Analyse the opening sequences of three James Bond films and explain why they are constructed in this way.

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Analyse the opening sequences of three James Bond films and explain why they are constructed in this way.

                                                                

Analyse the opening sequences of three James Bond films and explain why they are constructed in this way.

James Bond has been running for forty years and has released twenty movies. My essay will analyse the following three James Bond movies:

  • Dr No (Starring Sean Connery, first Bond movie made)
  • A view to kill (Roger Moore)
  • Golden Eye (Pierce Brosnan)

For each of these movies I will analyse the opening scenes and explain why they are constructed in the manner that they are.

In each of the three movies a different actor plays the Character of James Bond. In the first move (Dr No) James Bond is played by Sean Connery, in the second movie (A view to Kill) James Bond is played by Roger Moore, and in the third movie (Golden Eye) James Bond in played by Pierce Brosnan.

Dr No was the first ever James Bond movie made. It was filmed in Kingston Jamaica and was the first feature in a long line of great Bond sequels.

In the opening sequence of Dr No, white dots flash across the screen and James Bond (Sean Connery) is seen walking in a tuxedo and suddenly shooting a barrel of a gun directly at the screen. As the James Bond theme tune plays a bloody red colour washes down the screen.

The opening sequence described above is shown at the start of every James Bond movie. It is the opening James Bond title shot that the majority of the audience is familiar with.

The aim of the opening sequence of the James Bond movies is to put across to the audience, the genre of the movie they are watching (action/adventure/espionage). The opening sequence also tells every James Bond fan, that it is a genuine James Bond film. This is because it features in all of his movies.

After the gun barrel scene the movie goes to the opening credits. In the background of the credits there are flashing images in a wide range of colours of women dancing to a calypso beat. The dancing women in the background are there to entice the male audience.

After the credits another calypso beat (3 blind mice) plays and the scene changes to three blind men walking down a street in Jamaica. This may represent that the movie is a spy film i.e. James Bond is hidden from the people he is spying on. The calypso beat might also just be stating that the three blind men are the three blind mice, or just putting the point that the three men are blind across to the audience.        

After the scene of the men walking down the street an unidentified man is seen being shot and loaded in to a white van by three blind men. This scene is ironic as the three blind mice calypso misleads the audience to think that the three men are blind, when in fact they are not. The three blind men are killers in disguise.

The three men after killing the man (Dr Strangeways – named later in the movie) drive to a house and kill a secretary while she is using a bookcase hand radio to contact London. At this point the audience is aware that the three blind men are the villains in the film. The aim of this scene was to introduce them to the audience.

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After the introduction of the villains the title screen is shown. In this shot a document pile is on top of the title. Each document is removed from the pile and the last document in the pile is named ‘Crab key’. When that document is removed the title of the movie ‘Dr No’ is displayed. The name Crab Key is shown on the document to show the audience that the name Crab Key is the name of the villain Dr No.  

After the title is shown the last scene in the opening sequence is shown. In this ...

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