Six years of silence. The Cold War ended. The world wondered if Bond had died with it.

A media mogul with a stealth ship. Bond drove a remote-controlled BMW from the back seat. Michelle Yeoh kicked a henchman off a motorbike. “You forgot the first rule of mass media, Elliot,” Bond said. “Give the people what they want.”

Roger Moore. A tarot card: The Lovers. Solitaire. A boat chase at 100 mph through bayou swamps. Baron Samedi laughing on the train. Voodoo and a fake crocodile step-stones.

Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist (stop laughing). A woman with a bullet in her brain as the villain. Q retired, then came back. “Try to bring this one back in one piece,” he said, handing over the BMW. Bond crashed it in five minutes.