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Still, he has managed to age gracefully, that is, barely at all. His country is fixed in amber too, which is also part of the appeal. In a Bond film, Britain is still a superpower. In The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), the villain Stromberg captures three nuclear submarines--one American, one Soviet and one British--and only Britain, thanks to 007, can respond. In 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, China and Britain teeter on the brink of a bilateral war. Tony Blair may be accused of being George W. Bush's lapdog, but in Bond's world, "the Anglo-American special relationship is turned upside down," says James Chapman, author of Licence to Thrill, a cultural history of Bond. Americans--from CIA agent Felix Leiter to the nsa's Falco (Michael Madsen) in Die Another Day--just play backup to the real global policeman who saves all in the name of Queen and Country. Bond--part trad gentleman, part liberated hedonist, all Brit--is, in Chapman's words, "an exception to the rule of American cultural imperialism [and] the Coca-Colonization of global culture."
People seem to like this form of British cultural imperialism. EON says that more than 2 billion people have seen a Bond film. Bond, in fact, was an avatar of cultural globalization. We all know the catchphrases, and we've seen the spoofs: from Casino Royale to Austin Powers to The Simpsons (Homer goes to work for a Bond-like baddie). But far from hurting Bond, the parodies and takeoffs only keep him on our cultural radar. "I walk down the street, and people say, 'I just saw your movie!'" says Jane Seymour, who played the tarot-reading virgin Solitaire in 1973's Live and Let Die. Jonathan Pryce, who played the villain Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies, says, "My postbag quadrupled with requests for autographs and memorabilia. There must be a great trade in it."
He's right. From cars to clothes, a numbing array of products rides on Bond's stylish coattails, a parade of brands in keeping with the character's roots. Fleming writes, for instance, that his spy lights hand-rolled cigarettes (from Morlands, the London tobacconist) with a gold Dunhill lighter. His (free) plugs for these brands helped establish Bond as a connoisseur. They also foreshadowed the phenomenon called product placement (see box). Agent 007's partners will spend an estimated $120 million on Die Another Day--related advertising, while Bond Marketing, a division of EON's sister firm Danjaq, is overseeing the rollout of Bond Swatches ($50 to $110), Bond Girl Barbie and Ken as Bond ($80 for the pair) and of course the 007 snowmobile ($6,000-plus).
What's surprising is that the global fan base is self-renewing, and it's not just nostalgic boomers recalling a film they saw on a high school date but also younger fans who, like Berry, met 007 on the small screen. Or online. Contributors to the many Bond sites and boards "range from teens on up," says Matt Sherman, co-editor of 007forever.com Many of the young fans are encountering 007 through video games. Since 1999, "we've sold almost 20 million," says MGM consultant Larry Gleason. "There's a whole generation of kids out there whose primary reference point isn't Dr. No or The World Is Not Enough. It's the GoldenEye game."