It’s academic, but boozy James Bond at serious alcoholism risk

Researchers who say their study of James Bond movies reveals 007 has a ­’severe’ drinking problem.

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond with the trademark martini.

Licence to kill? More like licence to swill, ­according to researchers who say their study of James Bond movies reveals 007 has a ­“severe” drinking problem.

Close viewings of 24 Bond movies from 1962 to 2015 show the secret agent has not only been a heavy drinker for more than six decades but also engaged in some very dangerous activity while inebriated, ­researchers from New Zealand’s University of Otago and Oxford University say.

In an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia, the authors say Bond’s brisk downing of martinis in some films puts him “well into the known fatal range” for alcohol consumption but doesn’t seem to keep him from activities such as operating nuclear power plant machinery.

“Chronic risks include frequently drinking prior to fights, driving vehicles — including in chases — high-stakes gambling, operating complex machinery, contact with dangerous animals, extreme athletic performance and sex with enemies,” author Nick Wilson of the University of Otago said.

AAP