What got you into Bond?

2

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  • Posts: 1,296
    I read Dr No, Goldfinger, and some of the other books, then I played AUF und watched NSNA.

    The rest is history!
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 8,399
    IGUANNA wrote: »
    I read Dr No, Goldfinger, and some of the other books, then I played AUF und watched NSNA.

    The rest is history!

    That's a great anecdote!
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    edited September 2016 Posts: 28,694
    @IGUANNA, it's interesting that your first Bond film isn't even considered a Bond film. A fascinating and unique way of getting into the franchise, I must say.
  • edited September 2016 Posts: 1,296
    Thanks guys. :) I am a stronger storyteller in the realm of fiction than fact, but I hope it was anecdotal enough.

    @Brady, I didn't even notice the gunbarrel was missing, and my pathway to fandom made me like the character more than any particular movie or actor. You should read all the Fleming books before Christmas, I dont't think you have gotten around to it yet, if I'm not mistaken sorry if I am.
  • Posts: 1,296
    Have you read the books yet?
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    Posts: 2,252
    It's kinda related to first memory of Bond isn't it?

    1118full-chuck-farrell.jpg
  • Posts: 1,296
    Thanks. :)
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    w2bond wrote: »
    It's kinda related to first memory of Bond isn't it?

    1118full-chuck-farrell.jpg

    This was me the first time I finished watching GE.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    The one and only Fleming Bond Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights
  • I'm almost ashamed to say it was GoldenEye on the N64! But I guess that's true for a bunch of people.
    I loved the game so much I decided to check out the movie, then I rented all the VHS movies at Blockbuster (in a completely backwards order too)
    That was what I call a JAMES BOND SUMMER!
    The first one I actually saw in the theatre was TND, and the rest was history!
  • KaijuDirectorOO7KaijuDirectorOO7 Once Upon a Time Somewhere...
    Posts: 189
    The two-part Mythbusters James Bond Special, and The Spy Who Loved Me.
  • Posts: 16,167
    For me it was the summer of '83. An airing of DR NO on ABC did the trick. I had seen MR with my folks when it was released and TSWLM on HBO with my Dad countless times. Also I remember ABC airings of DAF, FRWL and TB . But the M scene in DR NO when Bond is issued his PPK followed by the great Mr Jones encounter pretty much hooked me on 007. The following weekend my folks took me so see OP, and I loved it. Also it was then I learned Sean was coming back later in the year. Very cool time to become a Bond fan.
  • saunderssaunders Living in a world of avarice and deceit
    Posts: 987
    I knew of James Bond and the films and had even seen a couple on VHS (DN and TSWLM), a trip to Amberley chalk pits in 1985 just after they had finished filming scenes of AVTAK inspired a nine year old me to nag my parents into letting me see the film when it came out in the cinema, but to my shame, I didn't really like it that much, it seemed really borring ( mind you it was AVTAK so maybe I was already a true hardcore fan in the making). I guess the moment I consciously became a fan was a couple of years later while watching a film one Saturday afternoon that bizarrely wasn't even Bond, it was The Return Of The Man From Uncle and at the start it had a cameo with James Bond. I was awestruck by this guy so much cooler and handsome than the films main characters Solo and Kuryakin, and with an awesome trick car. I didn't know which Bond it was but guessed it must be Connery (it was Lazenby!) and I made it my goal to watch more James Bond, the very next one to be shown on ITV was the classic OHMSS (guess that's why I'm a big Lazenby fan!) followed by a trip to the cinema to see the equally classic TLD, the rest as they say, is history...
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Several things got me into Bond. Earliest memory is a James Bond comic strip magazine in my dad s comic book chest from 1970. River of Death by Lawrence and Horak with a picture from OHMSS on the inner sleeve. Bond being threatened with a knife by Che Che in the car.

    Then Geoff Love s instrumental rendition of DAF with the cool bass line teased me somewhat, on a record that also featured Also Sprach Zarathustra and the Godfather Waltz, to name those who stood out for all eternity.

    After that I remember seeing clips from TMWTGG (Scaramanga s flying car) on tv. I was 8, so that was awesome! (Still is).

    Later, when everyone, including my mom and aunt were raving about TSWLM in 77,and seeing the Bond/Jaws fight on the train on tv, I really started to get intrigued.

    In 81, I finally got to see FYEO on the big screen, and shortly thereafter OHMSS and GF at the same cinema.

    The year after, I bought Goldfinger by Ian Fleming for my school book money, and spent after school hours at the library, alternating reading Bond books, with music and news mags.

    After that, I hunted down the rest of the books at second hand shops, and watched the rest of the films on VHS or reruns in the cinema. I miss the days when old films still got shown regularly at the cinema. That hardly ever happens anymore.
  • edited September 2016 Posts: 503
    Truth is , I honestly can't remember , apart from a vague memory of watching Goldfinger on TV.
  • Posts: 1,296
    I must be one the only person in my generation who was introduced to Bond through the books.
  • BMW_with_missilesBMW_with_missiles All the usual refinements.
    Posts: 3,000
    Growing up, I actually thought spy stuff was really stupid. It was the TV show Alias that changed my opinion on that (funny, because I can't stand the show now). My first experience with Bond was the game Goldeneye N64, but it was Agent Under Fire on the PS2 that really got me hooked. After playing that game, I just had to see the movies. The NBC program Chuck also wet my appetite for Bond.
  • Posts: 1,296
    Thanks for sharing @Thunderfinger!

    so many Bond medias, I was never that fussed about the movies when I was a kid.
  • ShardlakeShardlake Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
    edited September 2016 Posts: 4,043
    My Dad's LP's he had some of the soundtracks on vinyl, I remember OHMSS, The Best of Bond & LALD and then he'd bought SWLM just before he took us to see it. He also bought MR when it came out.

    His copies got seriously mistreated by me but I've now replicated them in my record collection, I have all the Barry scores, LALD & SWLM on vinyl.

    SWLM was my first experience of the films and on the big screen, since then I've seen them all on original release bar OP,for some reason we didn't go and see it and I caught it on rental.

    TV would have been where I got to see Bond outside of that, although as I said in another thread, you were lucky if you got more than 1 or 2 screened a year.

    They certainly showed one at Christmas but they certainly weren't a series of them like you get now, Bond on TV was a rarity and a treat.

    As for literary I've read a few of them but although I appreciate them returning to literary source for the films, it's always been the visual and aural aspect of James Bond that has been the drive of my fandom.

    I'd like to say I'm a student of Fleming but I'd be lying if I said that.

    Also I'm not as enamoured with all the entries as some, the Barry scores if I had to nail down the one element that has endured for me and is my all time favourite aspect of the Bond series period.

    The Brosnan era put the brakes on my love of the series, I still caught them at the cinema but with none of the excitement of old. CR definitely kick started the passion again and I was chomping at the bit for SPECTRE.

    I'm hoping it's just a bump in the road and I will get enthusiastic again about more Bond films, I'm certainly going to be more cautious going into Bond 25 than I have been since before 2006.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    Well in brief it was ITV/UTV showing the Bond films in the 1990s (c. 1993?) that got me into James Bond. The first films I saw were Live and Let Die, Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever and The Man with the Golden Gun. From there I got into the books (bought my first two in 1995) and the rest, as they say, is history.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    GoldenEye for the N64.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    A newly released VHS copy of You Only Live Twice. The one with the "Looking for a little peace and quiet..." Dr No to Licence To Kill trailer before the film. My dad came home from work with this VHS tape that I had no idea of. Little did I know that it would pull me into a world, that 20 years later (not to mention more £££££'s than I would want to count), I would still have an interest in.
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    edited September 2016 Posts: 10,591
    A newly released VHS copy of You Only Live Twice. The one with the "Looking for a little peace and quiet..." Dr No to Licence To Kill trailer before the film. My dad came home from work with this VHS tape that I had no idea of. Little did I know that it would pull me into a world, that 20 years later (not to mention more £££££'s than I would want to count), I would still have an interest in.
    "Didn't think so." Those were great! I still have a few that survived multiple moves throughout the years.
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 8,399
    Yeah, for me it was Goldeneye. I saw it on TV and tried to tape it but something went wrong with the recording. Luckily someone who lived nearby had recorded it, and I borrowed the tape. By the time I gave it back it was quite worn out!

    This wasn't my very first experience though. In the UK they used to have a James Bond season in the summer, once a week in the evening. It was usually the last thing I was allowed to watch before bed. I remember watching LALD and OP, and for some reason LTK. Strangely enough I seem to remember watching LTK on TV several times throughout my childhood. It always seemed to be on at half one in the afternoon, which doesn't really make sense considering it's the most violent one.
  • edited September 2016 Posts: 2,107
    My father. We had a couple of Bond's on vhs tapes back in the day. Then when I was old enough I began to see the movies in the cinema. Skipped Goldeneye for some reason as I was old enough that I could have seen it in the cinema. Guess I forgot they were releasing Bond movies , because of the six year break between the movies.But since TND I've seen them in cinema. Watched each CraigBond a couple of times while they had their run.
  • TLD. The sense of adventure, thrills and espionage swept me away. The chemistry between Kara and Bond was extremely strong - so much so that the scene where Kara drugs Bond had an acute effect on me. I thought that when Bond took his gun out he was going to shoot himself in the head. I will always remember that when I see that scene.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    edited September 2016 Posts: 7,314
    My father introduced me to Bond when I was very young. He's been a fan since the 60's. Not quite up to our level here, but more knowledgeable than the average cinemagoer. He was a teenager when Goldfinger first came out and it absolutely blew him away. He hasn't missed one since. His favorite will always be Connery, of course, but interestingly enough he also loves Brosnan. He could never 100% get behind Moore's portrayal (wouldn't be the first time we disagreed on something!) because he always identified him as being The Saint. He thinks Lazenby, Dalton and Craig range from okay to pretty good.

    Anyway, Bond movies were on our television from as far back as I can remember. I wish I could remember which one I saw first, but sadly, it all blends together. My first Bond in the theater was AVTAK. We went as a family. I was only six and I might not have completely understood everything that was going on, but I loved every second of it. Throughout the 80's, I started taping the films off television (mostly TBS) and of course saw TLD and LTK when they came out.

    I entered high school during the six year gap. I read the novels and certainly developed a better appreciation and understanding of the character. Once i got my own money, I started collecting the VHS tapes, soundtracks, posters, books, anything I could find really. GoldenEye came out during my senior year. It was so exciting to have Bond back again. There truly was a buzz in the air. It still remains one of the best cinema experiences of my lifetime.

    During the Brosnan era, and I think even CR, I saw the films with friends and then, eventually, my wife, who eventually became my ex wife. I think it was QoS when I wanted to catch them with my dad again. It's a nice little tradition we have seeing them together again. Hey, you have to spend time together while you still can. Besides, that way I have an excuse to see the new Bond film more than once. For SF and SP, I saw it with the girlfriend on first viewing.
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    Posts: 2,252
    Shardlake wrote: »
    Also I'm not as enamoured with all the entries as some, the Barry scores if I had to nail down the one element that has endured for me and is my all time favourite aspect of the Bond series period.

    Yes people often don't give him enough credit. He makes films like DAF very enjoyable. And also makes up for the visually unappealing 80's. Score and plot is what's missing from the current era (90's-)

  • stagstag In the thick of it!
    Posts: 1,053
    Like most folks I just had a passing interest in the films when I was a kid. What really got me into Bond however was when I was bequeathed a full set of Fleming novels. I only read Casino Royale out of some sense of duty to my late friend but I was hooked from thereon in & avidly devoured the rest of the series. I'm unsure how many times I've re - read them since. Now I find it more convenient to listen to the audiobooks.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited September 2016 Posts: 7,134
    The World Is Not Enough was my first Bond film when I was 11. Then we got the whole VHS set, the black and orange one. I watched them all from DN-TND.

    Became obsesessed with them as a teenager. Around 18 became a massive film fan as a consequence. In my early 20's the next step was cinephile.

    All my passions in life started with Bond, now that I think of it.
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