Binge-watching Bond part 1: 'Dr. No'

Sean Connery in Dr. No

My girlfriend and I have indulged in epic marathons in the past.

We've watched all the Terminator, Rambo, Superman, Rocky and Godfather films in a row for instance.

But to coincide with the highly anticipated release of the new James Bond film Spectre this fall -- and for pure fun and excitement -- we've decided to watch every official 007 movie in order over the next several weeks and offer our takes on each one in blog form.

Now, there are over twenty Bond films so this is going to take a few months -- but as a die hard fan of the series, this will hardly be a chore.

I love James Bond, albeit as something of a guilty pleasure, for loving the series requires an acknowledgment that at least in its early years it popularized some truly unforgivable misogyny.

At it's core, James Bond is wish fulfillment for little boys -- and the little boy in me ate it up. My strict parents rarely let me rent films that rose beyond a PG-13, so as a child I found early solace in the Bond films, which had plenty of sex and violence, but were all PG. Believe it or not, Roger Moore was my entry point into loving the character, although I came to see how critical viewers consider Sean Connery and now Daniel Craig as superior interpretations.

Ursula Andress in Dr. No

Liz, my girlfriend, has I believe only seen a handful of the films before, which is exciting for me because watching them with her will be like -- more often than not -- watching them all over again for the first time.

The way we want to structure these posts is that I will give my take on the film and then after viewing it Liz will give hers and we'll continue to do this until we're at the finish line.

The first Bond film came out back in 1962 and it still holds up in my opinion. It's Dr. No. My first thoughts are that although the series was just getting started several key elements are all here in vivid detail.

The incredibly gorgeous Ursula Andress may be the most stunning Bond "girl" of them all and she set the bar high for every starlet that follows in her footsteps. Connery just owns this character from the moment he is introduced and he establishes that while Bond is undeniably the hero, he is also cold-blooded, even cruel when he needs to be.

The Dr. No villain fits the prototype for future baddies of the Connery era. He's an egomaniac, foreign and seems to be beyond any established political ideology. Still, without gadgets or some of the more flashy elements which would eventually become the series' trademark, this first film doesn't skimp on the excitement or sex appeal.

It's definitely one of my favorite of the Connery Bonds which peak for me with From Russia with Love and Goldfinger. And while the plots would become increasingly fantastic, the Bond character remains the epitome of cool and calm under pressure.

Liz's take: I thought Dr. No was a really cool villain, I want to live in his evil lair. Or at least steal all the things in it. I like that there was a build up to finding out who he is (similar to the reveal of the shark in Jaws). Honey (Ursula Andress) was a cool character because she is always itching to get into the fight -- even when they don't let her. And any woman who wears a dagger on her hip is cool in my book, even though she somehow lost her pants by the end of the movie. There was also plenty of eye candy for the ladies -- Bond was shirtless and/or wet for almost the entire last act -- no complaints.