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The Secrets of Spectre
Here is an interesting article about the build up and pre-production of Spectre.
http://www.007magazine.co.uk/bond24/secrets_of_spectre1.htm
http://www.007magazine.co.uk/bond24/secrets_of_spectre1.htm
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Comments
I was not aware of a lot of what is contained in that link, including Sony's preference for an Oct release - which had to be nixed on account of the wait for Mendes according to the post. We discussed this on here a few weeks back actually - that October would have been a great time to release the film - given the Martian was cleaning up during that timeframe with no competition.
Having recently seen a brilliant performance from him in The Secret In Their Eyes, I think Chiwetel Ejiofor, rumoured in that article for the role of C, would have been excellent, and superior to Scott, who fell flat for me personally. Perhaps he was too expensive, as has been mentioned somewhere, but still..
It's telling to read the comments about Broccoli being a 'wreck' at one stage during script development. That bodes well for B25, because I believe she will do what she has to do in order to ensure this kind of scripting fiasco doesn't happen again.
The article poses this final important & well asked question, and on this front, I don't think the film succeeded for some people, myself included:
"Even more important, though, when considering the prospect of SPECTRE matching Skyfall in artistic terms, is whether the screenplay, direction and performances can successfully combine to provide a plausible psychological texture which convincingly links the film to the entire Craig canon."
Yes this is becoming a bit of worrying pattern. Having read that article I'm convinced that Mendes is done, and I'm starting to wonder whether all of the chaos involved in bringing Spectre to the screen may have put DC off as well.
But the Blofled of SP resembles Fleming's incarnation sans the childhood link. Creating an African Dictator means you are essentially just using the name. I don't get how that's better.
He had a scar and a white car in the books? He was completely unmeancing in the books?
It's been ages since I read Fleming's books, so I may have forgotten.
You're picking up on superficial cinematic appendages. As for whether he was menacing, that's down to taste and I, and others, thought he conveyed that brilliantly. I do suggest you read the novels again.
I find Waltz menacing as Blofeld. If you don't that's entirely your appreciation. Waltz looks like Blofeld from OHMSS and his origins are at least closer to the novels' (in which he was not German but had German blood). He also started his career as a criminal gathering confidential information which he sold. In any case Blofeld is not remotely an African warlord.
Here´s to you EON: hire a good writer and let him do his/her job. Give him enough time.
And don´t reject everything.
Yes absolutely, but you'd think that MGW and BB would want to have the gist of what's going into that first draft and nip in the bud any stupid ideas at that stage.
They didn't reject everything. But they discarted a lot and rightly so, I might add.
I think they'd ask the scriptwriter (and this goes for every project) to go as they feel like, then they get rip it apart.
I get the impression that a great deal of effort and huge amounts of money are spent working on the action set pieces, and $5 dollars spent on the script.
Except the action in the last few films has been rubbish as well.
Why can't MGW take over writing duties and Babs concentrate on producing?
The 80s scripts (with the possible exception of AVTAK) are all better than anything we've had since CR - and they had way better action into the bargain.
Having re-watched some of the 80's Bond films recently, i can concur with this.
Yes, the 1960s and the 1980s were the best for Bond films to my mind.
Surely isn't hard to write a good plot/script for a Bond movie? Cubby gave BB some very good advice - "don't let them f*** it up".
I blame Kinnear. Just because.
I'm happy to go with that.
#itsallrorysfault
I suspect that after the success of SF, Logan was given carte blanche to go off and write whatever he liked for the first draft.
Yes this is what I meant that they just left it entirely in his hands. I don't know BB personally but she does come across as quite cool if a bit feisty (in a good way, and not a naughty way :), which I guess you have to be as a producer. Given that it seems hard to picture her as a wreck cos of all the scriptwriting issues. I have the greatest of respect for both BB and MGW, he comes across as really cool too, just can't help thinking that they let the ball slip and handing over too much trust to Logan. I have always had the impression that they gave Roald Dahl a brief to work too - including his famous mention of the three girl formula. Obviously you don't want to straight jacket a writer otherwise you wouldn't get interesting takes on the Bond formula, but I feel they need to make it clear early on what they are looking for from their writer. This of course is all guess work about what's gone on behind the scenes given the knowledge I have from the leaks etc.
Not entirely his own--I felt the same way. Waltz was the campiest Blofeld since Charles Gray. He gave a ruinously self-satisfied performance. I thinkFleming would have dismissed the childhood connection as sheer corn.
Aside from the longish white hair, green eyes, syphilitic nostril, tallness, and pretty much every other physical attribute of Blofeld in OHMSS? I agree with you that making Blofeld an African warlord would have wasted the original character, but Spectre's version was also ill-conceived.