Everything Or Nothing: The Untold Story Of 007 - Online Review

'the real reason why this works so well is the distinctly non-Bond theme of loss that Riley peppers throughout'

A bit like when Die Another Day ran with the tagline 'events don't get any bigger', the claim that Everything Or Nothing is The Untold Story Of 007 is slightly fudging the truth. There is a lot here that may be new to people, even to the Bond aficionado, but there's also plenty that won't be. Ian Fleming's house was called Goldeneye, you say, Sean Connery is a grumpy Scotsman? Get away.

That though perhaps does a disservice to Stevan Riley's documentary, which does a great job in ninety-eight minutes of presenting a plethora of Bond history for eager spy masters. Even if you're not a particular fan of the franchise, the insight into how movies are made, and the trouble that follows them, is often unique and frequently entertaining.

The main draw is probably the Bonds themselves. Connery is predictably absent, except in archive interview footage. Roger Moore is his normally charming but fairly empty-of-insight self and Daniel Craig looks and sounds like a man who has just finished a major PR campaign and hasn't quite stopped 'talking the talk' yet.

The real interest, in Bondian levels, comes from the trio of George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan. All three appear clearly disarmed, willing to talk honestly, engaging, affable and as free of platitudes as much of the rest of the film is. Lazenby recounts his brief career as a playboy and why he turned up to the première of On Her Majesty's Secret Service with long hair and a beard because he wanted to get in with the hippie crowd (read: girls). Dalton speaks of how his Bond was ahead of its time, harsher, perhaps too much so for audiences, a polite reading of The Living Daylights and Licence To Kill perhaps but an interesting one nonetheless. Brosnan, who clearly loves the character, laughs his head off at his later ones, which he can't remember the order of, but clearly still holds disappointment - though not a bitter one - that he didn't get to take Bond on at least one more time.

Those interviews alone would probably be enough to recommend Everything Or Nothing but the real reason why this works so well is the distinctly non-Bond theme that Riley peppers throughout. Loss is rarely something Bond has to deal with in fiction but in the real world the amount of personal, family, artistic and monetary loss that has had to go with everyday life and the Bond journey is sometimes remarkable. From the death of Harry Saltzman's wife to the recurring near-death of the franchise as a whole, the little things add up successfully, adding melancholy and heart to what could have been merely a very cold DVD extra.

Everything Or Nothing: The Untold Story Of 007 is available on Sky Go.