Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007

Everything or Nothing is a breezy document of the James Bond franchise (books, television and movies) that’s as well-put-together as its iconic title character. We learn that these outlandish tales of espionage and seduction aren't entirely fictional: Ian Fleming, the series creator, who died in 1964, two years after Dr No took the world by storm, served his time in British intelligence during WWII and, like Bond, enjoyed boozing, gambling and womanising. We also hear from the Bonds themselves (apart from the Bond, Connery, who was so pissed off with the way he was treated during his stint as 007 that he strapped on an ill-fitting toupée for 1983’s Bond knock-off Never Say Never Again as a bitter fuck-you to producer Cubby Broccoli) and fans, including Bill Clinton. These talking heads are split up using a mosaic of clips and on-set footage from the movies, which artfully skip over the duds in the series – of which there are many. In the end, though, it's all a shameless bit of self-promotion by rights holders Sony to flog the upcoming Blu-ray releases of its Bond back-catalogue and Daniel Craig’s third outing as the spy in Sam Mendes' Skyfall, which hits cinemas 23 Oct, and, like many of the Bond movies, is probably more at home on bank holiday telly than on the big screen. If we’re counting this as part of the series, it falls somewhere above Pierce Brosnan’s dour Tomorrow Never Dies, but just below the camp fun of Connery’s Diamonds are Forever.