James Bond: 10 Greatest Animal Moments In 007 Films

By Michael Thompson /

It's not just James Bond. Before the nineties almost every fantastic adventure movie could boast of at least two or three unforgettable moments that were made by employing the performance of live animals. Take the classic Indiana Jones film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, for example. How much did that movie benefit from its giant spiders, Nazi-spy monkey, and snakes? Dr. Jones just wouldn't be the same without them. Neither for that matter would the super MI6 spy, 007, be either. Up until the Brosnan flicks Bond would have close encounters with all manner of creatures, usually sharks, but some others on the opposite degree of both friendly and harmless. Alas, with the coming of the last two decades these moments have gone out of style. In the words of Skyfall's new Q, played in perfectly up-to-the-minute fashion by actor Ben Whishaw, "We don't really go in for that sort of thing anymore." Modern filmmaking style, the stress of working with non-human actors, and the absolute lifeless quality of adding CGI critters to screen may have ended the career of animals in Bond films. Yet throughout the cool Connery classics, the one-upping days of Moore, and dark Dalton pictures these moments added suspense, comedy, and a sense of the exotic on a regular basis. They were an integral part of building Bond into the greatest, longest lived adventure series ever created because let's face it James. You're not just an action hero now, are you? Here's to remembering a few of those moments.