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Minor But Memorable Missteps in the Bond Series

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  • Some_Kind_Of_HeroSome_Kind_Of_Hero
    edited November 2018 Posts: 6,844
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    I understand all that, guys. And I know, it does open a whole can of worms! I completely agree. But here's the thing. Several Bond films, when I'm not thinking too hard, do get away with their conceits. The problem with AVTAK is that it keeps bothering me, even when I'm not thinking too hard. :)

    Goldfinger’s conceits always bothered me more than AVTAK’s. (As BondAficionado mentioned, MI6 decided to investigate Zorin's technological treason independent of his horse racing activities.) But then I’m partial to AVTAK out of nostalgia and never scrutinize the plot for minutiae. Our nitpicks may have less to do with the soundness in logic of one film over another and more to do with personal preferences in the eye of the beholder. ;)

    EDIT: And both films are about ego-stroking megalomaniacs with severe complexes and/or psychosis anyway. In their own mad ways, it makes perfect sense that they both would be involved in trivial ego-stroking side ventures on the cusp of a far more lucrative scheme. What’s the value in a won card game/horse race versus a monopoly on gold/the computer industry? It doesn’t matter to the ego of a megalomaniac. Winning is winning, however great, however small.
  • BondAficionadoBondAficionado Former IMDBer
    Posts: 1,890
    Some_Kind_Of_Hero wrote: »
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    I understand all that, guys. And I know, it does open a whole can of worms! I completely agree. But here's the thing. Several Bond films, when I'm not thinking too hard, do get away with their conceits. The problem with AVTAK is that it keeps bothering me, even when I'm not thinking too hard. :)

    Goldfinger’s conceits always bothered me more than AVTAK’s. (As BondAficionado mentioned, MI6 decided to investigate Zorin's technological treason independent of his horse racing activities.) But then I’m partial to AVTAK out of nostalgia and never scrutinize the plot for minutiae. Our nitpicks may have less to do with the soundness in logic of one film over another and more to do with personal preferences in the eye of the beholder. ;)

    EDIT: And both films are about ego-stroking megalomaniacs with severe complexes and/or psychosis anyway. In their own mad ways, it makes perfect sense that they both would be involved in trivial ego-stroking side ventures on the cusp of a far more lucrative scheme. What’s the value in a won card game/horse race versus a monopoly on gold/the computer industry? It doesn’t matter to the ego of a megalomaniac. Winning is winning, however great, however small.

    +1
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,485
    Stumbled upon one mistake that I had forgotten about. It concerns YOLT where Bond and Kissy are heading into the cave that the local had died in. He exclaims that there is gas and both him and Kissy dive and swim underwater out of the cave.

    Then later once Blofeld activates the self destruct Bond exclaims "Head for the tunnel" and they all proceed to swim out the poisonous tunnel that just hours ago they avoided. My 7 year old turned to me and said "I thought that tunnel was poisoned?" I didn't really have a good reply except to say that maybe they all swam underwater to safety. Even though the shot show them swimming on top of the water.

    Was it a case of lazy screenplay by Roald Dahl? Or had he painted or should I say written himself into a corner?
  • BT3366BT3366
    Posts: 1,927
    thedove wrote: »
    Stumbled upon one mistake that I had forgotten about. It concerns YOLT where Bond and Kissy are heading into the cave that the local had died in. He exclaims that there is gas and both him and Kissy dive and swim underwater out of the cave.

    Then later once Blofeld activates the self destruct Bond exclaims "Head for the tunnel" and they all proceed to swim out the poisonous tunnel that just hours ago they avoided. My 7 year old turned to me and said "I thought that tunnel was poisoned?" I didn't really have a good reply except to say that maybe they all swam underwater to safety. Even though the shot show them swimming on top of the water.

    Was it a case of lazy screenplay by Roald Dahl? Or had he painted or should I say written himself into a corner?
    Author John Brosnan also pointed this out in his book, "James Bond in the Cinema."

    I'd say lazy screenwriting. Just get them out of the volcano and end the film.

    Since they didn't enter the volcano that way, did they just stumble upon that passage in the mad dash to escape the destruction? And beyond that if they did escape the gas on the way out, they couldn't have gotten that far away before the thing exploded and how deep was the water that M's sub got through...

    Okay, I'll stop there. YOLT is probably the one film in the series you could pick apart the most if you tried. It seems to get a pass from a lot of fans, though.
  • PrinceKamalKhanPrinceKamalKhan Monsoon Palace, Udaipur
    Posts: 3,262
    PropertyOfALady wrote: »
    Birdleson wrote: »
    I like Teri Hatcher in the role. I seem to be alone in that.

    You aren't.

    Indeed. I may be the only Bond fan in the universe who thinks this way but I rather liked the idea of Remington Steele and Lois Lane sharing a secret history together.

    Besides, Teri had to be a Bond girl after she did this scene on L & C:



  • GerardGerard
    Posts: 6,022
    One mistake that I noticed in OHMSS : in the end, Bond is on his way to his honeymoon with Tracy, and drives on the left side of the road.

    In Portugal.

    Where, as in every continental european country, people drive on the right side of the road.

    Granted, he had other thoughts at the moment, but still, a well travelled man like him wouldn't make this mistake, right?
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,485
    Good catch! Hadn't noticed that before.

    I just thought of DAF and the diamond pipeline. It passes from the old lady to Tiffany and then Tiffany passes them to Peter Franks, why does she accompany Franks to America? By all rights Franks takes the diamonds and Wint and Kidd kill her and move up the pipeline. Or does she flee with Franks because "You've just killed James Bond....you don't stand around and wait for the cops to arrive."

    On the same front how does Bond know that the next step in the pipeline is a funeral home owned by Morton Slumber? Was it always going to be part of the plan that a body be used to smuggle the diamonds to Nevada? Or did he just happen to know a dirty funeral home that was willing to facilitate the transfer? After all Slumber doesn't get his only Shady Tree dies.

    Not sure if this type of stuff goes here, just some thoughts that struck me. By the way DAF is one of my favourites for its great dialogue.
  • octofingeroctofinger
    Posts: 787
    In the vein of "minor but memorable," for me, is the "worse than listening to the Beatles without earmuffs" line.

    Of course, we don't expect Bond to be much of a pop music fan, but that line has aged quite badly, makes him sound like a prig, and could be snipped out without losing anything much from the moment.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,485
    Lets remember where the Beatles were at the time. "She Loves You" "Twist and Shout", etc. were some of their hits. They appealed to a younger demographic. Yes the line hasn't aged well I think that's the charm of the line. Plus you don't get a lot of pop culture comments from Bond. Maybe for that reason.
  • Some_Kind_Of_HeroSome_Kind_Of_Hero
    Posts: 6,844
    thedove wrote: »
    Lets remember where the Beatles were at the time. "She Loves You" "Twist and Shout", etc. were some of their hits. They appealed to a younger demographic. Yes the line hasn't aged well I think that's the charm of the line. Plus you don't get a lot of pop culture comments from Bond. Maybe for that reason.

    Yes, it’s difficult to imagine Craig sipping the proteolytic enzyme shake then dryly quipping, “That’s left as bad a taste in my mouth as Justin Bieber’s last album.” Or not so difficult. Still, I’m glad they didn’t.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,217
    thedove wrote: »
    Lets remember where the Beatles were at the time. "She Loves You" "Twist and Shout", etc. were some of their hits. They appealed to a younger demographic. Yes the line hasn't aged well I think that's the charm of the line. Plus you don't get a lot of pop culture comments from Bond. Maybe for that reason.

    Exactly, at the time the Beatles were associated with screaming teenage fan girls, not quite the revolutionary band they would become later on. It doesn’t bother me, if anything it proofs Bond is no conformist, something I really like.

    Something that does bother me, but I guess it’s pretty minor as well: the Ford Mondeo in CR.

    Obviously there for sponsoring reasons, but a hideous choice for a man renowned for his excellent taste nevertheless. I don’t mind 007 not being able to work with an Aston Martin budget in the beginning of his career, but you can be stylish on a budget as well (get an Alfa Romeo for instance).
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