Review of Everything or Nothing (2012) by Marc-André B — 23 Feb 2015

When watching a 'behind-the-scenes' documentary you become used to nostalgic fluffy DVD extras that handle the subject with kid gloves. So when I first began watching this movie my initial question was is this just fanboy bullshit or an objective view of Her Majesty's superspy. I was happily surprised to find a movie that covers all the bases. It never ignores that Bond is popular, and the viewer is fan. What it does do is give an in-depth look at the series from it's creation to now.

Ian Fleming's WWII work and post-war depression that led to his writing give a brief glipse at the parallels in Bond's world. From their we learn how two flamboyant showman producers risked everything to bring Bond to life, from thereon everything is pushed and pulled by the choices these moneymen make. Many docs would avoid the discussion of greed and ego in the franchise world, but here the Thunderball lawsuit that stretched all the way to Casino Royale is discussed openly.

Of course, you can't discuss Bond without discussing misogyny, a topic that has become prominent the past few years and deserves attention. One gets the impression that Fleming had a dislike for homosexuality and sassy women, but that's never truly discussed. In the old days Connery treated women like garbage and the recent Bond films have done a great job of making Bond more palatable for modern women, but that topic is never really explored here.