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It actually sounds like a Bond title long in the making....it's been brewing but only through all these decades. Remember, when QoS ends, the dead don't care about vengeance.....and when Spectre begins, the dead are alive.
The music for the scene in the Bolivian desert represented desperation. Do you hear the sound of desperation when Camille's Story is played alongside the shots of the drought-riddden village?
Forster had cast Fields and it was his idea to include her more as a sacrificial lamb. Arnold's score emphasized the darkness of her passing as opposed to creating any hint of emotional attachment. Remember, Fields is the one who tripped Elvis on the stairs and Bond didn't feel much for her until there was remorse after her death. This would have thrown off the whole focus away from Vesper because Arnold worked most closely with Forster and Craig....director and actor on this film morr than any before. So he was able to narrate the story and keep the focus on Vesper and on Bond's quest for solace. Bond's quest for solace was emphasized with guitar riffs like the theme you hear at the end of Dead Don't Care About Vengeance. That riff alone was supposed to become Craig's signature Bond theme for future films....but each subsequent director after QoS borrowed other music from Arnold for future sequels.
The parts that were most memorable in NTTD for the music were Vesper's grave with the wind blowing, Bond walking to Madeline's place after 5 yrs, and Final Ascent from Bond and Safin's fight. That fight scene had QoS vibes because of how Bond took out Safin similarly to QoS when Camille takes out Medrano.
Interesting, and to me another point why Forster is underrated amongst fans. Maybe he as a bit too artsy but I think he delivered a very solid film that stands the test of time better than most.
Here is the issue with Forster at that time....shortly after it came out, he said he would include "more women" along the old tropes of having a sacrificial lamb like Fields. Fields was really his input for QoS according to BB. He felt a bit of pressure to try and not do anything too different for the following film. Later, he realized that his film has plenty of reason to be defended and fans can agree with the value of QoS as it's aged better than most other movies in the franchise.
So, by giving him some time, he can come back now and try something different again for the series with a new actor who can benefit from not having to be someone placed into the Bond formula that can keep the originality alive and not follow the predictable Bond formula. Forster will feel more encouraged. The artsy approach is what helped bring the series closer to Oscar wins (I don't and will not watch the Oscars but I know the award is important to anyone in the industry). Sam Mendes continued the artsy approach at times and so did Cary F. Part of that magic came from DC's own input which is why his involvement would still be a useful asset to the series regardless who is playing Bond.
Copying the old formula will take the series further away from Oscar votes. Studios interference will also hinder this potential for the producers.
As good as Billie Eilish's song is for NTTD, it sounds very similar to Writings on the Wall: just listen to song's tone when they each artist sings their respective lyrics:
That I'd fallen for a lie?
You were never on my side
Fool me once, fool me twice"
vs Sam Smith's Writings on the Wall
If I risk it all
Could you break my fall?
How do I live? How do I breathe?
By pointing this out, I am not discouraging or bashing anything, I'm just saying that some of the "risky" "artsy" approaches are so good that they are copied among the higher commercially-celebrated films. For Craig, his commercially well-marketed films were CR, SF, and NTTD. But the ones that age better are QoS and to some extent SP because NTTD is really good as a direct sequel to it.
Toss all the composers of the Craig era in a pit, the survivor gets to compose every film of the next era.
Zimmer can deliver a really good score: As Good As It Gets was well-scored. It's just that when he got used for Batman Begins, he and Christopher Nolan abused the foghorn and simplistic beats instead of more-intricate or detailed notes that David Arnold came to perfect by QoS to convey emotion.
Zimmer made an error by not using the NTTD theme more often like in songs where Bond goes to visit Madeleine for the first time in years after Blofeld's unexpected death. Final Ascent was also one of his strengths for that score.
And then there's Thomas Newman.....he failed to provide a fitting score for M's death scene and the crew chose laziness in the name of "let's leave the scene to speak for itself" instead of going the distance. Newman uses overly-simplistic percussion tones. I've nicknamed him "ding-ding" because he just likes to use repetitive simple tunes that sometimes seem out of context for their scenes.
The end theme from Dead Don't Care About Vengeance would make an excellent original Bond theme. David Arnold is the last known John Barry-approved composer just as Daniel Craig was the last publicly-known Bond actor to be approved by all the previous actors in the role such as SC. These are things to be guarded by the producers instead of worrying about what the studio would like.
Some very controversial statements there. But I agree with a lot of them.
I say it as it is, haha.
Well let's hope and see, I for one would love to see Forster return, and to my mind his and Craig's writing is better than P&W's.
I love the addition of Fields, the interplay, and the fact that Bond is once-again confronted with the repercussions of his work to an innocent fling. QoS has far more to offer storywise than most, notably SP and SF.
"I promised them Le Chiffre, and they got Le Chiffre"
"They got his body"
"If they wanted his soul, they should have made a deal with a priest"
Even the way Craig delivers the lines in Quantum are stellar. They're detached, flippant but very quick witted and world weary everything Bond should be
Also love this one…
Bond : You know I was just wondering what South America would look like if nobody gave a damn about coke or communism. It always impressed me the way you boys would carve this place up.
Felix: I'll take that as a compliment coming from a Brit.
Same mate, I didn't manage to go 5 times though unfortunately. I still remember watching all the adverts and the making of's about Quantum. It felt like the promo for that was everywhere. Such an exciting time
@Junglist_1985 God I love that bit of dialogue, I love that it has a little bit of friendly hostility to it. Quantum cemented Jeffrey Wright as my favourite Felix. His chemistry with Craig is always gold
I remember my Internet still being pretty garbage at the time but I made sure to take the time to buffer the first trailer in the best quality possible. I was stunned when I saw it. I remember Bond jumping across the rooftops being a shot that really stood out to me each time. I also remember seeing a little BTS snippet on TV or somewhere that I think was either from the Greene Planet party or the rope swinging bit during the PTS and I was so giddy seeing work beginning on a new installment. Those were the days. Now, I'm impatient and I always see way too much before a new installment drops because I can't help myself.
Speaking of dialogue, I love the bit where Bond spells out "Greene" for Tanner as "G-R-Double E..." but the computer autofill at MI6 predicts "Double" as "Double-U," so it reads "G-R-W" before quickly correcting to "G-R-E-E...". It's such a nice little detail.
Did you know that the Sienna rooftop chase was Daniel Craig's favorite filming sequence of QoS?
Over the years I've seen that BTS snippet of the Greene Planet party production. The production crew found a rather desolate hotel or former hotspot that the wealthy socialites of decades past would hang out at before it became abandoned. After so many years, the entire cast present on the site saw the crew turn that place alive again. And the BTS scene shows before and after photos while playin the Vesper tune in the background. It's symbolic because in that movie scene, Bond was with Fields defending him....Fields had an innocence Bond yearned for from back when Vesper was alive. The essence of Vesper was felt throughout QoS but her absence created much reason for that air of melancholy.
QoS was carefully detail oriented in many aspects.
At a Q and A, Marc Forster explained that the sequence between Bond and M in Kazan with the snow falling was as follows:
Bond is with the person closest to him most surrounded by a cold world kept together by dedication to their profession.
Well before the woke craze, Camille's chatacter defied so many stereotypes. Unlike most Bond girls, she not only has potential for her own spinoff, but out of all them Olya K's career skyrocketed upwards after the role. IMHO, as much if not more than the wonderful Eva Green's. Perhaps Dominic Green's last name was a homage to Vesper's actress. Camille left audiences wanting more of her presence. The issue I have with NTTD is that it tried to be funny when it didn't need to be including scenes with the lovely Ana de Armas.
It's a beautiful and very human moment among so many in QOS. I think Bond and Camille's unconsummated bond echoes the relationship between Bond and Gala Brand, which was clearly more than professional and yet left unfulfilled in the end for entirely other reasons—different reasons they can't or won't be together in the end, but the chemistry is there just the same.
In fact, I think Craig had better chemistry with Kurylenko than any other actress, and perhaps controversially that includes Green. They had a very natural rapport and felt like true equals. Had Craig had the same chemistry with Seydoux I think I would have been much more on board with the whole SP-NTTD arc.
The Seydoux arc was really supported by the story that her character was Mr. White's daughter. It didn't offer much else for SP but there were some fine moments despite the lack of chemistry...when they visited L'Americano and Bond sat nearby Swann to protect her, similar to the scene in AVTAK.
But Kurylenko and the chemistry between Bond and Camille really stole the show from Green. There were early drafts of QoS featuring more of Vesper's presence in the script, with a pre-recorded video of her (as we were alluded to by the tape in SP) or by a ghostly or dreamlike presence....and both Craig and Forster proved that no flashbacks or similar stuff was needed much to keep Vesper's spirit and her absence felt throughout the movie.
Kurylenko can still do action. I'm wondering why they didn't use her for the longer NTTD beer commercial that pays homage to QoS. The lady picking up Bond in the small car could have easily been a cameo by Camille. BB did in fact say she would like to see Camille return when QoS had just come out.
The moment in the cave where they find out about the water is where they connected emotionally. The walk across the desert with the music and cinematography showed they were both in a lost state of inner turmoil. Forster uses environmental settings in each scene to convey the dryness of each character's inner turmoil. Add David Arnold's music of Camille's story, and you get the sense of what the characters feel along with what they say. The action does not direct the story.....the story directs the action.
A similar feeling you mention came to mind for just a few seconds, when NTTD begins with Bond at Vesper's gravesite....and the winds blows as her theme plays.