James Bond 25 - Speculation and Anticipation Thread*

I think the more serious the better. In the 70's, the franchise had become Austin Powers without the laughs.

 

Dr. No and From Russia With Love get the tone right.
A perfect balance of seriousness and humor, no agenda, no PC-ness.

This.

James Bond was never intended to be like Austin Powers.
That was the negative influence of TSWLM, an entire generation growing
up thinking James Bond was farce, slapstick and the original Austin Powers.
Wrong.

 

All downhill from Goldfinger, eh? It's cause Bond criticized the Beatles in that one, no doubt.

 

Farce? Slapstick? These words describe Moonraker far better than The Spy Who Loved Me.

 

I wasn't a fan of them making him much more comedic in Moonraker. I get he was a character that gained a lot of younger fans but they played him up way too much with slapstick in Moonraker it kind of ruins the character for me.

 

Just my view of course.....

Jaws marked the beginning of Bond films openly copying other films - the very name obviously a nod to the 1975 Spielberg classic plus having him bite a shark - wow !!

The towering figure of Richard Kiel was indeed menacing (remember him as that alien in 'The Twilight Zone' ?) and the poor victim in the phone booth bit in TSWLM was decent enough but it all goes OTT from there - the train fight scene then copies both FRWL with Grant and LALD with Hookman only two films back - Craig copies it again in SPECTRE !

so not only were they openly re-hashing earlier Bond films ideas but also saluting other films by TSWLM, another scene has a snatch of 'The Big Country' theme and 'Lawrence of Arabia' etc....

while Jaws being indestructable was rather too silly as was the idea of M and Gen Gogel suddenly being together etc

also is it credible such a vast underwater base could escape detection ? - even the bases in earlier increasingly far fetched Bond films attempted some level of perhaps dubious credibility re a base hidden inside a dormant or extinct volcano (!) or in a mine / voodoo fevered poppy fields in Jamaica or inside a reclusive millionaire's kingdom and on an oil platform or on a private lsland etc

TSWLM marks a few downward spirals and warning signs for the Bond series but was of it's time and it's spectacular chases and stunts plus Roger Moore's charm made it work on a entertainment level - a fine escapist film for sunday or holiday afternoons

I never felt Curt Jurgens was evil enough as the main foe Stromberg either which coming after Yapete Kotto and Christopher Lee marked a worrying downturn re 'evil' and credible Bond villains which would become an all too familiar weakness in the series thereafter despite a few notable stronger exceptions like Christopher Walken, Robert Davi, the German Max Largo in NSNA, and Le Chiffre in CR

that guy doing the Roman Polanski impersonation in Quantum of Solace and old 'Cuckoo' in SPECTRE mark an all time low utter ineptness of menacing decent evil Bond chief foe for me...!

Moonraker with a salute to 'Close Encounters' re the identical musical coded key and 'Star Wars' re the laser zappy space battle..... really turned Jaws into a comedic joke even dressing him up as a member of the then popular TV family The Waltons !

he finally finds his true love up on a space station...to the love theme from 'Romeo and Juliet', with the last unbroken bottle...and two glasses

only one scene - the approaching Mardi Gras dressed up towering figure of him in the alley - worked well I felt, while the cable car fight was o.k. despite Rog's silly grinning...as for him flapping his arms like wings as he falls through the air....and biting through the car's cable, plus his look as the speedboat wheel comes off in his hand - well it's sheer infantile slapstick

trouble is bits of this farcical approach (which actually debuted in Diamonds Are Forever just pre-Rog) echo later, especially in Diet Another Day and some think it's HOW Bond should be done and elements of at least copying other films or film styles has stuck to the Bond film series later

- this also applies to iconic TV shows such as The Avengers, Doctor Who and The Man From UNCLE each of which went down the increasingly comedic route in the sixties or seventies with some fans thinking that WAS the style of each but tellingly NONE began like that or built their fame and status playing it for cheap silly laughs but as quite serious if humoured in places essentially straight played productions crucially each setting their own distinct style not copying others for a quick laugh

ironic but in many ways the most absurdly far fetched show of all back then - Mission; Impossible - with made up country names like Logosia, St Cleve, Cheguale etc (what planet were they on ?) - and both Martin Landau / Leonard Nimoy putting on rubber masks making them taller, shorter, fatter etc and 'becoming' another actor - worked as the carefully written show was always played 100% mega serious and straight throughout

 

I cannot disagree with you here and I would go so far as to say From Russia With Love is arguably the best Bond film ever. However, it is very much of its time and rightly or wrongly would be made very differently today.
I have mixed emotions about Bond on the big screen. The Fleming novels were departed from very early on, and a lot of the material in them would just not be suitable for putting on film in this day and age, some of it even back then.
Sean Connery is the iconic Bond and set the gold standard for the movie portrayal but even then it was a departure from Fleming's character in the novels. In the novels Bond is a much less self-assured character and has doubts about his own abilities and anxieties about what he does. He of course is very good at what he does though and when he actually gets into action doesn't mess around.
When I read the Fleming novels though it is Connery who I have in my minds eye. Whereas Fleming was essentially writing about himself, or who he wished he could have been.

Unfortunately I just cannot get on with George Lazenby and for me OHMSS is fatally flawed by his presence. Which is a shame as the film itself looks great, there is a great support cast and a great story. If Connery had played the role then this could well usurp FRWL as the best Bond film.

Roger Moore was in the role when I first started to watch Bond movies, so really he is 'my Bond' pretty much like Tom Baker is 'my Dr. Who'. Going to see the latest Bond movie was a family event back then and this is what Bond movies were turned into, for better or worse, family films. They were very enjoyable, got plenty of bums on seats and made a lot of money. It was only when I started to see some of the early Connery films at Christmas and started to read the Fleming novels when I realized how far away from the source material they were going.
Moore, by his own admission, stayed on too long and by the end had become a parody of a parody.

Timothy Dalton whilst much closer to Fleming's original intentions just didn't have the charisma of Connery or Moore, IMHO, and so was a bit of a boring Bond for me. Also the world was just not really ready for a more serious Bond and to be frank I had stopped even considering a Bond film as worthy for a trip to the cinema anymore.

Pierce Brosnan then came on board and I really enjoyed Goldeneye, on home video I still wasn't going to the cinema for Bond, but it was a law of very quickly diminishing returns for the rest of his reign and whilst he for sure has charisma and charm and played the role well he wasn't best served by the films themselves.

And so onto Daniel Craig... who kind of encapsulates everything I feel about Bond on the big screen. Some of it is great and some of it just isn't what I would personally want from a Bond film.

I really enjoyed Casino Royale, clearly influenced by the Bourne movies but that was no bad thing. Here we have a Bond back to basics, no invisible cars or smirking wise cracks. We have a Bond who harks back to the novels, showing fear, uncertainty and ruthless when needed. We also get a great leading lady and a memorable villain. Craig was physically more than up for the role and IMHO is a very good actor and whilst he doesn't have the charisma and charm of Connery (but then again who does) he did well for me. This was the first Bond film I had been to the cinema to see since Roger Moore days and reignited by interest in the franchise.

Then in my opinion the studio dropped the ball, Quantum of Solace is 'meh' which is not what I would expect from a Bond film. I enjoyed Skyfall but we had to wait so long for it and there were little things about it that annoyed me such as why not start with the gun barrel sequence and the Bond theme? But the film itself I enjoyed and it was nice to have Moneypenny and Q back.

As for Spectre, well after waiting ages again for this to hit the cinemas I can only say I was underwhelmed and frustrated at what for me was a big missed opportunity. Here was the time to get Bond back into his role, as a man on a mission. At first it looked like we were on track, the gun barrel sequence is back!! We get a great intro before the opening song, which is where it starts go downhill with one of the worst Bond movie songs ever.
This should have been where we get the meeting with M and the setup for the next mission, some banter with Miss Moneypenny and then Bond is off on his assignment. But instead the story quickly starts disappearing up it's own backside and we get wasted opportunity after wasted opportunity.

I don't know how involved with any of this Craig was in his role of Exec Producer but for sure there was for me a failure in the script writing itself and the direction they were sending the character and his story.

So whilst I like Craig in the role and two of the films I did enjoy it is a very much a mixed bag as much of Bond's cinematic life has been.

What is clear though, despite how I might feel, Bond still has an audience out there. The Craig films have been phenomenally successful and as such it is hard to imagine much change in approach until the first relative box office failure.

I wait with no real sense of anticipation or trepidation for the latest installment. It will be what it will be and would be nice to give Craig a good send off, but given Bond's track record in the movies I fear we will be in for more of the 'mixed bag'...

Apologies for the long and rambling post but I felt I wanted to try and capture my thoughts on Bond in the movies and get them down in writing.

 

Bond 26:
Will the cast be wearing masks in the film ?

 

This incorrect. There is consensus that the first and third movies are first rate, and the second and forth are a tier below.

 

Craig :Bond
I would give Casino Royale a 9/10
The rest either a 7/10 or 7.5.

 

The great question of all 2020 (and beyond?) media set in "the real world": depict our current plague-ridden reality or stick to the fantasy of film?

The answer is rather obvious but it's an interesting concept.

 

It speaks volumes about the sad PC times we're living.

From Russia With Love was perfection in 1963 and is perfection in 2020.

 

Probably not. It will likely take them a few years to start production on the next one so who knows what will be the go with COVID in 2-3 years when the next one would likely be ready to start production. Bare in mind they are also going to have to cast a new Bond as well.

 

I must admit I never agree with the line; 'had Connery done OHMSS it would have been the best' etc

somehow I can never envisage Connery in OHMSS at all - even tho' Lazenby is portraying a slightly younger version of the same basic cinematic version of the character - and even dons a kilt !

to me OHMSS is totally Lazenby's film just as 'Goldfinger' was Connery's, 'Live And Let Die' was Moore's, 'Licence To Kill' was Dalton's, 'Goldeneye' was Brosnan's and 'Casino Royale' was Craig's - for me those six films completely belong to each Bond actor and I can't see any of the others doing those films

no way could I imagine Connery's Bond actually really falling in love and seriously feeling he'd have to find some other job to do

whilst OHMSS is set two years after YOLT re the hunt for Blofeld it's just a very different feel to the film (Connery was rather going through the motions in YOLT a bit on 'auto pilot' and clearly getting bored with the role and it's trappings compared to his first four Bond films) and a big factor between the two films is YOLT is a Roald Dahl all modern spacey literally OTT tale complete with a secret base....and OHMSS is Ian Fleming with a far more realistic germ warfare credible threat (even with Britain's actual 1967 foot and mouth plague suitably referenced as being Blofeld's work)

the problem re the male model Lazenby (giving a fair effort considering he wasn't really an actor ) besides looking maybe a bit too young and at times rather wooden in lengthy dialogue scenes - was he was a totally unknown new face suddenly here AS BOND - then suddenly he was gone again...pretty much back to being unknown so for Bond fans it was something of a massive let down and with the unexpected return of Connery it looked like Lazenby must have flopped - tho' Cubby and Harry wanted him and the film did o.k. in Britain and elsewhere tho' it's American marketing was ruined when Lazenby incredibly on the 'shrewd' advice of Ronan O'Rahily duly walked from the role to Johnny Carson's, Harry and Cubby's amazement !

Some Bond fans felt cheated and never forgave Lazenby for letting them down - Cubby had tried to tell him he needed at least three Bond films to establish himself in the role and properly register with the public as the 'face' of Bond mark 2

Lazenby was unlucky in that he had the one Bond film with a sad ending - per Fleming who saw fit to do so - which even tho' he played the final scene well probably for some did him few favors (a guy I knew was miffed at Lazenby's Bond just 'crying' at the end - instead of blasting back ! ) and had he continued our seeing his Bond avenge Tracy's murder at the opening of the next film would have looked better, also Lazenby would presumably have during a longer run got better as he settled into the role (as Connery and Moore both did despite Rog having to veer between tougher and lighter Bonds in his run) and also with proper actor training Lazenby would likely have shown an improvement re the longer scenes

so I do suspect his inexperience as an actor, the sheer briefness of Lazenby as Bond without him ever having the run to really register with us as a second cinema incarnation of the character plus having to be rather 'Connery-ish' in places as then that WAS the cinema Bond unlike for Rog, Tim, Pierce, Daniel later on who could play 'their' Bonds respectively duly counted against George Lazenby and bearing those factors in mind overall as Sean Connery once said of him;
'he had a fair crack at the role'

 

I just hope to be able to safely watch this new film at a movie theater once it's been released. I bet many people here miss that experience as well.

 

Aaaaaaaand... No Time to Die is gonna get pushed back to next year.

Release of new Bond film No Time To Die set to be pushed back AGAIN due to Covid

"Simply put, having 'No Time To Die' earning less than half a billion at the box office would be deemed a disaster - no matter the circumstances."

They are really screwed on all the blockbuster film releases this year.

 

perhaps they are re-filming it even more.....

NO TIME TO FLOP ??

 

that guy doing the Roman Polanski impersonation in Quantum of Solace and old 'Cuckoo' in SPECTRE mark an all time low utter ineptness of menacing decent evil Bond chief foe for me...!

he wasnt that bad but he did look like polanski

 

I must admit I never agree with the line; 'had Connery done OHMSS it would have been the best' etc

it would have been cool to see connery meet his match and fall in love.
Connery Bond movies never took place in cold weather.

 

This film has become a complete joke. If they hadn't taken so darn long to write and make the thing we could have had it a couple years ago and been done with the whole thing already.

At this point I don't even really care about it anymore. I've been a fan for 25 years and this is the first Bond movie that I can't get excited for. Numerous delays only cause people to grow tired.

 

Top 3 Bond Films
FRWL
OHMSS
CR Craig

 

Yeah
James Cameron should be nervous about his nine Avatar films that has been in production for seven years or something already. Who knows if they even will get a theatrical release, might go straight to streaming

 

Is this confirmed? UK's "The Sun" isn't the most reliable of papers.

 

The new Bond trailer looks good.
Seen it waiting for Tenet to come on.
Oh. WW84.. still dropped Blue Monday from trailer.

 

How was Tenet?