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The appeal for us to be like James Bond is clearly seen when people, including myself, will stand in front of the mirrorand say, "Bond... James Bond". The reason Bond appeals to us, is because of his character, his life style and possessions that go along with him. He is a fantasy character many women want, so obviously us guys want to be.

Charm, elegance and sophistication are the traits that both men and women want. The men want the traits and the women want the man with the traits. They want to be charmed and knocked off their feet. They also want to be placed in some romantic danger that will get their heart beating. Bond can be seen doing this in many movies including "Goldeneye" when he is racing down the cliffs in Europe while racing Xenia Onatopp. The scene ends with some romance with his passenger, from rush to romance in seconds.

There is a traveling appeal also with Bond as he seems to rarely stay in the same location for long. He is constantly on the go traveling from one end of the planet to another. Many of the locations he travels to are some of the most exotic in the world. Bond will always end up on some romantic sunny beach on some nearly deserted island. Everyone dreams to be in such locations and only Bond can travel to them all.

The James Bond series has been continuing now for over 40 years. For decades people have grown up watching Bond and can still continue to watch it. People who saw Bond in the theaters as kids can now take their own kids to go watch these movies. It's apart of them and people can continue together to share the moments of James Bond. People around us grew up with Bond and want to be apart and live in the fantasy world of James Bond.

Having an adrenaline rush or being action junkie is part of being a human. Some of us are daring enough to go out and do things whereas others just fantasize about doing it. Bond is that fantasy to many of us. No matter what, Bond will go jump out of a window in a tall building, he will dive off a mountain after a plane, he will bungee jump down a Russian dam, or he'll drive around at high speed in anything that moves! We want to do that, but often times we just can't. He is our dream character.

The rest of Bond's appeal comes from his job of being a spy for the British government. We've been brought up with action hero's and media has shown we have to fight to get what we want. Who else would you want to be other than James Bond so that we can fight and save the world. The action Bond faces is intense as he always lands in fights where he is completely outnumbered yet using his wit and power is able to overcome them generally come out of the mission.

Killing the enemy or getting out of sticky situations is a job for Q with his mastermind of gadgets. Practically every man wants Bond's toys; from the rope releasing wristwatch to the Parker Pen - a class 4 grenade, from BMW 740 with missile launchers and re-inflatable tires to stealthy speed boats armed with torpedoes and navigation systems to the invisible Aston Martin. And of course, so much more! Its geek heaven for those who love these small gadgets. Bond uses these gadgets and sophisticated vehicles to escape or capture the villains, and always with style.

However, don't forget the famous James Bond girls. Nearly every man wants to be surrounded by James Bond girls as they are beautiful, gorgeous and sexy. Its a dream come true to be with these beautiful women and lucky James Bond gets at least two in each movie.

Looking at the movie side of the appeal for Bond the producers generally know what's needed. When you go to see a Bond movie, you expect to see spectacular stunts throughout the movie along with the James Bond wit. The stunts have been excellent and in the past few recent movies were very realistic and not computer animated. With each Bond movie in production, the stunt team know and work vigorously to come up with something new and shocking. That said, the latest movie has had some changes where things were not exactly realistic and there were some lame computer animated effects. But hopefully that will change in the next movie.

The character of James Bond was created during the 1950's after World War II by Ian Fleming, who himself had once been a spy for the British government. Fleming never envisioned the creation of James Bond would start such a cultural following that will last for decades, and maybe even centuries. As the movies brought Bond to life, many actors portrayed him in variety of ways some for the good, and others for the worse. Bond's character changed from being a serious to a humorous spy, and then back to the seriousness and ruthlessness that was once envisioned by Fleming. Overall with the latest Bond movies, Bond is back and serving the Bond audience with 007's charm, wit and spectacular stunts.

Nearly every man wants to be James Bond so that they can fight against the evil villain and use the unique gadgets designed by Q, then save the world, and on top of that get the girl or two. The basic plot line for each Bond movie will basically remain the same but will continue to produce huge blockbuster hits!

Works Cited:

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Cunningham,. Kim. "Whiskey business.(Pierce Brosnan plays James Bond in 'GoldenEye'" People Weekly, Nov 20, 1995 v44 n21 p198 (1).

Goldeneye. Dir. Martin Campbell. Perf. Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorpco, Famke Janssen, and Joe Don Baker. DVD, MGM/United Artists. 1995

Kennedy, Dana. "The road not shaken: onetime 007 George Lazenby." Entertainment Weekly, Nov 24, 1995 n302 p77(1)

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Pfeiffer, Lee. and Dave Worrall. The Essential Bond: The authorized guide to the world of 007. London. Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1999.

Shprintz, Janet. "Lion roars as Sony tries to claim Bond.." Variety,March 2, 1998 v370 n3 p7(1).

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The World is Not Enough -The Making of,. Dir. Micheal Apted. Perf. Peirce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau, Robert Caryle, Denise Richards, Robbie Coltrane and Judy Dench. DVD, MGM Home Entertainment. 1999