When you’re a fan of any massive property, be it Marvel or DC, Star Wars or Star Trek, there’s a chance that your fandom makes you really picky when it comes to the finer details. The James Bond legacy is no exception, as everything from what counts as an official 007 movie to even how the theme songs rank in comparison is up for debate. But one thing that may act as a sort of unifying factor is the fact that as the Aston Martin DB5 is set to make its return in this year’s No Time To Die, the car will always be known as the most iconic Bond vehicle ever. However, a recent post by the official James Bond Twitter page may have made a huge mistake regarding why that happens to be... or it could just be me being a picky fan. Let’s talk it out.
Recently, a cool new line of remote control cars were brought to the attention of James Bond fans far and wide. A slick video, clearly in the beautiful style that the 007 franchise is accustomed to putting out, hit the official Twitter feed, and it’s not the visuals that are the problem. Rather, it’s the caption the video ran with that raised some flags. Take a look for yourself:
If you read the line "The Iconic Skyfall DB5..." and started to twitch a little bit, then you’re in the same boat I am. Again, Aston Martin’s DB5 is iconic, and you could put that on a plaque in every museum of automotive history, James Bond studies and scientific fact. But if you’re going to make that claim accurately, there are a couple other ways you could, and should, be going about it. Here’s what my picky, fan-wired brain sees as the truth.
The Iconic Goldfinger DB5
Judging by how Tiffany Case’s Ford Mustang from Diamonds Are Forever and even Bond’s Aston Martin V8 from The Living Daylights are included in this new merchandise collection, it’s to be assumed that we’re taking the entire James Bond legacy into account. That assumption in play means that the “iconic” status should really be awarded to the original Aston Martin DB5 that introduced the car to the world of James Bond in 1964’s Sean Connery-starring event Goldfinger. Giving Skyfall those honors is like saying “The Iconic Thunderball DB5,” or even “The Iconic Goldeneye DB5”; the latter of which would probably give poor Pierce Brosnan even more of a headache when he tells his infamous story dealing with that automobile. However, if we’re talking about the modern reboot continuity of James Bond, there’s still another movie that deserves “iconic” status.
The Iconic Casino Royale DB5
Working solely in the continuity of the Daniel Craig run of films, Skyfall isn’t even the first time that Bond gets behind the wheel of an Aston Martin DB5. That honor goes to “The Iconic Casino Royale DB5,” which is won by 007 during a card game with soon-to-be-dead henchman Alex Demitrios (Simon Abkarian). So if we’re going to hone in on one particular Craig film that makes the Aston Martin DB5 iconic again, it’s the 2006 installment that saw it return for the first time since a brief cameo in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies. Although we have heard of deleted scenes from 1999’s The World is Not Enough that would have made that wait a little less longer, should they have survived the cutting room. And then, there’s always the simplest way to pay tribute to the DB5’s role in cultural history.
The Iconic Aston Martin DB5
No matter what movie or continuity you decide to subscribe to as your favorite, “The Iconic Aston Martin DB5” says it all, and then some. Through its inclusion in Goldfinger, the world has gawked and stared at this automotive marvel for several decades. Sure, part of the reason is because James Bond made it so popular throughout its legacy of action packed espionage; but, quite simply, the car is a pinnacle of British automotive art. So even if you have a problem picking the movie to ascribe its true greatness to, you can at least agree that the Aston Martin DB5 itself is iconic. Though I don’t want anyone to think I have a bone to pick against director Sam Mendes’ Skyfall.
I absolutely love the 23rd 007 adventure, as it not only has the most effective James Bond villain in history, but it shows Daniel Craig’s Bond at his most vulnerable. It’s briskly paced, there are higher stakes than ever in the franchise, and it even has a lot of dryly funny moments that prove humor isn’t dead in the series. But if we’re going to be proper students of Bond history, we need to admit that Goldfinger, or at the very least Casino Royale, are the proper films that ushered the Aston Martin DB5 into the world of Bond, James Bond. With that issue fully addressed and discussed, I’m now going to go back to looking at those remote control cars, because they do look rather exciting.
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