Rating: 
Summary: RED STRIPE
Review: We have all heard about 'Product Placement' especially in the James Bond films. Did you know it goes all the way back to "Dr. No" and was very prominent? In the scene where Bond kicks and tosses Quarrel and Puss Feller into a stack of corrugated cartons, notice that those cartons are labeled 'Red Stripe.' That's right, 'Red Stripe' Beer from Jamaica! In this case 'Product Placement' was not a bad thing because it adds to the authenticity of this film. In fact "Dr. No" is one of the best films of the series. It is much closer to Ian Fleming's prose than most of the other films thanks to Sean Connery's performance, Richard Maibaum's scripting and Terence Young's direction. At the same time other elements that would be unique to the series and distinguish it from other films were introduced here. Production designer Ken Adam's sets, attractively futuristic yet totally simplistic and functional, adorned by Syd Cain's detailed Art designs set the look for the entire series making their work in "Dr. No" the benchmark. Peter Hunt's intuitive and effective quick-cut editing paced the film like no other at its time. Maurice Binder's brainchild opening 'gun barrel' is an incredible piece of Title Design, which is equaled only by the 'James Bond Theme', composed and re-orchestrated by Monty Norman and John Barry. Ted Moore's cinematography, especially the shot of bikini clad Ursula Andress emerging from the sea, is now a classic and also set a standard for future 'Bond Girls.' We are introduced to the organization known as S.P.E.C.T.R.E. in "Dr. No." What is unique to this film is the main villain brilliantly portrayed by Joseph Wiseman. He is unlike future main villains of the series. He isn't exactly what you may call a 'social animal'. Joseph Wiseman's eerie portrayal made Dr. No one of the most mysterious and enigmatic of the series. In a way his portrayal seems like a model for the unseen Blofeld in "From Russia With Love" and "Thunderball." Rounded out by the beloved M portrayed by Bernard Lee, the lovely Miss Moneypenny played by Lois Maxwell, John Kitzmiller as Quarrel and Zena Marshall as Miss Taro, "Dr. No" ranks as one of the best.
Rating: 
Summary: I know it's a cliche, but READ THE BOOK!
Review: I know everybody likes to say that "The book was better" whenever a movie comes out, but you really ought to give it a try. The movie is great in its own right...I love the inspired inclusion of Felix Leiter as DEFINED by Jack Lord, and Doctor No himself is appropriately creepy. The acting is great, and who can ignore Miss Andress' beauty? I recommend seeing the movie mostly for its visuals, which compliment the book wonderfully. All that said, the original novel contains not only more texture and backround than the film, but also some unbelievable plot twists that mark the best of Fleming's occasional forays into Science Fiction. The Story, as originally written, climaxes with a shocking torture-endurance test topped off by Bond's fight with a giant squid. I'm serious. It rocks. In all fairness, the best sequences in the novel would have been impossible to film, especially on the relatively tight budget this film was allotted. For this reason the film version of Doctor No deserves at least four stars, five if you're not the literary type. Oh, and the substitution of a boxite mine instead of a guano farm was probably a good choice, cinematically.
Rating:
Summary: Sean Connery: Testosterone "shaken not stirred" to go!
Review: Sean Connery, bless him, has a career spanning nearly 50 years. From "South Pacific" chorus boy to B-movie heavies to James Bond to bearded father figure, he has made quite a few movies: some good, some great, a lot of not-so-great, but the great Scot still has box-office draw. "Dr. No", the first big-screen James Bond film, made an instant star of Mr. Connery. It's easy to see why! The film, while a little slow-starting, is mercifully nearly "gadget-free", is shot in picturesque Jamaica, and introduced that gorgeous blonde Amazon Ursula Andress to the world, clad in the now-legendary white bikini, a sort of Aryan Girl from Ipanema. And then, of course, there is Mr. Connery. Six-foot two inches tall, with his "dark, cruel good looks", (as one film producer described him), hairy chest, and very wise deadpan delivery of his lines, is a breathtaking natural wonder. This comic book for adults, as opposed to the later Bond films with Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, et al, which, in my opinion, are comic books for adolescent boys, is highly entertaining. It is also "of its time", which is why I felt the series should have ended with "Thunderball". This was a time of big cars with tailfins, ice-cold cocktails served on low-slung cocktail tables, sharkskin suits, and girls with "hairdos". In my opinion, when Roger Moore inherited the role, the series lost its edge. Mr. Moore, a very handsome, capable actor, was too "gentlemanly to a fault" in the role, and the silly smirkiness of the scripts and too-obvious monikers like "Holly Goodhead" and "Jaws" smacked more of Malibu than Ian Fleming. The overabundance of car chases, explosions, and gadgets detracted, rather than added to, the decline of the series. And besides, how many times can you draw from the well? It's long run dry! But now for the "Dr No" DVD-gorgeous picture and sound quality, beautifully done menu graphics, dozens of candid stills, and the documentary are all part of this Valentine to the first Bond outing. And Sean Connery-a good argument for the benefits of human cloning!
Rating:
Summary: Solid start to great series
Review: This is it! The one that started the best, the most famous and longest running film series ever. 38 years later its amazing to watch this movie and know 007 is still around. A sentimental favorite among Bond fans and genuinely good movie. Much more atmospheric and paced than even other Sean Connery Bond movies, it lacks the sexiness, good humor and smoothness of later entries. James Bond, secret agent 007, is sent to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance and probable death of a British agent and his secretary. This movie is best when Connery's Bond is methodically following leads and questioning suspects. Bond actually does some bona-fide detecting in this movie. 007 finds himself up against the sinister Dr. No. A man with iron claws for hands and a bizarre and deadly scheme for revenge. Joseph Wiseman sets the perfect tone as the first Bond villain. Creepy and enigmatic, Dr. No presides over a genuine underground lair on an island called Crab Key. Ursula Andress is gorgeous as Honey Rider; seashell collector and first Bond Girl. Connery is, of course, a legend because he made James Bond 007 his role. His Bond in Dr. No is mostly straight arrow. A few quips and pleasant asides but very business-like, even somewhat brutal. It wouldn't be until parts of FRWL and all of Goldfinger that Connery would feel comfortable fleshing the role out. M, played by Bernard Lee, is here. So is Lois Maxwell's Moneypenny. The walther ppk is introduced as is the white bullet sequence at the beginning. The now standard Monty Norman theme is here. Jack Lord (yes, THAT Jack Lord) plays Felix Leiter of the CIA. Leiter is a frequently recurring role throughout the series but is played by a different actor in each appearence. Bond plays baccarat (his favorite casino game) and orders a martini, shaken, not stirred. Desmond Llewelyn's Q, the fancy cars, the gadgets, and the spectacular stunts would have to wait until at least FRWL. Fun escapist fare and a must-see for any Bond fan.
Rating:
Summary: So much with so little
Review: If you watch Dr. No expecting a super production Bond film like the others, you might be a bit frustrated. The film is very good, but by what it is - a very good film, nicely crafted and the real silver screen test for 007. By this I mean it didn't had 100 millions on the shelf to be spent on it. Amazing how so much was done with so little.Will you see Titanic with the same interest in 2040? Maybe for its special effects. But you don't watch Dr. No today, after almost 40 years of its release, for its special effects. That's what makes this film such a classic. It has a story behind it. And an interesting and entertaining one, you might bet. The DVD has 2 documentaries, audio comments, TV ads, Trailers and more. Whatching the creation of a classic is great. So is to hear the famous "Bond, James Bond" presentation being said for the first time.
Rating:
Summary: "Dr. No": A slow start to a great series!
Review: More of a mystery than an espionage thriller, "Dr. No" was the first movie featuring Special Agent James Bond, 007. The $5 question still remains, however, was the movie a good start to the series? I would say yes and no. The movie in itself is a fairly decent action/adventure thriller (for 1962 at least), but when compared with such an amazing film as "Goldfinger" (which would follow "Dr. No" after "From Russia with Love" as the third 007 installment) this movie pales severely. The James Bond saga truly started with the "Goldfinger" revolution, not with "Dr. No". This movie is definitely not my favorite of the entire series. Just because it was the first one doesn't give it any priority in my mind. To be honest, it was rather a disappointment after having watched "Goldfinger" before this one. Still, my judgements are probably a little too harsh since the series was just starting out, and the movie was produced with very little money. That is the reason I'm giving the film four stars instead of three or two. All in all, "Dr. No" is a movie long-time Bond fans will love, but not a movie newbies should check out. See "Goldfinger" or "The Living Daylights" if you want a good douse of the best Bond, then, check out "Dr. No" if you're really interested in seeing where it all began.
Rating:
Summary: Great Film
Review: Probably best known for Honey Ryder (Andress) emerging from the sea in the infamous white bikini, the first Bond film is actually one of the best adapted of Ian Flemings works to date. Personally, I've always favoured Sean Connery as Bond anyway so I'm probably biased but I always thought that Connery gave Bond the hard edge that's been lacking in the subsequent Bonds (Brosnan excluded). In this fantastic story, the villain, Dr. No, plans to destroy U.S. rockets and it's up to Bond in his own unique style to thwart Dr. No's plans. Assisted by U.S. agent Felix Leiter, (Lord) and various ladies along the way, this ends up being one of the most enjoyable of all Bond films staying quite true to the book. If you've somehow never seen a Bond movie in your life then I'd start with this!
Rating:
Summary: Great start, but too plausible....?
Review: For me it's hard to imagine what being a moviegoer back in 1962 must've been like. Back then, special effects weren't nearly as special. Similiar to listening to the radio, I can imagine the audience viewing Dr. No to pretend that Sean Connery was being chased by a hearse when it was obvious that he was sitting in front of a projected image. They imagined the pain that a henchman must've felt when Bond punched him in the face, even if the punch was clearly cheorographed and missed entirely onscreen. These low points would probbaly break a new movie in our generation, yet the previous generation did not depend on special effects or such to carry them through the movie; they wanted a solid plot, and on that note Dr. No successfully delivers in almost every way. In the first entry of the legendary James Bond saga, Bond is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a British Agent in Jamaica. Bond soon finds himself a target, and hurries to the island of Dr. No to thwart his scheme to divert a rocket from Cape Canaveral. All of the future prequisites for a Bond film are in place, ranging from beautiful girls (three of them, including Ursula Andress) to devious assassination methods to chase scenes and the like. Noteworthy are the scenes in M's office at the intro of the film, with smart dialogue, the introduction of the PPK, and Bond's flirting with Moneypenny afterwards. Other memorable moments in the film (out of many) include a scene where 3 'blind' men gun down a british agent, Bond shoots a henchman in cold blood, and the dinner conversation w/Dr. No. Sean Connery is smart, suave, and impressive in his first Bond film. It's not hard to see why audiences admired him, cheered him on, and why Bondmania became a national sensation. Deliveries of classic lines like "I think they were heading for a funneral" and "You've had your six" never sounded better. Though he grew more confident in From Russia With Love, Connery is still excellent in this film. My only problem with this film, and it's actually a very big problem, is that the film never prepares us for it's unbelievable finale. Throughout the film, Bond is attacked in low-key, plausible ways. He is shot at, chased by a hearse, set upon by a spider, hunted by dogs, betrayed by a beautiful girl, etc. None of it involves special gadgets or gimmickry (no cars with jet-propelled missiles, mutated animals, etc) and when Bond set off to visit Crab Key, I had in my mind that Dr. No was a simple, if insane villain. However, all of this plausibility is thrown away by introductions of radition suits, guys without hands and fantastic set designs. The film provided very let setup or hints that something this fantastic was coming, and I ended up disliking it a great deal. Indeed, I would have much rather perferred that the entire adventure remained low-key. Even at that, it would still have impressed audiences in 1962. Overall, this is still a good Bond film worth recommending. It's a historic movie with many good moments dispite its inplausibility, and audiences should be left with a good idea of why Sean Connery is considered the best Bond. If you're a Bond fan or love the extras, the DVD is worth the extra money. But I can not recommend this as a worthwhile DVD purchase based solely on the movie itself, because the sound and picture quality will remain about the same as a VHS master. After all, the film is pushing 40.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent first Bond film!
Review: Dr.No is a great Bond movie.Sean Connery does a fantastic job.(he is the standard by which all James Bond's are measured.)The Bond girl Honey Ryder,played by Ursula Andress,is absolutely gorgeous,and Joseph Wiseman does a great job as villain Dr.No,who works for SPECTRE.There aren't all the gadgets in this film that there are in later Bond films,but that makes no difference,as this is one of the best.Also,there is no pre-title sequence,which makes this one unique.Overall,this is a great Bond film,and an excellent debut of the James Bond series.
Rating:
Summary: Five Stars Are Not Enough To Do This Film/DVD Justice!
Review: Dr. No, simply put, is THE BEST JAMES BOND FILM. It is the most original of all the Bond films, and one of the best looking - DESPITE its meager $1,000,000 budget. Sean Connery is excellent in his Bond debut, and Jack Lord is outstanding as Felix Leiter (and Lord set a standard that only David Hedison came close to matching). All of the elements fall into place; acting, script, direction, music, scenery - EVERYTHING works! At just under two hours the movie never drags (like some later Bond films do), it just flows from one scene to the next. Joseph Wiseman is also well cast as the title villain; he doesn't just play it like the cliched "evil bad guy." In fact, his Dr. No is amoral - he sees himself as above morality, giving his performance a Machiavellian quality. There are several other GREAT Bond films ("From Russia With Love," "For Your Eyes Only," "The Living Daylights," "Licence To Kill," and "Tomorrow Never Dies" among them), but Dr. No is just a little more special. It was the first. It set the style. It broke new ground in action/adventure films. If you've seen it you know what I mean. If you haven't - BUY IT NOW! Find out for yourself just how great this film is. If you have seen it, but don't own the DVD - BUY IT NOW!! The special features alone (2 documentaries, trailers, etc) are worth buying the DVD for! Do yourself a favor and order this DVD.
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