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Common misconceptions about Bond movies

LudovicoLudovico
edited March 2014 in Bond Movies Posts: 15,117
This thread is about the common misconceptions the general public, but also sometimes the fans, have of Bond movies. Whether it is about Bond as a character or about the franchise, please write them down here, explain where they are from and why they are misconceptions.
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Comments

  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    Posts: 3,157
    Goldfinger's name comes from the fact he's got a gold finger.
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    edited March 2014 Posts: 2,483
    The most obvious is that Bond slides down a laser beam emitted by a rogue satellite to defuse a nuclear bomb secreted away in a volcano situated in an underwater city in every film.

    He only does that every other film. ;)
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    That McCartney's Live and Let Die is a cover of Guns N Roses Live and Let Die. That one always frustrates me!
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,117
    I have two that come to my mind:

    -Every Bond movie has a villain bent on world domination (it only truly happened twice).
    -In every Bond movie there is one "bad" Bond girl.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited March 2014 Posts: 24,179
    Bond "falls in love" in every film.
    The Bond films are synonymous with sexism.
    Connery played Bond in a majority of films.
    Donald Pleasence played Blofeld on several occasions.
    Blofeld is an old man.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    Bond "always gets the girl".
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    Moore's eyebrow being his defining trait. It was a character trait of the Saint, not Bond.
  • StirredNotShakenStirredNotShaken Toronto
    Posts: 2,402
    - Bond is a suave superman. Really, I only felt they did this with Brosnan in TND and perhaps Moore in one or two of his films. There's hints of it with Connery at times but overall I think this is something people play up a bit too much.
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    edited March 2014 Posts: 12,837
    Timothy Dalton got fired because his last film flopped. In reality LTK made 5 times it's budget and Dalton resigned.
    MayDayDiVicenzo wrote:
    That McCartney's Live and Let Die is a cover of Guns N Roses Live and Let Die. That one always frustrates me!

    Never heard that one before. I have met one person who thought that Live and Let Die was a Beatles song though.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    Sean talks like this all the time:

    "Bond, Shames Bond."

    Utter BS that. Not until DAF does the typical "Sh" speak begin to surface.
  • JWESTBROOKJWESTBROOK
    edited March 2014 Posts: 5,745
    "Bond is just for 12 year old boys."

    My biggest frustration is when I tell people I'm a huge Bond fan, I frequently visit a news forum about it, and I sometimes care to write fan fiction about the character. They usually make me out to be weird or joke that I am 12. Then I point out their fascination with Jennifer Lawrence or love of the Marvel movies and they shut up.

    In my opinion, wanting to be a part of something that has 50 years of film history, almost 60+ years of writing history, is known at every corner of the world, and with films that have been seen by over half of the World's living population and been so closely guided by real world events, I'm not just a fan of a few books and movies, I'm a follower of a World movement that has brought generations together under the umbrella of entertainment, and shown the World to not take things so seriously and is one of the best life choices I have ever made.

    It sounds cheesy, but Bond is always there help me get through life, and hopefully always will be.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited June 2021 Posts: 18,270
    I used to have thread on this very subject on CBn Forums in 2004 or so. I'm no longer a member there, however. Here are two that come to mind for now:

    That OHMSS was the first Bond film and that it was filmed in Black and White.

    How can all of the Bond actors be the same person: James Bond?
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    edited March 2014 Posts: 3,157
    thelivingroyale wrote:
    MayDayDiVicenzo wrote:
    That McCartney's Live and Let Die is a cover of Guns N Roses Live and Let Die. That one always frustrates me!

    Never heard that one before. I have met one person who thought that Live and Let Die was a Beatles song though.

    I used to think that!
    JWESTBROOK wrote:
    It sounds cheesy, but Bond is always there help me get through life, and hopefully always will be.

    Nothing weird about that. I had a few really bad moments in my life during which Bond was the only thing to stand by me.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    James Bond is a codename.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    Murdock wrote:
    James Bond is a codename.

    That hypothesis is utter rubbish. It makes me mad each time someone seriously utters that filth.

    X(
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    DarthDimi wrote:
    Murdock wrote:
    James Bond is a codename.

    That hypothesis is utter rubbish. It makes me mad each time someone seriously utters that filth.

    X(

    Agreed. I was randomly checking out IMDB forums and a good chunk of people actually thought it was. ~X(
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    Skyfall should prove them wrong.
    Common sense too. ;-)
  • StirredNotShakenStirredNotShaken Toronto
    Posts: 2,402
    Oh yes. There's a confounding number of people who think the first Bond film is "the one where his wife gets killed."
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    One of the things that always gets me in defensive mode fast is when someone tries to argue that Bond is a heartless sociopath. It's obvious that he isn't for all of us here, but for the Bond uninitiated it seems to be a frequent talking point that they treat as gospel.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    I have to say, I'm not sure a lot of these are 'common' misconceptions, merely misconceptions. Some very niche, at that.
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    Posts: 2,483
    JWESTBROOK wrote:
    "Bond is just for 12 year old boys."

    My biggest frustration is when I tell people I'm a huge Bond fan, I frequently visit a news forum about it, and I sometimes care to write fan fiction about the character. They usually make me out to be weird or joke that I am 12. Then I point out their fascination with Jennifer Lawrence or love of the Marvel movies and they shut up.

    In my opinion, wanting to be a part of something that has 50 years of film history, almost 60+ years of writing history, is known at every corner of the world, and with films that have been seen by over half of the World's living population and been so closely guided by real world events, I'm not just a fan of a few books and movies, I'm a follower of a World movement that has brought generations together under the umbrella of entertainment, and shown the World to not take things so seriously and is one of the best life choices I have ever made.

    It sounds cheesy, but Bond is always there help me get through life, and hopefully always will be.


    You are quite right. Bond's durability and well nigh comprehensive appeal testifies strongly to the genius that lay behind it. And such genius should inspire praise rather than scorn.
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,466
    Some that I know of:
    -OHMSS is the first Bond film (and thus, Connery stars in OHMSS -_-)
    -Craig has done more than 3 films at this point (I know - stupid, but I've heard it before a couple times)
    -There are less than 6 actors to play Bond in the EON series (A lot of casual fans I know usually forget either Lazenby or Dalton or both)
    -Connery has done the most official Bond films (easy to understand why this would be a misconception, but of course, Moore has the leg up on this one)
    -All of the films are silly (this one obviously comes from people who haven't watched any or just the Moore ones, but I've heard it said too many times. To these people, I recommend FRWL, OHMSS, LTK, CR, and QoS)
  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    Posts: 7,653
    FoxRox wrote:
    Some that I know of:
    -All of the films are silly (this one obviously comes from people who haven't watched any or just the Moore ones, but I've heard it said too many times.

    Not a misconception, just a matter of taste in cinematic preferences.

    I know a few people who think like that and they actually prefer arthouse movies and nver watch any of Hollywoods OTT material. I cannot say that they are wrong as their taste and mine is different, and the arthouse movies do offer quite decent entertainment of the different kind.

  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,466
    SaintMark wrote:
    FoxRox wrote:
    Some that I know of:
    -All of the films are silly (this one obviously comes from people who haven't watched any or just the Moore ones, but I've heard it said too many times.

    Not a misconception, just a matter of taste in cinematic preferences.

    I know a few people who think like that and they actually prefer arthouse movies and nver watch any of Hollywoods OTT material. I cannot say that they are wrong as their taste and mine is different, and the arthouse movies do offer quite decent entertainment of the different kind.

    I kind of understand where you're coming from, but I don't know anyone that considers any of the Dalton / Craig movies to be silly who has watched them.

  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    Posts: 2,483
    Birdleson wrote:
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    JWESTBROOK wrote:
    "Bond is just for 12 year old boys."

    My biggest frustration is when I tell people I'm a huge Bond fan, I frequently visit a news forum about it, and I sometimes care to write fan fiction about the character. They usually make me out to be weird or joke that I am 12. Then I point out their fascination with Jennifer Lawrence or love of the Marvel movies and they shut up.

    In my opinion, wanting to be a part of something that has 50 years of film history, almost 60+ years of writing history, is known at every corner of the world, and with films that have been seen by over half of the World's living population and been so closely guided by real world events, I'm not just a fan of a few books and movies, I'm a follower of a World movement that has brought generations together under the umbrella of entertainment, and shown the World to not take things so seriously and is one of the best life choices I have ever made.

    It sounds cheesy, but Bond is always there help me get through life, and hopefully always will be.


    You are quite right. Bond's durability and well nigh comprehensive appeal testifies strongly to the genius that lay behind it. And such genius should inspire praise rather than scorn.

    But would I have this attachment if GOLDFINGER hadn't been the first film I'd seen when I was a tot in 1965? Or if I hadn't read the books in 7th grade? Bond films certainly don't rank individually among my list of greatest films, but it is the series taken as a whole that I love. If I am completely honest with myself, as I am with other films, maybe out of the whole franchise I'd rate three of them as a 4 out of 4, in terms of script, acting, directing, etc. If I had started watching Bond films as an adult I'm not sure that they would have resinated with me. I don't care for other big budget franchises, or action films, much at all. I'm sure that my lifelong obsession, the touchstones that Bond represents, are a big part of my relationship with the franchise and the character. I'm fine with staying in touch with my 12 year old self through Bond.

    I didn't become a serious Bond fan until I was 37, and hadn't even watched all of the films until that age either. Didn't read all the Flemings until age 38. So it is entirely possible for an adult to become fully immersed in the world of Bond, and not because it resonates with one's inner 12-year-old. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that Bond--and the films, too--are far more than mere fodder for adolescents. If they were not, they wouldn't have survived and flourished for so long.

  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    Posts: 7,653
    FoxRox wrote:
    SaintMark wrote:
    FoxRox wrote:
    Some that I know of:
    -All of the films are silly (this one obviously comes from people who haven't watched any or just the Moore ones, but I've heard it said too many times.

    Not a misconception, just a matter of taste in cinematic preferences.

    I know a few people who think like that and they actually prefer arthouse movies and nver watch any of Hollywoods OTT material. I cannot say that they are wrong as their taste and mine is different, and the arthouse movies do offer quite decent entertainment of the different kind.

    I kind of understand where you're coming from, but I don't know anyone that considers any of the Dalton / Craig movies to be silly who has watched them.

    We if the genre is not your taste why would you be bothered with those silly movies of that secret agent called James Bond who was played by several actors of which I know Connery & Moore. But I really couldn't be bothered with the series.

    If people really are not interested in the cinematic style of the 007 genre or actionmovies I would not be surprised that they would not know about the various actors as the ywould not care.

    So I maintain no misconception, just a matter of taste.

  • SoundofthesinnersSoundofthesinners
    Posts: 3,236
    Apart from the ones that have already been mentioned, that we never see exactly what happens to Bond's wife, that Trevelyan actually had a golden eye (along the lines of Goldfinger described earlier), and that Bond is always silly, as in YOLT and TSWLM.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    Walecs wrote:
    Goldfinger's name comes from the fact he's got a gold finger.
    MayDayDiVicenzo wrote:
    That McCartney's Live and Let Die is a cover of Guns N Roses Live and Let Die. That one always frustrates me!
    Soundofthesinners wrote:
    that Trevelyan actually had a golden eye (along the lines of Goldfinger described earlier)

    :)) I've never heard those before! Good stuff.
  • DoubleOhhSevenDoubleOhhSeven
    Posts: 1,778
    -Bond has silly gadgets in every movie.

    -Every movie has to have a Bond girl with a pun or sexual innuendo for a name.

    -Every Bond villain is over-the-top and belongs more in a comic book.
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    Posts: 3,157
    - Skyfall is the last James Bond movie. There won't be any after that.


    I find this so ridicolous, because the movie gives me quite the opposite feeling.
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