Dr No

I have started a collection of the Bond series on Blueray. Being a stickler for that sort of thing I am buying and watching them in strict chronology. Dr No was the first, released in 1962, starring the then 32 year old Sean Connery. It must have had quite an impact. Few movies at the time could match its production values. My Dad can remember seeing his first Bond movie From Russia With Love at the old Playhouse cinema in Durban. He remembers the impact of the vividly colourful locations and the action scenes. Dr No has one of the most fondly remembered Bond girls, Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder. Who can forget that scene where she emerges from the water as Bond watched from the beach? The villain of the title, Dr No, played by Joseph Wiseman has very little screen time and is only around long enough to be unceremoniously dumped by Bond into the boiling water surrounding his nuclear reactor. His clumsy artificial hands claw helplessly at the metal structure as he tries in vain to escape, his somewhat vague plan of spoiling American rocket launches foiled. It’s a pleasure watching these old Bonds. They look stunning on Blueray – impossibly crisp and clear for a nearly 50 year old film.