Spent a goodly portion of today avoiding real work (and Wimbledon) by watching ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE on ITV1, again, this afternoon. As I've said elsewhere, best ever Bond music, best ever Bond female lead, best use of locations, and as Sean noted, no Bond kicked the crap out of people like Lazenby until Craig. Beautifully shot, too.
It's been quite a Bond-themed few weeks for me, as I've both been reading my way through Charlie Higson's Young Bond novels, and read Sebastian Faulks' DEVIL MAY CARE. Faulks does a spot-on Fleming impersonation, hence the unwieldy billing of "Sebastian Faulks, writing as Ian Fleming" on the cover. Faulks only really has one extra trick up his sleeve, loading scenes in Persia, Afghanistan and Russia full of dramatic irony for a post-Cold War, post-Operation Iraqi Freedom, audience. To be honest, I'm enjoying Higson's books more. I thought it'd be impossible to do Bond justice in a kid's book, but the author formerly known as Swiss Tony does a great job of setting up likely psychological reasons for all Bond's adult attitudes and vices, alongside rattling yarns that provide lots of Flemingesque characters, locations and set-pieces, without being mere pastiches, for a post-Rowling audience. Any Bond fans who've so far avoided these through a similar prejudice could do worse than pick up BLOOD FEVER and give it a go.