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A brutal opening in Jamaica as Strangways and his assistant are murdered just before checking in with MI6 in London. Very faithfully recreated for the film.
Bond is back after nearly dying at the hands (or foot..) of Rosa Klebb.
We learn Bond was jabbed in the leg with 'Fugu' poison (Tetrodotoxin) which comes from the sex organs of the Japanese Globe Fish..!
M thinks that Bond's 'routine investigation and report' into the Jamaica case will be 'a bit of a holiday..' :))
Reminds me of this a bit from Die Hard:
Absolutely! :))
Bond realises there's something more sinister to the Strangways disappearance as he and Quarrel are followed from the Airport. Bond's choice of drink when he gets to his hotel room is a Gin & Tonic, with two squeezed halves of a Lime and filled with ice. Made me quite thirsty reading that!
Bond later meets Quarrel for dinner at Pus-Feller's nightspot where Bond learns more about the mysterious Chinaman who owns Crab Key. Not sure why the filmmakers added Felix Leiter to the mix when he isn't even mentioned in the book...
I think because Dr. No served as an introduction to Bond, so the film introduced all the characters acting as the elements of what people would expect from James Bond: we have the Elegance of the Casino scene with a beautiful woman in Sylvia Trench, hinting at the elegance aspect of the character, we have the Car Chase, which became the staple of the James Bond films, we have the sex with Miss Taro, introducing Bond's sex appeal and use it for espionage purposes, and Honey Ryder's introduction, which should be iconic because Bond Girls are the second most important aspect of James Bond, then Bond villain in Dr. No, and a lair.
It's complete to introduce Bond to the world, and part of that introduction was Felix Leiter who was Bond's CIA counterpart, his friend, as Felix Leiter would play crucial roles in the future Bond films, so he was needed to be introduced too.
It's no different from Casino Royale of why Felix Leiter was needed to be there when the book already have René Mathis from French Intelligence as Bond's ally.
That would make sense..
I agree, but were they that confident of a long running series..? I'd probably agree with @Gerard that it would appeal to the American market.
I think they're pretty confident as Fleming's books back then are best sellers, his books are so popular that Fleming even decided to continue even though he planned at stopping in FRWL (hence, that ending), so the Producers are also willing to adapt more of his books, especially when JFK listed FRWL as one of his favorite books that led to its adaptation after Dr. No.
But yes, @Gerard also have a point too.
They wanted to make TB. They even wrote the script. I guess a lot of things ended up in Dr. No, like SPECTRE.
Budget was more likely the reason from what I've learned in some sources a long time ago.
As Dr. No only have one location.
Although Fleming wanted Hitchcock to direct TB but Hitchcock failed to receive Fleming's request, but again, this was also possible due to the lack of budget, which turned them to Dr. No instead.
(Edit: Impossible).
I think it's time for a re-read of Some Kind Of Hero...it's all in there!
While TB is more of a grand scale than DN, although I think it wouldn't have been as iconic as DN, too many underwater scenes to make it memorable, especially for Bond's introduction, in DN, all were iconic, Bond's killing of Professor Dent, Jamaica as a setting, Honey Ryder emerging from the sea with seashells (probably the most iconic part of the film), and Bond's introduction at the Casino.
On topic, polished off Diamonds Are Forever last week. Lightyears better than the movie.
I really like the book. Especially Fleming's American travelogue. So vivid and evocative.
The Saratoga mudbath scene is really intense.
I find it a fast and entertaining read.
And Bond's relationship with Tiffany Case is also the best romance that Fleming ever wrote, the two have great chemistry on page, developed and fleshed out.
Yes, ater all, it was written to be a movie. I don't think it would have been much different either. Swap Jamaica for the Bahamas, and it would be pretty much the same.
There is a lot of great material that could be used for future movies/games. I'd like to see Spectreville and the train set be adapted.
So impressively written. Terrifying and suspenseful as all of Bond's thoughts are chillingly revealed to the reader as the Centipede takes it's journey over Bond's body, face and hair (which we learn to Bond's amazement is standing on end!)
It's a shame they didn't use a Centipede in the film. But it was felt (probably correctly) that audiences wouldn't know how dangerous they are...
Although I'm not sure if Honeychile's nudity would've been acceptable even back then, Bond films like GF and TB have been censored then.
But the book, I'd argue, is better than the movie.
Honeychile also had a broken nose in the book, which she endearingly covers with her hand when she meets Bond (Along with her nether regions!) which probably wouldn't have played well in the film. And we wouldn't have got the vision that is Ursula Andress in her iconic white bikini... :D
I almost said as much. She might be my favourite of the literary Bond girls.
I keep telling myself I’ll take a break from Bond and read something else in the interim, but somewhat inevitably I picked up From Russia with Love last night. I’m only a couple of chapters in but of all of Fleming’s experiments with the format, I think this is comfortably the most successful. Having the entire first third dedicated to the villains and their plotting is a really neat twist. And Grant is an absolute animal.
Yes, I think the descriptions is what makes OHMSS always the most delighting read (as was always said, it's the most cinematic feel of all the Bond books), despite of the silly plot and an underwritten Bond Girl.
I mean I also liked FRWL due to the realistic espionage thing (it helped that Fleming based the plot on his own experience with 30 Assault Unit), no doubt JFK liked the book so much that it became one of his favorites, it's really that good or great even, and yes, the descriptions and prose too.
How did you feel about Moonraker? 🙂
Moonraker is great, of course, and when the question 'which Bond novel would you recommend to a new reader" came up on here, I thought instantly of Moonraker, because it's just so accessible and fun to read. It also puts the reader right into Bond's world. You really get the feeling that Fleming, at this point, was enjoying expanding and adding detail to the spy that only a few books before, was a bit of a cold machine.
Blood Fever was quite good, maybe a bit slow in places but quite a solid adventure novel. The mosquito torture was probably the worst sounding torture described by a continuation author, even though it doesn't really have much of an effect. There were quite a few villains and the story had to come back to take care of them all, but that was done well. The Bond girls have slight romantic tension toward Bond but it isn't reciprocated, which is a bit awkward but of course Bond is quite young here.
Double or Die was much better than I remembered. There's quite a bit of intrigue with the crosswords and rather than being an adventure novel like its predecessor, it's more of a mystery novel. There are tinges of espionage, which is good foreshadowing for the future. While "The Grandmother" is technically the villain, and a frightening one at that, Sir John Charnage fits the bill better for this adventure. He's slimy and distasteful, and a good pastiche of Drax. The scene where Bond shoots the moon is quite a good replica of the Blades scene, with an easier game to boot. The boat climax is a bit dragged out and the geography is difficult to track but it is still very thrilling. The supporting characters are quite good as well. The Kellys are colourful and entertaining and Bond's relationship with Kelly Kelly is a better execution of a Bond-Bond girl relationship at their age. Bond's friends, Perry, Prithpal, and Tommy also come to the fore and the henchmen, Wolfgang and Ludwig both threatening and comical.
By Royal Command was a bit underwhelming. The novel was split into three stories: the first involving Bond saving a boy lost on the Austrian slopes, the second involving a bomb aimed for the King, and the third having Bond on the run, back in Austria. The first story is good, if a bit long and while reading it was hard to decipher how it was going to play any part in the meat of the novel. It didn't really; the boy saved invited Bond to some event where he briefly meets Prince Edward (as in the one that abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson) and the main villain.
The second story, with the bomb at Eton, is the best. Bond meets Roan, the maid who gets him expelled, and he deals with his emotions and jealousy as she works with Dandy, the gardener. They turn out to be communists who want to bomb the king and Dandy is a strong villain until his demise. Bond meets Queen Elizabeth in this section, and it is jarring to realise that Fleming's Bond, even with his varying ages, is always older than the queen.
Then the weakest part is the third story: Bond's teacher, an MI6 spy, tells him to spy on Roan. Bond refuses, and they run to Hannes Oberhauser. I suppose childish and silly decisions are to be expected from children, but the whole series is about how Bond is not a normal child. Then, Roan tricks him to the headquarters of her communist employer. Except the employer turned out to be fascist and Dr. Friend from the first novel and he wants to torture Bond for their past meeting. Bond escapes, the Russians discover the deception, the British come too, Roan dies dramatically, and Bond isn't allowed to stay at Eton for intelligence/revenge purposes.
The whole third story is a bit unneccesary, but I suppose Higson had to go all in with the maid, and he also had to explain why Bond spent far more than two halves at Eton (he entered at 12 and left at around 14 or 15).
I must get my hands on Hurricane Gold, as I remember that one being quite good as well.