Review of Dr. No (1962) by Chris W — 21 Dec 2012
Released in 1962, and starring Sean Connery in the role that made him an icon, this is the (cinematic) debut of Ian Flemming's renowned British superspy James Bond, Agent 007.
Despite having a limited budget, they make the most of it as we follow Bond to Jamaica where an investigation into the death of a fellow agent sees him trying to foil a nefarious plot to dismantle the U.S. space program, with said plot spearheaded by a mysterious scientific genius named Dr. Julius No- a mad villain with ties to SPECTRE- a group who are something of an arch nemesis for MI6 and 007.
Connery is solid, and he's joined by Joseph Wiseman and Ursula Andress, who are equally solid and memorable as No and Honey Ryder, the prototypical "Bond girl" love interest, respectively.
This film lays the groundwork for future films in the series, and it establishes most, but not all of the elements that would become series trademarks. Compared to later films it's rather low-key and pretty bare bones, but it's still fun, charming, and pretty thrilling.
It might be a bit rough around the edges, and it is disorienting to see it after having exposure to most all of the later films first, but problems aside, this is a really good yarn.
This review of Dr. No (1962) was written by Chris W on 21 Dec 2012.
Dr. No has generally received very positive reviews.
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