IT JUST A TITLE PASSED ON?
This, I can totally understand. People get old, it's time to hang up the suit when you've moved on and pass it to the next eager agent ready to take the reins. This happens in reality as well. One steps down and the other takes over. It's a lot like getting a new Pope or President of the United States. The position is always there but the entity taking over differs from generation to generation, or term to term if you will. We all age, it's just the way of life. Having the name of James Bond is the highest of the high in the British Secret Service. Agent 007 has proved time and time again why the person in the shoes is the right man for the most dangerous of missions. He's timeless.
Another interesting note is that each time a new actor comes on the screen (with the exception of Roger Moore, as we see him bedding someone), there is a sense of suspense and intrigue leading up to when his face is first revealed in their debut film. In Connery's case, he was playing a game of chermaine defur when revealed; George Lazenby has a zoom-in on his lower face as he lights a cigarette. In Timothy Dalton's case there is a dramatic zoom-in as he looks upon a fellow agent falling to his death. With Pierce Brosnan you see his face revealed while infiltrating someone in a restroom stall...okay it sounds ridiculous but it works. With Craig, you don't get a dramatic zoom in or a lead-up to his appearance. You just see him in a room quietly waiting until his target arrives in an office when the lights go on. Not dramatic, but quite a startle. In any case, it's far better than Roger Moore's introduction. In short, if they are all supposed to be James Bond, why do they all look so different?
As I mentioned, before there are those that see him as being a different person and the name Bond is just a codename.
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| Think this theory is ridiculous? Let's look at the other side of the coin, shall we? |
IT HE ONE MAN?
On the other side of the coin, there is something that ties this all together which helps prove he's one man: his mention of past adventures and his late wife Tracey di Vincenzo.
GEORGE LAZENBY
It starts with On Her Majesty's Secret Service and George Lazenby takes over the role of 007 from Sean Connery. In a rare scene in his office at MI6 headquarters-which we won't see again until Die Another Day-he takes out several souvenirs from his previous missions including Honey Rider's knife 9Dr. No; Red Grant's assassination wrist watch 9From Russia With Love; and. All the previous films starred Connery. Now, some may see this as the productions way of reassuring the audience that this is indeed the same James Bond we've come to know even though played by a different actor, I personally see this as being the same man that we've seen in his previous five adventures.
Perhaps most importantly, James Bond gets married in this film. After a wedding with new wife Tracey, Bond stops the car in order to rid it of all the wedding decorations and whatnot. Before realizing it, Blofeld comes screaming down the street and has Tracey murdered in cold blood. This depresses Bond to which he tells a police officer, "We have all the time in the world."
Two years later, Sean Connery returns as 007 in Diamonds Are Forever. The films starts with him on a rampage traveling the world looking for Blofeld. Why on Earth for? Simple...he killed his wife! Granted, even though the previous film starred George Lazenby, the producers wanted to tell the audience that this man is James Bond...but just the face we all know.
In the films with Roger Moore, there are two moments where his wife is mentioned. With The Spy Who Loved Me, Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) proves to Bond that she knows his personal history as an agent. She mentions that he is only married once that his wife was killed before she is cut off by Bond, "Alright, you've made your point." As Bond brushes it off his shoulder, you can tell this is a vulnerable topic. A few films later, in For Your Eyes Only, Roger's Bond brings flowers to her grave. The grave even has the years on it: TRACEY BOND 1943-1969 "WIFE OF JAMES BOND. WE HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD". So, this clearly acknowledges that this was Bond's wife. This is indeed the same man because why would someone bring flowers to someone else's wife with the exact same name? You wouldn't...
In Licence to Kill, Timothy Dalton's Bond has a sense of remorse when he is indirectly reminded of his wife. Della Churchill, the new wife of DEA agent Felix Leiter, tosses Bond a part of her dress and explains,
For Brosnan's Bond, we finally hear how his parents die and that he's an orphan. In GoldenEye, Alec Trevelyan, former Agent 006, compares the differences between Bond's parents demise and his: " We're both orphans, James. But while your parents had the luxury of dying in a climbing accident, mine survived the British betrayal and Stalin's execution squads." Mind you, not much time is taken to focus on this, but it's still stated nonetheless. When it comes to wife Tracy, Bond has a pause when asked by Elektra King if "He's ever lost a loved one, Mr. Bond?" In response, Bond staggers for a moment but then brushes it off.
In Die Another Day, Bond is in Q's workshop in London's Underground and you can see all past gadgets and items throughout his journey. He even notices the jetpack used in Thunderball and before turning it on asks, Does this still work/
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| James Bond 9Pierce Brosnan9 spots an old relic from his past. |
For Daniel Craig's Bond, he's also mentioned to be an orphan and that both his parents died in a climbing accident. The film Skyfall explains this and thus this ties in to the fact that he is indeed the same man. There is no mention of Tracy due to the fact that this is before he's been married, however he is still the same man as Brosnan, who thus is the same man as all who came before.
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