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.New director, editor, cinematographer, and costume designer. Fast pace and vibrant and natural looking colors. Also, bring back David Arnold.
.The gun barrel sequence. It's at the beginning but it's STILL not right. Use different music that's actually in sync, done let Craig swing his gun, don't have it turn to silhouette, and have the dot open up on the parade.
.The pre-title sequence:Make it actually exciting. Especially the helicopter fight. Also, no CGI. The tracking shot was cool at first but now it just slows everything down, if that was even possible.
.Title sequence and theme song:use Radiohead's song and cut out the tentacle porn.
.London:no C, no Nine Eyes, no Judi Dench video, no Skyfall box, no MI6 ruins, no Smart Blood, no Tanner. Oh dear God why even bother. I don't even consider this flick canon anymore. The Craig era ended on a huge high with SF.
This. I kinda wish that SP would have been the debut for Bond #7 and be directed by Martin Campbell. Use the best of Logan's original draft which honestly sounds more interesting. Don't have Blofeld show up until the second movie.
•Different director. Not sure who but someone more appropriate for an action film. Also, make the editing faster with less long, plodding shots.
•During the gun barrel sequence, the music would be in sync as usual and more traditional, Craig's gun isn't visible during the walk, and the dot opens on the eye socket of a skeleton instead. No fade to black or "The Dead Are Alive".
•There is no yellow filter and the colors are not muted. Every location pops off the screen.
•The theme song is Spectre by Radiohead.
•The only deceased character to appear in the title sequence is M.
•After the title sequence, the screen opens on Bond entering MI6 through the circular courtyard. We see Bond pass gossiping employees, as shown in the trailer.
•Denbigh is played by a more mature actor. Mark Strong? The character is M's old rival.
•Speed up the Spectre meeting. It's cool upon first viewing but it really drags after re-watching.
•Make the car chase actually exciting. Send a couple more cars after Bond and have some traffic and civilians in the mix. The phone call to Moneypenny is also shorter. Bond tells her about the organization and she tells him who the Pale King is. Hang up.
•Make the set of the conference room in Tokyo something Ken Adam would be proud of.
•The Pale King is actually Franz Oberhauser. After his father was killed (same way as in the OP short story), he felt betrayed by Bond and went on a much darker path. He tells Bond how he met Blofeld (the 'Les Spectres de St. Pierre' story from the script about Blofeld killing his battalion). Oberhauser disobeyed Blofeld and couldn't follow him anymore. Madeleine Swann is actually just a close friend who knows too much or something. He tells Bond that she can take him to Point X. He still shoots himself.
•Get rid of that piss poor line about "a license to kill is also a license not to kill". Ugh. After this scene, we see the Cape Town bombing about to take place. As the bomb is about to go off, we jump to the clinic.
•Lea Seydoux gives a better performance. Just make her more likable. She isn't made to be the next Vesper or Tracy but she does have a deeper relationship with Bond, similar to Kara or Natalya.
•Q is actually kidnapped on the cable car like in the script.
•The airplane/jeep sequence is replaced by a sequence involving parkor on skis and snowmobiles. It ends with a confrontation on a dam between Bond and Hinx. Hinx is presumed to be dead.
•Madeleine and Bond go to Q's room and find him gone. Bond confronts her again and she agrees to help him as they see coverage on the Cape Town attack.
•Next we see M and Moneypenny talking in his office. She tells him about the former M's message to Bond and that he needs to help him. Afterwards, M is notified by Denbigh that Nine Eyes has been approved due to the attacks.
•Next is the establishing shot of the train at sunset, followed by the dinner scene and fight with Hinx. As Hinx is about to throw Bond off the train, he decides to knock him out instead.
•Bond and Madeleine wake up at the crater base. We have the same scenes of them being received by the staff. Onto the meteorite scene which is mostly the same. Then we have the scene in the computer room which is much less dramatic. Have Blofeld say the maniac speech from the DN novel instead of talking about Bond's women. Hinx hangs in the background throughout all of this.
•Next is a dinner scene. This would be a highlight of the film because of Waltz. Bond escapes using the watch and rescues Q. Also, the entire climax takes place at night, leading to some great shots. There is a huge shootout as a large group of reinforcements, led by Felix Leiter, storm the base and fight Spectre. Q thwarts the Nine Eyes countdown and Bond battles Hinx one final time. Meanwhile, M confronts and arrests Denbigh, who commits suicide out of fear of Blofeld coming after him for failing. Bond, Madeleine, and Q escape as the base goes up in flames. Blofeld is apprehended afterwards. Sometime later, Bond visits him in prison. They have an intense scene through a glass wall, similar to the actual film, and we see the scar. Everything is wrapped up but Blofeld's face says otherwise. Que the final scene with the DB5.
Not perfect, especially the third act, but I'll take it. The film would clock in at around 130 minutes.
I think indeed Mendes wasn't the right fit for this story. Like Deakins, maybe he said as much as he had to say with SF, which is why SP felt tired and running through the motions.
Anyway, onto my changes:
- No Max Denbigh, Nine Eyes subplot. Instead, have a secondary villain who Bond is after not knowing he responds to Blofeld, a bit like Ouromov/Trevelyan.
- No posthumous message from M or Skyfall box. Blofeld not motivated by resentment.
- Colorful cinematography.
- Expanded role for Lucia Sciarra. Have her overturn the vulnerable victimized widow trope and turn out to be a SPECTRE agent playing Bond, like a Fiona Volpe type.
- Madeleine gets introduced a bit earlier. No daddy issues or soapy interactions with Bond. Whereas Vesper and Bond's conversations felt natural, Maddie's backstory lines felt obligatory and robotic. Keep it as two people helping each other out who also happen to perhaps be attracted to each other. Not soulmates.
- Hinx fight doesn't take place on a train, I enjoy watching it but it's really derivative. Change scenery. And have Bond actually chased by several SPECTRE goons in Rome, not just Hinx. Dynamic action sequences, I want to feel the danger and feel surprised by the progression of it. Make it rough, fast-paced but easy to follow.
- The third act takes place entirely in Blofeld's lair, something more impressive-looking like Atlantis. Agreed with the post above that a raid led by Felix Leiter or some of the Scooby gang would have been cool. The MI6 ruins is probably the very weakest part of SP, along with damsel in distress Maddie. Maybe a Sciarra/Maddie catfight?
- Indeed a film about Bond going after SPECTRE doesn't make for something wholly original (and then again, SF isn't a super original story with spy movie tropes like a list of agents/Bond seeking a lead to another country/Bond seducing a woman to get to the villain/etc, it's the way it was framed that made it feel dynamic) , but they can add twists to it to make it feel fresh.
I couldn't have this better myself. Although I do think they could still create something dynamic with the re-introduction of SPECTRE.
And as much as I don't think Bond/Madeleine work as a couple, L'Americain is another strong scene. Madeleine really should have been a villain in the end; it would have been more believable given her icy performance.
Shame he didn't take the same approach with the abysmal opening plane 'stunt' in GE. Would have been fine in Thunderbirds. Speaking of which, Thunderbirds would have rather suited Brosnan's Bond.
I could see something like this working but there does surely come a point when Bond just ends up looking like a useless numpty?
- Have David Arnold write the score; he would wave the theme song into the score and also drop a few hints from the previous scores (like Quantum/Night at the opera's theme to represent mr. White and Vesper's theme when the tape is found)
- One of the original scripts played with the idea of paranoia, Blofeld/Stockmann (or whatever he was called at the time) calling Bond a delusional paranoid and Blofeld always being a step ahead of Bond. That should have been the basis of the movie; the Nine Eyes plot was a cool idea but executed so poorly. Imagine Blofeld actually having eyes on everyone and being everywhere and always knowing what Bond is up to. Blofeld should have been set as a scary and menacing figure. In the final film we're only told by White that Blofeld "is everywhere" but this is not shown at all in the movie
- I'm in the minorance and actually like WotW and I don't mind Smith's singing, but I think the song would fit a female voice more, so I'd keep WotW and ask someone else to sing it
- I like the opening titles, but I'd reduce the amount of octopus imaginery and would add a flashback of Greene during the "a milion shards of glass" part. Also, I know they wanted to use alternate takes from CR, QoS and SF for the flashbacks, but securing the rights to those would cost too much (I believe), so I'd spend more money for that instead of wasting it for the stupid explosion
- Remove Denbigh
- Keep Dench's message but actually have Mallory know about it - no Bond going rogue, have Mallory trust and support Bond
- Moneypenny, Tanner and Q should only show up in the first act in London and that's it
- Have Blofeld kill Lucia as an effect of what I said before; Bond thinks he's made Lucia safe, but Blofeld actually is a step ahead of Bond and he kills her.
- Rewrite SPECTRE's meeting. I agree with Remington that it drags and Quantum's meeting at the opera was much smarter anyway. Keep the Eyes Wide Shut-esque masquerade meeting as in the original script. Also keep the scene of Bond pointing a weapon to a random masked guy like in the original script when Bond's presence is revealed
- Don't have Blofeld show up until the third act. Cut any ties with Bond's childhood
- Get rid of Bond/Moneypenny's phone call during the car chase and add some tension to the car chase
- Have mr. White tell the "Spectres of St. Pierre" story and also reveal how SPECTRE was built upon the ashes of Quantum and how that led to White losing his power to Blofeld and the latter becoming the head of the organization. Also have White mention that SPECTRE funded Silva but the latter was acting on his own agenda (meaning Silva never was a SPECTRE agent, he merely worked for them)
- Remove Q from the scenes in Austria
- Have a parkour ski chase instead of the plane chase
- Develop Bond and Madeleine's romance better and make it believable
- Cast Tilda Swinton as Irma Bunt
- Set the third act at Blofeld's base; keep the card game and the dinner scene as in the original script
- Have Bond capture Blofeld and leave MI6 with Madeleine, but the latter being killed by Irma Bunt
These are really great. My take would be:
The Nine Eyes plot is lame and not needed.
Dench really doesn't need to be in this movie. It could have just been an assignment from Mallory to Mexico. It's time for a movie where Bond and M are on the same side from the beginning!
I would leave Silva out of this movie too. I know Mendes probably wanted to include his villain over Forster's, but it really makes no sense.
The film is screaming out for a sacrificial lamb, so Lucia is the obvious candidate and I think it would add to Blofeld's menace, especially if he is kept in the shadows until the third act. Why didn't Mendes go back and watch TB and keep Blofeld in the shadows at the Spectre meeting?
I'd also add that the Spectre meeting should have been Hinx killing someone on Blofeld's orders, not taking his seat. Go back to the classic Bond template for Spectre.
I agree. The only reason I had White mention SPECTRE's ties with Silva in my post is because it explains how Silva managed to execute his master plan, but to be honest I'd be perfectly fine if Silva was not mentioned at all in the movie and was just briefly shown during the opening titles sequence.
Exactly. We had two in each Craig movie and none in SPECTRE, and that's ridicolous considering SPECTRE had to build Blofeld as a threat more than the other movies did. Which is why I find LeChiffre, Quantum and Silva much better villains than Blofeld.
Right, I forgot about it. I'd change the title as well as it sounds so uninspiring. I like "The Death Collector".
Forget Quantum and the other three movies.
Document the rise of Spectre, with Blofeld at its head.
No step brother stuff. No personal stuff.
Just a good, tight investigation movie. Bond uncovering clues and unveiling a dastardly orgainisation.
It’s as if a Craig bond film *needs* a certain level of angst now. They have really painted themselves into a corner, but I have every confidence that CF will focus on an engaging spy story for B25.
Some good suggestions. There really are better ideas on this forum sometimes than what EON serves up
Good stuff, all. I particularly agree with the development of Blofeld - he's meant to be the grand villain of the series. But if you weren't a keen reader of the books or a student of the films, how would know he was meant to be anything other than "another bad guy?"
At least from the information we're given in the films themselves, he is definitely no more menacing than Silva. Less so, if anything.
Ah, Spectre. Every time I think of it I'm frustrated!
Agreed and also titles should have been revealed like this -
SPecial
Executive (For)
Counter Intelligence
Terrorism
Revenge
Extortion
And 007 logo somewhere around this
Keep the organisation, change the title.
They're literally stills ripped from the blu-ray. I can't help but equally scoff and chuckle at that "artistic" decision of theirs. And beyond that: what purpose did they serve? Why were their arrows leading Bond to Blofeld when he was meant to be blindfolded and led there by guards?
They're so bad. They look so cheap and naff. Like Blofeld got the office work experience to knock them out on the photocopier. Bad production design IMO.
I find Mendes so odd. For me the concept behind SF is undoubtedly stronger but I find almost every aspect of its execution a disappointment. SP is for me very much in the same vein - thinly disguised cracks in the writing evident at every turn. But because I prefer the individual scenes in SP over those in SF I am more forgiving overall. The fact that the SP PTS is so superior to the SF one almost every level really helps.
They're both ultimately underwhelming, over long and rather dull entries in the series though. Amazing they made so much money at the BO really, but then the biggest Bond film immediately prior to them was DAD, which perhaps says something about the demographic the Mendes films appealed to.
I agree with many of the suggestions on here about SP. It's a poor film in many respects. Brothergate. The lack of any real threat, menace, tension or suspense. The poor casting and total lack of chemistry with Seydoux or spark of tension between Bond and Blofeld. You have to wonder what Mendes was playing at really. His direction is so flat.
What would you change it for?
On the whole, you could just remove that angle and not much else is affected. It's probably part of the reason I'm less butthurt by it. I just try to ignore that bit.
I'm afraid you're right.
I can’t help but think mendes stalled Daniel Craig’s momentum just when he was generating serious heat with his first two.
Mendes must’ve appealed to the stage actor in Craig, to the detriment of both.
They had two great back stories (the OP story and the Blofeld/White history) that they left out of the movie in favor of...Brothergate. WTF?
But the "old and washed up" angle was pushed a bit too hard, and all of the overarching story elements that got pulled into SP weren't mapped out well enough beforehand. I think if this had been part of a more coherent medium-term plan (even if only for 2 films), then Mendes might have handed over the reins for B24 to someone else with plenty of momentum left to use.