Skyfall Questions (Spoilers)

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  • Posts: 421
    St_George wrote:
    Risico wrote:
    In the word association, Bond's *country of choice* is England and he clearly has a problem with the word 'Skyfall'. It seems to me that he has subconsciously rejected Scotland, the land of his father and his painful past. Despite this, Bond is always associated with the Union Flag rather than the St George's Cross, so he is nevertheless a symbolically British figure.

    The latest UK edition of The Economist magazine has a gentle poke at that point.

    They may have a point in there somewhere too. Methinks it's fair to say Bond's definitely a Unionist, as would Fleming (with his mixed ancestry) have been... ;)

    Not that he would get involved in politics, but I tend to agree with you!
  • Posts: 1
    What was the song Silva used when he was at the remote island? Before he killed Severine.
  • Jwade wrote:
    What was the song Silva used when he was at the remote island? Before he killed Severine.

    Boum!

  • edited November 2012 Posts: 1,817
    Tell me something, when Bond Patrice falls he was hanging from Bond's glove, but if that was the case, he coundn't have activated the Walther, could he? Or once is activated in the car, it could be shot until disarmored?
  • at the end, why did they not just call in more police /army?? I mean, is it because Silva monitors the radio /computers and so would not show and Bond needs to smoke him out on promise of mano e mano? if so, they really should have said..Patriot Games has a similar ending but they at least explain it with a radio / comms failure and a storm :) it's a small point in an excellent film..just sayin..:)
  • Posts: 2,171
    at the end, why did they not just call in more police /army?? I mean, is it because Silva monitors the radio /computers and so would not show and Bond needs to smoke him out on promise of mano e mano? if so, they really should have said..Patriot Games has a similar ending but they at least explain it with a radio / comms failure and a storm :) it's a small point in an excellent film..just sayin..:)

    If Bond and M were holed up in Skyfall Lodge with an Army surrounding them Silva wouldn't come anywhere near them. They wanted to draw him out, so they made themselves look very open to an easy attack.

  • Posts: 3,334
    Can someone remind what the relevance of Granborough Road railway station was when Bond and Q were deciphering those hex codes?
  • zebrafishzebrafish <°)))< in Octopussy's garden in the shade
    Posts: 4,348
    2 scenes that did not work for me at all:

    The scene when Bond finds himself on the Underground track and the train is approaching. Clearly, the recess of the closed door was deep enough to press himself against the door and wait for the train to pass instead of shooting the door. I found that scene completely undramatic because of that. Having travelled on the London Underground before I know that there is ample space left and right of the cars.

    Patrice shooting at the link between the train cars to separate them. Can a pistol make that much damage? This is solid steel, even his special bullets should be inadequate. If they stop 2 centimeters inside Bonds chest, how can they uncouple a train?
  • Is it true that the director's original choice of Silva's music from the helicopter gunship was the Ying Tong Song by The Goons, but they couldn't get clearance?
  • bondsum wrote:
    Can someone remind what the relevance of Granborough Road railway station was when Bond and Q were deciphering those hex codes?

    Seconded. I didn't get this either.

  • Great discussion going on everyone, really enjoyed the film but have two (original) thoughts:

    1. How could Silva have planned the attack on Westminster in advance, how did he know M would be called before an enquiry at the exact time Q started to plug in the laptop? What if Q has worked from home in his Pjs that day?

    2. Why was Silva so annoyed when he saw M was injured? I get that he said "leave her to me" or whatever, but he then bombed the house and shot at it with a helicopter thinking she was inside it.
  • Posts: 347
    RE: The DB5

    I don't think that Q Branch necessarily fitted out the gadgets on the DB5. I think that Dimitrios, the original owner in CR, is slimy and tacky enough to fit a classic car with weapons of death. Sure, it's kinda a stretch. And if that sort of thing was revealed in CR it would have stuck out like a sore thumb. But I like the idea of Bond retrieving the DB5 after the events of CR/QoS only to find it kitted out with all this amazing stuff (and telling M about it when he gets back to the office)!

    Maybe he was a big fan of Goldfinger

  • Was Silva actually gay or was he just doing a Max Zorin tribute impression and making Bond uncomfortable?? It doesn't matter, I just couldn't tell?

    Wasn't Skyfall's plot a bit too similar to the Dark Knight with similarities between Silva and the Joker?

    Could they have incorporated Quantum into the storyline, if not in a subtle way (Silva says they sell elections to the highest bidder, just like quantum do in QOS almost)

    Does Kincaid know what Bond does for a living really?
  • Posts: 1,817
    Was Silva actually gay or was he just doing a Max Zorin tribute impression and making Bond uncomfortable?? It doesn't matter, I just couldn't tell?

    Well he claimed to be a "lover" of Severine, so he should be bi. Anyway he seems to be as ambiguous sexually as he is both mentally and emotionally (by that I don't mean that his sexual orientation is unhealthy but that he's unhealthy on the whole, the sexuality predicates on that).
    Wasn't Skyfall's plot a bit too similar to the Dark Knight with similarities between Silva and the Joker?

    Besides being wanted to be caught, I don't see any other. Joker's wish was to create caos, Silva's was to kill M.
    Could they have incorporated Quantum into the storyline, if not in a subtle way (Silva says they sell elections to the highest bidder, just like quantum do in QOS almost)

    He states that in his island he picks his missions and he doesn't have a boss. I think he won't wanted Mr White or any highier of Quantum telling him what to do.
    Does Kincaid know what Bond does for a living really?

    He should know -as the general people- that Bond did the military service and then work as a "Civil Servant" in the Ministry of Defense.
  • Troy wrote:
    RE: The DB5

    I don't think that Q Branch necessarily fitted out the gadgets on the DB5. I think that Dimitrios, the original owner in CR, is slimy and tacky enough to fit a classic car with weapons of death. Sure, it's kinda a stretch. And if that sort of thing was revealed in CR it would have stuck out like a sore thumb. But I like the idea of Bond retrieving the DB5 after the events of CR/QoS only to find it kitted out with all this amazing stuff (and telling M about it when he gets back to the office)!

    Maybe he was a big fan of Goldfinger

    Haha, right? I can get along with this reasoning
  • This is just nitpicking, and doesn't ruin the fact that Mendes has made a fantastic film:

    1. Why was there no scene explaining how Bond survived? A dialogue mentioning how the wound was non-fatal, how he got rescued and "died" etc. would've been better. Suspension of disbelief can only carry you so far.

    2. Why didn't M just pull out all the agents from the list in the first place when their position was already jeopardized by the stolen hard drive, then simply reassign all of them with their current assignments? Could've avoided a whole lot trouble with the minister...

    3. Did no one besides M and Tanner check the results of Bond's tests? She would've been terminated immediately if she sent a agent into the field that did not pass...

    4. What exactly were the roles of Patrice and Severine, and their connections to Silva?

    5. How did Silva escape? Again, suspension of disbelief, but I would've love to see how his inner network controlled Mi6 from the inside and let him free...

    6. If Q and Bond knew that Silva was on the train then why couldn't they stop the specific train immediately? They definitely have the personnel and tools to do so, and the scene before showed that the train was ran by real people.

    7. If Skyfall manor did not have enough weapons then why couldn't Mi6 just send them a care package, or even a squad? Q could've easily diverted the trail for just a few more days while Bond and Kincade had more time to prepare.

  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 41,011
    This isn't necessarily a question about the film that didn't make sense, just something on the filming side.

    Why did they show a CGI Patrice falling from the Shanghai building, when the same shot we've seen over and over again in the trailers is someone actually falling? I loved that shot, and was very upset to see it was changed.
  • edited November 2012 Posts: 4,412
    AgentJM7 wrote:
    St_George wrote:
    Risico wrote:
    In the word association, Bond's *country of choice* is England and he clearly has a problem with the word 'Skyfall'. It seems to me that he has subconsciously rejected Scotland, the land of his father and his painful past. Despite this, Bond is always associated with the Union Flag rather than the St George's Cross, so he is nevertheless a symbolically British figure.

    The latest UK edition of The Economist magazine has a gentle poke at that point.

    They may have a point in there somewhere too. Methinks it's fair to say Bond's definitely a Unionist, as would Fleming (with his mixed ancestry) have been... ;)

    Not that he would get involved in politics, but I tend to agree with you!

    Well after Bond's parents death we know he moved to his Aunt's house in Kent. He was only in Skyfall for his childhood, from his teens onwards he was brought up in Kent. This is according to Fleming anyway. This would explain why Bond sees himself as English despite having Swiss and Scottish roots.
  • edited November 2012 Posts: 501
    This is just nitpicking, and doesn't ruin the fact that Mendes has made a fantastic film:

    1. Why was there no scene explaining how Bond survived? A dialogue mentioning how the wound was non-fatal, how he got rescued and "died" etc. would've been better. Suspension of disbelief can only carry you so far.

    2. Why didn't M just pull out all the agents from the list in the first place when their position was already jeopardized by the stolen hard drive, then simply reassign all of them with their current assignments? Could've avoided a whole lot trouble with the minister...

    3. Did no one besides M and Tanner check the results of Bond's tests? She would've been terminated immediately if she sent a agent into the field that did not pass...

    4. What exactly were the roles of Patrice and Severine, and their connections to Silva?

    5. How did Silva escape? Again, suspension of disbelief, but I would've love to see how his inner network controlled Mi6 from the inside and let him free...

    6. If Q and Bond knew that Silva was on the train then why couldn't they stop the specific train immediately? They definitely have the personnel and tools to do so, and the scene before showed that the train was ran by real people.

    7. If Skyfall manor did not have enough weapons then why couldn't Mi6 just send them a care package, or even a squad? Q could've easily diverted the trail for just a few more days while Bond and Kincade had more time to prepare.
    1. I think it's better not to know. It's like when you see a magic trick, once you know how it's done you don't feel the same as when you didn't know, you just think on the technical things. (this is one of the things I didn't like of TDKR, they should've just shown Alfred with the cup without seeing Wayne)
    2. It was a hard decision to make, but she had to do it that way. They could continue investigating while looking for the hard drive.
    3. I think Mallory and Q knew it, but said nothing... Plus it's top-secret no one can talk about it.
    4. Patrice was the henchman, the one doing the killing. Severine was the face of the organization. (No one knew Silva was there, he was hidden in the shadows)
    5. Again, we know that his computer had a bug, and that it opened all the doors in the place, it's enough. They do not have to tell us everything, it's more interesting to see everyone have its own ideas.
    6. Panic. There would've been loads of panic in the train and with all the shouts and so on and the potential hostages it would have been more difficult to get Silva (IMO, I'm not so sure though)
    7. He thought that he had an entire armory there. So he didn't need more. Plus Silva could've known it was a trap following the guns... I suppose.
  • edited November 2012 Posts: 3,334
    Though I think you've answered some of the questions, @0iker0, it seems you've deflected rather than cracked the queries raised by @Pierce2Daniel. The first point is left for us to fill in the blanks as to how Bond managed to recover and evade detection. Could it be that after the fall into the water Bond was washed up somewhere and either staggered to a nearby town for local assistance or was discovered by someone who took him in, cared for him and paid for all his medical expenses? Maybe his Omega Seamaster watch helped pay for some of his treatment, though these only cost about £5,000 so wouldn't have been sufficient enough to cover all the expenses? Maybe his rescuers had a beautiful daughter who was also a highly trained nurse, and this is the girl we see him with in the beach shack? And how does he repay their generosity? Why, he gets drunk everyday whilst popping pills, which surly must nullify the medication, and then buggers off without so much as a thank you. But as you say, it's not totally necessary for us to know the practicalities of how this came about.

    Your second point is overlooking her professionalism and responsibility to her agents. As soon as they had been compromised she should have recalled them immediately wherever possible, therefore sparing them and their missions from being laid bare as well as preventing their torture and final executions. I agree with some here that Mallory should of promptly taken over her post and not waited for the inquest, which turned out to be more about the relevancy of MI6 rather than her inadequacies. After all, she did seem to be incompetent in her job. In no way did she have to do it that way, as you pointed out, other than to create the cause and effect for the next situation.

    I do think you cover the other points quite well, other than Silva's escape, which did seem to rely heavily on foreknowledge bordering on second sight. It did seem to defeat the purpose of putting Silva in a secure holding cell that was anything but secure and was linked to a centralized computer system rather than a more reliable lock and key, plus the fact that his henchmen were wandering the Tube with a spare police uniform at exactly the right moment and place in which he escaped. If Silva was so good and had a solution for every eventuality that arose how come he didn't have a more complete plan in getting to M before she and Bond cut loose for Skyfall?

    Maybe there are no real answers and we'll only end up in tying ourselves in knots trying to unravel the complexities of the storyline?
  • Another query, which thankfully has nothing to do with tearing apart the plot holes of the film: the jag that M has in the film; is it supposed to be the same jag that we see her in throughout? Is it her car with the same numberplates? I ask because on the bridge she says to the policeman to let her past as he surely recognises the car. Surely no respectable policeman would just let any jag pass by.
  • @0iker0

    Thank you sir. That does clear things up a little bit.
  • Another query, which thankfully has nothing to do with tearing apart the plot holes of the film: the jag that M has in the film; is it supposed to be the same jag that we see her in throughout? Is it her car with the same numberplates? I ask because on the bridge she says to the policeman to let her past as he surely recognises the car. Surely no respectable policeman would just let any jag pass by.

    I think at the bridge the policeman pretty much stopped all cars at the time, and M just had to come out to explain who she is in person. It could very much be known that the policeman did not know who M was, which is pretty reasonable.

  • Also what car does Bond drive when he tails Patrice in Shanghai? Is it an audi?
  • MrBondMrBond Station S
    Posts: 2,044
    Also what car does Bond drive when he tails Patrice in Shanghai? Is it an audi?

    It's an Mercedes E-Class.
  • I posted this question under my short short review of Skyfall before realizing there was a question thread for the film here, so many apologies from a first-time poster.

    I was just asking if anyone remembers what M said to Bond at the very end in reply to his question of whether she fancied another run? It might've been the terrible audio in the theater I was in or that I was caught up in the moment, so for some reason, I keep thinking she said something like "If you don't mind, I think I'll just stay here" which I know I'm way off on.
  • Having listened read mi6's review where they suggest Bond sleeps with Moneypenny, and now having listened to Empire's interview with P&W, am I supposed to beleive Bond sleeps with Moneypenny?

    I really didn't get that impression watching the film. He goes to unbutton her dress but she stops him and then tell him the looks the part; 'old dog, new tricks'.
    I really didn't get the vibe that they spelt together, unless I'm missing something.
  • Did the set up for the final battle remind anyone else of Home Alone? =))

  • Posts: 2,171
    Having listened read mi6's review where they suggest Bond sleeps with Moneypenny, and now having listened to Empire's interview with P&W, am I supposed to beleive Bond sleeps with Moneypenny?

    I really didn't get that impression watching the film. He goes to unbutton her dress but she stops him and then tell him the looks the part; 'old dog, new tricks'.
    I really didn't get the vibe that they spelt together, unless I'm missing something.

    I think it is deliberately vague, so that you can draw either conclusion.

    I think they don't, however.
  • Did the set up for the final battle remind anyone else of Home Alone? =))

    I actually thought of Nightmare on Elm Street. :))

    As for the Bond/Eve thing, there was the line about the "extra set of hands" and then she says something like, "tell me about it". But I still doubt anything actually happened just because of the way the scene cut to the next one.

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