This week sees the release of the 21st Bond film, Casino Royale and it's the

first film to star actor Daniel Craig as the British Secret Service spy 007.

James Bond was the creation of author Ian Fleming who wrote 13 Bond novels

as well as a number of short stories featuring Bond between 1953 and 1964, the

year in which he died. Fleming had worked in intelligence during the Second

World War and this was the background and experience he called upon in his

books.

Ian Fleming was also a keen ornithologist, an ornithologist is someone whose

hobby is watching birds, and he wrote most of his books in his house in the

West Indian island of Jamaica. He took the name of the character James Bond,

from the real name of a writer of a book called 'Birds of the West Indies'.

It's one of the many pieces of Bond trivia that in the film Die Another Day the

actor Pierce Brosnan, playing Bond, is seen holding a copy of the book while

pretending to be an ornithologist.

Pierce Brosnan was the fifth actor to play the role of the super spy and as the

actors have had to change over the years, so have the plot lines and stories. 

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The world is a very different place to what is was in 1962 when the first Bond

film Dr. No was released and the films have reflected that and evolved and

reflected contemporary events. Here's writer and critic Kim Newman. How

does he describe the way the Bond movies have dealt with issues from the real

world?

 

Kim Newman

Over the years Bond's dealt with whatever we've dealt with in the real world but in a slightly

inflated, exaggerated way. I'm going back into the books in the 50s, they start dealing with

communism, that's the big trouble. In the 1960s it's out of control technological maniacs and

we've had a few attempts to do mercenaries, drug dealers, arms dealers, sort of more realistic

villains and now I suppose we're going to have to look forward to Bond going up against

terrorists.

Callum: He said that the issues of the real world have been dealt with in a slightly

inflated and exaggerated way. An inflated and exaggerated way which means

larger than life, more dramatic than reality. A few of the things mentioned are

communism, technological maniacs – people with advanced technology who

have mad plans to take over the world, technological maniacs. There have also

been attempts in the films to deal with more realistic issues such as drug

dealers, arms dealers, people who sell weapons and mercenaries. A mercenary

is a soldier who works not for a country but for whoever pays him, a hired

soldier – a mercenary. He says that now Bond will have to face the threat of

terrorism. He will have to 'go up against' terrorists. To 'go up against' is a

multi-word verb which means to confront, to challenge and fight, to go up

against. Listen again

Kim Newman

Over the years Bond's dealt with whatever we've dealt with in the real world but in a slightly

inflated, exaggerated way. I'm going back into the books in the 50s, they start dealing with 

Entertainment © BBC Learning English

Page 3 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

communism, that's the big trouble. In the 1960s it's out of control technological maniacs and

we've had a few attempts to do mercenaries, drug dealers, arms dealers, sort of more realistic

villains and now I suppose we're going to have to look forward to Bond going up against

terrorists.

Callum: Over the years Bond has covered the cold war, the space race, nuclear threats

and dangers connected with the rise of information technology. The films have

become well-known for special effects and special gadgets – gadgets, tools and

devices that Bond uses like the watch with a laser built in, the invisible car and

exploding toothpaste.

What about the new Bond and the new film? Well I don't know, I haven't had

the chance to see it yet, but from what I've heard it's tougher, more realistic and

there are fewer gadgets. I'm certainly looking forward to catching it and

hearing a new actor say the immortal line, the name's Bond, James Bond.