The Sound of 007 (2022) User Reviews

A missed opportunity to be the definitive documentary

[Colbridge · 7/10 · 9 October 2022]

Whilst I found the Sound of 007 to be fascinating, insightful and compelling as a James Bond fan, and as a fan of all the music scores and theme songs from the past 60 years, it didn't completely satisfy my thirst for wanting to know about the musical origins of all the Bond films.

The works of John Barry and David Arnold are quite rightly covered in detail and celebrated as being most influential on the franchise but it didn't cover the lesser contributions of Bill Conti, Michael Kamen and Eric Serra. These were ominously overlooked and I really wanted to know more about these scores, or maybe that is just the completist coming out in me, but either way I felt it was a missed opportunity to make this a definitive documentary about the Bond music film by film. They could easily have stretched out the running time to 2 hours instead of 88 minutes by giving more even coverage to every film.

The Timothy Dalton era is almost completed omitted. Why were there no contributions from A-Ha or Gladys Knight? Even John Barry doesn't mention his score for The Living Daylights. Apart from that shortfall it is still worth a watch as there were many stories and facts I hadn't heard before from the many talented writers, performers and producers who created them.

Interesting to look back on the songs

[jakejedi-110-781924 · 7/10 · 5 October 2022]

It was an interesting documentary worth watching. I did think that they spent a little too much time on No Time to Die. It Is a fun watch overall that reminds you that there have been a lot of great songs that came out of the James Bond franchise. Sometimes you forget that songs came from these movies and it is nice to be reminded of them and hear some stories behind them. My biggest criticism would be that they barely mentioned Chris Cornell who did a great job on Casino Royal which I found disrespectful given that he's passed away. Overall though it was worth watching for any James Bond fan, movie fan, or music fan.

More of a celebration than an exploration

[superwwiiguy · 7/10 · 8 October 2022]

Everyone has their favorite (and least favorite) Bond songs. This film looks not only at the songs, but at the scores that accompanied the films, although most of the attention is rightly given to the songs. A great amount of footage from older John Barry interviews is included (he passed away about 10 years prior) as well as Monty Norman, David Arnold, Thomas Newman, and Hans Zimmer. Zimmer, as the most recent composer, receives as much attention as Barry, likely due to the fact that this appears to have been produced alongside "No Time to Die."

Although the music is wonderful, and many of the stories behind the music are fascinating, the film tap dances around many of the musical Bond moments we'd rather forget. Some of the bottom tier songs are briefly mentioned as being less popular, but are mostly praised for being daring and brave. That they may be, but daring and bravery doesn't always result in success, so maybe they shouldn't pat themselves on the back so much. One exception to this rule is Madonna's song for "Die Another Day," which is so irredeemably bad that it is completely ignored, aside from a brief image of Madonna's face towards the end of the film. This was one of three films whose music was ignored entirely. Also ignored were the missteps in scoring, namely the disco laden score in "Live and Let Die" and the electronica score for Goldeneye. I'm all for celebrating the musical successes of James Bond, but the failures could have been very interesting to explore.

One of the darker aspects of Bond's musical history was the lawsuit regarding whether Norman or Barry deserved credit for the theme from "Dr. No." This hostility may have contributed to Barry's departure from the franchise, and is not even mentioned in the film. The story behind the creation of the theme at least offers a glimpse into how each man felt deserving of credit as the composer.

While the film briefly mentions some of the alternative songs that were considered, namely Radiohead's "Spectre," other notable songs were ignored. K. D. Lang's "Surrender" was composed for "Tomorrow Never Dies" by David Arnold, and the song was heavily referenced throughout the film's score. Since Sheryl Crow was a more bankable name, Lang's song was replaced and relegated to the end credits of the film. It's widely considered the better Bond song of the two, but neither song is mentioned in the film. Neither is "No Good About Goodbye," the song David Arnold was writing for Shirley Bassey to perform for "Quantum of Solace" before changing direction. She later approached Arnold and asked him to complete the song for her anyway. He did, and like "Tomorrow Never Dies" the original song that got replaced is often considered superior to the song that was finally chosen. As the only vocalist to perform three Bond songs, even the abandoned idea of writing a fourth song for her seems noteworthy, at least.

At 88 minutes, there was plenty of time to include notable stories such as these. It was a very enjoyable film through and through, despite its effort to maintain that everything was always so rosy. If only it had been willing to tell the full story, bruises and all, I'd have been willing to give it full marks, but an abridged documentary deserves an abridged rating.

Nobody Does It Better

[Instant_Palmer · 8/10 · 8 October 2022]

John Barry wrote the most iconic music score in film history. Film and music have had an important integration that predates "talkies" when the only sound that came out were the musical scores played to fill the silence. Music sets the tone of films and amplifies the emotion of the scene, and has done so forever in movies. Try watching a film where the music score is eliminated and the difference is often startling.

No score is more identifiable than that composed and orchestrated by John Barry, who penned the immediately identifiable James Bond 007 theme. All one has to hear are the first handful of bass string electric guitar notes played to recognize it's the James Bond 007 movie theme. No other song is more connected to film.

'The Sound of 007" is the story behind how it all happened, and the amazing journey of artists and other composers, songs and performances involved over 60 YEARS!

Truly a worthwhile film to see, this is by a wide margin the best documentary on the subject, and a must-see for everyone interested in film and music arts.

👍👍

Good... however.....

[torrascotia · 8/10 · 9 October 2022]

This and it's accompanying 007 Live at what I think was the Albert Hall have just appeared this weekend on Amazon Prime. The documentary is good however there's a bit too much Billie Eilish for my liking. Why she has so much screen time is beyond me, unless it's to try and appeal to the young. The focus tends to be on the themes of the Bond movies, less so on the scores which I would argue is more important. There is probably more time spent on the newer Bond movies as well which I wasn't keen on. It was interesting that LTJ Bukem appeared as he was one of the dance music artists involved with a remix project, which was never even mentioned. There are a few surprises straight out if the mouths of some of the biggest names associated with the franchise in terms of artist choice for theme songs etc. There are even sizable contributions from artist I either didn't know did a Bond song or had completely forgotten about. Jack White anybody? I certainly didn't know Lulu was ever involved. It's certainly worth watching and isn't too trainspotter-ish in terms of the musical discussions.

There is an accompanying live concert which was shot I believe on the 4th of October with a mix of new and older artists. Also on Prime. The newcomers struggled with the songs, Celeste who appears in the documentary seems to sing out of key while Paloma Faith sounds like she's doing a bad Tina Turner impression for karaoke. Also no Adele in this show. After watching the documentary you will likely find yourself clicking on the link for the live show, not a bad way to round off the evening but you won't miss much if you give the concert a miss.

Missed the big one...

[jakmac-81959 · 7/10 · 9 October 2022]

It's a nice summary of the history of the music in the James Bond films. Surprisingly, they left out the John Barry instrumental theme to On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I always found that to be a compelling piece of music.

To me, that intro was much better than the James Bond theme used through the films of the franchise. It was used throughout the action segments of the film and aligned so well with the character. You'll know it when you hear it.

Otherwise, this is a nice walk through the films of the franchise and touch upon almost all of the instantly recognizable musical pieces and motifs of the series.

BOND...James Bond!!!!

[li0904426 · 8/10 · 11 October 2022]

The documentary "The Sound of 007" enriches us with details about the construction and choices of songs/writers and performers for each of the James Bond films. Composer John Barry created the sound of James Bond, he mastered 11 of Bond's music scores. He invented the style and it was the basis of all other subsequent Bond movies.

Any of the 007 movies without the well-known opening theme doesn't sound like a James Bond movie. The theme became one of the main characters of the film, without it the film would be incomplete.

Aside from the opening theme, each Bond film brings the trademark of a song originally written to embrace the plot, this is for all 25 Bonds films.

The documentary focuses a bit more on the soundtracks from the 60s to the 90s and touches on the 2000s onwards. But the film manages to give a good view of how important a soundtrack is for the construction and identification of one character: BOND...James Bond!!!

Mostly good. 007 starts out of 10.

[garrettchandlerd · 7/10 · 5 October 2022]

It touches upon the songs and the themes and covers a lot of the franchise, but it does give too much attention to No Time To Die and skips over some of the more interesting things. Credit to John Barry and David Arnold is definitely given, but entire bits dedicated to Amy Winehouse who almost wrote a theme and not a word about Chris Cornell's brilliant work on Casino Royale other than Rami Malek mentioning him as a favorite. I would have also loved some mention about John Barry's swan song score, Living Daylights where his orchestral and brass arrangements of aHa's theme are some of the best music of the entire franchise. The Dalton era is basically skipped over entirely. Amusing bit of Sam Smith saying he wrote his song in 20 mins and recorded it 20 mins later and given how crappy that song was, you could really believe him. Def worth a watch. Interviews with Shirley Bassey are a treat.

A View to a Thrill

[ross-05560 · 8/10 · 8 October 2022]

All I wanted was a sweet distraction for an hour or two...well, this wasn't quite two hours, but it was a fantastic watch, good enough to have come from Q branch itself! Full of great interviews and behind the scenes footage, this is really well put together and Bond fans will be in their element. Lots of insightful stories and as others have mentioned here, it's honest about this amazing musical legacy and the times it hasn't quite hit those high notes. So it's great to hear things like Radiohead's Spectre song, and surprising to see it played over the opening titles in a show like this. But it's also very of its time, and focuses on No time to Die at the expense of being more comprehensive. Whilst the scenes with Billy Eilish and Hans Zimmer are brilliant, we could have had less of these to make way for some told the amazing areas they don't cover , like the late Michael Kamen's score for Licence to Kill, or to get more time on Barry's last entry with The Living Daylights. Only briefly do we hear about Chris Cornell's superb work on his Casino Royale theme, and there's no mention of the unusually European sound of Goldeneye. They could also have discussed the secondary themes, like Pretenders or KD Lang. We see Sheena Easton but never really discuss her theme tune, and don't mention Bill Conti's funky score to For your eyes only. Overall, not quite an all time high, but in this ever changing world in which we live in...u should give it a try.

Important omissions

[cgoakley-82437 · 6/10 · 9 October 2022]

This is an interesting watch as it tells you much of the inside story of the music of James Bond, but I am disappointed that the two songs of the franchise that have stayed with me the most are hardly mentioned.

1: "Tomorrow never dies" by Sheryl Crow. Being the wife/girlfriend of a government assassin would not be a comfortable place to be, and nothing captures the pathos of this situation more than this song. So it would relate to the plight of the Teri Hatcher character, and does so eloquently.

2: "You know my name" by Chris Cornell. Unmistakably Bond, but, also unmistakably new, like the film itself. Sets up the first appearance of Daniel Craig very nicely.

Just kinda waving their cast in your face

[grahamls-05672 · 8/10 · 5 October 2022]

This was a great way to commemorate 60 years of Bond. Besides mostly being about the music, it really ties the plot and deeper meaning of the Bond films. Really thoughtful. For better or for worse, but it was interesting that they would talk about one movie's music, than immediately jump back to No Time To Die. It felt like they were just covering the movies they had the cast from and just skipping over some pretty big parts if they didn't have the singer of the song. However, it told the story of Bond in a more poetic. I just feel like they just waved the cast in your face and you are like "ya, I get it".

The Sound of 007

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 8 October 2022]

Music has been an important element of the James Bond movies.

Dr No had the Bond theme composed by Monty Norman and realised by John Barry.

It was Barry who was instrumental in bringing the iconic songs to the movies. Big numbers from the likes of Shirley Bassey singing Goldfinger or Diamonds are forever.

How the music reflected the era once Roger Moore took over the role. Paul McCartney going for a more rock sound with even a hint of reggae.

Marvin Hamlisch brought a touch of disco to The Spy Who Loved Me.

Duran Duran stating how difficult Barry could be to collaborate with but they managed to hit number one in America with A View to a Kill.

I was amused that Sam Smith who won an Oscar for his song for Spectre. Boasting that he wrote the song in 20 minutes and recorded it in one take in a further 20 minutes. It seems Radiohead did have the better song.

There was more emphasis on No Time to Die as it was the most recent movie.

There were failures, Shirley Bassey did not like her song for Moonraker. Tim Rice showed that he should stick to musicals as his song for Octopussy was not an all time high.

I was puzzled why A-ha and Chris Cornell's songs were overlooked.

A criticism about the Daniel Craig era was that the main Bond theme has not been used at all in the action scenes.

David Arnold gives an explanation as to why, the Bond theme appears at the end of Casino Royale.

That does not explain why since then, there are snatches of the Bond theme rather than a full blooded roar.

I remain unconvinced by Hans Zimmer deconstruction of the Bond theme for No Time to Die. It was bass heavy and reminded me too much of his Batman work.

Annoying and Didn't Learn What I Wanted to Know

[jeremyddunbar · 5/10 · 9 October 2022]

I wish it had just gone in chronological order. Why say that each song reflects a certain time in pop culture, and then jump back and forth in decades? Also, besides the one snippet showing how one of the main motifs came from an Indian tune, I wish the documentary went into the actual parameters of the notes and chords that make up the stereotypical James Bond and 007 sound. I know they did not want to go down a rabbit hole of music theory for a broad audience, but there has to be a certain scale and comparison against the standard Western scale that could have been touched on for a few minutes.

The Sound of 007

[jboothmillard · 8/10 · 10 October 2022]

In 2022, the James Bond movie franchise celebrated its 60th anniversary, and this documentary was released on Amazon Prime on James Bond Day, the day that the first Bond Movie was released in cinemas, directed by Mat Whitecross (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Take That: "The Flood", Coldplay: "Paradise", Oasis: Supersonic, Red Nose Day Actually). Basically, Dr. No, the first feature film to be adapted from the series of James Bond spy novels by Ian Fleming, was released in 1962. Since then, twenty-five films (excluding unofficial films Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again) featuring secret agent 007 have been made across sixty years, starring Sir Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Sir Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. This film examines the history of the films through the music and songs by the various composers and artists throughout the six decades. Monty Norman composed the "James Bond Theme", one of the most famous and iconic themes in movie history, as well as all the music for Dr. No. The second film, From Russia with Love, was the first to be composed by John Barry, who is recognised and most associated with the music of the franchise, he composed the score for twelve of the films. George Martin Live and Let Die, Marvin Hamlisch composed for The Spy Who Loved Me, Bill Conti composed for For Your Eyes Only, Michael Kamen composed for Licence to Kill, Éric Serra composed by GoldenEye, David Arnold composed for the following five films, Thomas Newman composed for the next two, and Hans Zimmer composed for No Time to Die. Sir Michael Caine tells the story that he was staying with John Barry whilst he was composing the theme song for Goldfinger, so Caine was the first person ever to hear it. Dame Shirley Bassey was chosen to sing "Goldfinger", a few years later for "Diamonds Are Forever", again for "Moonraker", and she recorded a song called "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" (originally made for Thunderball), she is perhaps the singer most associated and recognised for singing Bond theme songs. "We Have All the Time in the World" by Louis Armstrong, the love theme for On Her Majesty's Secret Service, has become most associated with the franchise over time, and reappeared again in No Time to Die, in instrumentals and the song in the end credits. "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney and Wings was the first rock themed Bond song. "Nobody Does It Better" by Carly Simon is one of the most famous songs and has become of the most associated with the franchise. "All Time High" by Rita Coolidge was written by Sir Tim Rice for the film Octopussy, the first song not to have the film's title in the lyrics but was not so successful. "A View to a Kill" performed and co-written by Duran Duran was the first Bond song to go to Number One in the USA. "GoldenEye" was written by Bono and The Edge of U2 but performed by Tina Turner. "The World Is Not Enough" by Garbage was written by Don Black, who wrote lyrics for "Thunderball" by Sir Tom Jones, "Diamonds Are Forever", "The Man with the Golden Gun" by Lulu, and "Surrender" by k.d. Lang for Tomorrow Never Dies. "Another Way to Die" by Jack White (also writing) and Alisha Keys for Quantum of Solace is an example of the producers choosing high profile artists to boost the profile for the film. "Skyfall" by Adele (also writing, with Paul Epworth) was the first James Bond theme song to win the Oscar for Best Original Song, and "Writing's on the Wall" by Sam Smith (also writing, with Jimmy Napes) was the second. Billie Eilish wrote and performed the most recent song, "No Time to Die", with Finneas O'Connell, it went on also to win the Oscar, and many of her improvised vocals during recording were incorporated into the score for the film during emotional scenes. Other James Bond theme songs (not already mentioned) include "From Russia with Love" by Matt Monro, "For Your Eyes Only" by Sheena Easton, "The Living Daylights" by a-ha, "Licence to Kill" by Gladys Knight, "Tomorrow Never Dies" by Sheryl Crow, and "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell for Casino Royale. Other songs to mention that featured in the films include "Where Has Everybody Gone" and "If There Was a Man" by The Pretenders for The Living Daylights, "If You Asked Me To" by Patti LaBelle, and "The Experience of Love" by Eric Serra for GoldenEye. With contributions from David Arnold, John Barry (archive), Dame Shirley Bassey (archive), Don Black, Neil Brand, Barbara Broccoli (Bond series producer, daughter of Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli), Sir Michael Caine, Martin Campbell, Celeste, Daniel Craig, Maryam d'Abo, Duran Duran (Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, and Roger Taylor), Sheena Easton, Billie Eilish, Marc Forster, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Garbage (Shirley Manson, Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, and Butch Vig), John Glen, Marvin Hamlisch, Naomie Harris, Sir Tom Jones (voice), Lulu, Sir Paul McCartney (archive), Rami Malek, Sam Mendes, Thomas Newman, Sir Tim Rice, Carly Simon (archive), Nancy Sinatra, Anna Smith (film critic), Sam Smith (archive), Jason Solomons (film critic), Tina Turner (voice), Reggie Watts, Jack White, Michael G. Wilson (Bond series screenwriter and producer, half-brother of Barbara Broccoli), and Hans Zimmer. The music of the James Bond movies is a huge part of why it an enduring franchise, from both the compositions (often incorporating the title song music within the film score) and the popular artists who have performed the songs in them. It was fascinating to see behind-the-scenes for the music of the most recent film, the discussions about the famous music of the films, to hear the insights from the filmmakers, composers, and artists themselves about the songs, and it is exactly the sort of film you want if you are a huge Bond fan like me, a most interesting documentary. Very good!

must watch for Bond lovers ...

[m-ramanan · 8/10 · 16 October 2022]

RATED 8/10 Language: English Source: Prime Video RECOMMENDED

I start to watch Bond movies from Golden Eye and it is really awesome for me to know about the history of bond.

The origin of the bond theme and everyone's involvement from the beginning to end is analysed in detail. The documentary has some really classic footages and it is really great to know about the history.

It brings back the nostalgia of school and college days with the improvements and variations of theme over the period.

This is really awesome to watch in 5.1 surround sound in big screen. At the same time the documentary feeling is unavoidable and bit slow in the middle.

Celebrating 60 years of Bond, James Bond, with this breezy documentary

[paul-allaer · 6/10 · 12 October 2022]

As "The Sound of 007" (2022 release from the UK; 85 min0 opens, we are at the "AIR Studios 2019" and Billie Eilish is working on the title track of the latest Bond movie called "No Time To Die". We then go back in time, to the very beginning of it all, as Monty Norman, and later John Barry launch the music juggernaut that would become "the sound of 007", in the Bond theme, the Bond songs, and the Bond scores. At this point we are less than 10 min into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this film is by British director Matt Whitecross, and he looks back fondly to these 6 decades of Bond music. A good chunk is devoted to how and where the Bond theme originated. But the heart of the documentary is indeed a look back to the many Bond songs (of which many were the movie's title song). Too much attention is given to Billie Eilish and her brother (I personally think that "No Time TO Die" is one of the worst Bond songs ever). But then we get a look to people like Shirley Bassey, who is of course THE ultimate Bond singer. Along the way we can to enjoy some memorable Bond scenes, and the usual talking heads providing further insights. In all this is quite a breezy documentary that doesn't seem to take itself too seriously, and that's just as well.

"The Sound of 007" premiered recently on Amazon Prime (of course, since Amazon bought MGM including the James Bond movies for an estimated $9 billion). If you are a fan of James Bond, and who isn't, I'd readily suggest you check out "The Sound of 007" and draw your own conclusion,

Strict Focus On The Music Helps This Doc Stand Out

[zkonedog · 9/10 · 12 October 2022]

Whenever a documentary about the James Bond franchise is put together, it is exceedingly easy to get caught up in great action sequences or iconic pieces of dialogue and lose focus on the subject at hand. In other words, these sorts of docs often turn into "Bond greatest hits" montages and little else. Fortunately, "The Sound of 007" sticks close to its thesis--exploring the music of the franchise--and is the better for it.

For a very basic overview, this doc looks at the soundtracks, opening songs, and singers of the Bond franchise from Dr. No to No Time To Die. Not every film or song is given time here, but overall it is a very comprehensive look. Certain artists are spotlighted and given more play, including...

-John Barry and Monty Norman, essentially the creators of the Bond theme and general sound of the "early years".

-Shirley Bassey and how her iconic "Goldfinger" tune set the standard for the "opening Bond song" for years to come.

-Hans Zimmer (composer) and Billie Eilish (artist) working on thus far the latest Bond flick, No Time to Die.

-Stories from the likes of Michael Caine, Nancy Sinatra, Tina Turner, Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, Carly Simon, Sam Smith, and Duran Duran (among others) about their Bond music involvement.

Though there are of course some Bond films montages throughout "Sound of 007", director Mat Whitecross keeps them to a minimum and really focuses on the history of the music and those creating it. Even while doing that, some interesting graphics and visual cues are used to give the whole thing a lot of visual flair.

Overall, I think the reason I enjoyed "The Sound of 007" as much as I did is because it succeeds in wrangling a sprawling, decades-long, all-over-the-map franchise down to a specific topic: music. It is so easy for Bond conversations to spin off into this or that, but here the focus is kept on the music (both past and present). Because of that, I was both highly entertained--because at the end of the day Bond has great music!--and feel like I learned quite a bit about Bond music through the decades.

Chris Cornell. Guess They Didn't Know Your Name

[untilnow99 · 6/10 · 17 January 2023]

Some of this was fun. Learned a few things about Bond music that I didn't know.

But I have one big question: Was there some copyright infringement or some other legality that stopped this doc from including Chris Cornell singing, Adele singing, Shirley Manson singing? A-ha?

The entire time watching this, I was waiting and hoping to hear my favorite Bond song and singer: Cornell singing "You Know My Name." No such luck. What a shameful omission. Why not share with us more back story on that song and on Cornell?

The film barely touched on Shirley Manson's "The World is Not Enough." She's interviewed, with several clips of her commenting on Bond music ---- but where's her iconic belting out of her Bond song?

Way too much focus on Ellish. (Really discomfiting to watch Finneas talking right over her, too. Ugh.) I love Shirley Bassey, but why not show Cornell, Adele, Manson and others singing? Share more of their story. Even Amy Winehouse and Radiohead got more time than many of the actual Bond singers.

Sorely disappointed.

Very Enjoyable, Very Insightful

[Maxax777 · 10/10 · 18 October 2022]

This was well done and as much as it's a great history and look at the music behind James Bond - it also offers a lot of insight into movie music across the board. It's well made - they hit all the major marks and movies - lots of fun and again, very insightful!

I enjoyed all of it.

Now to hit my 600 characters - I'd like to say This was well done and as much as it's a great history and look at the music behind James Bond - it also offers a lot of insight into movie music across the board. It's well made - they hit all the major marks and movies - lots of fun and again, very insightful!

I enjoyed all of it.

Music and Bond Go Hand in Hand in an Episodic Documentary

[EUyeshima · 7/10 · 6 November 2022]

Music has been elemental to the success of the James Bond franchise, and director Mat Whitecross' 2022 documentary provides a good albeit incomplete overview of the contributions made by various composers and renowned performers through the years. There's a lot of emphasis on Billie Eilish's work on "No Time to Die", and one can't help but feel this was an extended commercial for Amazon's recent purchase of the Bond filmography. It was interesting to hear the familiar musical passages recycled yet altered as the character went through life changes in the series. The hits are covered though the movie breezes through the misses with little explanation. No surprise that this is on Amazon Prime.

The Secrets Behind Everyone's Favorite Spy's Music Revealed!!

[mjpiro · 8/10 · 18 February 2023]

The Sound of 007 is a 2022 documentary on both the soundtrack to & popular opening songs of one of the biggest - if not the biggest - film franchises of the last 60 years in James Bond!! Opening with Dr No and how composer John Barry was brought in to rescue and create the soundtrack and theme song that we all know & love so much - the Bond opening chords - this documentary has it all!! With its early success with British singer Shirley Bassey to its most recent installment with modern day pop signer Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell, The Sound of 007 tells it all including the selection of many of the artists over the past half century and their motivation to make the song that is usually featured in the opening credits of each movie!! Being the Bond fan that I am, I found it particularly interesting that for the 1973 film Live and Let Die, former Beatle Paul McCartney was selected to write the opening song but was not the producers choice to perform the song. Song producer George Martin was pitching extremely talented signers such as Shirley Bassey or American legend Aretha Franklin at the time for the honor but film higher ups wanted McCartney so he & his then band Wings was selected for the title theme song & the rest is history!! McCartney and Wings brought a sense of rock-and-roll to James Bond theme songs bringing new life to the movie franchise!! Another interesting note is that for the 1995 Bond film Goldeneye, Irish band U2 was tapped to perform the opening song but they wanted American song icon Tina Turner to perform the lyrics so their combined efforts went on to create a very remarkable title song in Goldeneye!! One last piece of information - without spoiling the whole documentary for you - that I found interesting was how for the 2006 film and fan favorite Casino Royale, the film music directors didn't use Barry's opening chords until the very end of the movie as that film really was a reimagining of the first time we saw Bond & the music directors didn't believe he had earned the dramatic & famous opening chords until the very end of the movie!! It turned out great & very well could be one reason why so many fans love Casino Royale so much!! Everything you ever wanted to know about 007 music is in this documentary that moves along at a very smooth pace. The documentary is rich in history, includes interviews with all the big names that have contributed to Bond films since the film franchise's birth, is done very well, and is a lot of fun to watch for both the diehard Bond fans and the casual ones!! 8 out of 10 stars!!

A fine reflection on Bond songs, even if it offers no new information

[blott2319-1 · 6/10 · 26 October 2022]

I love all things Bond, and have for a long time. Along with that, I have owned a compilation album of Bond theme songs that I listen to regularly basically my entire life, which I replaced more than once over the years as new movies/songs released. It was a foregone conclusion that I was going to rush to watch this documentary about "The Sound of 007." It was a big celebration of all the great music over the years, and talked directly about the way they make these theme songs. There was some extra attention given to No Time to Die, but that's not surprising since it is the most recent film and they had a lot of access to Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell. They interviewed a number of people involved in the creation of the music, and all of them still seemed pretty passionate about the work they did.

I was impressed that The Sound of 007 actually admitted the fact that not all 25 songs have been winners. They discussed some of the ways they have fallen short, and even made some speculation why that might have happened. They also openly discuss in this documentary that the franchise has a tendency to follow trends in modern music which doesn't always work. If I had my druthers, they would have walked through time and discussed every single song at least a little. Seeing more of the singers/bands discussing what they did would be awesome. As it stands they hit all the expected highlights, and skip over some of the others. It's still a decent documentary even if it didn't tell me anything new. In conjunction with the live concert that you can also watch online, this was a fun way to celebrate 60 years of James Bond films (while we wait at least 3 or 4 more years before we'll see a new one.)

A missed oportunity - dissepointing

[MNorge · 1/10 · 17 October 2022]

This was a missed oportunity - dissepointing

Nothing about the contributions of Bill Conti, Michael Kamen and Eric Serra. A-HA is not mentioned at all. Very dissepointing. In fact, the music from the Timothy Dalton era is almost not mentioned at all. I don't understand the point of this project then. If you gonna make a project like this, about the music of one of the most important franchises in the world, then every artist should have been included.

Now, it's a well known fact that A-HA and John Barry did not get along and that the Bond producers clearly don't want to aknowledge A-HA's contribution at all. It has been that way for 35 years now. But this was petty, especially to A-HA but also as I mentioned to the other artists and writers/composers that were not mentioned.

They should have added another 30 minues / 45 minutes

A missed opportunity.

Show this to all non-Bondlievers

[ryanhall1209 · 10/10 · 2 November 2022]

This documentary is a short, but perfectly-formed summary of the cultural impact of Bond, why it maintains such relevance today, and what it means to some of the most elite operators in music and cinema of all time.

It includes a plethora of talking heads and sheds light on some of the fascinating layers and mystique that surround each and every song and score.

Hearing from composers, musicians, actors, and even a 007, describe, in rich detail, how the music has enhanced the cinematography across sixty years, was rich in nostalgia, and moving throughout.

My love affair with the Bond universe has grown deeper still now that I have this thorough understanding of the care and sense of duty which intertwines with every theme song.

I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Sound of music ... of 007

[kosmasp · 9/10 · 15 August 2023]

No pun intended - and while I would call myself a fan of the Bond franchise ... I did not know most of the things that were revealed here. Especially interesting the innuendo/story about the diamonds ... I did not connect a diamond with ... what they meant it to stand for ... and they got away with it too. This may be the most adult thing the documentary is talking about though ... on the other hand, I don't think any kids would be interested in the history of Bond movies ... the music that evolved from it.

As much as it is great being an actor or actress in one of the movies .. it also means a lot to compose or sing for Bond! People really dig the music .. and they should! Even if you have not seen the movies, the theme songs (many of them) will ring a bell (well not literally) ... the documentary made me yearn to rewatch all the movies again .. but I am waiting for a 4k box set .. make it happen! Please! Anywhere ...