The first Bond movie. An instant classic in one sense, as it propelled James Bond from the pulpy pages of Ian Fleming’s spy novels (which were a favorite of JFK, by the way) on to the silver screen. It also turned Sean Connery from a relative unknown into a major star. Up to that point, his most high profile movie might have been Disney’s live action leprechaun movie “Darby O’Gill and the Little People” (hint: he was neither Darby nor a little person)
But Dr. No, apart from being the first, has very little in common with later Bond films. In fact, Bond virgins out there? Don’t watch Dr. No first just because it was the first one. Watch Goldfinger first. Because if you make that mistake, you likely won’t make it either to From Russia With Love or Goldfinger.
However, it does have a lot of things going for it. One, it establishes many of the tropes that became so familiar to us with Bond. The score. That iconic Bond theme. The title sequence. -pHeDw” target=”_blank”>The gunbarrel sequence! It all started here. As did the inclusion of what has become known as “Bond Girls” with Ursula Andress as Honey Rider. It also sets up what will be the backdrop of many of Bond’s adventures for the coming decades with the introduction, albeit briefly, of the criminal organization SPECTRE. Bond receives his iconic Walther PPK pistol. Main characters who pop up in different Bond movies, like Q, and Felix Leiter, a CIA agent (and probably the best incarnation of him until 2006’s Casino Royale). And the events of Dr. No certainly influence the plot of its sequel, From Russia With Love. (although, ironically, in the timeline of the novels, Dr. No occurs after From Russia With Love).
If you are going to watch this, the absolute best way is on the newly released Blu-ray set. The picture is gorgeous. I remember watching this for the first time on VHS back in the ’90s and just being unimpressed because it didn’t look very good– it looked like an old move. With the digital restoration you can really enjoy some of the cinematic work here.
And now, to complain. If Dr. No suffers from one thing, it is kind of boring. For one, you don’t actually meet Dr. No until over an hour and thirty minutes into the movie. Oh, and did I mention it’s also on the long side? But you want to stay awake, as it picks up a bit more in the second half– after they finally get to Dr. No’s island and Honey Rider shows up. It’s also missing an iconic theme song, which is somewhat made up for by liberal use of the Bond theme. But it’s kind of jarring when the title sequence turns into a calypso version of Three Blind Mice (you’ll see why in a minute). I know the first time I saw it I thought, “I thought we were watching James Bond. WTF is this?” Again, patience.
A lot of people complain about the lack of action sequences, and I can see that, but we also have to remember this film was done under a very low budget- under $1 million dollars. And again, I’d point to Goldfinger, a film with very few of the big-spectacle-stuff-blowing-up action sequences that become commonplace in later Bond films. Lack of action sequences didn’t make this any less of a movie any more than the ones in Thunderball or Die Another Day made them any better. But a lot of people go into Bond expecting huge explosions. . . so set your expectations accordingly.
Regardless of that, Dr. No is overall pretty good. I’ll take its seriousness and low budget sensibilities over some of the later campy Bond movies from Roger Moore or reckless and stupid Bond flicks from Pierce Brosnan any day. And worse case scenario, you’ve got Sean Connery as Bond.
And now, some minutae. There is a great scene in here where they try to assassinate Bond with a deadly tarantula (in the novel it was a centipede) and I couldn’t help think about the similarities to Star Wars Ep II: Attack of the Clones. Sure, it wouldn’t be the only nod George Lucas made to other influential films, but I think this might be worth watching through that lens.
Overall, I put Dr. No at a slightly above average for the entire series of Bond films. While it is not in my top 5 favorites, it most certainly is not in my bottom 10. And probably one every Bond virgin should see among their first 5 or 6 films. Just because it was the first.
2 1/2 vodka martinis
Tomorrow: From Russia With Love