The History of James Bond at the Movies

The words are instantly recognizable: "the name is Bond...James Bond." The character created by author Ian Fleming has been appearing on the big screen since 1962's Dr. No, and has been played by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan in the official movie series from Eon Productions. Current Bond Daniel Craig will return to the role for the fifth (and final?) time in No Time To Die, which is currently set for release in 2021. There have been a number of books written about the 007 films, including Bruce Scivally and John Cork's James Bond: The Legacy, and Stephen Jay Rubin's The James Bond Films. One of the more recent attempts to outline the ongoing saga of the Bond series is Some Kind Of Hero: The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films, by Ajay Chowdhury and Matthew Field. Originally published in 2015, and later updated in 2018, the book covers the 007 series from its inception to Craig's last Bond film, Spectre, released in 2015.

The book is an exhaustive history of the films, and feature interviews with many of the actors, directors and writers who worked on the iconic series. It all starts with a brief look at Ian Fleming and the creation of the literary Bond, and the initial attempts to bring the Bond character to the big screen. Every film gets its own chapter, which covers the making of each entry in the series from pre-production planning to its eventual release. There's even coverage of Never Say Never Again (1983), the non-Eon Productions remake of Thunderball, which marked Sean Connery's return to the role. There's an in-depth look at the legal battles which allowed that film to be produced, which date back to Ian Fleming's original novel, and the complicated rights surrounding that book, which was originally filmed in 1965 as part of the official series.

The book contains a wealth of information about the production of each film, including details about the creation of the many iconic moments and spectacular stunts featured in the series, and coverage of scenes that were either cut from the final versions of the movies, or never filmed. The interviews with the many actors, writers, directors, musicians and technicians that worked on the Bond films are compelling and fascinating. There are some interesting comparisons between the plots of the original Bond novels and short stories, and what portions of those literary Bond adventures made it into the movies. This isn't a critical history of the 007 series, but rather an exhaustive and detailed look at the making of each film. Ajay Chowdhury and Matthew Field have done an outstanding job of looking at the entire history of the series in this compulsively readable work.

There are a ton of books out there about the James Bond films, but if you're a fan, this lovingly detailed work is well worth reading. Some Kind Of Hero: The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films is an entertaining, enjoyable look at the long running 007 franchise. The authors are clearly fans of the films, and you may find yourself re-reading some of the chapters to digest a nugget of information you missed, or to go back over the interviews regarding your favorite film in the series. The book is now available in paperback or as an e-book. The only minor issue here is that some of the information on No Time To Die is out of date, as there were changes to the production after the book was released. So if you want to immerse yourself in James Bond movie lore, check out this marvelous look at the history of the cinematic 007.