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I'll say this: I hope the gun barrel remains at the direct beginning of every Bond film from here on out. My indifference won't be affected either way, and those who nearly hemorrhage at the thought of it not being exactly where they think it should be won't have to be taken to the hospital just ten seconds into the film to stop their brain from bleeding.
Such a frenzied fuss.
First they came for the GB, and I did not speak out because I was indifferent to the GB.
Then they came for the title sequence and I did not speak out because I was indifferent to the title sequence.
Then they came for Blofeld and made him Bond's stepbrother and I did not speak out because I was indifferent to Fleming's characters being pissed on.
Then they came for the series — and there was nothing left to be indifferent about.
When we end up with Disney running the show and they foist on us a black, female, gay Bond I'm sure they'll put statues up honouring all those guys who sat back and shrugged with indifference as they watched it all unfold.
I will always speak up for the titles and characters, Wiz, don't worry, seeing as they have an actual function to these movies. ;)
I agree with @RC7 in that I find it astounding that fans can just dismiss the gunbarrel. It's a cool iconic opening and it's become a vital part of the whole Bond experience imo.
The main point of confusion for me is, is it worth all the fuss? The only time where a twist on the gunbarrel has had a positive reception is CR. Apart from that every single instance of it has been panned by fans. The CGI bullet, the crap in every single way QoS one, the misjudged "this is what we get for the 50th anniversary" SF effort and SP's "the gunbarrel is back, great design, great pose, haha fooled you here's a pretentious quote because I just couldn't resist fucking with it one more time" have all had a mixed reaction at best.
No it's not going to be a talking point in reviews or anything but at the same time, if noone really likes it, what's the point in doing it? The most positive thing anyone has to say about the last three gunbarrels is that they don't mind or don't care. So how about they go back to trying to please those of us who do care about it.
This is bollocks, mate. The reason it turns up is precisely to say 'look at me', hence why it was put to bed for 30 years, when they weren't blinded by nostalgia. The idea that the DB5 is more 'worthy' than the GB is ludicrous.
This. It's a bit of cinematic magic.
Craig's walk and shoot is not to my liking. I much prefer his CR toilet GB and the shadow intro in SF to his SP traditional GB to be honest.
Even DAD's gun-barrel is infinitely better than the crap we are forced through in CR, QOS and SF.
Same, which is why I'd say to keep it. We aren't affected either way, and everyone else will be happy.
Agree entirely.
The positioning of the GB and its execution are two entirely different debates.
As the musical cue is integral to the whole GB experience, personally I find that the last GB that has not been flawed in some way is TLD (I'm not counting CR - As others have said it gets a free pass, although for the record Craig's turn and fire is superb and the music sensational):
LTK - Just noise for the first half until the Bond theme finally kicks in.
GE - Godwaful dirge. The Bond theme can be played on a guitar or by an orchestra but not by a guy banging a pan with a wooden spoon.
TND - That particular cue just doesnt cut the mustard for me.
TWINE - See TND.
DAD - Better music but the CGI bullet is a faux pas.
QOS - Worst of the lot. Both the GB design and Craig's turn and walk appalling. At least the music is OK.
SF - Slightly better than QOS. But not much.
SP - Better design, music reasonable but Craig once again is poor (what happened to the naturalness of CR? Ever since hes been like the f**king Terminator) and the less said about 'The Dead Are Alive' the better.
Fixed but otherwise I agree. DAD not half has bad as the last 3 - Great barrel design, Brozza nails the walk and quite YOLT-esque music. Just a shame about the bullet.
Although trying to justify why it's not there at the beginning of the next 2 films is not easy apart from Forster & Mendes letting artistic overrride the way the film are supposed to start.
Yes SPECTRE got one but we needed some pretentious quote before the film actually started. If they'd gone with the iris opening up to the day of dead sequence it would have looked stunning.
That being said it's like bitching about the god awful theme, SPECTRE got the theme it deserved if it had received a killer theme and then been shackled to that mess of a film it would have made it all that more infuriating. At least the worst film of the era has the worst theme and score of the era, I take some comfort in that at least.
+1
I could have lived with its placing, it does make sense as he starts to be 007 then. But as you said it looks bad.
Let's not even start on the blood.
I agree with you: that line is a problem on many levels. I have always dismissed it, because in the museum scene, Q basically demonstrates how little he knows about being out in the field. So what he says here has to be taken with a grain of salt. I don't believe it for a moment.
Instead, the line works as a form of fear and a response to fear. Remember what Severine says, "What do you know about fear?"
SF is the deepest, richest film in the series, by a long shot. This is just one example. On the island, Silva managed to get the entire population to evacuate (to act on fear) based on mere suggestion. He does the same thing to MI6 (and, ironically, the audience) in this scene.
But the opening of QOS is just all, all wrong. I hate it intensely. For God's sake it's an Aston Martin advertisement. Why Forster, why????!!!!
QoS is an Aston Martin advertisement as much as TSWLM is a Lotus one. It's an action sequence and car chase, what do you expect? You need a car for that, and an Aston is heavily associated with the cinematic Bond.
It's like calling every shootout action sequence a commercial for Walthers or every time Bond is in a suit, it's just a Tom Ford commercial.
I'm not saying Bond hasn't resorted to product placement before. But consider the lighting, the quick shots of the car, etc. It is just like an advertisement you might see on TV. It is NOT like calling every shootout a Walther commercial. Nevertheless that is not the point - the point is that it is an improper way to begin a Bond movie, and indeed the most improper way of beginning one we have seen.
?
If you're saying that the GB should have started us off and then opened on the camera flying over the lake then fair enough.
I agree it's improper to start a Bond without the GB. Chastising the fact they feature shots of an Aston though is as bizarre as it is stupid. Explain how you are supposed to film a car chase without showing footage of the cars involved?
I mean the first point. The introduction to and the resulting car chase are definitely not to my liking but I mean I could live with it if they put the gunbarrel at the beginning.
I thought the way he did it in CR was better. Much better.
Having said all this, I'm so damn sick of the DB5. Mendes has utterly flogged it to death now.