Bond's Latest Hi-Tech Kit Is His Own Online Superstore

James Bond fans have named the quintessential British spy's third film, Goldfinger, as the best of the genre in a poll to mark the opening of a special James Bond Store on the Internet.

The news comes in the week when gross box office receipts for the three most recent films - Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough - broke the billion dollar mark.

Customers of Amazon.co.uk, Britain's leading online retailer, were asked to name their favourite films, characters, music and gadgets to mark the opening of a new dedicated Bond Store to cope with the demand for Bond films, music, books and memorabilia.

Vincent Toolan of Amazon.co.uk said: "After 21 films, five actors, countless world domination plots, passionate liaisons with the world's most beautiful women and the most ingenious gadgets, James Bond has lost none of his appeal. Amazon.co.uk customers are as keen on Bond as Miss Moneypenny, so we've created a special Bond Store to meet the demand."

Goldfinger swept the board with four of the eight top choices - Best Picture, Best Supporting Bond Girl, Best Car and Best Soundtrack. The full results follow:

Best Picture - Goldfinger
The 1964 classic Goldfinger, in which Bond uncovers a plot by gold magnate Auric Goldfinger to contaminate Fort Knox's reserves and make his own stockpile worth billions, beat Live And Let Die into second place with 20% and 13% of the vote respectively. The World is Not Enough was the highest placed recent film, in fourth place with 10% of the vote.

Best Actor - Sean Connery
Nobody does it better than Sean Connery. The first actor to play James Bond is also the best ever according to nearly seven in 10 (67%) of the people polled. Current Bond Pierce Brosnan came second with 22% of the vote, followed by Roger Moore with 11%. Male model George Lazenby and classically trained Shakespearean actor Timothy Dalton did not poll a single vote between them.

Best International Master Criminal - Ernst Stavro Blofeld Blofeld, who appeared in You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971), was the clear winner with a third of the vote (32%), beating Bond's first enemy Dr No, and Christopher Lee's three nippled Scaramanga from The Man With The Golden Gun, who both polled 12%. One of Blofeld's plans involved hijacking missiles to hold the world to ransom. He was one of the first villains to inhabit a fantastical secret base - under a volcano.

Best Supporting Henchman - Jaws
Jaws made his first appearance as the metal-mouthed sidekick of Carl Stromberg in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Played by 7' 2" giant Richard Kiel, Jaws also appeared in Moonraker (1979), and won with a massive 55% of the vote. Oddjob, who famously wore the razor-edged bowler hat in Goldfinger, came second with 23%, and third was Nick Nack, the pint sized goon who was packed up in a suitcase in the closing scenes of The Man With The Golden Gun.

Best Supporting Bond Girl - Tie: Pussy Galore and Honey Rider
The only split decision. Voters could not choose between Pussy Galore, played by Honor Blackman in Goldfinger (1964), and Honey Rider, who, played by Ursula Andress, caused a commotion emerging from the sea in a bikini in Dr No (1962).

Best Car - Aston Martin DB5 British is best when it comes to Commander Bond's car. His classic silver Aston Martin DB5, which made its first appearance in 1964's Goldfinger, received a massive 79% of the vote, shooting down the BMW cars of the latest films with its trademark machine guns. The DB5 was also equipped with an ejector seat, oil slick dispenser, bullet proof shields, tire slashers and a homing / tracking device.

Best soundtrack - Goldfinger by Shirley Bassey Shirley Bassey's title track from the eponymous 1964 film received 30% of the vote, beating 'Nobody Does It Better' by Carly Simon, from the The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), with 24%, and 'Live And Let Die' by Wings, with 16%.

Best gadget - X-ray Glasses Q Branch's gadgets are some of the best loved features of any James Bond film. Voting was close but Bond's X-ray spectacles from The World Is Not Enough (1999) won with 24%, followed by the gadget watch from Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) with 21%, and the wrist dart gun from Moonraker (1979) with 13%.

For further information contact:

• Jon Cunningham
  The RED Consultancy
  T: 020 7465 7749
  E: jonc@redconsultancy.com

• Lisa Ramshaw
  Amazon.co.uk
  T: 020 8636 9295
  E:> lramshaw@amazon.co.uk

About Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.uk today offers more than 1.5 million books, CDs, DVDs and videos, hosts online auctions and provides a complete online storefront for individual merchants through its zShops. Amazon.co.uk customers enjoy the benefits of industry-leading, online shopping technology such as secure credit-card payment; personalised recommendations; streamlined, 1-Click. ordering and hassle-free Bid-Click auction bidding. Through Amazon Anywhere, Amazon.co.uk also is available on mobile phones with WAP technology; look at www.amazon.co.uk/anywhere for details.

Amazon.co.uk is the trading name for Amazon.com Int'l Sales, Inc., and Amazon.com International Auctions, Inc., which are both wholly owned subsidiaries of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), the Internet's No. 1 book, No. 1 music and No. 1 video retailer, which opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and has already provided safe and convenient shopping to more than 17 million customers worldwide.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, season-related issues, consumer trends, competition, risk of distribution centre expansion, risks related to fourth quarter, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, risks related to auction and zShops services, risks related to fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations and strategic alliances. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 1999, June 30, 1999, and September 30, 1999.