When General Gogol presents James Bond with the Order of Lenin in A View To A Kill, it’s played as a brief moment of Cold War humor.  Yet, a closer look reveals a fascinating bit of real-world context.  The Order of Lenin was the highest civilian decoration in the Soviet Union, and was an honor once bestowed upon British double agent Kim Philby, who was posthumously recognized for his espionage work on behalf of the USSR.  Philby’s story, dramatized in the movie The Fourth Protocol (1988) starred Pierce Brosnan (!) of all people!

Anyways, it’s a shame that A View To A Kill never explored this moment further and didn’t at least reveal if the award was accepted (or allowed to be accepted) by Bond.  The gesture itself hints at mutual respect between adversaries, a theme always ripe for exploration in the Bond universe.  Such a realistic plot would be perfect for a future Bond film to revisit, perhaps through a storyline involving a rogue double agent in the spirit of GoldenEye or an expansion of the Corrine Canadian intelligence “leak” story seen at the end of Quantum Of Solace.