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Easter Eggs, Symbolism & Call Backs (Major Spoilers)

00Heaven00Heaven Home
edited October 2021 in No Time To Die Posts: 575
I couldn't see a thread for this and honestly when it comes to symbolism I'm a little bit obsessed at finding all the nods and things like that.

I thought we could use this thread just to note down everything we noticed throughout the movie and have it stored in one place. Could also be cool for some discussion (what is too big a leap of logic. What is not)

Please note for those that haven't seen this movie yet, this will contain major spoilers.

@matt_u this may be one for you as well as I noticed you were having a crack at this in the spoiler threads too.

So the one I thought of today and to start off... as a potential symbol:
In Greek mythology, Heracles is eventually driven mad and accidentally kills his wife and children which I think was interesting given the context of what happens at the end.

Or in the titles:
The use of Britannia who is being broken, the literal personification of Britain, and then Bond literally being used as Britannia's trident on Q's screen for the mission into Safin's lair.

Then of course, there's other little things such as the call back to CR.
The last line in CR is "Bond. James Bond." The last line in NTTD is "Bond. James Bond." A nice little full circle and call back to the movies.

Finally, also the easter eggs, of which there are many... e.g.:
The DB5, the V8 Vantage, Skyfall's bulldog ornament, the paintings of previous M's.
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Comments

  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    Posts: 1,351
    Bond flipping his visitor badge into Moneypenny's wastebasket like he used to flip his hats onto the stand.

    Q telling Bond to listen carefully and explain complicated tech, while Bond already has it all figuered out.
  • jobojobo
    edited October 2021 Posts: 7,507
    It's not really an easter egg as such, but I thought the following dialogue was quite amusing:
    Madeleine asks Bond: "Do you know what is the worst thing about you?" before he replies; "My timing? My sense of humor?"

    It is as if Daniel Craig is directly adressing the most common critique against his Bond iteration.
  • James_StJohnSmytheJames_StJohnSmythe Twitter: @J_StJS /// https://www.instagram.com/james_st_john_smythe/
    Posts: 21
    So I'm not exactly sure I got that one right, but...
    ...when M calls the navy to bombard Safins island, the captain answers with "HMS Bedford" (from TND), or not?
  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    Posts: 1,351
    James_StJohnSmythe wrote: »
    So I'm not exactly sure I got that one right, but...
    ...when M calls the navy to bombard Safins island, the captain answers with "HMS Bedford" (from TND), or not?
    It's HMS Dragon, I'm afraid. However, the way the ship is shot, we might as well put it in the promotions and product placements thread. The Royal Navy better use that perfectly lit hero shot in their recruitment ads :))
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,807
    Thanks for starting this discussion @00Heaven . I hope it can go spoiler tagless soon.
    Bond killing Ash recalls FYEO and the death of Locque.
  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    Posts: 1,351
    Another nice little quip is
    Bond remarking that Mr White, Madeleine's father, had a thing for secret rooms (and the unspoken part being that in both SP and NTTD the screenwriters use one of White's secret rooms to get some exposition in and then point Bond and Madeleine towards the lair...)

    And on the off chance that some may not know this,
    Bond whispered through his gritted teeth, "Die, Blofeld! Die!"
    is the description of Bond strangling Blofeld to death in the novel You Only Live Twice. However, in the book this comes at the end of a sword/bo staff duel, Bond actually kills him, not a virus and Bond is buck naked during it, but the callback remains...
  • BondfoxBondfox
    Posts: 18
    So a few deep cuts...

    There's frequent references to St. George and the Dragon, which Fleming alludes to being part of the "underlying myth" of Bond (not to mention its importance to the U.K.)
    - There's a massive mural of St. George fighting the dragon in Safin's lair
    - The Royal Navy ship at the end is named "Dragon"
    Safin is also the metaphorical dragon who has taken the princess hostage

    One other tidbit that got my excited in the theater...
    During the "funeral" at MI6, M reads the last line of Bond's obituary from YOLT the novel (which could arguably have inspired the title)
  • ProfJoeButcherProfJoeButcher Bless your heart
    Posts: 1,711
    Little thing I noticed in NTTD: in the PTS, Bond is laying on his stomach and his head is resting on his arms when he asks, "If we're to have a future?" His pose is strikingly similar to when Tracy says, "Anyway you have given me a wedding present... The best I could have... A future." I don't think it's coincidence. So some OHMSS references are subtler than others.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    I liked Kleinman s callbacks to previous title sequences , such as DN,TB and OHMSS.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    edited October 2021 Posts: 7,551
    “You’ve violated the most inviolate rule of…” uttered by M in Casino Royale and Tanner in NTTD.
    Blowing up an embassy, and attacking Blofeld in prison in CR and NTTD respectively.
  • 00Heaven00Heaven Home
    Posts: 575
    One I noticed today on second viewing.

    You see the...
    gunbarrel four times. Literally and metaphorically.

    1st in the opening.

    2nd when Bond drives into the tunnel at Matera.

    3rd in Safin's lair when Bond turns around and fires.

    4th at the end of the movie when Swann is driving away with Mathilde and enters the same tunnel as Bond did.

    I know someone else also mentioned (and I forget who)
    The actual gunbarrel foreshadows Bond's death at the end. No blood. But he fades away into pure white.
  • matt_umatt_u better known as Mr. Roark
    Posts: 4,343
    That was me. I loved that hint at Bond’s fate in the gun barrel. They broke tradition, yes, but there’s a meaning.
  • patbpatb
    Posts: 4,617
    Q asks where the USB stick as been and uses a sandbox, clearly a reference/lesson learned from SF
  • AntiLocqueBrakesAntiLocqueBrakes The edge
    Posts: 538
    Bond letting the car fall on Ash.

  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,551
    patb wrote: »
    Q asks where the USB stick as been and uses a sandbox, clearly a reference/lesson learned from SF

    Caught that too! Also it was in Valdo's mouth, wasn't it? Did he swallow it like he was asked to? Did he... pass it?
  • jobojobo
    Posts: 7,507
    It is a bit obvious, but...
    the shot of the helicopter following the car over the plain in the Norway chase scene, was a clear homage to FRWL.
  • 00Heaven00Heaven Home
    Posts: 575
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    patb wrote: »
    Q asks where the USB stick as been and uses a sandbox, clearly a reference/lesson learned from SF

    Caught that too! Also it was in Valdo's mouth, wasn't it? Did he swallow it like he was asked to? Did he... pass it?

    Yes! I think he must have because:
    Q asks where has this been and Bond says something like "everywhere I should imagine." :D
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,551
    Possible could-have-happened-easter egg / callback:
    Grace Jones cancelled cameo seems like it would have fit well into the Spectre meeting in Havana.
  • MattiaDeVarti007MattiaDeVarti007 Italy
    Posts: 316
    At the beginning, in the Norway cabane, a Spectre logo ring is seen laying on some papers in Mr White's secret room
  • MattiaDeVarti007MattiaDeVarti007 Italy
    Posts: 316
    And then don't know if it has been mentioned already but
    Britannia statue is featured both in the title sequence of OHMSS and NTTD
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,807
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    “You’ve violated the most inviolate rule of…” uttered by M in Casino Royale and Tanner in NTTD.
    Blowing up an embassy, and attacking Blofeld in prison in CR and NTTD respectively.

    And
    Nomi feigns surrender in Cuba then fires her weapon to create a distraction/explosion and escape as Bond did at the embassy in CR.
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,807
    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    I liked Kleinman s callbacks to previous title sequences , such as DN,TB and OHMSS.

    No less CR and QOS and SF.
  • MalloryMallory
    Posts: 2,165
    Felix’s cigar is a ‘delectados’, the same as the one asked for in Die Another Day.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,551
    RichardTheBruce wrote: »
    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    I liked Kleinman s callbacks to previous title sequences , such as DN,TB and OHMSS.

    No less CR and QOS and SF.

    I even felt GE in the orange part of the titles sequence.
  • HildebrandRarityHildebrandRarity Centre international d'assistance aux personnes déplacées, Paris, France
    Posts: 482
    Jack the Bulldog makes a reappearance in the garage for the DB V8.
  • matt_umatt_u better known as Mr. Roark
    Posts: 4,343
    The dots from Dr. No.
  • ShakenNotStirredShakenNotStirred
    Posts: 1,398
    I thought the 'The Living Daylights' best easter egg was the V8 Vantage-but no, seeing Robert Brown's 'M' portrait was much more satisfying.
  • RyanRyan Canada
    Posts: 692
    ShakenNotStirred wrote: »
    I thought the 'The Living Daylights' best easter egg was the V8 Vantage-but no, seeing Robert Brown's 'M' portrait was much more satisfying.
    I almost missed that (since I was so focused on the Judi Dench one) but fortunately my fellow Bond aficionado pointed it out to me before the shot changed. Lovely indeed!
  • MalloryMallory
    Posts: 2,165
    Ryan wrote: »
    ShakenNotStirred wrote: »
    I thought the 'The Living Daylights' best easter egg was the V8 Vantage-but no, seeing Robert Brown's 'M' portrait was much more satisfying.
    I almost missed that (since I was so focused on the Judi Dench one) but fortunately my fellow Bond aficionado pointed it out to me before the shot changed. Lovely indeed!

    I saw the portrait in person at the Omega pop-up shop in Burlington Arcade.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,551
    I missed the Bernard Lee one in the film?
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