Video Reviews and News : **** Excellent *** Good ** Ordinary * Poor : Movies
Recent videocassette releases, reviewed by Times critics.
*** 1/2 “Dr. No.â€
MGM/UA. $ 19.95. 1962. PG.
“Dr. No,†the first James Bond movie, given renewed video life (part of a re-release of Sean Connery’s early Bonds, each preceded by a Pink Panther cartoon), has a flavor all its own. It’s cheaper-looking than the rest in the series, but the lack of big-production stunts isn’t all that disappointing; this bon mot -dotted thriller has a gritty, exciting quality and superb, spicy feeling for the Jamaican locale that holds close to the letter and spirit of Ian Fleming’s book. Here Bond tries to figure out why British agents were killed, and the trail leads--natch--to a beautiful woman (Ursula Andress) and a fiendish villain (Joseph Wiseman). And this movie also has the best spider-killing scene in cinema (yes, even better than Woody Allen’s).
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