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List of James Bond movie title references

The James Bond movie series features some of the most memorable film titles in entertainment history. Bond films usually include some sort of reference to the film's title within the action of the movie, sometimes resorting to clever (and occasionally awkward) lengths to do this. Here are some of the title references:


  • Dr. No: From the villain Dr. Julius No, first seen on a file folder and later spoken by Felix Leiter.
  • From Russia with Love: first heard in a song playing over a radio, and later Bond writes the phrase on a photograph of Tatiana Romanova .
  • Goldfinger: character name heard throughout.
  • Thunderball: M dubs the mission to retrive stolen nuclear missiles, "Operation Thunderball."
  • You Only Live Twice: Ernst Stavro Blofeld utters the phrase when he captures Bond, in reference to Bond's faked death at the start of the film.
  • On Her Majesty's Secret Service: Bond uses this phrase when he quits at MI6, while having Miss Moneypenny take down his resignation.
  • Diamonds Are Forever: not used in the film, but the phrase does appear on a magazine Bond reads in Die Another Day. Alternatively, this could be a reference to Tiffany's quote at the end of the movie: "James, how the hell are we going to get those diamonds down?" The diamonds are stuck in the sky in the satellite--hence, diamonds are forever.
  • Live and Let Die: a woman performing on stage in a nightclub is shown singing the theme song. In the novel the title is mentioned by Bond when Captain Dexter says their policy on Mr. Big is "live and let live". Bond retorts saying that in his business it's "live and let die".
  • The Man with the Golden Gun: Bond utters Francisco Scaramanga's nickname during his initial briefing.
  • The Spy Who Loved Me: not used in the film except as a lyric in the theme song.
  • Moonraker: name of Hugo Drax's space shuttle fleet.
  • For Your Eyes Only: seen on a file folder, and Melina Havelock says it before she and Bond go skinny dipping.
  • Octopussy: character name used throughout, plus a character refers to a tattoo of an octopus as "My little octopussy."
  • A View to a Kill: considered the most awkward incorporation of a Bond film title to date. May Day and Max Zorin are looking down from an airship on what will be their target, Silicon Valley. May Day says "What a view..." and Zorin adds "...to a kill!"
  • The Living Daylights: In a direct quote from Ian Fleming's short story, Bond talks of "scaring the living daylights" out of a would-be sniper.
  • Licence to Kill: M revokes Bond's licence to kill.
  • GoldenEye: name of a satellite mentioned several times. ("Goldeneye" was originally the name of the house in Jamaica where Ian Fleming authored many of the novels.)
  • Tomorrow Never Dies: not used. The original title was to be the logical "Tomorrow Never Lies" (referring to Elliot Carver creating the news for his newspaper, "Tomorrow"). However, a typo on a copy of the script changed the title to its present form, and the producers decided to adopt the mistake.
  • The World Is Not Enough: Bond utters the phrase, explaining that it's a family motto. The motto is also seen in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, when Bond uses his search for noble blood in his family line as a cover for his meeting with Sir Hilary Bray .
  • Die Another Day: Bond says to a villain, "So you live to die another day."
  • Casino Royale: The setting of the novel takes place in a Casino named "Royale-les-Eaux". It is presently assumed the film will have the same setting.

Unofficial films

  • Casino Royale: major location used throughout.
  • Never Say Never Again: not used per se, but Bond says "Never again" at the end of the film. It's often rumored that the title came from Sean Connery who after filming Diamonds Are Forever claimed he would never play James Bond again.
Last updated: 05-16-2005 09:03:09