Yesterday was James Bond Day, but 007 fans were left scratching their heads when Amazon Prime Video showcased all their legacy titles in the series with spiffy new digital posters:
Notice anything strange? That’s right – they took away James Bond’s classic Walther PPK! All of the posters, which largely seem to be based on classic artwork from the series, had the guns 007 was posing with removed. Here’s a before and after for Dr. No:
Some of the posters are more egregious than others. Some have James Bond with his arms hanging unnaturally at his sides, such as in the weird looking Spy Who Loved Me and A View to a Kill posters. Others clearly had guns airbrushed out, such as in the Goldeneye poster:
Considering Amazon very famously bought the rights to the franchise for a staggering amount, it’s strange that they opted to remove guns, considering how closely associated the character is with his classic firearm. I mean, each movie even begins with a gun barrel logo. What’s especially strange is that the classic 007 logo they are using still has a gun barrel drawn in. It seems like an overly sensitive move for a company whose films certainly don’t shy away from firearms. Their latest movie, Play Dirty, is loaded with them, as are two of their biggest recent hits, Heads of State and The Accountant 2. Over on iTunes, at the moment, some – but not all – the artwork has guns. Could this be a harbinger of things to come? Will Amazon/MGM strip away all the elements that make James Bond so iconic, such as his guns and, of course, the Bond girls? I wouldn’t worry too much, though. Even if this batch of 007 posters features an unarmed James Bond, the movies still look great in 4K on Prime and pack as much firepower as ever.
What do you think of Amazon’s pistol-less James Bond? Let us know in the comments.