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This project is something I’ve been using with my ESL students for a few years now, and the positive response to my similar Blade Runner/Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Film/Book hybrid has prompted me to make this publicly available as well.
Also, as the 007 franchise is changing hands from the Broccoli family to whatever Amazon’s corporate stewardship might bring, this feels like a good time to celebrate the many wonderful fan edits our community has produced from the Bond films.
This is an alternate version of the Ian Fleming/EON James Bond series of books and films that mixes and matches elements of both into a more complete version that hopefully creates something new and interesting for modern audiences who might be interested in the original character within the time period from which he was created, the Cold War.
The series spans the character’s first becoming 007 in 1951’s Casino Royale to his final mission in No Time to Die (which has now been retrofitted to take place in 1975). Some of the readers are straight up adaptations of the books and/or films, while others are mash-ups of existing material. Some of the readers have their own reader-specific movie edits for them that I’ll include in the link, whereas others can be enjoyed with particular fan edits or the theatrical cuts.
The breakdown is as follows, the strongest and/or most essential material will be marked with a ***
***#1 CASINO ROYALE (1951)
The reader is a combination of the original Fleming novel with the 2008 film adaptation and its sequel ‘Quantum of Solace’, which is very much an epilogue to that story. Both of the original films can be watched with this reader without any need for a fan edit, although I’m sure there are plenty of edits of both either combined or apart you can use.
#2 LIVE AND LET DIE (1952)
This reader blends some elements of the film with the original Fleming novel. I’d pair this reader with the excellent fan edit ‘Love and Let Die: You Know My Name’ by Lapis Molari, which includes subtitles.
***#3 MOONRAKER (1953)
This is one of the best Fleming 007 novels and the reader adaptation stays relatively faithful to it, but unfortunately, the movie version bears so little resemblance to the book that I’d suggest reading this one on its own. If you really want a film to go with it, you could try pairing it with Last Survivor’s ‘Icarus’, but it doesn’t have subtitles. EON’s Moonraker has several fine fan edits, but, again, they bear little resemblance to Fleming’s story aside from a few bits and pieces.
#4 PROPERTY OF A LADY (1954)
This one is still a work in progress. It’s an attempt to repurpose Madeline Swan’s childhood flashback from ‘No Time to Die’ as part of Tracy Draco’s backstory instead, in addition to finding a place for Max Zorin and Mayday, who are great villains stuck in an underwhelming movie.
#5 DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1954)
This is one of the weaker novels and films. Honestly, I would skip both, but completionists can enjoy them if they’d like. There are a few different fan edits of the film, but I haven’t watched any of them yet.
***#6 FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1955)
One of the best novels and films. I’d suggest pairing this with ParanoidAndroid’s superb ‘From Russia With Love: Excess Excised’ edit, which includes English subtitles.
#7 DR NO (1956)
This novel isn’t one of my favorites, nor is the film but, for completionists, I’d pair this with The Scraggler’s trimmed down edit if you don’t need subtitles.
#8 GOLDFINGER (1957)
I don’t hold either the book or film in as high a regard as many do, but, for completionists, this would again pair nicely with The Scraggler’s trimmed down edit if you don’t need subtitles.
#9 FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1958)
In an ideal world, this would have starred a young Timothy Dalton as his 007 debut. This is skippable, but completionists can pair it with nostromo777’s edit, but, again, it has no subtitles. The theatrical cut is decent enough, even if the disco music soundtrack is an odd fit for the film itself.
***#10 THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1959)
This is a short film that mixes the prologue and opening scene of the film adaptation with the Fleming short story. I like this one a lot and is easily Dalton’s best work as 007 for me.
***#11 A VIEW TO A KILL (1960)
This is essentially just GoldenEye’s prologue given the name of one of Fleming’s short stories. It’s a fun little side adventure that will get a proper follow up later in the series.
***#12 ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (1961)
This is one of the best Fleming books and also one of EON’s best films. If you don’t need subtitles, I recommend pairing this with Last Survivor’s award-winning fan edit, or you can use my trimmed down edit included with the readers that mixes LS cut with the theatrical version.
***#13 YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1962)
The film adaptation came too early for this one to really have the emotional impact that Fleming’s novel does, but the reader does incorporate some aspects of the film with the book. An edit with the bits from the movie that are in the reader is included, but it isn’t a complete story, but just a video supplement to the reader. If you don’t need subtitles, you could pair it with Last Survivor’s edit though.
***#14 THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1964)
This reader combines the best parts of the Fleming novel with the EON film to create a more satisfying story in my opinion. A heavily trimmed down version of the movie scenes that are used in the reader is included with subtitles.
#15 SKYFALL (1968)
You can pair this reader nicely with the film. The only change here is the idea that this is the original M’s death rather than the one played by Judy Dench, who is introduced in the next reader.
#16 GOLDENEYE (1969)
This continues the story begun in A View to a Kill. You can pair this with the great edit by PoorAndin that replaces that awful music from the original. This edit includes subtitles.
#17 THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1971)
The embarrassing Fleming novel is tossed completely in favor of a brisk adaptation of the fun EON film. Inessential, but well worth a watch if you haven’t seen it. Arguably Moore’s best overall film.
***#18 OCTOPUSSY (1972)
This repurposes two scenes from the film adaptation and merges it with the Fleming short story, making for a fun little side adventure that bids farewell to Roger Moore’s 007. This short film is included with the readers.
***#19 THUNDERBALL - NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (1973)
This is a combination of the screenplay/novel by Fleming & McClory with the film adaptations, but it leans more heavily on Never Say Never Again to give a proper send-off to Sean Connery’s 007. The World of James Bond’s lovingly-made EON cut of the film would be the best pairing with this reader, but as it doesn’t have subtitles, I’ve included a trimmed down version of it that mixes their edit and the theatrical cut with subtitles. Since the 3rd act of NSNA is pretty underwhelming, I’ve also included the final part of Thunderball from Lapis Molari’s wonderful Kiss Kiss Bang Bang cut as an alternative ending. Just squint and pretend Connery is 20 years older, and Kim and Klaus have magically become Auger and Celi 😉
#20 NO TIME TO DIE (1975)
Like with Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, this is a combination of Spectre with No Time to Die. If you don’t need subtitles, I’d recommend pairing this reader with BroomKid/StraightCutsNoChaser’s Spectre edit. I’ve also included a major reworking of Spectre and No Time to Die as a two part movie that is heavily indebted to his excellent edit. I don’t think No Time to Die is necessarily the strongest ending for the character, but it’s the best we’ve got at the moment.
If anyone has a 007 fan edit they’d like to recommend be added to this list, please let me know and I’ll revise this post. I’d love for this to bring more attention to the great work done by fan editors on these films.
I will be giving out links to the readers and the selected movie edits through Private Messages.