NO TIME TO DIE (2021) - First Reactions vs. Current Reactions

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  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,546
    It seems weird that May Day would have been Bond's friend, but there you go.

    And also I heard that Grace Jones backed out because there was very little screen time for her; the Cuba party sequence made sense to me for that reason as well, but maybe the Taschen book shines a light on some of that as well.
  • FeyadorFeyador Montreal, Canada
    Posts: 735
    matt_u wrote: »
    Did anyone catch Wilson's cameo at the SPECTRE party? Got it on my first viewing surprisingly.

    Yes! Took my two viewings but I did catch it.

    I've mentioned it before but I think this is where Grace Jones' cameo would have been... even when Bond says "SPECTRE agents... all of them." It almost feels like that line was written for some sort of cameo appearance.

    A nod to MayDay being a SPECTRE agent would have been cool I think.

    The Taschen book mentions that May Day was meant to be Bond’s friend and she would’ve appeared in Jamaica.
    I read somewhere that she was going to be owner of the club in Jamaica & someone with gangland connections ....
  • Just as well she didn't do a cameo in the film....some might say it offends their AVTAK sensibilities the way the OHMSS music does. Because some fans are that sensitive.
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    I love Bond's face right after he kills Primo. Craig perfectly conveys the improbability of the whole situation.
  • Grace Jones' appearance would've been a fantastic addition to that club scene. Too bad it didn't work out.
  • Posts: 2,402
    mattjoes wrote: »
    I love Bond's face right after he kills Primo. Craig perfectly conveys the improbability of the whole situation.

    I think he might be slightly stunned from the EMP. While it's true they target electrical circuits, having a small one go off right in your face might be a bit of a shock.

    ...not as much as it was for Primo, mind you! :))
  • edited November 2021 Posts: 214
    Primo was a wimp anyway....even Nomi or Paloma could've taken him out. My one bug about the film...needed a better henchman and an epic fist-fight. A Hinx return would have been fun, or some other big burly menace from WWE....
  • imranbecksimranbecks Singapore
    Posts: 984
    I heard Grace Jones was supposed to be a bartender in the Jamaican club where he meets up with Felix and Ash.
  • I heard something about her showing up, getting furious that it was just a cameo and storming off. But I'm not sure if that was just a rumour or fact.
  • donnydracodonnydraco America
    Posts: 16
    It just occurred to me that NTTD is the first film in the franchise which I can simultaneously deem to be of high quality and one I don't care for (or, for that matter, have any desire to revisit).

    As a cinephile, I've encountered this paradox before (e.g., LADY MACBETH, an objectively accomplished drama, yet far, far too bleak for my tastes), but I never imagined this would happen in the Bond series.

    The direction is commanding, the cinematography opulent, the performances all well-calibrated...and yet I'd rank NTTD somewhere in the mid-tier (even though, by most metrics, it's a better film than higher-ranking installments such as THUNDERBALL, or LICENSE TO KILL or QUANTUM OF SOLACE).

    Frustrating.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited November 2021 Posts: 12,480
    Add Grace Jones properly and it would be another 10 minutes in length, this movie. that was the right call by her and by EON. We didn't need any more tiny snippets of stories told. The pace and editing were very good throughout, and I don't see how she could have been fit in properly. I don't want more from the Jamaica club scene. Having the Cuba set piece done so magnificently was warranted. All of that time is very well used.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,546
    Add Grace Jones properly and it would be another 10 minutes in length, this movie. that was the right call by her and by EON. We didn't need any more tiny snippets of stories told. The pace and editing were very good throughout, and I don't see how she could have been fit in properly. I don't want more from the Jamaica club scene. Having the Cuba set piece done so magnificently was warranted. All of that time is very well used.

    I agree completely, but a quick moment of her in passing, replacing the camera hanging on a different meaningless Spectre agent, would have been cool.
  • edited November 2021 Posts: 214
    I agree completely, but a quick moment of her in passing, replacing the camera hanging on a different meaningless Spectre agent, would have been cool.

    She could've been one of those 3 uglies who were carrying around the bionic eye for Blofeld to view the proceedings...and get poisoned by the nanobots




  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    Sure, cool for us ... but I totally get why she would not settle for that.
  • Posts: 2,402
    I agree completely, but a quick moment of her in passing, replacing the camera hanging on a different meaningless Spectre agent, would have been cool.

    She could've been one of those 3 uglies who were carrying around the bionic eye for Blofeld to view the proceedings...and get poisoned by the nanobots




    That would require Grace Jones to be ugly, which is impossible.
  • matt_umatt_u better known as Mr. Roark
    edited November 2021 Posts: 4,343
    The Taschen book says May Day would’ve been a crime lord in Jamaica and Bond’s friend. That was the idea.
  • edited November 2021 Posts: 207
    Primo was a wimp anyway....even Nomi or Paloma could've taken him out. My one bug about the film...needed a better henchman and an epic fist-fight. A Hinx return would have been fun, or some other big burly menace from WWE....
    I liked Primo but wished he would have put up more of a fight in Matera or the island.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    Yes, the island fight should have been a bit longer and vary more from the other one. We saw three intense fights but all very short.
  • George_KaplanGeorge_Kaplan Being chauffeured by Tibbett
    Posts: 680
    donnydraco wrote: »
    It just occurred to me that NTTD is the first film in the franchise which I can simultaneously deem to be of high quality and one I don't care for (or, for that matter, have any desire to revisit).

    As a cinephile, I've encountered this paradox before (e.g., LADY MACBETH, an objectively accomplished drama, yet far, far too bleak for my tastes), but I never imagined this would happen in the Bond series.

    The direction is commanding, the cinematography opulent, the performances all well-calibrated...and yet I'd rank NTTD somewhere in the mid-tier (even though, by most metrics, it's a better film than higher-ranking installments such as THUNDERBALL, or LICENSE TO KILL or QUANTUM OF SOLACE).

    Frustrating.

    I know what you mean. I feel that way about SF.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,546
    matt_u wrote: »
    The Taschen book says May Day would’ve been a crime lord in Jamaica and Bond’s friend. That was the idea.

    Would have been cool, but I agree with the sentiment that this film didn't need any more side characters. A nod at the party would have been awesome, anything more would have been too much. I can see why they cut it.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,968
    It's a shame they couldn't make something work with her, would've enjoyed seeing her in the film. I know she's a bigger name antagonist-turned-protagonist for the series but I do love when random henchmen/background characters make a return as someone completely different in later installments, for whatever reason.
  • edited November 2021 Posts: 2,161
    It could’ve worked in theory, but I fear it would’ve come off as crass and awkward; Like a Madonna or the Virgin Airways Guy cameo. She doesn’t tend to work subtly.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,584
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    It's a shame they couldn't make something work with her, would've enjoyed seeing her in the film. I know she's a bigger name antagonist-turned-protagonist for the series but I do love when random henchmen/background characters make a return as someone completely different in later installments, for whatever reason.

    I would have preferred a cameo by David Harbour, in Cuba, as a member of Spectre, which gives Bond (and us) a moment of pause.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    edited November 2021 Posts: 17,790
    donnydraco wrote: »
    It just occurred to me that NTTD is the first film in the franchise which I can simultaneously deem to be of high quality and one I don't care for (or, for that matter, have any desire to revisit).

    As a cinephile, I've encountered this paradox before (e.g., LADY MACBETH, an objectively accomplished drama, yet far, far too bleak for my tastes), but I never imagined this would happen in the Bond series.

    The direction is commanding, the cinematography opulent, the performances all well-calibrated...and yet I'd rank NTTD somewhere in the mid-tier (even though, by most metrics, it's a better film than higher-ranking installments such as THUNDERBALL, or LICENSE TO KILL or QUANTUM OF SOLACE).

    Frustrating.

    I'm with ya here. NTTD is really well made (even if I disagree radically with the writing). I have also never re-visited A Clockwork Orange since my 2nd viewing decades ago. It doesn't matter the pedigree; some movies go down a path I will not enjoy.
  • DoctorKaufmannDoctorKaufmann Can shoot you from Stuttgart and still make it look like suicide.
    Posts: 1,261
    TripAces wrote: »
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    It's a shame they couldn't make something work with her, would've enjoyed seeing her in the film. I know she's a bigger name antagonist-turned-protagonist for the series but I do love when random henchmen/background characters make a return as someone completely different in later installments, for whatever reason.

    I would have preferred a cameo by David Harbour, in Cuba, as a member of Spectre, which gives Bond (and us) a moment of pause.

    Fun thing, a German Bond Fan Site wrote about David Harbour having a short return as Greg Beam to be offed early in the movie (Cuba?), but apparently it was just a rumour, and nothing came off it. Never heard about it again.
    And Grace Jones was in the 1980's invited to perform a song live at the then very popular game show "Wetten dass?" ("I betacha..."). She insisted to be announced with the words "Ladies and Gentlemen, please rise for the one and only GRACE JONES!". The host would have none of this, saying, that she would get a "standard" announcement. So, she refused to perform and left.
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    edited November 2021 Posts: 25,092
    Just watched NTTD at home rented from Amazon (3rd time watch) , I enjoyed aspects though humbled down my ranking. Its easily one one of the worst Bond movies. The overall outcome is not the issue with me, the mess of the script kills this movie.
  • Posts: 1,078
    When Bond arrives back at the hotel, battered and bruised, and the manager looks at him smiling and says "your baggage has already been bought down Mr Bond", that took my right back to the Moore years, (as did the man fainting in his airbag in SP). I don't know why, but I think it's because in real life, the manager would take one look at Bond and say "my god, what's happened, are you okay?", but this guy has this big grin and it's totally the wrong tone really.
    And I'm not complaining, I quite liked it, but I wonder if anyone else noticed it?
  • edited November 2021 Posts: 214
    When Bond arrives back at the hotel, battered and bruised, and the manager looks at him smiling and says "your baggage has already been bought down Mr Bond", that took my right back to the Moore years, (as did the man fainting in his airbag in SP). I don't know why, but I think it's because in real life, the manager would take one look at Bond and say "my god, what's happened, are you okay?", but this guy has this big grin and it's totally the wrong tone really.
    And I'm not complaining, I quite liked it, but I wonder if anyone else noticed it?

    Well in DAD, Bond walks into the Royal Rubyeon Hotel barefoot, soaking wet, unkempt, looking like a vagaBOND rather than James Bond....and is warmly welcomed by its Manager Chang...

    Maybe Managers just don't judge the book by its cover when its Bond ;;)
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,546
    When Bond arrives back at the hotel, battered and bruised, and the manager looks at him smiling and says "your baggage has already been bought down Mr Bond", that took my right back to the Moore years, (as did the man fainting in his airbag in SP). I don't know why, but I think it's because in real life, the manager would take one look at Bond and say "my god, what's happened, are you okay?", but this guy has this big grin and it's totally the wrong tone really.
    And I'm not complaining, I quite liked it, but I wonder if anyone else noticed it?

    Well in DAD, Bond walks into the Royal Rubyeon Hotel barefoot, soaking wet, unkempt, looking like a vagaBOND rather than James Bond....and is warmly welcomed by its Manager Chang...

    Maybe Managers just don't judge the book by its cover when its Bond ;;)

    I could be way off base here... but wasn't that hotel in DAD something of an MI6 safehouse, and Chang very familiar with Bond?
  • matt_umatt_u better known as Mr. Roark
    edited November 2021 Posts: 4,343
    Thinking about the end of NTTD.

    I cannot think of a manliest death scene in the history of cinema…

    Shot three times, beaten up, infected with nanobots, his world completely collapsed and about to be obliterated by missiles, but he finds the strength to comfort his lover, even to smile. He doesn’t even flinch for a second.

    NTTD really cemented Bond as the ultimate hero.

    It’s poetic that he’s been killed by British missiles.
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