Guys looking for idols in the early 1960s had a choice of three iconic examples: Muhammad Ali, The Beatles and James Bond. Decades later, we know how they fared. Ali disappeared punch drunk into the wings, The Beatles got into a fight, John died and then George, but on 007, time had no hold. Seventy years after 'Casino Royale' came out as author Ian Fleming's first Bond thriller, the British secret agent is as immortal today as he was at the start of his first adventure.  

'No Time to Die'

Of course, there are fans who follow the film pages with trepidation because the dramatic finale of 'No Time to Die' leaves little room for a resurrection, but that is a misconception. James is doomed to live, like an Achilles without a heel. For the body, we know from Sean Connery and Roger Moore, is finite, but the spirit is not. It will rise again and again in a new story, in a different actor. In the end, there is only one weapon that will be able to take James Bond to his grave, and that is the box office. Only when the 'box office' stops delivering will the eternal hero be finished.  

Above: Casino Royale Karlovy Vary, below: Oscar Verpoort at the same venue

Meanwhile, there are generations of moviegoers who have no knowledge of a life without Bond - he was always there. For some, that knowledge has had consequences. The Hague-based producer and director Oscar Verpoort (1986), who devised and produces the successful TV show 'Mindf*ck' with Victor Mids, is one of them. He went further than the average fan in his adoration of Bond; as a teenager, he resolved to follow 007's footsteps. With spectacular results. Even on his first serious Bond trip, the secret agent turns up where no one expects him to.  

'A view to a kill'

They are seventeen when Verpoort and his friend Daniel van Biemen (currently first violinist in the Concertgebouw Orchestra and author of the controversial book 'Violist') visit Paris on an Interrail trip to see the Eiffel Tower where Grace Jones aka May Day jumps down in 'A View to a Kill'. On the way back, they stroll along the Seine. "You have to remember that Pierce Brosnan had made his last film. The new Bond was coming," Verpoort says. "Suddenly Daniel nudges me. 'Look, over there!' And indeed, I see a beautiful woman walking. 'No,' says Daniel, the man next door.' I look over and it turned out to be Daniel Craig. Of course that was insane, running into the man who would take over the baton for 15 years. We were bold enough to speak to him, though.  

'Sorry to interrupt you, but we are really looking forward to the new Bond movie.' 'So am I,' he replied and then took a picture of the three of us with my camera. The crowning moment of our first Bond trip." 

'Casino Royale'

Actually, Oscar Verpoort is far from being just about visiting locations, but more about the phenomenon as a whole and how Ian Fleming's oeuvre has been handled. "The films based on Fleming's books are more powerful than those that came later. 'Casino Royale', the first film with Daniel Craig, was finally a real Fleming story again. Earlier, it did not succeed because the producers did not have the rights. That was another stunner of a Bond film. Apparently, it is hard to match Fleming after all.

What I also find interesting as a filmmaker is that all the Bond films show such a beautiful time frame. The makers try to be ahead in everything, with the result that you can follow what is going on in every film. In terms of typography, in terms of fashion and style, the title songs alone form a kind of history of pop music through the years. The same goes for the clothes."

Aston Martin DB5

He goes down the list of 25 Bond films in search of the best, the ritual of the true Bond fan. "I have a soft spot for 'GoldenEye' because I saw it first in the cinema. 'Goldfinger', the third Bond film, was the classic. That's where everything fell into place. At first they were still searching, in 'Dr No' the book was still followed very literally, but in 'Goldfinger' everything fell together. For the first time the Aston Martin DB5 and for the first time John Barry made the entire soundtrack. Then they really realised: this is the formula." 

Whenever Oscar Verpoort visits a location from one of the films, he always sets himself one task: he gets himself photographed in exactly the same setup as James Bond in the film. There was one exception, the picture you will look in vain for in a film, but which is nevertheless the ultimate Bond shot. 

Pictured: Daniel Craig, Daniel Van Biemen and Oscar Verpoort

"I have also been to Jamaica at the Villa GoldenEye, the place where Fleming wrote all his books. 'Dr No', 'No Time to Die' and 'Live And Let Die' were shot there, but that was not the point now. I sat behind the same desk where Fleming also worked. A very special location with an insane view of the bay." 

Jamaica

Since Verpoort was in Jamaica anyway, a visit to what is probably the most famous scene from a Bond film was inevitable. In 'Dr No', Ursula Andress rises from the Caribbean Sea in a white bikini, a calypso song on her lips. Sean Connery watches from the beach as behind him the eye-popping Dunn's River Falls gracefully undulate downwards. "The place is called Crab Key in the film, but in real life it's Laughing Waters in Ocho Rios. It is a private beach, but I had read on the internet that if you give the security man a few dollars, he will take you to the beach. That worked out, beautiful place." 

And did his girlfriend also come out of the waves in a white bikini? Verpoort grins. "Maybe she did. Singing!" 

King Charles

The most beautiful location, the favourite film, but the perfect James Bond-related anecdote is still missing. Not long ago in Scotland, Oscar Verpoort is behind the wheel of his Aston Martin. "When we had sold 'Mindf*ck' to Germany, I thought: okay, from your first royalties you have to do something fun, so I bought an Aston Martin," he says. 

Next to him, a Dutch friend who is a long-time resident of England and manager of a country house owned by King Charles. "While we were on our way to Glen Coe to visit a location from 'Skyfall', the phone rang: king Charles himself calling him for a work meeting. We put the Aston Martin aside for a moment. So my friend tells him what we are doing: "We are in a ''Rather lovely Aston Martin' taking a road trip past James Bond locations." We got on-the-spot approval from the King of England. That made it another characteristic Bond experience after all. Charles also mentioned that his Aston Martin had an 'eject button' like the one Bond had in 'Goldfinger'. I immediately ordered such a button." 

Oscar Verpoort has been travelling past James Bond locations for half his life

Dutch Association

You have been travelling past Bond locations for half a lifetime, you are trained as a filmmaker and have the necessary experience as a director, then surely you dream of having your own Bond film or a Dutch version of it. "Yes, I can totally see that happening. It is a possibility I am seriously considering. Many Bond films have a link to Jamaica, after all the English branch of the UK in the Caribbean, but when we were shooting for 'Mindf*ck' on Curaçao a few years ago, I suddenly saw that this was also an excellent place for a Bond film. Our very own Jamaica, the beautiful sea, the people and those old oil refineries! I'm still very busy with 'Mindf*ck' right now, but I don't rule out ever taking a chance on it."  

It is indeed an irresistible vision: a Dutch secret agent, with a vodka martini in hand, making the bad guys of this world disappear into the tropical waters of the Antilles. The perfect Mindf*ck. 

The six most beautiful Bond locations according to Oscar Verpoort 

1. GoldenEye - Jamaica ('Dr No', Live And Let Die, No Time to Die)
2. Glen Coe - Scotland ('Skyfall')
3. Karlovy Vary, Loket and Prague - Czech Republic ('Casino Royale')
4. Himeji - Japan ('You Only Live Twice')
5. Sölden - Austria ('Spectre')
6. Furka Pass - Switzerland ('Goldfinger')