“Bond, James Bond.” Everybody knows this British spy who graciously reintroduces himself in each of his 26 movies. The Bond franchise first debuted in the United Kingdom in 1962. Since then, as the series expanded, seven different actors have stepped into the role of the famed 007.

Goldfinger, the third and possibly most widely-known movie with Sean Connery starring, and No Time to Die, the latest release with Daniel Craig, share some surprising similarities. The antagonists are not the quintessential evil men with a thirst to destroy the world. Instead, they are complex humans with original, albeit wicked, plans. Even though they might be labeled as such, the movies are not simply action films. For example, in Gold- finger, the antagonist’s goal is to destroy America’s entire gold supply at Fort Knox. This is not the storyline one would find in a regular combat action film.

The sets’ similarities are intricate and obvious.

The decorations and setups of Bond’s boss’s office in both movies are identical: Both feature the brown leather tufted door. The cars also have the same special effects. For example, both cars feature guns shooting out of the headlights along with bullet- proof windows that aid Bond in his escape endeavours countless times.

The movies also each begin with the classic opening: The theme music, lingering in the background, precedes a crime of some sort that sets up the film’s backstory. Although they have different themes for the opening credits, each in accordance with the subject of the respective movie, they all feature Bond shooting a gun into an infinite tunnel. It is called the “gun-barrel sequence.”

Despite the similarities, many notable differences also exist. Foremost, Goldfinger is less action-based and more realistic. Instead of the gun fights, explosions, and other well-choreographed attack scenes featured in No Time to Die, the older

version replaces these scenes with a more thoughtful and sneaky protagonist and conniving adversary. The reason for this change may be credited to the increasing impatience of audiences nowadays; big explosions and immediate cause and effect violence are now the signature box office lures, not gradual, meandering storylines.

Moreover, the character of James Bond himself has evolved over time into a person more reliant on his team rather than just on himself. Bond’s independence of the past created a less emotional and more stern environment. The newer version is more relationship-driven which creates more nuance and complexity within the characters.

Over the years, though the Bond franchise has vastly changed its style of shooting
scenes – and guns – even though the core of the movies remains the same: James Bond movies will always offer a familiar sense of hope and can-do spirit.