Why Sam Smith and Daniel Craig’s James Bond make striking team in new ‘Spectre’ video

The morning after British crooner Sam Smith unveiled the video for “Writing’s On the Wall,” his new theme song for the upcoming James Bond film “Spectre,” the track already amassed nearly 400,000 YouTube views. But, then, it is Smith in all his full-throated glory, and it is James Bond in all his full-blown righteousness.

The two make a striking team in the video. Filled with the requisite bombast, lusty scenes of Daniel-Craig-as-Bond staring menacingly at the camera, saving the world, making out with pretty women, traversing snowy mountains, dry deserts, ocean coves in search of bad guys, the “Writing’s On the Wall” clip tempers the action with Smith’s rich voice and dramatic phrasing. While Bond races, Smith sings, his feet seemingly planted in concrete while cameras pan, majestic locations around Rome shift, day turns to night.

“If I risk it all,” sings Smith, “Could you break my fall?”

The timing of the video release couldn’t be better. Not coincidentally, today is “Global James Bond Day,” which marks the anniversary of the 1962 release of “Dr. No,” the first of writer Ian Fleming’s spy novels to be adapted to film.

Half a century later, Smith joined the ranks of artists including Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra, Tom Jones, Adele, Duran Duran, Madonna and Jack White in conveying Bond action and adventure.

Directed by Luke Monaghan, the "Writing's on the Wall" clip intersperses activity and calm, cutting from Bond violence to somber shots of Smith singing while behind him coffins draped in Union Jack flags suggest the consequences of endless war.

That tension helped drive “The Writing’s On the Wall” to the top of the British charts after it was released on Sept. 25. With the arrival of the clip, devotees are one step closer to the eagerly anticipated “Spectre” release, which will land in theaters in the UK on Oct. 26 and in the U.S. on Nov. 6.

Follow Randall Roberts on Twitter: @liledit