It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
That's close to what Ellis is doing with Eidolon.
I can relate to that.
I went through it two times already. First with the transition from Dalton to Brosnan and then again from Brosnan to Craig.
Brosnan made it easy though. As soon as I saw that PTS of GE I was 100% convinced and a huge fan.
You'll see that once a new actor is established, Craig will fast become just one of the others and be in the same position that Brosnan now is in.
I don't believe the next guy will have problems convincing you. What is more important is the movie itself, the direction, the story, the overall impression. If it is something of the calibre of TLD, GE or CR it'll be all good, no matter who plays Bond.
*sigh*
@Gustav_Graves, you once again misinterpret our stance. It's not a matter of copying Marvel, it's taking that one idea of an organization inside another organization which is a narrative angle present in tons of films (Marvel/Disney have no ownership of it) and giving it a Bond spin. Just because you're doing a romance during a war period doesn't mean you're ripping off Casablanca, just like it's not ripping off to play with an organization inside an organization, which has a narrative tradition and is the best way to drum up suspense and tension. Not to mention that we've yet to see it in Bond.
It's an infinitely better approach than what we've got, and I don't think many would disagree that SPECTRE and Blofeld's reintroduction was badly timed. I am certain most would prefer the organization and Blofeld being introduced with a new actor in a new timeline where, like in Connery's era, SPECTRE was gradually revealed over time as a highly connected conspiracy that had the world by the throat as opposed to the organization and Blofeld being rushed, used up and retconned into the Craig era. Some of it works fine, but some of it is also sloppy and it could've been done much better. It's not to say EON had an easy go of it, as it's a hard thing to manage, I just think the execution could've been improved.
The issue so many have with parts of SP is that the fixes that would make it so much better are easy to see and would be easy to alter, so they are bemused why some of what is in the finished film was executed in a specific way that doesn't feel right. And I agree with some of their complaints.
It would've been easy and endlessly brilliant to see Bond affected by his torture instead of him having a superman moment afterward with his sharpened aim. It would've been great to see the finale take place in SPECTRE's HQ as opposed to London where Bond has to face off with the agents and Blofeld before Nine Eyes goes live, with Hinx coming back into the fray to fight him one last time to the death as the place erupts in chaos. And of course there's the off screen stuff, like the reckless spending on "action" for so little in return that EON let Mendes and co. run with. Millions flushed down the toilet for an explosion (GUINNESS WORLD RECORD woooo!) that most thought was CGI anyway, and that has no impact at all in a cinematic environment full of action films where objects explode when a hero flicks them with their finger.
Explosions mean nothing any more, and when we tell EON we want to see things done "for real," we mean stunts, not explosions. Anybody can wire a few tanks of gasoline and C4 to blow, but what Bond used to do better than anyone was real stunts with real stakes that took painstaking planning and skill to perform safely. We've gone from the ski jump in TSWLM and some of the best chases in cinema to what...boring explosions that win Guinness Records? Come on, now. Bond should aspire to much more and reclaim the throne he used to have for stuntwork.
I can have my fill of some of the SP dissenters at times, but some of their complaints go beyond nitpicking and do hold weight. I know you'll just see this post as me stepping on EON's toes and blockading their creative development and blah, blah, blah, but there are clear issues here that are apparent to see, and some of what occurred while shooting SP doesn't represent the best of Bond, or what Bond should be. It's not about blowing things up for awards and acting overjoyed at reckless spending, it's about crafting artful films with innovative use of visuals, sound and stunts that show the other franchises out there how it's done.
I saw 91 new comments and knew instantly that was too many to indicate actual news. ;)
But just enough to indicate a detour discussion on Daniel Craig's singing abilities apparently...
perhaps the upside of recasting those roles, getting some not as high profile actors/actresses for the role, thus limiting their screen time, and thus not having to spend some of the ol' production budget on the supporting cast at MI6...
but be that as it may, i really like the current group we got, and i would like to see them continue on post Craig - especially Wishaw and Fiennes.
EDIT: then again, Fiennes is really the only real high profile name of them..
They could still limit Fiennes screen time, sure maybe letting him keep an important role butonce in a while less screen time. Judy Dench as legendary as she was she still had her films where her screen time was reduced to one scene or two.
The only films which gave her much more screen time were Skyfall and The World is not enough. But still she never had as much importance to get the Villian as Ralph did in Skyfall or Spectre.
We don't have to change the supporting cast so we can go back to the old days, they would just need to agree to appear in less scenes.
I mean, it's always a good idea and I would have loved to see something similar to The Winter Soldier in the Bond film series, but that ship has sailed and dare I say with failures in due. The scenario shouldn't be addressed for at least 20 years.
Just reading this makes me realize how ridiculously refreshing a good old-fashioned, straightforward mission with no drama on the homefront would be. One can dream.
Curiously the 'everyone's entitled to their opinion' crew are nowhere to be seen.
Christ this guy is inane.
Superlative post Sir. The difference between a respected member and an irritating clown has never been so stark.
Very true. And I have been amongst the defenders of SP on here. I enjoyed it.
It's just that the Craig era promised so much more. I was anticipating originality because Craigs interpretation allowed a less cliched take on the series, but Mendes films are laden with tired cliches that weigh the films down.
SP was definitley not a low point for me though. Personally speaking I thought it was an improvement on SF.
100% spot on but how come they did not know this before they made SP rather than creating a perfect example of blowing things up for awards etc etc.
Mendes is a clever guy, he really does know about how good movies are made. What was he thinking?
Bond quits?
Throwing his gun away I guess is symbolic of him leaving his life as an assassin. Dialogue between Bond and Madeleine in the film centres on his choice of having or not having to live the life he currently leads, which parallels the dialogue between Bond and Vesper in CR.
I like that idea. Something low-key with maybe just one or two locations outside London. Give the film a chance to well utilize the exotic settings. I'd love for a new Bond film to capture the feel and tone of DR NO.
I always thought the short story of the Hildebrand Rarity could be utlized the same way the short story of the living daylights.. and with Bond "retired" wait
How about this Spectre Frame Bond for the murder of a big time researcher (essentially Miltion Krest but not using his name as it was already in Licence to Kill) and Bond has to solve the murder clear his name and stop Spectre.
I would watch it.
A DN type film, while likely to be critically acclaimed, is unlikely to set the global box office on fire, although it could do well in certain select markets.
EON will have to make a strategic decision soon on what direction it wants to take with this franchise going forward and that will likely be part of the pitch and discussions with the new studio.
I think if marketed as a traditional Bond film is, then a low key DR NO type Bond would be easily as successful. Especially if the main location chosen was used to it's advantage much like Jamaica in DN and Nassau in TB. Nassau in TB is so iconic , it's no wonder 5 decades later fans still travel there to find the various beaches and locations. I'd love for future films to go back to have one to two main locales for 007 on his assignment. I always think of FRWL first when I think of Istanbul- not TWINE.
I was more referring to the other elements of DN - at its core it was a low key espionage thriller. Even though I personally really like that about the film, I'm not sure if that will work on a global level these days. Given the cultures that Bond films appeal to, the personal element (like in SF/SP) may now be more of a requirement to forge an emotional connection with the audience, much as I don't like it.
Story is king.
I think style-wise the biggest difference between the early 60s Connery films and pretty much all the later Brosnan plus entries is as Felix Leiter might say a "sense of adventure". Some of the newer Bonds sacrifice adventure for action- if that makes sense. Then a personal element is thrown in to make the film seems more prestigious than it is.
I do feel as though the-this time it's personal- elements are often sloppily forced to appeal to the audience. Whereas a Bond film like DR NO or FRWL has every element needed to tell the story naturally.
In a way, that sense of mystery and 'detached' adventure that you mention came 'right back front and centre' for me during the Shanghai sequence in SF, which is why it's my favourite part of an excellent film (it was such a standout in the theatre).
Bond on his own, snooping about and tracking Patrice in an 'exotic' setting filmed beautifully.
In Connery's day they would have immersed us more in the location and it would have gone on for a few days as he gets closer to his quarry (as happened in Jamaica in DN and Istanbul in FRWL), but these days they tend to make it more atmospheric (almost like a music video). Come to think of it, they did a pretty good job of it in Vienna/Bratislava in TLD as well, with Saunders standing in for Felix to an extent.
I really liked the China sequence and wish they had lingered there longer in SF.
Arguably. Possibly, if the filmmakers intended to ridicule Craig´s Bond, having him quit just after he enthusiastically confirmed to the new M he´s ready for work with pleasure. I mean, lack of continuity is one thing, but this is just pure insanity.
The funny thing is, the over-the-top-nonstop-action phase of Bond films seems to be over, leaving lots of space for thrill and tension, which however is not implemented.
The route needs to be very specific "surgical" use of great stunts (with subtle CGI if required) that put our hero at great risk and exploit the emotional connection that the audience has with the hero. Cruise's Atlas stunt , for me, has far more impact and integrity than a whole city being wiped out by a big wave or a villian's complex being blown up and fans still talk about the final set piece in TLD with great respect. I'm conviced this has to be the way forward with Bond and they are in big trouble if they just continue down the road of bigger and bigger explosions (CGI or real).