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Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films (Cinema and Society)
When James Chapman's rip-roaring journey through the annals of celluloid Bond first appeared in 2000, the London Evening Standard said, "Chapman demonstrates that there is more to the 007 franchise than just girls, guns and globe trotting." Stephen O'Brien, writing in SFX magazine called the book "Thoughtful, intelligent, ludicrous and a bit snobby. Bi
...morePaperback, 336 pages
Published
March 15th 2008
by I. B. Tauris
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I first came across this book when studying a film history module for my Social History degree. With time not on my side I was only able to read the chapters regarding some of the '60s Bond films.
Ten years later, I bought the book, which I regard as one of the best critiques of film available.
Chapman's enthusiasm for his subject is evident and makes this an enjoyable read. He provides, not only, a history of the Bond franchise, but also a fantastic appraisal of how the film...more
Ten years later, I bought the book, which I regard as one of the best critiques of film available.
Chapman's enthusiasm for his subject is evident and makes this an enjoyable read. He provides, not only, a history of the Bond franchise, but also a fantastic appraisal of how the film...more
If you are looking for a guide to all the best bits from the Bond films, the biographies of the cast and crew and so on; then there are plenty of books out there for you, but this is not the book you are looking for. This book is a serious study to put the Bond movies – including the two not made by Eon Productions – into the context of the social history of the day. Written by a self-confessed Bond fan this is an attempt to explain the place of the Bond films in society. It highlights that duri...more
This was a fair attempt to fit in the essence of James Bond and how it fit into the society at the time, and how it fits in with other movies being made at the time that Dr. No, and the others to follow it faired. In my opinion the Bond movies at first set the trend and other movies tried to pick up on it, or the feeling of it. They were the first movies to have the sometimes funny one liners at the end of an action sequence. Lots of other action movies took that and ran with it....in particual ...more
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A bit hard to find, this book treads middle ground between film criticism based on the tenants of some particular school of thought, and a more "pop culture" analysis of the Bond films. It describes the relationship of the films to the books, how the character differs in both, and most interestingly how the character and villians evolve throughout the series in response to world events. One point evolved is Bond's misogyny and how that was considerably 'softened' in the films of the ...more
Excellent book on the cultural history of the James Bond films. The author places each film in the context that it was made to try and show how each was relevant to its time. Good film criticism.
This is a neat study of Bond as a pop-culture icon. It has both behind-the-scenes information and critical analysis of the films, with just the right tone.
Rae
marked it as to-read
Alex Gilliom
marked it as to-read
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