Wednesday 5 October 2022

NO TIME TO RETIRE

Bond and the Broccolis are celebrating 60 years of double 0 action this year and I thought I'd do my bit and watch No Time to Die on Prime, my first time seeing it last night.

I have to say I enjoyed it, especially the delicious canvas of remote Italian hill villages and the devils-bend roads just like the Gabrial 007 Road Race set. Oh why oh why does only James Bond have a life like that!

As always it was the old DB5 that was the star of the show, its various gadgets and gizmos putting a big smile on my face as I recalled my Corgi Aston Martin as a nipper. It was so great to see the agent and the car in sweet harmony once again.

There was another fine motor in the film, a sleek black car, which I assume is an Aston as well. It has to be a model toy somewhere.

I won't mention the plot in case you haven't seen it like me. Suffice to say that Danial Craig is getting older just like all of us. He'll enjoy retirement but we'll miss him. C'mon Daniel, one more film at least! You're like Dr. Who, you never die!

As for the traditional bond song, Billie Eilish did a fair job ending Mr. Craig's stint but its not in the league of his modern memorables like Adele's Skyfall and the late great Chris Cornell's Casino Royale, which kicked off the whole new adventure years ago.

Having said that the early themes are still the best. Wings' Live and Let Die, Lulu's The Man with the Golden Gun but the crown for top bond minstrel has to go to Dame Shirley Bassey for me. Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever have to be the zenith of Double 0 intros. She really did have a licence to trill. Still, not everyone agrees. Here's an online top 25 ranking with a completely different top spot! What do you think?

https://www.smoothradio.com/features/top-songs/james-bond-theme-songs-list-ranked/

Have you had No Time to Die?

2 comments:

  1. Paul Adams from New Zealand10/06/2022 6:51 am

    No, I have not seen the film yet.
    Possibly the black car is the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, previously used by Bond in the 1980s ?
    Surely the James Bond Road Race set from the 1960s was by Gilbert ?
    My favourite Bond themes are probably Goldfinger by Shirley Bassey, and You Only Live Twice, by Nancy Sinatra, plus the original instrumental.

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    1. Yes, Gilbert, Paul, you're right. Well done on the V8. It looked superficially like a black Mustang. There was a big celebration of 60 Years of the Bond Themes at London's Royal Albert Hall this week. I bet Shirley Bassey was the star turn.

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