With Casino Royale now out on DVD, we look back at some great moments in the 007 series. By Bryan Reesman


Few film series are as celebrated as the James Bond saga, which encompasses 21 official movies, from the famous 1962 debut Dr. No to last year’s fantastic Casino Royale. Adapted from and inspired by the spy novels of Ian Fleming, the cinematic adventures of British Secret Service agent 007 have left audiences shaken and stirred bysinister nemeses, stunning “Bond women,” cool cars and contraptions, exotic locales, pithy one-liners, and nail-biting action sequences. And there are the inevitable debates over who’s better. Sean Connery? Roger Moore? Pierce Brosnan?

The series got an upgrade last year when it brought lesser-known actor Daniel Craig into the fold. The dark-horse contender quickly won audiences over with his gritty portrayal of a young Bond who has just been promoted to 007 status. We see him make his first kill and how it transforms him, watch him nearly get killed, and witness him having his heart broken. Based on the first Bond novel, Casino Royale is bloody good entertainment, and it returns the series to more character-driven situations and subtler moments, which had been overwhelmed by gadgetry during the flashy Brosnan era.

 MGM honored the return of Bond with the re-release of all his movies in four box sets last fall, and I went back and watched them all again to pull out some golden moments. Following are what I consider to be the high points in the series. You’ll no doubt have your own. But that’s the fun of it: so many great scenes, so many memorable one-liners, so little space …

SPYING’S A GAS
About to be assassinated on the Orient Express by a cunning SPECTRE agent (in From Russia with Love), Bond tantalizes the agent by mentioning the gold sovereigns located in his briefcase. His foe falls for the gag, and tear gas explodes from the case, allowing Bond to slam into him and fight for his life. (Thanks, Q!)

IT’S A MAN, BABY!
While Thunderball is notable for its shark bait and its underwater battle sequences, its wacky inaugural scene finds Bond seemingly attacking the widow of an enemy agent after the agent’s funeral. But we discover that the agent is in disguise, having faked his own death. Bond quickly rectifies that.

IT’S NOT SIZE THAT MATTERS …
We’ve seen plenty of aerial fights before, but when Bond tests out a gyrocopter in You Only Live Twice, four helicopters descend upon him to take him out. It’s a battle of wills and wits, high in the sky over a Japanese island, with our hero coolly maneuvering through the cross fire.

MR. AND MRS. JAMES BOND
The only time 007 ever got married was at the end of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, when he wed Tracy di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg). Even Miss Moneypenny, with whom he flirted for years, was teary-eyed. Sadly, after they leave the reception, Mrs. Bond is gunned down by Blofeld’s assistant, Irma Bunt. It’s a devastating loss that will be avenged.

DOUBLE VISION
The theme of the quirky Diamonds Are Forever is deadly team-ups, from two Blofelds to the psycho assassins Wint and Kidd to the two nasty gymnastic killers named Bambi and Thumper. It’s not an easy assignment for Bond.

PISTOLS AT DAWN
After landing on the island den of master assassin Francisco Scaramanga (The Man with the Golden Gun), Bond faces a duel at dawn. But what seems like a simple showdown on the beach turns into a hunt through the killer’s warped fun house, which is complete with a statue replica of Bond — something that comes in very handy for 007.

JAWS ON LAND
The gnarliest Bond villain has to be the silent Jaws, an imposing, snarling hulk with metal teeth who chomps on his victims like a vampire. When 007 and Major Anya Amasova pursue Jaws into a desert temple during The Spy Who Loved Me, he ambushes them. But even after rocks collapse on him, the inhuman killer emerges to slowly rip apart their van by hand as they try to drive away.

LICK SHOT
Attempting to bump off Bond, sinister Moonraker entrepreneur Hugo Drax invites him to shoot pheasant, with a hidden assassin waiting to stage “an accident.” Bond fires away. “You missed, Mr. Bond,” declares Drax. The sniper falls out of the tree, dead. “Did I?” quips 007.

CROWNING GLORY
In Octopussy, Bond races to defuse a bomb that’s at a circus on a U.S. military base in West Germany. After stealing a car, he evades Russian soldiers, German police, and, later, when he crashes onto the base, American GIs. Then he dons a clown outfit in order to infiltrate what could turn into a three-ring inferno. Not 007’s most dignified moment, but certainly one of his finest.

DYNAMIC DUO
While A View to a Kill was a rather tepid entry in the series, it is notable for pairing two classic TV crime fighters together: The Saint’s Roger Moore as 007 and The Avengers’ Patrick Macnee as Sir Godfrey Tibbett. A truly cool duo.

JUST SAY NO
At the climax of The Living Daylights, Bond and Russian killer Necros clobber each other while clinging to a net full of bagged drugs that has spilled out the back of a military transport plane flying high in the sky. Devoid of digital trickery, it’s one of the most breathtaking fight scenes ever filmed.

IT’S NOT BUSINESS, JUST PERSONAL
In the finale to Goldeneye, Alec Trevelyan, the treacherous 006, who sold out his country and abandoned his friendship with Bond, clings to 007’s hand for dear life, high up on a massive satellite dish. Alex sneers, “For England, James?” “No,” snarls Bond before dropping him, “for me.”

HELLO, HONEY
While Dr. No had its share of intrigue and clever quips, it is most famous for the introduction of Honey Ryder, the seashell-collecting snorkeler (and first official Bond girl) played by goddess Ursula Andress.

ALL THAT GLITTERS…
Throughout Goldfinger, Bond matches wits more than muscle with the titular villain. But the gold-obsessed tycoon knows how to make an impression. When Bond steals his girlfriend, Goldfinger has her killed: She’s sprayed — and hence, suffocated — with gold paint. And when 007 bests him in a game of golf, Goldfinger offers a warning through his henchman Oddjob, who tosses his bowler hat at a statue … and decapitates it.



CLASSIC QUOTES:

Goldfinger
Bond: “Do you expect me to talk?”
Goldfinger: “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!”

Octopussy
Kamal Khan (to Bond): “You have a nasty habit … of surviving.”

Diamonds Are Forever
Bond (to Tiffany Case): “That’s quite a nice little nothing you’re almost wearing. I approve.”

The Man with the Golden Gun
Bond: “Who’d want to put a contract on me?”
M: “Jealous husbands! Outraged chefs! Humiliated tailors! The list is endless!”