This document provides a compare and contrast essay of the James Bond films Dr. No from 1962 and Skyfall from 2012. It outlines key differences between the two films such as the year and director, main actors, running times, plots, locations filmed, box office earnings, and awards received. Although the films are very different, the document concludes that the James Bond series remains a favorite since childhood and worth watching due to the surprise and interest they provide.

1. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN
THE DESIGN SCHOOL
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT
NAME: NG HONG BIN
STUDENT ID NO: 0319735
FILMS SELECTED: James Bond Films
WORD COUNT: 942 words
ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE – CONTRAST ESSAY
LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA
SUBMISSIONDATE: 5TH
DECEMBER2014

2. The James Bond film series are one of the most popular film series all over the world.
It is a British series of spy films based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond,
"007", who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. It is one of the longest
continually-running film series in history. It has been published since 1962 until now.
Nowadays, there have been twenty three James Bond films in the Eon Productions series
which are Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice,
On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with
the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A
View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies,
The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall.
Now, I would like to choose Dr. No and Skyfall from the James Bond film series and
make a contrast of differences between them. First and foremost, both of these movies were
filmed in different years and directed by different people. For instance, Dr. No was fimed in
year 1962 directed by Terence Young while Skyfall was filmed in year 2012 directed by Sam
Mendes. Dr. No is the first James Bond film while Skyfall is the twenty-third James
Bond film. Besides, the actors of these two films are totally different. For example, Dr. No
stars Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Lord, John Kitzmiller while
Skyfall stars Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Bérénice Marlohe,
Albert Finney, Judi Dench. Furthermore, the running time of Dr. No is 109 minutes and is
less than Skyfall which is 143 minutes.
In addition, the plots between these two movies are quite different. In Dr. No, James
Bond stays alive throughout the entire film while in Skyfall, everyone presumes that James
Bond dies once in the film. For example, in Skyfall, M, the head of MI6, orders Eve to fire a
distant shot with a rifle at the mercenary, Patrice, when James Bond is fighting with him atop
a train. Unfortunately, Eve accidentally shoots Bond and allows Patrice to escape.
Consequently, Bond falls into a river and goes missing and everyone assumes that he kicks
the bucket. Apart from that, in Dr. No, James Bond is imprisoned in a holding cell once but in
Skyfall, he does not. The places of filming of these two films are also totally different from
each other. For instance, Dr. No is set in London, England, Kingston, Jamaica and Crab Key,
a fictional island off Jamaica while Skyfall is set in Turkey, Shanghai, China, Macau and
James Bond’s hometown, Scotland.
On the other hand, the earnings difference between these films is extremely big. For
example, Dr. No earns $59.6 million worldwide while Skyfall earns $1,108.6 million
worldwide. In United Kingdom, playing in 168 cinemas, Dr. No grossed $840,000 in just two
weeks and wound up being the fifth most popular movie of the year there and in 2003, the
scene of Andress emerging from the water in a bikini topped Chanel 4's list of one hundred
sexiest scenes of film history. The bikini was sold in 2001 at an auction for $61,500. For
Skyfall, it is the highest-grossing film worldwide for Sony Pictures and the second highest-
grossing film of 2012. On its opening weekend, it earns $80.6 million from 25 markets. In the

3. UK the film grossed £20.1 million on its opening weekend, making it the second highest
Friday to Sunday debut ever behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
Moreover, Dr. No did not win any awards but Skyfall won a vast array of awards. For
example, in 2012, Skyfall won Best Original Song, Best Sound Mixing at the Academy
Awards, Outstanding British Film and Best Original Music at the British Academy Film
Awards, Best Action Movie, Best Song and Best Actor in an Action Movie at the Broadcast
Film Critics Association Awards, Best Director and Best Film at the Empire Awards, Best
Action or Adventure Film at the Saturn Awards and Outstanding Performance by a Stunt
Ensemble in a Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2013, it won Best
Original Score for an Action or Adventure Film at the International Film Music Critics
Association Awards and in 2014, it won Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media and Best
Song Written for Visual Media at the Grammy Awards. Although Dr. No is not as popular as
Skyfall, it is the introduction of the James Bond film series and also the first of a successful
series of 23 Bond films. President John F. Kennedy was a fan of Dr. No and requested a
private showing of it in the White House. Although Skyfall won lots of awards compare to
Dr. No, these films are my favourite film series.
In conclusion, although there are many differences between these films, they are my
favourite film series since I was a kid. It is full of surprise and extremely interesting. I often
end up my leisure time by watching them and they help me spend my time wisely. If you
haven’t watch them, I strongly recommend you to watch them. James Bond film series is the
best film series in the world!

4. References:
 http://www.007.com/
 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055928/?ref_=nv_sr_2
 http://jamesbond.wikia.com/wiki/Dr._No
 http://www.007.com/skyfall/
 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1074638/?ref_=nv_sr_1