Black Diamond (1983-84)

Black Diamond (1983-84)

Author: Various | Illustrators: Various | 5 Issues, approx 34 pages each

"Don't panic! I just want your outfit!"

A short-lived comicbook that presents itself as a movie tie-in, albeit one that launched before the movie it's supposed to tie-in with. So far so good, but the onscreen version never happened, so the comic is all we have to give us an idea of what the movie's story might've been like. (I've added a few promo shots of lead actress Sibyl Danning in costume at the post's end, for anyone interested.)

The basic premise is as follows: Tiana Matthews is a successful fashion model for Multmonde, a role that sees her traverse borders for fashion shoots, etc. But secretly, Tiana is also an agent for INFO COM THREE, a role that sees her traverse borders for spy antics and action shootouts, etc. Her code name in the second scenario is Black Diamond. [1]

Her greatest enemy is an international crime cartel known as QUANSA. If you're thinking that sounds kinda like James Bond and SPECTRE, then your thinking is correct. It's spy fiction with gadgets and ridiculous world-domination plans.

James Bond: Timothy Dalton (1987-89)

The Living Daylights (1987)

Dir. John Glen

In all probability this'll be the last James Bond movie post that I make, unless it comes down to the only Christopher Lee film I've not written about is the Bond one that he co-starred in. But that's damned unlikely, considering he's got 278 credits on IMDB and I'd sooner watch the 277 in which he doesn't have a supernumerary nipple.

I digress; I'm here to talk about Timothy Dalton. I mean no disrespect when I say that Dalton's Bond doesn't have the same level of sex appeal as Sean Connery's. Very few men do. On the plus side he doesn't have the same kind of 'charm' as Moore's. No, instead Dalton brings a moodiness to the role, and a sense of daring that the others had less of.

There's a feeling that he's worked hard to earn his 007 Licence, whereas for the others it came easy.

The Prisoner: The Uncertainty Machine (2018)

The Prisoner: The Uncertainty Machine (2018)

Author: Peter Milligan | Illustrator: Colin Lorimer | Pages: 112

'I like to put at least two personas between me and my pursuers.'

Despite what the cover art of the individual issues might perfidiously imply, particularly the many variants, Patrick McGoohan isn't the protagonist of Titan Comics' continuation of The Prisoner (1967–68) TV series. He gets referenced more than once, in a way that feels wholly forced, but the story is about an entirely new character in a contemporary setting, albeit one that's also given the number 6 moniker - although, I don't recall him ever actually wearing the badge.

His true name is Breen, an operative for a division named 'Unit' within the British Intelligence (MI5). The majority of the first issue takes place outside of the stylised Village and provides a significant amount of backstory for Breen, compared to the earlier Number 6, who remained something of an enigma the whole time.

The Prisoner (1967–68)

The Prisoner (1967–68)

17 episodes, approx 50 mins each.

In the opening credits of The Prisoner we witness a man driving to what we will soon presume to be his place of work. It's a building somewhere in London. The man enters through the OUT door, storms purposefully into an office and slams on a desk an envelope upon which hand-written text can be seen. He then leaves the building via the same route, drives home and hurriedly packs a suitcase.

Sometime thereafter the unnamed man reawakens in a furnished house in a populated village and the series begins proper.

The credits are the viewer's back-story, and everything that follows is the man's here and now. We come to know him as Number 6.

If asked to compile a list of perfect castings in TV history, alongside the likes of Mr. T as B.A. Baracus (The A-Team), Brent Spiner as Data (Star Trek TNG), Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar (Babylon 5), and Ian McShane as Al Swearengen (Deadwood) my list would definitely have Patrick McGoohan as The Prisoner's Number 6.

Æon Flux (2005)

Æon Flux (2005)

Dir. Karyn Kusama

Being a fan of Peter Chung's animation prior to seeing the live action adaptation, I was surprised when the announcement came that actress Charlize Theron had been cast in the lead role.

I'm not suggesting that she wasn't up to the task, Monster (2003) clearly proves otherwise, I'm saying that she's a shapely, beautiful woman, whereas the animated Æon is wiry and gangly, even undernourished, so from a purely visual perspective the two ladies are almost opposites.

But, truth be told, while not Peter Chung's Æon, Charlize's has a feminine strength that I wasn't expecting to see. In fact, given Hollywood's track record for sucking the life out of anything creative there's a lot included that I wasn't expecting. It's not a perfect film, but it's one that I enjoy wholeheartedly for the things that it did well.

James Bond: Pierce Brosnan (1995-2002)

GoldenEye (1995)

Dir. Martin Campbell

A heads-up for any fans of the James Bond series: I'm not a devotee and will probably use parts of this post as a critique of everything that's wrong with the whole series, simply because the films themselves encapsulate everything - they aren't known for their diversity, after all.

My real interest in GoldenEye begins and ends with the locations, not with the actual Bond character. That might sound strange, but it’s all down to an enduring love of the N64 game of the same name (see HERE). Seeing onscreen the rooms and corridors that I know so well from the in-game experience is fun times.

When the film moved away from those areas, or to be more precise moved to areas that the game neglected to recreate, my attention waned.