The Bond Files

Whatever its flaws, this book fills a gap: it covers the films, the books, the comic books, and the James Bond Junior tv series from the early nineties. I have no use for the last two but I`m glad somebody compiled this information and enjoyed reading about the comic books and how Fleming`s original stories were expanded (e.g. “The Hildebrand Rarity” foreshadows the film versions of “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “For Your Eyes Only”).

Some of the information I`d only read here for the first time: apparently film director Andre de Toth (“House Of Wax”) directed minor parts of the film “Thunderball”. It briefly recounts the second plagiarism lawsuit EON faced over “The Spy Who Loved Me” filed by “Thunderbirds” producer Gerry Anderson. Bond has a cameo in the novel “John Steed – An Authorised Biography, Volume One – Jealous In Honour” (by Tim Heald – though the book doesn`t bother to tell us Heald`s first name – I had to look that up myself.) George Lazenby was supposedly paid an advance to do “Diamonds Are Forever” but had to pay it back. Live And Let Die`s pre-credit sequence was truncated; it originally showed the Italian escapade where Bond met Miss Caruso. “Never Say Never Again” was to have had a proper pre-credit sequence (involving a horse chase through a car park).

But I have reservations about taking some of the information at face value because there are so many careless errors: they try to reconcile what year the novels/stories take place and make many mistakes; they mention the Geoffrey Jenkins Bond novel “Per Fine Ounce” (good for them!), but claim that the title was unknown. Well, no. They don`t seem to be aware of the Fleming short story “007 In New York” or the two incomplete stories Fleming left behind when he died (no mention either of “Take Over”, which should have been right up their alley); they claim that “Octopussy” was first published with “The Property Of A Lady”, then later reprinted with “The Living Daylights” – it`s the other way around. Robert Rietty didn`t dub Gert Frobe`s voice in “Goldfinger”. Michael Collins did. There were at least two different scripts during the 1990-1993 interim, and Roger Spottiswoode was asked to direct the one dealing with the Hong Kong handover. It also claims that “Tomorrow Never Dies” was at one time known as “Aquator” – just an erroneous internet rumour. (At times the research is so sketchy as to be no better than newsgroup standards. There are some interesting observations about the books and films, but not enough. Likewise, the authors should list what chapter the mistakes and quotes come from.)
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They also briefly mention Warhead, but not the two unfilmed Timothy Dalton Bond projects (including “The Property Of A Lady”). The book also features a section called “Lines To Flick Past” recounting some of the worst writing in the books – admittedly the Bond novels have some doozies (though they don`t include my favourites). But other than that, there aren`t many critical comments. The authors claim up front that they don`t have to be nice because their book isn`t authorized. Yet the book is so bereft of critical comments that you`d think it was authorized. I don`t care too much if I agree with them (or if they`re right), rather, knowing how they feel about each entity gives me a better appreciation of each book and film. Despite that professional nobodies believe, namely that we must stop critics who have too much power, criticism is crucial. For that reason, the authors should include extensive critical comments in subsequent editions.

The book has its limitations – the authors should include more research if they ever publish an updated edition – but for the price, have a flip through, and strongly consider buying it. It`s incredibly readable and entertaining – I stayed up all night reading it, unable to put it down.