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Bryce Dallas Howard is the redhead in JW. Also, at this point, I’m half expecting Chris Pratt to join Bond. He does quite a few Amazon movies. Plus, he’s leading half the movie franchises out there. I shudder at the thought of him in James Bond. He’s so bland.
It’s a passion. It’s how I’ve bonded with a lot of people in my life. Bond was almost always the forefront.
I would absolutely love a present day set Bond 26 in which the main villain is a Russian who is closely associated with the current Russian leadership.
well, do you mean 2026? We are going to speak Russian when they release it.
Martians fly down and zap the oppressors….
No one knows what the future holds
;)
Yes. True. Very. True.
If he was Felix Leiter in a small role I would be upset but be able to get over it. Anything more and I'd have some serious trouble.
Well Bond having a Beekeeper would be counterproductive at this point I'd say.
Very much agree @George_Kaplan but some members here have told us why this shouldn't be so. No one wants to see Bond sitting down to breakfast apparently, and adding such a character such as May or any other recurring Fleming character will make the films seem bloated.
These are adventure films, and the pace will be slowed down by such dull scenes.
If it were up to some, the agent who seeks Bond at Le Cercle in DN would likely be omitted, and certainly all the hotel porters who show Bond to his room would get the chop, as they don't move the story forward.
There are those of us who are merely suggesting it might be nice to see some of Fleming's recurring characters from the novels pop up in future outings.
Not that they need to take up massive amounts of screentime or become Bonds sidekick.
"Yes, we know that. Let's get on with it, shall we? We have a plot to move forward."
Just having some fun. No one need be offended. Not directed at anyone.
I'm not advocating for the inclusion of such domestic scenes. I think they work fine to flesh out Bond's character and his lifestyle in the novels, but in a films it would be harder to justify. Not that it couldn't work to establish some character arc of theme that runs throughout the story.
I'm reminded a little of this scene from Bullitt:
Not exactly germane perhaps, but when watching the ineffable Moonraker for the first time, I recall thinking to myself, Can't they just slow down and let us enjoy the scenery for a minute or so ...
And then they did (literally) and it felt oddly magical ....
Barry, Adam, the cinematography and Bond-girl beauty all at the top of their game.
Did cinematic Bond ever really take on the Soviet Union?
I don't think so ... too many tickets to be sold, so no need to alienate anyone, even communists. Hence SPECTRE ....
Sure, the Cold War was often in the background, while rarely if ever providing the principal villain:
Klebb was rogue, while Tatiana was obviously a "good Russian" (if that was indeed her nationality, it was the Soviet Union afterall).
We'd really have to skip ahead to TSWLM to get the Cold War again, except it was the era of "detente," even referenced by Stromberg, I think (and later by Gogol in FYEO), so we had a Bond in alliance with another good Russian character, Anya.
FYEO has a definite Cold War aspect made a part of the plot, but the ever reasonable Gogol always seemed closer to an avunuclar corporate competitor than anything like a demonical ideological opponent. One far more interested in exploiting his position for sex with much younger underlings than in world dominion. And, wow, did that age badly ....
Is the OTT Orlov, in OP, the only genuine Soviet baddie in the series, I think so ... except he's gone rogue too; and even here he's offset by the good Russian himself, Gogol.
Perhaps someone else can survey the Dalton/Brosnan eras?
Nice example. Having a breather, a quiet moment in a Bond film isn't a bad thing. Roger Moore taking a shave in LALD, Connery doing his security check routine in Dr. No, Lazenby doing his checks in OHMSS, Connery having a shave in Goldfinger's plane, etc.
Not every single scene needs to drive action and purpose. A quiet breather moment to show us more of Bond's personal life is not something really controversial, and that it would damage the film at all by showing these moments.
But then, of necessity, we'd be in the world of an especially dark Bond film, rendering the Craig films positively Disney-esque by comparison, so probably not ....
Like many other recent Dynamite comics, the series suffered from its art style (the covers were beautiful though) and its limited number of issues, preventing the writer from properly developing his plot. The concept was no less solid and the series could easily be read as a possible film for Craig, close in tone to Quantum of Solace.
Yeah, I think FYEO is the only time he’s actually working against the Russian state as the main plot of the film. Kristatos may only be freelancing, but he is doing the Soviets’ bidding and working to forward their plans (although I can’t remember: are they actively pursuing the ATAC or is Kristatos just speculating and presuming he can sell it to them? How does he even know about it?). Any other time Bond is up against Russians they’re rogue agents, no longer following the orders of the Kremlin (Orlov, Klebb, Zorin, Ouromov, Koskov etc.)
He has a few skirmishes with Russian forces though: I think TSWLM might be the first time, surprisingly (I can’t remember if he actually engages any Russians in FRWL?).
To be fair all those examples are included in scenes which drive the plot in some way. They all have a purpose story-wise.
It just depends on how it’s done. I like those little touches - things like seeing Bond playing cards as he waits for Dent in DN, drinking vodka in the hotel room in TND, ordering his breakfast and running a shower in FRWL. Just little things that show Bond’s personal habits. But they’ll definitely be integrated into necessary scenes and will be included because it’ll tell the audience something about Bond. But it can work.
While I can see where you’re coming from, I can’t really imagine him say, taking ages styling his hair either. But Pierce must have used a fair bit of gel and hair spray.
He’d have a cleaner while he was away, and I’m not against May popping up as a nice nod, but the idea of him having a housekeeper who does all the domestic stuff for him is a bit old fashioned imo, and could make him feel less self sufficient than I’d like. I agree it’s tough to imagine him cleaning to be fair, but I’d find it embarassing if a modern man meant to be irresistable to women wasn’t a good cook.
Maybe she could be his landlady instead? That way you could still have her in a similar sort of role, the funny old Scottish woman who mothers him and gets on his nerves, but without making him seem too old fashioned and out of touch. You could have her arrive after the PTS to bollock him for the noise him and his latest woman have been making, before he gets called in to HQ.
But these are all character things that actually do propel the story in some fashion or tell us about character. These aren’t wasted scenes, it tells us something about James Bond and his job and his role in the story at the time.
So, not sure what some of the above was about… Oh well…. 🤷♂️
I read all the points yesterday, and there was nothing untoward suggested or contradicted. There were perspectives and suggestions posted.
No, this morning feeling like provocation. So, yeah, not understanding why this would be the case. Like I said, 🤷♂️…
Yeah that’s fun: his Mrs Hudson basically! :)
Although again slightly tricky: Bond is a man of independent means who (somewhat magically!) money is no problem to, so he wouldn’t need to rent as such. I think if she is there it’s fine to basically make her the cleaner or household organiser in some way, but just maybe not doing his cooking for him as I feel like that kind of thing would reduce him slightly nowadays, as you say.
Or maybe she’s the building manager of his apartment block, something like that. Or even the person who looks after his cars: he seems to have them scattered in various lockups around London(!)