Dreadfully Boring

Brilliant and touching

Absolutely the worst movie.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

"Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007" (2012 release; 98 min.) is a documentary about the James Bond movie franchise (which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012). After a 'classic' Bond opening, we quickly delve into Ian Fleming's background, and in particular how deeply affected he was by WWII (in which he served) and later the Cold War. It eventually leads him to create the James Bond character, and the first Bond novel "Casino Royal", which some refers to as Fleming's "autobiography of a dream", ha! After this promising start to the documentary, we quickly evolve into the complicated relationship between Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman.Couple of comments: this documentary is directed by British film maker Steven Riley. Riley tries to walk a fine line between on the one hand all of the legal issues that have confronted the James Bond franchise over the years (and believe me, there are PLENTY), and giving an overview of how the Bond movies have evolved over the years. There are some tidbits here and there that I found interesting (such as: the budget for the first Bond Movie "Mr. NO" being $1 million--or about $8 million in today's dollars, can you imagine making a Bond movie for just $8 million?; and the interview with one-time Bond actor George Lazenby, on how he talked Broccoli and Saltzman into becoming the new Bond, only then to be kicked out of the Bond franchise after just one movie).I recently stumbled on this while browsing the EPIX on Demand documentary section. When a 50th anniversary celebration movie like this one is put together, you can be assured that it stays on the lighter side when all is said and done, and that's fine. I'm sure one day someone (independent from the Bond film makers) will produce the definitive James Bond documentary.

Full marks for this effort - 10 out of 10. Possibly one of the best Bond documentaries to have come along in what is the longest running movie franchise in modern history. The target audience has to be the 60+ crowd who have been around since the beginning of the Bond films. Sure I guess there is something here for the younger fans who are now discovering this "Buck Rogers" of secret agents via the release of the last three films staring Daniel Craig ... who incidentally is the best Bond ever since Timothy Dalton … in my opinion. All of the Bonds make an appearance with the notable exception of Sean Connery which is a pity. If President Bill Clinton can make time in his schedule for a few words - I think Connery does himself a dis- service by failing to appear and add his take to the proceedings. This doc has been around since 2012. I only stumbled upon it recently on the History Channel.If you are in the remotest possible way a Bond fan - make time for this one. You'll be very satisfied that you did. It's highly entertaining, very interesting, informative and totally engrossing from start to finish. Chris G., retired 68 Winnipeg Canada, 19/05/2015

For the dedicated 007 fan, I recommend adding this movie to your Bond collection. I always enjoy a good behind the scenes documentary, especially all the human drama and minutia involved in making Hollywood magic. I have to say as far as movie making documentaries, this one's the best so far. This is a brilliant and methodical collection of interviews and news clips covering the Bond saga from 1962 to 2012's Skyfall. Going far beyond the special features that accompany the DVD/Blu-Ray collections, there are many fresh revelations of the decisions, relationships, litigations, collaborations, betrayals, controversies, successes, and failures that went into the creative processes of Fleming, Broccoli, Saltzman, and many other talents who framed the Bond mythology. The movie begins with an intro from our newest Bond Commander, Daniel Craig. It seems a fitting choice to begin the 50-year anniversary tell all as he grew up with Bond. The interviews include super villains as well. Beginning with Christopher Lee, The Man with the Golden Gun 1973, it's revealed (to me at least) that he's a "distant cousin" of the late Ian Fleming. I'm glad he's still with us to share his knowledge of Ian's real-life WWII Naval Intelligence experiences which was the impetus for the Bond character development. Interviews are not just for the Hollywood elite either. The film makers include the surviving siblings, children, associates, and friends who, in my mind, contribute greatly to the Bond perspective. As the film progresses to interviews with the actors who played Bond, many new facts are revealed in a "he said, she said" style and old facts re-confirmed as well. For example, the reasoning behind choosing Welsh actor, Timothy Dalton, before Pierce Brosnan, is well known by many of us older fans, but maybe not by the newer generation of fans. However, most glaringly absent from the main characters' participation, is the first Bond, Sean Connery. In spite of this, Mr. Connery's pro/con experiences are told in absentia and in a seemingly fair manner carefully avoiding any pre-judgments leaving that privilege to the audience. Harry Saltzman and Albert R. (Cubby) Broccoli were the original Bond producers but died in 1994 and 96. Although not available, many home movies and other footage were carefully edited in to give us a fairly complete perspective of the working and personal relationship between these two men. This part of the story is greatly enhanced by the daughters. Barbara Broccoli and Hillary Saltzman. I'm captivated as they recall loving memories of their fathers, and can't help wondering why they were never "Bond girls." These two women are as beautiful as any of the ladies who've filled the ranks. Then, the story is the "passing of the baton" to the surviving Barbara Broccoli and her step brother Michael. They continue the Bond saga with a set of new challenges, such as, choosing the first "Blond Bond," Daniel Craig, which was very controversial at the time (another new fact to me). Sharing what 007 means to them, the last few minutes are a montage of closing comments and analogies from many of the feature's participants including former Pres. Bill Clinton.For me, I'm always slow in warming up to a change with my favorite characters and Bond is no exception. However, the actors who have holstered the Walther PPK, have done an excellent job in my estimation. I'm not one of those "so and so was the real Bond" type of fans . . . So far.As a companion movie, I recommend "Bond Girls Are Forever." It's a 2002 documentary, ten years before this one. It's done in a different style as Maryam d'Abo, herself a Bond girl, solely does the interviews in "Globe trotter" fashion.

Fantastic documentary and very pacily directed. Actually more involving and entertaining than many recent Bond films for this fan, a real narrative arc to it all, and emotional involvement. Superb use of Barry music throughout to accompany the narrative, and clips from the films to illustrate events.Bond creator Ian Fleming gets his deserved share of acclaim in it. Connery's non-involvement lends him a posthumous air, but it allows him to be cast as the villain of the piece, an attitude which seems more justified in retrospect as the series has gone from strength to strength without him. They linger on shots of Connery looking quite obese in the Diamonds are Forever era, as if to make a point, and the clips from his rogue Bond film Never Say Never Again mainly show him at his worst. They don't mention, however, that EON actively worked to mess up Never Say Never Again by hauling them to the courts on a weekly basis to throw up roadblocks over their intended storyline.Alternative Bond producer and huckster Kevin McClory is the other villain of the piece, though no one would realistically stick up for him. That said, I'm not sure that the whole Spectre thing wasn't his idea and lord knows EON milked that in the 60s, using them for films where they hadn't even featured in the books.A shock to see Roger Moore look so overweight, he's turning into Cubby now, while I thought Dalton looked better than he's been in decades, quite rugged and windswept. But his interpretation of Bond is wholly damned here, with no one speaking up in support of it, and he even seems to damn it in his own words: 'I worried that half the people would love Connery and the other half love Moore and they'd gang up to hate me...' implying that's what happened, though in the interview from which that quote was taken, a few years after LTK, he swiftly added 'Which didn't happen I'm glad to say', now edited out. Brosnan is in good form, but still surprisingly cut up about getting the push, surprisingly because, let's face it, his films were mostly below par through no fault of his own. I think his response was the grief or regret that comes from knowing he'd never get a chance to get it right, and now time had moved on.One-time Bond George Lazenby is perhaps the best entertainment value for anecdotes, he's in good form and amusingly self-deprecating. Oh, there's a moving scene regarding a phone call from Connery to Cubby, related by Barbara Broccoli. Connery's comments are occasionally heard, but they're from past interviews and used very fleetingly, over other clips.What I found surprising was that I found the clips of Casino Royale with Daniel Craig at the end far more moving than in the actual film, because the music played over it - not David Arnold, it seems - was more affecting. Craig's performance looked shockingly impressive this time round simply because of this.Some clips from Skyfall at the end, though not too many if you haven't seen it yet. The trailer is almost directly before the film, so arrive at the last minute if you want to miss that. Catch this in cinemas if you can, as you get to see some clips of the films on the big screen for once, even if some of the hi-def remasters seem to have just something very slightly wrong about them sometimes.