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To be fair, the OHMSS musical homages had to have gone over most filmgoers' heads. OHMSS is still, to the public, the forgotten Bond film.
The way I see it, it's more of an Easter egg for us hardcore fans. I guarantee you that most people did not understand that it was the OHMSS theme in the scene with M.
We're also, for better or worse, in an era of recycling and sampling in music. You just saw it with Beyonce, possibly the biggest musical star in the world, sampling Madonna's Vogue.
And from LTK (GF), to SF (Bond theme), to (arguably) Eilish's song in NTTD (the last three songs), there is a lot of sampling going on within the Bond songs these days.
Indeed. When I talked to other people about the last song used in NTTD, they didn't know about its use in OHMSS. And it's not as if OHMSS itself wasn't guilty of the same thing. Remember the scene in Bond's office when we hear "Under the Mango Trees" and the thems of FRWL and TB ? Or, earlier than that, the use of an extract of DN in FRWL ? What goes around comes around, methinks.
Well, certainly Fleming would have a different ending given the changing of the times to this point, but I do find Bond's end in NTTD very similar to that of what he'd have been victim of in MR (basically incineration). And I think Bond very much stands as "the boy on the burning deck" in both cases, dutifully seeing his end.
It's hard to say how Fleming would kill Bond if he chose to...would he lean more towards the sting or the sentiment? I'd wager a bit of both. Since he'd not just be killing any minor character, but his big money maker and his magnum opus. I think when a main character is someone a writer is plotting to kill, and most likely the one closest to their hearts, they would handle that execution more tenderly than otherwise. I don't think Fleming would just have Bond double tapped and that be it, nor do I think angels would fall from the heavens and pick him up to guide him into the clouds. But I do believe his death for Bond would be a mixture, a sad, tragic event but also one that has some element of light to it. Because his work was great at showing both the harshness and the sentiment of Bond himself, and the rough and smooth of his life and job.
And I think NTTD hit that mark, of the sting and the sentiment, rather well. The sting is that Bond is shot like a dog by Safin, brutally so, because he's so distracted in his race to get back to his family that he loses care for his surroundings. For the first time in a long time, his heart is what catches him up. Adding on to that he is infected with a virus that, even if he survived the blast, would ensure he could never touch those he loved most again. More than the oncoming missiles, these things are the real daggers to the heart. Bond is put in a situation he can't get out of, short of time travel, and all he can do is wait the strike out and use his last moments to prepare for death while saying goodbye to the woman he loves. The light, being that he dies doing his duty, and leaves behind a legacy in the lives of the people who truly knew him. People who won't ever let him be forgotten (symbolized by Madeleine sharing his story at the end).
I don't find any of that bland, but I do find it sentimental and am glad it's that way. If fans are up in arms about Bond dying the way he did, in a way that I feel honors him, can you imagine how much more irate they'd be if he just got shot in the head and died on the spot, without any final words or moments with the characters he's been with on his journey? I don't think anyone would want that, or be satisfied with that. Bond deserved a more touching end, something that spoke to who he is as a man and in a way that gave him a final moment to say goodbye. I for one am glad EON went that route, instead of doing what so many movies and shows have lately by "subverting expectations" and tearing the heroes down in an almost parodic and disrespectful way.
I do credit the theme of the film, "No Time To Die" with being a song for Bond and Madeleine, though that song does more focus on the inciting breakup of the pair, Bond's suspicions of betrayal and the aftermath of Matera than anything to do with their love and relationship. I do appreciate all the cues that are layered in the film from that song, though, as it really is their song. I do agree that some of the sampling could've been better handled, and it would've been nice for them to have their own song, or for Eilish's song to be more sampled. I guess I'm just kind of indifferent to WHATTITW and its use compared to everyone else. Not filled with awe that it's there, not irate beyond belief about its use. I just sort of smile and nod as it plays, and that's it. If I was going to die on a hill in the Bond debate universe, it wouldn't be over a song that I don't even love all that much from a movie that I don't even feel uses it all that amazingly itself. From my perspective, Armstrong's vocals might actually remove some of the emotion and power from the song and its lyrics it could've had more of if Bassey or another more traditionally bent singer would've gotten the chance to do it instead. But that's just me.
@Gerard, good shout. I have thought about that scene at Bond's desk a lot throughout this discussion of sampling and referencing and homages. I have always winced at it, not just because of how poorly I think it was presented, with all the cheap sound effects and visual gaggery, but also because it wasn't George that did all those things as James Bond. I thought it was just a very cheap attempt to make audiences get over Sean not being there any more, as if the filmmakers were desperately trying to say, "But look, he's still the same guy. He just...looks different." In reality, it kind of robs Sean's Bond of that moment, as he was the Bond to do those things and he deserved to have that time to reflect if anyone did, and it comes off all wrong as a result.
The filmmakers were smart to have only Tracy and her brief marriage to Bond be the sole connective tissue era to era. It was the most traumatic moment of pain in Bond's life, so it makes sense it stayed with him forever after, and the later films used his grief and Tracy's death in interesting ways through to Roger and Tim. It was smart to do that, instead of having each actor homaging the exploits of the previous Bond before them by rifling through souvenirs of old missions. It was in the missions and the distinct villains that the new Bonds got to stand out, as it should've been.
Absolutely! The Man With the Golden Typewriter belongs on the shelf of every fan of the literary Bond. It's a pleasure to read, shows Fleming at his most charming, and has lots of insight into the business of being a writer. I've also started an ongoing thread that collects Fleming's interviews. Its first post has links to earlier threads that collect Fleming's non-Bond writings.
I don't wish to derail the thread by further going into Bond's death, but my thoughts on it (and the film) are here. In short, I thought it was an overly contrived last stand, with surprisingly unmemorable dialogue (unlike Fleming's wonderful line about the boy on the burning deck).
I just wish I could remember the song! And given Zimmer's status as a film composer, it's a pity he didn't get the chance to write a love theme. I'm not in favor of recycling as a principle, though it would interesting to see a temp-track Bond film, where the score was completely frankensteined out of earlier Bond music. Considering John Barry's superiority to everyone who followed him, I can understand the temptation to not bother with new music, though it must be resisted.
I'm not sure why people here find OHMSS' musical callbacks unfitting. Ever Since Brosnan took over there's been a lot of obvious references to earlier films, and to my mind the Aston, the music, the other callbacks only intertwine Craig's Bond into all the other films, making them sagas about a man named Bond, James Bond. I think that's EON's take on the films and I think they clearly reference that, also in Madeleine's dialogue. So, between CR (Craig) and NTTD (Craig) we find all the other stories. Set in differnet timeframes, but still stories about the same person. I love that idea, it keeps Bond fallable and human, and yet the strong, adventure prone, dedicated man we enjoy watching. I don't want to BE Bond, I want to root for him, support him, and always feel he might not make it.
See also Mad Max.
@CommanderRoss, the Mad Max comparison with Bond is a pretty good shout. Bond does have that mythic quality to him, like the films or books are adaptations or embellishments of a real man's exploits, and part of what I enjoyed about NTTD is that it really dug into Bond's legacy and the impact his actions have had on the world around him in a way I've never seen done so effectively. Every era has someone mentioning a previous interaction they had with Bond to give us some exposition about his past, or a woman remembers a romantic encounter they had, but NTTD really made Bond feel like a man with a distinct and deep reputation in his universe. You have people on Bond's side, like the MI6 crew, who share stories about him, like Nomi telling Moneypenny she can see why she shot him, or the lobby desk worker who is in awe to see THE James Bond in front of him. You even have the villains saying how much they respect Bond, like Logan Ash talking about how much of a fan he was of Bond after hearing about all the crazy things he'd accomplished. To someone that hated SPECTRE as much as Safin did, you can only imagine how much he also must have appreciated and respected Bond on some level for being such a detrimental force to the organization and its many tentacles over the years.
And in death, Bond really cements the potency of his legend even more. People will talk about him forever, and his legend will never die, because in death he really would take on a mythic quality. You can just imagine new 00s talking to people who worked with Bond and either asking about the famous 007 themselves or having someone tell them personal stories of the man that was the best of them all. Can't imagine the pressure of whoever the next 007 would be in Craig Bond's timeline. Not an enviable position to be in. "You're alright, but you're no James Bond." Ouch.
I find the TND one quite weak, but mostly because it was recycled from GF, YOLT and others. I don't know what's wrong with NTTD, for me it was a fitting ending, Madeleine telling Mathilde about her father. TB is perhaps flawed but I never had problems with it.
So for me it's a toss between AVTAK and DAD. I'd go for DAD because I consider it to be the weakest film overall .
Interestingly, the film touches on that as well with Nomi, an ambitious new 00(7) who has, in her own opinion, to compete with Bond's legacy. It's an interesting dynamic. And other than Jinx, which I never understood why she'd have her own spinoff, I can see that with Nomi happening without harming the Bond-saga. She'd be perfect to lead a series, in the gritty Dan-Bond world, without Bond but WITH his legacy. The films can then go their own way again, building on the saga.
@CommanderRoss, I don't as much feel Nomi struggling with the weight of Bond's legacy, I view her as being very cold and offhanded to him at the start. When they first meet she doesn't have the best impression of him, and I think this is largely to do with how sour Mallory probably is about him up and leaving the service (everything Mallory does in that movie makes him look like an ass, to be honest). There's a part of me that thinks Mallory sent Nomi specifically to Cuba knowing that she's the new 007 and would run into Bond, just to jab a barb into him and make him feel sorry for leaving and working with the CIA, even though Bond is a free agent and can do whatever the hell he wants. The confrontation with Bond and Nomi in Jamaica was no doubt intended to surprise and hurt Bond, to show that MI6 has moved on and his number wasn't retired, but just thrown to another agent. It's supposed to cut him deep.
I think Nomi is very much against Bond, and doesn't understand what the big deal is with him, or why he has the legacy he does, and that could be Mallory feeding that impression to her. Or, as you seem to think, it's her way of showing she can do better than him, though I don't subscribe that level of arrogance to her. It's only when she sees Bond in action, and sees the kind of man that he is, that she gradually understands and ultimately respects him enough to fight for him to have his number back, which I find touching.
Part of what I love about NTTD is that it puts Bond in a situation where he has to work with not just another 00, but one with his old, famous number, and the agent herself, and I think Mallory in particular, expect Bond's bitterness and spite to come out. He's supposed to feel insulted, or belittled, and his ego is supposed to be bruised...but he never insults Nomi, or belittles her, or takes any of it personal, and that's what I love about him. It's Bond that truly doesn't see the 00 number as anything more than just that, instead it's Nomi and Mallory that are putting so much weight and importance on it. Bond's willingness to play fair with Nomi, and to work with her with no ill feelings (even going so far to refer to her respectfully by his old number any time they're together) shows this. He is so mature about it, and just doesn't have the desire to play into whatever bitterness others have been feeling for him, and he does exactly what any man worthy of respect would do. There's just something about that that I love, and I love Bond as a man for being that way.
I read the first part, when she comes to meet him, differently. Mallory is aware of Obruchev and knows Bond knows the signifigance. When he hears about the CIA contacting him, he sends in Nomi to warn him to stay away. Nomis is on the case after all, and needs to go to Cuba next. I don't think there's any spite on M's side there, it just happens to be Nomi on the job. Nomi, however, starts playing with the notion immediately. 'are you..''a double-O too, yes'. 'aren't you a bit young'. 'I'm ambitious'. She's cockey and arrogant (exactly what Denche's M said of Bond in CR) and actually enjoys the challenge of working agianst Bond ('I'll see you in Cuba then'). It's her way of making a name for herself, replacing the 'old dog'. She's playing and teasing with the noion of having the same number, and it annoys the hell out of her that he doesn't ask the number himself. But he's not letting her have the 'glory moment' at all, as he (as you rightfully staated) isn't interested in it the slightest. When they work together, she learns of his skills and she starts to respect him. That's when she asks for him to have his old number back.
In addition, Bond looks more ridiculous in that silly outfit with a stuffed toy than he did in a clown suit.
The ending of NTTD has, at least to me, become one of the great unintentionally funny scenes in recent cinema history.
As for the others, I've always liked TB's ending regardless of the back projection. AVTAK is classic Moore and TND is just meh.
And it doesn't helped that his outfit was similar to his Jake Lonergan outfit in Cowboys And Aliens the only missing was his hat and the gauntlet.
And of course that 'X' on his back.
Good point. I always felt the white shirt and braces evoke John Boy on THE WALTONS or Joe Dellesandro in ANDY WARHOL'S DRACULA. Either way that look just isn't Bond.
But the way Fleming wrote Bond wasn't wearing something like that, he's a spy, not a soldier or SAS, or a member of Task Force, he's a spy.
Sure, he's a Commander, but a Voluntary Reserved one, not an active.
He's more into coats and suits in the books.
Safari jackets could be a part of disguise, and Spies were more into casual or ordinary clothes, something that's not distinguishable.
That's the mistake Craig did with the character, he turned him into something like INTERPOL or member of Operations Group, or SEAL.
Bond should act like what Connery did in FRWL, spy.
"Bond storming the villain's lair" has been a staple of the films since the 60s. Doing it in a suit isn't practical.
Should Lazenby have worn a suit and trenchcoat during the raid on Piz Gloria? Should Connery not have worn his tactical outfit during the PTS in Goldfinger? Should Moore not have worn his naval uniform during the finale of Spy?
And this.
I don't know about the stuffed toy. He took into his care what his daughter holds dear, a comforter, literally, and now he knows he'll never see her again. That plush toy is the only thing that he'll keep of his daughter and he won't keep it for long. Maybe I say this because I'm a father, but far from ridiculous, I find this heartbreaking.
@MI6HQ, as has already been pointed out, Bond saw action, so it's not hard to imagine he'd have worn some kind of outfit like this in the past. But even just in the context of the story, Bond is wearing what was likely on board the craft he was on before he and Nomi flew in on their own. What was he going to wear to storm the island? Flip flops and a floral patterned vest? Every Bond has worn some kind of commando gear, and this was his version with a strong naval callback to it. Which is fitting for Bond and his history. If you read into Craig Bond's past before the 00 section, he was also part of a special forces unit for a time, and he definitely has that kind of vibe about him.
Of course, if everything had to be compared against how Fleming wrote it, we wouldn't really have the franchise we have which had periods where it divorced itself as much as possible from what Bond was in the books. I personally like seeing moments where Bond is in more commando styled gear, or casual wear in general, as the suits feel more and more out of place and impractical as time goes on. Craig was a real master of Bond's casual style, and that choice really worked for him, as much as I loved the return to more simplistic and traditional suit designs.
The Klebbie goes to Bond and Jinx engage in juvenile dialogue DAD! Accepting the hard award and asking us to leave it in, is Halle Berry!
Here are the votes of the academy:
Lets flip this to the other side and look at the best endings of a Bond film! The nominees are:
Okay academy members what's the best ending to a Bond film? Does the heaviness of OHMSS or NTTD get the vote, or do you like the lighter ones? How does QOS do as a ending?
I suspect much discussion around this category, so Mi6 what say you? What is the best ending to a Bond film?
Not only the greatest ending to a Bond film but one of the greatest ever movie endings, period.
I would vote for CR, definitely not for OHMSS. It never touched me as much as it should. Don't know why. For me, the line "We have all the time in the world" doesn't work. Lazenby doesn't sell it for me in these last seconds. (Nevertheless, OHMSS is still in my top 3).
From the listed films, I would vote for OP. Funny, classic goodfeel Roger ending. And Roger and Adams are a fitting couple.