Moonraker was the first James Bond movie I saw in the theater (and one of my first five movie theater experiences; Star Wars was number one). I had just turned five-years-old. I can’t remember watching the movie itself, but I can remember talking about the movie on the bus ride home from kindergarten a day or so later. I described the opening scene to enraptured classmates, how Bond got pushed out of a plane without a parachute and then stole a parachute from Jaws, who proceeded to try to flap his arms like a bird before crashing into a circus tent.

Now that’s entertainment.

For Your Eyes Only was the second James Bond movie I saw in the theater. I remember impressions of the ski/motorcycle chase, but mostly I remember Have To Believe We Are Magic by Olivia Newton John playing on the radio on the drive home.

Magic indeed.

Octopussy was the third James Bond movie I saw in the theater. I then saw it approximately 57,000,000 more times on cable, to the point where my dad finally asked me to stop watching it to “save electricity.”

It was worth it.

A View To A Kill was the fourth James Bond movie I saw in the theater. Again, I can’t really recall much of the theater-going experience, but I can remember the anticipation, and I remember the poster on the wall as I stood in line. No Photoshop banality there. It promised something.

It promised fun (what does the Spectre one promise?).

A few years ago I had a guy tell me that the Roger Moore Bonds were terrible. Art is a subjective thing, so I didn’t feel the need to argue the point (please return the favor when I opine that Skyfall and Spectre are the worst James Bond movies). I simply felt bad for his joyless existence.

Like a lot of folks my age, Roger Moore’s Bond is the Bond I grew up with, so my take on his films is going to be colored by nostalgia. As I think about them in the wake of Roger Moore’s death, fun is the word that keeps coming back to me. I appreciate all Bonds. I watch Connery Bonds and enjoy the style. I watch Lazenby’s Bond and enjoy the story. I watch Dalton Bonds and enjoy the harder edge. I watch Brosnan Bonds and enjoy their breezy competence. I watch the Craig Bonds and enjoy the acting (except for the last two). But when I watch a Moore Bond, I simply enjoy the break from reality. He’s self-aware, but he is not satirical. He’s humorous, but he’s not making fun of us. He owns the preposterous, and he does not charge us for the ridiculousness. He’s deadly, but he’s not dangerous. He doesn’t take any of it for granted. He takes us along for the ride.

Good Bond? Bad Bond?

Who cares?

He was my Bond.

RIP Roger Moore (1927-2017)