Surprisingly incoherent and boring

One of my all time favorites.

Brilliant and touching

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Dr. No will always retain a footnote in history for being the first movie in a franchise which would go on to become the most lucrative in cinema history. Based on the second of Ian Fleming's novels about the British Secret Service Agent 007, the spy with a license to kill, James Bond. It is easy to not realise now that up to the release of this film, there really had been no screen hero like this. Never before had there been a character with such a tongue-in-cheek, morally ambivalent and hedonistic approach, a man whose own pleasures were at least as important to him as was the mission he had been sent on; he changed audience expectations of what a hero could be. In fact, this film caused some controversy on release on account of Bond's behaviour, not only his sexual dalliances but also his flippant attitude towards killing where in one scene he shot an injured adversary in the back. Up to this point British heroes tended to be of the stiff upper lip variety, gentlemen who reluctantly killed. Sean Connery puts in a very confident performance here that would forever set the standard for future portrayals, he is witty, suave and brutal. Aside from the Bond character, this film was also a massive shot in the arm for the action genre generally. It brought a whole new world of glamorous excitement, a world populated by beautiful women, exotic locations and high-octane action set-pieces. It was, and still is, a very attractive concoction.Like most films in the series, the story isn't exactly anything to write home about. Bond is sent to Jamaica to investigate the murder of a fellow British agent, which soon leads to a private island owned by a Chinese evil genius called Dr. No who has come up with a scheme to divert rockets fired from Cape Canaveral off their course and blackmail the U.S. into getting normal service restored. Or something. It's a story which is no more than a means to an end to allow for all the glamorised elements to come together – it's a formula that the series rarely strayed too far from. Seeing as this was the first movie, there was no title song sung by a prominent singer of the day but it was the first outing for the seminal 'James Bond Theme' by Monty Norman, which would go on to be used in every subsequent film in the series. Aside from this the somewhat atypical calypso tune 'Under a Mango Tree' features quite prominently, adding to the Caribbean flavour. This is all well and good but Dr. No is probably as celebrated for its introduction of the concept of what would go on to be known as the Bond Girl, and for many Ursula Andress remains the definitive example. She appears as a shell collecting uber-babe called Honey Ryder in a sea-emerging sequence which is so thoroughly iconic you would have to be living under a rock to not be aware of it in advance of seeing this movie. I daresay that Andress replete in bikini and/or wet-shirt for the duration of her screen-time made some serious ripples back in the early 60's. To be fair, Honey Ryder remains a knockout to this day and, as far as I'm concerned, you can't have too many Bond Girls in a movie.Overall, this really is an excellent start to a series which for my money operated at its highest level during the 60's era. In some ways it is charmingly under-done if anything, with an atypically rushed ending, which doesn't extend its action set-piece to epic scale, which in fairness was a feature which was to some of the later film's detriments. But as a fairly stripped-down Bond movie, which still has all the ingredients we love, Dr, No remains a huge amount of fun and would serve as the template movie for the glamourized spy film sub-genre forever more.

"Dr. No" is the first of what would become more than two dozen movies about British Secret Agent 007, James Bond. The special agent of Britain's MI-6 is the creation of Ian Fleming. Fleming was a journalist for Reuters and when World War II broke out, he was recruited for Britain's Naval Intelligence. After the war, he managed a newspaper office and took up writing his spy novels. He introduced the world to his famous James Bond in his first novel, Casino Royale in April 1953.The Bond movie series has stretched over more than 50 years, as of the date of the last movie, "Spectre" in 2015. Half a dozen different actors have played Bond, but Sean Connery established his identity from the start. I haven't read any of Fleming's novels about Bond, nor books by authors who have continued the Bond series. But, It's interesting to note that each subsequent movie seems to get a little more detailed, complex and with associated gimmicks. Compared to the last of the films, starring Daniel Craig, this first film seems mild. But it's a good thriller, nevertheless, and it introduces 007 to the world. Bond's humor gradually picks up in later novels and movies. But, in "Dr. No" we get a glimpse of it. After a hearse chasing Bond on a mountain road swerves to avoid hitting a construction vehicle, it plummets over the cliff and explodes as it rolls down the mountain. Bond gets out of his car and watches with a road worker. He comments, "I think they were on their way to a funeral." In another scene, he drives up to the British Consul with a dead hit man in the back seat. He gets out of the car, points at the passenger, and says to the guard standing nearby, "Sergeant, make sure he doesn't get away."The film introduced Swiss actress Ursula Andress to movie audiences in her first role of any significance. Her performance here earned her a Golden Globe as the most promising female newcomer. Most of her 46 film and TV movies have been forgettable.

DR. NO is an action thriller and the first movie about a popular British secret agent.A British Intelligence (SIS) Station Chief in Jamaica, is ambushed and killed, and his body is taken by a trio of assassins. After that, they have broke into his house, killed his secretary and stole a very important documents. In response, MI6 agent James Bond is summoned to the office of his superior, M, in London. Bond is briefed to investigate the Station Chief disappearance. Upon his arrival at Kingston Airport Bond has met enemy agents. He has began his investigation with the help of a strong boatman and a charismatic CIA agent. However, scientists, double agents and beautiful women are on his way to the main enemy and to solve a mystery...This movie has set certain standards in terms of a character and habits of this main hero. This average fiction is pretty exciting. It balances between actions, mystery, science fiction and sexy situations. The pace is very fast, therefore, obvious flaws are almost not visible, between attempted murders, car chases, poisonous insects or even more toxic beauty in this film.Opening credits is very impressive. An exotic scenery is in contrast with topics in this film.Sean Connery as James Bond, A British MI6 agent, codename 007 is a tall, charismatic and handy man. He is a murderer and seducer at the same time. Mr. Connery has offered a convincing performance.His support are Ursula Andress (Honey Ryder), a local beauty, who deals quite good with a dominant man in the second part of the film. Joseph Wiseman (Dr. No) is the main antagonist. He is a constant threat, but too short phenomenon that could be taken seriously. Jack Lord (Felix Leiter) is an American "counterweight" to the British agent. John Kitzmiller (Quarrel) is a strong and scared boatman. Zena Marshall (Miss Taro) is a toxic beauty and a double agent.This is quite unreliable, however, is exciting and watchable.

This film was the first official Bond film to hit cinemas back in 1962. It kick-started Sean Connery's career, introduced the world to the cinematic James Bond and is, to many people, a truly iconic and important film...Okay, let's get straight to the point. Dr No is not a great Bond film or even a great film in general. I know that a great deal of people have a special place in their hearts for this film and I respect that. However, modern audiences may hold an entirely different opinion of this film. I know that a lot of people may not agree with my opinion and that is their choice, but I still maintain that this film is nowhere near as good as most of the Bond films that were to follow.There are some good points about Dr. No, though. Everyone knows about the "spider" scene and Ursula Andress looks great in that iconic white bikini. Sean Connery has also never looked cooler as Bond as he was in this film. The film also introduced audiences to the now instantly recognisable James Bond theme, which is first heard over the starting credits. It is also used several times throughout the film.However, I think the negative points outweigh the positives. The film is now hopelessly dated and I think it has dated more than any other Bond film. The portrayal of the black characters can also, in some ways, be seen as stereotypical and even borderline racist. Bond's "fetch my shoes" line to Quarrel never fails to make me squirm with embarrassment. There are also very few action sequences and no stand-out set-pieces. I also believe that Dr. No, although worthy of a viewing, would not stand up to repeat viewings, as it is simply not entertaining enough. Even the Roger Moore Bond films are more entertaining than this and yes, I do include Moonraker.As I mentioned, this was Connery's first Bond film and I know, to many people, he will always be the ultimate Bond. I do agree with that, up to a point. However, even he made some real stinkers as Bond. Goldfinger, in my opinion, is vastly over-rated and not much better than Dr. No in terms of entertainment value. Thunderball is too long and is the most boring Bond film, in my opinion, due to the long and slow underwater scenes. I am not even going to comment on the execrable Diamonds Are Forever...So, to sum up, Dr. No is a film firmly of its time. I would imagine it had much greater impact when seen in cinemas for the first time back in 1962, but I just don't think it has stood the test of time very well. I would recommend a viewing for any serious Bond fan, but they will probably find that one viewing is enough. Connery made much better Bond films than this, so I would instead direct people to check out either From Russia With Love or You Only Live Twice. I find these films endlessly watchable. I give Dr. No four stars, because it was a ground-breaking film, but very far from the best of Bond.