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  1. James Bond Unmasked: A review.

    By Tony DeCaro on 2012-09-02

    James Bond Unmasked is a book that I was greatly anticipating after I had read about it. A book that promises interviews from all six James Bond actors.

    And it does include just that, while the interviews are the real draw of the book. The main body is filled with detailed synopsis of each film. The synopsis themselves read quite quickly.  Each film gets about four to five pages, with at least one full page picture. Throughout the summaries the author takes a moment to impart some piece of trivia. While it is a nice idea, most of the trivia will already be known by the books target audience. Also there are several instances where it appears the author has viewed a scene differently from what I remember of it. This of course can merely be chalked up to a different interpretation.

    The interviews are the real meat and potatoes of this book. Taken from different interviews conducted by the Author in 2002 (with the exception of Craig, who was interviewed in 2006 for Casino Royale, then 2008 for Quantum of Solace); they are not quite as current as one would have liked.

    The real disappointment with the interviews though is Brosnan’s. Conducted for the series fortieth anniversary,  which is quite nice, but unfortunately procludes us from hearing any thoughts on Craig, something that I’m sure we will never hear. Craig’s interviews are basic promotion for his two films, which is fine, since we probably won’t get any real juicy tidbits till his tenure is over.

    Connery is the real highlight here, explaining a lot of what it was like to be Bond, and when it all started going South for him and why he ultimately quit (Never Say Never Again is not mentioned though). Dalton is quite insightful as well, and you get a real sense that he wishes he could have been Bond before they turned into “fun for the whole family.”

    James Bond Unmasked is written by Bill Desowitz, who, in his spare time is a member of the forums under the username doublenoughtspy.

    James Bond Unmasked is available for order at Amazon.com