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and although I kinda liked and understand the idea behind Judi’s cameo, you have to wonder —
During the events of Skyfall, when she begins to fully realize the danger she’s in (perhaps even right before or after Silva hacks her laptop with the YouTube video), she records a cryptic 20 second video telling Bond to go assassinate someone and “don’t miss the funeral” - and he does it without batting an eyebrow?
And then, even though the new M earned his trust at the end of the previous film, he purposefully keeps this from him just so the writers can set up tension between them?
Not to mention, this implies that somehow M is aware of SPECTRE and knows of Bond’s connection to Oberhauser… and does nothing except record this damn webcam video?
This is one of the film’s myriad problems for me, despite it’s beautiful & slick presentation and some highlights that actually do fulfil the promise of what makes Craig’s tenure so great.
It’s made clear that SPECTRE is about rigging the system in their favor to make them rich. If they can have access and manipulate the government from within via Nine Eyes then they’ll hit the jackpot. It also serves as a nice update on Fleming’s background of Blofeld making money by having access to vital info during the war, selling secrets, etc.
It takes away all the attempt at realism that was started in CR, and loosely followed in QoS and SF, where Bond feels pain and recovers.
MI6 really missed a trick in Skyfall when they needed to get Bond back in shape after he came back from his 3-month bender. Instead of making him do pull-ups and take psych evals, they should have just drilled holes in his head and he'd have been good to go.
Yes, another excellent point. Instead of saying he was "taking some overdue holiday", he could have just laid out what he was doing and perhaps get M to, if not fully sanction it, loosen Bond's leash a-la Moonraker. Imagine the resources Q would be able to provide, perhaps a car with ammunition?
Made clear later in the film--C and by extension Spectre were watching everything at MI6. Bond revealing the details to M would have shut them both down from the start.
There's a reason Bond doesn't report every detail, its a big part of what makes him useful.
Exactly. If it were a case of “as soon as we get full control of Nine Eyes we will shut governments out and launch attacks on them” or something greater than just Bond stopping the system from launching fully.
That's a scene that's always stuck in my craw. With just a small adjustment, it could have been a great character-building moment. Imagine Bond still disoriented and dizzy after torture, trying to escape with Madeleine, and Madeleine being forced to steady Bond's gun arm and be his "aim" while shooting at the bad guys. He sees the conflicting emotions on her face -- the terror of the situation, her devastation at being forced to take lives and becoming what her father was -- and it's one of the factors that makes him realize he wants out of this life, and to protect her.
[By the way: My first post! Long-time lurker, happy to join the fray.]
"Hey, Moneypenny, when you come by my place tonight, bring M, will you? I have a convenient videoclip that will blow your minds" would solve that problem. Considering the lengths M is going through to keep Bond in London, I'm not sure not reporting on what he's up to is the best idea here.
I think actually the first half is great. As with many bond films I can pinpoint the exact moment it falls apart.
The scene in La Merican. The pace suddenly becomes glacial and I just don’t understand how mr white would be able to create a secret room in a bed and breakfast. Surely the owners would notice.
Isn’t that what he’s always been? Every scheme has been about trying to make a profit, with the exception of OHMSS which was for Blofeld’s amnesty (though with all the entitlements of a Count).
+1! I see a lot of Fleming's YOLT Blofeld in Waltz. Downplaying the degree to which Bond has been an irritant, having a sort of mythological connection to the hero. Obviously it may be odd to take that route in Waltz's first film, but I see more discernable Fleming in him than in the other incarnations.
Welcome to MI6! What you've suggested would have been a huge improvement.
From this moment onwards to the end of the film I have lost interest. One of the most disappointing 3rd acts of the series.
One could even make most of these edits using the existing film. The only part missing would be a proper battle at the base.
Also, it’s worth mentioning that is cool that Blofeld’s chooses the bloodline he thinks suits him for what he really his, choosing his mother’s after the death of his ungrateful father, changing his name. This is just 100% Fleming’s character.
Plus, I just loved how they tied the notion of Blofeld being not only the head of this shadowy organization, but being literally a spectre, “resurrected from the dead”, from Bond’s past.
I remember not being disappointed by the film as much as I felt disappointed that the film was set up as Daniel's last. It felt like he finally became prime James Bond and then he was finished with the role, thankfully that wasn't the case
All you need to do is swap the South Africans voting against the programme for UK and have the finale be Bond racing to prevent a final terrorist attack in London that bloefeld has told him is going to happen when they were at the base in Tangier.
As a lover of Spectre, I have to say this would be a vast improvement!
Yeah. Spectre is nearly great. But there is no jeopardy in the final 3rd. Simply fixed
Sam Mendes is a talented director, but for me SF always felt a bit fan fiction. It also lacked atmosphere and interesting locations.
SP on the other hand is full of mystery and atmosphere. It gives us fabulous Bondian locations and adds two great Bond girls, something sorely missing from the previous entry, in Bellucci and Seydoux.
Mendes, at least for my money, first made a Bond-Batman cross-over, and then with SP, he actually made a Bond film, and a very good one at that.
Lovely!
The turning point for me with Spectre was really just moving beyond the (vast) missed opportunities one might have imagined for it, and enjoying what it actually is. It's pretty great. It could have been uncontroversially amazing, but I'll take controversially amazing in a pinch. ;)