WHO IS THE BEST JAMES BOND?

The first new DVD for April is available for check-out at The Green Free Library. If you are an adult and already have your library card you may borrow this or any other DVD or VHS tape in our collection for a 1 week period. There is also a rotating collection from the James V. Brown Library in Williamsport. These DVDs go out for 2 days, except on Friday when they go out for 3 since we are closed on Sunday.:)

Quantum of Solace ( Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Eon Productions)

Running time 106 minutes

Motion picture release date November 2008. DVD release date March 2009.
Rated PG-13; for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sexual content. Parents click here for details.

Written by Paul Haggis and Neal Purvis & Robert Wade

Directed by Marc Forster.

Starring

Daniel Craig as James Bond (Right, we’ll talk about this later)
Olga Kurylenko as Camille
Mathieu Amalric as Dominic Greene
Judi Dench as M
Giancarlo Giannini as Renee Mathis
Gemma Arterton as Strawberry Fields
Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter
David Harbour as Gregg Beam
Jesper Christensen as Mr. White

Summary from the webpac: Seeking revenge for the death of his love, secret agent James Bond sets out to stop an environmentalist from taking control of a country's water supply.

This film continues immediately after the events of Casino Royale. Casino Royale is actually the first novel written by Ian Fleming about the character James Bond 007. He wrote it in 1953. Quantum of Solace however did not come from an original Ian Fleming work. Fleming died in 1964. In that short period of time he created many James Bond 007 novels and short stories. Check with The Green Free Library to see which titles are available.

Ian Fleming
· 1953 Casino Royale
· 1954 Live and Let Die
. 1955 Moonraker
· 1956 Diamonds Are Forever
· 1957 From Russia with Love
. 1958 Dr No
· 1959 Goldfinger
· 1960 For Your Eyes Only - short stories
· 1961 Thunderball
· 1962 The Spy Who Loved Me
· 1963 On Her Majesty's Secret Service
· 1964 You Only Live Twice
· 1965 The Man with the Golden Gun
· 1966 Octopussy and The Living Daylights - short stories

After Fleming’s death several other authors continued the character of James Bond. They included British authors Kingsley Amis (writing as Robert Markham), John Gardner, Charlie Higson. The first American author to write about James Bond was Raymond Benson.

To commemorate Fleming’s 100th birthday, Sebastion Faulks was commissioned to write a new Bond novel. Devil May Care was published on May 27, 2008. The library does carry this title as well.

So on to the movies. Many of the original titles have been adapted into movies and TV programs. The biggest question surrounding these movies being- Who will play the part of James Bond 007? And subsequently who was the best James Bond. Personally I have never watched a Bond movie with Daniel Craig. In my opinion, he is not James Bond.

The first (and best) James Bond was Sean Connery. He ruled the screen in the following:

· Dr. No 1962
· From Russia With Love 1963
· Goldfinger 1964
· Thunderball 1965
· You Only Live Twice 1967
· Diamonds are Forever 1971

George Lazenby played Bond in 1969. The movie was On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. His performance as Bond was greatly criticized though he did gain a Golden Globe nomination.

The next best Bond, in my opinion was Roger Moore. His performances as 007 included:

· Live and Let Die 1973
· The Man With the Golden Gun 1974
· The Spy Who Loved Me 1977
· Moonraker 1979
· For Your Eyes Only 1981
· Octopussey 1983
· A View to a Kill 1985

Timothy Dalton portrayed Bond in 2 films:

· The Living Daylights 1987
· License to Kill 1989

Pierce Brosnan followed with:

· GoldenEye 1995
· Tomorrow Never Dies 1997
· The World is Not Enough 1999
· Die Another Day 2002

And finally along came Daniel Craig to star in Casino Royale 2006 and Quantum of Solace 2008.