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Comments
That's an odd response. I don't see how one less-than-usual BO result in a different film series, just this once, while still earning critial acclaim, necessitates the involvement of Nolan in the making of the next Bond film.
Look, I've been a Nolan fan since the early days. I saw Memento and I was hooked. I caught up with Following, and I was in the theatre, time and again, for every next Nolan film. "Nolan for Bond" has been my motto since 2002. But I won't subscribe to some hysterical cult presenting Nolan as the Lord our savior, the condition sine qua non for Bond 26. I like to think that plenty of skilled people are out there who can deliver a great Bond film; it's just a matter of finding them. That said, if it's Nolan, I'm going to be superthrilled.
Saying he might like to do one ten years ago and deciding to pitch for the next one are two different things.
I don't think so. We need more than "another GoldenEye" or "another NTTD".
You don't think so what? One- or two-sentence replies make it tough sometimes to keep the conversation going. ;-) Also, where did I mention another GE or another NTTD? Also, why would only Nolan make "not another GE" or "not another NTTD"? Where's this irrational fear coming from that no one else could make the proper Bond film?
(For the record, I wouldn't mind "another GE". GE and CR are my favourite Bond films of the past 30 years.)
We don't need more copycats. We need the real one.
And yeah, I don't think there are that many talented directors.
Very well, then. What will you do in case Nolan isn't announced as the next director?
I will cross fingers.
I'd like to say as well that overall I think there's still a lot of interest in the franchise and it's still a monolith in the movie space and movie culture overall. I think more general fans or just films fans in general, outside of the world of James Bond, just need that refresher to feel like they can jump in and really enjoy it because considering how long Daniel Craig's era was along with the serial nature of them that gradually (and sometimes quite unevenly) unfolded, as well as how much the world had changed in those fifteen years, by the release of No Time To Die, they and even us to some degree needed something fresh and new.
But again, to hammer the point home, I don't think the age of an audience plays that big a part.
Pretty much. The worst thing EON can do is try to pander to ‘young’ audiences. They just need to create a modern Bond film.
Excuse my shortness @Last_Rat_Standing , my fault. It read like you were slamming the film and the producer and writers.
I apologize.
In the end, like any project, especially ones that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, making films is a brutal task. It’s amazing that most films are watchable, let alone hits (which says something about the talent (from above line talent, to below line talent).
Once again, my apologies, Last Rat Standing….
CR, on the other hand, really was an exciting new start.
nah, goldeneye was great.
I didn't say it wasn't, I was saying what my reaction to it was and how I found it not to be all that fresh a new start. Ultimately it's an 80s John Glen Bond film given a very slight new coat of paint.
I agree; as good as it was, GE’s DNA was very similar to what had come previously. While retaining certain elements, after all it is James Bond, CR truly felt like something remarkably fresh. I love both but for different reasons.
TND onwards feels like a new era.
For me TND is the real 3rd Dalton film. His TSWLM.
I respect your take, it is "new" and "glossy" and very cold and techno for its time. Stripped back in many ways, a reassessment of cinema Bond for sure.
But he still flirts with Moneypenny, is at somewhat odds with M. but still loyal to (her), the most informed man in the room in the briefings, in great physical shape and not the very anti-Fleming "Banker Bond" he'd become in the next two films, it leans into his military background, we explore a broader 00 catalog with 006 and expand the potential for what sort of missions they can pull off as a team, Russia-focused plot and setting, as well as a very-Fleming tropical setting with a tech/space-oriented villain lair, a number of intelligent, beautiful women who can clearly hold their own and handle a weapon, hints of government coverup/corruption inherent in espionage, Fleming put Bond in an Aston DB and it's back again here in a great scene, and the entire thing is named after Fleming's own house. So for me, there's plenty of Fleming flavor, if nothing quite directly lifted beyond the title. And there's this scene, which I often forget is in the movie, but adds a lot of needed depth to Brosnan's Bond that I think they could have explored more, but it's still there.
Interestingly, the comments on that YT video bring up the similarity of this scene and the Vesper beach conversation in Casino Royale.. it seems Martin Campbell has an echo. I'm curious what you think of Casino Royale if you see GE as an otherwise blank-canvas thriller.
Same with CR.
I'm always reminded of the 'Reflections in a Double Bourbon' chapter of GF when I watch that scene. I know some people aren't sold it, but I like Bond putting up this front when it comes to the very personal business of killing his former friend. For me it's very Fleming-esque.
I'd go as far as to say GE is Brosnan's Bond at his most similar to the literary one, and I think it's by design of the script. Bond and Natalya getting captured/the interrogation with Mishkin is another scene where I can really see Fleming's character coming through (his whole 'you can take your chances with me' moment with Natlya, as well as the fact that he's childishly sarcastic towards Mishkin which is something Bond does in the books... I even like that Natalya has to step in and basically diffuse the situation).
If anything I wish they had kept going down this route with Brosnan, at least after TND. He had much more humour than Dalton, which I think actually gave the opportunity to bring out more of Fleming's character. It's when he tried to act/convey anything deeper than that 'stoic facade' that his Bond falls apart in later instalments.
They don't turn evil in a twist at the end, but you could kill them off after hopefully putting them and Bond on some sort of arc. It might not be fair to the new Bond actor though (nor the poor sap who's dying), unless it's a woman partner (whether or not there's romance, I personally think they should lean into that stuff where appropriate). Their mission together should isolate them, if not initially then at some point in the story, from MI6 etc. resources, and the story should try to find clever ways of taking advantage of two highly capable blunt instruments on the scene in its set pieces and action. Don't take this the wrong way, but imagine Bond using this mission partner as another gadget at his disposal, whether they're aware he sees it that way or not. It can start out like the orchestra scene in The Living Daylights with Bond and Saunders at odds with one another, then they grow to work together etc. I guess perhaps this could be critiqued for ripping some of U.N.C.L.E. setup as well. If it's a woman, maybe Bond and her are separated at the very end in the finale, she's presumed dead, and then she shows up in a later movie, perhaps evil or whatever sure.
On a more comical note... another fun but maybe ridiculous suggestion I have would be establishing Bond's relationship with a lovely Bond girl through much of the movie, and then in the third act or whenever, either when backed into a corner or when they need some sort of tool or resource, she reveals she has a secret husband/spouse who can help in some way. Maybe her nonchalance and Bond's surprise can be played as a bit of a punchline, and it fits into the narrative of Bond enjoying the company of married women, the joke here being even when he's unaware of it for some time. It also affords you the script convenience of an easy-out from an action scene or something without going full Deus Ex Machina.
But I actually wouldn't mind seeing more 00s, or at least learning a bit more about the wider 00 section, in this new Bond era. I dunno, it occurs to me that such an elite unit of MI6 would be made up of former Special Forces or SAS types in their mid to late 20s. They'd presumably be a bit more 'by the book'. Bond of course is a former Naval officer who is in his 30s (at least) and has seemingly worked his way up to that position. He's obviously the best shot in the Service and one of the best agents in general (certainly M's favourite), but I can imagine to such a crowd he'd be considered reckless with his drinking, womanising and gambling, and there'd be a bit of resentment towards him due to his background compared to theirs and how much M values a comparatively reckless agent from a non-Special Forces background.
It might be an extension of Nomi in NTTD, but I think it'd be interesting if there was some sort of resentment between Bond and the other 00 agents. Just a sense that in this world Bond isn't a member of that internal 'boys club' despite having the 00 number. Bond's a loner anyway so could be an interesting dynamic if the plot allowed for it. It might also be a clean way of subtly noting Bond's background as a Naval Commander without having to fundamentally change it.
Proposed on Felix Unger Day, I note.
Mission: Impossible keeps doing the "IMF agents all going after Ethan" plot, perhaps a few 00s are feared to have gone rogue and Bond has to go investigate and chase THEM down and sort them out, or kill them if need be. Naturally, once he finally confronts them, there's nuance to their actions and it challenges Bond's own loyalty or something. A bit of Apocalypse Now maybe. My mind jumps to the Athelstan of Wessex types maybe looking for a more prosperous and political future.
FRWL