The DANIEL CRAIG Appreciation thread - Discuss His Life, His Career, His Bond Films

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  • Posts: 4,230
    007HallY wrote: »
    It's funny to think now that Bond simply walking into M's office, getting his mission, taking a plane into the mission territory would now be seen as too simplistic or somewhat shallow for Bond. But then again, watching Top Gun: Maverick, it's a very straightforward film. Nothing complex, yet it was a critical and commercial hit. So I'm thinking Bond 26 doesn't really needs to be complex to succeed. Even if I would like something complex and entertaining for Bond 26.

    TG:M is an interesting one in the sense that while I think some Bond fans outwardly yearn for the next Bond film to be more like it in terms of tone (which I think is questionable or at least simplistic in itself), in practice I doubt it'll have much, if any influence on producers. Maybe the stunt work (a big maybe) but it's not a particularly Bondian film. Much of it is about the drama between the characters, there's not even an onscreen antagonist, and the tone generally leans more towards 'flag waving' if that makes sense. Ideally a Bond film should centre on Bond predominately, there must always be an onscreen antagonist for Bond to engage, and the ideas behind these films are often much more cynical or at least less 'black and white' in terms of morality, regardless of whether it's a more 'escapist' Bond film or not (even in a film like TSWLM you get this sense with the fact that Bond kills Anya's lover at the beginning).

    Yeah, not that I want Bond 26 to be exactly Top Gun: Maverick, but I'm just surprised that a film like it, that isn't exactly a cerebral or complex film, got high critical ratings and made good money. So I'm thinking if EON should bring back the technology of Bond, but still make Bond 26 engaging. It definitely won't hurt the plot if Bond 26 had planes, helicopters, trains, scuba gears, gadgets, etc. Even LTK with all its ruthlessness had the familiar Bond style.

    It's not that surprising. Like @MakeshiftPython said it's not dissimilar to what happened with the first Top Gun film/the mindset general audiences were in when it was released. A lot of the most successful films of the last two years haven't exactly been cerebral or complex, and have been lighter and more 'escapist' in tone, Spiderman: No Way Home arguably being another example. In a sense Bond is in a tricky position given this cultural context we find ourselves in. Like I said, Bond is fundamentally an anti-hero, and the films (and the books especially) have always had shades of grey in how they approach this specific character's morality. His flaws go much deeper than just his arrogance or self-doubt. He's a man who kills people, has to be ruthless etc.

    Short of something pretty experimental, I think the next Bond film will have the basic components of a Bond film - action, exotic locations, even gadgets etc. Even SF, SP and NTTD had the clear fingerprints of those 'Bondian' cinematic elements, regardless of how they were subverted. I just doubt TG: M has any place in how the next film will be written.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,575
    Maybe Bond will have to train Alec Trevelyan's long lost son as the new 006? :-O

    Kidding, of course.
  • HildebrandRarityHildebrandRarity Centre international d'assistance aux personnes déplacées, Paris, France
    Posts: 485
    EON Productions Present

    James Bond 007
    in
    A Cossack to Follow
  • DCisaredDCisared Liverpool
    Posts: 1,329
    Red_Snow wrote: »

    Getting closer to a Roger Safari jacket there Dan.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    edited October 2022 Posts: 7,575
    EON Productions Present

    James Bond 007
    in
    A Cossack to Follow

    Luke Bracey can play the young Trevelyan:
    luke-bracey-facts.jpg

    "For England, Luke?"

    "No... for my father."
  • Agent_Zero_OneAgent_Zero_One Ireland
    Posts: 554
    Jordo007 wrote: »
    There were some great ideas with the Brosnan era

    GE : 007 vs 006, Bond having to hunt a former friend, who knows MI6 as well as him. Also a female henchman.
    TND : A former flame comes back into Bond's life and is married to a villain
    TWINE : Bond falls for a woman, who turns out to be a villain
    DAD : Bond is captured and tortured.

    On the surface all these ideas are new and exciting, the problem was they weren't explored enough in DAD's case or poorly executed in TND's case. GE was great maybe the beach scene with Natalya could have been better, but that's a minor gripe.

    I think had some of these been used in the Daniel era it would have been better utilized and probably been even more memorable.
    I think TND executed it quite well.
  • I used to think Tomorrow Never Dies was extremely generic and bland, but now I look at it as one of the most underrated films in the series.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,575
    I used to think Tomorrow Never Dies was extremely generic and bland, but now I look at it as one of the most underrated films in the series.

    I was thinking about this the other day, I was a very young Bond fan when I first saw TND and I remember it's lasting impression on me was that it was quite violent.

    I think the scenes with Stamper's chakra torture equipment, the guy getting crushed by the newspaper printing press, and throwing Carver into the drill all really stood out to my young impressionable mind.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,054
    After a very enjoyable re-watch of the original Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers, I decided to dig out my old DVD of The Invasion. A pretty problematic but entertaining enough redo of the above. Dear Daniel has pretty good chemistry with Nicole Kidman in the film, and who else do we find but none other than Jeffrey Wright! I wonder if Daniel Craig recommended him for CR...?
  • Posts: 7,520
    After a very enjoyable re-watch of the original Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers, I decided to dig out my old DVD of The Invasion. A pretty problematic but entertaining enough redo of the above. Dear Daniel has pretty good chemistry with Nicole Kidman in the film, and who else do we find but none other than Jeffrey Wright! I wonder if Daniel Craig recommended him for CR...?

    I always preferred Philip Kaufmans 70's remake, mate! Really creeps me out! Didnt like Daniels version!
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    Agreed @Mathis1 ... The '78 version is the best. The final scene feels like it's out of a nightmare.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,054
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    After a very enjoyable re-watch of the original Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers, I decided to dig out my old DVD of The Invasion. A pretty problematic but entertaining enough redo of the above. Dear Daniel has pretty good chemistry with Nicole Kidman in the film, and who else do we find but none other than Jeffrey Wright! I wonder if Daniel Craig recommended him for CR...?

    I always preferred Philip Kaufmans 70's remake, mate! Really creeps me out! Didnt like Daniels version!

    Oh definitely mate! My favourite is the 1956 original. But the 78 remake is certainly a creepy nihilistic downer! Some very effective shocks. The Invasion is pretty lame. (Apparently filming was interrupted for Daniel Craig to come over to England to be announced as James Bond!)

    I did enjoy Abel Ferrara's Bodysnatchers though. It has some very creepy moments.
  • HildebrandRarityHildebrandRarity Centre international d'assistance aux personnes déplacées, Paris, France
    Posts: 485
    The Invasion was partially reshot 13 months later, ultimately not because of Craig being cast as Bond, but because the studio was dissatisfied with the material and wanted more action. The Wachowskis then rewrote the script and had one of their frequent collaborator direct the new scenes. And, as you can assume, it didn't "save" the film or turned it into something completely different.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,502
    Yes it was in tatters. Wasn't there also something about Kidman having a car accident during it or something?
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited October 2022 Posts: 3,154
    Wasn't there a bit on the dvd extras where Dan walked up to Kidman at some event and put his arm around her shoulder for some photos and she immediately bristled, shrugged him off and stepped forward out of reach? I only saw it once, so I could've misremembered that and made it more than it was, but at the time it struck me as being a very 'character actor don't touch the star' move.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    edited October 2022 Posts: 4,586
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    After a very enjoyable re-watch of the original Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers, I decided to dig out my old DVD of The Invasion. A pretty problematic but entertaining enough redo of the above. Dear Daniel has pretty good chemistry with Nicole Kidman in the film, and who else do we find but none other than Jeffrey Wright! I wonder if Daniel Craig recommended him for CR...?

    I always preferred Philip Kaufmans 70's remake, mate! Really creeps me out! Didnt like Daniels version!

    Oh definitely mate! My favourite is the 1956 original. But the 78 remake is certainly a creepy nihilistic downer! Some very effective shocks. The Invasion is pretty lame. (Apparently filming was interrupted for Daniel Craig to come over to England to be announced as James Bond!)

    I did enjoy Abel Ferrara's Bodysnatchers though. It has some very creepy moments.

    And it has Gabrielle Anwar.
    Venutius wrote: »
    Wasn't there a bit on the dvd extras where Dan walked up to Kidman at some event and put his arm around her shoulder for some photos and she immediately bristled, shrugged him off and stepped forward out of reach? I only saw it once, so I could've misremembered that and made it more than it was, but at the time it struck me as being a very 'character actor don't touch the star' move.

    That doesn't sound right. The two are close friends and Kidman lobbied for DC to have a role in The Golden Compass. They went on to do a risque photoshoot:

    https://www.mi6-hq.com/news/index.php?itemid=4617'

  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 3,154
    Yeah, I saw only saw it once back in maybe 2007, so could well have it mixed up. Don't even know if I've still got the dvd (a lot of my stuff's packed away in big plastic tubs!), so can't check. Glad to know it might not be right!
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,586
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yeah, I saw only saw it once back in maybe 2007, so could well have it mixed up. Don't even know if I've still got the dvd (a lot of my stuff's packed away in big plastic tubs!), so can't check. Glad to know it might not be right!

    I'm researching it.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 3,154
    Nice one. Fingers crossed I misremembered it!
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    edited October 2022 Posts: 4,586
    Venutius wrote: »
    Nice one. Fingers crossed I misremembered it!

    I dug out my old Invasion DVD and I found what you were referring to. It wasn't part of a premiere event or photo shoot or anything like that. It was actually on the set. You Tube has that "On the Set" video (poor quality). You can watch it below. The scene you're referring to is at the 2:12 mark. It appears that this was a walk-through, because the cameras don't seem quite set up yet. Nevertheless, based on the scene in the film and what I see here, Craig either A) startled her (because in the film he actually doesn't touch her back); or B) When he touches her, he shocks her. And the way he pulls his hand away and rubs his fingers, I actually think that this is what happened. A bit of static. In fact, we can see at the 2:20 mark, they are having a good laugh about what just transpired; so whatever it was, it was unplanned and funny.

    Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention.

  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,641
    I think you're right mate it looks like a bit of static or something, given Craig's reaction
    Great memory @Venutius
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 3,154
    Good one, TripAces, thanks for that - shows how you misremember things and they get set in your mind as something different! I'd misremembered it as a really awkward moment, but it's clearly nothing of the sort.
  • I recently rewatched some Craig films outside of his Bond tenure. I posted some quick thoughts here:

    https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/9321/the-non-bond-films-of-daniel-craig/p2

    It would humble me greatly if people were to check them out! I've not seen 'The Invasion', but I have seen 'Dream House'.....Spoiler alert: I may have actually liked it (despite Daniel's hairstyles).

    LslXVk7.png
  • edited October 2022 Posts: 440
    MaxCasino wrote: »

    According to people who were at the screening, his partner is played by
    Hugh Grant.
  • Posts: 316
    MaxCasino wrote: »

    According to people who were at the screening, his partner is played by
    Hugh Grant.

    But is that really true or just a speculation?
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,641
    MaxCasino wrote: »

    Fair enough, if it adds to his character.

    I quite liked Blanc being a mysterious stranger to be honest, but if they're making a trilogy with him, I guess you have to add depth to his character
  • Agent_99Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl
    edited October 2022 Posts: 3,179

    But is that really true or just a speculation?

    True :) Saw a screening on Sunday night. It's just as entertaining as the predecessor (which I liked a lot).
    I admitted I'd thought HG was his manservant and the four gay men I was with laughed me down.

    One thing I found interesting: it's very firmly set during 2020, with masks and lockdowns.
  • Posts: 316
    Agent_99 wrote: »

    But is that really true or just a speculation?

    True :) Saw a screening on Sunday night. It's just as entertaining as the predecessor (which I liked a lot).
    I admitted I'd thought HG was his manservant and the four gay men I was with laughed me down.

    One thing I found interesting: it's very firmly set during 2020, with masks and lockdowns.

    Thanks for the info. I'm curious to see that lol
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