A Look At Bond Posters

The world of James Bond is a carefully marketed one. Different actors play the role, so it's important that there is a strong brand identity. The actors come and go but Bond retains the essential qualities. He is suave, fearless, highly intelligent and a ladies man. Bond posters often carry the famous logo, the 007 and revolver that we are so familiar with. He is often dressed in his trademark dinner jacket and is never far away from his gun. Beautiful women are never very far away either and they tend not to wear too many clothes.

In terms of design, the posters have an old fashioned air about them. This is entirely suitable as Bond posters carry on a tradition. The movies are a cultural institution and we like the familiar images to still be there.

The first film, called Dr. No was released in 1962 and starred Sean Connery. For many people, he is still the archetypical Bond. The poster shows him with a smoking gun and several ladies at various stages of undress. This set the scene for the franchise.   Some of the From Russia with Love Bond posters departed from the norm and depicted a simple, red hammer and sickle. The Goldfinger posters showed the evocative woman painted in gold and Bond in various poses. You Only Live Twice has one design showing bond in a plane, being chased by helicopters and another in which he is bathing and being attended by gorgeous assistants.

The Roger Moore era began and his Moonraker had a space theme. Moore posed in a spacesuit, surrounded by spaceships and women. A View to a Kill is an impressive design, with Bond standing on the cable of the Golden Gate Bridge. George Lazenby only made one appearance as Bond, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Here, he balances precariously on a snow ski, whilst a woman skis behind him.

Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan followed. The Living Daylights shows Dalton caught in the famous opening camera shutter image. One of the Bond posters for Goldeneye is very arty, showing a close up of Brosnan's eye and a gun barrel.

Now, we have a new James Bond and another image to promote. Daniel Craig has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders as fans look forward to seeing him in Casino Royale. In the poster, he sits at a casino table with his gun and his gambling chips. A new era has begun.