A new study did a breakdown of James Bond’s drinking behavior to determine if the secret agent has a “severe” and “chronic” relationship with alcohol.
Over the course of two-dozen films over the past 60 years, James Bond was seen drinking alcohol 109 times—and often engaging in risky behavior when doing so—The Washington Post reports.
These numbers come from a recent study conducted by public health experts from the University of Otago in New Zealand, which concluded that Bond had a “severe” and “chronic” relationship with alcohol and met more than half the criteria for alcohol use disorder. Bond also, according to the researchers, engaged in risky behavior during or after drinking.
“Chronic risks include frequently drinking prior to fights, driving vehicles (including in chases), high-stakes gambling, operating complex machinery or devices, contact with dangerous animals, extreme athletic performance and sex with enemies, sometimes with guns or knives in the bed,” lead author Nick Wilson said in a statement.
In Quantum of Solace, researchers noted that Bond drank six Vespers (gin, vodka and a mix of wines), which would have put his blood alcohol level at about .36 grams per deciliter. This, according to researchers, is nearly enough to lead to come, heart failure and death.
But Bond topped that in one of the Bond books, in which he had 50 units of alcohol in just one day. According to Wilson, that’s “a level of consumption which would kill nearly everyone.”
In an email to The Post, Wilson wrote that the films are “very good for studying trends in behaviors such as smoking and drinking” and that “it was also a fun study to do— and the ridiculousness of some of Bond’s actions after drinking helped give the work some scope for a laugh.”
A 2013 study also examined Bond’s relationship with alcohol in the books, stating that it had him “at high risk of multiple alcohol-related diseases and an early death.’” Researchers also added that his level of funtion “is inconsistent with the physical, mental, and indeed sexual functioning expected from someone drinking this much alcohol.”
According to authors of the most recent study, Bond’s place of employment should have stepped in.
“Bond’s workplace (MI6) should be a more responsible employer by referring him to work-funded counseling or psychiatric support services for managing his alcohol use disorder,” authors wrote. “These services should also determine whether he has any post-traumatic stress after killing so many people and having been tortured so often.”
