James Bond Retrospective

Overview

The Astor's latest retrospective will be served shaken, not stirred. Over five consecutive weekends starting Saturday, October 18, Melbourne's iconic repertory theatre will screen nine classic James Bond adventures featuring insane gadgets, bad puns, unfortunate chauvinism and all.

The marathon kicks off back at the very beginning, in an era in which Britain's greatest secret agent still possessed a distinctly Scottish inflection. The early Connery films still stand out as some of best in the franchise, as double bills of Dr. No and From Russia with Love, along with Goldfinger and Thunderball, will attest.

In comparison, Australia's own used car salesman turned actor George Lazenby never quite cut the mustard, although his sole film as Bond, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, holds up in spite of his performance. As for Roger Moore, it's safe to say that his tenure was somewhat hit and miss. The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only are both pretty strong. Octopussy and View to a Kill, not so much.