James Bond: The Legacy 007

Unfortunately, this is the ultimate, but not the definitive. Not with the ongoing series, as a matter of fact, Bond 21 has just been announced, and it has a name and a director already, despite the fact that producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson don't have a man for the job at hand! But never mind, this is the kind of book that never gets out of date, it is brilliantly written, not only full of exciting pictures from the series and from behind the scenes, as well, but also, and foremost, it is filled with all the details a hardcore Bond fan would ever dream of. A true LABOR OF LOVE. The authors are well renowned historians, responsible for the DVD's documentaries, and the outcome are amazing. A very comprehensive book, depicting political, social and economics facts that were intertwined with the films. One of its most memorable deeds, and remarkable strength is the fact that it comprised not only the official films, but also, the two spin-offs of the series, considered, by many, as "bastards", namely, CASINO ROYALE (1967) and NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN. It also includes some breefing on the american TV broadcasting BBC production as of 1954, CASINO ROYALE, starred by Barry Nelson. Don't miss out on this one, it is sure a well addition to any Bond lover as well as movie buffs all around.

As a historian/biographer, I like to read the works of writers who have done their homework. Bruce Scivally and John Cork have done a first-rate job with this book. Simply fascinating. A must read.

First of all, let me begin by saying that I have too many books, movies, tapes, laser discs, etc., about James Bond, dating back to the 1950's. Some good, some not so good. These include autobiographies that seem to tout a personal agenda, books that push the author's point of view, and this book, a gift from my wife. JAMES BOND: THE LEGACY is the best one of all. It does not try to be everything, but it does succeed in giving the reader a thorough background into the writings of Ian Fleming and the production history and methods of Broccoli and Saltzman.As one who has literally "read it all" about Bond, I found this book to be a refreshing read, that made me look forward to every page. While there was some "old" news that had been hashed and rehashed, I was surprised at the "new" information I was not aware of. While it is not inexpensive, it is a quality book that speaks of the conspicious consumption that its name sake employed, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes the Bond movies, or just wants to know the history of action movies in the last half of the 20th century.

Someone somewhere must have remembered how much I enjoyed the Bond films during my college days. I devoured the un-PC books and stood in line for the films. Since the days of Roger Moore, my interest waned. When I got this book, I thought, "I haven't even seen all these films!" I even missed this lates one at the theaters. After looking though the first few chapters (reading captions, looking at the photos), I decided one afternoon to read a bit of the text (awaiting the DSL installer for hours on end). Suddenly, it was like I was a kid again. I found myself re-living all the excitment of those great early Bond films and learning a lot I didn't know. Sure enough, over the next few weeks, I plowed through this book. What a joy to read! The Bond films are traced through the history of the past 40 years (50 if you include the novels, and this book does, thankfully give some space to those). I would have been bored silly if the book had been just a fan's guide to who is who and what film had what gadget. The thing I enjoyed here was the way the book looks beyond the films at popular culture, politics, world events. I found some of the most interesting parts to be about some of the films I haven't even seen. It is a satisfying mix of behind-the-scenes battles, modern history, and film criticism. When I recieved this book, I never expected to read it. I did, and I am glad I did. Now I need to see the rest of the Bond films.

There have been a lot of books written about the James Bond films and phenomenon; I should know because I've read them all! That's why I feel uniquely qualified and very confident in saying that this latest book (written by the two gentlemen who produced the special edition James Bond DVDs) is without a doubt THE best book yet written about the James Bond films! If you're baffled as to which book to add to you movie library, look no further because here you will find information and photos that you will not find anywhere else.What makes this book so good? Well, first off, it's HUGE in size! A great coffee table book to be sure. The graphic layout is extremely well done and all the films are given equal time (not the case with some of the other books which tend to fixate on the Connery era). Also, for the first time in any official publication, we have coverage of the two "unofficial" James Bond films: NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN and CASINO ROYALE. Up until now these two "rogue" films have been missing from all official publications for legal reasons. JAMES BOND THE LEGACY is the first book to be published after MGM took ownership of these films, so now we are able to learn the fascinating stories of how they came to be made and, most interestingly, how they impacted and influenced the official series. Great stuff!But what I like most about JAMES BOND THE LEGACY is how the authors look at each film within the historical context of when it was made. They focus not only on what was going on with the Bond producers at the time, but also what was going on in the world; what socio-political and even cinematic trends the Bond films were keying into. This really brings a new understanding to each film and helps explain why James Bond has endured while other "pop culture spies" (Matt Helm, Derek Flint, xXx :)) failed to connect beyond their time and have long since disappeared. Most people think James Bond films are "all the same", but you will discover here that they are not. In this book I learned how throughout its amazing 20-year history the Bond filmmakers made subtle--and sometimes very bold--changes in the tone of the series and to the character of James Bond himself. This is much more than a simple look at the production and plot of each film, this is a major work on one of the most famous fictional characters of the 20th century. Oh, and the book also gives a detailed look at the new Bond movie, DIE ANOTHER DAY, with some pictures that lead me to believe this could be the best Bond movie of them all! This alone makes it stand above the rest as definitive.JAMES BOND THE LEGACY is a must buy for all James Bond fans and anyone interested in 20th century popular culture. Again, if you buy just one book about James Bond, make it this one.