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With respect to SP, as far as I'm aware, Craig wanted to make a more traditional style Bond film. At least that is what I remember reading way back when. That they were going to 'go big' and 'bring back the irony' etc. Script problems aside, perhaps with such a goal, Mendes wasn't the right person to hold out for. Maybe SP was always calling out for a more traditional action based director. Having said that, to some degree I think he saved the film with his flourishes despite the negative impact on pacing, because the script is so poor that one almost needs to be distracted by Kubrickian and other visual touches. So maybe SP is a 'Mendes film framed, or hiding within a Bond film'?
I had forgotten that Forster did WWZ. I quite enjoyed that film, but as you said, it came afterwards. You have confirmed my suspicion that QoS was quite different to anything he'd done previously.
So let's see what Boyle comes up with. Chances are it will be more a SF style endeavour - meaning a 'Bond film framed within a Boyle film', given he has apparently had this 'idea' percolating for quite some time like Mendes did for SF.
I personally don't think he was. I think he spent his creative powers on SF... According to the leaks, he was ready to bolt the production altogether...
But, if I was the producer of a billion dollar film, I'd do what EoN, MGM and Sony did: put the band back together.
And I agree: he partially saved the mess (that he was a part of; forcing and shoe-horning the past to the present), via beautiful visuals... But this was also a problem: his pacing was terrible... He kept SF moving forward (to the lodge), because there was an End Game", but;
SP was composed of very long scenes (some exceptional, others not so (9eyes))... that led to a tacked on and very weak Third Act...
Re: Boyle: I'd swing more to Forster than Mendes-- I have no idea what his Bond will look like, other than Boyle is consistently kinetic and high energy (not something that could be said of Forster's pre-QoS)... As I said somewhere else, whether I like B25 or not, I know I wont be bored.
I agree. I can’t understand why so many people are against showcasing Bond’s past on screen. I’d like to atleast hear about him getting kicked out of Eton because of the incident with the maid for example. I’d love to see films of him in the war. John Pearson wrote some wonderful bits regarding this in his Bond biography. It might not be a good idea to go so far back as having Bond as a teenager on screen but I’d love to see him as an adult in the war and then getting recruited into the service. I see nothing wrong with this. I definitely think there should be some dialogue regarding Bond's time at Eton though.
What I am sick of is villains having personal connections to Bond or M...although overall I do really like Skyfall. Yes, Spectre was a sloppy mess though. There were some good scenes but overall it wasn’t the best.
I agree. storytelling is paramount to what Boyle does. he (nearly) always has a compelling narrative at the heart of his films.
I know the young Bond books are meant to actually be pretty good, but I just don't see the appeal in seeing Bond's teenage years, and mentioning it in dialogue could just feel very forced (did Fleming ever even mention it outside of the obituary?). I think the whole "not coming from money" bit in CR is all we need, nothing more heavy handed than that. Something I really don't like about the Mendes movies is how Bond being 007 has been made out to be some sort of childhood destiny and I really hope we don't get any stories linking back to there again.
I also don't want to actually see him get recruited because part of the appeal of Bond to me is that he's always been there fully formed, don't think we need an origin story. I wouldn't mind a story that drew on his time in the Navy or whatever he was though (Royal Marines then SBS seems most likely? Him being a Commander just seems a bit outdated imo).
I don't think it'd work and that isn't a knock on Craig, it looked weird on Brosnan too.
Him being ex Navy worked originally because of the World War 2 background, where he was just a "chocolate sailor" and was really a spy from the off. But now it just feels a bit dated imo, going from Navy officer to the black ops assassins that the 00s are written as in the Craig movies doesn't seem like a natural progression at all. I think special forces is more likely and if they wanted to clarify it then I'd go Royal Marines then SBS, because at least then there's still a link to his RN roots but it's given a more modern spin.
I thought Connery was believeable in the uniform but Roger wore it best. He just has the vibe of an old school officer about him. Can't describe it, it's probably down to how well presented and dignified he is, but I get the vibe even even with just the way he stands and moves. And you really believe it when he leads the rest of them into battle in TSWLM. When I think Commander Bond I think Roger Moore. It might be to do with him (correct me if I'm wrong) being the only one with military experience because I think he did mandatory service in the army.
While I don't think Brosnan looked weird in the uniform, the Royal Navy connection definitely feels outdated, as I'd imagine Bond (or any black ops operative for the matter) today won't be drafted from RNVR to a special operations branch to carry out the work of a soldier-spy. Royal Marines would fit in better, but I also think, in order to keep tabs with the Navy, Special Boat Service would work too as an update. Perhaps Bond is SBS's liaison in the Royal Navy, so that'd be a great explanation to the compromise.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/apr/09/olivier-awards-2018-best-quotes
I think Sam Mendes's return is pretty much ruled out (I watched a few beats from Spectre on ITV2 last night and was reminded how boring it was). I think the francise needs someone like Danny Boyle.
However, we need someone like Jez Butterworth to do the script. He only ever polished the Mendes films and never got to really flout his talent.
John Hodge's writing credentials worry me. He's a great at witty black comedy. But can he write more sincere serious-minded stuff that Craig has grown accustomed to.
I think out of Danny's previous writers, Simon Beaufoy is most suited to the job.
IMDB lists John Hodge and Joe Ahearne as having worked on the screenplay.
"I can't believe Bond got high and cut his own arm off to escape the villain's lair..."
Obviously it’s a dismal idea but in the absence of news or any good ideas I think it’s worth flogging this one to death for a couple of pages.
Wasn't Connery in the Navy also? Maybe that's why they carry themselves well in the uniform. Agreed though, Craig (and Dalton for that matter), have more of that loner assassin vibe about them. Which actually ticks me off when I think about how many times Craig goes rogue. A military man wouldn't be so dissident in disobeying orders so frequently. Hopefully for B25 it's for Queen and Country no matter what the circumstances.
Nobody does it better!
I think it's important that the film makers avoid putting Craig in further situations which will remind viewers of his predecessors. From my perspective at least, that was a major issue in SP. Whenever I saw him in scenarios which reminded me of prior entries, he came up short. That includes the opening office scene as well as the gags in the Aston. To be frank, the same thing happened when I saw Brosnan in the uniform in TND.
If I were them, I'd try to put him in new unique situations rather than just shoehorn him into clothing to evoke something from before.
The naval uniform would have been best used in 2017 (1967, 1977, 1997, 2017) to accommodate tradition.
It's not like they're going to drip feed key information from now until its release date. We're bound to have months and months of awaiting crucial info until production begins.