Although it was the first of the Bond books to be made into a film, Dr. No was the sixth of Fleming’s series, beginning with Casino Royale. Many aspects of a typical James Bond film were established in Dr. No. The film begins with an introduction to the character through the view of a gun barrel and a highly stylised main title sequence. As for the plot, John Strangways, the Station Chief of MI6 in Jamaica, is murdered. After MI6 loses radio contact with the station, M, the head of MI6, assigns Bond to go to Jamaica; Strangways was helping the CIA investigate radio jamming of rocket launches from Cape Canaveral. One island, Crab Key, is generally off limits, controlled by Dr. No. Bond goes to Crab Key, he meets Honey Ryder, a shell diver. Bond and Ryder are captured, and meet Dr Julius No: a Chinese-German scientist with prosthetic metal hands due to radiation exposure. No works for SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion). Bond foils Dr. No’s plans by overloading a nuclear reactor onsite. Dr. No fights him, but falls into the reactor pool and is boiled to death. As the base’s personnel evacuate, Bond frees Ryder before the two escape the island by boat, moments before the base is destroyed.
OK, now to the ratings;
Bond- 99 out of 100. It’s amazing how Sean Connery inhabits the role so completely in this, the first movie of the series. The look is right, the physicality is there, the confidence / arrogance is fully realized. The movie is circa 1962, so the tech, props, etc. are not sophisticated by any stretch of the imagination, but Connery’s Bond is supersedes the primitive , dated surroundings.
Villain- 65 out of 100. Joseph Wiseman as Dr. Julius No is a very stock villain. I won’t deduct points for a caucasian playing an asian character, because at the time it was not the anathema that it is now. Wiseman’s Dr. No is the bad guy, in bold letters. It’s kinda one note. Wiseman does what he is supposed to do, but there’s nothing compelling here.
Bond Girls- 87 out of 100. Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder is one of the iconic Bond women, and her entrance out of the water is an iconic moment, which Halle Berry pays homage to in Die Another Day. But her voice is dubbed, so it’s difficult to give her big points for any character work. Zena Marshall as Miss Taro, a double agent who tries to have Bond killed, is sexy, and has some good moments. Eunice Gayson as Sylvia Trench also plays a Bond love interest.
Theme Song- 71 out of 75 It’s the original James Bond theme, written by Monty Norman and included, in one form or another, in every subsequent Bond film.
Henchman- 6 out of 50. This is another case where there really isn’t a henchman. The closest is Anthony Dawson as Professor R. J. Dent, a geologist with a practice in Kingston, who also secretly works for Dr. No, though it really doesn’t measure up to true henchman status.
M, Q, Moneypenny and misc. 18 out of 25. Jack Lord has a nice turn as Felix Leiter, the first of many actors who play this role in the series. Bernard Lee as M are Lois Maxwell as Moneypenny are both solid character actors and do good work.
Total- 346
Scoreboard;
- Spectre-397
- Casino Royale / Die Another Day- 382
- The World is not Enough- 367
- Dr. No- 346
- License to Kill- 321
- Octopussy- 255
- The Living Daylights- 228
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