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Death is not the end for Sir Sean Connery. The actor will likely spend the afterlife looming over the James Bond franchise the same way he did during his time alive. Connery is forever tied to Bond, defining the character outside of Ian Fleming’s novels and creating a promise of adventure that has captivated audiences since the 1960s.
Connery’s Bond ended up being a prototype for a variety of shades of masculinity throughout the 20th century, a roguish cad who could kill as quickly as he could seduce. Future Bonds, wisely not attempting to capture Connery’s elastic presence, would typically lean into one of those traits. By the late 2000s, Pierce Brosnan had honed in on the “roguish cad” element, happy to play up Bond’s sense of charm with the Cold War over.
Daniel Craig moved the needle in another direction. With 2005’s Casino Royale, Cad was out, cold-hearted killer was in. It was a reboot that revitalized the franchise. And it's the movie you need to watch before it leaves Hulu on November 30. Here's why.
In looking at where to take the franchise after Brosnan’s last performance as Bond in 2002’s Die Another Day, studios wanted to roll back from the special effects which had defined that movie. Recent hits like The Matrix and Minority Report made James Bond look outdated. Q’s special weapons and invisible cars couldn’t hold up, and while some humor was always welcome, it risked undercutting the action.
Casino Royale, which in an earlier iteration had once been a Bond parody, emerged as a hard reboot of the franchise. Gone was Miss Moneypenny, gone was John Cleese as Q, gone was the double-oh. One thing that wisely stayed was Judi Dench as M. But while the movie sticks to the Bond script, it tries to flip expectations whenever possible.
It’s most recognizable in the film’s first scene. Even during the dog days of formulaic Bond films, the opening scene has always remained a tour de force. Disconnected from the rest of the plot, the opener of any Bond film is a showcase, a pure action sequence meant to awe. (Though the upcoming No Time to Die is poised to break that tradition.)
Casino opens in black and white. Even when Sean Connery was headlining Dr. No, James Bond wasn’t in color. But the minimalism works, letting the audience watch Craig drown someone in a toilet. His death is visceral and painful to watch. When asked if he had a good death, Craig responds no.
Recalling noir more than Bond, Craig soon kills his target, a traitor within British intelligence. The film very much wants to emphasize that James Bond is a person who kills other people. While he gets off a one-liner, it feels crueler than before. The movie then jumps into one of the franchise’s best title sequences alongside one of its best songs, Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Name.”
The mid-2000s were notable for their gritty reboots — Casino Royale came out the same year as Batman Begins. But while Casino Royale is a gritty reboot, it also captures the sense of wonder that would accompany the franchise’s heyday: the idea that buying a ticket to a Bond movie was buying a ticket to a sensory experience you couldn’t get anywhere else. That’s an idea that trickles throughout Casino, right down to the tears of blood from Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre — fantastic as an evil banker who might be over his head when taking money from warlords.
Casino Royale builds a new Bond mythology from scratch, emphasizing physically punishing fights (like it’s memorable parkour sequence) that show the agent as a bulldozer in a world full of walls. The franchise may have made some mistakes afterward, but this oneearned its spot in the Bond canon by willing to tear down everything that didn’t work and build it all up again.
Casino Royale is streaming on Hulu through November 30.
Shaken, stirred, streaming on your phone, laptop, or TV.
Ready for your James Bond Fall marathon? The next big James Bond film, No Time To Diehas been delayed until April of 2021. So, with Daniel Craig’s swan song as 007 a long way off, — and the future of new streaming Bond movies in flux — the end of 2020 isn’t a bad time to binge Bond. Plus, you’re mourning the death of Sean Connery, you might be ready to visit some of his classic 007 movies right now. Here’s your guide to where every James Bond movie is streaming online right now, as of December 2020.
We all know that although James Bond has a license to kill, his best super-power is actually the ability to tell terrible dad jokes. Hopefully, if we ever get to see Daniel Craig’s forthcoming final James Bond movie — No Time To Die — we’ll get a whole new clip full of bad puns we can load-up and fire off. In the meantime, 007 movies have a tendency to hop from streaming platform to streaming platform, kind of like the way Bond jumped over those rooftops in Spectre.
You may have read all the Bonds were streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime or Netflix, but the truth is, where the Bond movies are streaming changes all the time. So, where is all of Bond streaming right now? Here’s the update as of Late October/Early November 2020
Classic Bond: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, and Timothy Dalton
The bulk of “classic” James Bond movies are, as of November 1st streaming for “free” on both Amazon Prime and Hulu. But a few of these — like Dr. No— are only available for rental on Amazon. These go for $3.99 a pop.
Classic Bonds Streaming (Mostly) For on Amazon Prime and Hulu.
TIP: If you’re going to watch ONE of the classic Sean Connery movies, that is also streaming for free, we recommend From Russia With Love! It’s way better than you remember. But, as of December 1, 2020, Goldfinger is back on Prime!
Casino Royale online, free Full
- From Russia With Love (On Hulu on November 1)
- Thunderball (On Hulu on November 1)
- You Only Live Twice (On Hulu on November 1)
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service(On Hulu on November 1)
- Diamonds Are Forever (On Hulu on November 1)
- Live and Let Die (On Hulu On November 1)
- The Man With the Golden Gun (On Hulu On November 1)
- Moonraker (On Hulu On November 1)
- For Your Eyes Only (On Hulu On November 1)
- Octopussy (On Hulu On November 1)
- A View to a Kill (On Hulu On November 1)
- The Living Daylights (On Hulu On November 1)
- License to Kill (On Hulu On November 1)
Daniel Craig Bond Movies
As of right now, the Daniel Craig movies are available to rent on streaming in several places, and specifically Amazon Prime, iTunes, and YouTube. During the launch of HBO Max, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace were on there, but now they’re not. However, as of August 31, both of those films have been on Netflix. Here’s how that shakes out.
- Casino Royale is…BACK ON AMAZON PRIME. Streaming for free. AND it’s on Netflix, too! And Hulu!
- Quantum of Solace just jumped over to Netflix, along with Casino Royale.
Pierce Brosnan Bonds
What about Brosnan, Pierce Brosnan? At the moment, the first three Pierce Brosnan Bond films are on Netflix. That includes:
- Tomorrow Never Dies
- The World Is Not Enough
- Goldeneye
Die Another Day used to be on Netflix but right now, it’s not. At the moment, you can rent Die Another Day on Amazon, or watch it for “free” if you have a Showtime subscription through Amazon Prime.
Never Say Never Again + Free Bond?
In 1983, Sean Connery returned to play a semi-retired James Bond in a movie called Never Say Never Again. This movie is not considered an “official” James Bond movie and only existed through a legal loophole. Basically, the guy who co-wrote Thunderball, Kevin McClory, was able to retain partial rights to Bond, and thus, Never Say Never Again is a weird Thunderball remake, only this time Bond is older, and Kim Basinger is also around. This movie is streaming for free, with ads on Pluto TV.
Notably, virtually all the other “real” James Bond movies are streaming for free on Pluto, too. (Excluding any of the Daniel Craig movies. Again, these have ads, but hey, it’s totally free!
Check out the full selection here.
Documentaries
At the moment, Hulu still has the docu-drama “Becoming Bond” streaming for subscribers. This movie is all about how George Lazenby become Bond for his one and only movie, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Check it out here.
Blu-ray
What happens when James Bond isn’t streaming? Maybe it’s time for the physical Blu-rays. Check out this complete set here.