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My own Bond moment came the first time I read one of the books, aged 13 or 14. It was Dr No in the film tie-in cover, and I got it for the princely sum of 10p from the charity book basket at the Happy Shopper up the road from my parents' house.
As a teenage boarding-school inmate, I fell in love instantly with this glamorous, retro world, its foreign travel and its amazing food (boarding-school makes you very interested in decent food). And, sure, fell a bit in love with Bond while I was at it.
I owned that copy until last year, when I finally replaced it with one that wasn't falling to pieces in my hands. I still feel slightly like a traitor for getting rid.
Goldfinger was the first time I sat down and felt compelled to watch Bond seriously, but I didn't feel love then. During the summer after I committed myself to pursuing Bond I got all the Connery films on DVD, deciding those were the ones to see before all the rest. Naturally, I had to start with Dr. No.
While I was watching this alluring British man race around an island taking out his foes-both male and female-with strategy, raw physicality and daring, I imagine that's the moment it clicked for me. A feeling of, Where has this been all my life? must've arisen. That started it all, and I've never looked back.
I have grown up in Southbourne partly, first few years, and then my complete teenage years again with my British father Jack.
I wonder if we have been at the Odeon at the same film you and I :smiley: wouldn't that be cool.
We may never know for sure - but let's assume that's what happened :)
I was hooked.
Granted, in retrospect, it is very cheesy. But as a young nipper, it was epic.
I think it's Pierce's delivery that kills that one, unfortunately. His strange shouting just comes off badly. Sean or Roger would've killed in a moment like that, as they'd have kept their delivery calm and in command without yelling the line to high heaven in such an awkward fashion. In Pierce's defense, Tim and Dan would've been too earnest to pull it off in much the same way. Only the lovable rogues of Sean and Roger could get away with anything remotely similar.
The films that made a major impression on me as a kid were LALD & TMWTGG. The latter may very well have been the first Bond film I saw, if memory serves me correctly. Moore was the coolest guy I'd seen on tv, I loved the score, the holiday like locations & the colourful villains.
I remember my parents recommending that I watch Connery (who they believed was definitive - both thought Moore was more suited to the Saint). The first Connery film I remember watching with them was FRWL, and I disliked it immensely. Then they showed me YOLT and I really enjoyed it, but still wasn't too keen on Sean (too rough & not quite cool enough, I remember thinking).
I saw all the other films after that, and TSWLM became my favourite. It held the top spot until about 15 years ago, when FRWL, TB & eventually CR went ahead of it in my rankings.
A fitting metaphor for life.
One of the most significant mental images I still have from my childhood movie-watching experience is Bond and Necros desperately grabing onto the net as they slid outside the plane. For whatever reason I vividly remember seeing that scene in the theater.