17 replies to this topic

[Blue Eyes]

In brief news, Sydney based newspaper 'The Daily Telegraph' will feature a special article based upon the 40th Anniversary of James Bond.

The special article will feature in this Saturdays paper, perfect timing as Saturday is exactly 40 years since the premier of the first James Bond film, Dr No, in London.

[Dr. Tynan]

I can't wait to read it.

[Blue Eyes]

Nor can I

[007forever]

I normally don't buy the Tele as i am a die-hard SMHer~~
But, this time guess who will make the right move:)

[BondNumber7]

Originally posted by 007forever
I normally don't buy the Tele as i am a die-hard SMHer~~
But, this time guess who will make the right move:)

What does that mean?

[Blue Eyes]

SMH is the Sydney Morning Herald. He's just saying he'll buy a different paper this Saturday

[1q2w3e4r]

I HATE the SMH... It's too bloody big you can't sit and read it without spreading it out on the table.

[Blue Eyes]

Anyone pick it up at all?

[[dark]]

'Fraid not. Did you, Blue Eyes? If so, what was it like?

Our paper had a special on Bond a few months back which was pretty good. No reference to Die Another Day though.

[Blue Eyes]

Not living in NSW I didn't manage to pick it up I think one or two of our members surely would have though. I'm really keen to hear about it.

[007forever]

Originally posted by 1q2w3e4r
I HATE the SMH... It's too bloody big ...

Well, i think SMH to the Tele is just like Bond to Van Disiel's XXX..
A little more sophistcated:)

[007forever]

And as to the article on the Tele.
Yep, i've got it:) I stood in the news agent, flipping though every page of the paper (like an idiot:p, heh), finally found it hidden in the middle...
And what a nice surprise to find out that Blue Eyes is in fact one of us! Good on ya, mate! A great job for keeping up this most fantastic Bond site!

Ok, now, onto the content. Well, daniel, i don't know if you've had an idea what's in it, but everything is very trivial to us Bond fans, no real surprises, and no mention on DAD either, just some general history on the Bond series. There are serveral phtotos from the past which are eye-pleasing, but overall it's a nice read.
Hmm..if u like i can send u the copy by mail.

[Blue Eyes]

I believe I have a copy on its way soon enough, care of another Bond fan. But if that goes awry, I'll let you know. But thanks heaps anyway

But yes, I was interviewed for it, hence my interest. I wouldn't mind knowing what he wrote about me I got the idea from the interview that a touch of it would come out "do people critisize us for our obsession" sort of thing. I must say, I've never really been critisized for it at all.

And thanks heaps for going and looking it up 007forever

[Blue Eyes]

I've found the article online, but you have to pay to view it

But the intro reads: "The Daily Telegraph , 05-10-2002 , Ed: 1 - State , Pg: 030 , 1210 words , FEATURES
James Bond may have reached middle-age but, as MICHAEL BODEY spies, Agent 007 doesn't show any sign of slowing down He's survived everything from goldplated villains to outrageous spoofs and Timothy Dalton. This weekend, James Bond officially turns ... "

[Mourning Becomes Electra]

Here you go, and wouldn't you know it, someone is quoted about wanting to bed women like Bond.

Bond market still firm 40 years on

BY: MICHAEL BODEY

October 5, 2002, Saturday

James Bond may have reached middle-age but, as MICHAEL BODEY spies,
Agent 007 doesn't show any sign of slowing down

He's survived everything from goldplated villains to outrageous spoofs
and Timothy Dalton. This weekend, James Bond officially turns 40 but like
many middle aged men, he's worked hard to cover his real age.

It could be anything from 49 (1953 being the year both Ian Fleming's
book, Casino Royale, introduced Bond to the world and his current screen
incarnation, Pierce Brosnan, was born) to 78 (Fleming's character was
born in Scotland in 1924).

Officially though, Dr No, the first film in the longest and most
successful cinema series ever, premiered on October 5, 1962. And, having earned more than $7 billion worldwide since, the Bond films have become James Bond's cultural calling card. Unfortunately, Bond's creator wasn't there to reap the rewards. The stockbroker, journalist and intelligence operative's novels were only a modest success before he died in 1964.

On screen though, the wry spy has outlived, or outmaneuvered, more
sociopolitical changes than a Chinese president.

He sailed through the Cold War to find new nemeses in the new Slavic
republics, the Middle East and the boardroom.

He's done it for the money, slipping into Lotus, BMW and Bentley
automobiles before returning to his reliable Aston Martin.

He dispatched the imitators -- The Saint, Michael Caine's Harry Palmer,
Dean Martin's Matt Helm, James Coburn's Derek Flint and the satirical Casino Royale featuring multiple Bonds, including David Niven and Woody Allen, with a wink.

Another imitator, Mike Myers' Austin Powers, could only have thrived if
we loved Bond. And the latest? The "multi ethnic action star" Vin Diesel as the extreme sportsloving spy without a clue, Xander Cage, in xXx.

The character has defeated every challenge with a very English
stoicism. Bond hasn't so much adapted to the times as morphed with them ever so slightly by replenishing actors, varying tone and managing to maintain some relevance, albeit a cartoonlike one, to contemporary life.

There was a midlife crisis in the late 1990s when political correctness
threatened to make him redundant but before you could say "shaken, not
stirred" M and some of his most empowered opponents became female and he learned some manners.

Inexplicably though, Australia has not been one of Bond's happiest
hunting grounds. Bond remains one of few international jetsetters who hasn't been to Australia. No wonder, his Australian fan club closed a couple of years ago.

Nevertheless, Daniel Dykes, a 19yearold Melbourne student and aspiring
actor, maintains the faith here, editing the internet's major repository
of James Bond news, www.commanderbond.net.

In a culture that relishes sport before movies, Dykes realises his Bond
fascination is up against it. But with seven million hits to his site
last month, he doesn't need Australia.

The box office figures for Bond films bear out our antipathy.

While "spy" films Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Mission:

Impossible 2 rank in the top 50 films of all time, no Bond film does it
in Australia.

Yet an Australian, George Lazenby, took on the cinematic Bond, even if
it was for the poorest performing in the series, On Her Majesty's Secret
Service (1969).

Indeed, the Scottish Bond only had one Scot in his shoes, Sean Connery.
Timothy Dalton is Welsh, Roger Moore is English and Pierce Brosnan is
Irish.

Dykes is not particularly phased by the representations.

"What grabs me is James Bond himself," he says. "He's the man you want
to be. Which guy doesn't want to bed women and drive fast cars?" There's nothing retrograde about that, he adds.

"I do have friends who think I'm nuts in terms of collecting. You very
rarely get criticised for wanting a more exciting life; you get
criticised for spending money on it."

To think, this icon of aspiration, had such an inauspicious film debut.

An American TV network made a telemovie of Casino Royale in 1954 to
little response.

Fleming offloaded the film rights to all his novels in 1961, after a
heart attack, to two independent producers, Harry Saltzman and Albert "Cubby" Broccoli.

They didn't have enough money to realise the spectacular Thunderball,
so they opted for Dr No. And instead of David Niven, Richard Burton or
James Mason becoming Bond, they relented with former seaman and milkman, Sean Connery.

That an unknown from Edinburgh could become a cinematic icon and the
world's sexiest man says much about Connery's under appreciated acting skills.

Ultimately, it says so much more about the charisma and appeal of Bond,
James Bond.

Guide to 007

The Men

Sean Connery: A Scottish nobody who had to wear two toupees (an extra strong one for the water scenes) somehow made the role his own. Under appreciated as an actor, he nevertheless gave Bond the requisite raunch, rakishness and calculating persona that set the standard. The original and widely considered to be the best.

George Lazenby: A one-trick-pony as the star of a chocolate bar ad,
Lazenby only nabbed On Her Majesty's Secret Service after bluffing he was a racecar driver and when Timothy Dalton turned it down believing, at 25, he was too young. Lazenby actually wasn't that bad, despite his nod after the pre-title sequence that "This never happened to the other fella!"

Roger Moore: Connery declined, Burt Reynolds was too American, so the
cuddly Londoner came in for Live and Let Die. He polarised the fans as he
started as a foppish ponce, took Bond through its most popular period only to become a 58 year-old, over-tanned, unwieldly-plugged dinosaur who looked totally over it in A View to a Kill.

Timothy Dalton: The most revered actor to take on the role, Dalton had
to regenerate the character after Moore had turned it into a cartoon. He
played it too mean for the fans, and definitely not wry enough, even if he recalled the earliest Connery.

Pierce Brosnan: Arguably the closest the series has had to Fleming's
Bond. He's also had to overcome the 1990s' political correctness that
threatened the series while still adapting to the incredible special effects
required of today's cinema. Brosnan has rejuvenated the character simply by not playing it so seriously.

The Best of the Bond Girls

Honey Rider (played by Ursula Andress in Dr No, 1962); Pussy Galore
(Honor Blackman, Goldfinger, 1964); Contessa Tracy Di Vincenzo (Diana Rigg in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 1969); Solitaire (Jane Seymour in Live and Let Die, 1973); Major Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach in The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977); Octopussy (Maud Adams in Octopussy, 1983); Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997); Elektra King (Sophie Marceau in The World Is Not Enough, 1999)

The Best (or worst) of the Villains

Dr No (played by Joseph Wiseman in the movie of the same name); Auric
Goldfinger (Gert Frobe in Goldfinger); Errnst Stavro Blofeld (played by
Donald Pleasence in You Only Live Twice and Telly Savalas in On Her
Majesty's Secret Service); Dr Kanaga (Yaphet Kotto in Live and Let Die); Fransisco Scaramango (Christopher Lee in The Man With The Golden Gun); Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen in GoldenEye); Jaws (Richard Kiel in Moonraker, 1979)

The best of the films ...
Live and Let Die; Goldfinger

... and the worst
Octopussy; Moonraker; A View to a Kill

[007forever]

You are welcome:)

Yep, that's that article. Ok, why not i will just type out the bits that mention you and the site. Heh, it's interesting to read.

Here we go:

Inexplicably though, Australia has not been one of the Bond's happiest hunting grounds. BOnd remains one of few international jetsetters who hasn't been to Australia. NO wonder, his Australian fan club closed a couple of years ago.

Nevertheless, Daniel Dykes, a 19-year-old Melbourne student and aspiring actor, maintains the faith here, editing the internet's major repository of James Bond news, www.commanderbond.net (--Go, Aussie go:)--)

In a culture that relishes sport before movies(--yup, he's got the point--), Dykes realises his Bond fascination is up against it. But with seven million hits to his site last month, he doesn't need Australia.(--hey, the guy's wrong! i am sure there are many Bond enthusiasts just like us down here!!--)

Yet an Australian, George Lazenby, took on the cinematic Bond, even if it was for the poorest performing in the series. OHMSS(1969).

Indeed, the Scottish Bond only had one Scot in his shoes, Sean Connery. Timothy Dalton is Welsh, Roger Moore is English and Pierce Brosnan is Irish.

Dykes is not particularly phased by the representations.
"what grabs me is James Bond himself," (--hear! hear!--)he says. "He's the man you want to be. Which guy doesn't want to bed women and drive fast cars?" There's nothing retrograde about that, he adds.

"I do have friends who think I'm nuts in terms of collecting. YOu very rarely get criticised for wanting a more exciting life; you get criticised for spending money on it."

...and the article continues on....

Hope you enjoy it:)
PS: (--xxx--) is my comments

[007forever]

erhh...
Heh, seems MBE types a lot faster than i am~~

Well, anyway:)

[Blue Eyes]

How did you get your hands on that MBE? To both MBE and 007forever, thank you.

It came out quite well, and I'm thrilled about it really! I really tried to make the point of Australia relishing sport before arts, and I'm glad that was included in the interview!

And then there's the quote about fast cars and women. How me