ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 18, 1996 TAG: 9605200006
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-12 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: it came from the video store
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO
``Bond ... James Bond."
With those three words - so dryly delivered - Sean Connery brought Ian Fleming's secret agent to the screen in 1962 and began the most successful series in the history of popular movies. "GoldenEye," the newest and most profitable installment, arrives in video stores next Wednesday, so it's a good time for a quick look back.
Over the years, the films have varied wildly in quality and tone as different actors, writers and directors came aboard. But even at their worst, the Bond films have provided well-made studio escapism. For my money, the first three have never been topped.
Even though it wasn't a smashing commercial success, "Dr. No" established the series' ground-breaking sexuality with one defining image of the early '60s: Ursula Andress stepping out of the ocean in that white bikini. And Connery's assured portrayal of Bond set a new standard for cinematic cool. Unflappable under the most dangerous circumstances, resourceful, completely self confident around women - he was everything that men want to be and aren't.
Bond really hit his stride in the second film, "From Russia With Love." Judged by any standard, it's one of the finest adventure stories ever put on screen. Robert Shaw and Lotte Lenya are two of Bond's (and Fleming's) most memorable villains. Director Terrence Young's staging of the fight between Connery and Shaw on the train is a brilliant bit of business. And that film also introduces John Barry's rousing music, now inseparable from the character.
The series itself really took off in the winter of 1964 with "Goldfinger." In those pre-multiplex days, there were long lines around the block at theaters where it was playing. It was simply the movie that everybody had to see. Again, at least a third of the credit for its success has to go to villains Gert Frobe and Harold Sakata, and another third to Ian Fleming's audacity in naming a heroine Pussy Galore.
Though some critics claim that "Thunderball" is the series' high point, it lacks originality. By then, the formula had been set. Bond's toys were becoming too clever, the chases too elaborate, the quips too studied, the villains less important.
That's also when the "spy craze" hit the movie business. Imitation is indeed Hollywood's true sincerity, and secret agent movies were everywhere. The spoof, "Casino Royale," with two directors and as many Bonds (one of them played by Woody Allen) is the most excessive, but by 1967, the bloom was off Bond's boutonniere.
George Lazenby tried the role in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," a film that's highly admired by some fans. Connery came back for "Diamonds Are Forever," another exercise in excess, and then turned his Beretta over to Roger Moore.
Moore's seven Bond films depend on increasingly baroque stunt work and tend to merge into one big amorphous, unmemorable mass.
Connery returned with "Never Say Never Again," actually a remake of "Thunderball," based on an unproduced script by Fleming. Timothy Dalton pumped some energy back into the films with "The Living Daylights" and "Licence to Kill," but they didn't fare as well at the box office, and Bond films are never cheap to produce.
That brings us up to the present and Pierce Brosnan's debut as Bond in "GoldenEye," a worthy attempt to recapture the original vigor of the series while at the same time updating it for today's audience. (See review in the new releases section.)
For all their flaws and frivolity, their violence and their condescending attitude toward women, the Bond films are still enjoyable, popular escapism. The best of them are still worth watching four, five, six times. That's also why they're so popular on home video and why they've so often been repackaged on tape and disc.
So, if you can't find a copy of "GoldenEye" at your favorite video store next weekend, put together your own Bond festival from our James Bond videography.
Next week: They're young, they're in love, they're on the run in the desert.
Got a question about home video or film? Contact your favorite video columnist at P.O. Box 2491; Roanoke, Va. 24010, or by e-mail at 75331.2603compuserve.com.
New releases this week:
GoldenEye HHH1/2
Starring Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Dame Judy Dench. Directed by Martin Campbell. MGM/UA. 130 min. Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual material.
Director Campbell, star Brosnan and a trio of writers bring a welcome freshness to the latest entry in the Bond series. Quoting "Dr. No," "From Russia with Love" and "Goldfinger," this one also manages some new ideas, including a terrific opening stunt and a grand chase through the streets of St. Petersburg. Believably nasty villains, lovely liberated women, and lots of neat toys: What else could a fan ask for?
Nick of Time HHH
Starring Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken, Rona Maffia. Directed by John Badham. Paramount. 88 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, subject matter.
To label this one a "real time" thriller risks reducing it to a gimmick movie and that's not fair. It's a carefully constructed suspense film squarely in the Hitchcock tradition. The "real time" aspect refers to the plot's chronology. All of the action takes place within the film's 88-minute running time. Johnny Depp is an ordinary guy whose daughter will be killed by ominous forces if he doesn't assassinate an important woman. The remarkable clarity of the image and the strictly limited structure play particularly well on home video.
Frankie Starlight HHH1/2
Starring Gabriel Byrne, Annie Parillaud, Corban Walker, Alan Pentony, Matt Dillon. Turner/New Line Home Video. 101 min. Rated R for language, sexual content.
The story of an Irish dwarf's attempts to understand his mother and himself sounds like the wrong stuff for a feature film, but this one's a winner. The audiences who made "Like Water for Chocolate" a hit and who liked the offbeat "Into the West" should certainly give it a look. It doesn't depend nearly as much on magic as those films do, but it has the same sense of starry-eyed wonder and the same love for its flawed, hopeful characters.
JAMES BOND VIDEOGRAPHY
Climax! Casino Royale (1954) (made for television as part of the CBS anthology series, ``Climax!'')
Dr. No (1962)
From Russia With Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
Casino Royale (1967)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Man With the Golden Gun (1975)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Octopussy (1983)
Never Say Never Again (1983)
A View to a Kill (1985)
The Living Daylights (1987)
Licence to Kill (1989)
GoldenEye (1995)
LENGTH: Long : 144 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:5 photosby CNB