Review: ‘James Bond Encyclopedia’

Robert Greenberger

Robert Greenberger is best known to comics fans as the editor of Who's Who In The DC Universe, Suicide Squad, and Doom Patrol. He's written and edited several Star Trek novels and is the author of The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. He's known for his work as an editor for Comics Scene, Starlog, and Weekly World News, as well as holding executive positions at both Marvel Comics and DC Comics.

You may also like...

7 Responses

  1. Keith R.A. DeCandido says:

    The Barry Nelson television version, the Casino Royale satire, and Never Say Never Again are omitted – consider this the canonical Bond reference bookHardly that, since it doesn't discuss the Ian Fleming novels — that is the canon of James Bond. The films are all derivative works. And a reference source that omits things loses value as a reference source, so I'd consider the lack of the TV show, the satire, and NSNA to be a major flaw.

  2. mike weber says:

    Speaking of "…the buffoonery that was Moonraker…" – not surprisung sinc half or more of Moonraker – the Rio sequence, for instance – is an uncredited remake of a sp spoof made by diLaurentis at Cinecitta, starring Terry-Thomas, Mike Connors, Dorothy Provine and Raf Vallone. (Some scenes – the scene in which Bond and the girl show off their various lethal gadgets, for instance – are virtually shot-for-shot, except that Mike Connors was the CIA agent and Provine was the Brit. And Provine had a Rolls-Royce that was more impressive than any other Roller i've seen in a flim since FAB 1.)

    • mike weber says:

      Ah. I forgot to mention that the film i was referring to is "Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die", or that, the last time i looked, it was unavailable in any format.

  3. mike weber says:

    As to omitting the books – this is a book about the populat culture phenomenon – and i would guess that a huge portion of people who could be called "Bond fans" aren't even aware that Paul was in a band before Wings … i mean, that there even were books.And couldn't care less, because they'd never do anything so silly as read a whole book.

  4. Birmy says:

    It may have been a condition of EON's compliance with the project to omit Bond projects they weren't affiliated with, especially the contentious "Never Say Never Again." It strikes me as the Broccolis just maintaining their tight grip on the franchise.

  5. Donald Symanski says:

    Actually I find this "updated" book – just like the previous edition – rather boring and lacking any real insight or new information. I went through it and found all the same superficialities..it's just a glorified picture book (pictures which we've already seen a million times).For my money, there are far better James Bond books out there that are way more interesting and informative. This is just another weak rehash of far superior James Bond film books.

  6. Steve Chaput says:

    I'm going to agree with others that any 'encyclopedia' that confines itself only to films considered canon, doesn't discuss the novels and other items really doesn't live up to the name. Rather it was titled the "Official James Bond Film Companion" or some such would have been more honest. I'm assuming it also doesn't mention the one-shot DC comic?