Dr. No (1962)

Director: Terence Young

Starring: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: 007 The double "O" means he has a license to kill when he chooses...where he chooses...whom he chooses!

Plot: James Bond's investigation of a missing colleague in Jamaica leads him to the island of the mysterious Dr. No and a scheme to end the US space program.



My Rating: 8/10

Would I watch it again? Yep

A buddy of mine confessed to me recently that he'd only seen a small handful of the Bond pictures and since he's been reading the novels (which kick ass, btw) he'd like to see them all. So we're watching them from the beginning in chronological order. About a year and a half ago or so I had watched them all (again) but I, for the most part, really dig the Bond pictures so I'm always up for it.

For anyone familiar with some of Connery's Bond pictures but not this one then you'll probably be disappointed. In a lot of ways it's different. It wasn't until two pictures later with GOLDFINGER (1964) did the film makers get the formula perfected so in DR. NO there are no gadgets, a minimal amount of one-liners (compared to the subsequent pictures), no opening credits with silhouetted naked broads, no vocal theme song, and Bond isn't bangin' broads left and right. That doesn't mean that it isn't a solid spy thriller, though. It's still a lot of fun.


It's a great introduction to Bond. I'm not going to get into much detail about all of these films because so much has been written and I just don't have the time when I've got a backlog of still over 40 films that I've seen this year and still haven't gotten to writing about. I'll just list my likes and dislikes and leave it at that.

One thing that's remained constant throughout the series is the character of M (played here by Bernard Lee and lasting to his death shortly after MOONRAKER (1979)). He's a badass and doesn't take shit or is fooled by anyone. There's a nice little scene in the beginning where M is telling Bond he's no longer allowed to carry a Walther PPK pistol. Bond places it on his desk while he's being outfitted with another pistol. After the exchange and Bond has been briefed on his next assignment Bond slyly palms the weapon while M is busy reading and, a couple of minutes later when you think it's been forgotten about and Bond is on the way out, M casually makes a comment to Bond to please return the weapon to his desk. It's a nice touch and handled with class and precision.

Another nice touch is when a local baddie, Strangways, is sent by Doctor No to kill bond with a large tarantula spider. As Bond sleeps the spider is released in his hotel room and eventually finds its way to Bond's exposed body. He awakens as he feels the spider crawling up his body. He show a little fear but it's mostly caution with lots of calm as to not endanger himself more. Once the spider has crawled off him and onto the pillow Bond leaps out of bed picking up his shoe and BEATS THE LIVING SHIT OUT IT. And even though the first blow was enough to kill it he continues for FOUR more showing us that he was genuinely afraid. NICE!!! It's a rare moment to see Bond, in any film, afraid of anything much less a tarantula. So when you see something like this you tend to savor it a bit more.


Connery make for a great Bond actor. He's brute-ish, suave and sohpisticated. All women want him and all men want to be him. He's got a raw sexual quality that you just don't see much in Hollywood. He's the man. Ursula Andress is a knockout. She's very easy on the eyes and was an ideal choice as the first Bond girl. Tangent...I get sick and tired of seeing stories about some chick who's in a James Bond movie playing a very small role and being considered a "Bond Girl". I'm sorry but unless you are a main character OR you're one of Bond's conquests you can't be a "Bond Girl" so get over it. Just appearing in a Bond film doesn't make you that automatically. But Ursula Andress...HUBBA HUBBA!

Then there's the music. Monty Norman wrote a theme that just wasn't cutting it so they brought in John Barry to spice it up a bit. It's Barry that made that theme one of the most recognizable movie themes in history and it will always be so. Norman's score is adequate but it's in no way as good as Barry's in the subsequent pictures. The James Bond theme we all know and love was so good the film makers decided to use it as much as possible - even if it doesn't work which is sometimes the case. Listen to it the next time you watch it and you'll see how genuinely poorly it's placed. It's even edited in some spots to lengthen it to fit the scene. Not written out in longer form and performed that way but actually editing the tape it was recorded on. It's abrupt and detracts from the power of the music as well as the scene. It might not be as noticeable to someone who isn't into film music like I am (as well as a musician) but it kills me nonetheless every time I see it.

It's a minor complaint, I know, but the movie still kicks ass. I have the Ultimate Editions of the entire series and the picture quality is stunning. The restoration work done to each of these is outstanding. I've had Blu-ray for six months now and even though it's spoiled me I am still in awe as to how good these early Bonds look. DR. NO is spectacular. It's just been announced that this fall they're releasing six Bond pictuures on Blu-ray. It'll be interesting to see how good those look. I'm sure they'll have a hefty price tag. Now that I'm watching the entire series again I may just wait until I'm ready to give them another go. The price will surely have dropped by then.

Scorethefilm will return with his thoughts on...

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963)