Everything or Nothing

Produced as part of the celebrations of the James Bond film series reaching its fiftieth anniversary and sanctioned by those behind them, the documentary Everything Or Nothing: The Untold Story Of 007 might appear on the surface to be just another piece of celebratory fluff. After all, there have been countless documentaries produced on the series both for television and, more recently, on the various DVD releases of the films. So what could possibly be left to say about the history of the franchise? The answer, as revealed over a bit more than ninety minutes, is quite a bit.

What perhaps makes the documentary most notable are those being interviewed. Five of the six actors who've played the part are featured (the sole exception being Sean Connery whose love/hate relationship with 007 is illustrated throughout). Each of them is nothing short of interesting ranging from George Lazenby's candidness about letting the part go to his head to Timothy Dalton reflecting on how his take on Bond was received to Pierce Brosnan on the pain of losing out the chance to play Bond in 1986 and how he handled the phone call telling him he wasn't getting to do another film after Die Another Day. Representing those either unwilling to be interviewed (such as Connery) to those no longer with us (such as Bond creator Ian Fleming, producer Cubby Broccoli, producer Harry Saltzman and surprisingly even Kevin McClory) is a wealth of mainly audio archival clips. Last but not least are a wealth of others interviewed such as the usual suspects including various Bond girls to current producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. Somewhat more intriguing are the less usual suspects including Fleming's friend/biographer John Pearson to McClory's friend Judy Geeson and former United Artists executive David Picker. The results help to make this far more than your usual making of documentary.

Everything Or Nothing is also well produced and stylishly done. Yes, there are the expected clips from all of the films, but they are put to surprisingly effective use not just as samples from the respective films but also to illustrate, often metaphorically, events taking place behind the scenes. There's also a wealth of archival material as well that give it a larger scope than many of its predecessors as well. There's also a stylishly done opening black and white teaser sequence that sets the stage for it is to follow that is excellently done. If I would fault the documentary, it would be that it perhaps paced too rapidly and jumps around quite a bit, rarely stopping long enough to focus on any one film in particular.

The result of all of these materials being brought together is that this is less a making of documentary and more of a look at the history of the series overall and how it has survived across five decades. It charts the course through the series by telling a story about strong individuals, egos, money and perseverance as much as anything else. Despite being officially sanctioned, the documentary does point out the flaws of various films and when the series went astray. Perhaps most surprisingly, it even goes into some depth about the controversy surrounding McClory, Thunderball and Never Say Never Again in a manner that is as even handedly as one can expect in light of what is still a controversial subject in Bond circles.

From its interviews and archival materials to a stylish production, Everything Or Nothing: The Untold Story Of 007 is far more than just another documentary on the history of a long running franchise. It is a journey through its history, its ups and downs and even some of its points of contention. It is the story behind the spy (and the films) that have, and will hopefully, continue tom thrill us.

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.

Nothing here that I didn't already know. The information is already out there in countless books and other documentaries. Because it's an official documentary, views are very sanitized. Dull.

Though this feels like a better than average DVD extra that's been buffed up and polished so that it can attempt to stand on its own two feet as a tv special/film, this actually isn't too bad.

It covers (briefly) how Bond came to be, but mostly focusses on how the film franchise came to be the massive deal that we know it to be.

It doesn't shy away from covering some of the lower moments along the way, not to mention that awkward six year gap between the reign of Dalton and Brosnan, but it's perfectly accessible for those who've heard all of the stories many times before, and equally those who don't.

A good effort.

This is the Eon sanctioned documentary on 50 years of James Bond films.

The documentary Everything Or Nothing: The Untold Story Of 007 could had been a fluffy celebratory piece like many other documentaries but it is rather warts and all approach.

Although I reckon some of the unedifying stuff has been left out. You still get a lot more behind the scenes information and footage than previous similar documentaries.

Five of the six actors who have played James Bond take part. Sean Connery who seems to have had a big falling out with the Bond producers in the past does not take part but instead archive interviews are used.

As Roger Moore implies here, the Scots can certainly hold a grudge.

There have been several spiky moments for the Bond producers over the last five decades that get a good airing here. The first being getting the rights and bringing the films into fruition.

Then Fleming collaborating with Kevin McClory which meant McClory was a thorn for years resulting in the rival film Never say Never again in 1983 with Connery.

Then there was the problem when Connery wanted to leave the role and being replaced by George Lazenby who himself left under acrimonious circumstances after one movie.

We then have Roger Moore who took over Bond and then the parting of the ways between Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, the two producers who started the series. Saltzman's sold his rights to United Artist.

Moore who found the right blend with The Spy who loved me, maybe stayed in the role for too long as the producers were unwilling to replace him in the early 1980s.

Moore certainly looked creaky in his last Bond film. He was older than the actual mother of the Bond Girl, Tanya Roberts.

When there was dispute over the availability Pierce Brosnan, Albert Broccoli had to go for Timothy Dalton before there was the 6 years hiatus in new Bond films because of litigation.

There was a relaunch with Brosnan finally in the role and up to the present day with Daniel Craig and the partial reboot of Bond.

It is a great primer for those new to Bond and want some juicy behind the scenes gossip and hard information as to what it takes keeping such a successful franchise going for 50 years.

There is plenty of archive footage (as many of the main movers and shakers have passed on) and scenes from the movies and some humour as well.