The What if thread...What if Quantum of Solace hadn’t been affected by the writers’ strike?

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  • SeveSeve The island of Lemoy
    Posts: 495
    mtm wrote: »
    Seve wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    Seve wrote: »

    I think multiverses are completely un-necessary, anal retentive nonsense. As a child I couldn't understand why Dr Who changed from William Hartnell to Patrick Traughton and was very upset (I kept watching, but never really forgave Patrick for not being William.)

    That’s not a multiverse situation. He literally changes face within the same continuity.

    True dat, and, although I can see that it appeared that way, it was not my intention to suggest that it was. There was no multiverse when I was growing up, so I used the Dr Who to represent an equivalent situation. I intended it as another example of where the creators felt the need to explain the change in actor in order to maintain continuity.

    It's kind of different as it allowed the new actor to almost create an entirely different version of the character, something which doesn't really happen with Bond or Holmes.

    True, but as I say, it was as close as I could come up with in order to draw upon my own personal childhood experience and feelings about a change of actor, to contrast with how my adult self feels when that happens.

    I would argue that James Bond actors do have some scope to create their own version of the character though, I mean no-one would suggest that Craig-bond was the same as Brosnan-bond, or that Dalton-bond was like Moore-bond.

    And Dr Who's often do share many similarities, manic bursts of energy and excited outbursts of verbal diahorrea being a common trait for most of them.

    My point still being that I personally regard the multiverse as a redundant concept, one actor left and a new one took his place, any additional made up fantasy explanation is un necessary.

    Even having him die is not really a problem, just as I have no doubt that, some time in the future, Tony Stark will re-appear as Ironman in a movie, after the current iteration of the Marvel Universe has finally disappeared down the rabbit hole into oblivion.

    And, for those who do enjoy multiverses, he's still out there now anyway, in infinite other multiverses where he did not die, so what's the point of it all, why bother concocting such an elaborate pretense, what useful purpose does it serve?
  • Posts: 2,173
    Bond is not coming back. In the next iteration, he will have never left. He'll appear on screen with a history and carry on. Live or die, NTTD was the end of Craig's tenure as Bond. How pointless would it be to cook up a story line in which Craig's Bond doesn't die, but somehow comes back younger. No, he's done. Move on. And don't try to sandwich the new film in between some old ones as if NTTD will happen in the future but with everything dated. What's done is done. Live with it. The next Bond will not be a continuation of any previous Bond. Hopefully the new actor will own the role like Connery and Craig did. Find the right actor and all sins can be forgiven.
  • SeveSeve The island of Lemoy
    edited April 14 Posts: 495
    Pre credit sequence, villains are up to something, a mysterious stranger appears, kicking arse and taking names. At the end of the sequence he enters a restaurant, hotel or airport, walks up to the maitre d, reception desk or ticketing counter and says "I believe I have a reservation". The person addressed replies "May I have your name sir?" to which the stranger replies "Bond, James Bond". Cue gun barrel sequence featuring the new guy, opening credits etc

    Then possibly a scene introducing M and Moneypenny (or reintroducing the same ones from the Craig era) and assigning the next mission, then off we go

    Prologue scene, music fades out, Bond lying down on the crest of a hill watching something through binoculars, then a shot where we see his viewpoint - in the distance a woman and a child play in the spring grass outside a Nordic chalet, but we are not close enough to see them in detail. Back to Bond, lowering the binoculars from his eyes and looking wistful, closing credit music begins...
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,719
    Interesting thoughts about this business of re-booting. I can see both sides of the discussion. These posts make me realize that killing Bond might be a better thing than if he had lived. At least now the new guy won't have to answer questions about Vesper et al.

    Another one that we may have tackled but due to more recent information coming forward I think it might lead to a discussion:

    What if Quantum of Solace hadn’t been affected by the writers’ strike?

    According to Craig QOS had Bond and Forster writing and re-writing scenes in this movie while it was being shot. Having already committed to a release date the film went ahead with a writers strike. This meant a not quite fully polished script and hence Craig and Forster having to write or re-write scenes.

    What do you think would have been the biggest improvement if they had got the script in a better place before filming? Were there characters who weren't well written? I know Elvis is a henchman that is just there, might his character been improved?

    What are your thoughts on this what if?
  • SeveSeve The island of Lemoy
    edited April 14 Posts: 495
    But wait, I've got one more

    Opens with the shot of Craig-Bond, his back to camera, watching the missles raining down from above, then apparently being vaporised, cut to shot a handsome stranger suddenly waking up as if from a nightmare, crying out, then sitting up, with eyes wide open and sweating profusely.

    Pan out to reveal the whole double bed, a beautiful naked woman next to him, she sits up and puts her hands on his shoulders to comfort him and says "What's wrong James, you look shaken?"

    Bond gives her an enquiring sideways look and replies "Not stirred?"
    He takes her in his arms and they recline back onto the bed
    Cue gun barrel sequence...

    After the opening credits we learn that Bond is at Shrublands, where he is recuperating from NTTD and then off we go
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 14,984
    An extra 15 minutes of QOS would've been nice. That was one thing that disappointed me upon walking out of the cinema. Any less than 2 hours of Bond and I feel short-changed. Without the writer's strike it's fair to say we'd see more footage, maybe even the Mr White ending, which would then dramatically alter the SP and NTTD storylines.

    Having said that, QOS is excellent as is, and I feel Craig, EON and crew shouldn't punish themselves over it but be proud of how the film turned out.

    Especially on this day, dedicated to the film. World Quantum Day.


    World_Quantum_Day.png
  • Posts: 2,240
    thedove wrote: »
    Interesting thoughts about this business of re-booting. I can see both sides of the discussion. These posts make me realize that killing Bond might be a better thing than if he had lived. At least now the new guy won't have to answer questions about Vesper et al.

    Another one that we may have tackled but due to more recent information coming forward I think it might lead to a discussion:

    What if Quantum of Solace hadn’t been affected by the writers’ strike?

    According to Craig QOS had Bond and Forster writing and re-writing scenes in this movie while it was being shot. Having already committed to a release date the film went ahead with a writers strike. This meant a not quite fully polished script and hence Craig and Forster having to write or re-write scenes.

    What do you think would have been the biggest improvement if they had got the script in a better place before filming? Were there characters who weren't well written? I know Elvis is a henchman that is just there, might his character been improved?

    What are your thoughts on this what if?

    I dont have too many issues with the Quantum script. You could flesh it out in a few ways but ultimately it is the editing which lessens my enjoyment of the film and a more revised script wouldn't fix that.
  • AnotherZorinStoogeAnotherZorinStooge Bramhall (Irish)
    Posts: 109
    The biggest improvement would be the final
    confrontation against Vesper's lover. A conversation which could have reset everything the way they wanted and saved us the sanctimonious nationalism of Skyfall.

    Could have been worse, mind. You never know.

    The villains could have been better fleshed out and we could lose returning favourites like Mathis, with a more rounded opportunity for Camille.

    Such a frustrating film QOS.
  • Posts: 5,013
    It’s a strange film. On the one hand the editing is awful, it has less style/flair than CR, and there’s a sense it could have been a fuller, more individualistic film.

    On the other hand I think some of the best aspects of its script came from having to make the film under a deadline. Truth is I have no idea how it would have turned out without the strike. But I suspect it’s a double edged sword.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,286
    007HallY wrote: »
    It’s a strange film. On the one hand the editing is awful, it has less style/flair than CR, and there’s a sense it could have been a fuller, more individualistic film.

    On the other hand I think some of the best aspects of its script came from having to make the film under a deadline. Truth is I have no idea how it would have turned out without the strike. But I suspect it’s a double edged sword.

    I mostly quite like the editing. Although i admit, it does work better with repeated viewings. I sometimes wish the film were longer, but then i also like the fact that it's lean and mean...
  • SeveSeve The island of Lemoy
    edited 11:39am Posts: 495
    thedove wrote: »

    What if Quantum of Solace hadn’t been affected by the writers’ strike?

    According to Craig QOS had Bond and Forster writing and re-writing scenes in this movie while it was being shot. Having already committed to a release date the film went ahead with a writers strike. This meant a not quite fully polished script and hence Craig and Forster having to write or re-write scenes.

    What do you think would have been the biggest improvement if they had got the script in a better place before filming? Were there characters who weren't well written? I know Elvis is a henchman that is just there, might his character been improved?

    What are your thoughts on this what if?

    For me the biggest issues with QoS were probably not caused by the writers strike and would probably not have been addressed.

    Firstly I hated the the Jason Bourne style editing that was in Vogue at the time, so that wouldn't change.

    Secondly I don't think the whole "Bolivian water rights" plot device was "colourful" enough for a Bond movie. It may turn out to have been a concept ahead of it's time, but so far I don't think it relevant enough for the target audience of an espionage / action movie to relate to.

    Thirdly I thought the part of Dominic Greene was poorly cast and despite having watched the movie several times, his henchman Elvis has made no impression on my memory at all, such that I had to look him up on the net to see who he was and even then I didn't recall seeing him. However, as you suggest, that might possibly have been addressed by a better script.

    I guess additional script development time might also have saved Rene Mathis from his dumpster fate, but probably not.

    Overall I think QoS was doomed to be a mediocre entry from the get go and they just used the writers srtike as a excuse for having messed up
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 14,310
    Well then
    • The film would have opened with the gunbarrel.
    • The boat chase in Haiti would have been longer, full length to Forster's spectacular vision. [But with no more footage explaining the boat flip than already exists.]
    • In a cameo appearance, when Bond carries Camille ashore Richard Branson is startled and falls off the pier into the water.
    • The filming location Cusco, Peru, would have been a thrilling highlight to rival any other Bond film.
    • Mr. Greene would suffer a few Kermit the Frog jokes.
    • Mr. Beam would be slapped then beaten up by a cleaning woman.
    • More product placement would appear on screen. Quantum Bottled Water. The Palio di Siena Maraschino Cherries. Fororro Motor Oil. Giancarlo Giannini would shamelessly hawk the Land Rover L320, promoting its "generous amount of cargo space" and "split tailgate dseign".
    • After the Russia finish for Yousef and meeting with M, Bond jets back to Austria for a happy ending with the beautiful Ocean Sky Receptionist.
    • Film closing credits would lose the noisy Bond theme. "Crawl, End Crawl" would transition into a classy end title song by Chrissy Hynde ("Like In the Movies").
    • End titles would promise "James Bond Will Return... In The Property of a Lady!" To be released Fall 2010.
  • Posts: 5,013
    007HallY wrote: »
    It’s a strange film. On the one hand the editing is awful, it has less style/flair than CR, and there’s a sense it could have been a fuller, more individualistic film.

    On the other hand I think some of the best aspects of its script came from having to make the film under a deadline. Truth is I have no idea how it would have turned out without the strike. But I suspect it’s a double edged sword.

    I mostly quite like the editing. Although i admit, it does work better with repeated viewings. I sometimes wish the film were longer, but then i also like the fact that it's lean and mean...

    It depends on the scene. It’s not quite as bad as many other mid 2000s action movies, but it’s not an easy film to watch. I also suspect certain scenes were rushed and not filmed as carefully as they could be (there’s a few times the 180 degree rule is broken, and not purposefully).
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,646
    I get that the editing was intentional, but was it borne out of a lack of footage? There are scenes where the camera crosses the line, etc. I wonder if Forster was simply in over his head.
  • Posts: 1,811
    I guess the movie would be longer and less action-packed.
  • Posts: 15,496
    I'm among the few who likes QOS, in spite of its flaws. I think if it had not been affected by the writer's strike the film would have been longer, with quieter moments. A more formidable henchman would have been added to Greene's crew, maybe to replace Elvis, but I'd like to think they'd have built on the model of Le Chiffre's team in CR: small group of villains under the leadership of a "unit commander" of sorts, with distinctive looks. The title would have been better tied in with the movie, with Mathis telling briefly the plot of the short story to Bond in one of the quiet moments. A bit like Alfred does in The Dark Knight. I'd also think the water plot would have been kept (for the record, I really like it), but more developed.
  • AnotherZorinStoogeAnotherZorinStooge Bramhall (Irish)
    Posts: 109
    I rather like Greene, Elvis and the bloke in the Hawaiian shirt. Well, I don't. All terrible in a terrible film but some quirks abound.

    Greene looks a lot like Polanski. More terrifying than Bardem's cackling ghoul. Elvis is Thomas Tuchel? His opera crying was so sweet. Think the 'piss off' TSWLM tie guy was in TWINE, too? He deserved to die. Only Timbo can tell you to p off (begging pardon of James Cossins from TMWTGG via future Q)

    Must get back to work...

  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,286
    echo wrote: »
    I get that the editing was intentional, but was it borne out of a lack of footage? There are scenes where the camera crosses the line, etc. I wonder if Forster was simply in over his head.

    I'm not sure where i read it, but i believe the camera 'crossing the line' was intentional. A strange director flourish, but each to their own.
  • Posts: 1,112
    To this day, I haven't got a Scooby what's going on when Bond gets outside the hotel and meets the girl. They get in a car, open this case, he says "someone wants you dead", then he's outside the car again and another bloke's there, who's a villain I suppose, on a motorbike. Bond gets on the bike, then it's off to somewhere else where something's going on with some other baddies, by the sea . . and whatever.
    All this comes after that chase where they've gone through the glass ceiling, and it looks like it all could be quite exciting if you could actually see what's going on!!!
    I think the writers strike would have helped me understand the plot a bit better. The editing would still have been a problem for me though.

    After Casino, it was a massive step-down for me, in terms of storytelling especially. I'd hope, that it might have made more sense if there'd been better writers.

    It is re-watchable though. But a good plot works mostly on the first viewing anyway. Once you're a few watches in, it's not about "oh, I wonder what happens next?" is it?
    It's more about "I like to watch this bit".
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    edited 2:26pm Posts: 4,286
    To this day, I haven't got a Scooby what's going on when Bond gets outside the hotel and meets the girl. They get in a car, open this case, he says "someone wants you dead", then he's outside the car again and another bloke's there, who's a villain I suppose, on a motorbike. Bond gets on the bike, then it's off to somewhere else where something's going on with some other baddies, by the sea . . and whatever.
    All this comes after that chase where they've gone through the glass ceiling, and it looks like it all could be quite exciting if you could actually see what's going on!!!
    I think the writers strike would have helped me understand the plot a bit better. The editing would still have been a problem for me though.

    After Casino, it was a massive step-down for me, in terms of storytelling especially. I'd hope, that it might have made more sense if there'd been better writers.

    It is re-watchable though. But a good plot works mostly on the first viewing anyway. Once you're a few watches in, it's not about "oh, I wonder what happens next?" is it?
    It's more about "I like to watch this bit".

    Wasn't Slate a hitman posing as a Geologist, who Camille thinks has evidence of Greene's nefarious activities in Bolivia..? The bloke on the bike i assume was there to witness the killing of her and perhaps assist in the getaway..?

    That's pretty much how i see it, although i could be making all the wrong assumptions..!
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