Customer Reviews

Essential James Bond

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There are several excellent books available on the James Bond movie franchise. This one rates ahead of "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", "The James Bond Movie Encyclopedia", and "Bond Movies" (all very, very good) in part due to the quality photography included with the narrative.

While an "authorised" book, the authors are not afraid to express their opinions, negative as well as positive. Like its competition, "The Essential James Bond" discusses ancillary aspects (marketing, merchandising, gadgets, box office, etc.) of each movie, as well as the movies themselves. There are also nice chapters on Bond producer Cubby Broccoli, Bond's effect on popular culture, the literary 007, and on long-time contributors to the Bond movies ("the James Bond family").

This would be the perfect "coffee table book" for Bond fans, as well as the one book I would offer casual movie fans to read and become interested in the James Bond movie franchise.

This book is very lightweight. It is really not published for James Bond enthusiasts but rather the novice. All of Pfeiffer and Worrall's inspiration comes from Sally Hibbon's "The Official James Bond Movie Book" published when Timothy Dalton took over the role from Roger Moore. Basically Pfeiffer and Worrall picked up from where Hibbon left off and added text for Pierce Brosnan. Sally Hibbon had a flair for making the James Bond films come to life with her prose by combining both the technical aspects of the films with the actual characters and story lines from each providing the reader with an analytical insight into the world of 007. Pfeiffer and Worrall's writings are workmanlike and dull. Even the photographs in this book are dull. The photographs in Hibbon's book were colorful and vibrant, and brilliantly complimented the text. One of the nicest endorsements for Hibbon's book was the Foreword by Albert R. Broccoli. He said that her book brought back many happy memories over the years. I don't think the same can be said of "The Essential Bond: The Authorized Guide to the World of 007."

This book was adequate in its time but much more substantial books on the cinematic James Bond have been published. I'll have to admit the front and back covers are very well designed. Unfortunately there is very little thought, imagination, research or originality between the covers to recommend this book. One can not even detect that there was a labor of love from its two authors concerning the James Bond films. I would hardly call them experts on the subject. This book is nothing more than a detailed outline. Almost all the information contained has been previously published in books, articles and video. There very little true and insightful analytical thought on what make these James Bond films tick. We have read countless times before about the gadgets, beautiful women, outrageous villains, incredible sets and unbelievable stunts in these films. The authors have provided us with yet another laundry list of these accomplishments. Sadly, there is very little substance contained inside for a book of such touted caliber.

This book, though attractive looking is substantially lacking in substance. It is very subjective in its approach. The inside photos and cover are good but the text should have been more informative from a filmmaking perspective.