Sean Connery as James Bond?

[PJMcK]

11. Sean Connery was the first and definitive Bond, (sort of)

Eon Productions, founded by "Cubby" Broccoli (his family "invented" the vegetable!) and Harry Saltzman has produced the vast majority of Bond films. I believe it's the longest running movie franchise in history.

Sean Connery was chosen to play Bond in the first film, "Dr. No." Although it was made on a shoestring budget, (Dr. No's secret laboratory lair cost only $15,000!), the film followed Ian Fleming's novel fairly closely and Connery's interpretation of Bond tracks the novel's character.

Connery started out gritty but by the fourth film, "You Only Live Twice," the character had become somewhat campy. By the time Roger Moore got the role, the films had become somewhat silly and deviated tremendously from Fleming's novels.

"From Russia With Love" is the second film and, in my opinion, is one of the best. In this film, Robert Shaw plays an evil assassin out to kill Bond and he's an amazing nemesis.

The Aston Martin first appeared in the third film, "Goldfinger" and was then seen again at the beginning of "Thunderball" which is also among the best Bond films. In Daniel Craig's first Bond film from 2006, "Casino Royale," Bond plays cards against a killer and wins the 1960s Aston Martin. Of course, then he picks up the bad guy's girlfriend!

There was a re-make of "Thunderball" made in the 1990s called, "Never Say Never Again" where Connery reprised the role, (the title is a sly joke). Avoid it like the plague! Also, the 1960s adaptation of "Casino Royale," starring David Niven and Woody Allen is a total goof and a stylistic mess that required three different directors to finish. The only good thing I can say about that film is the score, by Burt Bacharach, has the great song, "The Look of Love" and the dorky-sounding "Bond Street," played by Herb Alpert and the Tiajuana Brass. (Bachrach's involvement is the reason Mike Myers had Bachrach make a cameo in the first Austin Powers movie.)

As someone posted above, if you haven't seen Connery, especially in the earliest films, you haven't seen a Bond movie!

The sort of reference in my title line is because there were a couple of earlier attempts to bring the Bond stories to the screen and Barry Nelson played Bond in mid-1950s TV adaptation.