007's silver screen debut with action and bikinis.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 11+?
Any Positive Content?
Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
some
Bond is shown smoking a cigarette the first time he appears on camera (he makes it look cool). Many characters smoke in a background, casual way. Bond drinks his trademark vodka martini, and a secondary character is shown drinking a little too much rum. There are many other scenes of characters drinking socially.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.
Several characters are shot and killed. Some blood is shown, but not much. There's also a good deal of fighting. A character commits suicide. There's a flaming car crash. One character is burned alive, though it is not graphically depicted.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
A bottle of Smirnoff vodka is shown, and we see several crates of Red Stripe beer (in Jamaica).
Positive Messages
very little
Bond is a force for good, working to solve problems and protect the world from evil criminals, but he specifically works for the British government and his loyalty is to them. His methods are also questionable.
Positive Role Models
very little
Though Bond is a highly skilled hero, dedicated to solving problems around the world, his methods involve killing (for which he has a license), seducing many women, drinking, smoking cigarettes, gambling, and generally bossing people around.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Dr. No is the first James Bond 007 movie, from 1962. It contains fighting, shooting, and killing, with a little blood shown. It's relatively tame today, but was arguably among the more violent movies made in 1962. Though Bond is a hero, striving to solve problems and protect the world from evil, his methods are questionable. He has a "license to kill," he seduces several women (no nudity shown), drinks, smokes cigarettes, gambles, and generally bosses people around. Despite all this, he projects an image of cool confidence, and he has fascinated generations of action movie fans. Since the series is still ongoing 50 years later, teens will be interested in going back to see earlier entries. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
James Bond films are anomalies. Despite the fact they depict the adventures of an assassin who beds lots of women in the course of saving the world, they are, bizarrely, family films for the most part. Death is handled in a comic book fashion - ironically in more a fantastical way than some of the ultra-violent superhero films of recent years (I'm looking at you, Batman v Superman). The sex is handled in a PG way, there is no real nudity and the first actual swear word wasn't heard till the 1970s. The Daniel Craig films have skewed more adult, but you can't really go wrong with one of the Sean Connery originals. That said, some caution is needed with regards to Dr. No. This was the very first Bond film, and it's safe to say there had never been a film like it - certainly not a character like Bond in cinema. And so there's a certain amount of "wild oats sowing" going on as they worked to get the feel for what they could and couldn't get away with. This first Bond is rougher on the edges, with Connery playing a slightly less likeable, more cold-blooded Bond than those accustomed to his later films, or that of Roger Moore or Pierce Brosnan, might think. In particular, there is one scene in which Bond murders a villain in a disturbing fashion that, frankly, would not be seen again until Daniel Craig's Bond. In fact he commits two murders (there's an unlucky minion who gets knifed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time). And it's hard to like Bond after seeing these two moments, and fans of Ian Fleming's novels (like me) also tend to dispute whether these scenes are faithful to the books - neither death occurs in the original novel. Fortunately, by the time of the next film, From Russia with Love, many of the rough edges had been smoothed out (though a few remained in place for years; his treatment of women needs to be examined through the context of the era though it's a bit of a myth that Bond girls were all brainless stereotypes, and hearing what Honey Ryder did with a certain black widow spider and a man who molested her is chilling). As such, while I certainly have no trouble recommending Dr. No, I do suggest it not be the first Bond film you ever see. It was in fact the last Sean Connery Bond I ever saw for the first time, and I think I appreciated it more by knowing how 007 - certainly the Connery version - evolved through films like Goldfinger and Thunderball.
Katherine R.Parent of 10, 14, 18+, 18+, 18+ and 5-year-old
June 18, 2024
age 14+
What's the Story?
James Bond (Sean Connery), is a British Secret Service agent who has been called upon to investigate suspicious activity in Jamaica. With the help of an earthy Jamaican (John Kitzmiller) and an American CIA agent (Jack Lord), Bond attempts to unravel the mystery of who or what is interfering with rocket launches in the States.
Not quite as streamlined or cohesive as many of its successors, DR. NO introduces James Bond, one of the most enduring figure of Western cinema, to the world. Considering how many sequels this modest action-spy film spawned, it's worth asking why this refined roué has stuck around as long as he has.
The answer, for better or worse, probably lies in the unapologetic way the film plays to undomesticated male fantasies. The action is wooden and the plot contrived, but it sure is fun to look at.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what qualities of James Bond one might want to emulate. What makes people think James Bond is cool? What is different about the world in which he lives in than our world?
How are women portrayed in this movie? Can you think of any movies that treat men in the same eye candy way? Who is this movie intended for and how can you tell?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
