James Bond fans mark 50 years

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James Bond fans mark 50 years

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Bond has been played by six different actors over the 22-series adventure.

05 October,2012 03:17 pm

A series of events are to be held on Friday to mark the 50th anniversary of the James Bond films, the iconic spy saga that helped define half-a-century of cultural, political and technological upheaval.The suave British agent, code name 007, appeared on the silver screen for the first time in the 1962 classic Dr. No, introducing himself with the immortal line Bond... James Bond over a high-stakes game of baccarat.Bond has been played by six different actors over the 22-series adventure, but has always maintained his obsession with fast cars, beautiful women, high-tech gadgets and vodka Martinis -- shaken, not stirred.For all the attempts at change, the core of the Bondian world remains the same: obsessed with sex and violence, hypermasculine, simplistically nationalistic, and addicted to conspicuous consumption, Christoph Lindner, editor of The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader, told AFP.Worldwide events to celebrate Global Bond Day include an online charity auction, a survey to discover the favourite Bond film by country, a film retrospective at New Yorks Museum of Modern Art and a Music of Bond night in Los Angeles.Londons Barbican Centre marked the occasion with an exhibition showcasing the design and style of the worlds most influential and iconic movie brand, which has moved on to Toronto where it opens on October 26.Britains tourist agency has joined forces with the iconic spy for the first time, launching a campaign across 21 countries based around the slogan Bond is GREAT Britain.A new feature documentary Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007, will be also be unveiled, focusing on producers Albert Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman and author Ian Fleming, the three men most responsible for building the brand.The 23rd and latest film, Skyfall, has its worldwide premiere in London on October 23 with Daniel Craig playing Bond for the third time.The Skyfall theme tune, sung by British diva Adele, will be released at 00:07 British time on Friday, although the track was leaked online on Tuesday.The release caps a busy year for 007, who provided one of the highlights of the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony by parachuting into the event with Queen Elizabeth II.Few would have believed that Bond would become a global institution when Dr. No, an adaptation of Flemings 1958 novel, was released on October 5, 1962.Critical reaction to the film sagas first installment was mixed, with Time magazine calling Sean Connerys Bond a great big hairy marshmallow.Critics have noted that Craigs muscular and moody performances are in sharp contrast to Roger Moores light-hearted portrayals and Connerys old-fashioned machismo, mirroring changing social conventions.The 007 series now presents a male hero who is emotionally vulnerable, fallible, and in many ways psychologically broken, explained Lindner.Ironically, this is much closer to the screw-up Bond of the original novels.But attempts to modernise the so-called Bond girls do not break with the formula, and the feminism -- and, more recently, post-feminism -- of the Bond girls doesnt change the gender dynamics of the films, added the University of Amsterdam professor.Watt noted the development of Bonds attitude towards older women, saying the idea that the sexist dinosaur... could evolve into working for a female boss is very interesting.As well as evolving Bonds personality, the franchise has also adapted to shifting geopolitics.We went from Cold War villains, to post-Communist villains, to post-9/11 terrorists, and so on, said Lindner.Watt said this ability to reflect the changing political world was crucial to the brands survival.We all know where the battle lines are drawn today, he stressed. To stay current, current threats to the West have to be part of the picture.But Bond chiefs face a delicate task in staying loyal to Flemings original vision and meeting the demands of the modern movie-goer, argued Watt.The Indiana University professor called the stripped-down 2008 release Quantum of Solace a mundane action film and urged the franchise to remember its roots.The entire Bond lifestyle of the 1950s and 60s -- of walking into the casino in a tuxedo, the exquisite and peculiar taste in food and in alcohol -- all of this is extraordinarily exotic, he added.