Customer Reviews

James Bond: The Secret World of 007

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DK books has made the great even better with their revised edition of "James Bond: The Secret World of 007". Previously released in 2000, this latest edition expands to include the two most recent Bond Thrillers "Die Another Day" and the upcoming "Casino Royale". As with all of DK's books, it is highlighted by fantastic photography from beginning to end and presented in an over-sized hardcover format with dust jacket, perfectly suited for the coffee table.

The book start out with the perfunctory introduction to the character and his rich history including that distinctive "Bond look" , a section on "Q" the master gadget maker, as well as a look at the various bond women such as May Day, Elektra King, and Domino.

Next the book gets into each of the Bond missions, i.e, the films, beginning with Dr. No. You'll go inside the plot of each film and the lair of each villain to meet the evil masterminds as well as their various henchman and attractive women. You'll relive the most harrowing moments of each film and see the tools that Bond applied to save the day. These sections feature numerous photos from each film as well as artistic renderings of things such as Dr. No's Crab Key lair which takes the reader through a step-by-step replay of Bond's ingenious escape.

The Goldfinger section gets you up close and personal inside Bond's ride, the Aston Martin DB5 with it's pop-out machine guns, smoke emitting exhaust pipes, and ejector seat. Diamonds are Forever introduces us to the deadly assassins Wint & Kidd as well as a pair of gorgeous ladies Plenty O'Toole and Tiffany Case as the arch-villain Blofeld returns. The Spy Who Loved Me introduces us to one of the most popular Bond villains the giant, steel-toothed Jaws who gets a sizeable section in the book.

While Bond enthusiasts will know all the details already, casual fans will really eat up this book and it's a simply gorgeous collectible. There are a couple of problems, though. One, is that you barely see Sean Connery, Roger Moore, or even Timothy Dalton anywhere in the book. The only Bond you really see is Pierce Brosnan up until the back section that lists each films credits. The other slight is that there isn't much coverage on Casino Royale but DK has that solved with their new book "Bond on Set" devoted to the latest Bond Film. Two minor things and not enough for me not to highly recommend this book.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

I was pleased with the orginal edition of The Secret World of 007 and felt this was worth getting for the updates. But to say this book has been updated with Die Another Day "and Casino Royale" is deceptive. The Die Another Day section is nice and complete, but the Casino Royale section is only 2 pages and not even presented in the same style as the other sections -- no "mission to Madagascar" or anything. Just a large pic of Craig and the Aston Martin spread across both pages and the film title (and a few smaller pics -- all of which we've seen). I was expecting cutaways of the casino and Venice house, etc. Nothing. So this book is updated with Die Another Day. That's all. Factor this into your decision to buy.

The Minute I saw this book I thought that this would make a great Christmas gift for some James Bond fan out there. You really have to see the insides of this book to see what I am talking about. Every page is filled with color photographs, drawings and diagrams from all 21 James Bond film. It is a beautiful looking book from cover to cover. I thought they covered enough on CASINO ROYALE without giving too much away. In fact they do a very good job with CASINO ROYALE. Some kid or a really big kid is going to love this book.

James Bond fans, take note: this is a revised edition of a best-seller on the superspy created in colalboration with EON Productions, producer of his films, and has been updated to add his most recent movies. Newcomers as well as avid fans receive an oversized presentation which covers all his exciting missions, pairing plot with color photos throughout and offering new narrative scenes from his newest adventures. An updated James Bond filmography adds to the information. If you're a general-interest public library and have room for only one James bond moviebook, it should be James Bond: The Secret World of 007: it wins hands down over the competition.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

"James Bond: The Secret World of 007" has an impressive update for DIE ANOTHER DAY and a cursory (almost looking like an afterthought) addition for CASINO ROYALE (2006). I can just see the publisher saying something to the effect: "Great update for DIE ANOTHER DAY but do you think you can put a picture or two and give some mention to CASINO ROYALE (2006)? Since CASINO ROYALE (2006) is supposed to be a rebirth of the cinematic James Bond the publishers should just have ended it with DIE ANOTHER DAY, the twentieth installment in the series, and called it a day. I like the cover of this updated edition. It has a rather regal look about it. Inside, this book is a fabulous looking publication and visually stunning and rather alluring in its colorful photographs and graphic layouts of hidden lairs, gadgets, cars and the like. I always found it interesting that for a book on James Bond that we really get few photos of him. Well, you just can't have everything.

DK Publishing is a great source for studying up on new topics and collectors items, so it treats James Bond just like that. Its almost like, "Here is James Bond dressed in a tux. Notice how he carries a Walther PPK. He drinks vodka martinis." This is great if you want to know about the character of Bond, but I find that only scratching the surface. If you want to know anything about the making of the films from writing the script and casting to how they did the stunts and special effects, this book is not the book for you.

As an update to "James Bond: The Secret World of 007" this book is sorely lacking. The meager additions covering CASINO ROYALE are perfunctory at best. The DIE ANOTHER DAY additions are adequate but seem to lack the detail given to earlier James Bond films. The lackluster cover seems to parallel the significance of this edition.

This edition of "James Bond: The Secret World of 007" is rather superfluous. The produces of CASINO ROYALE have indicated that this film is going to be a new beginning for James Bond. If so, the 20 James Bond films in the series that preceded CASINO ROYALE really have no continuity in relation to this film. Therefore an edition dedicated solely to this film would have been more appropriate. Just end it with the sections in addendum to DIE ANOTHER DAY. The James Bond based in the Twentieth Century had a good run.