In hindsight, should they have used the original ending of QOS?

Remington

It's a little hard to judge it since it's unreleased but I have pretty mixed feelings on how Mr. White's character was used in SP/NTTD.

I love the ending of QOS as is but I quite like the idea of the film ending with Bond killing White in a shot that segues into the gunbarrel like CR. Would've made for a nice bookend.

Birdleson

No question about it! Think of all of the carnage wreaked from that one poor decision.

MakeshiftPython

From what I read, it wasn't going to segue to the gun barrel the way it did in CR, rather after Bond kills Mr. White, he introduces himself to Hains with the signature line, and then cut to the gun barrel as we know it.

I think Forster had the good instinct to end QOS the way he did. I like that somber ending. I do NOT like how the gun barrel was tacked on in the end though.

ProfJoeButcher

As much fun as it would be to see the corner of the multiverse where fans are ridiculously aggrieved by some other set of Casino Royale sequels, I like the ones we have too much to want a change. :))

And the ending to QOS is absolutely killer.

Agent_Zero_One

Hm. It might've led to an era I enjoy more overall, but...

1. It would've been very similar to the end of CR.
2. The film that became SF would probably be very different, and I love SF.
3. I really like Mr. White's scene in SP.

So I'm glad it wasn't used.

Venutius

In the original QOS ending, Bond's final shot was 'seamlessly sewed into the iconic gun barrel motif that was saved for the end of the film', according to this:
https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/qos-mr-white-cut-scene

I used to wish we'd had the original ending, as I wanted to actually see White and Guy Haines get what's coming, but now I prefer the actual ending where Bond walks away alone into the dark and cold (I see what they did there). Have to say, it's pretty funny to me that for all the kickings Forster gets, his decision to cut the original ending of QOS was the thing that made possible so much of the rest of Craig's tenure - by default, that one decision pretty much makes Forster the most influential person in the Craig era. :D

echo

I'm not sure how this would have fit into the themes of the film, which include forgiveness and restraint. Presumably Greene in the desert gave him the information that he used to track down White. Would it have been abrupt to see Bond move from letting Vesper's boyfriend go, to then killing White?

Would it have made more sense for Bond to kill White elsewhere in the film, such as during Greene's party?

I kind of liked that they left White lurking out there after the opera, kind of a shadowy figure, until SP.

Junglist_1985

The ending of QOS is absolutely perfect. One of my favorite endings in the whole series actually.

Bond shows growth and restraint by not killing Yusuf, tosses the necklace into the snow, and walks right into a cold, dark world. The “Vesper” musical cues elevate the scene immensely.

Jordo007

Mr White himself as a character should have meant more to the story. He should have been the equivalent of number 2 in the SP story or maybe even more of a Draco figure in SP.

I always wished they'd made Mr White or Hinx the Blofeld of this era, just to see a new take on an established villain and get away from Dr Evil comparisons

Junglist_1985

I genuinely think that once they secured the Blofeld rights and the. Waltz to play him they thought their work was 100% done.

ProfJoeButcher

Jordo007 wrote: »

I always wished they'd made Mr White or Hinx the Blofeld of this era, just to see a new take on an established villain and get away from Dr Evil comparisons

So I love WaltzBlofeld, which I've written about at length, but if they had done a few things slightly differently, it would have been very cool for the Mr White of CR and QOS to be a Blofeld in the early stages of building up his organization. Again, some of it would have to be different, as White comes off as a fixer/enforcer type of subordinate, and not the big boss, but it's pretty close as is.

The chapter in Thunderball that outlines Blofeld's rise is one of my favorite reads in Fleming.

slide_99

I think the ending is good as it is because it cements how Bond isn't out for revenge, but to simply solve the mystery behind Quantum and Vesper. Also, Guy Haines wasn't established well-enough to become a villain whose death mattered, and Mr. White deserved at least one more film in the Craig canon.

Creasy47

I was pretty stunned when someone pointed out the obvious: just how much the decision to not use that as the ending would shape the future of the era. In hindsight, as much as I love QoS for what it is and how it wraps up, I absolutely would've preferred the alternate ending.

Junglist_1985

Some big assumptions here that if Mr. White was killed in QOS the decisions in SP/NTTD would’ve somehow been superior… not so sure.

RichardTheBruce

ProfJoeButcher wrote: »

As much fun as it would be to see the corner of the multiverse where fans are ridiculously aggrieved by some other set of Casino Royale sequels, I like the ones we have too much to want a change. :))

Mmm.

dramaticscenesofQOS

No