James Bond: 007

Based on the novels by Ian Fleming, the films follow MI6 agent James Bond on his missions to save the world from terrorists, evil geniuses and all-round baddies. The franchise has collected two Oscars (Sound Editing for Goldfinger and Visual Effects for Thunderball) and been parodied in, most notably, Austin Powers (1997, 1999 & 2002). It has been adapted into video games and is the second highest grossing film franchise of all time. Harry Potter is #1.

But accolades and awards aside, the James Bond: 007 film series is a classic because no matter who is in the director's chair, no matter who is cast as 007, there will always be story essentials you can depend on.

Gun Barrel Sequence
The sequence is a feature that officially opens each film and has the power to hush any rowdy crowd of cinema goers. Played over the famous theme song (specially rescored for each film), the sequence begins with white dots appearing from right to left followed by an assassin's view from inside a gun barrel, tracking Bond as a target. Bond walks across the screen and then fires at the assassin, his blood spilling over the screen. The gun barrel then sways to fade out.

Credited to Maurice Binder, this legendary sequence occurs at the beginning of every Bond film except Casino Royale (2006), where it is used at the end of the pre-title sequence in which Daniel Craig shoots a real assassin. But, thankfully, it's said that in The Quantum of Solace (2008) the traditional sequence returns.

The Super Villain
Simply put, if there's no villain, there's no plot. But just any regular douche bag won't do. He needs to be worthy of Bond: diabolical, with an intense hatred for 007, some physical disfigurement and he must be able to match wits and eventually fists with the suave double-oh. We all know Bond will eventually defeat his nemesis (or steal his girl), but it's the execution of the evil genius' demise that hooks you.

Bond Girls
As a womanising lady's man, many leading ladies are defenceless when faced with James Bond's charms. The well-groomed super spy has a penchant for beautiful women and each film has one or two main Bond Girls who are seduced and fall prey to 007's sexual prowess. But they aren't damsels in distress. Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964) runs an organised crime gang and turns Bond in to Goldfinger, Octopussy is a jewel smuggler in the 1983 short story adaptation and Fiona Volpe is a SPECTRE assassin in Thunderball (1965), while Mary Goodnight is a British Secret Service intelligence agent in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Anya Amasova a KGB spy in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Jinx in Die Another Day (2002) is an NSA secret agent.

The Bond Girls are notorious for their suggestive names such as Honey Rider in Dr. No (1962), Plenty O'Toole in Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye (1995) and Dr. Molly Warmflash in The World is Not Enough (1999).

Gadgets
No Bond would be able to pull off the daring escapes and cheeky stunts with debonair ease without Q's "special" equipment. Although Q was excluded from a few previous films and dropped in the two latest Bond films, he has carved a name for himself within the franchise. Critical to Bond's mission success, the technician often briefs the super spy on the latest gadgets designed to get him out of sticky situations.
Desmond Llewelyn is the quintessential Q and appeared in more Bond films than any other actor. But after his tragic death in 1999, John Cleese (rather competently) ran the technical briefings as R, Q's promoted assistant.

Cars
Doing everything in style has always been James Bond's trademark. And the cars he drives are simply an extension of his panache. The MI6 agent has been filmed in BMWs, Lotuses, Fords and Bentleys, but it's Aston Martin that has been characterised as Bond's brand, more specifically the Aston Martin BD5 – which makes an appearance in Goldfinger, Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and Casino Royale.

Theme Song
Aside from Lalo Schifrin's Mission Impossible theme song, the Bond theme is probably the world's most recognisable tune and after much legal debate, Monty Norman has been credited as the composer of the popular jazz instrumental. On screen nothing cues a climax quite like the "dum di di dum dum" guitar riffs, and while the song has been musically arranged differently to suit the theme of each of the 22 films, it still makes us shift in our seats with anticipation, no matter the musical variation.

If you didn't catch your favourite this month on TV, rent them again or buy them on .

- Megan Kakora

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