Fellman's Movie Reviews

For being made in 1962, Dr. No is surprisingly well made. Especially considering the low budget that they had for the time. $1 million sounds like a lot of money to you and me. But not when you’re making a Hollywood movie. It goes by pretty quickly when you’re trying to shoot a movie. Car explosions and magnified fish don’t come cheap… 

Either way, Dr. No is one of the most popular Bond films, despite being first in line. Probably because of the dialogue. It’s quirky and funny. It has a tongue in cheek attitude that keeps Bond lighthearted while he’s still being a secret agent. I think that’s what made the Sean Connery Bond so much fun. He was having a good time. He knew what he was doing while he was doing it and he did it with a smile on his face. That’s how secret agents get down.  

And it is the very first Bond film in the series. So, it introduces most of the eponymous Bond trademarks that people are familiar with. The movie starts with the gunshot opening. Bond delivers the iconic “Bond, James Bond…” introduction in the casino. He’s given his trademark Walther PPK by M in the beginning of the movie. And room service delivers his “vodka martini, shaken, not stirred”.  

There are some differences between the movie and novel, as there are with most of the Bond movies. First off, Dr. No was actually the sixth novel in Ian Fleming’s series, not the first. And they had to leave some stuff out to make room for more of the rocket story. And the rocket story had to coincide with what was going on in the space race at the time because of the current political climate. So, they were kind of walking a fine line when they were making the movie.  

But, despite all of that, it still turned out to be a great spy movie. And a cornerstone of the James Bond franchise. So, yeah. Go and see Dr. No. Because, you have to start somewhere. So, why not start from the beginning? And then, you can just keep going. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…