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*Bond director does something different from predecessors*
Fans: “He obviously hates Bond. He needs to understand that Bond has traditions!”
Given what I've done with M's office, I will notice. :D
Some sort of dirty protest while M’s out..?
I think it was pretty obvious he wasn't fond of the gunbarrel. He certainly didn't 'hate' Bond, but certainly wanted his own stamp on things, which is fair enough given the clout he must have.
Actually he talked quite a lot about how originally it was at the start but didn't flow either straight from the gunbarrel to the opening shot or with a bumper establisting shot of Istanbul (which would have killed the reveal when Bond leaves the building).
He ultimately opted for keeping the opening shot which thematically resonates with the last shot. It's a better film for it just with that choice.
Campbell directed two Bond films and both had gunbarrel's. CR's albeit was changed within the context of the film. (Which i thought worked brilliantly)
I can only 'extrapolate' my feeling that Mendes wasn't fond of them in that SF didn't have one at the start and SP seemed like an afterthought, especially with the meaningless quote straight after.
Just the way it looks to me.
But not in the right place and not a conventional one by any means. So if we're saying that Mendes has something against it for including two much more conventional gunbarrels (and shooting them afresh both times!) then by the same logic Campbell certainly did. It's double standards, really.
Personally I don't think either of them had anything against it, indeed Mendes actually said:
"I remember when I was a kid thinking that it was almost the best bit. Everything is possible in that moment, it's like Christmas Eve!"
But, y'know: we believe everything dear Cary says, but clearly Mendes was constantly lying through his teeth, for some reason.
Yeah I think that's fair. They shouldn't really feel anything is sacred if we want things to stay fresh, but equally that doesn't mean that every new innovation is going to land perfectly.
Yeah, true....but the thing is, as Bond fans....perfection seems to be our burden. Although, I won't be surprised if there's another innovation in NTTD's Gunbarrel...no matter where it's placed in the film.
Yeah I'll be surprised if the image of the gunbarrel itself doesn't get a revamp in some form.
If there’s one innovation I like from Craig’s gun barrels it’s that he always shot a brand new walk and stance, rather than just reusing the same old footage like previous actors did.
Yeah, me too
Yeah, I really like that about Craig's Era...although, in the Gunbarrel of the previous Bonds, even if it was the same posturing. The lighting & Colouring did differ a bit...but I like this New Tradition of shooting a new Gunbarrel for each film....previously one could tell a Bond film by it's Gunbarrel Music alone, but now with the design of new Gunbarrels, one immediately knows what film it is....at least even if the old Gunbarrels were somewhat repetitive, the music changed as well.
I’m typically all for not adhering to tradition for the sake of tradition, but as far as gun barrel design goes the original Binder design is hard to beat.
I love the Casino Royale design. It would be so cool to use it in an otherwise 100% traditional gunbarrel. To me you can mess with the design all you want (like CR, QoS, or SF) but if it's not at the beginning it's no bueno. I don't even mind it fading to black like SF or SP.
I also don't think at all that Mendes hates the gunbarrel. I just don't think he understands that fans don't want it anywhere else but the beginning (OK, maybe by SP he did) and without some saying following it. SP should have faded into the skull thing. I would have happily forgone the opening shot of Skyfall to have it back at the beginning. As long as we're at it, I'll throw Forster into the mix too. There was ZERO excuse for it to not be at the beginning of QoS considering thematically "Bond was Bond" when CR ended.
They just basically didn't have any ideas for QoS and had to repeat the beats of CR: he couldn't say 'Bond James Bond' at the end again so they used the gunbarrel instead as the 'he's really James Bond now!' moment.
That's the feeling I got when I first saw the film
Like OHMSS before it, the Bond theme kinda ruined the somber mood at the end of QoS.