The Art of Bond: From Storyboard to Screen - The Creative Process Behind the James Bond Phenomenon

by Laurent Bouzereau

The debonair and daring James Bond has captivated audiences around the world for more than 40 years, his 007 films setting the standard for movie blockbusters. The Art of Bond gives readers an insider’s look at the Bond evolution, from storyboard to screen, through all-new interviews with the series’ creative talents, as well as previously unseen art and behind-the-scenes photography from all 21 films. Actors—including the newest Bond, Daniel Craig—producers, directors, writers, and designers share their stories about the making of the films, and how their groundbreaking work has influenced other prominent filmmakers.

Published to coincide with the fall 2006 release of the newest Bond film, Casino Royale , and profusely illustrated with exclusive images from the Eon Archive, this book is a visual tribute to an incomparable cinematic icon.

Genres: Media Tie In, Nonfiction, Art, Film, Reference

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classy well illustrated coffee table book, it is not written as a normal book but it has chapters with topics which is then filled with quotes from people involved with the franchise and some people like Ken Follet, Ridley Scott, Peter Jackson and a Steven Spielberg.
Nothing new for a lifelong fan of 007 like me, but it was a good excuse to spend some time with my favorite franchise.
This book covers the EON series from Doctor No with Connery until Casino Royale with Craig.
Fun for fans and people who enjoy movies in general.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy on the eye and easy on the brain, with contributions from fans including Ken Follett and Peter Jackson as well as key figures in the Bond movies, lots of fun facts, and some great images. Obviously I'm going to say 'not enough of my favourite Bond', though.

[Andrew Ives · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining read, filled with plenty of large glossy photos, surrounded by scattered quotations of varying sizes from directors, producers and many other behind-the-scenes staff. These pertain to all the films from Dr No up to Casino Royale, as well as Fleming's books, covering every aspect of the 'art' - writing, music, titles, acting, marketing, pretty much everything really - with little anecdotes and inside stories included along the way. Despite its page size and glossiness giving the impression of a coffee table book, at 230+ pages, The Art of Bond is quite a lengthy read. Bouzereau has gathered together countless quotations from eloquent contributors and arranged them into a coherent order despite occasional spurious references to scenes and actors that not everyone will be familiar with. It does get a bit luvvy in places with everyone being super-wonderful in every part of every film. When this includes the ridiculous scenes with Roger Moore in his crocodile submarine, Dalton's cello case sledging escapades or the whole of Octopussy, you have to wonder if they are talking about the same ropey bits of films you remember. All said and done, apart from a matt cover which shows every fingerprint and scratch, this book couldn't be a much better example of what it aims to be and somewhat despite myself, I rather enjoyed it. 4.25/5

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read for all Bond fans! This is a cool ""coffee table"" book for fans and collectors alike. Many people that worked on the James Bond movies tells behind-the-scenes stories about how the movies came together with regards to the cast, the stunts, the storylines, etc. Very entertaining...

[Matthew Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully presented - just pictures and the odd quotation really, but I liked it!

[Kirby Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of quotes and photos delving into the Bond film series. They only go up to the 23006 take on Casino Royale, but for Bond fans, it's still a good read.

[Parka · Rating 4 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

In my opinion, the book title is deceiving. This is not an art book.

This book is about the history on the making of James Bond movies, up until Casino Royale. That's all 21 films if you're counting.

Included are lots of on-set photographs, some concept artwork consisting mainly of storyboards. There are also interviews with key talents like Michael G.Wilson, Barbara Broccoli, Ken Adam, John Barry and Martin Campbell.

In essence, this book is about the history of James Bond and how it made it to the big screen. Many production stories are included in the interviews, like how they fix up the set, cast characters and choose music. These stories come in the form of interviewees' quotes. There is no narration in the book.

The book could be thicker given James Bond's long and illustrious history. I just can't help thinking about how much stuff they left out. I guess they may be covered in other James Bond books.

It's a good read overall, but mainly for James Bond fans.

Here's the list of chapters:

* Bond Words: the novels, the screenplays, the dialogue
* Bond Worlds: sets, locations, gadgets and cars
* Making It Real: the team, the actors, filming the action
* Bond Scores: the music, the songs, the title sequences
* Bond Takes On The World: the marketing, the release
* James Bond Will Return
* Picture Captions

This review was first published on parkablogs.com. There are more pictures and videos on my blog.

[Michael Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a Christmas present. I'm a big Bond fan, collect all the movies and books, as well as ancillary books like this one. This was not the most informative book available, in fact I learned little new from reading it. It consists of short snippets of comments from people who worked on Bond films (producers, directors, etc.) as well as industry bigwigs (Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, etc.). Some of these comments are interesting, some are self-serving, some are totally irrelevant. The comments are surrounded by images from the films, advertising, concept artwork, behind-the-scenes photos, and so forth. It's a nice coffee table book, looks great (terrific artwork throughout), but probably only for hardcore fans and completists. If you want more in-depth information about the films, I suggest something like The James Bond Encyclopedia or James Bond: The Secret World of 007.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book (as some other reviews have pointed out) is a little deceiving. The book consists of a whole collection of entries across the Bond films up to 2006. It can be on-set photos, publicity shot and even concept work and film set photographs. It would be a gross injustice to call this a scrap book but in places it does. What does not help is that a lot of the images are not clearly referred to, the dialogue on the page is not clearly directed towards a particular photograph and in some cases is totally irrelevant. In places it reads more like a celebrity homage to Bond.
All of these aside the book is a fascinating read (if for these reasons a little misleading) and is beautifully printed and bound and I will have to admit, having read some of the entries on the various films, it makes me want to dig them out and watch them again.

[Eric Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A definitive collection of photos from all the Bond movies (up to Casino Royale, that is) and nicely put together. Rather than being a narrative on the art of making Bond movies, we get quotes from the people that actually worked on them. From directors to set designers to editors, they share their experiences on creating the most successful film franchise of all time. Just one disappointing feature is that none of the quotes come from the actors themselves. It would've been fun to hear from the vast group of talented actors that played Bond or from the Bond girls themselves. Perhaps a revised edition will arrive in the coming years. Otherwise, a fascinating book to check out.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glossy, full of interesting photographs and text, this is good fun.