Summary SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT The James Bond movies have never been afraid to make changes to the original 007 novels, some better than others. Every James Bond movie prior to 1989's License to Kill shares a title with one of Ian Fleming's works. While some serve as faithful adaptations that make only minor tweaks to the source material, others are unrecognizable from the original novels in almost every way but name.
The films changed this by expanding both Q and Moneypenny's roles. Q was combined with the character of Major Boothroyd from both the Dr. No novel and its movie adaptation and has appeared in almost every installment in the franchise since 1963's From Russia With Love . Meanwhile, Moneypenny makes an appearance in all but two entries in the series, with the Daniel Craig era even giving the character a more hands-on role.
Overall, the film substitutes Cold War anxieties for post-9/11 fears, which ultimately makes it more relevant. 6 The Spy Who Loved Me Changing Everything About The Novel Except For Jaws The Novel Is Easily Fleming's Worst Undoubtedly the James Bond film that differs the most from its literary counterpart, The Spy Who Loved Me bears almost no resemblance to Fleming's original work. Though this might seem dismissive of the film's makers, there's a good reason why the movie made so many alterations. The original 1962 novel is widely regarded as the worst in the series.
5 Dropping Dr. No's Bird Poop Subplot It's One Of The Weirder Aspects Of The Books A big difference between the James Bond book series and the James Bond movie franchise is the order of each installment. Despite being Fleming's sixth novel, Dr. No was the first Bond publication to be adapted for film. While the novel itself received mixed reviews from critics, the film version was met with almost universal acclaim.