Customer Reviews

James Bond Encyclopedia

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If I may wax nostalgic for a moment, I can still recall the very first James Bond movie that I sever saw...actually the first three Bond movies...it was sometime in the late 60's or early 70's and my mom took me and my brothers to the drive-in theater to see a triple feature of Goldfinger, Dr. No, and From Russia with Love...in that order. I know I never made it past the credits of From Russia with Love but man...I loved those first two films! I had never seen anything like Bond before with his cool gadgets and those nasty villains like Odd Job and that began a lifelong passion for James Bond. With Christmas approaching, I cannot think of a better gift for the Bond fan on your list than the James Bond Encyclopedia from DK Books.

I've read a lot of books from DK on popular films and while they are always very well done, they sometimes can be a bit light on material. No so with this book. This book contains over 300 pages filled with information that will test even the most knowledgeable of Bond fans. It is bountifully illustrated with over 2000 photographs and images and traces the Bond history right up to the most recent film, Casino Royale.

As the title suggests it is an encyclopedia but rather than just list its hundreds of entries in alphabetical order it lists them alphabetically by subject. The subjects include: The Bond Style, The Role of Bond, Bond Villains, Bond Women, Supporting Cast, Vehicles, Weapons & Equipment, and the Movies. A comprehensive index finishes things off.

The role of Bond covers the six actors who have portrayed Bond with two pages of biographical information on each actor and a list of the Bond films they starred in. Next up is the section on Bond Villains. This section covers Bond villains from the criminal masterminds Blofeld, Hugo Drax, and Goldfinger; crime lords like Frank Sanchez; muscled thugs Jaws, Odd Job, Mr. Kil, and Tee Hee; and dangerous females May Day, Elekta King, and Bambi & Thumper. The encyclopedia gives the film(s) they appeared in, their current status, characteristics, the actor who portrayed them, and a synopsis of their roles in the films.

No book on Bond would be complete without looking at the dozens of Bond Women played by some of the most beautiful actresses in the world: Terri Hatcher, Ursula Andress, Lana Wood, Eva Green, and Halle Berry. The section on supporting cast members covers all the other major and minor characters in the Bond films from Q to Miss Moneypenny. Each Aston Martin that Bond drove is featured in the section on vehicles along with some of the more extraordinary vehicles like the Bath-O-Sub from Diamonds are Forever and the Dragon Tank from Dr. No. And of course all of Bonds secret weapons and gadgets are detailed in the Weapons section.

The last fifty pages or so of the book covers each bond film in chronological order with a listing of cast and crew credits but rather than provide a synopsis of films you've probably seen numerous times the book instead provides anecdotes on the making of the films with all manner of interesting production notes.

This is a book that is perfect for the die-hard or casual James Bond fan.

I enjoyed the book and feel it to be a good companion to another volume by a different author entitled "The Complete James Bond Movie Encyclopedia."

It is full of information with plenty of accompanying pictures, and is divided up by subjects (i.e. Bond Villians, Bond Women, Weapons, Equipment etc.). For myself, since that is also part of the Bond world, I wish it had had a section on Bond bloopers (deliberate or otherwise) which occur in the films.

I did notice that occasionally the pictures did not match the captions listed for them (in "The Movies" chapter especially) in that a photograph would be shown, but the caption did not relate to the designated picture.

Also, in the sidebar section of that chapter where different persons connected with the production side of the movies would be listed along with their professional biographies, sometimes the print was hard to read bacause of the background color it was placed on.

Overall, I would recommend this book.

I consider myself well versed in the world of 007. However, reading this book made me realize how much there is out there that I was was unaware of, The authors have shown a greta eye for detail and completeness. And with a nice sense of humor they have added some new facts that I never knew existed.

A pleasure to read.

This book is better than I expected. I thought it would just cover the movie Bond. I was pleasantly surprised to find that is compares things in the movies to the books. Plus it goes into the charecters and devices showing the real to imagined. A great book for any Bond fan.

This James Bond Encyclopedia is a must have book. It is very comprehensive and profusely illustrated with photographs. The visual layout is very attractive enhancing this exquisite volume. I spent many hours going through it. It is a very enjoyable James Bond film companion. Being a long time Bond fan I highly recommend this one.

Years and years ago a "James Bond Encyclopedia" by Steven Jay Rubin came out and considering it wasn't an "EON officially" sanctioned book (stock photos and mediocre writing) it wasn't all THAT bad. I've been collecting 007 books for a long time, many of them from the internet, and came out dissappointed many times but was able to recover from my initial skepticism to buying this new Bond Encyclopedia when I noticed John Cork was one of the authors. He's responsible for the excelent BOND GIRLS ARE FOREVER and the JAMES BOND LEGACY, perhaps the two best Bond books I've every bought.
Well, the JAMES BOND ENCYCLOPEDIA certainly doesn't dissappoint, hundreds of terrific pictures organized by category (movie, vehicles, girls, villains, etc.) include even the most oscure of entries. While a dream come true for aficionados, it's definetly bound to please casual Bond fans also (and who isn't ?)

Purchase this encyclopedia ONLY if you're a hardcore fan of the official James Bond film series. You should pass on this if you're strictly a casual fan. I'm a hardcore fan but I haven't really read this encyclopedia yet (I've flipped through it though) because it's a reference book not a reading book. That is why it's a waste of money for casual fans that can use the Internet when in need of a description of a Bond character, car, gadget, etc.

This is a high quality book with great pictures and information. However, it sometimes gets too cute. For example, it claims Michael G. Wilson has only played one character in all of the films he's appeared in. It says he's an "unnamed foreign agent" that wears a different disguise in every film. This explanation is corny, as we all know Michael G. Wilson's appearances are simply cameos and require no explanation.

Bought this for my husband who is a huge James Bond fan. He is very happy with it and it has a lot of information and pictures he hadn't seen before.

Both of the people I order them for as was I. They send it to you in a timely manner I think I got mine in about 1 week. I would definetly order from them again.

This book was more than I expected! My wife and I lost track of time reading all of the details about the movies we didn't know about. Great pictures and background details. I would recommend it to any James Bond fan!