If I had to name my favourite film series, it wouldn’t be Star Wars, Trek, Potter or any of those other pretenders. It would be without question, Bond, James Bond. The series has such a rich history and every single film holds a special place in my heart.
Around 15 years ago I received a book about film posters and within its pages was a section about the Connery and Moore-era James Bond films. At that point I had no special interest in poster art, film or otherwise, but that ignited something and I’ve been a huge fan ever since.
A great place to start with poster art for the series is with the first film, Dr. No. As an unknown entity, I imagine it would have been a challenge for those asked to create posters and you can see this in the huge variety of designs from around the world.
The UK original with the yellow background is an instant classic but efforts from Italy and France (above), and Germany (below) are all brilliant works too.
In my opinion, the best came from a 1972 re-issue in Japan. Not too many posters have the film score in the art!
All the art on this page is from the superb Movie Posters Collectors website and its James Bond collection. Go take a look for higher resolution versions of those here and to see the 10 other posters that they have.
Tony Lyon
10 Feb 2014Fantastic pieces of artwork. They just don’t make them like this anymore
Hayden Yale
10 Feb 2014That is sadly true, official posters tend to be neutered for modern films. Fortunately there are plenty of designers, artists and companies such as Mondo who recognise this and continue to provide amazing poster art where the films creators do not.