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-Nice new touches here and there in the PCS. Now Sciarra notices Bond from his room when lighting a cigarette revealing the laser of Bond's lasergun for example, instead of almost by accident.
-The secret meeting in Rome: Fewer seats around the table, and changed to classic Spectre. Think TB, where people are reporting in. Much better dialogue in this scene.
-The scene with Mr. White has been changed a lot. Mr. White is in a weaker condition than the first script and now only has "weeks to live" due to poisoning. In the final script Bond offers his gun as a sign of trust. Mr. White then shoots himself. But in the earlier script Mr. White is first pointing the gun at Bond saying "you've cost me a lot of pain." There is a sense of danger, which is removed from the final script. I liked the first version better.
-The final script has a better and tighter third act.
-There's still a long dinner scene. I still don't buy into the whole "we are related"-scheme. It feels forced.
- The white persian cat from the first script is gone. So is Irma - the female henchwoman.
-The lair's solar furnace is gone, which I think is a shame. Q isn't kidnapped, and having Bond escape with Madeleine instead is probably the smarter choice. Oberhauser doesn't leave his lair in a helicopter but is injured by Bond's exploding watch and has half his face burned (can't wait to see this). The audience is suppose to believe that Oberhauser doesn't come out alive when Bond causes the fuel tanks to explode. Good touch.
-The final scenes in London have been changed a lot:
-Bond confronts C in his office and deals with him. This scene plays out very much like the very first scene - the PCS - of Casino Royale. I liked the new dialogue.
-Oberhauser is made a "larger" character who literally hides more in the shadows. He is also less psychotic (shame really, because Waltz is good at this). And in the final script he survives.
-The final action setpiece involving a RIB down the Thames chasing the helicopter: Much better than the previous one in the MI6 building
-In the final script the MI6 building is blown up. There's now a countdown, like some studio executives suggested,
End spoiler
So...
If they stay away from shaky-cam, Newman cooks up a good score, and they stay true to this script, this may very well be my favorite James Bond film in this century. It is going to be visually fantastic and luckily the action spectacle is on a larger scale than in SF. I'm especially looking forward to the carchase in Rome, and the snowplane chase in Austria.
The gadgets are also back. So is the gunbarrel and ending with Bond driving away with the girl. It has "classic" written all over it.
Well, we know many things we should not know, but we still don't know many, many things...
All the stuff about SPECTRE being a two-movie arc in Logan's mind works IMO nicely with the "Craig contracted until Bond 25" part of the equation (and we don't really know if it's true). And frankly IMO this movie does look like two movies crammed into one : see how the SPECTRE - the organization - arc in this movie is dealt with in a few minutes : we discover it surrounded with mystery at first, but once we see it in full action, we're already in the middle of the third act, a few minutes before its demise that happens mostly off-screen.
Another hint of the "two-movies into one" aspect is the budget. You can see all the cut asked by Sony now make Ernst' lair far less impressive on screen : a few sets imagined by Logan won't be built... And the third act will rely a lot on Chris Corbould's miniatures, this is CR's sinking house once again it seems !
About Craig's Bond quitting. Well it happened already at the beginning of Skyfall : it "only" took some images of MI6 HQ exploding to have him reporting for duties :)
Why not? We've already technically had 5 in the films; Lee, Brown, Dench (x2 since its beyond obvious she's been two different M's) and now Fiennes. We've also had 2 Moneypenny's, three Q's and one jokingly referred to as R.
Don't really think it matters anymore at this point but that's just me.
once Craig's run is done.. they'll carry on, business as usual - probably in a similar style, seeing as how this route has worked for them both creatively and financially since CR.... i don't feel as though Craig's era will be this sequestered storyline from the franchise, that will never be touched on again... i think who ever carries on after, will no doubt also have to deal with SPECTRE in future films, but i think subtle nods could always be made to the previous films - much like the way they did in the films after Connery left the role... rebooting timelines with each new actor (considering they really only play the role for 10 years on average) is not wise... lets have another 30 years of continuity before we discuss another reboot :)
Thanks @Suivez. I was also thinking about how much time could have been saved (in a 2.5 hr movie) by not having to introduce a new character ('C') and potentially concoct the Nine Eyes scenario if Fiennes had just said yes to being a baddie. They could have just moved into it rather than having to establish 'C' in the film. Additionally, Nine Eyes may not have been necessary - they could have just worked within the scenario of MI6 being infiltrated directly with M. So time could have been devoted on film to other characters and issues. I am sure this had a significant impact on them.
In terms of the 2 story arc, it's also apparent that they had ideas that would have worked better in a 2 movie scenario, including Bunt's character and perhaps Ms. Sciarra's. Now they have been forced to cram everything into one movie, drop some important characters from the Blofeld universe, like Bunt, and of course, as has been mentioned, the budget is also compressed because everything has to fit into one. That's a shame, and it's unfortunate that Mendes made this occur with his insistence on only doing one. He was the one who also forced the extra year delay so he has some answering for.
From what I've been reading, this movie looks like it will really have the Bondian feel, which I'm very excited for. Some very nice touches and refinements. I would have preferred the two movie arc though, because I think it would have made for a much better integrated story, built more excitment for B25 & maybe resulted in B25 arriving sooner than it otherwise will now. Moreover, we likely wouldn't be left with this somewhat unresolved ending that everyone is speculating about.
I've always liked it, anyone thinking they'd do it like the book must of been off their rocker. Much better than the Raiders lite sequence in Miami and so much more inventive than a sequence that is a pale retread of one the legendary sequences of the greatest action adventure film of all time.
I agree. This has the same forced stench as John "Robin" Blake from The Dark Knight Rises. Hopefully it's just a typo.
It's things like this that are so basic and completely avoidable that can save a lot of time. So many people harp on about more time between movies will make for a better film and often cite the CR/QoS gap release as an example which I think is bs. More time doesn't mean better movie. If everybody was on the same page from the start there'd be less creative problems to deal with. I just hope the producers have learned something from this whole spectre pre production and that includes the hiring of a director. EON should have a clear idea or at least a circumstantial plan in going forward in terms of who's directing Bond 25 so we don't have to wait around an extra year for a director to get his/her ducks in line. If Mendes doesn't want to come back for Bond 25 then leave him and get someone else capable of doing the job but something tells me he'll be back for Bond 25.
Thanks for the breakdown. I share a lot of the same concerns. It does appear this film, will be an exciting colourful Bond spectacle. Probably the best of the Craig films, although I am not a fan of any of the preceding, so for me that's not saying a whole lot.
My big objection with the first three Craig films, is not so much him, but all the insufferable personal drama.
It does seen Danny boy will still have some issues, but it does seem they may be toned down to bearable levels, and we will get much more of Bond with mojo fully intact.
This is a very good thing indeed!!!!
What they are trying to with the Ernst reveal looks very dodgy. I will reserve judgement though.
Bond quitting at the end, is just more DC-era gratuitous drama. Yawn.
Granted, it may tie-in with the Swann relatiionship, but still, this is fiction. The films don't need to be crafted this way.
I also am very leery of the foster-brothers nonsense. Again more gratuitous personal drama. Double yawn.
re Casino Royale sinkinghouse. I have no issues with that scene.
The Bond-Vesper relationship was so far removed from the spirit of the Fleming novel, that I really didn't care how it finished up in the movie. The sinking house made for a strong action-set piece to finish up with. No issues there.
My big problem with CR, was the absurdity of making Fleming's novel a not-needed origins drama. If Bond had simply been introduced as young 00 agent on assignment (as the book did) we could have been spared all the interminable M-Bond trust drama that dragged out over two whole films. Still gives me a headache. Poor tortured Bond.
But, on cheery note, SP holds promise of being a good entertaining Bond romp, with plenty of Bond being Bond, despite the parts I am sure I won't like. :)
I do like the way scenarios from previous films are being re-envisioned. After 53 years and 24 films, I don't think that's the worst thing.
I do like, that the clinic mirrors Piz Gloria. That should be real entertaining.
The dinner scene is homage to DN. Good stuff.
Jinx as Jaws. I am down with that. And yes, he's probably not emphatically killed either.
Could be coming back. Good!
And even though Spectre seems a little off here, this is essentially Spectre origins film.
There is still potential for fully realized Blofeld, white cat and a powerful Spectre reimagining in future films.
It is encouraging, that both Bunt and cat were included in early drafts. These characters could still be revisited down the road.
Give this movie a strong score and it could be quite the colourful ride. And we've got top notch featured Bond girls. Plus a couple of bonus 3rd tier girls, just like the old days.
Pts looks real good. Bond with comely female agent on mission. Very good!
I am glad for these leaks. I now know there will at least be a lot of stuff I am going to lap up.
Otherwise, I'd be breaking out in cold sweats at night haunted by visions of Spectre's return being wasted on more drama. shudder.
Well, remember that with Lea Seydoux and even with Monica Belluci, who's famous here too, French media will follow SPECTRE a lot : Seydoux is already on the "2015 list" here... And well, a few weeks ago, in a middle of an afternoon radio show, the host said about SPECTRE : "the villain will be the foster brother of Bond", in a WTF? tone. About already one million people here has heard this, and it wasn't said in the best of tone...
About reading a script vs seeing a movie, imagine reading the script of Skyfall. You could have though the "Silva wants to eat Bond" dialog was super weird, but Bardem managed to pull it off very nicely. Or, you could have wondered if Bond's parents grave appearance was a bit forced ? In the end, you see it only 4 seconds. Or, well, you'd have read Judi Dench's M facing henchmen and shooting at them, and Kincade "kicking ass" in a Welcome to Scotland moment... There's still much room for direction and acting !
Yes, no mention of Quantum, and the "les Spectres de Pierre" mention has disappeared in the last leaked script, along with all the story of Ernst at the Foreign Legion, and why Mr White fear him a lot. And yes, much time is spent with C, who on script looks like a boring and predictable character.
IMO, Seydoux has a lot of pressure on her shoulders as her role is quite important (she basically doesn't leave the screen once she appears, does she ?), but Scott has to deal IMO with a caricature of a role. Not easy either. At all.
not sure what you read, if anything...
but the foster brother angle may be a bit gimmicky - but the way it's revealed in the script (at least the draft i read) was actually well done.. Waltz dialog during the reveal (imo) was excellent, and it really creates a tense moment, as you can feel Bond starting realize and connect the dots in his head.
I didn't read much. Because I don't want to spoil the whole film but it's just that one part feels so hamfisted and cliche that it makes me fear that it will be headed toward DAD territory. I don't mind over the top Bond but making his arch nemesis related to him when Fleming's Bond never had that feels so derivative.