It only makes sense to start this piece with where the appeal of James Bond comes from. As Pierce Brosnan so eloquently put it at ththis year's British Academy of Film and Television Awards, "James Bond has remained the same, it's just the world around him that has changed." I think that's true about us too. We have the same personalities we are born with, but we are affected and altered by our outside situations - be it in jobs, family or how others view us. The point is, the James Bond that crossed the North Korean demilitarized zone was the same one that frolicked along the beaches of Crab Key, just altetered slightly because of his experiences.

Bond was and is the best because he uses that "cavalier attitude towards life" in his job to its best advantage. He has bedded dozens of women, driven countless fast cars, used hundreds of gadgets and saved the world all in the name of patriotism numerous times. He does it all for Queen and Country, as Fiona Volpe so aptly pointed out in Thunderball.

Bond has little time for fellow agents who do their job by the book. Just look at the strained relationship he has with Saunders who likes to quote the Secret Service rule book! Bond, rather, is a loner. He is only prepared to work his own unique way. We see plenty of examples of Bond either twisting or completely disobeying M's orders if he disagreed with them, such as going after Ernst Blofeld in On Her Majesty's Secret Service or Sanchez in Licence To Kill.

Bond also has a unique ability to see through a villain's plot very early on in his adventures. He began to correctly suspect Elektra King of her foul play in The World Is Not Enough long before anyone else did, or that the tiger helicopter could be used in conjuction with another crime in GoldenEye. This alone shows the very appealing detective skills Bond possesses. However, it's his other skills on top of this that make him the world's greatest and most popular secret agent.

Despite having a rebellious streak that borders on arrogance, Bond is also quite charming and a master at remaining calm. Goldfinger's "Operation: Grand Slam" could have been a great success, if not for Bond's charm working wonders on Miss Galore. M even recognizes this appealing trait in Tomorrow Never Dies when James is asked to "pump [Paris Carver] for information." Bond's charm serves as an ideal weapon on his missions.

Of course, Bond leads a very adult lifestyle. He hangs around casinos, prides himself on his great knowledge of several topics (including women), drives fast cars, and globe trots enough to be any travel agent's dream. This capitalistic excess, and enjoyment of the "moments of luxury" in his life as a secret agent makes him seem reluctant to settle down and disobey orders from M. In many ways, Bond is a 'big kid', which probably "comes from not growing up at all."

But the appeal doesn't seem to stop at the end of a boy's teenage years, as it often extends to both adults and children. I've been a Bond fan for nearly a decade and I remember glaring the difference between Bond and other typical heroes. Kids like Bond for the gadgets, the cars, and the guns, while adults want his escapist lifestyle.

We can relate to Bond's fantasy world because while he is a force for good, we have the fortune of seeing an appropriate amount of humanity in him. For example, both Bond and Superman are "good guys", but Superman is the 'goodie-goodie.' He has a nine-to-five job, a regular girlfriend, never smokes, drinks, and, well, makes the nerds we know look fashionable. Bond is more brash than Superman, and even so, always manages to look better. He doesn't settle for a single girlfriend, but instead delves into brief relationships with numerous stunning ones, and is charming and sophisticated. Who wouldn't envy a quality such as this?

Bond's relatability is also in the films as well, which is a main reason why they have such continued success. By the time Sean Connery left the role, the series had well established its winning formula, and while it had gone through several stages, EON Productions always had enough sense to stick to the guidelines that keep people coming back, while keeping Fleming at the spirit and distinctive ideas at the heart.

This unique combination of familiarity, respect for the legacy of what has come before, and an incorporation of Ian Fleming's source material have made the Bonds the best at accepting change and reinventing themselves. After criticism for George Lazenby, the series went back to the successful cash cow in Connery for one more role. They then called upon a more experienced actor, Sir Roger Moore, to carry on the Bond legacy in Live And Let Die.

After The Man With The Golden Gun received poor reviews, and longtime producer Harry Saltzman left, producer Albert Broccoli responded with The Spy Who Loved Me - a package with James Bond's greatest hits proving that the three central elements listed above were still, like the world, more than enough.

This measure of adaptability was proven again when the series became too comical in the final years of Moore's tenure, having to redefine James Bond for a generation that had never witnessed 007 before. It bothers me, however, when people think the situation we face now is the deadly blow for the James Bond series. Clearly, 007 passed the test of resilence along time ago and has nothing to prove.

Anything that captures the imagination of a child can stay with them for a long time, if not their whole life. Bond is no different. I would assume most of us first encountered James Bond at a fairly young age, and well, if you're like me and still talking about him, the 'passion' for him hasn't gone away. At the same time, though, regardless of age, the Bond films were made as time capsules for an era of living. This unique trait of the films can give any viewer a sense of nostalgia and contemporariness when watching a Bond film.

I love James Bond because there is a little bit of James Bond in all of us. The remainder is what we envy to be. He is intelligent, good looking, charming, sophisticated, and of course has quite the way with the ladies. He is a character that openly stands up and defies political correctness, yet still manages to change and reinvent himself for different audiences. This is the definition of a hero for the ages.