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20 Ways James Bond Has Evolved Over the Years: Then vs. Now

He has gone from sleazy horndog to respectful horndog.

20 Ways James Bond Has Evolved Over the Years: Then vs. Now

August 02, 2022

You know, the very best description of James Bond continues to be the one that M gives in he had to eventually.

The point is that Bond has evolved. The character, his novels, and his movies have changed a lot throughout seven decades, and we’re big fans of his awful, just fried chicken) See? Our dad bod is absolutely justifiable, former girlfriend reading this.

20

Origins

James Bond Then vs. Now COUNTRY HAIR CASINO ROYALE Ian Fleming Enter James Bond- Secret Agent! From weird novels to huge franchise. 2'6 Starting in 1953, lan Fleming wrote 14 James Bond books (which are incredibly wilder than the movies). After 1962's Dr. No, the series of adaptations would slowly but steadily grow into the fifth highest grossing movie franchise ever. CRACKED.COM — Source: 5 Ways James Bond Was WAY More Insane In The Books

19

Actors

James Bond Then vs. Now The Bonds 007 has been played by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. But a complete list must include David Niven, and also Barry Nelson, who played Bond on TV eight years before Dr. No. CRACKED.COM — Source: Wikipedia

18

Movies

James Bond Then vs. Now The (27) movies There have been 25 official Bond movies produced by Eon Productions-and also two non-official ones: 1967's Casino Royale, a parody starring Larry Niven, and 1983's Never Say Never Again, with an aging Connery (based on the same novel as Thunderball). CRACKED.COM — Source: Wikipedia

17

Highs and Lows

James Bond Then vs. Now Highs and lows Some of the very best Bond movies are 1964's Goldfinger, 1963's From Russia with Love, 1962's Dr. No, 2006's Casino Royale, 1965's Thunderball, 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me, and 1995's Goldeneye. The worst? 1985's A View to Kill, 1974's The Man with the Golden Gun, and 2002's Die Another Day. CRACKED.COM — Source: Rotten Tomatoes

16

Bond Tenures

James Bond Then vs. Now 7 1 7 4 5 2 movies Tenures Connery played Bond from 1962 to 1971, and then again in 1981. Lazenby played him just once, in 1969. Moore, from 1972 to 1985. Dalton played him twice, in 1987 and 1989. Brosnan was Bond 1995 to 2002, while Craig lasted from 2006 to 2021. CRACKED.COM — Source: Wikipedia

15

Fun Adventures

James Bond Then vs. Now From adventuring to brooding The movies used to be just about exotic locations, fun spy action, and beautiful women. Sadly, Daniel Craig's 007 went from tortured rookie to tortured veteran, and could never actually enjoy the adventurous life of James Bond. CRACKED.COM — More: The Real Problem With The James Bond Franchise

14

Gadgets

James Bond Then vs. Now The gadgets After Q was introduced in 1963's From Russia with Love, Bond would go on to have exploding toothpaste, a jetpack, a shark-exploding pellet, an alligator submarine, a rocket cigarette, a rocket launcher boombox, and even snorkeling gear disguised as a seagull. CRACKED.COM — Sources: TotalNtertainment, Digital Trends

13

Villains

James Bond Then vs. Now The villains Bond villains have gone from mad scientists to mad capitalists, with everything in between. Some of the best are From Russia With Love's Red Grant, Goldfinger's Goldfinger, Goldeneye's Xenia Onatopp, and of course, Blofeld. The list of awful baddies includes The Spy Who Loved Me's Karl Stromberg and No Time to Die's Safin. Yeah, sorry, Safin was lame. CRACKED.COM — Source: 12 Lamest James Bond Villains

12

Bond Girls

James Bond Then vs. Now The Bond girls You know what? We won't be listing best and worst Bond girls, as we'd be only adding to the exact problem of the entire concept. Luckily, the Brosnan and Craig entries made them cool, witty, and kick ass, rather than just pretty dolls for Bond to conquer. CRACKED.COM — Sources: Screen Rant, Options

11

Consent

James Bond Then vs. Now Learning consent Bond has always been a womanizing horndog, but there's been some character development going on. In Thunderball and Goldfinger, Bond does not care about consent, with yikes results. By No Time to Die, however, he takes rejection like a charming champ. CRACKED.COM — Source: The Guardian

10

Music

James Bond Then vs. Now The music 007's iconic song was created by Monty Norman, with John Barry being the other great composer of the series. In the pop department, great artists have provided killer theme songs: Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Duran Duran, Tina Turner, Garbage, Jack White, Billie Eilish, and Sam Smith. CRACKED.COM — Source: Wikipedia

9

Bond's a cash machine that doesn't care where the cash comes from

Bond movies have drawn inspiration from Hitchcock, Blaxploitation, '80s buddy cop movies, and Hong Kong action cinema. Moonraker famously copied Star Wars, and of course, the Craig movies would not exist without Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy and the Bourne franchise. — Source: The A.V. Club

8

Tone

James Bond Then vs. Now The tonal shifts We're used to the gritty Craig films, But only the Dalton movies got close to such a somber and violent style before. Brosnan brought in '90s action movie glamor, while Moore played on the winking goofiness way too much. Lazenby added the trauma of Bond's wife being murdered to the gold standard of suspenseful escapism set by Connery. CRACKED.COM — Sources: Screen Rant, Screen Rant

7

Q

James Bond Then vs. Now Q Desmond Llewelyn played Q in seventeen movies, with his last appearance in The World Is Not Enough coinciding with John Cleese as R. In the Craig era, the classic character was portrayed by Ben Whishaw. CRACKED.COM — Source: Wikipedia

6

Character Arc

James Bond Then vs. Now From episodic adventures to a character arc George Lazenby's Bond was in just one movie, but made a major contribution: the murder of Bond's wife. This ended up planting the seed for the main feature of the Daniel Craig movies: not just their continuity, but specifically a character arc. CRACKED.COM — Source: Screen Rant

5

Gun Barrel

James Bond Then vs. Now The gun barrel sequence The sequence for 1962's Dr. No was created in 20 minutes. Designer Maurice Binder made a pinhole camera to properly shoot through an actual gun barrel, and the thing was filmed with a goofy-looking stand-in for Sean Connery. CRACKED.COM — Source: Wikipedia, Renderly/YouTube

4

James Bond

James Bond Then vs. Now The parodies Predictably, the '60s were chock-full of Bond parodies: Casino Royale, the Matt Helm movies starring Dean Martin, and even one with Sean Connery's actual brother. And more recently, of course, we have the Austin Powers and Johnny English franchises. CRACKED.COM — Source: Wikipedia

3

Oscars

James Bond Then vs. Now Academy Awards Yes, the Bond movies have won Oscars. Goldfinger for Sound Editing, Thunderball for Special Visual Effects, Spectre and No Time To Die for Original Song, and Skyfall won two: Sound Editing and Original Song. CRACKED.COM — Source: Bond Lifestyle

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2

New Novels

James FOREVER Bond Then vs. Now AND A DAY Expanding on the novels Authors other than lan Fleming have expanded Bond's literary canon. John Gardner wrote 16 novels between 1981 and 1996, and Raymond Benson other 12 between 1996 and 2002. The current run is written by Anthony Horowitz, and there's also the Young Bond and The Moneypenny Diaries series. A JAMES BOND NOVEL CRACKED.COM — Source: Wikipedia

1

Action

James Bond Then vs. Now From boring action to parkour Classic Bond features nice car chases, but clumsy fight scenes. Dalton brought '80s brutality, and the action early Brosnan looks out of martial arts movie. The Craig films give us parkour, sleek editing, and (finally) Bond-worthy action. CRACKED.COM — More: James Bond Is Objectively The Worst Action Hero

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