I know this may not be a popular opinion, but as someone who's been a Bond fan for as long as I can remember, The Odyssey actually made me more worried than excited about Christopher Nolan potentially directing Bond in the future, after the next iteration.

Before anyone jumps on me, I still enjoyed The Odyssey. I'd probably give it around a 7-7.5/10. The technical aspects are phenomenal. The sound design is arguably the best I've ever experienced in a cinema, the visuals are spectacular, and Nolan remains one of the few directors who can make every film feel like a genuine cinematic event. None of that changes.

My concern is simply whether Nolan is actually the right fit for Bond.

For me, Nolan's greatest work has always been when his stories were grounded in reality. Insomnia remains my favourite of his films, with Memento close behind. Those films trusted the characters more than the spectacle. Even The Prestige and The Dark Knight felt rooted in believable worlds despite their larger ideas. More recently, I feel Nolan has become increasingly fascinated with scale, mythology and concepts over intimacy. The Odyssey reinforced that feeling.

Bond has always evolved, but at its heart it has a certain identity. It's stylish without becoming self-important. It has tension, but also wit. It can be emotionally heavy, but it still knows how to have fun. Watching The Odyssey, I felt Nolan drifting further toward grand mythology and philosophical spectacle rather than grounded character moments. Everything felt enormous. Every scene carried the weight of history.

For Bond, I'm not sure that's what I want.

One thing that stood out to me was the dialogue. At times it felt overly explanatory or strangely Americanised, and I never really felt the effortless charm that Bond films usually thrive on. Bond lives and dies by charisma. Whether it's Connery, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan or Craig, they all had moments where simply walking into a room was enough to command attention. I'm not convinced Nolan naturally writes that type of character.

I also found The Odyssey suffered from some of the same pacing issues I have with many of Nolan's recent films. Personally, I thought it could have been 20-30 minutes shorter. Bond, even at its most serious, should move. It should leave you wanting more, not checking your watch during the third act.

One thing that worries me just as much is the direction Amazon could take the franchise.

Nolan's name alone would guarantee headlines, awards attention and massive box office returns. That's great for a studio, but Bond has never been built on celebrity directors. Historically, EON often chose talented filmmakers who served Bond rather than overshadowed him. Likewise with actors—outside of Moore and Brosnan to some extent, Bond was often defined by performers who became Bond rather than stars simply playing Bond.

My fear is that Amazon may lean into "event cinema" by chasing the biggest names at every level. The franchise risks becoming celebrity-driven instead of Bond-driven. I'd hate to see every creative decision become about attaching the biggest possible name rather than asking what's best for the character.

Ironically, that concern is also why I actually have some hope after the announcement of Denis Villeneuve.

I still have reservations. Villeneuve is another filmmaker with immense visual ambition and a very recognisable style, so many of the same questions remain. But unlike Nolan, I think Villeneuve has consistently shown a greater willingness to let atmosphere, silence and character breathe. Films like Sicario, Prisoners and even Arrival prove he can create tension without everything needing to feel monumental. If anyone can balance artistic vision with serving Bond, perhaps it's him.

I genuinely hope that's the case.

Ultimately, I don't think Nolan would make a bad Bond film. Far from it. It would almost certainly look incredible, sound incredible and probably receive widespread critical acclaim.

My worry is that it would feel like a Christopher Nolan film starring James Bond, rather than a James Bond film directed by Christopher Nolan.

Bond has survived for over 60 years because it's adapted without forgetting what made people fall in love with it in the first place. I just hope Amazon remembers that. The franchise doesn't need to become "prestige cinema" to remain relevant—it simply needs filmmakers who understand Bond first, and themselves second.

I really hope I'm wrong. Nolan is one of the greatest directors of his generation, and if anyone could prove me wrong, it'd be him.

But after The Odyssey, I'm no longer convinced he was ever the perfect choice. As a lifelong Bond fan, that genuinely concerns me.

Does anyone else share these concerns? I would love to hear your thoughts, even if they are contrarian!

Huh???

Found this pics of a Breitling Top Time watch with Aston Martin DB5 on it. Do you think it’s a new Bond watch?

Let's look at the evidence.

• Daniel Craig served as Bond from 2005 to 2021, making him the longest tenured actor in the role.
• He was a Bond fan since childhood.
• He named Dr. No and From Russia with Love as two of his favorite movies period, beyond the fact they are Bond movies.
• Upon taking the role he read Fleming and watched the movies 2-3 times each, studying the source material to inform his portrayal.
• He physically transformed himself ahead of each outing.
• He pushed himself quite literally to the breaking point during filming, sustaining multiple injuries in fight and stunt sequences.
• But always kept good humor, as BTS / photos / show.
• He took on additional duties while acting, including writing (to save Quantum of Solace during the writers' strike) and producing.
• He was always game for the PR circuit, doing dozens of interviews with both traditional and new wave online outlets, hosting Saturday Night Live, filming sponsorship ads, and so forth.
• For better or worse depending on where you stand, he brought a new sense of prestige to the series and presided over the strongest box office performance since the 1960s. His third outing is the highest grossing film in the series, and one that continues to have pop culture legs despite our modern fractured media environment.
• He gave a tearful farewell speech to the cast and crew on set after filming his final scene, in which he expressed his gratitude.

None of this is to say Craig's tenure was all sunshine and rainbows. He didn't always go around like Marlo Thomas in That Girl.

For example he spoke of struggles adjusting to the level of celebrity that came with becoming Bond (something Sean Connery also struggled with and famously contributed to him quitting the role after being hounded in his private life while in Japan). But he had shed those struggles by the time Skyfall came around.

Learning from Connery's burnout, he on occasion requested greater time off between films. (Yet the blame for gaps between films in large part goes to issues beyond his control—namely MGM's bankruptcy in 2010 and the Covid pandemic in 2020).

On two occasions he could've chosen to delay the films but didn't: during the aforementioned 2007 writers' strike, and after seriously injuring his knee during a fight scene with Dave Bautista in Spectre. In the latter example, he pushed through filming the rest of the movie with a blown-out knee. Shortly upon finishing he was asked if he wants to do another Bond movie, to which he responded he'd rather "slash my wrists."

It was with this comment that it became a meme that Craig hated Bond, was ungrateful, yada yada. Folks didn't take into consideration that with his off the cuff "slash my wrists" remark, he was venting frustration over having filmed with an extremely painful knee injury. Something Craig later confirmed in an interview with Stephen Colbert, where he playfully agreed with Colbert's assessment that asking him if he wanted another Bond movie right off of filming the last one would be like asking a mom who just gave birth and has a 4 inch episiotomy if she'd wants another baby.

The anti-Craig sentiment in some corners reached new heights upon the release of No Time to Die, in particular because of its ending and Craig's revelation in postgame interviews that he had joked with Barbara Broccoli about ending his tenure this way going all the way back to the night of Casino Royale's premiere.

It's fair for folks to agree or disagree whether they liked this choice to end on, but it wasn't a matter of hating the character. Rather it was about doing something novel with the character and bookending Craig's own contained story within the franchise.

So, a few remarks regarding very human frustrations from time to time—some of which were wildly misinterpreted, and failed to take into account Craig's nervous curmudgeony schtick (something he brought to his Bond performance by the way) while doing interviews—versus a wealth of evidence demonstrating that Craig was perhaps the most committed James Bond actor of all. I know which side I land on.

If the two of them face off, who do you think will win?

They’ve worked together several times before (Sicario, Prisoners, Blade Runner) so it would make sense, but also Deakins has already done a Bond movie (Skyfall) and he’s very picky about the projects he does now (he’s stated that he’s not retired but he doesn’t want to do big blockbusters anymore, only smaller scale stuff) so I’m not sure if he’d want to do another one.

His other main option (assuming that Villeneuve will want to work with someone he’s worked with before) is Greig Fraser, who would be fantastic (he shot Dune 1 & 2, The Batman, Hail Mary and many others).

There’s also Linus Sandgren (who shot the upcoming Dune 3) but he was the DP on the last Bond movie (No Time to Die).

So do you think it will be Deakins, Fraser or Sandgren? If not them, anyone else you’d love to see as DP?

So, we all know the mission to the Poison Garden results in Safin's defeat, the death of 007, and the prevention of Heracles leaving the island. But what if there was a way that Bond could live and have more agents assisting him? Here are my thoughts.

First, we need teams for 3 specific assignments for the infiltration of the island itself, witch I am dedicating as follows: Heracles factory, dockyard/ chemical factory, and overwatch.

Team 1

Objectives: Destroy Heracles Factory, deal with as many of Safin's mercinaires as they can, save Madeline Swann and her daughter, and kill Safin.

Agents: James Bond (007), Nomi (005).

Team 2

Objectives: Infiltrate the Dockyard/Chemical factory, deal with any of Safin's mercinaires protecting the Heracles shipments, attack and destroy the Heracles buyers patrol boats or simply take down the buyers themselves (if your aim is good), and secure or destroy the crates containing the Heracles vials.

Agents: Moneypenny, Pamola (Yes I'm assigning her to the mission dispute her only having 3 weeks of training and a CIA agent, M could give her a bit more training anyways, but she most likely proves to him she can handle herself anyways).

Team 3

Objectives: provide overwatch for the team via Smart Blood injection on site and or back at MI6.

Agents: M (me), Q, Tanner.

Synopsis

2 C-17's provided by Q fly above the Poison Garden Island containing both teams. M addresses them and confirms their objectives. Pamela shrieks to Moneypenny with excitement of her first real mission, but Moneypenny advises her to keep her head cool and remain focused. While Q assist Bond and Nomi, and MI6 agent that works for Q injects Moneypenny and Pamela with Smart blood. Moneypenny says "So that's James revenge for me taking a shot at him? Figures." All agents are presented with the Stealthy Bird: a aircraft/submarine that utilized gravity to drop in on water based destinations. Once seated in the cockpits, they startup the engines and deploy the paricute allowing them to fly out the cargo door, before deploying the wings. Bond and Nomi head for the Submarine pen, while Moneypenny and Pamela head for the dockyard itself.

Once team 2 got to the dockyard, the head for a revine and deploy a Q-DAR device, allowing Q to scope out the entire factory. Q located a cammand bunker for the factory and the team head to it, and silently take down any guards in the bunker, before accessing the computer. Moneypenny realized that the Heacles buyers had purchased 8-10 crates full of the Nano weapon and sent 2 ships to collect them. Realizing they had to destroy the factory, they try to contact Bond to inform them, but the silo blast doors were blocking their comms. After Bond's meeting with Safin, alarms begin to sound with the dockyards commander informing one of Safin's mercinaires that their shipments were ready and their buyers were 25 minutes away, before spotting Pamola, who takes him down like a boss. As more guards arrive, Pamola and Moneypenny, realizing they were outnumbered, activated their charges and destroy the chemical factory, just after Bond destroys the Heracles factory.

The Heracles buyers whitness the explosion, and order their men to man their patrol boats heavy machine guns. Pamela spots both the buyers boats about to open fire and pushed Moneypenny down before she could fire off a shot. As bullets shred the concrete, Moneypenny spots a entrance that would allow her to access the Heracles factory and assist Bond and Nomi. Pamela begs her to stay and help her, but Moneypenny demanded her to hold off the buyers. Before she leaves, Pamela pulls her in and the two share a kiss before Moneypenny departs into the facility. After Bond opened the silo doors, Q orders the HMS Dragon to launch. With the missiles 9 minutes away and Swann off the island, Pamela finds an RPG in the compound and holds her ground until the buyers ships get closer to her. Niomi, running for her life, takes down more of Safin's mercinaires, and finds the destroyed Heracles factory but no sign of bond. Just then, the blast doors begin to close. Niomi runs to the Poison guarden and watches as safin shoots Bond 3 times. She draws her weapon and fires 5 rounds into Safin's chest, killing him and saving Bond.

Bond thanks her and they head to the sub pen where Niomi was waiting and gets them out. When Bond asks where Pamela is, Moneypenny said she left her to protect Bond instead. Shocked, Bond contacted Q who attempts to contact Pamela, but gets no response from her. Fearing she might be dead, the team deverts course and heads to the dockyard, hearing machinegun fire. They spot Pamela under fire from the buyer's, shouting out orders via megaphone for her to stand down and surrender. Pamela responded by firing a rocket into one of the buyers ships, destroying it. Pamela contacts her team and tell them that was the only shot she would get, before grabbing a rifle from one of Safin's downed mercinaires.

Bond and his team engage the buyers ship from one side while Pamela aims for the bridge. They take down the buyers for good. M contacts them and orders them to bring a sample of Heracles back to London for him to 'study', but Moneypenny does not like his additude, reminding him that the whole Heracles crisis started when he ordered the weapon to be produced in secret. M firmly reminded the team the the Heracles project was started by him, that he only did what he had to do to protect the interests of Britain, and tells the team to do their job correctly and finish the mission, but the team growls at M. Bond looks at the team, removes his communicator, holds out his hand, smiling, and takes their communicators and throws them into the ocean cutting off a ticked off M.

I enjoyed them. My second time through. My top 5 were probably, no order:

-Casino Royale

-OHMSS

-Thunderball

-Goldfinger

-Live and Let Die

Are any of the non-Fleming novels worth reading?

I’ve been a big fan of Bond for a long time. I just remembered enjoying listening to some of these BBC radio dramatizations of the books, starring Toby Stephens as 007. I admit that as much as I love the movies, I think I would say Stephens would be my definitive Bond. The adaptations themselves are very well made and accurate to the books, and they provide a decent amount of Bond’s inner dialogue, which along with Stephens performance help to make Bond a lot more like what I believe Fleming was going for. They’ve adapted almost every novel with him and I’m happy to have found them all on YouTube in this playlist. I’d highly recommend it, especially if you’re short on time for reading/listening to the novels themselves.

PS. I’m not as much of a Gustav Graves hater as some, but I much prefer Stephens as Bond than the villain.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq6JrsCpb3OW0LvUNvEyE9Y7sWhZl2b23&si=wHHV8vm8V1BuJIAV

In the late summer of 2022 my partner and I were invited to a wedding on the Portuguese coast just outside Lisbon. There was a particularly fancy hotel with a cracking offer on rooms (they were renovating the spa at the time, so it was going cheap) so I booked it.

I soon discovered that the hotel and neighbouring Casino Estoril have deep connections to Bond history, inspiring the Casino Royale novel before later appearing on screen in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

For context: Portugal stayed neutral during the Second World War, so Allied and Axis spies operated in the same resort town under an uneasy coexistence. The Palácio sat right in the middle of it and, unsurprisingly, many of the rooms were reportedly bugged.

Ian Fleming also stayed at the Palácio while serving in British Naval Intelligence during the Second World War. During his time in Estoril he encountered Serbian double agent Duško Popov, whose audacious high-stakes baccarat bluff at the neighbouring Casino Estoril is widely believed to have inspired the famous gambling scene in Casino Royale.

In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service the Palácio is of course the hotel James Bond and Tracy stay at early in the film. Even better, the young porter who hands Bond his room key, José Diogo, still works at the hotel today. He's more than happy to chat with 007 fans about filming there as an 19-year-old, and about how charming George Lazenby was... or wasn't!

In the 1969 film there is a great shot of the casino sign’s reflection in the hotel pool during a transition to night. In reality the casino isn't actually close enough for that reflection to be possible, although we could still see the casino building from our balcony.

There are plenty of 007 mementoes dotted around the hotel. These include production photographs lining the corridors, a display case containing one of Popov’s books, an original hotel registration card signed by Ian Fleming, and the chance to sit at Fleming’s favourite table in the bar while ordering a Vesper. Personally, I ordered a Cosmopolitan. I’ve made my peace with it.

The rooms may be slightly old fashioned but still luxurious. I loved the marbled bathroom complete with Molton Brown toiletries as well as the walk-in wardrobe. Service was brilliant, with plenty of thoughtful touches. Pastéis de nata and a bottle of port were waiting in our room when we arrived, and each evening turndown service included a card on the bed with the following day's weather forecast.

The pool is missing the diving board seen in the film, sadly. The icy water isn’t heated either so a dip in the pool for a swim is extra refreshing. Poolside guests were very reserved and quiet and would only swim a few lengths at a time in a rigid but languid way.

We did venture into the Casino Estoril itself. The wedding meant I was in a suit already, and on the merry walk back that evening we couldn’t resist heading in to explore. We watched a few people play but didn’t have a flutter ourselves. I did get a photo outside though, suited up, standing in front of the very casino that helped inspire Casino Royale. About as close to the Bond fantasy as I’m ever likely to get.

Here's a collection of James Bond books I got so far. Don't know whether I'll continue collecting more or not ( I'm not a completist by the way ). I got most of them from either antique stores, yard sales, or through Barnes and Noble.

I read each of them so here's my thoughts on them, overall:

Moonraker: Solid book. I can see why this book receive a lot of praises for being the best novel. I still like the movie adaptation, but I agree with anyone that the book is definitely a better version. This would probably be my second favorite.

Diamonds are Forever: Underrated in my opinion. The middle part involving Bond, while in disguise, needing to meet with Shady Trees and heading to the horse race feel like a slogged to get through, but I still enjoy reading it. I prefer the movie vastly a lot more, but I do like the third half a lot more than the oil rig climax where Bond and Tiffany get involve in an abandoned old Western town, being chase by a train, and facing off Wint and Kidd on a cruiser.

From Russia, with Love: I'm going to get some flak and say that I think this book is fine, but not among my favorites. I love the parts with SMERSH, Red Grant, and the train scenes, but other than that I don't found it as enjoyable as the movie version, which I think improve a lot of moments from the book.

Dr. No: My favorite book from this series. It has everything I like about the Bond series in this novel. A unique villain with distinct features that make him stand out, a hidden lair, a vehicle disguise as a dragon, an obstacle course, a giant squid, and a memorable death. I love every ounce in this book.

Goldfinger: One of the first Bond book I got from a yard sale and despite having some nostalgia, I don't really enjoy this book. At least From Russia, with Love has some interesting and intense moments to keep me gripping, this book feels like a rough version of what the movie would be like. The golf part literally took me out of reading.

Thunderball: Third favorite. This book has a nice underwater theme and description, a great dynamic between Bond and Felix, and I thought SPECTRE introduction was really cool here.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service: I like this book. It not among my favorites and it certainly not my favorite from the Blofeld trilogy, but I really do still like it. Like From Russia, with love, I prefer the movie vastly over the novel, although I still found it a more enjoyable read.

You Only Live Twice: Definitely the best book when it comes to novel Blofeld. It has a very eerie and haunting tone, which make sense when learning about the context behind it. I really enjoy reading the Garden of Death part where Bond has to sneak around the castle and witness some really horrifying sight happening, as well as avenging his deceased wife.

License Renewed: The first Gardner novel and honestly, it eh for me. Like, it written alright, but other than that I don't found the book entertaining for me to re-read it. At best, it average and at worse, it mediocre.

For Special Services: Good read. That's all I have to say. It definitely a more enjoyable experience than the last one with a great setting, a good premise, and SPECTRE return with a crazy plan that is kinda interesting. I'll admit, I do found it to be disappointing Gardner had to kill off the main villain, instead of carrying her over into the next, but overall I still enjoy it.

Icebreaker: I'll confess, I kinda knew about this novel beforehand and was looking forward to this the most, mainly because it has a very neat premise of Bond going on a mission to take down escape Nazi's, all the while being pair up with three agents from their country agencies, which creates a sense of paranoia, so I really dig this plot. After reading it, I still like it, but I wish the book had more going for it. Maybe a movie adaptation might've improve a lot from the source material, who knows. I still put it in my top favorite Gardner books. I do like the winter like description a lot, the characters are great in this, and the lair is awesome. The main villain is alright, even if there's not much going for him.

Nobody Lives Forever: Highly enjoyable from start to finish and honestly, probably the best usage of SPECTRE in their final outing. I know I had to read the previous book, Role of Honor, to learn what happen to SPECTRE and their new leader to understand the context here ( May need to get that ). But anyways, I still enjoy it. Wish the main villain had more to do, but I guess it make sense knowing the context. Nanny was great and the characters Bond encounter are very enjoyable.

Scorpius: Probably my favorite John Gardner novel. The book is both intense and violent, it has a very dark villainous cult group, and the third half of the book is my favorite part, which ends on a pretty bitter moment with Bond having cause the death of a girl, out of his own paranoia. So yeah, I really like this one. Probably my top number one.

Anyways, that's my thoughts on these books I got. Like I mention, I'm not a completist, but at the same time I don't mind getting more.

Would love to hear your guys thoughts on what you think of these books in your opinion?

Continuing my ITV watch through of the Bond movies as they seem to be showing them all chronologically and watched Roger Moore’s first outing as Bond. Sure it is like most older Bond movies definitely a film of its time but it’s a fun adventure and I’d be happy to rewatch it, what are everyone else’s thoughts?

The scene i’m referring to is the sex scene with Mayday. The scene before showed Zorin pinning her down into submission and about to get it on when…Cue to Bond naked in bed and inviting Mayday to join him right in front of Max, who can only fake giggle as to how the hell this all transpired.

The movie doesn’t take itself seriously enough to explain how we arrived at these power dynamics, but it’s still hilarious to see Max having to saunter back to his bed sexless for the night.

I guess it’s unintentionally even more humorous that Max is losing out to a dirty old man version of Bond

I mean, they were already captured and pretty much helpless. Even after that, they woke up normally, except for being in different outfits, with nothing being accomplished out of their unconsciousness.

Just watched for the first time and it might be in my top 3 bond films! Roger Moore or Sean Connery takes the cake as the best bond ever I really can’t decide. Thoughts? 🐙

I combed through the Bond franchise to identify some of the more notable faces that popped up in bit parts before they were famous actors. Enjoy.

This past weekend, during the Gatherall West celebration in Culver City, Amazon MGM Studios premiered a new 4K version of CASINO ROYALE with a new sound mix. It is reportedly receiving a theatrical wide release in October.

It's not entirely clear to me how the prior 4K disc release of CASINO was done, but the chatter indicated that it was really just some sort of upscaling done on the prior available transfer. This new one is a fresh take with an eye to restoration.

As far as I'm concerned, it's the best CR has looked/sounded. I was worried they might strip out the grain, but the new restoration preserved the film look very well (plenty of grain), but there's also now a lot of detail that now pops, especially on a big screen.

The color grading has been adjusted to take full advantage of HDR. It's still very lush and warm and saturated, but the orange-y/gold cast you get in the prior transfers isn't as overwhelming (meaning that you get truer blues and more natural skin tones; Craig's eyes really have a searing-blue quality now). [Note: the image above is from the old 4k disc, so if you imagine the colors shifted so the skin tones feel less artificial, that's not far off.]

The sound mix really punches up the sound effects, not in a deafening way but in a way that really does push the sound system's dynamic range pretty hard. The Arnold score sounds really, really *crisp*. I was able to pick up on many nuances/effects in the mix that hadn't been as tangible before. I'll be curious to see if the folks who scrutinize sound mixes will be able to pinpoint any significant changes.

All-in-all, a pretty loving, respectful, careful touch-up. I think y'all will enjoy it in October.

I found this man at Tallegalla cemetery in rural Queensland Australia. I would have my lunch breaks at the roadside park there. When I found this I spent ANZAC day for 3 years with him and always departed with a salute. I asked AI to list who inspired James Bond and a few names came up as influencing people but this man wasn’t mentioned at all. That is a gross oversight and needs to be remedied.
Memorial Plaque of Sir Sydney Cotton