Dr. No (1962)

Budget: $1.1 million Opening dates: UK October 5, 1962;
USA May 8, 1963

Worldwide Box Office: $59.5 million
Originally Written

Thursday, July 7, 2005

Dr. No is one of the first films in the successful Bond franchise, and also happens to be one of the duller adventures of the British Secret Agent. Nothing really sets this film apart from other action films, and while it might have been at the top of its game in the 1960's looking back now Dr. No it's definitely one of Bond's less exciting and action packed outings when compared to future films.

Sean Connery makes first blockbuster film debut as James Bond 007. James Bond is an agent who works for the British Secret Service also known as MI6. His title of a double zero agent gives him a "license to kill", and not "be killed" as M, the head of the agency reminds Bond at the beginning of the film.

On this mission Bond is sent to Jamaica to find out what happened to a fellow operative, who has mysteriously cut off contact. Through some investigations Bond concludes that the death of Strangway is in someway connected with the mysterious Crab Key Island and its resident Dr. No. All that is known of the island are the rumors of strange operations and a mystical dragon that devours intruders. Bond learns Strangway had discovered some radioactive minerals on the island, leading Bond to believe something greater than dragons and sea shells are on the island. It could be that Dr. No's radiation could have something to do with the recent failures of the US Space Program's missile launches that are being diverted off target and sent back towards the earth.

Bond travels over to Crab Key island in hopes of cracking the mystery, on his arrival he discovers Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) in one of the most popular and well known scenes in Bond history. When Honey appears out of the ocean in a bikini, swinging her hair (more on Honey in the Dr. No Secret File.) Bond and Honey are captured by Dr. No's men and taken prisoner. Now Bond must escape, foil Dr No's plot, save Honey, and escape the island of Crab Key alive!

As stated in the beginning, this film lacks a lot of the action that you would expect in a Bond film, and a lot of the film is mediocre dialogue delivered by mediocre actors. As for the villain, Dr. No, I felt he was a rather tame foe and quite boring as well. His appearance isn't till the end of the film and even then he's disposed of fairly quickly. But with all the negative aspects aside this is still is a classic film which started a billion dollar franchise and made Sean Connery a household name. I have found a lot of people actually find this to be one of their more favorite Bond adventures with the main reason that the film is a little more grounded in reality than future installments, but in my opinon some of the more outrageous moments in the Bond series is what makes these films worth watching!

7/10