Games are used frequently as plot devices or settings.  We are first introduced to James Bond at a baccarat table in DN. Kronsteen (FRWL) is introduced as a chess champion and SPECTRE agent.  His plan to kill OO7 is played out like a game of chess.  Goldfinger cheats at gin rummy and then golf.  Bond exposes him on each occasion.  Emilio Largo (TB) loses to cards and skeet shooting. Bond meets Aki (YOLT) at a sumo wrestling match.  In OHMSS, Bond pays off Tracy's debt at the casino when she bets a large sum on baccarat and loses.  Bond wins with dice too, in Las Vegas with the help of Plenty O'Toole (DAF).  Even tarot cards are lucky for Bond when he turns over the "lovers" card in front of Solitaire (LALD).  Bond watches Lazar (TMWTGG) transfer a deadly pack of gold-plated cigarette bullets to Andrea Anders at a Macau casino.  Bond also meets Scaramanga (TMWTGG) at a kick-boxer match.  Bond meets Kristatos (FYEO) at Columbo's baccarat table.  Minutes later Kristatos tries to convince Bond that Columbo is working for the KGB.  Kamal Khan's (OP) favorite passtime is cheating at backgammon.  Bond defeats him by rolling Khan's loaded dice.  Max Zorin (AVTAK) enjoys cheating at the horse races. His own horse beats a sure winner because of a surgically-planted microchip, which spurts steroids, is in the horse's leg.  Bond cleans up at the blackjack table in Sanchez's (LTK) casino.  He does this so he can meet Sanchez and get close enough to kill him.  Xenia Onetopp (GE) meets and pulls rank to OO7 at bacarrat.  Bond reveals more than undergarments with his X-ray glasses while at Zukovsky's casino (TWINE).  Gustav Graves keeps Bond 'fighting on edge' at his private fencing club Blades (DAD).  Le Chiffre shows and tells during the Texas Hold-Em poker match at CR.

Le Chiffre discovers that his chips are down in CASINO ROYALE (2006)

Bond is an expert in practically every field, including puns.  After a tense moment between an adversary, Bond would say a funny quip that reflected the villain's demise.  For example in GF, after a fierce struggle, Bond throws his adversary into a bathtub not realizing that his Walther PPK is hanging up next to the tub.  The assassin sees Bond's gun and reaches out for it.  Thinking quickly, Bond  tosses an electric heater into the water-filled tub, electrocuting his nemesis.  Bond leaves the scene saying, "Shocking.  Positively shocking."

Deep fried assassin from GOLDFINGER (1964).

At times through this series some jokes went too far.  To the level of ultra silliness that the audience would cringe.  These jokes would come in the form of Bond wearing a duck as camouflage on his head (GF).  Working side by side with a red-neck southern sheriff (TMWTGG).  A double-taking pigeon observing Bond's street bound gondola (MR).  A Tarzen yell (OP) and a poor man's Keystone Kop fire truck chase through the streets of San Francisco (AVTAK).  Bad jokes in all, yet they became staples in the formula as well. The movie that had the greatest amount of these jokes was MOONRAKER and thus it has been given this term.  

Bond's gondola startles the tourist season in MOONRAKER (1979).

NOTE-WORTHY JOKES

Musical stings also have crept into the series. Lara's Theme from DR. ZHIVAGO plays on Anya's musical box and the theme from LAURENCE OF ARABIA is heard while Bond and Anya walk through the Sahara (TSWLM).  In MR, several well known tunes are heard.  During the pheasant hunt, one of Drax's men plays the first three notes of Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.  The famous five note tune from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND is heard on the password keypad in Drax's glass factory and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN theme is heard while Bond arrives at British headquarters by horseback.  In AVTAK, Bond is ski-boarding down the Siberia tundra while the Beach Boys "California Girls" is playing in the background.

The Beach Boys' music 'California Girls' accompanies OO7's ski boarding escapade in A VIEW TO A KILL (1985).

In nearly every EON produced Bond film, OO7 becomes unconscience (at least once) by head injuries or drug induced means (except TND and TWINE).  In DN, Bond and Honey are succumbed by a drug induced coffee.  Red Grant (FRWL) knocks Bond out on the Orient Express.  In GF, Bond is knocked out by Oddjob while searching for a chilled bottle of wine.  Count Lippe (TB) causes Bond to lose conscience while his back is being stretched on "the rack".  One of Mr. Osato's men (YOLT) hits Bond behind his head at Kobe docks.  Grunther (OHMSS) hits OO7 over the head in Ruby's bedroom.  Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd (DAF) hit Bond over the head at Slumber's Funeral Parlor.  Tee Hee (LALD) hits OO7 over the head in Dr. Kananga's New Orleans hideout.  Nick Nack (TMWTGG) hits Bond over the head at Hi Fats home.  Anya Amasova (TSWLM) shoots "knockout powder" from her cigarette into OO7's face.  Hugo Drax's men (MR), dressed up as paramedics, hit Bond over the head underneath Sugerloaf Mountain in Rio.  Columbo's men (FYEO) hit Bond over the head, outside Lisl's beachhome.  Gobinda (OP) hits him over the head inside Bond's hotel room. Bond is knocked over the head by Scarpine (AVTAK) and left to die at the bottom of a lake. Kara (TLD) mixes a strong martini for Bond that causes him to see more than double.  Ninjas hit Bond over the head before he could eliminate Sanchez (LTK).  Alec Travelyan (GE) makes his point with a drug-induced dart shot into Bond's neck.  In DAD, Bond gets a shot in the arm after being released from North Korea.  And in CR, Bond literally flips for Vesper as his Aston Martin DBS crashes along the Montenegro countryside.

Knockout gas is blown into Bond's face in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977).

Bond films are famous for their globetrotting locales.  Jamaica (DN, LALD), Istanbul (FRWL, TWINE), Switzerland (GF, OHMSS), Bahamas (TB), Japan (YOLT), Las Vegas (DAF), New Orleans (LALD), Phucket Islands (TMWTGG, TND), Sardinia (TSWLM), Venice (FRWL, MR), Greece (FYEO), India (OP), San Francisco (AVTAK), Vienna, Austria (TLD), Florida Keys (LTK), St. Petersburg, Russia (GE), Hamburg (TND), Miami (GF) Amsterdam (DAF) Mexico City (LTK), Paris (TB, AVTAK), Hong Kong (YOLT, TMWTGG), Portugal (OHMSS), Egypt (TSWLM), Rio de Janeiro (MR), Morocco (TLD), Puerto Rico (GE), Thailand (TMWTGG, TND), Baku (TWINE), Cadiz, Spain (DAD), Prague, Czech Republic (CR).

Death is always around Bond and funerals tend to pop up as background scenery or plot devices.  The "Three Blind Mice" (DN) drive a hearse while eliminating their victims.  A funeral service is in progress when TB begins.  Bond must fake his own death and funeral service in YOLT.  Bond smuggles diamonds inside the body of Peter Franks (DAF) and has it flown from Amsterdam to Las Vegas inside a casket.  The body is later cremated so the diamonds could be recovered.  Later Bond is tossed inside a casket for cremation by Wint and Kidd.  Funeral processions happen twice in LALD as well as Baron Samedi falling into a casket filled with deadly snakes.  A knife-throwing assassin (MR) tries to give Bond the point when he pops out of a casket while floating in Venice.  Bond visits the cemetary where his wife is buried (FYEO). Bond shoulders the responsibility during Sir Robert King's funeral in Scotland (TWINE).

Bond's body is buried at sea in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967).  

CIRCUSES, CARNIVALS, WEDDINGS & PARTIES

Each EON produced Bond film has some form or another of a circus, carnival, wedding or party.  In DN, Pussfella's bar is also a nightclub where most of the town is dancing the night away.  Kerim Bey (FRWL) use to bend bars in a circus and the gypsies offer their own version of a party.  Pussy Galore (GF) offers her "Flying Circus" to Operation Grandslam.  The Jankanoo parade or carnival serves as a diversion for Bond to escape from Fiona (TB).  A Buddhist wedding (YOLT) serves as a cover for Bond to blend into Japanese society.  The winter carnival is another diversion for Bond to escape from Blofeld's men in OHMSS and Bond and Tracy are married at Draco's Portugal home.  Circus Circus, a gambling and family center in Las Vegas, serves as a rendevous for Bond and Tiffany Case (DAF).  One of Kananga's men (LALD) crashes a wedding during the famous boat chase.  Scaramanga (TMWTGG) has his own "fun house" where he lures his victims.  Max Kalba's nightclub (TSWLM) offers Egyptian dancing.  In MR Jaws crash lands into the big top of a circus and the "Carnival" in Rio provides a sinister setting for the return of Jaws.  A wedding reception is in progress while Bond goes to confession (FYEO).  General Orlov and Kamal Khan use Octopussy's traveling circus to smuggle an atomic bomb onto a Frankfurt American airbase (OP).  During a chase in Paris, Bond literally falls into a wedding cake (AVTAK) and Max Zorin's French home is the setting for an elaborate party.  Bond and Kara (TLD) enjoy an evening at the Vienna carnival.  A wedding party is in the works at Felix Leiter's home in LTK.  Bond passes by a pair of circus mimes while observing Xenia Onetopp (GE).  Bond meets his past with Paris Carver (TND) while attending her husband's media party.  Bond tries to convince the cigar girl to surrender while hanging from a carnival balloon over the Millennium Dome (TWINE).  Bond attends the coolest party ever at Gustav Graves' Ice Palace (DAD).  Le Chiffre has a poker party onboard his private yacht (CR).

Clowning around in OCTOPUSSY (1983).

What would a Bond movie be if it did not have the ubiquitous chase scene.  Bond has driven or operated just about every vehicle invented and the producers are always trying to top the last chase scene. Here is the list:  Aston Martin DB5  as well as several sport cars, an amphibious Lotus Esprit, Bell Jet Pack, autogyro helicopter, horses, a bobsled, a moonbuggy, a cello case, Glastron speedboats, skis, double-decker bus, Russian tank, a camel, snowboard, an 18 wheeler gas tanker, a hook and ladder fire engine, motorcycles, Mercedes Benz, gondola, snowmobile, an Acrojet, a hang glider, an ice yacht, numerous parachutes, and a New Holland W190 wheel loader.

In only a few Bond films the villain may use a form of scare-tactic to "keep the visitors away." Dr. No uses a flame-throwing tank disguised as a "dragon".  In YOLT, Blofeld has poisonous gas pumped into a cave that leads to his hideout and Dr. Kananga (LALD) uses voodoo to scare off his curiosity seekers.

DR. NO (1962) offers warm receptions to his island guest.

The villain's lair or hideout is never easily accessible.  It may be on an island (DR, YOLT, LALD, TMWTGG, OP, GE, TWINE).  It may be on a mountain (GF, OHMSS, FYEO, LTK).  It could be on or near the ocean (FRWL, TB, DAF, TSWLM, TLD, TND, TWINE) or it could be in the sky (MR, AVTAK).  Wherever it may be, Bond must use some sort of transportation to get him there. By boat or floating device (DR, YOLT, DAF, LALD, TSWLM, OP, TND, TWINE).  By aircraft (OHMSS, TMWTGG, MR, AVTAK, GE).  By automobile (GF, LTK, DAD, CR), by climbing (FYEO), or by swimming (TB, TWINE).

Stromberg's floating fortress 'Atlantis' in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977).

At one point during most Bond films, dinner would be served between the villain and OO7.  Dr. No offered a four course meal and a chance to join SPECTRE.  Red Grant (FRWL) and Bond would talk about red wine with fish.  Goldfinger offers mint juleps.  Emilio Largo (TB) shares fish stories with Bond over lunch at his home.  Irma Bunt (OHMSS) invites Bond (disguised as Sir Hillary Bray) to a hypnotic dinner at Piz Gloria's restaurant.  Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd (DAF) wheel in a dinner and just desserts.  Dr. Kananga (LALD) offers Bond and Solitaire a drink to the future.  Scaramanga (TMWTGG) reveals his golden opportunity with Bond and Mary Goodnight over fried mushrooms.  Stromberg (TSWLM) hopes Bond would drop in for dinner.  Drax (MR) shuttles Bond a cucumber sandwich.  Kristatos (FYEO) and Bond discuss the "ATtACk" of Columbo over dinner.  Kamal Khan (OP) leads a "sheep's head" to slaughter.  Bond discusses "flycatching" with Max Zorin (AVTAK) over champagne.  A basketcase of food and wine is brought to General Koskov, from Bond and MI6's budget (TLD).  Franz Sanchez (LTK) and Bond drink over loyal business.  Bond interupts lunch on Janus' (GE) personal train.  Bond breaks his cover at Elliott Carver's (TND) media dinner party.

Most Bond films have a climatic scene where a timing device creates suspense.  OO7 not only must stop the villain, but prevent the timing device from reaching it's conclusion.  In DN, Bond raises the danger level on the nuclear reactor just moments before Cape Canaveral's rocket is launched.  In GF, Bond is handcuffed to a nuclear bomb in Fort Knox.  He tries to stop the bomb from exploding while avoiding Oddjob's deadly bowler hat.  With the help of aquaparatroopers, OO7 defeats Largo from nuking Miami beach (TB).  In YOLT, Bond averts World War III by triggering the exploder button on the SPECTRE spacecraft.  In OHMSS, Bond races against time and after Blofeld to escape Piz Gloria's explosive fate.  In DAF, Bond uses Blofeld's bathosub to smash the computers that control the killer satellite.  In TMWTGG, Bond struggles to release the "solex agitator" moments before Scaramanga's island explodes.  In TSWLM, Bond changes the course of two warheads from their intended targets to their opposite launch submarines.  In MR, Bond must use accurate aim to shoot down the last of three deadly satellites.  In OP, Bond chases after an atomic bomb from Karl Marx Stad to Frankfurt.  He stops the bomb with zero seconds remaining.  In AVTAK, Bond and May Day race to remove Zorin's bomb from a mining cave which would destroy Silicon Valley.  In TLD, Bond fights Necros while dangling outside a Hercules transport plane and a bomb ticking only a few feet away.  In GE, Bond shuts down the satellite dish which destroys the GoldenEye system.  In TND, Bond and Wai Lin fight off Carver's men, onboard his stealth ship, to avert an attack on Beijing.  In TWINE, Bond prevents a meltdown by stopping Renard from inserting plutonium into a submarines reactor.  And in DAD, Bond and Jinx fight Colonel Moon and his plot to destroy Japan on board Gustav Graves private plane.

The final confrontation between Bond and the villain is yet another highlight in the film.  Bond has disposed of his nemesis in many ways. Dr. No falls victim to his boiling nuclear reactor.  Red Grant (FRWL) becomes all choked up over his own deadly wristwatch.  Rosa Klebb (FRWL) has a few kicks before she is shot by Tatiana Romanova.  Goldfinger loses some weight while he's sucked out of an airplane window.  Emilio Largo (TB) gets the point from Domino's spear gun.  Hans (YOLT) meets an appetising end in a pool of piranha fish.  Ernst Stavro Blofeld (OHMSS) branches out.  Next, Blofeld (DAF) is kept hanging on an exploding oil rig.  Dr. Kananga (LALD) dies by his inflated opinion.  Francisco Scaramanga (TMWTGG) takes a shot in the dark funhouse by Bond's gun.  Karl Stromberg's (TSWLM) dinner plans are shot up by Bond's gun.  Hugo Drax (MR) spaced out by Bond's wrist dart.  Kristatos (FYEO) is stabbed through the back by Columbo.  Kamal Khan (OP) has a smashing time in his airplane.  Max Zorin (AVTAK) takes a fall off the Golden Gate bridge.  Brad Whitaker (TLD) discovers a crush by a statue of Wellington.  Franz Sanchez (LTK) reveals his fiery lighter side.  Alec Travelyan (GE) experiences his satellite service being cancelled.  Elliot Carver (TND) screws up with his own torpedo drill.  Renard (TWINE) discovers he has a pressure point through his chest.  Gustav Graves ruins his class action suit (DAD).  Le Chiffre gives OO7 enough rope only to discover Bond is a man of balls (CR).

Gustav Graves prepares to liquidate OO7 once and for all in DIE ANOTHER DAY (2002). 

In the final frames of a OO7 film, with the exception of OHMSS and CR, Bond always ends up in the arms of a beautiful girl.  A majority of the time he is either floating on water, in the water or near water.  Perhaps the water is symbolic.  The world has cleansed itself from an evil presence (I could be stretching on this point).  In DN, Bond and Honey Ryder enjoy each other in a boat which has run out of gas. In FRWL, Bond and Tatiana enjoy a boat ride through the canals of Venice.  In GF, Bond and Pussy Galore stay undercover under a parachute on an island in the Caribbean.  In TB, Bond and Domino enjoy a quick lift, from their raft, into a rescue plane.  In YOLT, Bond and Kissy Suzuki enjoy a short kiss in their raft just moments before M's submarine rises beneath them.  In OHMSS, Bond cradles the body of his dead wife, Tracy.  In DAF, Bond and Tiffany Case are having a blast on board a pleasure cruise.  In LALD, Bond and Solitaire prepare for their version of a train ride.  In TMWTGG, Bond and Mary Goodnight share more than Scaramanga's junk.  In TSWLM, Bond and Anya Amasova keep the British end up in Stromberg's escape pod.  In MR, Bond and Holly Goodhead go around the world in a space shuttle.  In FYEO, Bond and Melina Havelock enjoy a midnight swim.  In OP, Bond and Octopussy stroke down the river.  In AVTAK, Bond and Stacy Sutton drop more than the soap in her shower.  In TLD, Bond and Kara Milovy perform an encore behind her dressing room wardrobe.  In LTK, Bond and Pam Bovier dive into each other in Sanchez's swimming pool.  In GE, Bond and Natalya Simonova enjoy a short embrace among camouflaged marines.  In TND, Bond and Wai Lin catch their breath while floating on a piece of wreakage.  In TWINE, Bond enjoys the moment unwrapping his present from Christmas Jones.  And in DAD, Bond and Jinx discover that diamonds really are a girl's best friend.

Bond shares a short moment with Domino before flying off to his next adventure in THUNDERBALL (1965).

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