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
Saving money on main star would be a good reason to hire Aidan Turner as Bond. People say looks are only half the story, but when you have films like Jason Bourne, Mad Max and Dunkirk, not a lot acting to sell the audience on. Not by the lead anyway. I think if there is one biggest issue with Bond today, its that he plays way to big a role in the story. Not only is it told almost exclusively from Bond perspective, but now the enemies are usually getting revenge on him. He's supposed to be a secret agent remember? I think they desperately need to bring the mystery "distant" element back to the Bond character, instead of showing his family grave plot, or making the story revolve around his childhood skiing trip.
I feel sorry for Turner. He's had to spend thousands on legal fees taking out restraining orders to stop Mendes stalking him.
The sad thing is that Turner is thrown out at every possible opportunity by him that these punchlines have gotten just as tedious, clichéd and annoying as what we're poking fun at.
What a vicious cycle.
Also I like Fiennes but I've got this idea in my head and now I really want it to happen: Peter Capaldi as M.
With a time machine?
I would rather EON acknowledge the codename theory as a fact.
Very beautiful to watch, caught bits and pieces of it as it was live. I wouldn't mind seeing Bond return to space if done properly.
Hahaha. In all honesty though, I feel like after step brother gate, anything is possible
Haven't they pretty much already?
If you sat for the end credits of SP you'd have seen a frame of Vesper's hand punching out of her grave in France. Surprised it took folks so long to notice it.
But in all seriousness, it's in the nature of the character to be unrested in death. She was a presence that haunted Fleming's Bond, and EON did the right thing by having her "spirit" ghost him in the life he led after her in the Craig era. I think it's been beautifully done, and they have done with Vesper's character what Fleming couldn't, as I find her a nauseating and weak character in the novel. I love that quiet moment where Bond finds the tape of her interrogation in SP, confronted with all the evil White was capable of in addition to the good he tried to do in his last days, forming two sides of a complex man. The scene served the story more than an easter egg ever does, giving it more importance, and it's always compelling for me to see how Bond reacts to her memory after all those years. As we can hear in the discussion he has with Severine in SF, she has stuck in his mind and he learned so much from her, including when women are facing danger and fear and trying to mask it. And of course watching him forgive her throughout QoS is the movie's greatest feature and something that still moves me no matter how many times I watch it. It's a human story I could see Fleming writing, if he ever did a book that was meant to be a direct sequel to Casino Royale that continued to tell of Bond's grieving after the girl's death and how he got to a place of acceptance and peace with her memory, giving us a reason for why Bond visits her grave annually.
A picture and one name drop don't constitute a "myriad" of references to me. The movies have done what Fleming did, peppering in references into subsequent adventures to show that Bond still has her on his mind. La Vie en Rose in Diamonds, the name drop in Goldfinger, Bond's mention of going to her grave every year, etc. Those references were far more monumental in what the callback than anything SP did beyond the tape.
Bond is basically defined by "getting on with it, getting the job done." And yet the writers since CR seem to keep using Vesper as a crutch to show that Bond is vulnerable, to diminishing returns. We get it, already.
Really, it's the ending with the photos that bugs me the most, because it smells of bad fanfic.
I can't disagree with you there. For the love of Fleming, at what point would they think "you know what, maybe this isn't such a good idea"?
"Pretty much mentioned on the train?" Not sure what you mean, but it's not really important anyway.
Fleming had tons of novels, they've had 4 films, so it's more reasonable that the references would have to come in every film to make up for their limitations, with CR and QoS doing major references because the story is about her and Bond, and minor ones in SF and SP because they aren't. I'd hardly say she's used as a crutch when she really doesn't get referenced in a major way, and we always see Bond do just what you describe, get on with it and get the job done, as he does with the tape. Those moments go beyond just references, they have a greater relevance to the story and serve many functions. In SF the small reference to her built up Severine's character and the villainy of Silva as well, and in SP it builds up White's character and shows both sides of him, so it's more than just a case of, "Let's mention the girl again just to do it." There's thought put in.
I think this is just a case of what one enjoys. I love Vesper and the story between her and Bond, so I view the references as a fleshing out of their relationship that continues from the grave, and how she has impacted Bond to be a better man and agent over time; obviously, that's something I love to see. If people don't care for that, however, they won't like it, and that's fine.
https://www.reactionengines.co.uk/
I agree that Vesper is Craig Bond's one big love. The trouble with this is that if they try and take us down the YOLT route are they going to try and convince us that Maddy is now his true love or rehash ground we covered in QOS with Bond finally getting his revenge for Vesper?
Without Bond's personal vendetta against Blofeld being based on his true love having been murdered you rip out the spine of the story.
I don't view Madeleine as Bond's "true love" at all, no. She's his last chance, an opportunity to get out while he can, etc. People want to balloon it to a Shakespearean degree, but I think the film is smart to show Bond reasonably enjoying the girl's company, but showing that she can't be Vesper 2.0, nor could she be. The salient part her is that if Bond passes her up, a woman who can understand someone from his world and accept him for what he's done, as Vesper could, he may lose out on his chance of ever pursuing a better life of choice that she sells him on during the train ride. It's no mistake that Vesper and Madeleine are the only major characters Bond has had near identical discussions about choice and how much a soul can take before it dies. The women are very alike in how they view Bond and what they deem worthy of his life, advocating that he pursue something more than killing. It's no great wonder Bond is drawn to that, or that he finds a lot of Vesper in Madeleine for that possible reason.
I think Bond goes about leaving MI6 at the end of SP to achieve this better life for himself, thinking it must be better because that's what he's told by women he's drawn to. He's only ever known his one life, however, and so he doesn't really understand what a normal life means. If Bond 25 continues the story, I'd ultimately like to see him realize that the "soft life," to borrow from Fleming, is one that doesn't suit him and he needs his life at MI6 because anything else is boring and unsatisfactory to who he is and what he needs. He'd end the film ultimately making his own choice for once, realizing that he had been living a life of choice all along and that his choice was to live out the rest of his days under her majesty's employ, protecting and serving until they push him out.
Yes, that is how I see it, @FoxRox. If the story is continued with Craig, I'd love to see some scenes of him in retirement sitting and staring at a wall, his face a miserable mix of boredom and lifelessness to underscore that he isn't living a life he wants, and regrets his choice. As you said, it makes no sense for his character to retire for good, and the perfect ending to Bond 25 for me would be a scene where he explains himself to Madeleine on the bridge leading to the MI6 building (where it'll be rebuilt), and the final frame will show him walking away as he disappears from view in the perspective of the bridge while heading back to his job. Done questioning his life and what others want, focusing on what he needs. A perfect cap to the character.
So if Craig is back they need to go down the YOLT route imo. It's a bit of a boring premise but they've set it up so the time to do it is now. It's the perfect material for Craig to show everyone how good he is and the garden of death and insane raving Blofeld is really too good to pass up imo. Plus him being broken after she's killed doesn't mean Madeline is the love of his life. Bond can be a wreck because he's lost his last chance at a normal life, plus her death can stir up memories of not just Vesper but Solange, Fields, etc (all of which we can now put down to Blofeld remember, giving him more reason for revenge). Madeline's death could just be the straw that broke the camels back.
Anyway, I was thinking about what traits Blofeld actually has apart from his gimmicks like the cat, and the one thing that stuck out to me was the way his appearance changes, in both the films and the books. The plastic surgery, the body doubles, etc. I think they could play this up and use it to make Blofeld a great psychological threat.
Blofeld is apparently killed in a botched prison escape. Bond is enjoying retirement in Jamaica and is sure he sees Blofeld sitting there smiling at him at a beachfront bar, but he seems to disappear. Bond shakes his head. He must be seeing things. Blofeld's dead. But then he goes home and finds Madeline dead. There's a note saying "cuckoo". Not sure how it'd play out from there but we'd get a broken alcoholic Bond struggling track down the real Blofeld while slowly wondering if he's losing his own mind. He could kill him and it'd turn out that was just another double, another insurance policy. More of a bleak psychological thriller than a big action film. Eventually Bond would discover that the doubles are misdirection and Blofeld himself has used the same plastic surgeon. Bond manages to narrow it down to a few possible identites, and each one could resemble different versions of Blofeld. The fat mob boss, the secluded count, etc. Eventually he'd narrow it down to the last one: Shatterhand. Following this lead, he goes to Japan, and using his old contacts gets in with the Japanese secret service, offering to kill "Shatterhand" for them. Then we get the YOLT stuff. The real Blofeld has gone completely insane, holed up in his garden of death, and Bond has to stop him.
Only thing is, I can't really think of a way to do the YOLT ending because Craig's Bond has just been fighting Spectre the whole time. Even if you replace the Russians with say North Korea, it still doesn't have quite the same effect because we haven't seen Bond battle them at all. So instead I'd just have him go out in a blaze of glory against Blofeld. He's injured during the fight and can't escape the exploding castle in time, so instead he just slumps down against a wall and accepts his death, content with the idea that this is as happy an ending as he ever could have gotten. Maybe have him hallucinate Vesper as he bleeds out and the castle explodes around him, then end the film and the Craig era with his funeral.
Lana, if you wouldn't mind ...
I don't really understand this stance. The only way it can end for Bond is dying. He can't have a normal life (hence it going tits up with Vesper, Gala, Tracy) and he wouldn't want to retire because as much as he hates the dirty side of his job, he still loves the excitement. So he'd end up staying on until it kills him. Even if he was forced to retire I think he'd find some vendetta, an excuse to go on his own dangerous mission (in this case it'd be Madeline's death). I was happy with Craig being the only Bond to find a way past this in SP but if he's doing another film then I guess retirement won't work out for him either, and he'll die eventually too.
So what's wrong with showing it on screen? Especially in the Craig era, which is its own self contained story and has already proved itself to be an experimental/parallel world sort of take on Bond (Skyfall, Brofeld, no Tracy, etc; it's its own take on the Bond legend, him dying would be in keeping with that imo). And it's not like he's actually going to stay dead. They'll just bring him back with a new actor and ignore it.
I really want the Craig era to have a clear, closed off ending ala Nolan's Batman. I like the idea of having seen Bond's career from beginning to end. Him completing his last mission but dying in the process would be a brilliant ending imo. Something more ambiguous would be fine too as long as we can fill in the gaps (the YOLT ending for example, but again, no KGB and Craig has just been fighting Spectre the whole time so even if they substitute them for a more modern equivalent it wouldn't have the same effect).
If DC Bond goes out in a blaze of glory, I wouldn't be upset.
It would close the era, and a fresh start for a new actor outside of this timeline.
New actor. New cast. Standalones...
I'm sorry, but from a distance this front cover is just plain...pornographic. It looks as if Bond is showing his giant 'Goldfinger'.
Anyone read it already ;-)? I think you like it @ossyjack , @noSolaceleft
Something like:
Bond has been on a long period of leave/sabbatical/intended retirement from the service and has spent a few months travelling the world enjoying himself with Madeleine. Preferably something in there to show that Bond is enjoying himself away from work but that it isn't quite the same as he had with Vesper in Casino Royale and that he hasn't definitely quit MI6 but is having a long break from it. Meanwhile in London Blofeld is interrogated (similar to Franz Sanchez with him basically mocking his captors). Whilst being transported or on arrival at maximum security prison he is broken free by Spectre agents who whisk him away in a blaze of destruction.
Then when Bond discovers Blofeld has escaped one of a few things happen.
A) Bond knows Blofeld is going to come for him/Madeleine to kill them, knows he has to return to action to apprehend Blofeld and so cuts short his sabbatical, leaving Madeleine or sending her into hiding whilst he deals with business
B) Blofeld returns to the shadows/disappears and then it later turns out he is masterminding a diabolical scheme (chemical weapons/international ransom - something along those lines of him being an immediate threat to life and blackmailing governments for money - much more dangerous/worrying than him having access to people's computers). Bond is called back due to his knowledge of Blofeld/Blofeld incorporates revenge into his ransom demands
C) Blofeld's escape coincides with the assassination of Madeleine, which devastates Bond, tells him his only place in life is at MI6, that he has no chance of a happy ever after considering what happened to Vesper/Madeleine, and he therefore returns to the force hollowed out but a committed and ruthless agent determined to hunt down Blofeld and get him back for good.
Most importantly is that it takes the tried and tested Bond structure. Evil villain has a genuinely dangerous plot to make billions with thousands/millions of lives at stake and isn't doing it for personal/vendetta reasons. The fact that Bond and Blofeld know each other from Spectre would provide some welcome depth but Blofeld's primary motivation is blackmail/extortion with getting back at Bond an added bonus rather than his sole aim.
To make it a worthwhile continuation/sequel to Spectre it needs Hinx to re-appear, it needs Blofeld with his scar to feature heavily, it needs another Spectre board meeting to convene to discuss the latest scheme, preferably with recognisable faces such as the bald Italian Spectre agent and the German lady appearing again.
The difficulty is that the 4 year gap between Spectre and Bond 25 will mean there is a major time difference, the actors will all look different, it hinges on getting most of them signed up and back on it.
They could maybe get away with it if Seydoux didn't appear by changing the start of the film to reflect that she moved on in the interim and Bond returned to the force sooner.
The big one is Waltz. He has to appear in Bond 25 otherwise a sequel/continuation from Spectre is almost impossible to pull off. However ignoring Blofeld/Spectre would be even worse as the whole point in bringing it back should have been to make 2-3 films out of it with him as a recurring villain. Completely ignoring it and going down a different route for Craig's final outing would tip things on the head again when it doesn't need to be done with a new Bond on the horizon.
I'd also like some more concrete references to the earlier Craig films. Perhaps some explanations/references to Le Chiffre, Quantum, Greene etc. and exactly how Blofeld fits in with that after the poor effort in Spectre.