James Bond 25 - Speculation and Anticipation Thread*

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Vidiot, May 19, 2016.

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  1. The Hermit

    The Hermit Wavin' that magick glowstick since 1976

    Well you're going to need a coaster for your drinks, aren't you? At least that way, Spectre will serve a useful purpose...
     
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  2. I totally agree - Bond works best when everyone still has something to prove and hasn't yet become stuck in a creative rut (naming no names, certain long-in-the-tooth screenwriters)! Ideally, they should have added a few extra scenes to the end of Casino Royale to tie up loose ends then just put this out as a standalone origin story before returning to the usual muddled excess we've come to expect from the franchise by this point, only with another actor, because Daniel Craig won me over that first time around. In many ways, GoldenEye felt the same for me, and I'll genuinely defend On Her Majesty's Secret Service for similar reasons as well. Indeed, it was quite a risk for Live And Let Die to relaunch the series by embracing the blaxploitation genre so heavily, even if I don't rate the end product as highly. Again, it seems as if Bond succeeds when the old had been swept aside to make room for the new, and I think it's time for another drastic overhaul...
     
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  3. GregM

    GregM The expanding man

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    I dunno, it was certainly a lot different than the plane chase in QoS and off the top of my head I can't think if another action sequence like that involving a plane crash landing on a snowy mountain while chasing cars. The presence of Q was also a welcome change-up and again, that Bond girl was so hot. The backstory with Mr. White worked for me.

    Maybe you need to see it again. You are aware of the lore between Bond and Blofeld, yes? This shows them reunited. It's a weighty moment. The torture scene was grim and shot really well in the light, which is much different than dark/dungeon type of torture scenes. The explosion gives Blofeld his trademark eye injury. Cool stuff.

    I think the first two are on equal footing. They happen within the same couple of days. Skyfall is where it lost me. Suddenly Craig goes from just getting his double-0 status to being a washed up old has-been, with no films in between? A blond and grinning goofy Antonio Bardem is a Bond villain? Even the way M made her departure--it all didn't quite work for me. Spectre was more a return to form. And I enjoy Ralph Fiennes as M.

    It will be more useful if those of you who hate it give it another chance and get some enjoyment out of it. Isn't that what Bond films are for?

    You may be right. I think Spectre redeemed the Craig era. Bond XXV will be the real test. If it's Craig's last, I hope he goes out with a bang.
     
  4. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Needs a new actor to play Bond.
     
  5. shokhead

    shokhead Head shok and you still don't what it is. HA!

    Location:
    SoCal, Long Beach
    I think but of course I could be wrong is some sound like they are blaming DC and all he's doing is going by the script that's given him.
     
  6. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Agree DC CR yes.
    Sadly what followed a defiant no.
     
  7. David Campbell

    David Campbell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Luray, Virginia
    I'm probably one of the few that liked Spectre and Skyfall, I guess.

    Even if indeed either were stinkers, there's no reason to stop the series. If the series can survive such duds as Moonraker, View to a kill, License to kill , The world is not enough and Die another Day, then Spectre is nothing. You just do a better movie next time.
     
  8. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    They should have had a new Bond by now, producers chickened out trying to find him.
     
  9. The Hermit

    The Hermit Wavin' that magick glowstick since 1976

    Bringing back Mr White didn't work, in my opinion, and they only did so because of the seriously wrongheaded decision to turn Craig's Bond tenure into a saga... White was originally killed by Bond at the end of Quantum of Solace, but that scene was sadly cut.

    That new lore between Bond and Blofeld was the single worst creative decision in the entire franchise - I mean it - other than it's catastrophic stupidity (not to mention being lampooned by Austin Powers years before!), it had absolutely no dramatic weight whatsoever because the audience were never given nor shown reason for it to have any weight to begin with (even Bond himself shrugs nonchalantly when Bloferhauser gives his new name). As for the eye injury; Bloferhauser took a BOMB to the face days before and emerges with a mere facial scar which has already scabbed over... is he Wolverine in disguise? And when you refer to "dark/dungeon type of torture scenes", I'll refer you to the infamous one in Casino Royale for how a torture scene SHOULD be done in a film.

    I gave it a chance, both at the cinema and on ancillary release... it still stank like a whorehouse at high noon no matter how many times I watched it. And this is coming from a HUGE Bond fan who found merit in every 007 film to date beforehand...

    But we both agree in hoping Craig finishes his tenure on a high note and goes out with a bang... every other Bond actor left on a downbeat note with the least of their respective films as their last installment, let's hope EON bucks that trend for the next one and The Craig goes out like a champ.
     
  10. NickCarraway

    NickCarraway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gastonia, NC
    Like shooting a helicopter out of the sky with a PPK? :rolleyes:
     
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  11. daglesj

    daglesj Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK

    We must have watched a different film perhaps?
     
  12. alanb

    alanb Senior Member

    Location:
    Bonnie Scotland

    Beautifully put !!

    I personally think this is why Craig did not want to do another Bond film - he thought that one stank and was ashamed of it!

    Yes let's cross our fingers that they get some decent ideas for a script and he can indeed go out with a bang.....and not a wimper......
     
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  13. EddieVanHalen

    EddieVanHalen Forum Resident

    I'm a white Caucasian Spanish guy and so I have no personal interest on this but I think it would be interesting and great to see a black James Bond and in this case I do agree Idris Elba is the guy.
     
  14. David Campbell

    David Campbell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Luray, Virginia
    Didn't Idris already take his name out of the running? I seem to remember him saying in an interview that he thought he'd be too old to play Bond beyond one movie.
     
  15. GregM

    GregM The expanding man

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Really? Link? QoS ended with Bond interrogating the middle easterner who had compromised Vesper, but it didn't show him killing him, either. Mr. White on the other hand was wounded by Bond at the end of CR and the interrogation of Mr. White was just underway when he was sprung. Mr. White had not been seen since. He was critical as the intro piece to the Spectre organization.

    I can't agree that exploiting the Bond/Blofeld arc in Spectre was stupid, creatively bad, or anticlimactic. This relationship *is* at the center of the 007 story. You can't have a meaningful reboot without addressing it, and the fourth Craig film was the right time. It was paid off because the one good thing that happened in Skyfall was to reestablish Bond's childhood roots (before burning it down in dramatic fashion), and addressing Bond's experience as an orphan with Blofeld is the logical next step.

    I do agree that the bare-bones production in the CR torture scene was very effective, but part of that was to back away from the ridiculously elaborate cliffhangers that plagued 007 movies. The low-tech realism of the CR scene worked for the reboot partially because it hinted that more high tech approaches were coming in future movies. Having a very bright torture chamber with a high-precision, dental-like drilling device that can damage small parts of the brain was a good way to have it both ways.

    I just find all the hyperbole a little hard to take. Spectre was not without merit, though I understand you feel strongly to the contrary.

    Absolutely agreed.

    I think the press about Craig not wanting to do another Bond film was purely based on his griping about the physical demands of the job taking a toll on him. He had been fed up at various points in making these films and ready to quit after a couple of moderate injuries. The press took this totally out of context and ran away with it. I don't remember any quotes along that lines of Craig thinking Spectre stank or was ashamed of it.

    We know the limitations of the writing team. I think we are in good hands as long as we have a proper villain and Bond girl, though it will be hard to top Lea Seydoux.
     
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  16. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Lea Seydoux?
    Thought she was awful, looked like Daniel Craig's daughter.
     
  17. GregM

    GregM The expanding man

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    She's an award winning actress, is older than previous Bond girls and is drop-dead gorgeous... so I can only assume you mean by this that you think Craig is very good looking? ;)
     
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  18. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    To each their own, but I found her ugly.
     
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  19. GregM

    GregM The expanding man

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    LMAO...I'm starting to understand the histrionics behind Spectre being the worst movie in the history of the universe. Not your type, I can understand. I myself prefer Olga Kurylenko. But...UGLY?

    [​IMG]
     
  20. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Nah.
     
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  21. David Campbell

    David Campbell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Luray, Virginia
    Oh yeah. She's definitely repulsive. :rolleyes: :D
     
  22. The Hermit

    The Hermit Wavin' that magick glowstick since 1976

    The Fate Of Mr. White

    And did you know that Corrine, the Canadian agent Bond finds with Vesper's former 'boyfriend' at the end of QoS, was none other than Beckett from Castle!?
     
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2017
  23. GregM

    GregM The expanding man

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Interesting. I'm glad they didn't go with that. It would have totally changed the flavor of QoS (for the worse I think), and I liked Mr. White's role in Spectre.
     
  24. andybeau

    andybeau Forum Resident

    Location:
    Coventry, UK
  25. JPagan

    JPagan Generation 13

    Location:
    South Florida
    He just said on Colbert's show that he's doing another one.
     
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