James Bond Movie Posters: The Official 007 Collection
By Tony Nourmand

Long before the Cocktail Nation re-introduced the martini as a sexy emblem of style into the popular consciousness, James bond, as definitively personified by Sean Connery, stirred the imaginations of millions of pleasure seekers. Bond shook up the film censors while he was it, with his revolutionary vodka martini, shaken and not stirred, in one hand, his trusty Walter PPK in the other, and a clinging babe somewhere in between. This iconic imagery was forever etched into the popular culture via Maurice Binders' imaginatively designed title sequences, John Barry's thrilling themes, Connery's cosmic coolness, and of course, the magical marketing campaigns, best represented by the exciting film posters.

In James Bond Movie Posters: The Official 007 Collection (Chronicle Books), Tony Nourmand, curator of London's Reel Poster Gallery, illustrates the constant mystique of Bond via the ever-changing tastes and trends in the poster artwork, with representatives from around the globe reflecting the international obsession for 007. From the stunning myriad of graphic sensuality pitching 1962's premiere Bond epic Dr. No right up to the relatively bland campaign for Pierce Brosnan's 1999 entry The World is not Enough (which depicts the sundry stars' appeal over the allure of the action), this essential collection is an eye-popping crash course in not just the celluloid history of the world's greatest spy, but the diverse manner in which his visage and mythology have been exploited around the world for the past four decades, including magazine, newspaper and press book advertising, and even profiles of the artists, too often neglected. The Austin Powers-that-be can go shag themselves—James Bond is our man in the field.

—Viharo, Will Viharo

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