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New Bond actor - "the reveal"

patbpatb
in Bond Movies Posts: 4,617
Little to discuss so my mind got thinking about how a writer introduces a new actor to the role. From full "on the nose" to "nothing's changed here". It's a tricky one for all writers and, sooner or later, someone will be at their laptop writing " the reveal" for our next actor. IMHO, OHMSS handled it well, Goldeneye badly....thoughts?

Comments

  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,595
    Connery - Great
    Lazenby - Poor
    Moore - Good
    Dalton - Very Great
    Brosnan - I liked it lol but can see why people don’t
    Craig - Great
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 14,703
    There was a face half hidden in the shadows. The orange cherry at the business end of a Morland intensified for a few seconds, before the hand grasping it flicked it away. The face emerged from the dark to be revealed as:
    Nomi.
  • Agent_Zero_OneAgent_Zero_One Ireland
    edited November 2020 Posts: 554
    Connery - everything about it is amazing. Enough said.

    Lazenby - a bit overdone, but decent enough.

    Moore - the exact opposite of Lazenby's. Barely qualifies as an introduction, and the scene itself is straight out of a below average Carry On film.

    Dalton - fantastic. Suits his darker Bond to a tee.

    Brosnan - it's just fun! Despite my preference for the darker films, I do think Brosnan was adept at the lighter aspects.

    Craig - a wonderful introduction to the rebooted Bond of the 21st Century. Craig instantly makes the role his own here.

    Calvin Dyson essentially sums up my thoughts here:
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,595
    Agent_Zero_One wrote: »
    Connery - everything about it is amazing. Enough said.

    Lazenby - a bit overdone, but decent enough.

    Moore - the exact opposite of Lazenby's. Barely qualifies as an introduction, and the scene itself is straight out of a below average Carry On film.

    Dalton - fantastic. Suits his darker Bond to a tee.

    Brosnan - it's just fun! Despite my preference for the darker films, I do think Brosnan was adept at the lighter aspects.

    Craig - a wonderful introduction to the rebooted Bond of the 21st Century. Craig instantly makes the role his own here.

    Calvin Dyson essentially sums up my thoughts here:

    Thanks for getting in my brain and sharing my thoughts in a more eloquent way. :D
  • Escalus5Escalus5
    edited November 2020 Posts: 628
    My favorite is probably Moore's because of how understated it is -- the filmmakers (wisely) decided to not make a big deal out of it, which helped to exude a sense of confidence in their leading man. And Moore, a real pro, comes off in his very first scene like he had been playing the role for years.
  • bondsumbondsum
    edited November 2020 Posts: 3,334
    Connery - Great
    Lazenby - Great
    Moore - Poor
    Dalton - Pretty good
    Brosnan - Like the stunt-double bungee jump, but thoroughly dislike the toilet scene reveal
    Craig - A nicely done film noir homage with time-jump cuts, but not compariable to the first two classic reveals

    Let's not forget Connery's reintroduction in DAF that also didn't show the actor's face until he steps into full view by the swimming pool. This might be the other reason why Guy Hamilton didn't go for the same visual trick with LALD.
  • FatherValentineFatherValentine England
    Posts: 737
    In NSNA they also do something similar and give us glimpses of Connery before he is revealed.

    Come to think of it, all of Craig's films begin with some sort of obscuring of his features, whether it is his eyes in QoS, the corridor silhouette in SF, or the mask in SP.

  • bondsumbondsum
    Posts: 3,334
    FatherValentine wrote: »
    In NSNA they also do something similar and give us glimpses of Connery before he is revealed.

    Come to think of it, all of Craig's films begin with some sort of obscuring of his features, whether it is his eyes in QoS, the corridor silhouette in SF, or the mask in SP.
    Quite true @FatherValentine. It'll be interesting to see whether Fukunaga does something similar.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,676
    I thought this thread was about the press reveal for a minute: Craig in a Navy boat down the Thames and all that, which backfired for a really stupid reason. I thought it was pretty fun and it might be good to do something similar, maybe just have the guy drive an Aston up to the press and step out or something this time though! Surely people couldn't find a reason to complain about that..? Could they..?!

    Would it be incredibly naff to project the gunbarrel dots onto a wall at the press conference and get the guy to walk out from the right in a spotlight for his unveiling? :D Maybe don't turn and shoot though, just walk to the middle and smile!
  • bondsumbondsum
    Posts: 3,334
    No, @mtm. That's not what the topic of this thread is about. 8-X
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,676
    It can be both though! :)
  • ToTheRightToTheRight
    edited November 2020 Posts: 16,228
    I think my favorite "New Bond actor" reveal would indeed be Craig on the River Themes, with his long MacGyver hair blowing in the wind and that amazing life jacket over his suit.
    It was an excellent interview as well. I thought he looked dashing, and was extremely excited CASINO ROYALE was going to get a proper screen treatment. The future looked bright indeed.

    My favorite reveal scene for a new Bond (next to Sean) is probably Timothy's Gibraltar sequence. As Dalton turns around he looks great. Runner up would be George's.
    I love them all, actually: Roger in bed with Madeline Smith, Brosnan's upside down humorous bit, and Craig sitting quietly in Dryden's office are all wonderful, IMO.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited November 2020 Posts: 16,676
    Yeah it's Tim's all the way for me too, although I like how they did Craig's one- it wasn't built up too much as a big thing, but it was still done quite stylishly.
    Sean's is the probably the best but I feel like I've seen it so many times it's sort of lost its meaning for me!

    I like George's but it always bugs me that we see his view out of the windscreen from behind his shoulder as his car nears a bend in the road, then we cut to a closeup of him popping a fag in his mouth, and he doesn't turn the steering wheel! How does his car get around that bend?! I'm worried for him every time I see it :D
  • ToTheRightToTheRight
    Posts: 16,228
    mtm wrote: »
    Yeah it's Tim's all the way for me too, although I like how they did Craig's one- it wasn't built up too much as a big thing, but it was still done quite stylishly.
    Sean's is the probably the best but I feel like I've seen it so many times it's sort of lost its meaning for me!

    I like George's but it always bugs me that we see his view out of the windscreen from behind his shoulder as his car nears a bend in the road, then we cut to a closeup of him popping a fag in his mouth, and he doesn't turn the steering wheel! How does his car get around that bend?! I'm worried for him every time I see it :D

    It's odd he doesn't steer. I do like the map on the passenger seat, though and that glove compartment gadget.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,595
    Self steering Q car technology, of course. ;)
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    edited November 2020 Posts: 4,247
    Yeah, Dalton turning to the scream of 004 without saying a word, with the camera quickly panning to his very serious face, with Barry's music and the wind blowing his hair, is my favourite Bond reveal as well.

    It's more creative and exciting because the other two 00 agents were intentionally made to look like Lazenby & Moore, so we keep guessing who the new Bond is, so Dalton just turning without uttering a word, tells us he's BOND.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited November 2020 Posts: 16,676
    The Bond theme helps too! :)

    It's only Tim, George and Sean that get the theme on their reveal I think.
    Pierce kind of does, but only when he gets his first proper 'beauty' closeup, when he's run down the stairs and is posing with his gun.
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247
    mtm wrote: »
    The Bond theme helps too! :)

    It's only Tim, George and Sean that get the theme on their reveal I think.
    Pierce kind of does, but only when he gets his first proper 'beauty' closeup, when he's run down the stairs and is posing with his gun.

    Yeah, I suppose so. Although, I think a case can be made for Brosnan, because after he hits the soldier in the toilet and opens the door, his face is properly revealed, with Serra doing a subtle rendition of the Bond theme.
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    edited November 2020 Posts: 12,837
    I think all the introduction scenes have been great at introducing that version of the character.

    Connery’s and Lazenby‘s just oozed timeless 60s cool. The carry on stuff with M and the bird was Moore’s Bond down to a tee. I love Dalton’s. The way we pick off potential Bonds one by one before landing on the man himself. And he’s introduced in action, no messing about, which suited him perfectly. Brosnan’s introduction was perfect for his OTT, 90s action hero era too. A huge stunt and then a cheeky one liner, nicely done. While Craig’s shadowy introduction was perfect for the gritty reboot.

    I like all the intros really, and I think how they handle it for Bond no.7 should depend on who that Bond is.
  • Mathis1Mathis1
    Posts: 7,633
    No question Daltons intro is fantastic.
    I do love the set up for George, the hat, the tux, the lighting of the cigarette, placing the sunglasses on the seat, and the glove compartment, but i dont like his reveal and saying the Bond line. Hunt should have made him do it in a less jovial way imo!
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,676
    It is quite funny how Dalton doesn't actually speak for several minutes with his reveal.
  • Mathis1Mathis1
    Posts: 7,633
    mtm wrote: »
    It is quite funny how Dalton doesn't actually speak for several minutes with his reveal.

    Shows how good he is!!
    Dalton doesn't need to speak to make an impression!! 😁
  • bondsumbondsum
    edited November 2020 Posts: 3,334
    mtm wrote: »
    I like George's but it always bugs me that we see his view out of the windscreen from behind his shoulder as his car nears a bend in the road, then we cut to a closeup of him popping a fag in his mouth, and he doesn't turn the steering wheel! How does his car get around that bend?! I'm worried for him every time I see it :D
    That's not quite how it plays out. We do see over Bond's shoulder, but first we see Lazenby withdraw a cigarette case and flip it open, while keeping the sides of his palms firmly steering. It then cuts to a front close-up of Bond nimbly holding the case and removing the cigarette from the case. There's nothing to say he's still not steering the car with the heel of his other hand, which is out of shot. It then cuts back to over Bond's shoulder again, with him leaning to the left as he searches in his right pocket for a lighter as he approaches another curve. Why is it so hard to believe that Bond can casually negotiate a curve in the road with one hand on the steering wheel, but easily accept Bond sliding on a cello case in the snow while casually steering it with a Stradivarius? :-*
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,676
    bondsum wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    I like George's but it always bugs me that we see his view out of the windscreen from behind his shoulder as his car nears a bend in the road, then we cut to a closeup of him popping a fag in his mouth, and he doesn't turn the steering wheel! How does his car get around that bend?! I'm worried for him every time I see it :D
    That's not quite how it plays out. We do see over Bond's shoulder, but first we see Lazenby withdraw a cigarette case and flip it open, while keeping the sides of his palms firmly steering. It then cuts to a front close-up of Bond nimbly holding the case and removing the cigarette from the case. There's nothing to say he's still not steering the car with the heel of his other hand, which is out of shot.

    Apart from that you can see that hand and he isn't moving it enough to steer! :D
  • bondsumbondsum
    Posts: 3,334
    mtm wrote: »
    Apart from that you can see that hand and he isn't moving it enough to steer! :D
    Hmmm. Of course, we know that there wasn't an actual dashboard and steering wheel in front of Lazenby from this reverse-angle close-up shot due to the logistics of filming it. Had Lazenby been moving his right hand slightly to give the impression of still steering, then it would've looked visually awkward. It's simply one of those willing suspension of disbelief moments that you have to go with to look cool. B-)
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