Quantum of Solace Appreciation Thread- We Found a Better Place to Meet

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  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    edited February 2016 Posts: 9,117
    Its blatantly because CR is regarded as a classic and is well remembered and SF was wildly popular and is still fresh in everyone's mind but QOS is largely forgotten by the public at large and these cretins are the lowest common denominator they have to aim at.

    The irony being of course is that QOS is, out of the 3 films, the one that should be tied most closely into SP.

    Le Chiffre and Silva largely just had stand alone plans and just saying they were working for SPECTRE is enough but with QOS there is the whole Quantum meeting at Tosca, Guy Haines, Mr White and how it all fits together in relation to SPECTRE.

    But I think they just took advantage of the fact that no one remembered QOS to just ignore it and hope that anyone who did vaguely remember would assume the shadowy organisation in QOS was SPECTRE.

    Much easier than writing a coherent explanation of what Quantum was and how it was taken over or morphed into SPECTRE.

    To be honest I wish they would just do a George Lucas and go back and edit any mention of Quantum in QOS and change it to SPECTRE and then whole retconning thing might just hold together.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Its blatantly because CR is regarded as a classic and is well remembered and SF was wildly popular and is still fresh in everyone's mind but QOS is largely forgotten by the public at large and these cretins are the lowest common denominator they have to aim at.

    The irony being of course is that QOS is, out of the 3 films, the one that should be tied most closely into SP.

    Le Chiffre and Silva largely just had stand alone plans and just saying they were working for SPECTRE is enough but with QOS there is the whole Quantum meeting at Tosca, Guy Haines, Mr White and how it all fits together in relation to SPECTRE.

    But I think they just took advantage of the fact that no one remembered QOS to just ignore it and hope that anyone who did vaguely remember would assume the shadowy organisation in QOS was SPECTRE.

    Much easier than writing a coherent explanation of what Quantum was and how it was taken over or morphed into SPECTRE.

    To be honest I wish they would just do a George Lucas and go back and edit any mention of Quantum in QOS and change it to SPECTRE and then whole retconning thing might just hold together.
    You're so right about this.

    I just watched QoS yesterday, and I think QUANTUM is only mentioned by name once. By Greene himself, in the desert.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,582
    AstonLotus wrote: »
    So....why didnt '' Oberhauser '' have any photos of Greene or Fields to hang up at MI6 along with the cast of the other Craig films at the climax of Spectre?

    It is a valid question. My guess is that the missionin QoS was more about Vesper: she was the point of pain there.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    To be honest I wish they would just do a George Lucas and go back and edit any mention of Quantum in QOS and change it to SPECTRE and then whole retconning thing might just hold together.
    Cue Darth Vader's "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
    The burden of proof lies with SP and QoS can't be held responsible for crimes committed against it in the future. Don't be a part of the cover-up Wiz.
  • Arnold's music for QoS is so damn good. So damn good. I wish Campbell had made him score CR the way Forster made him score QoS (from the script, and not from looking at the actual scenes). That CR score is low-tier in an otherwise brilliant film.

    Also, speaking of opera sequences, love both of them. If I remember right RN's is considerably longer, but I think they're equally brilliant. I'd give the nod to Bond because, well... it's Bond.
  • The end scene is just fantastic.
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    Yeah, the ending for QoS is actually really good.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    AstonLotus wrote: »
    So....why didnt '' Oberhauser '' have any photos of Greene or Fields to hang up at MI6 along with the cast of the other Craig films at the climax of Spectre?

    I'd like to think it isn't the case, but maybe EON are effectively trying to brush QoS under the rug as much as possible considering how slammed it gets ad nauseam by people who likely only bothered seeing it once or worse, didn't see it at all and went on word of mouth alone to convey their opinion.

    I'd be shocked if EoN were pulling such a stunt because a) it's unnecessary and b) QoS is a lot better than EoN probably realise and c) there are a number of films much worse than QoS in the series that EoN should really be ashamed of.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    I don't see any sweeping under the carpet. Your average viewer will remember Le Chiffre as having featured in CR (Vesper's death) and Silva's appearance in SF (M's death). These are the two moments that feed directly into the emotional thrust of SP (and before people start on about the whole thing not resonating, I get it, but that was the intent, whether it works is opinion).

    Greene doesn't have a substantial connection, he's distanced from these moments. The connective thread is about the emotional pain Oberhauser/ESB has been able to exert on Bond, not how the organisation works - this is the kind of guff we got with trade federations etc in the SW prequels. It's not a stretch to envisage Quantum being an arm of SP. I don't need to know if one became the other, how it happened, whether the shareholders struck lucky during a merger. It's totally irrelevant.

    It's retcon. It can never be seamless and no amount of exposition can undo what has been done. It's clear they wanted Quantum to be Spectre, Babs said as much, but shit happens. I personally think they did as decent a job as could be expected. No labouring over Quantum which is absolutely the right thing to do, but no dismissing them either. Quantum as an organisation have to feel small next to Spectre and that is translated in the movie.
  • AceHoleAceHole Belgium, via Britain
    Posts: 1,731
    AstonLotus wrote: »
    AceHole wrote: »
    Never understood the bad rap this got. True it's not as strong as CR (no others of the DC era have been), but it's focus, kinetic energy and score are excellent imo.
    The Tosca scene where Bond gets all the conspirators to stand up and be identified is one of the great modern 007 moments.[/quote]

    That scene didnt make the slightest bit of sense.Why hold a company meeting during the middle of an OPERA? They cant possibly communicate with all that loud music and there must be many different ways they can have a meeting without revealing each others identities like oh say.....online?

    Putting that aside just compare Qos' opera scene to the absolute masterclass of the opera sequence in Rogue Nation.THATS how you put together a suspenseful opera sequence in a spy movie.

    You watch Bond films and you take issue with the realism aspect of how the 'evil organisations' conduct their business...? Seriously?
  • edited February 2016 Posts: 4,325
    RC7 wrote: »
    I don't see any sweeping under the carpet. Your average viewer will remember Le Chiffre as having featured in CR (Vesper's death) and Silva's appearance in SF (M's death). These are the two moments that feed directly into the emotional thrust of SP (and before people start on about the whole thing not resonating, I get it, but that was the intent, whether it works is opinion).

    Greene doesn't have a substantial connection, he's distanced from these moments. The connective thread is about the emotional pain Oberhauser/ESB has been able to exert on Bond, not how the organisation works - this is the kind of guff we got with trade federations etc in the SW prequels. It's not a stretch to envisage Quantum being an arm of SP. I don't need to know if one became the other, how it happened, whether the shareholders struck lucky during a merger. It's totally irrelevant.

    It's retcon. It can never be seamless and no amount of exposition can undo what has been done. It's clear they wanted Quantum to be Spectre, Babs said as much, but shit happens. I personally think they did as decent a job as could be expected. No labouring over Quantum which is absolutely the right thing to do, but no dismissing them either. Quantum as an organisation have to feel small next to Spectre and that is translated in the movie.

    It might have worked better if they just kept the organisation as Quantum, or have some exposition where Oberhauser has worked his way to the top, having a ding dong with Mr White on the way and revamped the whole organisation.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    tanaka123 wrote: »
    RC7 wrote: »
    I don't see any sweeping under the carpet. Your average viewer will remember Le Chiffre as having featured in CR (Vesper's death) and Silva's appearance in SF (M's death). These are the two moments that feed directly into the emotional thrust of SP (and before people start on about the whole thing not resonating, I get it, but that was the intent, whether it works is opinion).

    Greene doesn't have a substantial connection, he's distanced from these moments. The connective thread is about the emotional pain Oberhauser/ESB has been able to exert on Bond, not how the organisation works - this is the kind of guff we got with trade federations etc in the SW prequels. It's not a stretch to envisage Quantum being an arm of SP. I don't need to know if one became the other, how it happened, whether the shareholders struck lucky during a merger. It's totally irrelevant.

    It's retcon. It can never be seamless and no amount of exposition can undo what has been done. It's clear they wanted Quantum to be Spectre, Babs said as much, but shit happens. I personally think they did as decent a job as could be expected. No labouring over Quantum which is absolutely the right thing to do, but no dismissing them either. Quantum as an organisation have to feel small next to Spectre and that is translated in the movie.

    It might have worked better if they just kept the organisation as Quantum.

    But they didn't, so I don't see the point in labouring over it. There's nothing glaringly problematic about it.
  • edited February 2016 Posts: 4,325
    RC7 wrote: »
    tanaka123 wrote: »
    RC7 wrote: »
    I don't see any sweeping under the carpet. Your average viewer will remember Le Chiffre as having featured in CR (Vesper's death) and Silva's appearance in SF (M's death). These are the two moments that feed directly into the emotional thrust of SP (and before people start on about the whole thing not resonating, I get it, but that was the intent, whether it works is opinion).

    Greene doesn't have a substantial connection, he's distanced from these moments. The connective thread is about the emotional pain Oberhauser/ESB has been able to exert on Bond, not how the organisation works - this is the kind of guff we got with trade federations etc in the SW prequels. It's not a stretch to envisage Quantum being an arm of SP. I don't need to know if one became the other, how it happened, whether the shareholders struck lucky during a merger. It's totally irrelevant.

    It's retcon. It can never be seamless and no amount of exposition can undo what has been done. It's clear they wanted Quantum to be Spectre, Babs said as much, but shit happens. I personally think they did as decent a job as could be expected. No labouring over Quantum which is absolutely the right thing to do, but no dismissing them either. Quantum as an organisation have to feel small next to Spectre and that is translated in the movie.

    It might have worked better if they just kept the organisation as Quantum.

    But they didn't, so I don't see the point in labouring over it. There's nothing glaringly problematic about it.

    Yeah I wouldn't say there was, but still it might have worked better, just saying, don't think I was labouring on it?
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    tanaka123 wrote: »
    RC7 wrote: »
    tanaka123 wrote: »
    RC7 wrote: »
    I don't see any sweeping under the carpet. Your average viewer will remember Le Chiffre as having featured in CR (Vesper's death) and Silva's appearance in SF (M's death). These are the two moments that feed directly into the emotional thrust of SP (and before people start on about the whole thing not resonating, I get it, but that was the intent, whether it works is opinion).

    Greene doesn't have a substantial connection, he's distanced from these moments. The connective thread is about the emotional pain Oberhauser/ESB has been able to exert on Bond, not how the organisation works - this is the kind of guff we got with trade federations etc in the SW prequels. It's not a stretch to envisage Quantum being an arm of SP. I don't need to know if one became the other, how it happened, whether the shareholders struck lucky during a merger. It's totally irrelevant.

    It's retcon. It can never be seamless and no amount of exposition can undo what has been done. It's clear they wanted Quantum to be Spectre, Babs said as much, but shit happens. I personally think they did as decent a job as could be expected. No labouring over Quantum which is absolutely the right thing to do, but no dismissing them either. Quantum as an organisation have to feel small next to Spectre and that is translated in the movie.

    It might have worked better if they just kept the organisation as Quantum.

    But they didn't, so I don't see the point in labouring over it. There's nothing glaringly problematic about it.

    Yeah I wouldn't say there was, but still it might have worked better, just saying, don't think I was labouring on it?

    I still think people would've found something to complain about. That wasn't directed at you @tanaka123.
  • Posts: 4,325
    Thanks @RC7, yeah I didn't really feel it was problematic.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    RC7 wrote: »
    personally think they did as decent a job as could be expected. No labouring over Quantum which is absolutely the right thing to do, but no dismissing them either. Quantum as an organisation have to feel small next to Spectre and that is translated in the movie.
    I agree that they did well not to labour on it. That bit they got correct imho.

    However, I don't think that Quantum felt small next to Spectre. On the contrary actually. Watching QoS recently, I realized that it is Quantum that seems like the more menacing entity, due to the more mature manner in which the 'organization' was revealed in that film. Even M seemed scared of them in QoS. Truly a dark, behind the scenes villain.

    They should have just let White take it one step further in his exposition and indicate that Quantum was the South American/African branch of Spectre, or even let Q mention that after he had done his research. Simple, and would have been much clearer for the general audience.
  • Posts: 4,325
    bondjames wrote: »
    RC7 wrote: »
    personally think they did as decent a job as could be expected. No labouring over Quantum which is absolutely the right thing to do, but no dismissing them either. Quantum as an organisation have to feel small next to Spectre and that is translated in the movie.
    I agree that they did well not to labour on it. That bit they got correct imho.

    However, I don't think that Quantum felt small next to Spectre. On the contrary actually. Watching QoS recently, I realized that it is Quantum that seems like the more menacing entity, due to the more mature manner in which the 'organization' was revealed in that film. Even M seemed scared of them in QoS. Truly a dark, behind the scenes villain.

    They should have just let White take it one step further in his exposition and indicate that Quantum was the South American/African branch of Spectre, or even let Q mention that after he had done his research. Simple, and would have been much clearer for the general audience.

    I agree, Quantum did have a more sinister feel about them.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    bondjames wrote: »
    RC7 wrote: »
    personally think they did as decent a job as could be expected. No labouring over Quantum which is absolutely the right thing to do, but no dismissing them either. Quantum as an organisation have to feel small next to Spectre and that is translated in the movie.
    I agree that they did well not to labour on it. That bit they got correct imho.

    However, I don't think that Quantum felt small next to Spectre. On the contrary actually. Watching QoS recently, I realized that it is Quantum that seems like the more menacing entity, due to the more mature manner in which the 'organization' was revealed in that film. Even M seemed scared of them in QoS. Truly a dark, behind the scenes villain.

    Honestly, I'd rather work for the organisation that meets at the opera and wears pretty little branded badges than the one where I may be replaced by a man who will gauge my eyes out and then break my neck. I'm being a tad facetious of course, but I find Spectre infinitely more formidable. I love what they did with Quantum actually, but no need in going over old ground. SP was concerned with Oberhauser/ESB and he knocks Greene into a cocked hat for me. That opening scene in Rome is a classic.
  • Posts: 9,843
    To me reason for the changeis because of this Quantum became spectre however there is a reason for that. In the interrogation Mr. White never revealed the name of the organization in fact in all discussions with outside people the name is never revealed this goes back to an old custom in mythology once you have a name you can learn everything you want about the organization once quantum realized mi6 and cia had their name the heads (at the time White and Oberhauser/Blofeld) new they had to change it and used their old military name Spectre (which was discussed in the script but not in the film)


    which makes sense kind of... but I will see how it feels once I watch the four Craig films presumably this fall.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    The name was revealed at the end of QoS. Greene says 'Quantum' in the desert. That was the mistake. If they had not done that, then there would have been no need to clarify. They should have clarified imho. Just one statement that it was a sub of Spectre was all that was needed.
  • The end scene is just fantastic.

    You mean the scene they took directly from The Bourne Supremacy?

  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    bondjames wrote: »
    The name was revealed at the end of QoS. Greene says 'Quantum' in the desert. That was the mistake. If they had not done that, then there would have been no need to clarify. They should have clarified imho. Just one statement that it was a sub of Spectre was all that was needed.

    They do mention it, when Q explains that Le Chiffre, Quantum, Silva were all part of Spectre. How they are part isn't vital information. I agree that you could include exposition, I've mentioned it before, but I can see why they would choose not to go down that route. The thinking is obviously that with it being retcon it's better to leave it vague than include unnecessary detail.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    RC7 wrote: »
    bondjames wrote: »
    The name was revealed at the end of QoS. Greene says 'Quantum' in the desert. That was the mistake. If they had not done that, then there would have been no need to clarify. They should have clarified imho. Just one statement that it was a sub of Spectre was all that was needed.

    They do mention it, when Q explains that Le Chiffre, Quantum, Silva were all part of Spectre. How they are part isn't vital information. I agree that you could include exposition, I've mentioned it before, but I can see why they would choose not to go down that route. The thinking is obviously that with it being retcon it's better to leave it vague than include unnecessary detail.
    That is a fair point. Don't draw too much attention to it, as it were, but hope that your audience comes along for the ride.

    Regarding the Quantum meeting in QoS: I think Forster used some impressive visual tricks to convey scale at the Tosca performance. Greene was in the box looking down on the others, who were in the crowd. Additionally, although the Quantum members were a small part of the crowd, the feeling was that Greene was essentially in charge of the entire crowd, since the Quantum lot were immersed within the audience. It was impressive from a visual perspective.

    With the SP meeting, I would have preferred if Bond and co. were not looking down on Blofeld. Also I would have preferred him not at the table himself but somewhere else looking down on his audience (even via satellite feed). There is a reason a similar approach was taken during the TB meet (with Blofeld not actually being at the table, but rather, in an overlooking room).
  • Yes, that one. I appreciate the influence the Bourne films had on the Bond films, because the lastthree Brosnan films had really descended, in my opinion, after a solid start in GE.

    The opening of QoS is absolutely fantastic. The actions sequences in this film are among the best in the series, and even though this is a lesser picture than CR and SF in my opinion, there're lots to like here. For me.
  • Posts: 7,407
    Agreed. its been said here, quite true, most people only gave QoS one viewing and couldn't get past the editing technique. But it really does deliver on subsequent watches. It has fantastic scenes, particularly with my favourite character, Rene Mathis.The Opera sequence is far superior to the one in RN. And that opening car chase is the best they've ever staged, imho.
  • Posts: 15,106
    bondjames wrote: »
    Ok. That's it. All this talk of Opera has made it clear that I have to watch both the brilliant QoS and equally superb MI-RN again, and I'm going to do that tonight. Great to have the evening plans sorted out.

    And you don't want to go to the opera instead?

    No but seriously, when I was a kid, going to local charity concerts which were sometimes featuring opera arias (I love opera since I was a child), I used to imagine similar stories, meeting of villains while artists were performing on stage.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,582
    bondjames wrote: »
    The name was revealed at the end of QoS. Greene says 'Quantum' in the desert. That was the mistake. If they had not done that, then there would have been no need to clarify. They should have clarified imho. Just one statement that it was a sub of Spectre was all that was needed.

    Better yet, don't make Quantum part of Spectre at all. Among Eon's missteps was linking Spectre (and Blofeld) to the plots of the previous three films. It was unnecessary. The better route: Spectre was a relatively new organization that came to be after Quantum broke apart. Mr. White still could have had a significant role.
  • I just took Quantum to be one of the LLCs of Spectre, lol.
  • Posts: 15,106
    TripAces wrote: »
    bondjames wrote: »
    The name was revealed at the end of QoS. Greene says 'Quantum' in the desert. That was the mistake. If they had not done that, then there would have been no need to clarify. They should have clarified imho. Just one statement that it was a sub of Spectre was all that was needed.

    Better yet, don't make Quantum part of Spectre at all. Among Eon's missteps was linking Spectre (and Blofeld) to the plots of the previous three films. It was unnecessary. The better route: Spectre was a relatively new organization that came to be after Quantum broke apart. Mr. White still could have had a significant role.

    I don't know if there is a definitive line on that, but I always understood that Quantum was the proto-SPECTRE, like in the novels Blofeld had created criminal organizations before creating SPECTRE.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,959
    I think as the years pass, I somehow manage to appreciate QoS more and more, even though I already loved the hell out of it upon release back in the cinemas in '08. It's Top 5 for me, such a great movie.
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