Très Bond

Live and Let Die has some of the more controversial passages from Fleming's oeuvre but also some of the most thrilling. This week we're discussing Fleming's action-packed, second novel. How does it hold up after all these years? Is it still an exhilarating, swashbuckling adventure or has time been less than kind?

Assassins, rivals, minions, thugs, hackers, dealers, femme fatales; henchmen, all of them. The Bond films have a rogues gallery that is, nearly, peerless. In this episode, three dirty devils from down under rank the best of the worst. Which charismatic killer will take the top spot?

It's the battle of the brassy Basseys and the shy Sheryls in the first of our Top 5 rankings specials! This week we're going through our favourite title songs from the official James Bond films. There's plenty of spirited debate and dirty devilishness in this ranking of, arguably, the most iconic feature of the Bond films: The Title Songs.

It's the first of the unofficial Bond film reviews and, technically, the first-ever Bond story committed to celluloid. Lost for decades after its initial broadcast in 1954, this one-hour TV special is now being watched and dissected by three Bond fans living through the golden age of television. Yes, that seems fair. At least it'll be a be bit of a laugh.

Having exhausted the list of official James Bond films, the boys at Très Bond are starting a 'new chapter'. It's time to investigate the place where it all began, Ian Fleming's novels, and what better place to start than the story that launched a worldwide phenomenon?

'To us, Mr Bond. We are the best!' To celebrate our 25th episode of Très Bond, we've decided to do a definitive ranking of all twenty-four official James Bond films. Join us as we reminisce, recollect, and re-examine our ratings for this greatest of film franchises. Can we justify our previous 'shaken' ratings, or has time left us more 'stirred' when it comes to our previous assessments?

Following the most financially successful Bond film of all time, Spectre saw the long-awaited return of an iconic villain and his dastardly network, the classic coterie of MI6 regulars, and the return of an Oscar-winning director. Bond fans were keenly anticipating a classic, all-time 007 adventure but, upon release, reception was mixed. Some praised it as a return to the winning Moore-era formula whereas others derided the relationship between Blofeld and Bond as being almost unforgivable. Half a decade on, Très Bond are here to give their take on this most recent and most divisive of 007 adventures.

Fifty years of James Bond on the silver screen was celebrated with a massive cultural and financial hit: the first Bond film (and only to date) to cross the one billion dollar mark at the box office. It had also been ten years since the appearance of Q, Moneypenny & gadgets; Skyfall promised to bring the Bond of old storming into this new century. Sometimes the old ways are the best but there's also no shame in saying you've lost the stuff. Nearly a decade on, Très Bond is here to give the film the retrospective analysis it deserves. Everyone needs a hobby...

The notoriously difficult second album, or the sophomore slump, seems to be the consensus regarding the 22nd Bond film. Director Marc Forster described wanting his Bond film to feel like a bullet - a feat that he can claim to have achieved. This is the shortest run-time for a 007 film and, most definitely, the fastest paced. We are now more than a decade on from the first-ever direct sequel in the franchise, so how does it stack up? Is it an adrenaline-fuelled revenge thriller or is it running on empty?

It's the reboot that had to happen. After the CGI-drenched & over stuffed Die Another Day, the producers at EON productions decided to reinvigorate the franchise by taking it back to its Fleming roots. Back to the start, back to basics, back to Bond. The conventionally handsome Brosnan was replaced with the unconventional choice of Craig. It was a massive gamble, pun intended, and one that has been hailed by critics and a majority of fans alike as the bet that paid off. Bond had not only been resurrected but brought roaring into the new century. So, after all these years, how does the first of the Craig era stack up? Is Casino Royale a triumphant royal flush, or an over-hyped two-pair bluff?