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7
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10 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Rod
Barnett |
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When
MI6's operative in Jamaica, Commander John Strangways,
is killed leaving a bridge game, M (Bernard Lee)
sends England's "blunt instrument" —
secret agent James Bond (Sean Connery) —
to the island to investigate. M mentions that
the Americans seem to think that the recent toppling
of many of their rocket launches from Florida
are connected to something in the Jamaica area.
Convinced that there's something large behind
Strangways' death, Bond thinks that the commander's
recent look into the business of local Chinese
national Doctor No is the cause of the agent's
disappearance. Strangways had made secret trips
to the doctor's island of Crab Key and returned
with some radioactive rock samples. Finding that
the local government files on Doctor No and his
private island are mysteriously missing, 007 suspects
the Colonial Secretary's beautiful Chinese assistant
of being involved. When an attempt on his life
is made as he drives to meet her, he's convinced.
Following her trail to a local
geologist and bridge partner of Strangways', Bond
realizes that all clues lead to Doctor No and
his island. Enlisting Quarrel, a local sailor
and CIA operative, Bond sails to Crab Key to scout
for information. Once there, he finds beautiful
Jamaican native Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) poaching
valuable seashells. He also learns that the good
doctor plays very rough. Before any message can
be relayed to the authorities, they're chased
into the island's interior and Bond and the girl
are captured. Completely at their host's mercy,
Bond realizes he has very little time before yet
another American rocket is toppled. And this time
No intends to salvage the warhead for his own
sinister purposes.
While rarely named a favorite
of fans, Dr. No is
also never singled out as one of the true duds
of the 40-year-old series, either. Much like the
next three sequels, this one follows the outline
of the original source novel pretty closely. The
plot, locations, characters and flavor of Fleming's
book is kept almost intact with only a few additions
and deletions made that push the story into more
cinematic areas. The changes made to the book
are mostly cosmetic —
the
mined resource of Crab Key was guano, not bauxite;
a deadly caterpillar native to Jamaica was used
in an attempt to kill Bond, not a tarantula; Quarrel
was an old cohort of Bond's specifically requested
for this mission; Dr. No was not a member of SPECTRE
but a (self-professed) maniac out to dominate
the world; there was no messing about with radioactive
power. Of course, a few moments from the book
were best lost in the translation, including 007's
battle to the death with a giant squid (!) and
Dr. No's ignominious end beneath a huge pile of
bird crap. Some changes were done to curtail nudity
(damn those censors!) and speed the story along,
while keeping the budget manageable, but a few
of them are a bit odd. I'm still not sure why
there was a need to include CIA man Felix Leiter
here, when he serves absolutely no purpose. But
overall this is a very good adaptation of the
book, one that keeps a good deal of the tone and
intent in place while introducing us to a character
for the ages.
Dr. No
is a great spy thriller with strong direction
and many great performances. This is the film
that made Sean Connery both a star and a household
name, of course, and it's easy to see why. His
performance is so self-assured that it's hard
to imagine a more perfect actor to tackle the
role. The way he moves and carries himself exudes
a sense of suave style and coiled energy that
fairly crackles off the screen. Connery is always
believable as Bond and for this type of film,
that's half the battle. If we believe the character
we are willing to follow him through almost any
bizarre situation. And Dr.
No certainly provides its share of those.
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MGM's
packed DVD of Dr. No
is part of their fantastic series of Bond discs
that really give you your money's worth. The film
is presented letterboxed at 1.78:1, which is a little
tight from what I've read, with the more correct
ratio being 1.66:1. But the sliver of picture lost
is hardly noticed. The movie does look a little
grainy at times (symptomatic of its small budget);
apparently this is true of the film in all its video
incarnations. I've never seen a better looking way
of watching it at home, however.
As good
as the film is the extras are where the DVD really
shines. First there's a commentary track hosted
by John Cork of the Ian Fleming Foundation, which
includes the memories of well over a dozen members
of the cast and crew. Even people who passed away
years ago are part of the track via archival interview
clips. This track is a goldmine of information straight
from the participants and is very entertaining.
Being able to hear director Terence Young talk about
his choices for shots and ideas of Bond as a character
are only a small part of the fun. At times I did
get the feeling that some of the comments were edited
to present as pleasant a flow of anecdotes as possible,
but the occasional uncomplimentary line does slip
in. One of my favorite bits of information is Lois
Maxwell's story of how she and Connery created their
own background for the relationship between Bond
and Moneypenny to help them find the best way to
play their scenes together. This is the kind of
commentary I like with older films like this — an
expert on the subject at hand to introduce the participants
and bridge the gaps from one to the next. This is
a nonstop track that is very hard to stop once you
start... The best compliment I can give to a commentary.
Another
choice extra is a 40-minute documentary called Inside
Dr. No. This featurette covers the genesis of
not only the movie but also the Bond series as a
whole. It is very informative, and it's good to
see many of the cast and crew, but there is a great
deal of overlap between the commentary and the doc.
Still, I'm not going to grumble since I enjoyed
both and with the Bond films, more is usually better.
Next up on the disc is a 19-minute short entitled
Terence Young: Bond Vivant. This gives a
brief look at the man who had a big hand in shaping
not only three of the first four films in the series
but the very essence of the Bond character on screen.
Anyone who's read the Fleming novels knows that
the literary Bond was not quite the sophisticated
man that was crafted for the movies. Young added
the more suave details of the character by coaching
Connery; in many ways he was very much like the
Bond he directed. Until seeing this piece I'd never
known anything about Mr. Young and now I can't wait
to track down more of his early films. He was apparently
a fascinating and much beloved man.
Also
included is a fun still gallery featuring more than
a few pinup shots of the beautiful Miss Andress,
vintage TV ads, theatrical trailers and radio spots.
Altogether, this MGM "Special Edition"
is an extremely satisfying DVD presentation of a
landmark film — a must for any fan's collection.
It's the kind of disc James Bond fans have been
hoping for. I can't imagine anyone picking it up
being disappointed. Overwhelmed by the sheer volume
of the content, perhaps, but never disappointed!
12/19/02 |
| UPDATE
OOP for a couple of years, Dr.
No was reissued in December 2006 by MGM.
This completely remastered 2-disc edition — meticulously
restored, given a new 5.1 Surround audio mix and
featuring additional extras — is contained in the
James Bond Ultimate Collection Vol. 4. (Audio/visual
quality is simply stunning!) In 2008 the 2-disc
UE was released in stand-alone form, using different
cover art, as well as a Blu-ray edition. 2012 will
see additional re-releases/repackaging. |
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