How to explain to a newer generation what life was like growing up in the late eighties and nineties? A lot less choice certainly, but that wasn’t a bad thing. The running joke growing up, was the same films were always shown every Christmas time on TV, and with only four channels, everyone in Britain would end up watching the same things. It was a collective experience that these days has been severely limited. Families would gather round the box and watched a film together.
One set of films that always came on at Christmas, we’re the James Bond films. We would gather round and watch these films, hearing our parents and grandparents stating as fact that Sir Sean Connery was, and always would be, the best Bond. With such admiration from the older generations, watching the films, it was hard to argue. Connery had a way about him, a charisma that emanated anytime he came onto screen. In this way, Sean Connery was invited into our homes and hearts every year at Christmas; he was part of the tradition of that time.
Going into the nineties, this carried on, but with the addition of another film that always came on at Christmas, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Harrison Ford is an incredible actor, it is difficult to imagine who would ever match him as his father, yet one couldn’t ask for someone better than Sean Connery. He made the film it is and in my opinion, helped create the best Indiana Jones movie of the series. It was with excitement that my brother and I would sit around the tv and watch this film, laughing at Henry Jones Senior as he showed his younger son what the older generation could still do. I would also watch the film with my grandparents, Connery acting as the bridge between our generations, all of us laughing and admiring.
Of course, he did so much more, from being King Richard in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, to a dragon in Dragonheart. His contributions to film are endless. He always seemed to be such a gentlemen and a professional. We haven’t just lost a great actor, we’ve lost someone who formed part of our Christmas traditions, who brought the generations of families together. He may not have been in Star Wars, but he is part of the Lucasfilm family, as well as a part of our own. Rest in peace Sir Sean Connery, you maybe gone in person, but for many of us, we will still be inviting you into our homes every Christmas….
