- Title: Bond Girls are Forever
- IMDB: link
Maryam d’Abo (The Living Daylights) hosts this look at what it means to be a Bond Girl, talking with former Bond Girls, in this limited edition DVD of the made-for-television documentary.
Starting with Halle Berry and Rosamund Pike (Die Another Die), host Maryam d’Abo discusses what it means to be a Bond Girl and how the experience differed for the women who are part of this select sorority that began the moment Ursula Andress walked out of the water in Dr. No.
Including clips from past Bond films and interviews with several Bond girls the special is an interesting look at this select group of actresses. There aren’t huge surprises or revelations, and truth be told, some of the girls haven’t aged well over the years, but there’s something intriguing about each of these women describing their experiences.
Some are proud of their experiences like Berry, Andress, Honor Blackman (Goldfinger), Jill St. John (Diamonds are Forever), and d’Abo herself. But some of the women look back at the role with something less than fondness.
Luciana Paluzzi (Thunderball) discusses the curse of the Bond Girl as she struggled to find serious work overseas in films after her role as the evil Fione Vople.
Maud Adams, the only woman to play multiple Bond girls (The Man with the Golden Gun, Ocotopussy), discusses playing the decorative role of the woman in distress, and how Bond physically dominated women in the 1970’s and early 80’s.
Lois Chiles (Moonraker) talks about the culture of the time and how women were portrayed on screen at same time women were fighting being sexual objects in film in general, and, of course, the famous “space sex” scene.
d’Abo and Carey Lowell (Licence to Kill) share fond memories as the Timothy Dalton Bond Girls and discuss the difference between their two characters, how neither gets to sleep with Bond, and the difference of portraying women in the series as more aggressive and confident like Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies).
The DVD also contains an interview with Judi Dench who took over the role of M in Goldeneye, and how her relationship with Bond has changed over the years.
Fans of Bond will find something here to enjoy, but casual observers may by bored with this short entry and look at the women of the series. Though many might be disappointed, as we were, that many of our favorite Bond girls didn’t make the cut, including Barbara Bach (The Spy Who Loved Me, Claudine Auger (Thunderball), Carole Bouquet (For Your Eyes Only), and Teri Hatcher (Tomorrow Never Dies).