Dr. No

The first of the James Bond movies, this 1962 classic stars Sean Connery, the man born in Edinburgh, Scotland, who most often plays British and Russian spies. Dr. No was not the first book that Ian Fleming wrote. In fact, it wasn't even his second. Dr. No fell 6th in the series of the 14 James Bond books that he wrote. The first book was Casino Royale, the movie most recently made with Daniel Craig.

In this movie, we are introduced to James Bond and he is sent to Jamaica to investigate the death of a British agent, John Strangways. Once there, the local henchmen are quickly on to this agent and several unsuccessful attempts are made to exterminate him. Bond hooks up with his CIA counterpart, Felix Leiter, who was originally played by Jack Lord, best known for his sideburns when he played Steve McGarrett in the Hawaii Five-O series. (For you young whipper-snappers, Hawaii was the 50th state and the police refer to themselves as the 5-0, meaning 50th.)

Bond works with Lieter and they get a local to take him to Crab Keys, the dangerous island protected by a dragon that scares off the locals. There, he meets the Bond girl of the movie, Honey Ryder. Once there they are attacked by Dr. No's henchmen and taken inside the secret facility. This is where Dr. No plans to use his radioactive missile technology to disrupt the United States space program. And it's also a place where Dr. No honors Adolph Hitler. Remember, this movie came out only 17 years after World War II.

In the end, Bond, James Bond defeats Dr. No, foils his plans to destroy the space program, blows up the secret facility, and ends up rolling around in the boat with Honey Ryder. Not bad for a day's pay.

This movie is 1:48 minutes long. It is rated PG for some suggestive sexual content and mild violence. I give this movie 4 stars, mostly because of its sentimental value. It's the first James Bond movie, it stars Sean Connery, and the bond girl has a cool name.

Thunderball

Thunderball is the 9th of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, though the fourth in the series of movies. Adjusted for inflation, it was the most successful James Bond film grossing $924 million using 2007 adjusted numbers.

Made during the Sean Connery era, the movie often resembles the special effects of the same-era Batman tv show. For example, you can tell the boat is going really fast when they speed up the camera. And the only thing missing from the fight scenes are the "Ka-Pow!!" and "Blam!!!".

However, don't let this deter you from watching this movie. The chauvinistic Bond never disappoints. In one scene, one of the beautiful starlets lies in the bath tub when he walks in. I bit stunned, she asks if he can hand her something to put on. He reaches out and hands her a pair of shoes.

And for the corny-coolness factor, when asked what Bond does for a living, he responds, "I'm sort of a licensed trouble-shooter."

I rate this movie 4 stars. There are enough one-liners that will keep you laughing. However, if you are like me and aspire to be cool, this Bond film gives you a healthy dose of things you wish you could say on the spot and do as a secret British agent.

On a side note, the movie was remade in 1983 and called Never Say Never Again. The plot is nearly the same and this time Domino is portrayed by Kim Basinger. Additionally, Never Say Never Again ran in theaters during the same year as a competing Bond film, the titillatingly titled Octopussy.