10 Iconic Things We Miss From Classic James Bond Films

By Tim Colman /

2012 was quite a year for everyone's favourite fictional British secret agent: Skyfall dominated the UK box-office, with the money flowing in matched by the eulogies from critics and filmgoers alike. Me, I thought it was fantastic. A smart thriller, with great characters, cracking set pieces and quotable dialogue. The fact that it was also a Bond film made it even better. However, in creating a lean and taut Bond for the teenies, a good portion of old Bond-age had be done away with. Thankfully this year's entire movie channel dedicated to the subject, meant I was able to catch up on all the original films and reminisce about some of the things that just don't happen anymore. And here, for your viewing pleasure, are the ten things we miss most about former James Bond movies...

10. Inaccurate Countdown Timers

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Bond is trapped with a bomb that will detonate in four minutes - we know this from the constant shots of the numbers ticking away. But this is Bond-time of course, where 240 seconds can actually take up a good 10 minutes of escaping handcuffs, signalling for the cavalry, snogging a lady, dispatching key goons, sitting down for a four-course meal and still having time to get to the boom-device just before it goes off. Goldfinger's nuclear bomb is a particular favourite - it takes so long to count down I think it might be the only bomb to have a 'snooze' facility built in. Of course, stopping the timer between 6 and 8 seconds also used to result in the display saying "007", which turned the threat of millions of people incinerated in a second, to us all having a good chuckle. Thank goodness he wasn't codenamed 000.