Paul Allaer "Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007" (2012 release; 98 min.) is a documentary about the James Bond movie franchise (which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012). After a 'classic' Bond opening, we quickly delve into Ian Fleming's background, and in particular how deeply affected he was by WWII (in which he served) and later the Cold War. It eventually leads him to create the James Bond character, and the first Bond novel "Casino Royal", which some refers to as Fleming's "autobiography of a dream", ha! After this promising start to the documentary, we quickly evolve into the complicated relationship between Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman.Couple of comments: this documentary is directed by British film maker Steven Riley. Riley tries to walk a fine line between on the one hand all of the legal issues that have confronted the James Bond franchise over the years (and believe me, there are PLENTY), and giving an overview of how the Bond movies have evolved over the years. There are some tidbits here and there that I found interesting (such as: the budget for the first Bond Movie "Mr. NO" being $1 million--or about $8 million in today's dollars, can you imagine making a Bond movie for just $8 million?; and the interview with one-time Bond actor George Lazenby, on how he talked Broccoli and Saltzman into becoming the new Bond, only then to be kicked out of the Bond franchise after just one movie).I recently stumbled on this while browsing the EPIX on Demand documentary section. When a 50th anniversary celebration movie like this one is put together, you can be assured that it stays on the lighter side when all is said and done, and that's fine. I'm sure one day someone (independent from the Bond film makers) will produce the definitive James Bond documentary.

KineticSeoul This is a interesting Documentary that delves into Ian Fleming and how the creation of James Bond came into being. While also showing the struggles and stardom of the actors that played Bond. Which also includes the producers and the legal battle when it came to who owns the rights to "007". I think just about everyone can at least empathize with Ian Fleming who was known to have a charming and alarming characteristics. Like how it is mentioned in the documentary, Bond is basically the alter ego of Ian Fleming. How women and fancy drinks wasn't enough, how he disliked his job and wanted more out of life. So in another words Bond is someone he wanted to be but couldn't because of his circumstances. A character that is able to win over just about any women, stand tall and overcome just about any obstacles not matter how much the odds are against him. It's a fantasy that just about every men dream about. Sometimes movies can be a coping mechanism for dark times in peoples life. For Ian Fleming it was his passion for writing stories about his fantasies. It was interesting to to know more about the inner turmoil within the company and legal issues when it came to the rights of the "007" franchise. Especially about each star that played Bonds story and how it all came to be. Overall this is a documentary that all Bond just might enjoy and could lead to more appreciation of the "007" films.8.4/10

Jackson Booth-Millard To mark the 50th anniversary of James Bond 007 on the big screen, starting with Dr. No in 1962, this special feature length documentary film was released on the same that the first of the spy films came out (the Adele title song for Skyfall was released this day as well), and it would document everything you could think of from the creation of the character and stories up to the present day. It of course begins with the story of how writer Ian Fleming created the character in 1953 and wrote his first of fourteen novels with the famous hero, Casino Royale, and after terrible versions on television how eventually the books caught the attention of filmmakers Albert R. 'Cubby' Broccoli and Harry Saltzman with Eon (Everything or Nothing) Productions and Danjaq brought Dr. No to the big screen. There is discussion about the casting of Scottish actor Sir Sean Connery (sadly not interviewed) as British secret agent James Bond 007, the four films that followed with the star, the sad death of Fleming after From Russia with Love, the legal battle during Thunderball with Kevin McClory trying to get the rights he battled for, new Australian actor George Lazenby becoming the new star (who it would turn out would only film), and bringing Connery back for Diamonds Are Forever. We see how English actor Sir Roger Moore became Bond for twelve years and seven films, Saltzman leaving the series after falling out with Broccoli, the battle between the official Bond film Octopussy and the independent Thunderball remake Never Say Never Again starring Connery and how they fared, how close Irish actor Pierce Brosnan came to becoming the next Bond before his television show Remington Steel was revived and Welsh Shakespearian actor Timothy Dalton was brought in, and how Dalton returned the character to the routes of the novels but became a somewhat controversial and possibly too dark Bond for fans in two films (especially in Licence to Kill). It shows Brosnan getting his second chance six years after the last film and officially becoming the new Bond in GoldenEye and a following three films after, with the Cold War over Bond is given an up to date new image and the actor is replaced by a then controversial choice, blonde actor English actor Daniel Craig who turns out to be an inspired choice in Casino Royale (which shows the origins of the character becoming a double 0 agent, killing two people), and there is a little talk about the upcoming Skyfall. It is fascinating to hear stories from the actors who have played the part of James Bond 007; Lazenby tells how he stormed into an audition and found it easy to get laid, Moore talks about making great friends with cast and crew and trying to resist a Sir Sean Connery impression when saying "My name is Bond. James Bond", Dalton remarks that he wanted to stick with the original works of Fleming and create a more serious character and how enjoyed being the hero, Brosnan remembers how he came close to getting the part and then when he did he mentions the funny side of the job, and Craig talks about how he was happy to be accepted after some controversy and what the future holds for the franchise. Also with contributions from Ken Adam, Barbara Broccoli, Dana Broccoli, Bill Clinton, Robert Davi, Sir Christopher Lee (Ian Fleming's cousin), Mike Myers and Michael G. Wilson. It is clever that the film does not just use photographs and archive footage to tell the stories, it merges clips and behind the scenes footage from all twenty three films: 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. The film also features many of the famous music scores from the films, and a few of the songs, including "Thunderball" by Sir Tom Jones, "We Have All the Time in the World" by Louis Armstrong and "Nobody Does It Better" by Carly Simon. It is a very interesting factual film about one of the most successful film franchises in the world, there are many fascinating and insightful stories about the making of the films, all the crew who made them happen, and the events during and after production and screenings, it is everything you could think of if you are a Bond fan, a very watchable documentary. Very good!

clivey6 Fantastic documentary and very pacily directed. Actually more involving and entertaining than many recent Bond films for this fan, a real narrative arc to it all, and emotional involvement. Superb use of Barry music throughout to accompany the narrative, and clips from the films to illustrate events.Bond creator Ian Fleming gets his deserved share of acclaim in it. Connery's non-involvement lends him a posthumous air, but it allows him to be cast as the villain of the piece, an attitude which seems more justified in retrospect as the series has gone from strength to strength without him. They linger on shots of Connery looking quite obese in the Diamonds are Forever era, as if to make a point, and the clips from his rogue Bond film Never Say Never Again mainly show him at his worst. They don't mention, however, that EON actively worked to mess up Never Say Never Again by hauling them to the courts on a weekly basis to throw up roadblocks over their intended storyline.Alternative Bond producer and huckster Kevin McClory is the other villain of the piece, though no one would realistically stick up for him. That said, I'm not sure that the whole Spectre thing wasn't his idea and lord knows EON milked that in the 60s, using them for films where they hadn't even featured in the books.A shock to see Roger Moore look so overweight, he's turning into Cubby now, while I thought Dalton looked better than he's been in decades, quite rugged and windswept. But his interpretation of Bond is wholly damned here, with no one speaking up in support of it, and he even seems to damn it in his own words: 'I worried that half the people would love Connery and the other half love Moore and they'd gang up to hate me...' implying that's what happened, though in the interview from which that quote was taken, a few years after LTK, he swiftly added 'Which didn't happen I'm glad to say', now edited out. Brosnan is in good form, but still surprisingly cut up about getting the push, surprisingly because, let's face it, his films were mostly below par through no fault of his own. I think his response was the grief or regret that comes from knowing he'd never get a chance to get it right, and now time had moved on.One-time Bond George Lazenby is perhaps the best entertainment value for anecdotes, he's in good form and amusingly self-deprecating. Oh, there's a moving scene regarding a phone call from Connery to Cubby, related by Barbara Broccoli. Connery's comments are occasionally heard, but they're from past interviews and used very fleetingly, over other clips.What I found surprising was that I found the clips of Casino Royale with Daniel Craig at the end far more moving than in the actual film, because the music played over it - not David Arnold, it seems - was more affecting. Craig's performance looked shockingly impressive this time round simply because of this.Some clips from Skyfall at the end, though not too many if you haven't seen it yet. The trailer is almost directly before the film, so arrive at the last minute if you want to miss that. Catch this in cinemas if you can, as you get to see some clips of the films on the big screen for once, even if some of the hi-def remasters seem to have just something very slightly wrong about them sometimes.