History ActionPrologue / JamesBond

The venerated action film franchise Film/JamesBond is also famous for its {{Action Prologue}}s, so much so that it used to be the TropeNamer (as "Bond Cold Open"). They're typically introduced with the BondGunBarrel and shown leading into the TitleSequence.

* ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'': The trend of Bond being on an action-heavy prologue mission that's (mostly) unrelated to the main plot really started there. Bond infiltrates a drug cartel's warehouse and blows up their drug supplies, tries having some good time with a BellyDancer and fights a mook till the latter dies via ElectrifiedBathtub.

* ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}'': In this ContinuityReboot, Bond accomplishes his first two kills and earns his "00" license to kill. Bond's first kill happens at the end of brutal fight in a toilet room, with Bond first attempting to drown the guy in a sink then shooting him. His second kill is easier -- a [[TheMole mole]] who sold MI-6 secrets he has no issue shooting in cold blood. The two kills are shown in AnachronicOrder, with Bond's first kill morphing into the film's BondGunBarrel.

* ''Film/LicenceToKill'': In Florida, Bond and his CIA BestFriend Felix Leiter team up on Leiter's own wedding day to arrest the most powerful drug lord in Latin America, and they end up "fishing" his plane with a helicopter and jumping with parachutes to directly land at the church.

* ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'': Bond is sent to spy on a weapons market for terrorists, and ends up fighting his way to steal a plane with two nuclear warheads before a Royal Navy missile blows up the place.
* ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'': Bond retrieves a briefcase of money from a shady banker in Bilbao, Spain, on behalf of billionaire Sir Robert King. King gets assassinated in London in the very MI-6 headquarters, and Bond goes after the woman who killed him on a extensive chase on the Thames with a special weaponized speedboat built by Q, which ends on the roof of the Millennium Dome with the woman blowing up her own hot air balloon.

* ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}'': In this ContinuityReboot, Bond accomplishes his first two kills and earns his "00" license to kill. Bond's first kill happens at the end of brutal brawl in a toilet room, with Bond first attempting to drown the guy in a sink then shooting him, which morphs into the film's BondGunBarrel. A [[invoked]]DeletedScene extends the scene, with Bond following the guy at a cricket field in Lahore, Pakistan. His second kill is easier -- a [[TheMole mole]] who sold MI-6 secrets he has no issue shooting in cold blood. The two kills are shown in AnachronicOrder.
* ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'': Bond is in a brutal car chase in Italy after capturing Mr. White at the end of the previous film, and manages to fend off his pursuers and bring White to MI-6 in Siena.

* ''Film/{{Spectre}}'': Bond is sent to [[UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}} Mexico City]] during Día de Muertos to kill terrorist Marco Sciarra. His sniping attempt fails, a chase ensues and climaxes with a fight within a helicopter (which does several dangerous barrel rolls and a vertical ascent as they wrestle), with Bond throwing Sciarra and the pilot to their death and narrowly regaining control of the aircraft before it crashes and causes casualties in the below crowd.
* ''Film/NoTimeToDie'': The film starts with a {{Flashback}} to Madeleine Swann's youth in snowy Norway, when a {{ma|levolent masked men}}sked Lyutsifer Safin killed her mother and herself barely escaped death at his hands. Cut to present-day, Bond is enjoying his retirement in the Southern Italian city of Matera with Madeleine and goes to visit [[TheLostLenore Vesper Lynd]]'s {{grave|marking scene}}. He is ambushed by Spectre (starting with a [[BoobyTrap bomb in the grave]]) and a chase on bike and in the Aston Martin [=DB5=] ensues (highlights include the [=DB5=] now being fitted with [[GatlingGood miniguns]]). It ends with Bond breaking up with Madeleine and sending her off on a train, believing she had something to do with the attack. Clocking in at 20 minutes, it is the longest prologue in the history of the series.

* ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'': Bond must blow up a military base's radar prototype in Cuba and ends up being chased in a one-man minijet by a [[SuperPersistentMissile homing missile]], which he [[HoistByHisOwnPetard turns against the base]].

* ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'': A British spy ship is sunken when fishing a SeaMine, and Bond is ambushed by a wheelchair-bound villain in a remote-controlled helicopter in London after [[GraveMarkingScene visiting the grave]] of his deceased wife. Bond manages to gain control of the helicopter and turns it against said villain, who [[LawyerFriendlyCameo suspiciously looks like]] SPECTRE leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld and perishes after being dropped down a smokestack.

* ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'': A Drax Industries ''Moonraker'' space shuttle gets hijacked, and Bond is ambushed in a plane, which results in a FreeFallFight. Bond manages to wrestle control of a parachute, the traitorous pilot falls to his death and a returning [[MadeOfIron Jaws]] lands on a circus tent.

* ''Film/LicenceToKill'': In Florida, Bond and his CIA BestFriend Felix Leiter team up on Leiter's own WeddingDay to arrest the most powerful drug lord in Latin America, and they end up "fishing" his plane with a helicopter and jumping with parachutes to directly land at the church.

* ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'': The first pre-TitleSequence prologue in the series. Bond is followed by a man in a garden maze and seemingly gets strangled to death by the latter... until it's revealed it was a living target with a [[LatexPerfection very convincing mask]] in the middle of a [[NebulousEvilOrganization SPECTRE]] training session for killer Red Grant.

* ''Film/DrNo'' had its TitleSequence right away, although Bond doesn't appear until several minutes into the film. The film opens in Jamaica with MI-6 agent Strangways and his secretary being shot to death by Dr. No's henchmen the Three Blind Mice, who [[ObfuscatingDisability pretend to be blind]] to approach their unsuspecting targets.

* ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'': The trend of Bond being on a prologue mission that's (mostly) unrelated to the main plot really started there. Bond infiltrates a drug cartel's warehouse and blows up their drug supplies, tries having some good time with a BellyDancer and fights a mook till the latter dies via ElectrifiedBathtub.
* ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'': Bond tracks down, fights and kills Colonel Jacques Bouvar, a high rank SPECTRE operative who's [[FakingTheDead faking his own funeral]] [[WidowsWeeds disguised as a widow]], and escapes his castle using a JetPack.

* ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'': An American spacecraft is hijacked by a bigger SPECTRE spacecraft, and Bond is ambushed and seemingly gunned down in Hong Kong after bedding a local lady.

* ''Film/DieAnotherDay'': Bond is sent to assassinate a mad UsefulNotes/{{North Korea}}n colonel and blow up his base. The mission goes awry although Bond still pulls it off. A hovercraft chase on the Korean Demilitarized Zone's mine fields ensues and the colonel is seemingly killed at the end of it, but then Bond is captured and tortured for months.

* ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'': Bond is sent to UsefulNotes/{{Istanbul}} to retrieve a hard drive with a list of agents that must not fall into enemy hands. He chases ProfessionalKiller Patrice through the city and on a train, and ends up being shot by mistake by fellow MI-6 agent Eve and falls off a bridge into a river.

* ''Film/NoTimeToDie'': The film starts with a {{Flashback}} to Madeleine Swann's youth in snowy Norway, when a {{ma|levolent masked men}}sked Lyutsifer Safin killed her mother and herself barely escaped death at his hands. Cut to present-day, Bond is enjoying his retirement in the Southern Italian city of Matera with Madeleine, until they are ambushed by Spectre and a chase on bike and in the Aston Martin [=DB5=] ensues (highlights include the [=DB5=] now being fitted with [[GatlingGood miniguns]]). It ends with Bond breaking up with Madeleine and sending her off on a train, believing she had something to do with the attack. Clocking in at 20 minutes, it is the longest prologue in the history of the series.

* ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'': A MI-6 training day in UsefulNotes/{{Gibraltar}} goes awry and Bond chases after a mysterious killer who just assassinated 004, culminating in the killer's explosive death and Bond landing on the boat of a woman who appropriately felt a little too lonely with his parachute.

* ''Film/AViewToAKill'': Bond is sent to retrieve a microchip on a dead MI-6 agent in Siberia and ends up chased in the snow by a whole Soviet army battalion, and manages to escape.

* ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'': The first pre-TitleSequence prologue in the series. Bond is followed by a man in a garden maze and seemingly gets strangled by the latter... until it's revealed it was a living target with a [[LatexPerfection very convincing mask]] in the middle of a [[NebulousEvilOrganization SPECTRE]] training session for killer Red Grant.

* ''Film/DrNo'' had its TitleSequence right away, although Bond doesn't appear until several minutes into the film. The film opens in Jamaica with MI-6 agent Strangways and his secretary being shot to death by Dr. No's henchmen, the Three Blind Mice.

* ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'': Bond fights and kills Colonel Bouvar, a high rank SPECTRE operative who's [[FakingTheDead faking his own funeral]] disguised as a widow, and escapes his castle using a JetPack.

* ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'': A British submarine gets hijacked, and Bond is chased on skis by a squad of KGB agents in the Austrian Alps after having spent some good time with a traitorous female agent. Bond kills the squad leader (who happens to be the lover of agent Anya Amasova) with a gun concealed in his ski pole and ends up jumping down a cliff with a Union Jack parachute.
* ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'': A ''Moonraker'' space shuttle gets hijacked, and Bond is ambushed in a plane, which results in a FreeFallFight. Bond manages to wrestle control of a parachute, the traitorous pilot falls to his death and a returning [[MadeOfIron Jaws]] lands on a circus tent.
* ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'': A British spy ship is sunken when fishing a SeaMine, and Bond is ambushed by a wheelchair-bound villain in a remote-controlled helicopter in London after [[GraveMarkingScene visiting the grave]] of his deceased wife. Bond manages to gain control of the helicopter and turns it against said villain (who [[LawyerFriendlyCameo suspiciously looks like]] SPECTRE leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld), who perishes after being thrown down a smokestack.
* ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'': Bond must blow up a military base in Cuba and ends up being chased in a one-man minijet by a [[SuperPersistentMissile homing missile]], which he [[HoistByHisOwnPetard turns against the base]].

* ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain'': The TitleSequence opens on Bond infiltrating a compound to free a woman, with the song continuing through a good part of the scene. He seemingly kills or incapacitates several mooks along the way, and upon reaching the captive woman, she suddenly stabs him in the stomach... It turns out this was all a training exercise, and Bond failed it.

* ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain'': The TitleSequence opens on Bond infiltrating a compound to free a woman. He seemingly kills several mooks along the way, and upon reaching the captive woman, she suddenly stabs him in the stomach... It turns out this was all a training exercise, and Bond failed it.

The venerated action film franchise Film/JamesBond is also famous for its {{Action Prologue}}s, so much so that it used to be the TropeNamer (as "Bond Col Open"). Typically introduced with the BondGunBarrel and shown leading into the TitleSequence.

* ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'': The trend of Bond being on a prologue mission that's (mostly) unrelated to the main plot really started there. Bond infiltrates a drug cartel's warehouse and blows up their drug supplies, tries having some good time with a BellyDancer and fights a mook till the latter dies of ElectrifiedBathtub.

* ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'': Bond fights and kills a SPECTRE agent who's [[FakingTheDead faking his own funeral]] disguised as a widow, and escapes his castle using a JetPack.
* ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'': An American spacecraft is hijacked by a bigger SPECTRE spacecraft, and Bond is ambushed and seemingly killed in Hong Kong after bedding a local lady.

* ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'': A ''Moonraker'' space shuttle gets hijacked, and Bond is ambushed in a plane, which results in a FreeFallFight. Bond manages to wrestle control of a parachute, the traitorous pilot dies and [[MadeOfIron Jaws]] lands on a circus tent.
* ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'': A British spy ship is sunken when fishing a SeaMine, and Bond is ambushed by a wheelchair-bound villain in a remote-controlled helicopter in London after visiting the grave of his deceased wife. Bond manages to gain control of the helicopter and turns it against said villain (who [[LawyerFriendlyCameo suspiciously looks like]] SPECTRE leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld), who perishes after being thrown down a smokestack.

* ''Film/{{Spectre}}'': Bond is sent to [[UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}} Mexico City]] during Día de Muertos to kill terrorist Marco Sciarra. A chase ensues and ends with a fight within a helicopter (which does several dangerous barrel rolls and a vertical ascent as they wrestle), with Bond narrowly regaining control of the aircraft before it crashes and causes casualties in the below crowd.

* ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}'': In this ContinuityReboot, Bond accomplishes his first two kills and earns his "00" license to kill. Bond's first kill happens at the end of brutal brawl in a toilet room, with Bond first attempting to drown the guy in a sink then shooting him, which morphs into the film's BondGunBarrel. A [[invoked]]DeletedScene extends the scene, with Bond following the guy at a cricket field in Lahore, Pakistan. His second kill is easier -- a [[TheMole mole]] who sold MI-6 secrets he has no issue shooting in cold blood. The two kills are shwon in AnachronicOrder.

* ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}'': In this ContinuityReboot, Bond accomplishes his first two kills (including a [[TheMole mole]] who sold MI-6 secrets) and earns his "00" license to kill.

The venerated action franchise Film/JamesBond is also famous for its {{Action Prologue}}s, so much so that it used to be the TropeNamer (as "Bond Col Open"). Typically introduced with the BondGunBarrel and shown leading into the TitleSequence.