SPECTRE Production Timeline

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  • ShardlakeShardlake Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 4,043
    RC7 wrote:
    Shardlake wrote:
    Lets get John Glen back to direct Bond 25 shall we?

    John Glen made some of the best Bond movies in the canon. Primarily because he was a craftsman and not a clever dick. He doesn't get cut much slack around here, because he never gives off the aura du jour. He was a great franchise director, a great second unit action director and a talented editor. He used the team around him and was never in it for personal glory.

    As much as enjoyed his TD entries, I always felt that Dalton deserved someone with more panache and style, Glen was serviceable and happy to do what he was told and that was what EON was all about back then, directors doing as they are told.

    Peter Hunt only made one Bond film and it was better than all of Glen's put together.
  • edited July 2014 Posts: 11,189
    Not to mention someone Dalton GOT ON WITH.
  • edited July 2014 Posts: 3,274
    Shardlake wrote:
    I think some people are just too wrapped in what Bond used to be and just want that school boy thrill once again but we are adults, I'm not sure if they could make you feel like you did as a kid.

    We cry for a big set piece but I don't think we could get something on the scale of what came before plus we tend to remember these films as children and the delight they gave us
    Let me put it this way:

    Back in 1980 when I was 10 and had just become a massive Bond-fan after my next-door friend, invited me to the local theatre to watch 'Moonraker', I remember that most of the boys I knew at my age, at school and on my street, were more or less fans. And yes... we dug Star Wars, too.

    With our spare allowance many of us bought merchandise and went to whatever theatre in the city that showed some of the older Bond-movies (this was right before VHS). When the trailer for FYEO was released, and our local TV-shop had it on repeat on one of their 22" TV-sets facing the street, we watched it over and over again from the sidewalk.

    The trailer release was a big event.

    Like it is for me, and I assume, most grown-up Bond fans, today.

    But today - 34 years later - I work with kids at that exact same age. Many dozen new every year. Of course I can't speak for all children boys in the world aged 10-15, but what I see and hear, when asking about James Bond, goes something like this:
    -"Of course I'm going see the upcoming Bond-movie... but fan? Ehh...don't know"
    -"The first actor portraying Bond? Don't know"
    -"My father wants me to sit through all Bond-movies, but I don't want to"
    -"It was okay/good, but I am not gonna watch it ever again" (when asked about CR/QoS/SF)

    Today, I have yet to meet someone with the same enthusiasm like before. Where are the 10-15 year old fanboys today? Maybe I need to get out more. Or maybe there are plenty on this board? Or maybe the James Bond fanbase is collectively getting older and older.

    Someone enlighten me.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Enlighten your kids instead, my kid is 15 and a huge Bond fan.
  • edited July 2014 Posts: 7,653
    Enlighten your kids instead, my kid is 15 and a huge Bond fan.

    Your kid cannot be that huge, he is only 15 years old. More medium sized I would wager. ;)

  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Same size as me in fact.
  • Zekidk wrote:
    Shardlake wrote:
    I think some people are just too wrapped in what Bond used to be and just want that school boy thrill once again but we are adults, I'm not sure if they could make you feel like you did as a kid.

    We cry for a big set piece but I don't think we could get something on the scale of what came before plus we tend to remember these films as children and the delight they gave us
    Let me put it this way:

    Back in 1980 when I was 10 and had just become a massive Bond-fan after my next-door friend, invited me to the local theatre to watch 'Moonraker', I remember that most of the boys I knew at my age, at school and on my street, were more or less fans. And yes... we dug Star Wars, too.

    With our spare allowance many of us bought merchandise and went to whatever theatre in the city that showed some of the older Bond-movies (this was right before VHS). When the trailer for FYEO was released, and our local TV-shop had it on repeat on one of their 22" TV-sets facing the street, we watched it over and over again from the sidewalk.

    The trailer release was a big event.

    Like it is for me, and I assume, most grown-up Bond fans, today.

    But today - 34 years later - I work with kids at that exact same age. Many dozen new every year. Of course I can't speak for all children boys in the world aged 10-15, but what I see and hear, when asking about James Bond, goes something like this:
    -"Of course I'm going see the upcoming Bond-movie... but fan? Ehh...don't know"
    -"The first actor portraying Bond? Don't know"
    -"My father wants me to sit through all Bond-movies, but I don't want to"
    -"It was okay/good, but I am not gonna watch it ever again" (when asked about CR/QoS/SF)

    Today, I have yet to meet someone with the same enthusiasm like before. Where are the 10-15 year old fanboys today? Maybe I need to get out more. Or maybe there are plenty on this board? Or maybe the James Bond fanbase is collectively getting older and older.

    Someone enlighten me.

    I'm 15 and I'm a huge fan/collector. I have one of swedens biggest collection of Bond-stuff actually. I've been into Bond for eight years now, ever since my dad bought DAD the summer of 2006. I've been in love with the films for long time, and I still watch at least two films a week... ;) Right now I'm sort of mentoring a young Bondfan who wants to start his very own collection. I'll just might tell him to join the community.
  • Posts: 3,274
    @fromswedenwithlove

    If DAD can turn you into a die-hard Bond-fan, there's still hope ;-)
  • Posts: 7,653
    Same size as me in fact.

    So that is 1,75 meters
  • edited July 2014 Posts: 11,425
    Poor old John Glen, always getting a knocking around here. He was a great asset to the series. Bond could very easily have sunk without trace in the 80s, but he helped keep the show on the road, mainly. And IMO he produced some very good entries. FYEO and OP are great entertainment and I rank TLD amongst the top 5 in the series. AVTAK is poor, but has enjoyable moments and although not to my personal taste, LTK is a very different take that anticipates much of what has happened in the Craig era (not sure that's necessarily a good thing, but you at least have to recognise that Glen took the series in a radically different direction).

    I don't know about Craig being the poor man's Dalton, but I certainly know which one I prefer! ;)
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    BAIN123 wrote:
    @RC7. Glenn also made AVTAK. One of the laziest, poorest films in the series.

    In your opinion. I'm a big fan of AVTAK. It has tremendous locations, great cinematography, a superb villain, a mesmeric score, a pounding title track and an utterly bizarre feel that makes it distinctly Bond. Even excluding it. you are left with FYEO, OP, TLD, LTK. A great run IMO.

  • edited July 2014 Posts: 11,425
    RC7 wrote:
    BAIN123 wrote:
    @RC7. Glenn also made AVTAK. One of the laziest, poorest films in the series.

    In your opinion. I'm a big fan of AVTAK. It has tremendous locations, great cinematography, a superb villain, a mesmeric score, a pounding title track and an utterly bizarre feel that makes it distinctly Bond. Even excluding it. you are left with FYEO, OP, TLD, LTK. A great run IMO.

    Any way you look at it, Glen gave us some really good movies and many, many classic moments. I agree as well that even when his films were on slightly dodgy territory, they always had a distinct and 100% Bondian quality to them. Which is a lot more than can be said for much that has come since.

    I have nothing but respect for him and have always found the digs at him on here pretty unfair.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,963
    RC7 wrote:
    BAIN123 wrote:
    @RC7. Glenn also made AVTAK. One of the laziest, poorest films in the series.

    In your opinion. I'm a big fan of AVTAK. It has tremendous locations, great cinematography, a superb villain, a mesmeric score, a pounding title track and an utterly bizarre feel that makes it distinctly Bond. Even excluding it. you are left with FYEO, OP, TLD, LTK. A great run IMO.

    This. Very well said. I'm a huge fan (one of the few) of AVTAK, and whether you like it or not, Glen had a pretty great track record.
  • ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
    Posts: 2,541
    +1 About AVTK
    +1 About John Glen
    :)>-
  • Zekidk wrote:
    @fromswedenwithlove

    If DAD can turn you into a die-hard Bond-fan, there's still hope ;-)
    It kinda scares me now when I think about it... :-S
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    The 1980s were my favourite decade when it comes to Bond. John Glen directed four of my top ten favourite Bond films, whilst I still rank Octopussy quite high. He directed five very different movies, each still maintaining a very Bondian feel. He managed successfully the transition of two very different styles of Bond; the Roger Moore entries and the much darker Dalton films.
    Most of you will know my position on A View to a Kill by now!

    I have nothing but praise for John Glen as a director.
  • edited July 2014 Posts: 11,189
    I saw AVTAK again with the audio commentary on not long back. It's a bland film at best. Ok Walken's pretty good but there's little energy to the film and some scenes are down right embarrassing.

    Excluding that film his others were decent but only OP makes it into my top 10.
  • edited July 2014 Posts: 11,425
    BAIN123 wrote:
    I saw AVTAK again with the audio commentary on not long back. It's a bland film at best. Ok Walken's pretty good but there's little energy to the film and some scenes are down right embarrassing.

    Excluding that film his others were decent but only OP makes it into my top 10.

    Shocking.

  • Posts: 11,425
    The 1980s were my favourite decade when it comes to Bond. John Glen directed four of my top ten favourite Bond films, whilst I still rank Octopussy quite high. He directed five very different movies, each still maintaining a very Bondian feel. He managed successfully the transition of two very different styles of Bond; the Roger Moore entries and the much darker Dalton films.
    Most of you will know my position on A View to a Kill by now!

    I have nothing but praise for John Glen as a director.

    Yes, there's a real coherency to the 80s Glen films. Although different in many respects, they feel very much part of a distinct period.
  • RC7 wrote:
    John Glen made some of the best Bond movies in the canon.

    And in particular he showed Bond was more than your average franchise, because even a yes-man could keep on directing it. Usually yes-men do Franchise movie II, III, and then the franchise stops :) I'm not sure if yes-man has a deragotary meaning in English or not, but I don't use it in that meaning.

    Also, I'd be very interested to know how many of so-called film lovers here have actually seen Mathieu Amalric in another movie than QOS... If you want deep dramas with lots of character development, etc... there are hundreds of very good movies out there who don't have to deal with the weird fact their hero is a spy and a celebrity at the same time :)
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,963
    @Suivez_ce_parachute, I'd say one of his best non-Bond roles has to be 'The Diving Bell And The Butterfly,' and of course, he was in my favorite film, 'Munich.' I've also been interested in seeing 'Jimmy P.' Two phenomenal actors starring in that film.
  • Posts: 11,425
    Ma Vie Sexuelle is quite amusing. Especially his breakdown in the park.
  • Posts: 11,189
    @Creasy47, I used to love AVTAK growing up. There are some good bits here and there but quite a bit of it is pretty poor.

    For me most of Glen's film's float around mid-table. Solid, decently made films but not as compelling as those further up my list.
  • Posts: 1,631
    The 1980s were my favourite decade when it comes to Bond. John Glen directed four of my top ten favourite Bond films, whilst I still rank Octopussy quite high. He directed five very different movies, each still maintaining a very Bondian feel. He managed successfully the transition of two very different styles of Bond; the Roger Moore entries and the much darker Dalton films.
    Most of you will know my position on A View to a Kill by now!

    I have nothing but praise for John Glen as a director.

    Agreed. The 80s was, IMO, the best decade for Bond. Licence to Kill is my favorite Bond film and The Living Daylights, For Your Eyes Only, and Octopussy all reside in my Top 10, with A View to a Kill also just barely missing out on making it into the Top 10 (#11 or #12 I think).

    For the approach that they were taking, Glen was the right man for the job. I think that perhaps they could have taken a similar approach to what they're doing now, i.e. branching out and maybe going in a bit more radical direction, especially when Dalton took over in '87, but Glen nonetheless did a great job and consistently delivered fantastic Bond films that managed to be different enough from each other to not feel like they were just doing the same thing over and over again.
  • edited July 2014 Posts: 4,619
    The 1980s were my favourite decade when it comes to Bond.

    I couldn't disagree with you more. Bond in the 80s was bland, boring and uninspired. No TSWLM, a GE or a CR for a whole decade. Allowing John Glen to direct 5 consecutive Bond films was a huge mistake (probably the biggest Albert R. Broccoli. ever made).
  • Posts: 1,631
    I will say that the best films of the '60s are better than the majority of the '80s films (my Top 5 would be: LTK, FRWL, TLD, DN, OHMSS). That said, I feel like the '80s maintained a consistently high quality whereas the other decades have some rather large swings in quality.

    For me, the weakest decade for Bond would be a toss up between the '70s or the '90s.
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    The 1980s were my favourite decade when it comes to Bond.

    I couldn't disagree with you more. Bond in the 80s was bland, boring and uninspired. No TSWLM, a GE or a CR for a whole decade. Allowing John Glen to direct 5 consecutive Bond films was a huge mistake (probably the biggest Albert R. Broccoli. ever made).

    The 1980s were my favourite Bond decade.
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    The 1980s were my favourite decade when it comes to Bond.

    I couldn't disagree with you more. Bond in the 80s was bland, boring and uninspired. No TSWLM, a GE or a CR for a whole decade. Allowing John Glen to direct 5 consecutive Bond films was a huge mistake (probably the biggest Albert R. Broccoli. ever made).

    And why is keeping Glen for five films the biggest mistake Albert ever made?

    FYEO, OP, AVTAK and TLD were all very successful upon release.

    The shortcomings of Licence to Kill at the US box office had nothing to with John Glen. That fault lives with the crappy marketing department.

    IMO, Licence to Kill is a far more superior film than those that you have listed.

  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    It certainly is interesting to see such strong opinions (on both sides) about John Glen. My feelings on him are actually quite neutral, with the positives and negatives balancing themselves out. In the end I like what he did for the franchise.
    I still feel that FYEO is his best followed closely by TLD.
    OP was entertaining but went a little overboard with the humor.
    AVTAK was a pretty lazy effort overall but still far from the worst in the series.
    LTK was bad but was an important failure as it ironically did a lot to set up the Craig era.
  • Posts: 12,837
    John Glen might not be the most creative, stylish or interesting director but he deserves respect. He made some great Bond films and his work rate was great. He was really dedicated to Bond, managing to make a film every two years for a decade. Mendes, Campbell, etc, none of them managed this. He was also great with action, his films have the best stunts of the series, and he managed to make different feeling films, he had variation (FYEO, OP and TLD are cold war thrillers, AVTAK is a camp, light hearted blockbuster and LTK is a gritty 80s action flick).

    Glen did a lot for the series and I don't think he gets enough recognition.
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