- First Bond film Dr No featured 109 violent acts, compared to 250 in Quantum Of Solace
- Researchers from New Zealand analysed 22 official Bond films to study the hypothesis that popular movies are getting more violent
- They issue a warning that many youngsters are watching the films, which usually carry no age restriction
By Damien Gayle
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The number of violent acts in James Bond movies have more than doubled in the 50 years of the film franchise, a new study shows.
While the first official Bond film Dr No featured 109 trivial or severely violent acts, there were 250 acts of violence in Quantum Of Solace.
The latter film also featured nearly three times as many acts of severe violence - incidents which would be likely to cause death or injury in real life.
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Gritty: Daniel Craig as agent 007 in Quantum of Solace. A new study claims that the amount of violence in James Bond movies has more than doubled since the beginning of the film franchise
Violence in Bond films by year of release, showing counts of severe and trivial violence as well as total violence. Total violence is higher than the sum of severe and trivial violence as it adjusts for mass violence
The latest Bond film, Skyfall, was not included as it was unreleased at the time of the study.
The findings chime with comments made by former Bond star Roger Moore following the release of Quantum of Solace when he said the films from the franchise had become too dark.
'I am happy to have done it, but I'm sad that it has turned so violent,' said the actor, who who famously played Agent 007 with a tongue-in-cheek humour.
Researchers from New Zealand's University of Otago analysed 22 official franchise films, spanning 46 years, to test the hypothesis that popular movies are becoming more violent.
In counting and classifying violent imagery in the films the researchers used a scheme modified from a U.S. National Television Violence Study carried out in 1997.
Violent acts were defined as attempts by any individual to harm another and classified as severe (such as punching, kicking, or attacks with weapons) or trivial violence (such as a push or an open-handed slap).
Pierce Brosnan stars alongside Halle Berry in Die Another Day: Previous research has shown Brosnan was the deadliest 007 so far, with a shocking 19 average kills in each Bond film where he played the title role
They found that rates of violence increased significantly over the period studied and there was an even bigger increase in portrayals of severe violence.
Previous research published for the 50th anniversary of the Bond franchise showed that softly spoken Pierce Brosnan was the deadliest 007, with an average 19 kills per film.
Timothy Dalton, who played Bond prior to him, was killed fewest per film, with an average of just 5.5 baddies offed.
Despite the gritty nature of the latest three Bond films starring Daniel Craig, he has only killed a comparatively reasonable 8.3 enemies per film on average - fewer ever than Sean Connery managed, but still more than Moore.
AVERAGE KILLS PER FILM
- Sean Connery 8.5
- George Lazenby 6
- Roger Moore 7.2
- Timothy Dalton 5.5
- Pierce Brosnan 19
- Daniel Craig 8.3
Study co-author Professor Bob Hancox, of the Otago's Department of Preventive and Social Medicine said the increasing violence is concerning because the films are likely to by watched by many children and adolescents.
'There is extensive research evidence suggesting that young people's viewing of media violence can contribute to desensitisation to violence and aggressive behaviour,' he said.
The increase in violent content of Bond movies likely reflects a general increase in the exposure of young people to media violence through similarly rated popular films, he added.
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