The Influences Of The Franchise In James Bond Film

The first James Bond film was released in 1962. Since then, the James Bond film franchise has gone on to span five decades, six Bonds, and twenty four films (depending on interpretation), and is arguably one of the most successful franchises in film history. But why is it that James Bond has thrived for so long? There are two main aspects that appear to have contributed to the franchise's longevity – the character, and attributes of the films themselves.

James Bond is a model for masculinity and male fantasy, regardless of the time period. He changes to reflect the dominant masculine ideals of the time – originally a smoker, the later Bonds refuse to smoke; sexist treatment of the 'Bond girls' is transformed into more equitable behaviour in

The films are essentially the same formula repeated throughout each movie – the villain wishes to destroy the world; Bond must prevent this; the villain and Bond cross swords, with Bond often escaping through the use of an ingenious gadget; the 'Bond girl' appears and is seduced; and a final battle ensues between Bond and the villain which Bond inevitably wins. One may think that this would lead to boredom among the audience and therefore destroy a franchise rather than sustain it. However, each film is sufficiently different from the last in such a way to keep the franchise 'fresh'. Due to the formulaic nature of the James Bond films, audiences generally know how each film will work. They know that each previous Bond film was successful and therefore they are more likely to feel secure in supporting the newest release.

The James Bond films also reflect the politics, fears, and overall issues of the time in which they were produced. During the early Cold War period, many of the Bond plots involves nuclear weapons, fuelled by the arms race between the USSR and the US/Britain. In later films, the object of humanity's demise transforms from drugs to technology to media moguls and international terrorism in the most recent films, to reflect modern day fears. In this way, the Bond franchise