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Comments
That's why SP makes it better for me. He had the extra manpower and resources to help him escape MI6 with ease. If he truly was alone he wouldn't have been able to get away. He had henchmen sure but Bond blew them away on the Island then after he's imprisoned and escapes he has all these random new henchmen from out of Nowhere. They could have been ex- Spectre assassins wanting a bigger piece of the pie. Or the kind of people who did Spectre's terrorist attacks to try and get Nine Eyes into effect.
Fair play,cant argue with that..
Although,im going to be a stubborn old (newly 47 year old ) sod and stick to the Connery 3rd stand alone film syndrome ;)....
I don't understand the complaint about all the help Silva receives.
He is a former agent and is clearly aware of the secret service and terrorist cells. He works for hire (for the highest bidder) and clearly has plenty of money (I mean he does live on an island on his own and can afford to pay 4 million euros for a one hit assassination)... so the explanation he can just buy in help works.
Same here. I booked a set of four seats for the 8pm IMAX screening at the local cinema for me and family members. Come 7.55pm when we arrived the entire screening was full except for those 4 seats, perfectly positioned in the middle of the screen about 3/4 the way up.
As soon as the Bond theme blasted out and Bond appeared from the corner, I knew we were in for a great time.
Still love Skyfall. Top 3.
SF was spot on in its depiction of a villain who could instill fear and paranoia with mere suggestion. Remember how he "took" the island: by simply scaring people away.
I get a blank expression when I ask about Spectre.
It struck me that, as the stolen drive was encrypted, a pass phrase was required to decrypt the data. Silva hacks into MI6 but finds that the whole network has been cleansed (on Ms orders, this makes her look better) but he still blows up the building like a petulant child. So Silva realises that the only location for the passphrase is in Ms head. Bond still traces Silva and Silva is taken to Mi6 as per the movie but Silva taunts M that he knows where the key is and he will have it. M realises that she is a liablity to whole country. The rest of the movie plays out but, in the final scene in the church, Silva tortures M (perhaps a broken finger?) but she will not give in. He holds the gun to her head "It's in there, I know, it's in there. You share it...or take it to your grave" He cocks the pistol and Bond steps in as per the original.
This alternative removes the silly weaknesses of Silva decrypting the drive and the Youtube agent detail reveals. It also puts M into a better light by making better decisions early on and clearly willing to sacrifice herself rather than give up the passphrase.
Thoughts?
The thing with SF is that it's not a plot driven film, which is a anomaly for a Bond. It's a story about 'M', which is why her 'mistakes' are vital. Bond's trajectory in the film is a mirror of Silva's.
Silva isn't doing this to expose agents, he's doing it to 'destroy' M; conversely Bond's actions are to 'save' M. The denouement is subtle, but poetic.
Making the drive and it's passcode a key plot point adds nothing, if anything it detracts.
@patb, in a way I prefer it as it is, flaws and all. At the end of the day this is a film about flawed characters and motivations. That's the hook.
They all have and do make mistakes, but M & Bond's loyalty to the cause and righteousness in the face of nearly insurmountable odds is unquestionable. So is their pride. It's a little reminiscent of the encounter between Bond and Alec in GE (MI6, Britain and Bond certainly screwed up and gave him a right to be royally ticked as well).
Bond was wronged too. He didn't give into bitterness. Silva did.
Precisely.
I agree with the points on mistakes but, I would refine this re the mistakes are mistakes of judgement: Ms decision to turn Silva over, M's decision to "take the bloody shot" etc etc, and I think poor decisions and how we deal with them are a key within the narrative.
Having said that, doing plain stupid stuff like leaving your password on the office computer or having your own laptop hacked are not issues of poor judgement, they are just incompentance and as I have watched SF over the years, M's basic incompetence is bugging me more and more so I was looking to change the plot slightly to deal with this and offer her a more heroic ending (the new M gets more hero time than Dench). Her role is very passive IMHO and not worthy of someone in her position (both as head of the organisation but also in the eyes of the audience)
A train that travels vertically (!). What will they think of next?
I've had people on here tell me that M doesn't make any mistakes and I'm just imagining it.
Clearly all she does throughout the film is screw everything up, but what are we supposed to make of this?
M in SF is a useless, geriatric has-been. Malory is right to want to get rid of her. So are the committee. She's clearly passed it.
What I don't understand is why we should be rooting for her? She gets Bond shot at the start and then proceeds to make every wrong call.
I for one was getting tired of Dench before SF and was frankly glad to see her die at the end of the film.
"We are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are. One equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will. To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
So was I, until I saw SP. The lack of chemistry between Fiennes and Craig is palpable. I hope it's due to rubbish writing only.
We got off on the wrong foot as well, due to the dressing down she gave Bond for his habits. Very 90's PC rubbish imho.
Exactly.
The stolen hard drive was meaningless, because Silva had the ability to gather that data/info WITHOUT having to steal a hard drive. So why did he do it? It's simple distraction. In my estimation, SF was perfect for this decade, an era in which technology (MISINFORMATION and now "fake news") have led us to looking at all the wrong things. Threats are not as bad as the perceived threat. Silva trafficked in that perceived threat.
It's a bloody brilliant film that gets better every time I watch it.