Moon Buggy Sells for 23,900 Pounds!

The Moon Buggy from the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever sold for £23,900 ($46,020.33 USD) as part of Christie’s ‘Film and Entertainment’ sale held today in London.

The Buggy was bought by Planet Hollywood, the celebrity-themed restaurant chain which decorates its outlets with film memorabilia. Planet Hollywood plans to display it in it’s Las Vegas casino. The Moon Buggy had been displayed as the centerpiece in Planet Hollywood’s restaurant at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas from 1993 to 2003.

Planet Hollywood chairman Robert Earl said: “We’re very excited to get this important piece and will be driving it straight back, where it’s going to our new Las Vegas casino.”

In another Bond-related sale, a coat of arms belonging to Ernst Stavro Blofeld from 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service fetched £16,730 ($32,220.43 USD).

The Moon Buggy was put up for sale by owner Graham Rye, editor of ‘OO7’ Magazine and one of the foremost experts on the James Bond phenomenon. Rye restored the Buggy after a garage owner discovered the famous prop “dumped” in a farmers field in Hextable (near Crawley) where it had sat for 10 years.

Congratulations, Graham!

To discuss this news visit this thread in the CBn Forums.
Photograph courtesy of the ‘OO7’ Magazine archive and Graham Rye.

Win: "A View… To A Boat Chase"

Thanks to David Williams at BONDPIX, we have a copy of A View… to a Boat Chase to give away to one lucky CBn member. You must be a registered member of the CBn Forum to be eligible to win.

An exclusive look behind the scenes of the 19th James Bond blockbuster.
Filmed entirely on location on the Thames and in London’s Docklands, this video shows the spectacular opening pre-credit boat chase sequence from The World Is Not Enough.

Watch the cast and stunt crew perform the exciting and explosive action scenes, including several sequences deleted from the final film.

Pierce Brosnan and Maria Grazia Cucinotta are seen on set, filming and relaxing during takes. Watch Pierce pilot the ‘Q’ boat at 60mph along the Thames and dive it underwater in the docks. See Maria firing her machine gun and drive the Sunseeker away from a massive explosion in Docklands.

The famous ‘Q’ boat barrel-roll is shown from start to finish, another boat jump not seen in the finished film can also be witnessed for the first time.

Extensive filming took place beside the ‘Queen Mary’ and through Tower Bridge, both sequences cut from the film. See them here, only in this video!

Watch the remote controlled mini-helicopter fly through Tower Bridge as it filmed the action. See the Police Boats join in the chase, also cut from the finished film.

Spy on the crew as they prepare to launch the ‘Q’ boat through a boathouse and across Wapping Lane in East London.

BONDPIX

To win, all you need to do is answer the following question:

Which stuntman performed the barrel roll on the Q-Boat for The World is not Enough?

Send your answers in a Private Message on the forums to Dave Winter by Sunday 19th of December. Ensure that you put “Bondpix Competition” in the subject.

Terms and Conditions

• The competition is open to anyone from any country, excluding CommanderBond.Net team members.
• The competition closes December 19th 2004 with the winner drawn shortly afterwards. The winner will be drawn at random from correct entries and be notified via e-mail. Judge’s decision is final and no discussion will be entered in to.
• If a winner cannot be contacted within one week (7 days) the prize will be redrawn and a new winner notified, ensure the e-mail address you supply is current and correct.
• Only one entry per person will be considered. Any attempt to enter multiple times will result in all entries being deleted.

'SilverFin' 2005 Promotion Preview

Before the name became a legend
Before the boy became the man
Meet James Bond

The Legend begins…

Promotional material for SilverFin — the first Young Bond
novel by BBC comedy writer and thriller novelist Charlie Higson — is beginning to circulate among publishers and press, providing an early peek at what promises to be a massive launch for Ian Fleming Publications new Young Bond series in 2005.

According to publicity material, author Higson will play a major role in the “inescapable” £50,000 advertising blitz which will include large in-store displays (called dumpbins), street posters, “invincible” trade advertising, bus-supersides, and a “Young Bond privileged access microsite.”

CBn has confirmed that a second, yet-untitled, Young Bond adventure will be released in November. Also confirmed is that author Higson will read the audio book version (due for release on the same day as the UK trade edition).

Set in the 1930s, SilverFin (now being called a “prequel to the James Bond dynasty”) sees a 14-year-old James Bond investigating mysterious goings-on in a remote Scottish castle where a wealthy American is conducting some very disturbing experiments.

Interestingly enough, SilverFin will be the longest James Bond novel yet written, beating Ian Fleming’s Goldfinger by nearly 60 pages.

SilverFin will be released as a trade paperback in the UK by Puffin books on March 3, 2005. A hardcover edition will be released in the U.S. by Miramax Books in April.

There are a total of five books planned in the Young Bond series.

To discuss this news visit this thread in the CBn forums.

Pre-order the UK edition of SilverFin (March 3, 2005)

Pre-order the U.S. hardcover edition of SilverFin (April 27, 2005)

Pre-order the SilverFin audio book (March 3, 2005)

Come 'Fly' with Moore

Santa Claus is coming to town… and he’s Sir Roger Moore!

The Fly Who Loved Me will be available to view at flywholovedme.com beginning on Friday 10 December at 9am GMT. The Internet short will be on-line till Saturday 25 December.

Continuing his support of UNICEF, Sir Roger will be appearing as Saint Nick in The Fly Who Loved Me, an animated short film released online today.

Written by Olly Smith and directed by Dan Chambers, The Fly Who Loved Me sees Santa Claus stranded at the North Pole, unable to deliver gifts when his reindeer get injured. Just when all hope seems lost, help comes from an unusual source, when a determined fly from Santa’s garbage bin insists on taking over the job.

According to Smith, who also produced the film, the collaboration with Sir Roger has its roots in a bizarre little Internet cartoon entitled Roger Moore’s Requiem, which Chambers put together, incorporating some unusual animation and several still photographs of Roger Moore circa The Saint (Roger Moore’s Requiem is available to view online as well).

“Roger was sent the animation through a series of serendipitous quirks and loved it,” Smith said. “He emailed Dan thanking him for the left-field tribute and as a huge fan of Roger’s, I seized the opportunity to collaborate with Dan on our first project with Roger, Sir Roger Moore: Spaceman.”

In Sir Roger Moore: Spaceman, scripted by Smith and directed by Chambers, the duo traveled to Monte Carlo to meet with Sir Roger. “Dan and I flew out to Monte Carlo feeling suitably thrilled and awestruck to record the voice track with Roger and found him to be a magnificent voice artist and a very warm person,” Smith said. “We both came away inspired by Roger’s dedicated work for UNICEF and resolved there and then that we wanted to support his work in any way that we could.”

This desire to support the work of UNICEF formed the basis of the project that would become The Fly Who Loved Me. According to Smith, Sir Roger had no hesitation in accepting to be a part of the film. “Dan and I had several meetings and pored over the script before pitching it to Roger [who] came back with an emphatic yes,” he said. “Roger gave a magnificent performance as Father Christmas and I performed opposite him as the Fly. [It was] a total joy.”

After recording the voices, work began on the animation process for the film. “Dan … set to work, working day and night in addition to his day job at Tiger Aspect to direct and animate the cartoon,” Smith said. “My thanks to him are just huge, he’s an amazing director with a unique vision, a hilarious friend and a privilege to work with.”

Smith hopes the film will encourage people to support the efforts of UNICEF, particularly over the Christmas period. “We wanted this cartoon to entertain a worldwide audience and offer a link back to UNICEF’s website where they can find info on UNICEF and purchase Christmas cards, wrapping paper, e-cards and a whole host of festive paraphernalia,” he said. “Everyone involved with this project has donated their time and expertise to support Roger’s UNICEF work.”

To view The Fly Who Loved Me, visit flywholovedme.com between Friday 10 December at 9am GMT and Saturday 25 December.

To discuss The Fly Who Loved Me, visit this thread on the CBn Forums.
Thanks to Olly Smith & Marie-France Vienne.

Win EA's "GoldenEye: Rogue Agent"

Thanks to EA Games, we have two GoldenEye: Rogue Agent prize packs to give away to two lucky CBn members. You must be a registered member of the CBn Forum to be eligible to win.

Now it’s time to think like James Bond to catch Rogue Agent. To enter, fill out the following questionnaire by Thursday December 16 and e-mail it to [email protected]

1.What’s your CBn Forum Screen Name?

2. Which Platform: PS2 or XBOX?

3. What’s similar about Bond’s Aston Martin in the EA game NightFire and Bond’s Lotus Esprit in the film The Spy Who Loved Me?

4. Which “old friend” did Bond encounter in the EA game Everything or Nothing?

5. What was GoldenEye: Rogue Agent‘s original title?

To discuss this competition or if you have any questions visit this thread on the CBn Forum.

Answers Can Be Found…

• NightFire’s Mission List
• “Everything or Nothing” Mission Walkthroughs
• ‘GoldenEye: Rogue Agent’ Community Day, Part II

Colin Salmon Bond #6 Betting Dismissed as Publicity Stunt

A flurry of bets placed on actor Colin Salmon to replace Pierce Brosnan as the next James Bond was dismissed yesterday as a “publicity stunt,” reports The Scotsman.

Bookmaker William Hill received “hundreds of calls” from punters eager to back Salmon, who would be the first black actor to take the role. Rival agency Ladbrokes stopped taking bets on Salmon after receiving six bets worth up to £500 each in just under an hour. Ladbrokes, fearing a sting, felt people might be using insider knowledge and cancelled betting immediately.

Speculation was further fuelled when The Sun reported the actor had started using a “007” in his autograph.

However, Hill believes the bets placed on Salmon with Ladbrokes are a stunt, and has given Salmon very small odds in the hope that it would deter people from placing bets on the actor.

“We have had a number of punters backing Colin Salmon to be the next Bond,” a spokesman said. “I think that the interest shown is purely speculation and is not based on insider information. As far as we are aware a decision will not be made until the New Year.”

Salmon appears in the Bond series as M’s chief of staff, Charles Robinson, and has stood in as 007 during Bond Girl casting sessions. At one time Brosnan did name Salmon as an ideal replacement.

Keep watching CBn for the latest news on Bond 21.

To discuss this news visit this thread in the CBn Forums.

The Blades Library Book Club: Doctor No

Welcome back to The Blades Library Book Club – the place for quality discussions of the books of James Bond!

Every two months a book is chosen for the club members to read. A thread is posted in the club forums listing locations on where you can find the novel. Discussions about the book will go on as the book is read and when it is finished. Another thread will be created so that club members can post their review and give a rating on the current book.

All fans of the Literary Bond are eligible for membership. All you need to do to sign up is register for the CBn Forums and then post your name in the sign up thread.

The Book Club’s sixth Book

Currently we are progressing though the novels in chronological order, since quite a number of members are using the club as an opportunity to read the books for the very first time.Therefore, Doctor No will be the book in the hands of readers for December 2004. Doctor No, written in 1958, is Fleming’s sixth Bond novel. And rated by many as one of the best.

Obtaining The Book

Ordering online should be quite easy. Doctor No can be ordered online from the following sources:

• BN.com
• Amazon.co.uk
• Amazon.com

Online sources for other older versions of Doctor No:

• Bookfinder.com
• Ebay

Discuss other places to buy Doctor No or where you got your copy in this thread.

Discuss The Book While Reading

Want to talk about the book while reading it. Post a new thread in The Blades Library. Be sure to title the thread with Doctor No and the chapter number you have read through.

Review And Rate The Book

After you have finished reading Doctor No, you can dicuss it with other club members in The Blades Library, and give the book your personal rating out of five in this thread.

If you have any questions or suggestions just post them in a new thread. Happy reading.

Previous Books Read

• From Russia, With Love: September 2004 – November 2004
• Diamonds Are Forever: July 2004 – August 2004
• Moonraker: May 2004 – June 2004
• Live and Let Die: May 2003 – June 2003
• Casino Royale: March 2003 – April 2003

Raymond Benson Returns to the Spy Game…Bigtime!

Fans of the James Bond novels by Raymond Benson were deeply disappointed in 2003 when the author announced his retirement as “continuation novelist.” But Raymond has hardly retired from the spy game. In fact, he had been working “undercover” for the past year on a project with a name as synonymous with espionage as that of 007…

The name’s Clancy. Tom Clancy.

Today Raymond reveals that he is the man behind the pseudonym David Michaels, author of the just published novel, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, a 355 page paperback adaptation of the best-selling computer game. This is book one in a series of Splinter Cell novels.

I’m quite proud of it,” Raymond tells CBn. “It’s very much like one of my Bond novels. In fact I approached it like a Bond novel. The only difference is that he’s American, and… get this… it’s in first person. So in a way you can imagine what a Benson Bond novel might have been like had it been written in first person!”

Splinter Cell is about an American operative named Sam Fisher who works for “Third Echelon,” a secret branch of the National Security Agency. Fisher, like James Bond, works alone behind enemy lines–gathering intelligence and stopping bad guys. In true Clancy fashion, the book(s) will feature topical plots involving tomorrow’s technology in today’s political climate. The first Splinter Cell book takes place in the Middle East–much of it in Iraq!

The use of a pseudonym was the idea of the publisher. Explains Benson, “Like the other Clancy spin-offs (Tom Clancy’s Net Force, Tom Clancy’s Power Plays, Tom Clancy’s Op-Center), Clancy came up with the idea but other writers pen the series. The reason for the pseudonym is if the series goes on past the second book and I no longer want to write them, then they can get another writer to do them and still retain the “David Michaels” pseudonym.”

Benson is now working on the second book in the Splinter Cell series.

“Bottom line,” says Raymond, “If you liked my Bond novels, you’ll like Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell.”

Purchase Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell from Amazon.com (USA)

Purchase Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell from Amazon.co.uk (UK)

You can discuss this news in this thread on the CBn Forums.

Related Links

• Read CBn’s exclusive four part interview with Raymond: The Raymond Benson CBn Interview
• To keep up with Raymond’s latest work, future appearances, and to purchase his books, visit Raymond Benson.com.

The Reviews Are In…

EA’s newest game, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent has met players with some very mixed reviews. A variety of gaming sites have chimed in giving their views on the newest game. Which site do you trust?

The Bond franchise has always been associated with ambition, and this is no exception. While the final cocktail that is Rogue Agent breaks very little new ground, the eye powers and deathtraps are extremely welcome additions to the shooter arsenal. We’d appreciate a more robust solo game, but there’s enough content there to prime players for multiplayer, which is where the action really is. In that respect, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is a fitting successor to one of the enduring classics of the genre.

Yahoo! Games

Perhaps the worst part about GoldenEye is the fact that EA had successfully transitioned the Bond series out of the first-person shooter genre not even a year ago with the release of Everything or Nothing, which was a great action adventure game. Now, the company is right back to making substandard shooters with the Bond license, and this one even takes the name of the game that made Bond and first-person shooting such a great mix back in the day and drags it through the mud.

GameSpot

To be fair, Rogue Agent makes a few attempts at having interesting foibles. Your special eye has four powers, such as the ability to create a shield or hack machines. These work okay, if unspectacularly. There’s also a dual-wielding weapon system, which is reminiscent of the similar feature in Halo 2.

Gamespy

Even when it’s not letting players chuck bad guys in the shark pond, Rogue Agent clearly shows off some challenging AI from its opponents. In the Hoover Dam stage (yes, you blow up Hoover Dam, making this the second major episode of dam destruction in a videogame this season), some large groups of enemies handle expansive areas with lots of cover particularly well. You can watch them peek out to snipe, fire blind from behind walls, or move to flank you in groups of two or three.

1Up

GoldenEye is an empty vessel of a game missing personality, charm, story or any kind of distinguishing character. If videogames were living creatures and had souls, Rogue Agent would be the wandering game in search of one. It’s a first-person shooter that feels like its dying to be like many other videogames but doesn’t achieve any sense of individualistic character. It’s missing that special something that gamers latch onto, love or obsess about in a game. Instead, you’ve got a title void of passion and a character lacking any personality. And to top it all, GoldenEye doesn’t do anything worthy of calling evil in any way, shape or form.

IGN

Even though 007 is a minor character in “Rogue Agent,” the game is firmly rooted in Bond tradition. As you undertake your violent missions in the criminal underworld, you’ll encounter some nefarious figures you may remember from the Bond movies, including Odd-Job, Xenia Onatopp and Pussy Galore. Actor Christopher Lee, who played villain Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun, reprises his film role for the game. So does actress Judi Dench, who plays Bond’s boss, ‘M’.

CNN

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is an above average first-person shooter that Bond fans will love, but most gamers will want to rent first before plopping down fifty bucks.

Team X-Box

It’s not without its faults, and the multiplayer mode isn’t all that great, but for a singleplayer experience, Rogue Agent delivers.

Worth Playing

Get Me The Remote, Miss Moneypenny!

Yahoo! Finance reports that STARZ Entertainment will soon be presenting the first seventeen MGM James Bond films on “STARZ On Demand” starting January 1, 2005. Plus a 72-hour James Bond marathon on Encore! beginning Friday, January 14, 2005 at 8:00 p.m.

James Bond films have thrilled and amazed fans for over 40 years, but nothing like this has ever happened before — ever. “Ultimate Bond” — four different James Bonds, the vilest of evil villains, loads of “Bond Babes,” really cool gadgets and tons of action — we’re talking 17 Bond films shown for the first time on pay television uncut, commercial free, and on-demand to be seen anytime you want for no extra charge. It’s a fitting way to start off the New Year on January 1st, 2005.

Beginning January 1st, you’ll be able to see Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and let us not forget George Lazenby in 17 classic James Bond films (Dr. No–Licence to Kill, including Never Say Never Again) anytime you want on Starz! On Demand, and STARZ! Ticket on Real Movies for your PC. And on Friday, January 14th beginning at 8:00 p.m. (et/pt) Encore presents a 72-hour marathon of Bond films. Sir Roger Moore, who starred as James Bond in seven films over a 13-year span is the host of “Ultimate Bond.”

Ultimate Bond: will feature special segments on the actors who played Bond, the cars, the gadgets, the “Bond Girls,” the locales, the villains, the memorable scenes action-packed chases, trivia, interviews with Sir Roger Moore and other actors who have appeared in the films (in addition to actors who are just plain Bond fans like Angelina Jolie), plus a short feature on Bond creator Ian Fleming.

The “Bond on Demand” event also includes a “Watch to Win” sweepstakes offering a chance to win a trip to your choice of three exciting James Bond locations — Monte Carlo, Jamaica or Switzerland, plus Bond CD soundtracks, and more (information available on starz.com).

A special Ultimate Bond on-screen button will be available on the Starz On Demand navigational menu enabling fans to go directly to the 17 Bond movies. Similar buttons will be introduced throughout 2005, and will correspond with unique Starz On Demand programming. This enhancement will improve on-demand movie viewing by providing just one button to take movie lovers to their favorite movie(s), allowing them to enjoy them sooner, and on their schedule.

Ultimate Bond: It’s 007 x 17. Catch the “Ultimate Bond” on Starz on Demand and STARZ! Ticket on January 1st, plus a 72-hour James Bond marathon on Encore beginning Friday, January 14 at 8:00 p.m. Seventeen 007 films shown for the first time on television the way they were meant to be seen — all uncut and commercial free. The marathon is hosted by Mr. Bond himself — Sir Roger Moore, who starred in seven Bond movies over a 13 year span. Beginning Saturday, January 22, a different 007 film will be anchored every Saturday at noon on Encore.

Source: Starz! Entertainment Group

To discuss this article visit this thread on the CBn Forum.