60 years of James Bond movie franchise: A legend for generations

By Denilson Triadiapta

British actor Daniel Craig is the current 007 agent, No Time To Die is his last film as Bond.

Daniel Craig as current agent 007 James Bond

(Source: BBC News)

In 1962, the first sequel of James Bond movie Dr No was released, and English actor Sean Connery and Swiss actress Ursula Andress starred in this film.

This film became a blockbuster at the time because the story came from a different universe as no other spy movies produced in that era.

Since then, the popularity of 007 James Bond has risen and become the longest running movie franchise for almost 60 years.

Believe it or not, all actors who were selected to play as James Bond have never been miscast; they all have their own charm.

For example, Daniel Craig the current actor portrays Bond as the real hero, which shows the audience that Bond cannot be defeated.

Another example is Roger Moore as the longest actor serving as Bond, portrays Bond as a womanizer character.

In general, James Bond is someone who only does his job to serve his country.

The story is combined with the most popular issue at the time of the movie which is the Cold War, where espionage between the Eastern and Western Hemisphere was at its height.

After the end of the Cold War, James Bond’s story started to create a new version of its story, including antagonist characters.

GoldenEye (1995) is the first Bond film to be released post Soviet Union era, the story is more dynamic and fresh.

This film Bond is portrayed by Pierce Brosnan, he must stop a terrorist who is a former MI6 agent, from destroying England with a satellite nuclear weapon.

Then the story developed and took other issues, such as conflicts in the Eastern Europe and the Korean Peninsula crisis as the inspiration of its story.

In Pierce Brosnan's version, Bond never reveals his past nor his personal details, but Brosnan portrays Bond as a more physical and rogue character.

Then Daniel Craig took over in 2005, Craig’s version has a conflicted past as he grew up as an orphan (Spectre), lost the woman he loves (Casino Royale) and his beloved boss (Skyfall).

As a spy Bond’s character must be accompanied with other aspects that could become other magnets than the character alone.

The special devices that he is given like the exploding pen, jet pack, radio watch and transparent glasses are added highlights in this film.

All James Bond’s fans and critics might agree that the James Bond character already works as a magnet to the audience. Each film leaves a mark.

Another factor which was also considered as the key success of the James Bond franchise is the appearances of Bond girl characters.

Each Bond movie has at least one Bond girl character that will probably be remembered forever. For instance, Ms Monepenny and Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale.

These aspects combined resulted in boosting the popularity of this movie franchise to be the longest success in history, in terms of Box Office profits.

The latest James Bond’s movie is No Time To Die, which was released in September, awaited by fans for five years.

The story is the continuation of the previous film, which tells of the final adventures of James Bond.

For your information, Daniel Craig has confirmed that this is his final performance as James Bond. He is the third longest serving actor to play James Bond with a total of five films.

According to James Bond’s producer Barbara Broccoli said that “James Bond will return.” on a recorded interview.

The search for the new Bond will begin in 2022, there are many disputes among fans about who will succeed Daniel Craig in the next Bond film.