A resourceful British government agent seeks answers in a case involving the disappearance of a colleague and the disruption of the American space program. (from IMDB)

Before "Who is the best Spider-Man?" or "Who is the best Superman?" there was "Who is the best James Bond?" Ian Fleming's famed super spy was first brought to life by Henry Jones, Sr. himself, Sean Connery in 1962 with the first-ever Bond film, Dr. No. For 2025, MGM and Warner Bros. are releasing a 6-Film collection in 4K UHD of the Sean Connery Bond films, so I decided to revisit each one for this collection.

Kicking off with Dr. No, right from the start, it's obvious we have a much different kind of James Bond movie than we've come to know in even the past 30 years. With each movie, the action has been ratcheted up a notch - to the point where explosions for no good reason filled the 90's and early 00's films when Pierce Brosnan was in the role. Then, by the time the most recent Bond had been cast with Daniel Craig, the brutal-action heavy fights, that had partially been inspired by the success of the Jason Bourne movies, had taken center stage. So how does 1962's Dr. No hold up 63 years later?

I love old movies. I love the spy genre. And I can appreciate a good drama. But, sadly, I think most of Connery's Bond entries haven't aged very well. As I write this, I'm still going through his six entries (his 1983 swan song, Never Say Never Again, is largely not considered to be an official Bond movie, so it isn't included in this set), but, to me at least, I think Dr. No may be the weakest in his 6-Film run. At the very least, it may be the most boring or unengaging.

But every notable character has their start, and Dr. No is a decent enough introduction for James Bond. He's still the womanizing super spy everyone knows him to be, but the movie tends to drag at times. If you like action, Dr. No doesn't really deliver much in that area. You can call this one "Bond-lite," if anything.

I like Connery as Bond -- he's definitely charming and suave enough -- but given today's social climate and even the "Me Too" movement, his portrayal as Bond is pretty controversial. He frequently views and treats women as toys, and this only worsens as the films progress. Dr. No has a running time of almost 2 hours, and it probably could have been a stronger film at an hour and thirty. It just really crawls at times. (Speaking of crawls, there's a terrible sequence where a tarantula is put in Bond's bed to try to kill him, so if you have a phobia about stuff like that, consider this an official warning.)

The content is probably light for a Bond film, but there is some blood in a couple scenes. The beginning shows a couple characters getting shot and killed, with a little blood, and later in the film, a woman cuts a man's face with a piece of glass. The cut isn't shown at all, however, we only see blood on the victim's hand after he touches his face. Bond does sleep with three different women in the film, but it's always more subtle and always implied (albeit heavily implied). The first instance has the scene fade to black as they kiss. The second time does the same thing but shows him lying in her bed in the next scene. And the final scene, as the movie fades out, shows the two kissing in a row boat as they descend out of view. There is no clear nudity in the film, but one scene shows a woman in a wet, see-through shirt when she's clearly not wearing anything underneath. Lastly, profanity is mild with 6 uses of "d*mn," 2 "h*ll," and a "L-rd, no" response from Bond in one scene.

I realize many 007 fans hold Sean Connery's run as the character with great reverance, and I do respect that. With that said, however, it doesn't automatically make the movie good or mean I have to like it. So while Dr. No probably isn't the worst Bond movie, it's definitely not one of the best... but it still no less serves as the birth of a longstanding cinematic legacy.

Dr. No in 4K UHD: I was super impressed with the 4K transfer for Dr. No. Given that the movie is 63 years old, there's probably only so good they can make an older picture look. However, this movie looks fantastic in 4K. Fans should not be disappointed.