It may be over forty years old, but the first Bond film still holds up well today, thanks to great Caribbean locations, tight direction and scripting and an assured debut performance as Bond from Sean Connery, who looks at home in the part from the beginning. Compared to many later Bond films, Dr No is lacking in big action set pieces, and there is no hi-tech gadgetry in sight. However, this brings the film much closer to the spirit of Fleming than many of its successors, and allows Bond to actually do some espionage work, bringing a welcome flavour of realism to the proceedings. Bond in this film is not a quipping, invincible superhero, but a human being prepared to become a ruthless killer when required, and capable of being scared, as is plainly demonstrated when he finds a nasty-looking spider on his bed. This is a Bond who can also get beaten up, and look the worse for wear afterwards, not a common feature of most Bond films.
Having said that, many of the soon-to-be familiar elements of the Bond franchise do make their debut in Dr No, such as Bernard Lee's irascible M, Lois Maxwell's Miss Moneypenny, and Bond's CIA ally, Felix Leiter, well played here by Jack Lord. Q also puts in an appearance, but in this film he is played by Peter Burton rather than Desmond Llewellyn, and all he gives Bond is a Walther PPK. Dr No himself is the first in a long line of supervillains with some kind of physical abnormality and an impressive HQ, but he is well played by Joseph Wiseman and his scheme for knocking over NASA rockets is not as OTT as some of the fiendish plots of later films. The other big element present from the start is, of course, the Bond girl. There are some very good ones in this film, especially the lovely Ursula Andress, who remains one of the most iconic of Bond girls, even if she doesn't do very much after coming out of the sea.
It is not the greatest Bond film, but Dr No remains an impressive start to the series, setting much of the tone for the franchise while treating Bond more seriously than would often be the case in later films. 7/10
Having said that, many of the soon-to-be familiar elements of the Bond franchise do make their debut in Dr No, such as Bernard Lee's irascible M, Lois Maxwell's Miss Moneypenny, and Bond's CIA ally, Felix Leiter, well played here by Jack Lord. Q also puts in an appearance, but in this film he is played by Peter Burton rather than Desmond Llewellyn, and all he gives Bond is a Walther PPK. Dr No himself is the first in a long line of supervillains with some kind of physical abnormality and an impressive HQ, but he is well played by Joseph Wiseman and his scheme for knocking over NASA rockets is not as OTT as some of the fiendish plots of later films. The other big element present from the start is, of course, the Bond girl. There are some very good ones in this film, especially the lovely Ursula Andress, who remains one of the most iconic of Bond girls, even if she doesn't do very much after coming out of the sea.
It is not the greatest Bond film, but Dr No remains an impressive start to the series, setting much of the tone for the franchise while treating Bond more seriously than would often be the case in later films. 7/10