Hmm, should I start by reading the novels first?
The novels are well-written. Their appeal has traditionally been to the male of the species. But if you appreciate a good suspense novel and like spy versus spy interplay then you'll enjoy Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. I never get tired of reading them. I tend to read them when I'm on vacation. They supplement the escape from my usual that the vacation provides.
The movies were somewhat faithful to the novels until Roger Moore took over as Bond. He added his own spin on the character. When Ian Fleming saw Dr. No he said that Sean Connery was close to the image he had in his mind's eye when he wrote his novels. In several he describes Bond as looking a bit like Hoagy Carmichael.
