When I recently received a review copy of Blood Sweat and Bond: behind the scenes of SPECTRE it was a while before I was able to take a proper look.
Available online from Amazon UK and Amazon.com
Normally it goes something like this. I pick up a package from the post office, drive home and unwrap it. I take a quick flip through and then, needing to get down to some work, put the book down for later.
But when the time came to for me to sit down and take a proper look at Blood, Sweat and Bond my other half was on the sofa and already had her hands on the book. Not bad for a supposed Bond non-fan (although she secretly is since seeing Daniel Craig in Casino Royale).
Published By Dorling Kindersley, the book is full of great behind the scenes photos and portraits by a variety of photographers and curated by Rankin.
The photos are organised by location, starting with the pre-titles sequence in Mexico and finishing with London, with a single page of text introducing each section.
Here perhaps the text could have been spread over two pages though as it is extremely small – too small for me to even bother trying. Far more legible are the selected quotes sprinkled through the pages from actors and crew.
It is also larger than I thought it would be, which means the double spread photos hare done particular justice. I also like pages such as the one showing the different variations in make up used in the Day of the Dead scenes in Mexico City (below).
Several reviewers on Amazon complain that the book lacks the detailed analysis of how the film was made in the Bond On Set books by Greg Williams. I haven’t seen these and so can’t compare, but I do think it would make a great Christmas gift for any Bond fan.
Blood Sweat and Bond: behind the scenes of SPECTRE is available in bookshops. If you’re like me and really can’t be bothered with shopping then you can buy it online from Amazon UK and Amazon.com.
