›

Books about SPECIFIC Bond films

Mr_BeachMr_Beach
edited July 2021 in Literary 007 Posts: 121
Countless of books have been written about the Bond film series as a whole (such as Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films and Some Kind of Hero: The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films) but far fewer books exist about specific Bond films. Here I am trying the compile a complete list of such books. Please let me know if you are aware of any book (or magazine) that's missing from this list. Also, I would love to read your thoughts about any of them! The list in order of the Bond films they are about [updated with books listed in the comments below]:

DR
A Bond for Bond: Film Finances and Dr No (Charles Drazin)

GF
The Goldfinger Files: The Making of the Iconic Alpine Sequence in the James Bond Movie Goldfinger (Steffen Appel, Peter Walty)
Goldfinger: The Ultimate A-Z (Adrian Turner)
The Ultimate Film Guides: Goldfinger (Brian Dunbar)

TB
The Battle for Bond (Robert Sellers) - okay, I am cheating, this is about both Thunderball, NSNA and other attempts to remake the film

CR (1967)
The Making of Casino Royale (Michael Richardson)

YOLT
The Definitive Story of You Only Live Twice: Fleming, Bond and Connery in Japan (Graham Thomas)
On the Tracks of 007: You Only Live Twice 50th Anniversary Guide to Japan (Martijn Mulder)

OHMSS
The Making of on Her Majesty's Secret Service (Charles Helfenstein)

LALD
Roger Moore as James Bond: Roger Moore's own account of filming "Live and Let Die" (Roger Moore)

TSWLM
James Bond, the Spy I Loved (Christopher Wood) - cheating again, this is about both TSWLM and MR

FYEO
James Bond For Your Eyes Only Special Annual (Tony Crawley and John Brosnan)

AVTAK
A Close Look at 'A View to a Kill' (Andrew McNess)

TLD
The Making of The Living Daylights (Charles Helfenstein)
He Disagreed with Something that Ate Him (Cary Edwards) - covers both TLD and LTK

LTK
The Making of Licence to Kill (Sally Hibbin)

GE
The Making of GoldenEye (Garth Pearce)
The World of GoldenEye: A Comprehensive Study on the Seventeenth James Bond Film And Its Legacy (Nicolas Suszczyk)
For England, James: Notes on the Visual Impact of GoldenEye (Nicolas Suszczyk)

TND
The Making of Tomorrow Never Dies (Garth Pearce)
Tomorrow Never Dies - Technical Journal

TWINE
The World is Not Enough: A Companion (Ian Johnstone)

DAD
Beyond The Ice: The Case For and Against 'Die Another Day' (Nicolas Suszczyk)
Bond on Set: Filming Die Another Day (Greg Williams)

CR
Bond on Set: Filming Casino Royale (Greg Williams)

QOS
Bond on Set: Filming Quantum of Solace (Greg Williams)

SF
Bond on Set: Filming Skyfall (Greg Williams)

SP
Anderson & Low: On the Set of James Bond's Spectre (Anderson & Low)
Blood, Sweat, and Bond: Behind the Scenes of Spectre (Curated by Rankin)

NTTD
No Time to Die: The Making of the Film (Mark Salisbury)

Comments

  • MalloryMallory
    Posts: 2,165
    The World is Not Enough: A Companion
    Ian Johnstone
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited July 2021 Posts: 18,281
    Here are a few more to add to your list:

    Adrian Turner, Goldfinger: The Ultimate A-Z (Bloomsbury Movie Guides 4, 1998)

    Brian Dunbar, The Ultimate Film Guides: Goldfinger (York Press, London, 2001)

    Michael Richardson, The Making of Casino Royale (1967) (Telos Movie Classics Book 2) (Telos Publishing, 2015)

    Graham Thomas, The Definitive Story of You Only Live Twice: Fleming, Bond and Connery in Japan (Sagus, 2020, 2015 on iBooks)

    Martijn Mulder, On the Tracks of 007: You Only Live Twice 50th Anniversary Guide to Japan (DMD Digital, 2017)

    Tony Crawley and John Brosnan, James Bond For Your Eyes Only Special Annual (Grandreams Ltd, 1981) [Contains significant text on the Making of FYEO amongst other things]

    Sally Hibbin, The Making of Licence to Kill (Hamyln, 1989)

    Garth Pearce, The Making of GoldenEye (Boxtree, London, 1995)

    Garth Pearce, The Making of Tomorrow Never Dies (Boxtree, London, 1997)

    Nicolas Suszczyk, The Bond of The Millennium: The Days of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond (2019) [Covers GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day]
  • cwl007cwl007 England
    Posts: 611
    He Disagreed With Something That Ate Him by Cary Edwards. Slight cheat as it covers both Dalton's but I hope you'll forgive me.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,637
    Roger Moore as James Bond: Roger Moore's Own Account of Filming Live and Let Die By Sir Roger Moore.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 14,586
    I have the TND 'technical journal', heaps of props in there.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    QBranch wrote: »
    I have the TND 'technical journal', heaps of props in there.

    Was that a magazine? If so, I bought that one at the time.
  • cwl007cwl007 England
    Posts: 611
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    Roger Moore as James Bond: Roger Moore's Own Account of Filming Live and Let Die By Sir Roger Moore.

    Good read that, shame it's the only one of it's kind.
    I'd have it as a contractual obligation of each Bond actor to have to write one, I'm only semi serious but it would have been awesome to have had a time capsule Library of those spanning the years.
  • Mr_BeachMr_Beach
    Posts: 121
    Thank you everyone! I added the books you listed to the opening post! It seems there are far more books about specific Bond films than I thought. Also, I love that some of you listed magazines, which is something I completely forgot about.
  • BT3366BT3366
    Posts: 1,917
    I was thinking of magazines from the start. There are countless examples:

    -Back in the '80s, Starlog Publications did specials on OP, AVTAK and TLD then for TND and TWINE. Another company did one for GE when it was released.

    -Cinema Retro did what I count as the definitive look at DN back in 2012 to tie into the 50th anniversary.

    -Mi6 Confidential has done excellent looks at certain films with the filmmakers on LALD, OP and CR so far.

    -007 Magazine has special issues devoted to DN, GF, TB, YOLT, OHMSS, DAF, LALD as well as the Dalton era, Brosnan era and Craig era.

    Pick me up on ones I'm missing.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    Birdleson wrote: »
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    Roger Moore as James Bond: Roger Moore's Own Account of Filming Live and Let Die By Sir Roger Moore.

    I had that paperback in '73 and wore it to death. I have no idea where that (nor any childhood possession) ended up. I can still see the B&W photos in my mind, and even remember a few of Roger's quips ("Guns, Gloria Hendry, Britt Ekland: A schoolboy's dream.").

    I have a copy of the original Roger Moore's account of filming Live and Let Die in Pan paperback somewhere too but never got around to reading it in full. It's odd that he mentions Britt Ekland as she didn't appear in the Bond universe until the following film, The Man with the Golden Gun. Of course I'm not sure exactly when the book originally came out, other than some time in 1973 so maybe he knew who some of the cast of the next Bond film would be considering that The Man with the Golden Gun was released late the following year, the last time two Eon Bond films would be released in consecutive years. I've since bought the new edition of the book released in 2018 with new intros.
  • BT3366BT3366
    Posts: 1,917
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Birdleson wrote: »
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    Roger Moore as James Bond: Roger Moore's Own Account of Filming Live and Let Die By Sir Roger Moore.

    I had that paperback in '73 and wore it to death. I have no idea where that (nor any childhood possession) ended up. I can still see the B&W photos in my mind, and even remember a few of Roger's quips ("Guns, Gloria Hendry, Britt Ekland: A schoolboy's dream.").

    I have a copy of the original Roger Moore's account of filming Live and Let Die in Pan paperback somewhere too but never got around to reading it in full. It's odd that he mentions Britt Ekland as she didn't appear in the Bond universe until the following film, The Man with the Golden Gun. Of course I'm not sure exactly when the book originally came out, other than some time in 1973 so maybe he knew who some of the cast of the next Bond film would be considering that The Man with the Golden Gun was released late the following year, the last time two Eon Bond films would be released in consecutive years. I've since bought the new edition of the book released in 2018 with new intros.
    It came out in summer of '73 when LALD was released as far as I know. I know there was a line in the book where Moore mentions Harry Saltzman wanted to start the new film the following year and maybe even mentioned the Orient. I haven't read it in years, but I do recall there being that mention.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Birdleson wrote: »
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    Roger Moore as James Bond: Roger Moore's Own Account of Filming Live and Let Die By Sir Roger Moore.

    I had that paperback in '73 and wore it to death. I have no idea where that (nor any childhood possession) ended up. I can still see the B&W photos in my mind, and even remember a few of Roger's quips ("Guns, Gloria Hendry, Britt Ekland: A schoolboy's dream.").

    I have a copy of the original Roger Moore's account of filming Live and Let Die in Pan paperback somewhere too but never got around to reading it in full. It's odd that he mentions Britt Ekland as she didn't appear in the Bond universe until the following film, The Man with the Golden Gun. Of course I'm not sure exactly when the book originally came out, other than some time in 1973 so maybe he knew who some of the cast of the next Bond film would be considering that The Man with the Golden Gun was released late the following year, the last time two Eon Bond films would be released in consecutive years. I've since bought the new edition of the book released in 2018 with new intros.


    I meant Jane Seymour. Just a mistake, no weird timelines.

    I considered that possibility only after I typed it but was intrigued anyway so I had to ask. I really must give it a read some time. It is a rather unique time capsule from a Bond actor on his first film. We'll probably never see anything like it again.
  • IGotABrudderIGotABrudder UK
    Posts: 631
    Roger’s LALD diary is lovely. I read it when I was aged about ten or eleven I think, and I remember being disappointed that he didn’t write one for TSWLM or MR.

    A book that I don’t think has yet been mentioned is The Many Facets of Diamonds Are Forever, edited by Oliver Buckton, 2019. It’s an academic style thing doing a compare-and-contrast exercise between the novel and the film.
  • Scaramanga1974Scaramanga1974
    Posts: 729
    This thread is just what I needed. Thanks to all.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    Roger's LALD diary didn't impress me. I was a bit disappointed to be honest. Not much Bond trivia and little information about his family. He describes a lot of dinners with many drinks but there aren t much thoughts about his kids. It looks like he spent much more time with alcohol than the family.
    While this diary wasn't as good as I hoped for, I had a great time with his first autobiography “My word is my Bond“. So many great anecdotes.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 14,586
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    QBranch wrote: »
    I have the TND 'technical journal', heaps of props in there.
    Was that a magazine? If so, I bought that one at the time.
    It was a magazine, my friend. And it still is!

    https://d1w8cc2yygc27j.cloudfront.net/-2426330472784562759/-8061769666660845928.jpg
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    QBranch wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    QBranch wrote: »
    I have the TND 'technical journal', heaps of props in there.
    Was that a magazine? If so, I bought that one at the time.
    It was a magazine, my friend. And it still is!

    https://d1w8cc2yygc27j.cloudfront.net/-2426330472784562759/-8061769666660845928.jpg

    Yes, that's the one. Bought it at the time of TND's release. I remember it was an American import. A very good magazine.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,637
    From Russia With Love (BFI Film Classics) by Llewella Chapman.
Sign In or Register to comment.