James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
is a fictional character created by British novelist
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...
in 1953. A British secret agent working for
MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
under the codename 007, Bond has been
portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors
Sean Connery
Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...
,
David Niven
James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in ''Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...
,
George Lazenby
George Robert Lazenby (; born 5 September 1939) is an Australian actor. He was the second actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service ...
,
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 19 ...
,
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama ''The Lion in Winter''. He gained international prominence as ...
,
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow ...
, and
Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English-American actor who gained international fame playing the secret agent James Bond in the film series, beginning with '' Casino Royale'' (2006) and in four further instalments, up to '' ...
.
Eon Productions
Eon Productions Ltd. is a British film production company that primarily produces the ''James Bond'' film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK.
''Bond'' films
Eon was start ...
, which now holds the adaptation rights to all of
Fleming's Bond novels, made all but two films in the film series.
In 1961, producers
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli ( ; April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the United Kingdom and often filmed at Pi ...
and
Harry Saltzman
Herschel Saltzman (; – ), known as Harry Saltzman, was a Canadian theatre and film producer. He is best remembered for co-producing the first nine of the ''James Bond'' film series with Albert R. Broccoli. He lived most of his life in Denh ...
purchased the filming rights to Fleming's novels. They founded Eon Productions and, with financial backing by
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
, produced ''
Dr. No'', directed by
Terence Young Terence or Terry Young may refer to:
*Terence Young (director) (1915–1994), British film director
* Terence Young (politician) (born 1952), Canadian Conservative Party politician
* Terence Young (writer), Canadian writer
* Terry Young (American p ...
and featuring Connery as Bond. Following its release in 1962, Broccoli and Saltzman created the holding company
Danjaq
Danjaq, LLC (formerly Danjaq S.A. and Danjaq, Inc.) is the holding company responsible for the copyright and trademarks to the characters, elements, and other material related to James Bond on screen. It is currently owned and managed by the fami ...
to ensure future productions in the
''James Bond'' film series.
The Eon series currently has twenty-five films, with the most recent, ''
No Time to Die
''No Time to Die'' is a 2021 spy film and the twenty-fifth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, starring Daniel Craig in his fifth and final portrayal of fictional British MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Cary Jo ...
'', released in September 2021. With a combined gross of $7.8 billion in nominal terms to date, it is the
fifth-highest-grossing film series.
Adjusting for
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
, the series has earned over $19.2 billion in 2022 dollars from box-office receipts alone, with non-Eon entries pushing this inflation-adjusted figure to a grand total in excess of $20 billion. The films have won six
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
: for
Sound Effects
A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditi ...
(now Sound Editing) in ''
Goldfinger'' (
at the 37th Awards), to
John Stears
John Stears (25 August 1934 – 28 April 1999), known as the "Dean of Special Effects", was a British two-time Academy Award-winning special effects expert. He created James Bond's lethal Aston Martin DB5, Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder, the Jedi Kn ...
for
Visual Effects
Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of
a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production.
The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...
in ''
Thunderball'' (
at the 38th Awards), to
Per Hallberg
Per Hallberg (born December 30, 1958), is a Swedish film sound editor whose work has appeared in over 40 movies. He has won three Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing
for the films '' Braveheart'' (1995), '' The Bourne Ultimatum'' (2007) and ' ...
and
Karen Baker Landers
Karen Baker Landers is a two-time Academy Award-winning sound editor. She also has won and been nominated for several Motion Picture Sound Editors awards as well as winning the BAFTA Award for Best Sound. She often works with Per Hallberg.
She h ...
for
Sound Editing, to
Adele
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...
and
Paul Epworth
Paul Richard Epworth (born 25 July 1974) is an English record producer, songwriter, musician, and remixer. He has worked with artists including Adele, Florence and the Machine, Rihanna, and Maxïmo Park, among many others. He is a member o ...
for
Original Song
"Original Song" is the sixteenth episode of the second season of the American television series ''Glee'', and the thirty-eighth episode overall. It was written by Ryan Murphy, directed by Bradley Buecker, and premiered on Fox in the United Stat ...
in ''
Skyfall
''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the villai ...
'' (
at the 85th Awards), to
Sam Smith
Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...
and
Jimmy Napes
James Napier (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Jimmy Napes, is an English songwriter and record producer. He has won a number of awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, 3 Grammy Awards, and 2 Ivor Novello Awar ...
for Original Song in ''
Spectre
Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to:
Religion and spirituality
* Vision (spirituality)
* Apparitional experience
* Ghost
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...
'' (
at the 88th Awards), and to
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single " Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom ...
and
Finneas O'Connell
Finneas Baird O'Connell (born July 30, 1997), known mononymously as Finneas (stylized in all caps), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has written and produced music for various artists, most notably his sister, B ...
for Original Song in ''
No Time to Die
''No Time to Die'' is a 2021 spy film and the twenty-fifth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, starring Daniel Craig in his fifth and final portrayal of fictional British MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Cary Jo ...
'' (
at the 94th Awards). Several other songs produced for the films have been nominated for Academy Awards for Original Song, including
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
's "
Live and Let Die",
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...
's "
Nobody Does It Better
"Nobody Does It Better" is a power ballad and the theme song
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequenc ...
", and
Sheena Easton
Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress. Easton came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television programme '' The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to ...
's "
For Your Eyes Only". In 1982, Albert R. Broccoli received the
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award is awarded periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Governors Awards ceremonies to "creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion pictur ...
.
When Broccoli and Saltzman bought the rights to existing and future Fleming titles, the deal did not include ''
Casino Royale'', which had been sold to producer
Gregory Ratoff
Gregory Ratoff (born Grigory Vasilyevich Ratner; russian: Григорий Васильевич Ратнер, tr. ; April 20, c. 1893 – December 14, 1960) was a Russian-born American film director, actor and producer. As an actor, he was bes ...
for a
television adaptation in 1954. After Ratoff's death, the rights passed to
Charles K. Feldman
Charles K. Feldman (April 26, 1905 – May 25, 1968) was a Hollywood attorney, film producer and talent agent who founded the Famous Artists talent agency. According to one obituary, Feldman disdained publicity. "Feldman was an enigma to Holly ...
, who subsequently produced the Bond spoof ''
Casino Royale'' in 1967.
A legal case ensured that the film rights to the novel
''Thunderball'' were held by
Kevin McClory
Kevin O'Donovan McClory (8 June 1924 – 20 November 2006) was an Irish screenwriter, film producer, and film director. McClory was best known for producing the James Bond film '' Thunderball'' and for his legal battles with the character's cre ...
, as he, Fleming and scriptwriter
Jack Whittingham
Jack Whittingham (2 August 1910 – 3 July 1972) was a British playwright and screenwriter.
Early life
Whittingham was born in Heaton, West Yorkshire, England, and educated at Charterhouse between 1924 and 1929. He then went up Lincoln Colle ...
had written a film script on which the novel was based.
Although Eon Productions and McClory joined forces to produce ''Thunderball'', McClory still retained the rights to the story and adapted ''Thunderball'' into 1983's non-Eon entry, ''
Never Say Never Again
''Never Say Never Again'' is a 1983 spy film directed by Irvin Kershner. The film is based on the 1961 James Bond novel '' Thunderball'' by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Flemi ...
''.
Distribution rights to both of those films are currently held by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...
, which distributes Eon's regular series.
Eon films
''Dr. No'' (1962)
Strangways, the
British Intelligence
The Government of the United Kingdom maintains intelligence agencies within three government departments, the Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence. These agencies are responsible for collecting and analysing foreign and do ...
(SIS) Station Chief in Jamaica, is killed. In response, British agent
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
—also known as 007—is sent to Jamaica to investigate the circumstances. During his investigation Bond meets Quarrel, a Cayman fisherman, who had been working with Strangways around the nearby islands to collect mineral samples. One of the islands was Crab Key, home to the reclusive
Dr. No.
Bond visits the island, where he meets a local shell diver,
Honey Ryder
Honeychile Rider is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond novel '' Dr. No''. In the 1962 Bond film of the same name, her name was shortened and changed to Honey Ryder. In the film, she is played by Swiss actress Ursula Andress and ...
. The three are attacked by No's men, who kill Quarrel using a
flamethrowing armoured tractor; Bond and Honey are taken prisoner. Dr. No informs them he is a member of
SPECTRE
Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to:
Religion and spirituality
* Vision (spirituality)
* Apparitional experience
* Ghost
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...
, the Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion, and he plans to disrupt the
Project Mercury
Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...
space launch from
Cape Canaveral
, image = cape canaveral.jpg
, image_size = 300
, caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991
, map = Florida#USA
, map_width = 300
, type =Cape
, map_caption = Location in Florida
, location ...
with his atomic-powered radio beam. Bond and Honey escape from the island, killing No and blowing up his compound in the process.
''From Russia with Love'' (1963)
SPECTRE's expert planner Kronsteen, known as "Number Five", upon order of the organisation's Number One, devises a plot to steal a Lektor
cryptographic
Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adve ...
device from the
Soviets
Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union.
Nationality policy in th ...
and sell it back to them while exacting revenge on Bond for killing their agent
Dr. No; ex-SMERSH operative
Rosa Klebb
Rosa or De Rosa may refer to:
People
*Rosa (given name)
* Rosa (surname)
*Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose)
Places
*223 Rosa, an asteroid
*Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States
* Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia, G ...
, SPECTRE's Number Three, is in charge of the mission. She recruits Donald "Red" Grant as an assassin and
Tatiana Romanova
Tatiana Alexeievna "Tania" Romanova (russian: Татьяна Алексеевна «Таня» Романова, Tatyana Alekseevna «Tanya» Romanova) is a fictional character in the 1957 James Bond novel '' From Russia, with Love'', its 1 ...
, a cipher clerk at the Soviet consulate in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, as the unwitting bait.
Bond travels to Turkey and meets Ali Kerim Bey, the MI6 officer in Turkey. Between them, they obtain the Lektor, and the three escape with the device on the
Orient Express
The ''Orient Express'' was a long-distance passenger train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company ''Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits'' (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe and int ...
. However, they are followed by Grant, who kills Kerim Bey and a Soviet security officer. Grant pretends to be another British agent and meets Bond. Over dinner Grant drugs Romanova, then overcomes Bond. Bond tricks Grant into opening Bond's
attaché case
A briefcase is a narrow hard-sided box-shaped bag or case used mainly for carrying papers and equipped with a handle. Lawyers commonly use briefcases to carry briefs to present to a court, hence the name. Businesspeople and other white collar ...
in the manner that detonates its
tear gas
Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...
booby trap, allowing Bond to attack and kill him. Bond and Romanova escape with the Lektor to Venice. Rosa Klebb, disguised as a hotel maid, attempts to steal the Lektor and kill Bond, but ends up being shot by Romanova.
''Goldfinger'' (1964)
![DB5-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/DB5-2.jpg)
Bond is ordered to observe bullion dealer
Auric Goldfinger
Auric Goldfinger is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Ian Fleming's 1959 seventh ''James Bond'' novel, '' Goldfinger'', and the 1964 film it inspired (the third in the ''James Bond'' series). His first name, Auric, is an adjectiv ...
. He suspects Goldfinger of cheating at cards and foils his scheme by distracting his female accomplice, who is later killed by Goldfinger's Korean manservant and henchman
Oddjob
Oddjob (often written as "Odd Job") is a fictional character in the espionage novels and films featuring James Bond. He is a henchman to the villain Auric Goldfinger in the 1959 James Bond novel '' Goldfinger'' and its 1964 film adaptation, mak ...
after Bond seduces her. Bond is then instructed to investigate Goldfinger's gold smuggling operation and he tails the dealer to Switzerland. Bond is captured when he reconnoitres Goldfinger's plant and is drugged unconscious; Goldfinger then transports Bond to his Kentucky stud farm where he holds Bond captive. Bond escapes briefly to witness Goldfinger's meeting with US mafiosi, observing secretly as Goldfinger presents to the gangsters his plans to rob Fort Knox by using materials they have smuggled to him and later kills them to avoid paying his dues.
Bond is recaptured after hearing the details of the operation, but he subsequently seduces
Pussy Galore
Pussy Galore is a fictional character in the 1959 Ian Fleming James Bond novel '' Goldfinger'' and the 1964 film of the same name. In the film, she is played by Honor Blackman. The character returns in the 2015 Bond continuation novel ''Trigg ...
, Goldfinger's private pilot, and convinces her to inform the American authorities. Goldfinger's private army breaks into
Fort Knox
Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository, which is used to house a large portion of the United States' official gold res ...
and accesses the vault, where Bond fights and kills Oddjob, while American troops battle with Goldfinger's army outside. Bond's plane is hijacked by Goldfinger, but Bond struggles with him and shoots out a window, creating an explosive decompression, killing Goldfinger.
''Thunderball'' (1965)
Bond investigates the hijacking of an
Avro Vulcan
The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) is a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe and ...
loaded with two atomic bombs, which had been taken by SPECTRE. The organisation demands a ransom for the return of the bombs. Bond follows a lead to the Bahamas, where he meets up with his CIA counterpart and friend
Felix Leiter
Felix Leiter is a fictional character created by Ian Fleming in the ''James Bond'' books, films and other media. The character is an operative for the CIA and Bond's friend. After losing a leg and his hand to a shark attack, Leiter joined the P ...
. The pair suspect a rich playboy,
Emilio Largo
Emilio Largo is a fictional character and the main antagonist from the 1961 James Bond novel '' Thunderball''. He appears in the 1965 film adaptation, again as the main antagonist, with Italian actor Adolfo Celi filling the role. Largo is also th ...
, who is soon discovered to be SPECTRE's Number Two, ordered by the secretive Number One to direct the operation, and search the area around his yacht and then the area where they think the yacht may have travelled. After finding the plane—but without the nuclear devices on board—the two agents arrange for Largo's yacht to be tracked and ambushed once the bombs are being moved by Largo.
''You Only Live Twice'' (1967)
007 is sent to Japan to investigate the spacecraft theft and astronaut kidnapping in orbit of American
Project Gemini
Project Gemini () was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and 16 individual ...
spacecraft ''Jupiter 16'' by an unidentified spacecraft. Upon his arrival, Bond is contacted by
Aki, assistant to the Japanese secret service leader Tiger Tanaka. Bond established that the mastermind behind the hijacking is SPECTRE's Number One,
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character and villain from the James Bond series of novels and films, created by Ian Fleming. A criminal mastermind with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of the British Secret Service agen ...
, in conjunction with Osato, a local industrialist. Bond follows the trail to Blofeld's island headquarters and
spaceport
A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport'', and even more so ''cosmodrome'', has traditionally been used for sites capable ...
, while the spacecraft, ''Bird One'', attacks a
Soviet capsule. Blofeld explains to Bond that his plot is to fake in front of each
superpower
A superpower is a state with a dominant position characterized by its extensive ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, technological, political and cultural s ...
that ''Bird One'' is an enemy spacecraft to transform the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
into
World War III
World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical World war, worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use ...
.
![On Her Majesty's Secret Service (8)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/On_Her_Majesty%27s_Secret_Service_%288%29.jpg)
Tanaka's ninja troops attack the island, while Bond manages to distract Blofeld and create a diversion which allows him to open the hatch, letting in the ninjas. During the battle, Osato is killed by Blofeld, who activates the base's self-destruct system and escapes. Bond, Kissy, Tanaka and the surviving ninjas escape through the cave tunnel before it explodes, and are rescued by submarine.
''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (1969)
While searching for Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE, Bond (played by
George Lazenby
George Robert Lazenby (; born 5 September 1939) is an Australian actor. He was the second actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service ...
) saves
Tracy di Vicenzo
Teresa "Tracy" Bond (born Teresa "Tracy" Draco, and also known as the Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo) is a fictional character and the main Bond girl in the 1963 James Bond novel '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service'', and its 1969 film adaptation. ...
(
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series '' The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in '' On H ...
) on the beach from committing suicide by drowning, and later meets her again in a casino. Bond then receives information from Marc-Ange Draco, the head of the European crime syndicate ''
Unione Corse
The Unione Corse is a Corsican mafia criminal organization operating primarily out of Corsica and Marseille, France. Members of this organization, along with various other crime families, maintained the French Connection – a heroin trade monopol ...
'' and Tracy's father, about Blofeld's Swiss solicitor. Bond breaks into the solicitor's office and establishes Blofeld is corresponding with the London
College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...
. Posing as an emissary of the college, Bond meets Blofeld, who has established a clinical allergy-research institute atop
Piz Gloria
Piz Gloria is a revolving restaurant at the -high summit of the Schilthorn near Mürren in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland.
Overview
The cable car station and the restaurant were designed by Bernese architect Konrad Wolf. The Piz restaurant c ...
in the
Swiss Alps
The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss ...
. Bond soon establishes that Blofeld is
brainwashing
Brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwash ...
his patients to distribute bacteriological warfare agents throughout various parts of the world.
Bond escapes from the clinic after Blofeld identifies him as a British agent. Bond arranges a raid on the clinic using men from Draco's organisation. The raid is a success, although Blofeld escapes. Bond marries Tracy, but she is murdered shortly afterwards by Irma Bunt, Blofeld's partner.
''Diamonds Are Forever'' (1971)
![Sean Connery as James Bond (1971)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Sean_Connery_as_James_Bond_%281971%29.jpg)
Bond is tasked with investigating a major diamond smuggling ring which begins in Africa and runs through Holland and the UK to the United States. Disguised as professional smuggler and murderer Peter Franks, Bond travels to Amsterdam to meet contact
Tiffany Case
Tiffany Case is a fictional character in the 1956 James Bond novel '' Diamonds Are Forever'' and its 1971 film adaptation. A "Bond girl", she was portrayed by Jill St. John in the film. In the novel, the story of her name is that when she was ...
: he is given the diamonds and travels on to the US, where he is met by Felix Leiter. Bond moves through the chain, which leads to the Whyte House, a casino-hotel owned by the reclusive billionaire Willard Whyte.
Bond follows the diamonds to a pick-up by Bert Saxby, Whyte's head of security, and then onto a research laboratory owned by Whyte, where he finds that a satellite is being built by a laser refraction specialist, Professor Dr. Metz. Suspecting Whyte, Bond tries to confront him, but instead meets Blofeld, who captures the agent and explains to him that the satellite can blow up nuclear missiles. Blofeld admits that he intends to auction it to the highest bidder. Bond escapes and frees the captive Whyte and they establish that Blofeld is using an offshore oil rig as his base. Bond attacks the rig, stopping Blofeld's operation and dispersing his organisation.
''Live and Let Die'' (1973)
![Roger Moore 3 Allan Warren](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Roger_Moore_3_Allan_Warren.jpg)
James Bond is sent to investigate the murder of three British MI6 agents, all of whom have been killed within 24 hours. The victims were all separately investigating the operations of Dr. Kananga, the dictator of a small Caribbean island, San Monique. Bond discovers that Kananga also acts as Mr. Big, a ruthless and cunning American gangster.
Upon visiting San Monique, Bond determines that Kananga is producing two tons of heroin and is protecting the
poppy
A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, ''Papaver somniferum'', is the source of the narcotic drug opi ...
fields by exploiting locals' fear of voodoo and the
occult
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
. Through his alter ego, Mr. Big, Kananga plans to distribute the heroin free of charge at his Fillet of Soul restaurants, which will increase the number of addicts. Bond is captured by Kananga, but he escapes, killing Kananga and destroying the poppy crop.
''The Man with the Golden Gun'' (1974)
After receiving a golden bullet with James Bond's code "007" etched into its surface M relieves Bond of a mission locating a British scientist, Gibson, who has invented the "Solex agitator", a device to harness
solar power
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...
, thereby solving the
energy crisis
An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply n ...
. The bullet signifies Bond is a target of assassin
Francisco Scaramanga
Francisco Scaramanga is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists in the James Bond novel and film version of '' The Man with the Golden Gun''. Scaramanga is an assassin who kills with his signature weapon, a pistol made of solid gol ...
and Bond sets out unofficially to find him. From a spent golden bullet, Bond tracks Scaramanga to
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
, where he sees Scaramanga's mistress collecting golden bullets at a
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
. Bond follows her to Hong Kong, where he witnesses the murder of Gibson and the theft of the Solex agitator. Bond is subsequently assigned to retrieve the agitator and assassinate Scaramanga.
Bond meets with Hai Fat, a wealthy Thai entrepreneur suspected of arranging Gibson's murder, and is captured, but subsequently escapes. He tracks Scaramanga to an island in
Red Chinese
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...
waters, where the two men fight and Bond kills the assassin.
''The Spy Who Loved Me'' (1977)
Bond is tasked with investigating the disappearance of
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
and
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
ballistic missile submarine
A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. The United States Navy's hull classification symbols for ballistic missile submarines are SSB and SSBN – t ...
s and the subsequent offer to sell a submarine tracking system. Bond works alongside Major
Anya Amasova
Major Anya Amasova (a.k.a. Agent XXX) is a fictional character in the James Bond film '' The Spy Who Loved Me'', portrayed by Barbara Bach. Amasova is an agent of the KGB.
Biography
After the theft of a submarine, M recalls Bond from a mission ...
of the
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
. The pair track the plans across Egypt and identify the person responsible for the thefts as shipping tycoon, scientist and anarchist
Karl Stromberg Karl Sigmund Stromberg is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1977 James Bond film '' The Spy Who Loved Me''. Stromberg was portrayed by Curd Jürgens. The character Stromberg was created specifically for the film by writer Christo ...
.
Bond and Amasova follow a suspicious tanker owned by Stromberg and establish it is responsible for the missing submarines; the submarine in which they are travelling is also captured by Stromberg. Stromberg plans to destroy Moscow and New York, triggering nuclear war, and to then establish a new civilisation. Bond escapes, freeing the submariners captured from the other submarines, and follows Stromberg to his headquarters, where he shoots the tycoon and a torpedo destroys the base.
''Moonraker'' (1979)
A Drax Industries Moonraker space shuttle on loan is hijacked and Bond is ordered to investigate. Bond meets the owner of the company,
Hugo Drax
Sir Hugo Drax is a fictional character created by author Ian Fleming for the 1955 James Bond novel '' Moonraker''. For the later film and its novelization, Drax was greatly altered from the novel by screenwriter Christopher Wood. In the film, D ...
and one of Drax's scientists, Dr. Holly Goodhead. Bond follows the trail to Venice, where he establishes that Drax is manufacturing a
nerve gas
Nerve agents, sometimes also called nerve gases, are a class of organic chemicals that disrupt the mechanisms by which nerves transfer messages to organs. The disruption is caused by the blocking of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an enzyme that ...
deadly to humans, but harmless to animals. Bond again meets Goodhead and finds out that she is a CIA agent.
Bond travels to the Amazon looking for Drax's research facility, where he is captured. He and Goodhead pose as pilots on one of six space shuttles being sent by Drax to a
hidden space station. There Bond finds out that Drax plans to destroy all human life by launching fifty globes containing the toxin into the Earth's atmosphere. Bond and Goodhead disable the
radar jammer
Radar jamming and deception is a form of electronic countermeasures that intentionally sends out radio frequency signals to interfere with the operation of radar by saturating its receiver with noise or false information. Concepts that blanket the ...
hiding the station from Earth and the US sends a platoon of
Marines
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
in a military
space shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
. During the battle, Bond kills Drax and his station is destroyed.
''For Your Eyes Only'' (1981)
After a British spy boat sinks, a marine archaeologist, Sir Timothy Havelock, is tasked to retrieve its Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator (ATAC) communication system before the Russians do. After Havelock is murdered by Gonzales, a Cuban hit-man, Bond is ordered to find out who hired Gonzales. While investigating, Bond is captured, but Gonzales is subsequently killed by Havelock's daughter Melina, and she and Bond escape. Bond identifies one of those present with Gonzales as Emile Leopold Locque and so follows a lead to Italy and meets his contact, Luigi Ferrara, and a well-connected Greek businessman and intelligence informant, Aris Kristatos. Kristatos tells Bond that Locque is employed by Milos Columbo, Kristatos' former organised crime partner.
After Ferrara is murdered—and the evidence points to Columbo—Bond is captured by men working for Columbo. Columbo then explains that Locque was actually hired by Kristatos, who is working for the KGB to retrieve the ATAC. Bond and Melina recover the ATAC but are captured by Kristatos. They escape and follow Kristatos to Greece, where he is killed and the ATAC is destroyed by Bond.
''Octopussy'' (1983)
Bond investigates the murder of 009, killed in
East Berlin
East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
while dressed as a circus
clown
A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms.
History
The most ancient clowns have been found in ...
and carrying a fake
Fabergé egg
A Fabergé egg (russian: link=no, яйцо Фаберже́, translit=yaytso Faberzhe) is a jewelled egg created by the jewellery firm House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As many as 69 were created, of which 57 survive today. Virtual ...
. An identical egg appears at auction and Bond establishes the buyer, exiled Afghan prince Kamal Khan, is working with Orlov, a renegade Soviet general, who is seeking to expand Soviet borders into Europe. Bond meets
Octopussy
''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by John Glen and the screenplay was written by G ...
, a wealthy woman who leads the Octopus cult. Bond finds out that Orlov has been supplying Khan with priceless Soviet treasures, replacing them with replicas, while Khan has been smuggling the real versions into the West via Octopussy's circus troupe.
Bond infiltrates the circus and finds that Orlov replaced the Soviet treasures with a nuclear warhead primed to explode at a
US Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
base in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. The explosion would trigger Europe into seeking disarmament, in the belief that the bomb was an American one that was detonated by accident, leaving the West's borders open to Soviet invasion. Bond deactivates the warhead and then he returns to India, joining an assault on Khan's palace.
''A View to a Kill'' (1985)
Bond investigates millionaire industrialist Max Zorin, who is trying to corner the world market in
microchips
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Transistor count, Large ...
. He establishes that Zorin was previously trained and financed by the KGB, but has now gone rogue. Zorin unveils to a group of investors his plan to destroy
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
, which will give him a monopoly in the manufacturing of microchips.
Bond uncovers Zorin's plan is to detonate explosives beneath the lakes along the
Hayward and
San Andreas faults, which will cause them to flood. A larger bomb in a mine will destroy a "geological lock" that prevents the two faults from moving at the same time. Bond destroys the bomb, and subsequently kills Zorin.
''The Living Daylights'' (1987)
![Timothy Dalton 1987](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Timothy_Dalton_1987.jpg)
Bond aids the defection of KGB officer General Georgi Koskov, by wounding a female KGB sniper, Kara Milovy, a cellist. During his debriefing Koskov alleges that the KGB's old policy of ''Smiert Spionam'', meaning ''Death to Spies'', has been revived by General Leonid Pushkin, its new head. Koskov is subsequently abducted from the safe-house and Bond is ordered to kill Pushkin.
Bond tracks down Milovy and establishes she is Koskov's girlfriend and that the defection was staged. He subsequently finds out that Koskov is a friend of the arms dealer Brad Whitaker. After meeting Pushkin and faking his assassination, Bond investigates a scheme by Koskov and Whitaker to embezzle KGB funds and use them to purchase diamonds, which they then use to purchase drugs. After Koskov purchases the drugs, Bond destroys them. Koskov is subsequently arrested by Pushkin, while Bond kills Whitaker.
''Licence to Kill'' (1989)
Bond aids Felix Leiter in the capture of drugs lord Franz Sanchez; Sanchez escapes and maims Leiter, killing his wife. Bond swears revenge, but is ordered to return to duty by M. Bond refuses, and M revokes his
licence to kill
''Licence to Kill'' is a 1989 spy film, the sixteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as the MI6 agent James Bond. It sees Bond suspended from MI6 as he pursues t ...
, causing Bond to become a rogue agent; although officially stripped of his status, he is unofficially given help by
Q.
Bond journeys to Sanchez's home in the Republic of Isthmus and is taken-on to Sanchez's staff, where he manages to raise Sanchez's suspicions against a number of his employees. When Bond is taken to Sanchez's main base and drugs refinery, he is recognised by one of Sanchez's men and captured. He escapes, destroying the refinery in the process, and pursues Sanchez, killing him.
''GoldenEye'' (1995)
In 1986 Bond and
Alec Trevelyan
Alec Trevelyan (006) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film ''GoldenEye'', the first film to feature actor Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Trevelyan is portrayed by actor Sean Bean. The likeness of Bean as Alec Tre ...
—agent 006—infiltrate an illicit
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
chemical weapons facility and plant explosive charges. Trevelyan is shot, but Bond escapes from the facility as it explodes. Nine years later, Bond witnesses the theft by criminal organisation Janus of a prototype
Eurocopter Tiger
The Eurocopter Tiger is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter which first entered service in 2003. It is manufactured by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter), which arose from the merger of Aérospatiale's and DASA's respective he ...
helicopter that can withstand an
electromagnetic pulse
An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also a transient electromagnetic disturbance (TED), is a brief burst of electromagnetic energy. Depending upon the source, the origin of an EMP can be natural or artificial, and can occur as an electromagnetic fie ...
. Janus uses the helicopter to steal the control disk for the dual GoldenEye satellite weapons, using the GoldenEye to destroy the complex with an electromagnetic pulse; there are two survivors of the attack, the programmers Natalya Simonova and Boris Grishenko.
Bond investigates the attack and travels to Russia where he locates Simonova and learns that Trevelyan, who had faked his own death, was the head of Janus. Simonova tracks computer traffic to Cuba and she and Bond travel there and locate Trevelyan, who reveals his plan to steal money from the
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...
before erasing all of its financial records with the GoldenEye, concealing the theft and destroying Britain's economy. Bond and Simonova destroy the satellite facility, killing Trevelyan and Grishenko in the process.
''Tomorrow Never Dies'' (1997)
Bond investigates the sinking of a British warship in Chinese waters, the theft of one of the ship's
cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhe ...
s, and the shooting down of a Chinese fighter plane. He uncovers a link to media mogul
Elliot Carver
''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997 spy film, the eighteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay by ...
which suggests that Carver had purchased a
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
encoder on the black market.
Bond encounters Chinese agent
Wai Lin
Wai Lin () is a fictional character in the 1997 ''James Bond'' film ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', portrayed by Michelle Yeoh. The character, the first ethnic Chinese Bond girl, has received critical acclaim, being widely regarded as one of the best Bon ...
, who is also investigating the matter, and the two agree to work together. They discover that Carver had used the GPS encoder to push the British ship off course and into Chinese waters to incite a war for ratings. With the British fleet on their way to China, Bond and Wai Lin find Carver's stealth ship, board it and prevent the firing of a British cruise missile at Beijing. They blow a hole in the ship, exposing it to radar, leading to its sinking and thus averting war between Britain and China.
''The World Is Not Enough'' (1999)
Bond recovers money for Sir Robert King, a British oil tycoon and friend of M, but the money is booby-trapped and kills King shortly afterwards. Bond traces the money to Renard, a KGB agent-turned-terrorist, who had previously kidnapped King's daughter
Elektra. MI6 believes that Renard is targeting Elektra King a second time and Bond is assigned to protect her; the pair are subsequently attacked.
Bond visits Valentin Zukovsky and is informed that Elektra's head of security, Davidov, is in league with Renard: Bond kills Davidov and follows the trail to a Russian
ICBM
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...
base in Kazakhstan. Posing as a Russian nuclear scientist, Bond meets American
nuclear physicist
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
Christmas Jones. The two witness Renard stealing the
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
locator card and a half quantity of weapons-grade
plutonium
Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...
from a bomb and set off an explosion, from which Bond and Jones escape. Elektra kidnaps M after she thinks Bond had been killed and Bond establishes that Elektra intends to create a nuclear explosion in a submarine in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
to increase the value of her own oil pipeline. Bond frees M, kills Elektra and then disarms the bomb on the submarine, where he kills Renard.
''Die Another Day'' (2002)
![PierceBrosnanCannesPhoto2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/PierceBrosnanCannesPhoto2.jpg)
Bond investigates
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
n Colonel Tan-Sun Moon, who is illegally trading African
conflict diamonds
''Blood Diamond'' is a 2006 American political war action thriller film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mine ...
for weapons. Moon is apparently killed and Bond is captured and tortured for 14 months, after which he is exchanged for Zao, Moon's assistant. Despite being suspended on his return, he decides to complete his mission and tracks down Zao to a gene therapy clinic, where patients can have their appearances altered through DNA restructuring. Zao escapes, but the trail leads to British billionaire Gustav Graves.
Graves unveils a mirror satellite, "Icarus", which is able to focus
solar energy
Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essenti ...
on a small area and provide year-round sunshine for crop development. Bond discovers that Moon has also undergone the gene therapy and has assumed the identity of Graves. Bond then exposes Moon's plan: to use the Icarus as a
sun gun
The sun gun or heliobeam is a theoretical orbital weapon, which makes use of a concave mirror mounted on a satellite, to concentrate sunlight onto a small area at the Earth's surface, destroying targets or killing through heat.
History
In 1929, ...
to cut a path through the
Korean Demilitarized Zone
The Korean Demilitarized Zone (Korean: ; Hanbando Bimujang Jidae) is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in ha ...
with concentrated sunlight, allowing North Korean troops to invade
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
and
reunite the countries through force. Bond disables the Icarus controls, kills Moon and stops the invasion.
''Casino Royale'' (2006)
This serves as a
reboot
In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...
of the series, with Bond gaining his
00 status in the
pre-credit
In film production, the pre-credit is the section of the film which is shown before the opening or closing credits are shown.
Many films will by common convention have a short scene before the credits to introduce characters who may, or may not, ...
s sequence. Bond is instructed to investigate the funding of terrorism. He tracks down and kills a bomb-maker and takes his mobile phone. Searching through the phone, Bond discovers a text message which he traces to Alex Dimitrios, and then on to financer
Le Chiffre
Le Chiffre (, "The Cypher" or "The Digit") is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Ian Fleming's 1953 novel, ''Casino Royale (novel), Casino Royale''. On screen Le Chiffre has been portrayed by Peter Lorre in the Casino Royale (195 ...
. Le Chiffre's investments involve
short-selling
In finance, being short in an asset means investing in such a way that the investor will profit if the value of the asset falls. This is the opposite of a more conventional "long" position, where the investor will profit if the value of the ...
stock in successful companies and then engineering terrorist attacks to sink their share prices. Bond foils Le Chiffre's plan to destroy the prototype ''Skyfleet'' airliner, which forces Le Chiffre to set up a high-stakes poker tournament at the Casino Royale to recoup his fortune. Bond is instructed to beat Le Chiffre and is aided by a member of
HM Treasury
His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...
,
Vesper Lynd
Vesper Lynd is a fictional character featured in Ian Fleming's 1953 James Bond novel '' Casino Royale''. She was portrayed by Ursula Andress in the 1967 James Bond parody, which is only slightly based on the novel, and by Eva Green in the 20 ...
.
Bond beats Le Chiffre at the poker table, but Lynd is kidnapped by Le Chiffre after the game, as is Bond, who is captured while pursuing them; Lynd is ransomed for the money and Bond is tortured. Le Chiffre is subsequently killed by Mr. White, a liaison between Le Chiffre and a number of his clients. Bond learns that his poker winnings were never repaid to the Treasury, which Lynd was supposed to have done, and establishes that she was a double agent. Bond pursues her and is attacked by members of White's organisation: he survives, but White takes the money and Lynd sacrifices herself in exchange for Bond's life, as he later finds out from M. Bond subsequently finds and captures White.
''Quantum of Solace'' (2008)
Along with M, Bond interrogates Mr. White regarding his organisation,
Quantum
In physics, a quantum (plural quanta) is the minimum amount of any physical entity (physical property) involved in an interaction. The fundamental notion that a physical property can be "quantized" is referred to as "the hypothesis of quantizati ...
. M's bodyguard, Mitchell, a
double agent
In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...
, attacks M, enabling White to escape. Bond traces the organisation to Haiti and a connection to environmentalist Dominic Greene.
Bond uncovers a plot between Greene and an exiled Bolivian General, Medrano, to put Medrano in power in Bolivia while Quantum are given a monopoly to run the water supply to the country. Bond ascertains that Quantum are damming Bolivia's supply of fresh water to force the price up. Bond attacks the hotel where Greene and Medrano are finalising their plans and leaves Greene stranded in the desert with only a tin of engine oil to drink. Bond then finds Vesper Lynd's former lover and member of Quantum, Yusef Kabira.
''Skyfall'' (2012)
After an operation in Istanbul ends in disaster, Bond is missing and presumed to be dead. In the aftermath, questions are raised over M's ability to run the Secret Service, and she becomes the subject of a government review over her handling of the situation. The Service itself is attacked, prompting Bond's return to London. His presence assists MI6's investigation in uncovering a lead, and Bond is sent to Shanghai and Macau in pursuit of a
mercenary
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
named Patrice. There, he establishes a connection to Raoul Silva, a former MI6 agent who was captured and tortured by Chinese agents. Blaming M for his imprisonment, Silva sets in motion a plan to ruin her reputation before murdering her. Bond saves M and attempts to lure Silva into a trap, and while he is successful in repelling Silva's assault, M is mortally wounded. Bond returns to active duty under the command of the new M, Gareth Mallory.
''Spectre'' (2015)
![Daniel Craig - Film Premiere](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Daniel_Craig_-_Film_Premiere_%22Spectre%22_007_-_on_the_Red_Carpet_in_Berlin_%2822387409720%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Following her death in ''Skyfall'', M sends Bond a posthumous message that leads him to thwart a terrorist attack in Mexico City. Gareth Mallory takes Bond off active duty for his illegal operation, but Bond continues his investigation off the books. The trail leads him first to Rome, where he learns of a sinister terrorist organisation known as
Spectre
Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to:
Religion and spirituality
* Vision (spirituality)
* Apparitional experience
* Ghost
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...
, and later to Austria. There he finds former adversary Mr. White, who has become terminally ill after being poisoned by Spectre. White asks Bond to protect his daughter
Madeleine Swann
Madeleine Swann is a character in the James Bond films ''Spectre'' (2015) and ''No Time to Die'' (2021), played by actress Léa Seydoux. She is the only film character to have a child with Bond.
Character biography
Madeline Swann is the daughter ...
from Spectre and its leader, Franz Oberhauser, before committing suicide.
Meanwhile, Mallory comes under pressure to have British intelligence join a global intelligence-sharing network code-named "Nine Eyes". With Swann's help, Bond tracks Spectre to Morocco and learns that Spectre is behind the terror attacks, creating a need for Nine Eyes. Spectre controls Nine Eyes, giving them access to the intelligence-sharing network. Oberhauser captures and tortures Bond, revealing that his father was Bond's guardian after the deaths of Bond's parents. Jealous of the attention and care that his father gave to the young James Bond, Oberhauser faked his own death while at the same time murdering his own father. Now known as
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character and villain from the James Bond series of novels and films, created by Ian Fleming. A criminal mastermind with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of the British Secret Service agen ...
, he claims responsibility for everything Bond has suffered in his career. Bond and Swann escape and return to London where Bond joins forces with Mallory and Q to shut down Nine Eyes and apprehend Blofeld.
''No Time to Die'' (2021)
Five years after Blofeld's imprisonment, Bond is retired and living in Jamaica when Felix Leiter and his colleague Logan Ash enlist his help in searching for the missing MI6 scientist, Valdo Obruchev. Bond eventually accepts Leiter's request and follows his leads about the scientist's whereabouts to Cuba, where he infiltrates a Spectre gathering. Obruchev realizes that it is a trap set by Blofeld to kill Bond with the virus, but he is working for someone else and has re-engineered the virus to attack only the members of Spectre. When Bond brings Obruchev to Leiter, Ash betrays them and helps Obruchev escape, killing Leiter. Bond returns to MI6 and confronts M regarding the virus, known as "Heracles," a nanoscale weapon that can be programmed to attack specific people based on their genetic marker. He then visits Blofeld in prison and is reacquainted with
Madeleine Swann
Madeleine Swann is a character in the James Bond films ''Spectre'' (2015) and ''No Time to Die'' (2021), played by actress Léa Seydoux. She is the only film character to have a child with Bond.
Character biography
Madeline Swann is the daughter ...
. Swann decides to leave before Blofeld arrives, while Bond has an altercation with Blofeld, who dies soon after. It is revealed that when he touched Swann, Bond was infected with Heracles nanobots that were programmed to kill Blofeld.
Bond traces Swann back to her childhood home where she is living with her five-year-old daughter, Mathilde. Swann denies the girl is Bond's daughter. She tells Bond about Lyutsifer Safin, the man who controls Heracles. After Bond avenges Leiter's death by killing Ash, Safin captures Swann and Mathilde and brings them to his island, which is the Heracles factory. Bond works with MI6 to rescue Swann and Mathilde and destroy Safin's factory with a missile strike launched from a nearby Royal Navy destroyer. Before his death, Safin shoots Bond and infects him with nanobots that have been programmed to attack Swann and Mathilde. Because of this, Bond decides not to leave the island and after a tearful goodbye to Swann, who confirms that Mathilde is in fact his daughter, is killed when the missiles obliterate the factory.
Non-Eon films
The two Bond films from other production companies have a combined gross of over $200 million (or approximately $871 million in 2020 dollars)
.0
! .0
! .0
!
''Casino Royale'' (1967)
![David niven in casino royal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/David_niven_in_casino_royal.jpg)
Bond is brought out of retirement to deal with SMERSH and is promoted to the head of MI6 on the death of M. He recruits
baccarat
Baccarat or baccara (; ) is a card game played at casinos. It is a comparing card game played between two hands, the "player" and the "banker". Each baccarat coup (round of play) has three possible outcomes: "player" (player has the higher score ...
player Evelyn Tremble to beat SMERSH agent Le Chiffre. Having embezzled SMERSH's money, Le Chiffre is desperate for money to cover up his theft. Tremble stops Le Chiffre's cheating and beats him in a game of baccarat. Tremble is captured, tortured and killed. Bond establishes that the casino is located atop a giant underground headquarters run by the evil Dr. Noah; he and Moneypenny travel there to investigate. Dr. Noah turns out to be Sir James's nephew Jimmy Bond, who plans to use biological warfare to make all women beautiful and kill all tall men, leaving him as the "big man" who gets all the girls. The casino is then overrun by secret agents and a battle ensues, but the building explodes, killing all inside.
''Never Say Never Again'' (1983)
Bond investigates the hijacking of two
cruise missiles
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead ...
with live nuclear warheads which had been taken by SPECTRE. He meets Domino Petachi, the pilot's sister, and her lover, Maximillian Largo, SPECTRE's Number One, who reports directly to Blofeld. Following them to France, Bond informs Domino of her brother's death and subsequently finds his MI6 colleague killed by Fatima Blush, another SPECTRE agent: Bond kills her. Bond and Felix Leiter then attempt to board Largo's motor yacht, the ''Disco Volante'' (''Flying Saucer''), in search of the missing nuclear warheads. Bond becomes trapped and is taken, with Domino, to Palmyra, Largo's base of operations in North Africa, but Bond subsequently escapes with Domino. The two agents ambush Largo while he is placing one of the bombs.
Critical and public reception
Awards
In their sixty-year history, the Bond films have been nominated for and won many awards, including
British Academy Film Awards
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
,
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
s and
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
s. In 1982, series originator Albert R. Broccoli also received the
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award is awarded periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Governors Awards ceremonies to "creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion pictur ...
.
See also
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Bond girl
A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest or female companion of James Bond in a novel, film or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as Pussy Galore, Plenty O'Toole, Xenia Onatopp, o ...
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"Casino Royale" (''Climax!''), the first live-action adaptation of an Ian Fleming novel
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James Bond music
The James Bond film series from Eon Productions has featured numerous musical compositions since its inception 1962, many of which are now considered classic pieces of British film music. The best known of these pieces is the "James Bond Theme" b ...
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Outline of James Bond
The following Outline (list), outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to James Bond:
James Bond (literary character), James Bond is a fictional character created in 1953 by the journalist and writer Ian Fleming, who featured him i ...
References and sources
References
Sources
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James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...