It’s ironic that Ian Flemming wrote Bond with the intent of portraying espionage in a deglamorized light. Only for Bond to become the epitome of sensationalism and adventure once he reached Hollywood.

Oh god, the intro is already gold. People often forget how much of a bad person Bond was in books

I like to imagine the "bond girl" from the intro joins the villian team where she is respected and rises in the ranks.

My favorite fact about casino royale is that mads mikkelsen lied about being a huge bond fan during his audition when he never actually watched a bond movie before 💀

Trying to read the Bond novels as a teenage girl because you enjoyed the movies you watched with your dad was... An experience. "Ohhhh this guy straight up hates me. Coolcoolcool."

I will always love your original point that Archer isn’t a Bond parody He’s the most accurate depiction of the main described in the books

Every time Dom does a Bond film you just get reminded how sexist the books are.

The story behind why Ian Fleming wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is actually rather sweet. He wrote it for his young son after he accused him of loving James Bond more than him.

That opening was pure perfection! 🤣 It was made even funnier by Sir Terry leaving during the slew of cursing and misogynistic statements, as if he was reacting to what James Bond was saying 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Return of The King trivia from IMDB: While filming Saruman's death scene (on the Extended Edition DVD), Sir Peter Jackson tried to tell Sir Christopher Lee how to react and breathe after he was stabbed in the back. Lee, a World War II veteran with British Special Forces, assured Jackson that he knew what a man sounded like when stabbed in the back.

It will never not be hilarious to me that Archer is one of the most accurate adaptations of bond as a character

Ah yes,another much awaited episode of "Bond was WAY worse in the books" from our dear Dominic. Long overdue, if you ask me.

I honestly would watch a movie based on the intro. Villian pities the spy's lover, spy being a sexist douche. Maybe the villian gets her a job in his crime division and it's like that prozd skit where the villian keeps accidentally doing good things

Best intro ever! I love how Sir Terry decided to nope out halfway through, as if he was so disgusted by Bond’s rant he couldn’t listen to it anymore. 😂

I don't know why, but the line "Marijuana, decided Bond" is one of the funniest things to me when taken out of context

There's that great Mitchell and Webb sketch that's like "Oh and good luck" "I don't need luck" "you're going to a casino" "oh god yeah you're right"

Daniel Craig and Eva Green have such amazing chemistry here. Mads Mikkelsen is a great villain.

Lee telling Jackson "That's not the sound someone makes when you stab them in the back" is the coldest story from a set I've ever heard.

I've always been struck by the dichotomy of novel Bond. He's in his vehicle, racing to the rescue of a woman that his internal monologue lets the reader know just how much he hates the woman for forcing him to race after her to rescue her. In other words. Bond lies to himself about how important Vesper is to him, while his actions alone reflect his real feelings.

Somebody else probably mentioned this somewhere in the comments but the reason it took so long to do a "canon" adaptation of 'Casino Royale' is the rights to that book had been sold separately from the rest of the series. It wasn't until the early 2000s that it (and 'Thunderball', sort of) were back under the umbrella.

I read (listened to) casino royal a while ago and some things stuck out to me Bond’s first true introduction has him 1 beer short of “too drunk” and planning a mini heist of the casino’s winning as an after thought Also bond complains about how as a woman vespa is too emotional and has no place as a spy only to be out spied by her partially because he was blinded by his emotions Its been awhile so i may be misremembering

Its very sad you didnt look at the 67 parody. That film contains things such as: Bond’s nephew planning to kill every man taller than him, Orson Welles doing a magic trick for 3 minutes, every mi6 agent being called james bond 007 to throw off people going after bond, a scene where petter sellers is tortured then dies suddenly because he quit the film and a german expressionist building.

I binged the original Fleming novels, this is what I discovered. A lot of the things we associate with Bond has as much to do if not more with the movies creating their own Bond Lore as it does with Fleming. I mean, James Bond becoming Scottish was a direct result of the movies.

One very minor change that you forgot to mention. In the book, they played baccarat, while in the movie, they played Texas Hold-Em. 'Cause the movie was produced during that brief window in the 2000s that Texas Hold-Em was insanely popular, and the producers wanted to capitalize on it.

I like "I'm not going to argue with you, I am just going to read something else." A lot of people forget that while you may not like something that doesn't mean you don't recognize it's skill/value.

There's a scene where wormtongue stabs sauroman in the back and it was scripted for him to scream but Christopher Lee refused to because it wasn't realistic for someone to scream in that scenario

The most accurate portrayal of Bond in the movies was probably Man with the Golden Gun, where Bond hates his female counterpart for no reason and brushes her off all the time unless she wants sex, and it's upsetting that she does given how he treats her. Roger Moore's talent was completely wasted for most of his time as 007.

There is a Victoria Coren bit where she is throwing shade on Bond's gambling chops, by pointing out that she has to read subtle cues of body language; while Bond wins because his opponent's tell is bleeding from the eyes. 😄

"he chuckled fatly" 😂😂😂

To be fair, (presumably unpaid) product placement featured in the novels too. Apparently they were among the first works of fiction to name drop real brands with any sort of regularity.

0:34 Sir Terry in the intro is just "Dad, this isn't as fun as when I crash your reviews. I'm out!"

The thing I find intriguing about bond in the novels, which is wholly absent from the movies is that bond is unabashedly suicidal. This becomes more apparent the further you go in the series. He is also nominally Catholic, so rather than kill himself he decides to go out in a blaze of glory for Queen and country. But then halfway through the mission and hands up discovering this, or that which necessitate to him somewhat unwillingly, having to save his own life, in order to prevent an even bigger disaster from happening. That’s why he’s so damn good: he holds nothing back. He does not intend to live, nor does he want to. The reason for this is never really explained of the rest of my memory, but I’m going to assume it had something to do with the war. I do really like this angle, and it makes sense, whereas the movie bond is just supernaturally good at everything for a no adequately explained reason.

Ian Fleming writes sex scenes like how a non-ace person thinks an ace person would write a sex scene.

Can we get a supercut of Dominic just saying "SMERSH"?

Fun fact: famous Game Dev Masahiro Sakurai was originally planning on putting James Bond into Smash Bros because he thought he was from Goldeneye for N64 Until he was told by Nintendos lawyers that they didn’t create the character and he was a famous movie and novel character that Nintendo only licensed the rights to the movie for.

Fun fact, there is a biopic of Ian Fleming of his life between 1938-52 that was made in 2014. It was a tv series that showed on Sky Atlantic and had Dominic Cooper playing Fleming. It’s decent but I remember that there are quite a few violent scenes (including sexual abuse directed towards women) so keep that in mind?

Another interesting part of the book was that we’re lots of descriptions of food in the book, I think because it was the end of rationing from WW2 in the 1950s and food was one of those things that a lot of fantasy was based around. Brian Jacques did similar in his Red Wall series and I recommend that series one wishes for a more palatable characters

If i recall Ian Fleming was the commanding officer of actor Jon Pertwee (most famous as the 3rd doctor from Doctor Who) and theirs some speculation as to if Pertwee was another inspiration or if Pertwee drew some inspiration from Fleming and his books for tge role of the 3rd doctor

Ian Fleming's books were definitely more of an insight into his psyche and personality than that of Bond.

I'm only going to chuckle "fatly" from now on 😂

Not even 2 minutes in, but I gotta say that I loved that opening! It had me giggling.

The biggest difference between the book and the 2006 movie is that the book goes all in on explaining the rules of chemin-de-fer (baccarat), centering the action on chemin-de-fer, tying Bond's personality to how he plays chemin-de-fer, etc., and then in the movie it's 100% Texas hold 'em.

Okay, that is a *quality* intro. I don't usually comment until I've finished watching the video, but I just have to say, *quality* intro.

"An Englishman always has more tea...even when he hates it." 😂😂

This is definitely a good example of adapting something relatively short in an effective way, building on what is there in service of the source, rather than irrelevant filler.

Hahahaha, the way the villan covers Sir Terry's ears when Bond stars swearing is so hilarious I kept clicking back to rewatch it 😂😂😂

Your cold open is actually a good writing prompt-A lover of a terrible Bond expy gets captured by a Blofield type character, and the call happens. The villain begins to manipulate the lover (through charisma and valid points) and they enter into the villain’s organization. Drama, self growth and a few exploding bases ensue.

Understandably wasn't mentioned here, as it has nothing to do with the main subject matter, but I _love_ the song from this movie. Chris Cornell hit it out of the park, I still play _You Know My Name_ on loop when I'm writing sometimes.

Fun fact: the book describes Le Chiffre as a short fat toad like man with bulging eyes and coming off really weird and with a penchant for staring at people When i read it 1 name popped into my head: Peter Lorre Who played Le Chiffre in the first ever adaptation of a bond work, in a played live for syndication adaptation as the finale of the 50s show called Climax!

Honestly I feel like the film was better. It took most of the good elements from the book, smoothed over some of the not so good parts, and added fun stuff of it’s own.

The most accurate recreation of WW2 "Goldeneye" was a very nice touch 🤗

I love how James Bond is the only character Alan Moore accurately parodied in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He completely fumbled Mina, Harry Potter and Nemo but Bond was absolutely perfect.

My understanding is that EON and Albert Broccoli WANTED to start by adapting Casino Royale, but because it had been previously adapted for an episode of an American anthology series (funnily enough, the anthology series was called "Climax!"), all adaptation rights to it were held by Columbia Pictures, who would very, VERY loosely adapt the story again into the comedy version that came out in 1967. It wasn't until MGM acquired the rights to both previous adaptations in 1999 that they were finally able to make this adaptation.

There was a TV series in the states in the 50's called "Climax!" One episode where they did Casino Royale. Sadly, they Americanized everything from James Bond now being a CIA agent and his name changed to Jimmy Bond. He was less sexy secret agent and more the hardboiled cop type. It premiered a year or two on TV before Dr. No hit theatres. Every now and then some cable channel will play the episode even today.

Every time I learn something new about Christopher Lee, I'm reminded of what an accomplished badass the man was.

The other thing about why Casino Royale (2006) was seen a such a great start is in between GoldenEye and Royale, the Director had started the trend of grittier spy flicks with a small pair of film adaptations called The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy. Yes Bond isn't the only spy known for their Extreme Ways...

Casino Royale was a pretty good adaptation and an utterly fantastic film. It has one of my favorite Bond intros and is probably my number 1 Bond film. It was so well-made and Craig, Green, and Mikkelsen were utterly perfect in this movie.

Best intro ever!!!!! I also made the mistake of trying to read a bond novel and holy crap. I wanted him to die really bad haha. Great video!!!

You ruin the evil guy image with how much you constantly love that cat. It’s so adorable.

Just to confirm: СМЕРШ (smersh) was a real thing, there's a wikipedia page on it for anyone curious. Abbreviation comes from the words "СМЕРть Шпионам" which indeed translates as "Death to the spies".

The most bizarre 007 book is definitely The Spy Who Loved Me. As you read it, you can't help but think "Dude, Fleming, wtf is wrong with you?"

SMERSH was referenced once in the movies in The Living Daylights where it's implied to be the reason agents are getting killed.

Please find enclosed the story of how Christopher Lee corrected Peter Jackson on set, reportedly saying "Do you have any idea how a man sounds when you stab him in the back? Because I do."

I saw the cat and stayed for the cat.

ngl I'd love to see a crossover where it turns out that Bond's a Time Lord who, inspired by the Doctor, opted to live a life of meddling, albeit far more proactive. And he regenerates every few years; hence the actors changing.

2:28 There were two TV movies of Fleming's life, one starting Jason Connery [son of Sean] and one with Charles Dance [featuring a pre-fame Christophe Waltz] 3:48 That was because Fleming had sold the rights to Casino separately from the rest of the series, hence why it was adapted for the parody movie and a 50's TV adaption. To get the rights back, MGM swapped the rights to Spiderman with Sony, hence starting the Spiderman films. 5:32 Desmond Llewelyn would have been 92 in 2006 had he still been alive.

I just need a loop of Dom saying “Smersh” 😂😂😂

I just want a Christopher Lee bio. Anyone else want to absolute legend of a man's story told on the big screen?

In the book the card game at the Casino Royale was baccarat but no normal person in the 2000s knows how that game works so the screenwriters changed it to poker

Best intro lol Edit 1: "He chuckled fatly"???

Its interesting listening to modern readers review Bond novels. It in some way demonstrates how rare unlikable protagonists are in modern media. The idea of a main character who is not a good person, just better than the enemy was pretty common in cold war literature but comes off as the endorsement of bad behavior today.

To quote Linkara, "Nineteen-fifties/ Casual sexism!"

There was one thing that was changed that he missed, in the movie the card game was texas hold-em poker whereas in the book the game was a lesser known game called chermaine de fer, ( the same game he's playing in Dr No when we first meet Bond on screen) presumably because more of the audience would know how the game is played.

Perfect! Just the thing to pair with the Kill James Bond podcast

Villain in the opening bit: "Was that Bond I had on the phone or Tucker Carlson?" :P

"He chuckled fatly" made me laugh so much XD That's the funniest way I've ever heard a character's speech described XD

Cat acting was amazing! Extra treats well earned!

Additional note, the changed the location of the casino to Montenegro in the film. As i recall it was a seaside town in France known for its mineral waters in the book

I remember reading one or two of the books and being staggered by just how unnecessarily and consistently bigoted Bond was. Very glad most of that didn't make it to the films... Also the 1967 Casino Royale is a chaotic cinematic masterpiece and I will hear nothing to the contrary

The Casino royale with cheese is my favorite

Incidentally, Casino Royale is my Madness cover band.

I lasted through roughly 3 pages of the Bond novel I found at my grandpa's house after he died - being a fan of the old movies I was excited to find the collection and could not have been more horrified by the comparison.. Dom, if your narration is your revenge for us making you sit through one of these novels... Well played, sir. Well played. Sidenote - I think I would pay a hefty sum for a Dom commentary of terrible sex scenes in the future - that was HILLARIOUS!

Seeing Dom in an amazing wig will never not be funny! I think this has been your best opening skit by far.

Really love Lost in Adaptation, even when I know absolutely NOTHING of the source material. Thanks Dom!!

I love how the film is able to take the ideas of the novel that still hold up and the "load-bearing" sexism which is literally part of the plot and the audience's feelings about Bond is kept in. It feels like they really followed through with being more critical of the character which Goldeneye hinted at doing but never really maintained though the sequels

11:12 - Rosa Klebb is a double agent for Smersh / Spectre in the film *From Russia with Love* who has just fully defected. Bond believes Tatiana (as does she) is a Smersh honeypot in the film, but Spectre is manipulating events so that they end up with the Russian decoder, which is what the climactic fight with Rosa Klebb’s poisoned shoe knife is about. The assassin Grant is a Spectre agent in the film, but Smersh in the novel, so we can argue the Soviets are technically not the enemy, but its a subtle shift and the Turkish Station’s battle with Bulgarian intelligence is hardly pro-Warsaw Pact. Its not helped that Walter Gotell plays Spectre Agent Morzeny in this film also plays the head of the KGB in all of Roger Moore’s Bond films. Something that confused me for years before Wikipedia.

I saw Casino Royale in theaters. When that fight in the bathroom smoothly transitioned to the classic gun barrel camera shot and the opening theme, the entire audience went CRAZY. Easily one of the best Bond movies, if not #1.

Charles Dance actually played Ian Fleming in a biopic called Goldeneye in the late 80s, after making his film debut in 1981's For Your Eyes Only!

The most glaring deviation from the book: IIRC Bond is never shown eating scrambled eggs, his signature snack to the point that an early proofreader pointed out it constituted a significant security risk.

If memory serves, the card game they play is also changed in the adaptation: Baccarat in the book, Texas hold 'em poker in the film. Presumably due to the huge popularity of that form of poker when the movie came out and the total obscurity Baccarat had fallen into (though given I vaguely recall the book having a lengthy explanation of how Baccarat is played, it might not have been exactly popular at the time either)

In one of the bond books (Moonraker?) Bond spends the whole book half a step behind his female collaborator, and at the climax devises a desperate scheme to defeat the villain which requires him to be burnt to death. She comes up with a much neater plan, and when it has succeeded and he inevitably hits on her she tells him to piss off and fucks off out of his life forever.

This movie is a guilty pleasure of mine. I like the more vulnerable, less invincible Bond they introduced in this movie. And even before I came out as a girl I had my first celebrity crush on Daniel Craig.

I love the cat trying to push the button.

How fun, honestly. I realised that I missed Dominic ranting about Bond when I began watching this video :) what a weird feeling

The production value of the intro sequence had me howling

It is sooooooo amazing to hear someone else voice I had been thinking about the books, especially if that someone is a person whose opinion I value tremendously!! Thanks for your content!!

Casino Royale was definitely one of my favourite adaptions, and Craig my favourite Bond. I think he did such a fantastic job of playing the book version of Bond (the hot mess of a man who's own failings usually came from his arrogance), while still modernising the character enough to seem able of living in the era of the movie's creation. Craig had that aura of charm, mixed with "I don't wanna meet him in a back alley", which I think was needed. A lot of the earlier Bond's had become such paraodies of themselves that it just felt extremely far removed from the fairly 'basic' premises of the books. I binged the books for the first time in the early 00s, and even as a queer feminist, enjoy the hell out of them. I often still keep one in my bag for emergencies. They're a product of their time, and Fleming shows his ass as a dick head constantly, but I found the short form of most of them to be engaging. As someone who never reads, and struggles with books in general (mixture of ADHD and aphantasia making it nearly impossible for me to visualise anything), I just found the simplicity of the Bond books super easy to digest. There wasn't paragraphs and pages filled with flowery descriptions that were essentially meanless filler for me, you were just told they were at a place doing a thing and then it continued. Sentences were short and punchy. The characters were all hot messes but the scenarios and situations were exciting, and resolved quick enough to keep attention. They still carried me away to a different world and time, without coming with the added frustations of me not being able to visualise or understand. The fact I had movies to draw visuals from helped too. I dunno, I guess that's why I loved them anyway. Maybe they're appealing for people who aren't as well read like me?

Thank you for the (superbly, delightfully delivered) reminder to never, ever, tackle another of the Bond novels. (I vaguely recall having read one of them years ago, but I mostly remember it being a mostly-dull travelogue and advertisement for Being A Well-Off British Dude.)

Hearing Dom speak in a sexy villain voice only to follow it up with "He chuckled fatly" made *me* chuckle fatly.

YES! My dose of Dom has arrived today! thanks!