The James Bond Questions Thread

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  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited October 2023 Posts: 16,413
    Doesn't M say they sold his flat when he apparently died? So I guess he's not renting.

    I agree it's possible he'd look after it himself: he's a military man so would be used to a bit of cleaning work. But then equally getting a cleaner in isn't that unusual in London: the question is whether he'd need one. I expect he'd make an occasional simple meal for himself, breakfast and the like, but would probably be dining out most of the time.
    I don't think his neighbours would give him a second thought to be honest. It wouldn't be unusual for someone in a reasonably rich bit of London to have a flat there as a pied-à-terre and not be there a lot of the time. And it's London: you don't talk to your neighbours! :)
  • edited October 2023 Posts: 4,162
    mtm wrote: »
    Doesn't M say they sold his flat when he apparently died? So I guess he's not renting.

    I agree it's possible he'd look after it himself: he's a military man so would be used to a bit of cleaning work. But then equally getting a cleaner in isn't that unusual in London: the question is whether he'd need one. I expect he'd make an occasional simple meal for himself, breakfast and the like, but would probably be dining out most of the time.
    I don't think his neighbours would give him a second thought to be honest. It wouldn't be unusual for someone in a reasonably rich bit of London to have a flat there as a pied-à-terre and not be there a lot of the time. And it's London: you don't talk to your neighbours! :)

    Forgot about M saying that in SF. Bond presumably owns it then.

    And yes, as someone who used to live in London, very true about neighbours. Lived in the same place there for 3 years. Only had two other flats in the building. Never once spoke to any other renter there aside from my flatmate. Couldn’t even tell you what they looked like.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,413
    Yeah it's the perfect city in which to be a spy! :)

    I've never quite understood his place in LALD: it looks more like a countryside cottage than a London flat; I'd be curious to know what the thinking was as to where it's located. It doesn't quite look like a mews flat or anything.
  • Posts: 4,162
    mtm wrote: »
    Yeah it's the perfect city in which to be a spy! :)

    I've never quite understood his place in LALD: it looks more like a countryside cottage than a London flat; I'd be curious to know what the thinking was as to where it's located. It doesn't quite look like a mews flat or anything.

    Looks like a bungalow to me. Even the one in DN looks too big for a London flat. Presumably they were shot in studios which explains it. I suspect the logic/design intention went more into making it look trendy than realistic.
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    Here's my question: what the hell is a TOFANA IOAM? One of those codes that spies use? An anagram? Is it TOFANA MOAI? Was Bond supposed to go to Easter Island and check out the statues?
  • edited October 2023 Posts: 5,994
    It's the name of a place in Cortina, where Bond is scheduled to meet his contact, Luigi Ferrara.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofane

    In fact, the message should read : TOFANA 10 AM

    https://spymovienavigator.com/spydata/tofana-1000-a-m/
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    Gerard wrote: »
    It's the name of a place in Cortina, where Bond is scheduled to meet his contact, Luigi Ferrara.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofane

    In fact, the message should read : TOFANA 10 AM

    https://spymovienavigator.com/spydata/tofana-1000-a-m/

    If Luigi had written the message correctly, Bond could've saved valuable time for his mission, instead of drifting aimlessly through Cortina, trying to find one of them 'ioams'.
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,138
    Now this is only a personal opinion of my own.
    But has any Bond actor besides Sean Connery had a second Bond film as good as, if not better than their first?

    Connery
    DN then FRWL

    Moore
    LALD then TMWTGG

    Dalton
    TLD then LTK

    Brosnan
    GE then TND

    Craig
    CR then QOS

    Don't get me wrong I enjoy most of their follow up films. But do fans and more likely the general audiences rank the second film as the actor as well as their debut?
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    I'm pretty sure that your statement is true for the general audience. TMWTGG isn't well received in general, I would say, mainly due to the lack of spectacle.
    GE and CR are favourites in general and TLD has a lighter touch than LTK, which is also helpful.
    I would say it is also true for the fans but LTK is maybe almost as much appreciated as TLD (?)
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,304
    No, because they always rush the second film to "cement in" the actor in the public's mind.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    Posts: 3,789
    Some people do rank TND higher than GE, I've observed it in some comments in different sites.

    And for some people, they think GE was a film made with Dalton in mind, and TND is where Brosnan cemented his own iteration of Bond.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited October 2023 Posts: 3,789
    Perhaps this might be an important question regarding the Bond films:

    This is about the introduction of the Bond locations, especially in the PTS.

    An example of this is in The World Is Not Enough, when Azerbaijan was introduced, there's the name, displayed.
    Die Another Day, also did this in the PTS when Puk'chong, North Korea was introduced by displaying the name of the location below.

    And I don't know how many Bond films did this trick, to inform the viewers where Bond is.

    Now, this is my question:

    When I've watched A View To A Kill, what about years ago, and the Pre title sequence displays the name of Siberia (just like what TWINE did), for us to know of what location is it, but looking into the AVTAK Pre title sequence modern releases (particularly in YouTube), that part is missing, the name display of Serbia is missing.

    I know there's the Siberia name displayed below right after the gunbarrel sequence for us to know where Bond is.

    I mean, is it depending upon the versions? DVD editions for example?

    Like in some editions, the name of a country was shown upon introduction? But at some editions, there's nothing?

    Please, guys help me.

    Thank you for the response.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited October 2023 Posts: 6,304
    I do not recall a "Siberia" location interstitial upon seeing the AVTAK US theatrical release.

    For what it's worth, a lot of filmmakers do not like using location identifiers and feel like the narrative itself should be showing you where the story is, without the need for a subtitle.

    It's the same reason that some filmmakers don't like flashbacks and voiceovers--it can be seen as a crutch.
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,138
    I can't say I've ever seen Siberia having been a subtitle for the opening of AVTAK.
    Not on TV broadcasts, VHS, DVD or Blu-Ray. I suppose it's possible in different regions for this, though it's possible that Dolly had braces. ;)
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    Posts: 3,789
    Thank you for the responses, I suppose it depends upon the region, well I've seen the video in YouTube years ago, so maybe it's edited?

    But anyways, thank you for the clarification. 😊
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,138
    Anyone know why after the Pierce Brosnan movies, EON and the film makers ditched the Walther P99 and went back to the Walther PPK?
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    Posts: 3,789
    Watching LTK, when Lupe was left alone in that truck, why she didn't escape?

    That time, Sanchez was piloting the plane alone, then he was captured, so it's all a chance and opportunity for Lupe to escape and go to a place where Sanchez couldn't see her, but why she didn't do that? She's free.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,431
    She needed his funds to live I think, or at least live the lifestyle that she liked. When Bond mentions later in the film that she can return home, she says he's "loco" and that is not the place she wants to go to.

    I am not sure why the gun change. For realistic purposes the PPK hasn't been the gun of the British Secret Service since the mid 70's(?). I would think it was a way for them to further cement a return to Fleming. But I am not an munitions expert @Benny so someone else is welcome to chime in.
  • edited December 2023 Posts: 17
    Perhaps someone here can help me track down the source of a (completely nonsensical and quite possibly even wholly fabricated) bit of Bond trivia.

    I remember stumbling upon an article a few years ago in which it was related that sometime in the early '80's, a British film director had supposedly been approached by Eon Productions to direct a Bond film concurrently with another one that John Glen was directing. This very specifically referred to what was to be an Eon-produced Bond film and not NSNA; in fact I even think this was after NSNA, as I vaguely remember the film that Glen was directing was mentioned to be AVTAK. Needless to say, the other film would have starred someone other than Roger Moore, but I also can't remember who that was to have been. I'm not sure if the story even bothered to explain why this had all come to nothing.

    The biggest problem here is that I can't remember the name of the director who made this claim. I do know it was, unsurpisingly, a British director, and I seem to remember he was mostly known for horror films and, also to the surprise of nobody, possessing of a filmography that consisted largely of relatively little seen films, again, as I recall it.

    I found it such a ludicrous notion at the time that I must have immediately parked it in a very dark corner of my mind, from which retrieval is turning out to be a bit of a hassle now.

  • edited December 2023 Posts: 1,078
    "Are you going to take this or make me wait?"

    Jumper.jpg

    Why did the pringle jumper man assume Bond was the car parking attendant?

    I mean, I like the scene, and the pay-off later is great. But I can't see why the pringle guy would automatically assume Bond's the car-parker.
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,138
    Page 18 of the draft script for Casino Royale may shed some light on this @ColonelAdamski
  • Posts: 1,078
    Ah, so there was a bit where we see a car park attendant in t he same clothes as Bond, but it wasn't in the final cut.
    I expect he was the same build and age too. Thanks.
  • BigglesworthBigglesworth Bowling Green, KY
    Posts: 10
    Lloyd Reckord is credited ("uncredited") as Pinder's Assistant in Thunderball, across a number of online resources (including IMDB), but I can't find him in the film. Anyone know where he is or why we think he's in there?

    Pinder has another assistant - confirmed to be Bari Jonson - who shows up in brief scenes intercut with Largi's retrieval of the bombs, including at around 1:44:50 (and pictured below).

    Pinder has a different assistant during an earlier scene (around 59:10), but this guy doesn't look anything like Lloyd Reckord.

    Any idea what I'm missing? (And extra credit, if you can help me ID the unknown assistant from the 59:10 scene.)

    Thanks!

    Reckord.jpg
    Jonson.jpg
    Unknown.jpg
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,431
    Sorry @JerzyBondov I am not famillar with that story.

    @Bigglesworth great screen capture of the helpers, definitely not the same dude as the one listed. All I can think of is that a mistake was made back in the day with the cast listing? Or there was an omission and someone just erroneously added info?
  • BigglesworthBigglesworth Bowling Green, KY
    Posts: 10
    Anyone have any idea who this actor is? He is the Houston Flight Control CapCom in the opening scene of You Only Live Twice. He has most of the lines in the first three minutes of the film, but doesn't seem to be credited anywhere.
    HoustonCapcom2.jpg
  • Helguera6Helguera6 Sheffield
    Posts: 1
    Something I've always wondered about The Living Daylights. How would Koskov have been able to return to the Soviets after pretending to defect to the British?

    We know Pushkin of the KGB is already suspicious and investigating him so even if Pushkin had been assassinated the Soviets would have known what he was up to. I also don't get how he would have explained away the time he spent with the British.

    Is there any rational explanation for these things I haven't thought of or are they simply plot holes?





  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited February 7 Posts: 18,280
    Helguera6 wrote: »
    Something I've always wondered about The Living Daylights. How would Koskov have been able to return to the Soviets after pretending to defect to the British?

    We know Pushkin of the KGB is already suspicious and investigating him so even if Pushkin had been assassinated the Soviets would have known what he was up to. I also don't get how he would have explained away the time he spent with the British.

    Is there any rational explanation for these things I haven't thought of or are they simply plot holes?

    I think that Koskov says at one point that he told his Soviet paymasters that he was on a misinformation operation to fool the British and his defection was therefore fake and this explains why he was able to return to the Soviet side as he'd completed his mission successfully and even apprehended the "assassin" of Pushkin.
  • Posts: 5,994
    One question about LTK : At one point, Bond disguises himself as a manta ray. Where did he get that manta ray suit ? Not from MI6, that's for sure. So ?
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    Gerard wrote: »
    One question about LTK : At one point, Bond disguises himself as a manta ray. Where did he get that manta ray suit ? Not from MI6, that's for sure. So ?

    Sharkey was a whizz with a thread and needle?
  • FeyadorFeyador Montreal, Canada
    edited February 13 Posts: 735
    Can someone please explain to me the likely psychological motivation of Vesper killing herself in CR the film?

    Not what it meant to Bond and his subsequent story arc, but why--in her own probable reasoning--she actually did it?

    To avoid a ruined life, significant jail time ... or is something else going on?

    I think I understand her self-sacrifice for both boyfriend and Bond, but she didn't actually have to die to achieve that, did she?

    What am I missing?
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