History YMMV / JamesBond

** Felix Leiter, Bond's CIA counterpart, was deliberately cast with different actors in every movie he appeared in to prevent him becoming this. Broccoli etc. didn't want him to somehow outshine Bond, especially among Americans. The exception is ''Film/LicenceToKill'' for plot/emotional reasons, despite a brand new Leiter debuting in [[Film/TheLivingDaylights the previous film]]. With the rebooted Craig continuity, the actor has ostayed the same.

* FandomHeresy: [[LegacyCharacter "The Codename Theory,"]] which states that "James Bond" is a cover identity given to whatever agent currently holds the rank of 007 (and thus each actor to portray Bond has been playing a "different" character) is very divisive. Some like the idea a lot, while others hate the fact that it tries to take [[ComicbookTime Bond continuity]] ''far'' more seriously than Creator/EonProductions ever has, and even that it turns {{Call Back}}s into plotholes (why do people remember Bond and know him by name from before he was an agent? Why were souvenirs from Connery!Bond's missions in Lazenby!Bond's desk? Why would Moore!Bond pay respects to his predecessor's dead wife? Why does Leiter recognize Dalton!Bond? Why would [=MI6=] bother with such a pointless masquerade?) and veers into over-the-top parody territory in similar fashion to the infamous 1967 ''Film/{{Casino Royale|1967}}'' that wasn't produced by Eon. Lee Tamahori, director of ''Film/DieAnotherDay'', is a supporter of this theory and reportedly planned to canonize it by having Creator/SeanConnery cameo as the now-elderly "First" Bond, endearing him either more or less to a lot of fans. It was actively {{Jossed}} by ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', as Bond visits his parents' graves and their names are "Bond". However, since Creator/DanielCraig's Bond is an explicit ContinuityReboot, the theory persists that the first five Bonds were agents using code names. Others just go the extra mile and explain it all with TheMultiverse.

* ReplacementScrappy: Creator/BernardLee and Creator/LoisMaxwell's replacements as M and Miss Moneypenny, Robert Brown and Caroline Bliss, are generally seen as inferior replacements (though no fault of the actors). Brown was seen as too amiable and avuncular for the role and the fact that he was friends with Creator/RogerMoore made them seem more like work friends than superior and subordinate. While he worked better against Creator/TimothyDalton, his antagonistic portrayal in ''Film/LicenceToKill'' didn't help. Bliss' Moneypenny didn't make much of an impression (Dalton's tenure being cut short didn't help) and instead of the flirty banter, we have someone having a schoolgirl crush. Both their replacements, Creator/JudiDench and Samantha Bond, were much more well-received.

** The Brosnan era. Most everyone agrees that ''Film/GoldenEye'' is his best movie, but opinions on ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' and ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'' vary wildly from boring to mediocre to almost as good as ''[=GoldenEye=]''. Then there's ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' - is it silly but entertaining, or one of the worst in the series?

* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: The novels written after Fleming's death aren't particularly famous or well-regarded, although ''Literature/ColonelSun'' stands out as being the only post-Fleming novel as well-regarded as the originals. It helps that it was written by Creator/KingsleyAmis, who was friends with Fleming and (according to some) helped clean up ''Golden Gun'' for publication.

** Among [[TheDragon the henchmen]], [[Film/GoldFinger Oddjob]] (Noted as Creator/PierceBrosnan's favourite character), [[Film/FromRussiaWithLove Red Grant]], [[Film/LiveAndLetDie Baron Samedi]], [[Film/MoonRaker Jaws]] (so much that people in the cinemas cheered when he ultimately survived in ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'') and [[Film/AViewToAKill May Day]] are among the most popular. They would all later get guest roles in various Bond video games.

** The Brosnan era. Everyone agrees that ''Film/GoldenEye'' is his best movie, but opinions on ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' and ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'' vary wildly from boring to mediocre to almost as good as ''[=GoldenEye=]''. Then there's ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' - is it silly but entertaining, or one of the worst in the series?

** Holly Goodhead from ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'' is often considered one of the dullest and least interesting Bond Girl in the entire series. Many fans think her dynamic is just a less interesting copy of Bond's dynamic with Anya Amasova in ''The Spy Who Loved Me''. Another common criticism is that she has virtually no impact on the plot after her abduction in Rio, other than providing someone for Bond to exposit to and then have sex with at the end, whereas even the more widely hated Bond Girls at least did something in the climaxes of their respective films. Unless you count her piloting the airship that levels the humanity-destroying bombs during the last stretch, of course, but her bland personality is still a persistent issue for most. This is made worse by the fact that her book counterpart is Gala Brand, one of the few great women characters that Fleming wrote.

* TheScrappy: Something inevitable in a franchise with more than 50 years of existence and 25 films, but some characters really stand out in the dislike they receive from fans.

** ''None'' of Music/JohnBarry's scores received Oscar nominations. The films that did receive nominations - ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Skyfall'' - weren't scored by him.

** "Goldfinger", widely regarded to be the number one Bond song, was not nominated for Best Original Song for either the Oscars or Golden Globes.

-->I thought it was beneath me. I didn't think Bond would be successful in the movies. That was one of the greatest mistakes of my career! Every time a new Bond picture became a smash hit, I tore out my hair. Cubby and I have laughed about it ever since.

* FanPreferredCouple: It's pretty rare to find a fanfic where James is paired with one of the women from his adventures, unless it's [[Film/CasinoRoyale2006 Vesper]] or [[Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService Tracy]]. Het fans tend to like [[UnresolvedSexualTension James/Moneypenny]], and [[YaoiFangirl slash fans]] James/[[Film/GoldenEye Alec]]. The most popular pairing on AO3 is James/Q, with almost tenfold the second-most popular pairing, James/M(Dench).

* SeinfieldIsUnfunny: Fleming chose the name, James Bond, because it sounded like the most boring and non-descript name imaginable to him. However, decades of the books and films permeating world popular culture have given that name a coolness and glamour with a forceful simplicity that a multi-syllabic name could not match today.

* FandomHeresy: [[LegacyCharacter "The Codename Theory,"]] which states that "James Bond" is a cover identity given to whatever agent currently holds the rank of 007 (and thus each actor to portray Bond has been playing a "different" character) is very divisive. Some like the idea a lot, while others hate the fact that it tries to take [[ComicbookTime Bond continuity]] ''far'' more seriously than Creator/EonProductions ever has, and even that it turns {{Call Back}}s into plotholes (why do people remember Bond and know him by name from before he was an agent? Why were souvenirs from Connery!Bond's missions in Lazenby!Bond's desk? Why would Moore!Bond pay respects to his predecessor's dead wife? Why does Leiter recognize Dalton!Bond? Why would [=MI6=] bother with such a pointless masquerade?) and veers into over-the-top parody territory in similar fashion to the infamous 1967 ''Film/{{Casino Royale|1967}}'' that wasn't produced by Eon. Lee Tamahori, director of ''Film/DieAnotherDay'', is a supporter of this theory and reportedly planned to canonize it by having Creator/SeanConnery cameo as the now-elderly "First" Bond, endearing him either more or less to a lot of fans. It was actively {{Jossed}} by ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', as Bond visits his parents' graves and their names are "Bond". However, since Creator/DanielCraig's Bond is an explicit ContinuityReboot, the theory persists that the first five Bonds were agents using code names.

** Then you have the other way around: the people who think the series' low points are when it takes itself [[SeriousBusiness too seriously]] and forgets to be fun in the process, like the Creator/TimothyDalton and Creator/DanielCraig installments.

** Q. Creator/DesmondLleywelyn's version for the fantastic (occasionally ludicrous) gadgets and his SnarkToSnarkCombat with Bond, Creator/BenWhishaw's for being a NerdsAreSexy MrFanservice. And Creator/JohnCleese as well.
** The Creator/JudiDench take on M is easily the most memorable version of the character and has received gradually more screen time as her time in the role has continued. Her version of M survived the full continuity reboot into ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006''.

* FandomHeresy: [[LegacyCharacter "The Codename Theory,"]] which states that "James Bond" is a cover identity given to whatever agent currently holds the rank of 007 (and thus each actor to portray Bond has been playing a "different" character) is very divisive. Some like the idea a lot, while others hate the fact that it tries to take [[ComicbookTime Bond continuity]] ''far'' more seriously than EON ever has, and even that it turns {{Call Back}}s into plotholes (why do people remember Bond and know him by name from before he was an agent? Why were souvenirs from Connery!Bond's missions in Lazenby!Bond's desk? Why would Moore!Bond pay respects to his predecessor's dead wife? Why does Leiter recognize Dalton!Bond?). Lee Tamahori, director of ''Film/DieAnotherDay'', is a supporter of this theory and reportedly planned to canonize it by having Creator/SeanConnery cameo as the now-elderly "First" Bond, endearing him either more or less to a lot of fans. It was actively {{Jossed}} by ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', as Bond visits his parents' graves and their names are "Bond". However, since Creator/DanielCraig's Bond is an explicit reboot, the theory persists that the first five Bonds were agents using code names.

* OneSceneWonder: M, Q, and Miss Moneypenny in the first 20 films pre-reboot, especially with Creator/BernardLee as M, Creator/DesmondLlewellyn as Q, and Creator/LoisMaxwell as Moneypenny. They rarely had much screentime (sometimes it was no more than one scene per film), yet to fans they were an indispensable part of the series.

* FanPreferredCouple: It's pretty rare to find a fanfic where James is paired with one of the women from his adventures, unless it's [[Film/CasinoRoyale2006 Vesper]] or [[Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService Tracy]]. Het fans tend to like [[UnresolvedSexualTension James/Moneypenny]], and [[YaoiFangirl slash fans]] James/[[Film/GoldenEye Alec]].

** For that matter, Music/DavidArnold, widely conisdered to be Barry's worthy successor, was also snubbed for his work.

** The Brosnan era. Everyone agrees that ''Film/GoldenEye'' is his best movie, but opinions on ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' and ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'' vary wildy from boring to mediocre to almost as good as ''[=GoldenEye=]''. Then there's ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' - is it silly but entertaining, or one of the worst in the series?

** Then you have the other way around: the people who think the series' low points are when it takes itself [[SeriousBusiness too seriously]] and forgets to be fun in the process, like the Creator/TimothyDalton and Creator/DanielCraig instalments.

** Fans who complain about seriousness and violence of the Craig era, to the point that their films don't look like a James Bond movie, probably don't know or have forgotten that those elements already existed in the Timothy Dalton movies. The big difference is that Dalton Era movies are still utilizing these elements within the established franchise formula, unlike Craig Era.

** Jinx from ''Film/DieAnotherDay''. The character is supposed to be an impressive agent on the same level as Bond, but she is often kidnapped by the villains and has to be saved by Bond, her jokes are horrible, and just like as Goodnight, Stacey and Christmas, the character seems being there only for Bond to have someone to go to bed at the end of the film, after the infinitely more interesting [[spoiler:Miranda Frost turns out to be a traitor.]]

* SeinfieldIsUnfunny: Fleming chose the name, James Bond, because it sounded like the most boring and non-descript name in imaginable to him. However, decades of the books and films permeating world popular culture have given that name a coolness and glamour with a forceful simplicity that a multi-syllabic name could not match today.

** The original M, Bernard Lee, is exactly what you'd imagine 007's boss would sound like.

* OneSceneWonder: M, Q, and Miss Moneypenny in the first 20 films pre-reboot, especially with Bernard Lee as M, Desmond Llewellyn as Q, and Lois Maxwell as Moneypenny. They rarely had much screentime (sometimes it was no more than one scene per film), yet to fans they were an indispensable part of the series.

* CantUnHearIt: Good luck reading one of the original novels and not imagining Creator/SeanConnery, Creator/GeorgeLazenby, Creator/RogerMoore, Creator/TimothyDalton, Creator/PierceBrosnan, or Creator/DanielCraig as Bond. Especially Connery (for being the first Bond) or Dalton and Craig (for being [[DarkerAndEdgier grittier]] Bonds in the style of the novels) for some. Or, if you've listened to the very faithfully adapted [=BBC4=] radio dramas, Creator/TobyStephens.

* HilariousInHindsight: Fleming chose the name, James Bond, because it sounded like the most boring and non-descript name in imaginable to him. However, decades of the books and films permeating world popular culture have given that name a coolness and glamour with a forceful simplicity that a multi-syllabic name could not match today.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Creator/AlbertRBroccoli first attempted to obtain the rights to the books in the late fifties for his production company Warwick Films and managed to secure a meeting with Creator/IanFleming. His then-partner Irving Allen didn't share Cubby's enthusiasm and told Fleming to his face that he didn't think the novels were good enough for television.

** Goldfinger, widely regarded to be the number one Bond song, was not nominated for Best Original Song for both the Oscars or Golden Globes.

** Q. Desmond Lleywelyn's version for the fantastic (occasionally ludicrous) gadgets and his SnarkToSnarkCombat with Bond, Creator/BenWhishaw's for being a NerdsAreSexy MrFanservice. And Creator/JohnCleese as well.

** The films from TheSeventies and TheEighties are ''very'' divisive, because of how silly the last Connery film and the Moore films are and how serious the Dalton films are. The only film that most people can agree on from this period is ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' (which most serious Bond fans consider to be a great entry). ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'' is also a fan favorite, being a more grounded and serious Moore entry, though Moore-fans often find it dull and small scale compared to the rest of Moore's filmography.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Creator/AlbertRBroccoli first attempted to obtain the rights to the books in the late fifties for his production company Warwick Films and managed to secure a meeting with Creator/IanFleming. His then-partner Creator/IrwinAllen didn't share Cubby's enthusiasm and told Fleming to his face that he didn't think the novels were good enough for television.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The more recent films such as ''[=GoldenEye=]'', ''Spectre'', and ''Skyfall'' point out [[WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell how 007 must adapt]] to an environment where enemies are more nimbler than before. The Internet has ushered a new era of espionage where data-crunchers and hackers are the new kingmakers, not glorified detectives in trench coats or [[TuxedoAndMartini suave ladies' men sipping martinis]]. On the flip side, technology is limited and still vulnerable by the people that control it, the world is still just as dangerous as it was before (but in a different way), and there will always be times when spies like Bond are much needed.

** The films from TheSeventies and TheEighties are ''very'' divisive, because of how silly the last Connery film and the Moore films are and how serious the Dalton films are. The only film that most people can agree on from this period is ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' (which most serious Bond fans consider to be a great entry).

** To many, Bond's Dork Age is the DenserAndWackier installments: ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'' for Connery; ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'', ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'', ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'', ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'' and ''Film/AViewToAKill'' for Moore; ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'' and ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' for Brosnan. For these fans, these films go against everything that the Ian Fleming's books and early films were, and are a disgrace to the franchise.
** Then you have the other way around: the people who think the series' low points are when it takes itself [[SeriousBusiness too seriously]] and forgets to be fun in the process, like the Creator/TimothyDalton and Creator/DanielCraig installments.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: ''You Only Live Twice'', ''Diamonds Are Forever'' (something of a passion project for Fleming who was very interested in diamond smuggling, see his book, ''The Diamond Smugglers'') and the first four movies of the Moore era discarded Ian Fleming's interesting and intricate plots from the books that gave them their titles in favor of formulaic and often campy affairs.[[note]]Except perhaps ''The Spy Who Loved Me''; in between the book's controversial (even for Bond standards) views on women, the fact that it was told from the Bond Girl's point of view, and that Bond himself doesn't even appear until the last third of the story, it would've hardly been made into a film. Fleming in fact personally felt that it was his worst book, and regretted it so much that he only allowed its title to be used for future works, not allowing its plot to be adapted.[[/note]] ''You Only Live Twice'' in particular, discarded the revenge plot for something of lesser stature, a mistake the producers clearly regretted as they [[Film/LicenceToKill tried]] [[Film/QuantumOfSolace twice]] to create the perfect ''Bond'' revenge film.

** Instead of spending all day here, let's just say "Early Bond" + "Women" (note that the books have other value issues as well, but the women are most prominent). Creator/RogerMoore couldn't hide his discomfort attempting to imitate such demeanor in ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun''.

** [[VoiceOfGod The narrator]] has some extremely unkind (and often factually inaccurate) things to say about the [[DirtyCommies barbaric and cruel]] Russians.

** The films from TheSeventies and TheEighties are ''very'' divisive, because of how silly the last Connery film and the Moore films are and how serious the Dalton films are. The only film that most people can agree on from this period is ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' (which most serious Bond fans consider to be just JustForFun/MadeOfWin).