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Comments
Controversial might be the better word! 😉
That's one positive way to look at it, considering I've never thought Bond and Swann had any sort of chemistry whatsoever.
I thought Lea Seydoux at least made more of an impact here than she did in Spectre (though that was not the actress' fault, imo). NTTD did do a good job of fleshing out Madeleine as a character, imo.
Bond
Vesper
M
Felix
Mathis
Le Chiffre
Mr White
Also interesting to hear comments on use of OHMSS queues as I am still processing this. I do not think that the writers sat around the table saying "Look guys we are a bit short of ideas here, so can we ask Zimmer to bung some nostalgia tunes in to pad it out a bit..." I understand the viewpoint that it is trading off reverential parts of the Bond mythos and not augmenting it, but can also say say I enjoyed it at the same time. Personally when I saw them drive round the back of the Hercules plane I would have really a couple of notes hinting Hercules Take off from TLD.
Anyway guess I need a second viewing...
Yes Bond is formulaic, but you know what you are in for. This felt like a betrayal of that experience.
They are SO upset, they didn't want to even talk about it this morning.
I get that this movie is stylish, I get why film critics love it, I get why the cast and film makers are delighted and feel stretched...but is it supposed to make your daughters cry with genuine sadness. Is that the point of a Bond film? I don't think it is. I think you should walk away from a Bond movie exhilarated, laughing, punching the air. The excitement that I can remember having as a young child has been lovely to re-experience through my daughters....what a shame to see them so glum!
Cruelty is the word that I find most appropriate too about his death. In the end, Safin won by taking away Bond's future. Very bleak indeed.
I'll be honest, if the blu-ray has the alternate ending where Bond survives, I think I'll edit that as my personal fan version of NTTD which would substantially increase its rewatchability for me.
DIdn't the director say he filmed one or two alternates? Or was that just pre-release hype.
He also seemed to call him BloFIELD just before that as well (according to my ears at least and I have seen it twice).
Well, it is a comment forum for Bond fans. Are we not allowed to discuss our immediate thoughts or do we all have to toe the party line?
Never heard bout that man. Anyway, the concept behind this film is clear and an alternate ending where Bond survives wouldn't make sense...
As a woman, I liked the female characters and indeed, the little girls: young Madeleine was pretty kick-ass (I don't think I'd have been able to shoot a man and drag him through the snow as a young teenager) and Matilde wasn't soppily cute, but rather watchful. One of the problems I've always had with Bond is that the women are so disposable and expendable, although one has to remember that a lot of them were pretty strong characters in their own right, especially in the 60s and 70s. I still have fond memories of Fatima Blush's awesome outfits (as a little girl watching Bond movies, it's as much for the glamour as the action). That expendability is gone here: Paloma obviously is on her own agenda and just walks off, which worked for me.
I also liked the irony of the bioweapon being a MI6 project (as one reviewer said, did they not think 'what could possibly go wrong?'), liked the sparring with M but also that the film allowed M to reclaim some dignity and also that Bond is pragmatic enough to drop it (he's not in a position to cast aspersions on anyone else's drinking habits, though!). I liked the possibly Mormon double-agent - he was more of a standout character for me than Eye Guy, mainly because clean cut Mid Westerners are usually the hero in these things. Though Nomi was good, and Lea Seydoux showed more of a range than in Spectre. I quite like her sombre demeanour, actually: it has grown on me. Scene at Q's house was pretty funny and Bond's comment about the cats amused me more than the rather cliched quips, which always made me groan, rather like Christmas crackers.
One of the reasons we booked early, apart from actually finally wanting to see the damn film, was to avoid spoilers and I did, so the ending was a shock. I am tending towards the view that they'll have to do a complete reboot and not mention the death, which is a shame as I like the current MI6 team. The Craig era has not been entirely continuous, however, as Dench's M was a holdover from previous films and did not, for instance, remark "My God, James, you're a shorter, blonder man than you were a few weeks ago!" when Craig walks in instead of Brosnan (IIRC). However, Bond's actual demise is a bigger hurdle and it would look a bit odd if they keep the current team and no-one mentioned it. They could pull a Reichenbach Falls and explain it away (e.g. ground gives way beneath Bond's feet as the first missile hits, precipitates him into underground chamber, shockwave washes him up on a neighbouring island....sure, it's preposterous but no more so than some of his escapes).
Continuity in these things is weird anyway and it doesn't do to examine it too closely. Original Bond would be about 8 years older than my mum and she's 93, so one has to accept this rolling forward of men with the same name. Peter O'Donnell once addressed this directly - I am a big Modesty Blaise fan and would far rather see a good film of that than a female Bond, by the way - and rewrote Modesty's history as a thought experiment: rather than growing up in the Second World War, he posited that she could have been born during one of the Balkan conflicts instead and followed the timeline from there.
Anyway, overall, NTTD was definitely a winner for me.
Yes, it was certainly in the press although probably just baseless tabloid rumors.
On the way to the escape boat, Nomi is shot and wounded. They help her to the boat. Bond says his tearful goodbye to Madeleine and runs back into the plant. He makes it to the control room but, following Qs instructions, the silo doors won’t open. He punches the switches with frustration. Safin appears from a doorway and points a gun at Bond.
Safin: You now have two issues, Mr Bond. The first, relatively simple, is that I’m pointing a loaded gun to your head. And the second. Well, to prevent a single madman launching the missiles, the controls were duplicated.
(he gestures to a duplicate set of controls on the other side of the room)
And need to be operated simultaneously. You’re a resourceful man but…not this time.
Bond: A single madman you say?…I can see why you bought the place. Very you.
Safin: Enough childish insults for one day…for a lifetime.
He raises the gun but before he can shoot Bond, Safin is shot in the back by Madeleine who has returned to help.
She embraces Bond and he shows her how to operate the duplicate controls. The silo doors open.
Bond: (radio) A quick exit, Q. ideas?
Q has been scanning the 3D plan of the plant.
Q : (radio) Two floors down in the East corner, an old lift shaft. It drops down into the sea….I think.
Bond: You think? I need a countdown.
Bond and Madeleine race down to the location of the shaft. There is cage style lift with old metal doors (like CR) It’s clear the lift controls are rusted and not working.
They embrace as Q confirms 5 seconds left. Still embracing, Bond fires 3 or 4 shots at the lift cable. The strands on the metal cable start to unwind and snap. One final shot, the cable snaps and the lift cage plunges down the shaft into the darkness. A fraction of a second later, the missiles hit the silos and the whole plant explodes.
"No Time To Die" is the most layered most emotionally engaging movie of the series and only OHMSS and CR come close for me.
I adored the direction and Linus work and at 2 hours 43 minutes it flew past.
The action sequences were taught and quick and I was pleased in the denouement Bond was not faced by endless adversaries with me as a viewer becoming fatigued.
This film was the flip side of QOS, where Bond communicated his journey almost exclusively in terms of physical action, for this movie it was the verbal narrative that dominated. I was in bits for Matera and enjoyed the more zany approach of the 1st Act.
When the family came into play they all seemed to have been moved into a more emotionally tactile place... with one exception, Naomi seemed quite subdued.
The scene with M and S really surprised I had assumed he was behind Matera. The emotional logic of giving Blofeld the chance to offer his psychopathy over his intervention which took away five years of their life was a great twist by Cary. Indeed taking the YOLT riff and giving it so much else really took the film to another level and that of course is down to his input. Phoebe gave everyone a much more real world feel for the goodies and zany bizarreness for the baddies cf. that thing on Netflix. Actually Ana was quite zany but loved her performance.
I was beside myself for the last ten minutes but then I am an emotional junky and loved the Paradise... no Death ending.
For me Bond represents moving beyond and out from the norm, the sad childhood and when he tries to find the door he can not and of course in that sense Madeleine and Bond are a mirror of each other (which is why it was doomed) and you can add Safin to that.
A great end to a wonderful arc for me.
Lea said as a player watching was very emotional, I feel the same.
Things that did not trip them up.
1) The call backs worked.
2) The child, perfectly executed with M denying it was Bonds to begin with.
3) The music was a mixture of Zimmer hammering and callbacks.
Villains
The scientist was close to hamming it and Meerkats spring to mind.
Remi could not be heard all the time and I watched in IMAX. I think I need to see the film a few more times to make a judgement on him.
As for the woke, I did not notice it and its something I hate so for me everyone was in the story and not offering woke placement. Check Out Star Trek Discovery for woke tiresomeness.
I cannot wait to see it again Congrats to all and especially Lea, I hope as many aficionados love it but for Moore fans (the wilderness period as I call it) it could not be further away.
Thanks for covering me.
I never said I didn't like the NTTD Blofeld bit...?
Only Roger Moore was dead when they wrapped the filming, Dame Diana and Sean would have been alive when the film was originally slated for release.....ironic.
I dont know, it wasn't included on your arbitrary list of correctly used Fleming. Incidentally, you know who didn't think Fleming was used well in Dr No? Ian Fleming.
I would be here cheering the film. I really would. Well done, @patb.
Ditto.
Bond just accepting his fate felt like a betrayal of everything the character stands for, in my opinion