007 First Light (PS5)

As a fan of the Hitman games, the idea of IO Interactive tackling a James Bond game sounded like a match made in heaven. Although Bond himself isn’t a mercenary, his status as a secret agent lends itself well to a gameplay style emphasizing infiltration and stealth without undercutting his license to kill. Although IOI made it clear that such a game wouldn’t play exactly like the World of Assassination trilogy, I still felt excited for what they could do with the property, currently under the ownership of Amazon MGM (there’s even an exclusive skin for buying the game through Amazon, naturally). The final game, 007 First Light (First Light), managed to live up to my expectations, capturing the world of James Bond in a new and exciting way. Its cinematic direction, however, is a double-edged sword in places.

Stubs - No Time to Die

No Time to Die (2021) starring Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. Screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Based on James Bond by Ian Fleming.  Produced by Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli. Run time: 163 minutes. United Kingdom/United States Color. Action, Espionage, Romance.

After its release was rescheduled due to COVID, No Time to Die, the new James Bond film, finally made it to screens. The final film to star Daniel Craig, this is in many ways a different sort of Bond film and one that was well worth the wait.

Stubs - Casino Royale (2006)

Casino Royale (2006): Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Jeffrey Wright, Judi Dench. Directed by Martin Campbell. Produced by Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli. Screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Paul Haggis Based on the novel Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (London, 1953).Run Time: 148 min. Color, Germany, Czech Republic, Great Britain, and United States. Espionage, Drama, Action, Adventure

In 2006, after 22 films (counting two non-Eon produced films) and 40 years, the James Bond franchise did something it hadn’t done before, rebooted. Having run through all the Bond novels by 1995, GoldenEye is not based on a novel by Ian Fleming; it was time for something to happen.

Pierce Brosnan, the fifth actor to play Bond had retired from the franchise after four films: GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002). Brosnan had helped to bring the franchise back from the dead, after a six-year hiatus. He knew that it was time for him to move on, which left a void.

Daniel Craig got the role after a search for an actor to play the iconic character. The Bond character is in many ways a relic of the Cold War and while each film up until now had built on the preceding one, the decision was made to update the franchise, change the timeline and, more importantly, to reboot.

Stubs - Casino Royale (1954)

Casino Royale (1954) Starring: Barry Nelson, Peter Lorre, Linda Christian, Michael Pate. Directed by William H. Brown Jr. Teleplay by Anthony Ellis and Charles Bennett. Based on the novel Casino Royale by Ian Fleming. Produced by Bretaigne Windust. Run Time: 50 minutes. USA Black and White. Television, Drama, Espionage

Whenever there is a new actor announced to play James Bond, there are always comparisons to those that went before. When Daniel Craig was signed on for the role in Casino Royale (2006), he was inevitably compared with Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Sean Connery. But what about the first actor to portray the character, Barry Nelson?