse and the bit the maggots which I thought looked like ramen noodles lol, the guy getting fried by the eel and the second shark scene, after that I kinda tuned out/stopped watching but I recall Pam and Bond on the boat at sea and the part with tank blasting the safe house and someone standing in a doorway as the explosions goes off. Wouldn't be until at least '96 that I saw the full film. LTK is now easily a top three favorite for me.

 

The next two Bond films I recall seeing bits and pieces of are OP and AVTAK. Both on network TV and this time I was there to watch the endings. From OP I remember the bit with Bond and Q in a balloon, Bond riding down the railing and Bond killing the Bad guy with the cloth on his head(I know it's Gobinda and he's wearing a turban, that's just how I saw it as a child lol) by tossing him off a plane and then bits of the ending on the boat. For AVTAK I tuned in right before the part with the burning elevator and saw it through the end and remember most of it, the whole chase with the firetruck, the mines and the end with the blonde guy with axe falling off of the bridge and his blimp exploding from dynamite. I actually really liked that back then and as such AVTAK to this day is still a favorite of mine, in spite of it's flaws, old man Moore. Infact now that I think about it, it was a probably AVTAK that set on my path to full blown Bond fandom.

 

I first became a real Bond fan at the age of four, while I was still going to pre-school. Anyone remember "James Bond Wednesdays" on TBS way back in the early '90s? My grandma would record them on VHS and I would watch them when I came home from school. Around that time my Grandpa took me to see Terminator 2 when it was in theaters, kinda off topic but for time references. I started watching while they were doing a run of Moore's films so by default he kinda became my Bond back then. Infact I was still young enough and hadn't quite grasped the concept of fictional characters/actors that when I saw GF for the first time, I actually started crying and threw a tantrum because "that not's James Bond". Yes. Sean Connery as Bond actually made me cry as a kid lol. I soon got over it. The first time they played GF and my grandma recorded it there was a blackout for a bit so the portion from right before the mobsters get gassed to the point where they have just lased into the loading bay at the gold depository where missing on the old vhs copy. In the case of DN, we actually got 2/3 of the film but then, having gotten excited because I knew there was going to be a big explosion at the end, not sure how I knew might have seen the preview on TV or my grandma told me because she knew I loved my explosions in movies, I somehow found myself in a basket of plastic green and yellow easter grass and I made own pretend boom-boom complete with sound f/x lol but when saw the big mess I made she got mad and stopped the recording haha. Understand that I was around four at the time lol.

 

After the "James Bond Wednesday" thing ended we actually started renting from Tower Records. I remember the old MGM/UA vhs tapes with the gold bands at the top and a Pink Panther short that played before the film. Ones I remember we rented were TMWTGG, OHMSS, and...DAF. Now for the longest time the crematory scene absolutely terrified me as a child. The moment they show Franks in the silver casket being loaded onto the jet I used to run away in fear and not come back until after the scene in the "oven". It scared me. I think it wasn't until I was five or even six that I finally got around to watching it and overcoming my fear. I actually wound up watching that scene over and over again as some kind of victory and to this day, in spite of the flaws even DAF is a favorite of mine if I'm being totally honest. I know, AVTAK, DAF even DAD...they may not be the best Bond films, but personally I can find a lot to like and enjoy within the individual films that allow me to overcome any perceived flaws. What can I say, nostalgia is a hell of a drug/emotion. Around that time in the mid-early '90s is also when we first started buying Bond VHS tapes. I remember the packaging with the original posters and flip covers with the GB design. And then there was the next release that used the artwork that wound up on the first special edition DVDs. I think eventually I had all the films on VHS from DN to TWINE.

 

I actually didn't see GE on the big screen but I was aware it was coming. I don't know, something about it looked a little too mature/intimidating so I wasn't in a rush to see it, which is funny given I saw T2 at four, and in '95 I went to both Die Hard with a vengeance and saw Batman Forever. Although maybe it was a blessing cause the scene with Zenia at the beginning was in it's own way almost as scary as the crematory scene from DAF lol, at least at the time or not something my grandparents or myself would have been comfortable with. A friend at school had seen the film and mentioned something about the/a bad guy getting frozen. Sounded interesting. Around the time of GE my grandma bought me a Bond reference book, not sure the exact title, I might still have it around, but it had chapters on the films, interviews with various production folks and actors, lists of bloopers, deleted scenes, gadgets and the final chapter devoted to GE, which is where I learned some details of the plot, the "fight to death a top a satellite dish" sold me and we rented it from Tower. I thought it was all right at the time. What I really fell in love with was LTK. I finally got see it in full when they started playing it on TBS around '95-'96. The first time I tried to record it the tape stopped around the part where Bond's in the casino in Isthmus. I would wait a full year when they showed it again in the run up to TND. Maybe it's because I was a fan of stuff like Indiana Jones also that I really enjoyed stuff like Dario's demise. Also I kinda knew exactly what was happening with Krest because one of my classmate's dad's family owned a watercress farm and would invite the entire class on field trips to see the inner workings. They had this big vacuum cooling machine that was pressurized and they told us this story of an imploding/exploding water rat lol. Things like that made it easy to share about the Bond films with my classmates and growing up and even to this day I have friends who are also fans of the films for one reason or another.

 

The first Bond film I saw in theaters was TND, which is without a doubt my favorite Brosnan film. It delivered and IMO it's an action/adventure classic in it's own right. I've seen every Bond film released since. I only saw TND once on the big screen but starting with TWINE through CR I saw each film 3 times while in theaters. Sadly for both QOS and SF I've been able to see just once on the big screen. TND is a movie I can say I went into completely spoiler free. I didn't even see any of the actual trailers, just some bits of the TV spots, the shot of Bond in the Mig shooting with the ak, the shot of the camp exploding, Bond and Wai Lin on the bike with helicopter chasing them sold me on seeing film. Other than that I had no idea what the film was about or even who the villains or anything about the scheme/plot what happens in the film. For TWINE I read the Ebert review so I knew a few things but not really spoiled. DAD was the first film I actually followed it's production online lurking on this site and Mi6. I remember the time when the sites got pulled down after the script pages leaked. That kinda sucked when that happened. I pretty much spoiled the plot of DAD by reading the Benson novel before hand but there were still a few surprises. Honestly I can't say I hate DAD, I would be lying to myself, I really enjoyed stuff like the swordfight with Graves, the laser fight and Graves demise is possibly my favorite in the series. The film still has it's flaws and plenty of them but it's still a guilty pleasure, and besides now we got CR, QOS, and SF to more than make up quality wise. After DAD was released the next film that caught my attention was actually Batman Begins. I followed that along with any news on Bond 21, then in Dec. of 2005 I signed up for this website and the rest is history.

 

That was a fun stroll down memory lane. And that's mostly just me and the films. I first came in contact with Fleming novels when my grandma bought me a hardcover copy of DAF when I was in second or third grade. I never really read it back then though and that copy was since lost. The first Bond novel I read was Dr. No, which I borrowed from the local library probably sometime between 4th through 6th grade, not sure exactly when. I wouldn't read another Bond novel until Benson's adaption of DAD before that films release, then in the lead up to CR I bought the novel and the DVD of Layer Cake back in early December of 2005, which was when I read the CR for the first time. I have since read it two or three more times and starting in 2010 I went through and read all the Fleming novels and Short Stories along with DMC, Colonel Sun, and then the Gardner's LR through Scorpius. Since then I've read CB and Solo along with the novelization of LTK. I own the two Benson omnibuses that have been released and the novels for GE, TND, and TWINE, not to mention I still want to finish Gardner's run first, I only own two other's Brokenclaw and Win, Lose or Die at the moment which I still have to read. The video games for me almost go with out saying. GE for N64 was the first I got to sample at a friends house in early 2000, but the first Bond game I played proper was AUF and I've played/own each one for the ps2/3/GC/wii that's been released by EA/Activision since. A few years ago I bought TND and TWINE for the original p/s. I actually played beat TND for the first time some time earlier this year. Fun times...ah yes. Yeah, nostalgia truly is a big deal for me. Again this is so much fun looking back at the evolution of the enjoyment/appreciation of this truly awesome character/series of films/novels/games,Bond is hands down my favorite entertainment franchise/series. As far as who is my Bond? That's hard to chose, if I had to say something I'd say no preference although like I mentioned before Moore was the Bond I first really became a fan of as a young child. Brosnan was the first I saw on the big screen, and Craig I've seen all of his run in theaters. Dalton was Bond when I was born and I really like his two entries. Connery kinda reminds me of my grandpa and I really enjoy OHMSS with George so it's hard to pick a clear favorite for me lol.         

[Iceskater101]

The next Bond film I remember was LTK, and it was either we were having a free showing of one of the premium paid channels i.e HBO, Cinemax, Showtime or a rental from the Tower Records at the bottom of the hill, possibly the later but we may have been having the free showing around the same time. From LTK I actually recall the gunbarrel scene and from the PTS bits involving an airplane and Bond parachuting into a wedding, after the titles the bit with the lighter stands out and then there's the shark scene and next thing I remember is when Bond is infiltrating the warehouse and the bit the maggots which I thought looked like ramen noodles lol, the guy getting fried by the eel and the second shark scene, after that I kinda tuned out/stopped watching but I recall Pam and Bond on the boat at sea and the part with tank blasting the safe house and someone standing in a doorway as the explosions goes off. Wouldn't be until at least '96 that I saw the full film. LTK is now easily a top three favorite for me.

         

 

LTK is easily one of my favorite Bond movies. I just watched it and I love it. It's the one Bond movie I bring with me when I go back to school and I usually always watch it at least once. I don't have enough time to watch all the Bond movies I own but when I do have to decide what movies are coming with me to college, LTK is definitely the one that I take.

[Agent Spriggan Ominae]

 

The next Bond film I remember was LTK, and it was either we were having a free showing of one of the premium paid channels i.e HBO, Cinemax, Showtime or a rental from the Tower Records at the bottom of the hill, possibly the later but we may have been having the free showing around the same time. From LTK I actually recall the gunbarrel scene and from the PTS bits involving an airplane and Bond parachuting into a wedding, after the titles the bit with the lighter stands out and then there's the shark scene and next thing I remember is when Bond is infiltrating the warehouse and the bit the maggots which I thought looked like ramen noodles lol, the guy getting fried by the eel and the second shark scene, after that I kinda tuned out/stopped watching but I recall Pam and Bond on the boat at sea and the part with tank blasting the safe house and someone standing in a doorway as the explosions goes off. Wouldn't be until at least '96 that I saw the full film. LTK is now easily a top three favorite for me.

         

 

LTK is easily one of my favorite Bond movies. I just watched it and I love it. It's the one Bond movie I bring with me when I go back to school and I usually always watch it at least once. I don't have enough time to watch all the Bond movies I own but when I do have to decide what movies are coming with me to college, LTK is definitely the one that I take.

 

 

LTK is one of my top three favorite Bond films, the other two being CR and OHMSS. I find that OHMSS, FYEO, and LTK make a nice little thematic trilogy. It's interesting that the common denominators for all three films are a base of Fleming and the presence of John Glen and the direct references to Tracy. John Glen really deserves more credit for his run on Bond, it really paved the way for the Craig films. Overall I feel his era is somewhat underrated. I like that they haven't forgotten LTK, all three of Craig's films have little nods and references, the tanker chase and Obanno wielding a Machete in CR, QOS and it's south of the Border revenge setting, and then in SF we actually get a blatant and direct reference to the signature gun. And that's just the more obvious ones. There is definitely some synchronicity with the themes and tones started in LTK and the direction the franchise is moving now. LTK is a classic.   

[00Kevin]

I had heard people talk about James Bond (my dad, friends), but my first real exposure to it was 1997 with the Release of the Goldeneye N64 video game and the film Tomorrow Never Dies. I became curious and began buying the old movies. 

[Animal Clans]

I can remember this very very fondly. 

 

It was summer 1997. Me and my friends are all 14 years old and two of my friends owned the Nintendo 64.  One of my friends managed to get his parents to buy him a copy of GoldenEye 64 and we went to his house and played it for a few hours.  Then unexpectedly, he had to go away for the weekend, so he lent it to my other friend who had the N64.  It was Saturday, August 30, 1997. (Unrelated, but interesting: off hand, my friend said "Man, wouldn't it suck if someone famous like, say, Princess Diana died tonight and killed the mood?")  and we decided to have a sleepover and play this game as much as we could. Early in the evening, after taking a break, we went to the video store and rented GoldenEye. We ordered some pizza, made some popcorn, watched it, and thought it was cool and recognized half the scenes from the movie from the game. We returned to playing it until well after midnight when we got tired and my friend though it might be a good idea to not let the N64 overheat.  (Flipping through the channels afterwards, we came across some stupid talk show that was interrupted by the shocking news heard round the world.  All of our jaws dropped. But that's enough of that bit of royal sadness.)

 

Outside of our introduction to GoldenEye that night, none of us knew much about the Bond series. But playing the multiplayer mode and being introduced to characters like Oddjob and Jaws, and weapons like the Golden Gun and Moonraker Laser, we were compelled to want to find out more.  We then found out that Tomorrow Never Dies was coming out that December, so it was our mission to see it. In the meantime, thoughout the fall, every weekend, we'd rent two or three Bond movies from our video store and watch them, leading up to TND's release. Some we likes more than others.  Some I admittedly found boring at the time (like FRWL, OHMSS, FYEO and TLD), but I've come to enjoy and deeply follow all of them (and TLD is in my personal top five).  Saw TND in theatres. Loved it (even though the love I have for it now is not as strong as it was then.  Bought GE and TND on VHS the next yet.  Bought the DVD collections when TWINE came out (which was in my top three of films I was most looking forward to the most all-time).

[trevanian]

Seeing GOLDFINGER on the big screen is my second etched-in memory in my life, as it took place about a year after JFK's funeral. I'm sure seeing the girl all painted must have warped me a little, but I was more disturbed by how much Goldfinger looked like my then-current stepdad. Being less than 4 years old, the experience did not make me a fan.

 

Sat a double bill reissue of THUNDERBALL and YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE when I was 10 or so, at a little cinema called The Jerry Lewis Theater. Lucianna Paluzzi had a lifelong impact on me starting from that day, but I still wasn't really hooked on Bond.

 

Around 1972 or 1973, the film was playing on ABC and I happened on the golf game. Instantly suckered me in, and I was reading the novels -- ALL of them -- in the next month (able to get a full set of used paperbacks for fifteen cents each at the Recyled Books in San Jose.)

 

Sean Connery is the man, that's for sure. Between his early Bonds and his 70s hat-trick of THE WIND AND THE LION, THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING and ROBIN & MARIAN, he just really had it, in spades.

 

But I have a real soft spot for Dalton, because he really comes across as the character in the later books and in some of CR. Connery is the film Bond, but Dalton is a pretty good attempt at putting life into the cardboard booby of Fleming's.

[thecasinoroyale]

Great stories people! Ok...here's mine....

 

My introduction to James Bond was at my Gran and Grandad's house about...20 odd years ago. My Grandad, sadly no longer with us, had most of the original Fleming books and all the Bond movies, up to 'Licence To Kill', taped onto VHS as he himself was a big fan.

Every time my Mum went there, I would go but as always I got bored after a while (as you do) so my dear Grandad told me to go his white wardrobe in the bedroom and look at the big selection of action videos and choose one to watch to keep my busy. They were all recorded of the television in a few tatty cardboard boxes with some labels on the side "James Bond - Dr No", "TSWLM", " LALD"...hmm, I had no idea what these words meant but I just picked one which sounded like an action film "Licence To Kill".

 

I hit play...saw the MGM lion, and the UA logo....and I will never, ever forget the chills I got and how my heart lept for those opening 20 seconds, to this day, nothing will beat that thrill...

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=7OLEz02pNiA

 

And I can't say more than you all already know about how your first James Bond hits you. The opening gunbarrel music with that immediate danger and tension, well that certainly looked 'cool' with the blood dripping down - what an image to start a film! And of course the action from the outset set with Bond, Felix and Sanchez 'going fishing' was just pure excitement for a bored and impressionable young boy brought up on the films of Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Ford - this looked something in the similar vein and that hooked me. And then we got into the movie - I was hooked, sat cross-legged on the floor watching this exciting action film! This tale of an everyday spy with great skills, action, sexy ladies and fun gadgets, exciting music - what more could I want?! It was possibly an edited version, so I wasn't probably aware of the amount of violence in the full version, but that wasn't what I was looking for - the crux of the story and backbone of what James Bond was is clear to see.

I always remember that we had to go through my first ever viewing and Gran told me to stop it, and pick it up again when we come back (maybe a week later!) so I did, and I remember it was at the part where Pam crash lands the plane on the mountain roads and we see a great shot of her lush legs. Wonder why THAT memory stuck with me? You couldn't pick a more climatic point to stop though looking back could you to wait a week for a resolution; mid-way through the greatest action scene in nearly all of the 007 films!

 

So after that first viewing of James Bond, every time I went there after it was time for a different one to watch. The Bonds changed as I didn't watch them in any order but the core principle and conventions that made me fall in love with 007 were there and I started to learn that the actors changed as the years went on.

 

From then  on the future visits, I would try watch as many videos as I could, some even took me over 2 visits if we weren't staying long - I remember one of the recordings (complete with all vintage adverts) must have been a little worn out and it was 'Live And Let Die', the colour went to black and white from the moment Bond sat down in the bath for his shave until the boat ride after the double-decker bus chase with the sharks circling them. So watching that film for the first time all in colour was even more brilliant!!

From then on I watched as many films as I could (he didn't have them all) but learnt he also had the original books that the films were based on, and he ended up giving them to me when I was older and I still have them in a box under my bed. Future James Bond collections started to appear with the revival of Bond with 'GoldenEye' in 1995, but I wasn't able to make it to the cinema, I was too young (about 10,11) but my Mum allowed me to collect the VHS 'Buy Bond, Get Bond Free' set and I could explore 007 all over again until I caught Pierce Brosnan's effort on VHS.

 

My first cinematic Bond was 'Tomorrow Never Dies' in December 1997 for a school Christmas trip. That just blew me away, and I was so proud to watch Bond on the big-screen finally with my friends - but I don't think many of them cared for the film as much as I did and what it meant to me after so many years following in my Grandads footsteps in wating for my first cinematic 007 adventure.

 

Fast forward a few years and a continued passion for all things 007...and here I am.

 

 

 

Oh, and in answer to your question....Timothy Dalton is my James Bond. Always will be.

[Major Tallon]

Yes, these are great stories, and it dawns on me that I've got a special anniversary approaching.  Though I had an interest in Bond since I saw the "Dr. No" poster in 1963, my first actual encounter took place over the Labor Day weekend (first weekend in September) in 1964, when my family took a long auto trip to visit some relatives.  I needed something to do, of course, so I had my first Bond book, a paperback of Thunderball, which I devoured over the course of a couple of days.  I didn't understand all of it, but I was seriously hooked.  So, I have something of an anniversary approaching.  It's been a great ride, Mr. Bond.  Glad you brought me along.

[Call Billy Bob]

When I became old enough to know what was going on in a flim, instead of either rushing for a toy or falling asleep, my dad began showing me some of his favorites. I distinctly remember being blown away by Raiders of the Lost Ark (still my all-time favorite "non-Bond" film) and dad suggesting Goldfinger as a follow-up. WHOA! Forget Indiana Jones! Here was a real hero! I then learned that there were (at the time) 15 additional James Bond films.

 

Off to Blockbuster we went! Dad made sure we viewed the series in order, so as not to confuse me with change in actors. Later, at age six, GoldenEye was set to come out! I had never thought about the prospect of seeing a Bond flick in the theater! Against mom's better judgment, she sent the two of us to the cinema in November of 1995. There, as the only boy under age 10 in the house (as dad reminds me), I knew that James Bond would be a big part of my life from then on.

 

Connery was my first and, therefore, MY Bond... but all iterations - in print, on film, or otherwise - have resonated with me. Thanks for a wonderful creation, Ian Fleming!

[BrozFan]

My first memory of a Bond film was when I was away for the weekend with my Dad (child of divorce), and it was a Sunday afternoon and he was struggling to find something on the telly to keep me and my brother entertained.
I remember he found Diamonds Are Forever was on and stopped flicking through the channels to excitedly proclaim: "a James Bond film!" (but as I was about 9 at the time, and my brother younger still, this reference from our Dad went straight over our heads).
I imagine we complained (because he switched over), but what I do remember from those few minutes is vividly etched in my mind... it was the scene where Connery walks out of the apartment to interrogate Tiffany with a 60s Connery glove slap and we find Plenty tied to the bottom of the pool.
I'm still amazes me that a such a scene, completely out of context, can still make an impression. A testament to the allure of the Bond films I suppose.

It must have been about a year or so later in '96 or so and I was round at my step cousins' house and they decided to watch GoldenEye. I had no idea what it was. They said it was a James Bond film and that it was really good. My familiarity with Bond films beyond the 2 mins of DAF was passing familiarity with the James Bond Jr. cartoon (and I had some of the figures!).
Anyway, not really knowing what to expect, I watched it all and really enjoyed it.
I proceeded to watch GoldenEye again and again and again. I would watch it and immediately watch it straight though again. I just could not tire of it.

This new found love for this particular Bond film inspired me to have a crack watching some of the Bond films I'd seen in the TV listings but had never previously been interested in.
Between the ages of 11 and 12 the only bits I remember are struggling with TSWLM and AVTAK, finding them boring and switching them off. I think it was the somewhat more dates feel that I couldn't bond with. If I tried any others in this time, I can't remember, but one thing I do remember is going round to my grandparents one evening and my Grandad, just like my Dad did, got excited and stopped when a Bond film was on as he was channel surfing. It was Licence to Kill and was the bit where Sanchez has Bond put on the conveyor belt. We only watched the fight with Dario but the film looked good! I was disappointed we hadn't caught it from the start.

Then the following year Christmas was coming up and my Mum asked me what I would like. In my local Woolworths I had seen advertised an upcoming box set for the VHS release of Tomorrow Never Dies that came with a mini 'spy camera' and mini radio. Enamoured with this 'gadgets' and spurred on for my love of GoldenEye, I hoped I would enjoy Pierce's second outing more than I had the older films. Knowing absolutely nothing about the film, I sat down on Christmas morning, the settee pushed right up to the TV to watch TND with my brother. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as GoldenEye but I enjoyed having another Bond film I liked.

Encouraged by my enjoyment of Brosnan's Bond I was determined to keep exploring the Bond cannon and I remember doing my school homework with some of Connery's films on in the background. Thunderball seemed to go on forever, and I adored Dr. No because of its lush tropical feel. I vaguely remember TMWTGG as a bit of fun and I always enjoyed You Only Live Twice.

Anyway, after my TND video, either for my birthday the following summer, or the next Xmas (can't remember which) my Mum bought me all the then available Bonds on VHS from MVC when they had the "Buy Bond Get Bond Free" promotion, so Dr. No through to TND. Even though TND was a second copy, I needed it to complete the set, because how near were those reversible sleeves with alternate images?! I still have my set to this day and never could decide which side I preferred (the spines showing all the Bonds was cool).
I didn't watched them in any particular order, and some took longer to get to than others, but this is where I gave every film a proper chance and I came to appreciate some of the older films too. This VHS trailer was a great motivator (always loved the Moby remix):

https://www.youtube....h?v=PNDms4YBiYU

 

I remember I struggled a bit with Roger, finding them a bit too silly although I do have a fond memory of going out for Sunday lunch with the same grandparents mentioned earlier and being as sick as a dog, not being able to eat the gorgeous roast in front of me, getting back to theirs and, all wrapped up toasty with the roaring fire on, watching the copy of LALD I'd brought round with me (and had never seen) on that glum autumn afternoon.
Some others I love now like TLD or GF, FRWL, really rather slow and boring at the time.

Brosnan was still my favourite and even though I would have been 13 when The World Is Not Enough came out, for whatever reason I didn't end up seeing it at the cinema and eagerly awaiting renting it back when films weren't released 5 minutes after being in the cinema. I remember sitting down to watch it, again with my little brother, on a summer afternoon with my bubblegum cola sweets from the video shop and I enjoyed the film immensely. When my uncle asked what I wanted for my birthday that year he got me an unused rental copy of TWINE so I had the pleasure of watching it again and again for a good 3 or 4 months before the film got a home release. I still have that VHS in the massive oversized rental case which made the whole thing that but more special: my own 'advance' copy as it were.

At this point my Bond mania was in full swing and I was interested on
in anything and everything Bond related. GoldenEye on the Nintendo 64 was a staple of mine and my cousins' and friends' youth. It was a truly immersive and epic game but I'm proud to say I discovered it after I found the film on which it was based.

By the time Die Another Day was released I was at bubbling point: this was the first time I had engaged with and been preparing for a new Bond release at the cinema. This would also be the first Bond film I saw at the cinema with my first girlfriend and I couldn't wait. Unfortunately despite good reviews and commercial success, even at 16 there were some bits I just couldn't cope with (tsunami Bond). It wasn't everything it should have been.

So that's how I 'found' Bond, or more like how. Bond found me. I will be forever grateful to my cousins for putting GoldenEye in the video player despite my protestations, and for introducing me to The Terminator as well (boy was Arnie scary as the bad cyborg to this 10 year old!).

Obviously Brosnan is 'my' Bond, the Bond I grew up with and of my generation. And I believe that my fandom of this era is a genuine fandom because even before, during, and after my formative experiences with Bond, I always preferred and came back to Brosnan's films. I actively sought out and explored the rest if the series and I still prefer Brosnan 's portrayal.

I did experience a 'moment of crisis' when Casino Royale came out, wondering if he was in fact the best Bond, but now I look back and am embarrassed at the though at it was so clearly a case of Emperors new clothes. I have always enjoyed Craig as an actor, even before he was Bond, and have no issue with his appearance or the tone of his films, but as his tenure as Bond has continued, I gave become less and less enamoured with his version of the character and see is performance as relatively one-note. Much like Roger Moore but the complete opposite end of the spectrum. So much so I now rank the Bond actors: Brosnan, Dalton, Connery, Moore, Craig, Lazenby.

It's very in vogue to slam Brosnan's Bond these days but barring the ridiculous cooing from pent up females about Craig in his blue trunks, I generally don't hear Craig get the same warmth and adoration from the general public that Brosnan did during his stint.
Yes, critics prefer the new tone, forum members faun over Craig like he's the best actor there ever was, and Barbara Broccoli would keep him locked in her basement if she could, but he has no range as a 'film Bond'. I don't even think he's that close to the books either. I'd give that Connery or Dalton.

 

Brosnan does himself no favours and only enables the pop culture revisionists (who blatantly ignore just how well received Brosnan was) with his ever more vocal self doubt on his own portrayal as Bond. I wish he'd just give it a rest because even Judi Dench, one of our greatest living actors, cannot bear to watch herself on screen. So Brosnan feeling the same towards his incarnation of Bond does not indicate it was bad. I think it's more likely he's been in love with the role since he was a kid (how many times have we heard he watched Goldfinger on the big screen as a kid), was offered the role and couldn't take it then finally had the a shot at the role he was somehow destined to play. I think he put too much pressure on himself and he cannot see what he brought to the role and is far too self deprecating.
Like Connery, Brosnan could balance the humour and the action, was great with the one liners, both were terribly smooth and could surprise you with a flash of menace.
Moore was all laughs and poor fighting, Craig is the complete opposite: thuggish and dour. Dalton and Lazeby, despite their respective talents seem consigned to the annuls of forgotten Bonds.

I talk to friends, colleagues and relatives and the best they can muster for Craig is "it was a good film" or at worst "it's not a Bond film". Whereas Brosnan was either the best after Connery, as good as to most, and better to some.
I remember being round at my grandparents (again!) where we all watched TWINE. This was the grandparents, Dad, Aunt, Uncle, cousins, brother etc and the film went down a treat. My Dad, a die-hard Connery fan could not get on with any other actor in the part besides Brosnan, same with the grandparents to a lesser degree. My aunt, being a bit younger than my Dad grew up on Roger Moore and hated his portrayal for being too 'sleazy' (coincidentally a point my mother separately stated) and thought Brosnan was a great Bond.
My family is just a tiny snapshot of 'public opinion' but to many, and I mean MANY, he was and always will be great. It's 12 years since his last Bond film and if I'm talking to people in real life, as opposed to hardcore froums such as this, Brosnan still gets praise.

Brosnan deserved the 5th film the producers agreed with him and he did enough for the franchise to deserve better treatment than they gave him at the end. But hey ho, he got his shot, he had a good run and with Die Another Day, despite it's flaws, I have come to enjoy his swansong as a celebration and amalgamation of all the Bond films that came before it before it all got just a bit too serious. I can't imagine anyone handling the film better than Brosnan. There's a lot to be said for versatility.

Edited by BrozFan, 28 August 2014 - 02:23 PM.

[dtuba]

Great thread. Lots of fun reading here.

 

I'm a bit fuzzy on my first Bond film. I'm pretty sure it was probably TB (when I was very young, I remember that the scene where Angelo gets his air hose cut in the submerged Vulcan scaring the crap out of me). Later on I remember seeing Bond movies on the ABC Sunday Night Movie - and yes, I did see the infamous 2 part edit of OHMSS! My best friend from grade school had a VHS recorder (his dad was rich) and we watched TMWTGG and YOLT over...and over...and over. (He also got to see TSWLM on the big screen, while I had to wait for MR ). Needless to say, the two us were hooked. Big time.

 

Back in the days before VHS, DVD's, or VOD, you couldn't just watch a bond movie anytime you wanted, so my hunger for all things 007 continued into reading all the Fleming novels and buying the soundtrack albums. My dad had the album for GF, so long before I ever saw the movie I would listen to the music and try to picture the film action in my head. So naturally GF held a kind of mystique for me for years, until I actually saw it. (And no I was not disappointed).

 

"My" Bond? Although I'd like to say it's Dalton (I've been a believer since 1987), I really have to say that it's Craig. Let's just say that I am ...less then average height for a male, and although some might consider me good looking, I know that I've never been "conventionally handsome" (whatever the hell that means.).  For much of my life, I've seen Bond as being someone taller, darker, and prettier than myself. So you can imagine my surprise (and delight) in 2006, when the new Bond was announced. Daniel Craig is not (very) tall. He's not dark. He's not pretty (but not ugly either, I am told). I never thought for a million years that I would ever (even vaguely ) resemble a Bond actor, but there he is. (He's also the first Bond younger than me, by about 9 months).

 

So then, Craig is "My" Bond.

[DLibrasnow]

In 1979 I saw "Moonraker" at the movie theater. Actually it wasn't even a movie theater. Once a month our local village hall would be converted into a movie theater. This enterprising fellow had created this business called "Movie-Go-Round" and he would travel from village hall to village hall and show the latest movies. He found his way to our village hall once a month and that's how I saw most of the movies back in the 1970s and early 1980s (i.e. before VHS).

 

But back to my point, I saw "Moonraker" and was blown away. In quick order I started purchasing the Bond books (usually old Pan paperbacks) from second hand book stalls at our villages annual fete and then in 1981 a perfect convergence happened. Not long after I saw "For Your Eyes Only") I came upon a copy of Steven Jay Rubin's "The James Bond Films: A Behind the Scenes History" and read it over and over (with the book chapters each relating to a particular film, I would read the relevant chapter of the book before watching the 007 movie on television). I also subscribed to "Starburst" at which noted Bond historian John Brosnan was a writer. His columns often mentioned James Bond (as you might expect from the writer of "James Bond in the Cinema" and I began to really become a 007 fan.

 

By the time "Octopussy" opened in 1983 I was hooked.

[Bond of Steele]

Great stories.  I remember being about 6, my folks owned a restaurant, and VHS just started becoming the big thing over BETA.  We got one for the restaurant, and during slow times, my Dad would put in some James Bond films.  From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, and TMWTGG.  At the same time, here in Canada, ABC had Sunday night movies and would regularly have James Bond in the mix.  It was great.  

 

I remember being confused by different James Bonds.  I asked my Dad, but probably because of my age, he just said that is was difficult to explain.  Not until much later in life would I get it, but I still enjoyed them all!

 

I remember a lot of hoop-lah going around with A View to a Kill, and it being Roger's last name, and when speaking to one of our regulars, she went through all of the aliases he used.  That all sticks out in my head.  

 

My first "theatre" experience was at a drive-in for Licence to Kill with my brother.  At the time, I had seen Batman already, and I had the expectations of another Goldfinger or Spy Who Loved Me.  So needless to say, I was quite disappointed then, but I now love the film, as do I do most of them.

 

Some years past, and now I'm in my late teens, and Goldeneye is announced.  I saw that trailer, and was in shock!  I was such a big Remington Steele fan, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that it was finally Pierce!  I ended up seeing Goldeneye a million times.  A few trips to the theatre and then many viewings on tape.   

 

I guess in closing I will say, that I started with Sean, and in my young eyes, he was James Bond, but today, I definitely say it's Pierce, as he really ramped up my enthusiasm for all things Bond.  I have a bunch of other good memories with his movies, but I digress.

 

Nice thread, thanks!

[HoneyDiamond]

I agree this thread is awesome!

 

When I was 7, the Goldeneye video game came out and my older brother played that for years.  I remember watching him play it and wondering what the movie was like.  Lol.  I remember seeing the picture of Pierce Brosnan on the cover of the game and thinking that he was Bond.  So in that sense, Pierce is my Bond. 

 

When I was 11, I started watching the Bond marathon on TBS with my dad.  I didn’t know what order they were in but I just soaked it all in.  Shortly after that I started collecting DVD’s and I repeatedly begged my parents for the Bond Box sets.  Back then they were the only DVD’s that took up a whole shelf. 

 

When I was 12, I saw Die Another Day in theaters.  At that point I had already seen at least part of every movie and my dad was disappointed with it, so naturally so was I.  I liked it a lot anyway. 

 

When I was 15 or 16, I remember the backlash from the Daniel Craig announcement.  I remember the craignotbond.com website.  And for the most part, I was also reluctant to see Craig as Bond.  But he won me over big time with Casino Royale and I’m so happy that I love all 6 actors who are Bond.

[ChickenStu]

I'm really enjoying reading these! I'm so glad so many of you are enjoying this thread! It's the 6th of September right now, and I'm getting excited. Cause month after next it's time for my annual James Bond marathon! I'm really getting myself in the mood for it - and am starting to go all tingly at the thought of that old Bond magic. Autumn/Christmas just totally means Bond to me. It's my favourite movie series ever. 

[seawolfnyy]

I'm not going to lie, I really can't remember when I first got into Bond. I know it was at a young age (like 6 or 7), so right at the start of Brosnan's tenure. But, honestly, I don't remember the first film I saw. I just remember going to Blockbuster with my dad every weekend in the mid 90s and just renting a different film. From then on, I was hooked.

 

P.S.- The first one I ever saw might have been Licence to Kill on TV, but I'm not 100% sure.