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The Most Obscure Areas of Bondology Needing Illumination?
What are the areas of the literary/cinematic/TV/radio/computer game/comic strip/role playing game etc. James Bond that you as James Bond fans would most like to see some articles written on. Your suggestions could help fuel some new The Bondologist Blog articles!
I'd really like to hear your views on where new ink needs to be spilt - is there any virgin territory anywhere. I try to uncover these darker recesses of the James Bond phenomenon on my The Bondologist Blog.
As always, I'd really love to hear your views on this one!
I AM the backwoodsman of AJB - with a special interest in the literary side of things!
I'd really like to hear your views on where new ink needs to be spilt - is there any virgin territory anywhere. I try to uncover these darker recesses of the James Bond phenomenon on my The Bondologist Blog.
As always, I'd really love to hear your views on this one!
I AM the backwoodsman of AJB - with a special interest in the literary side of things!
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Comments
It was a ground breaking Bond in many ways...the large scale sets, the Bond girl that was an equal to Bond and not a bimbo and, most importantly, it was the birth of the action packed pre credits teaser
I believe more plotpoints can be tied together with the information you are able to gather with your smartphone. In one of the levels I scanned something, and it said it had diamonds designed by Nicole Hunter
I'm not surprised it involves the intel. The only games I like reading files on are survival horror games (Resident Evil, Dead Space, Silent Hill).
Large scale sets...Goldfinger.
Bond girl equal to Bond but not a bimbo...also Goldfinger.
Action packed PTS...umm, Goldfinger?
Haha I love your GF arguments @doubleonothing but heartily disagree
Large scale sets: Yea maybe...I think YOLT would have been a bigger example. Let's not forget the 007 sound stage is TSWLM legacy. Both Stromburgs tanker and Atlantis were big and unequalled in Bond films to that point.
Bond girl equal to Bond but not a bimbo: I used to agree with you! But I don't think Pussy Galore is ony Bond's level. She is weak, she still immediately goes weak at the knees when Bond clicks his finger. Major Amasova is a Russian Bond, his equal. Tough and resourceful, for the first time, she uses Bond to get what she's wants, always in control, spurning 2 advances.
Action packed PTS: Goldfinger is a good PTS...but only looking at Bonds before TSWLM. TSWLM was the first to pack action and stunts. Every film since then (upto CR at least but that's a reboot) has gone for the action sequence. This is obviously seen in TWINE. If TSWLM hadn't happened, the theme song would have rolled once he had escaped the swiss bankers office in Bilbao, having had a fight of sorts. Instead, the producers knew this would be unacceptable and added the boat chase scene. TSWLM's PTS was groundbreaking and every Bond film since has trid to better it.
When she only made that choice because she wanted to have sex with Sean Connery, yes.
Bond didn't persuade her with some inspiring speech about good and evil, he just flirted with her in a barn.
Completely agree and is the basis for the majority of future Bond girls to have something about them than the damsel in distress aspect seen in all the movies previous to TSWLM
It is a slick package right enough but to label it groundbreaking is somewhat ridiculous as it ticks off most Bond cliches one after the other. About the only thing missing is the villain stroking a cat and that wouldve been there too if Mcclorys lawyers hadnt interceded.
The only thing that is perhaps a novelty is having a Bond girl who is Bonds 'equal' and even then on the train and the entire final reel she is the damsel in distress who needs Bond to rescue her so I'm not really buying the whole Bonds equal schtick.
A reimagining of YOLT it may be but TSWLM was a turning point in the franchise: the start of "Cold War Bond", the fact that the PTS was the first of it's kind filled with action and stunts. As for Amasova, she was Bond's equal, the Russian's best agent. On the train, she at first rejected Bond's advances and though she did succumb after the fight with Jaws, she wasn't really a damsel in distress. Yes Bond saved her but it was more a ploy by the script writers to get Bond to kill Stromberg/destroy Atlantis
With regards to the thread, I'm just saying it would be interesting to explore TSWLM as a game changer in the series direction with the elements I have discussed.
That's all you got out of it? Really? I find Pussy growing with admiration for Bond and what he is trying to do.
I read a lot of your posts @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 on here and I am impressed by alot of what you say and agree a lot with what you say but I'm afraid on this, I'm with @thelivingroyale and agree with them about Pussy Galore. I also think she was just seduced. Nothing to do with saving the world or that. To be honest, we never see a scene where Bond tries to persuade her. It's tricky but I do think she is weak compared to other Bond girls such as Amasova
I don't see that, because outside of the barn scene we never really see Bond try to persuade her.
I don't think she's a weak Bond girl but I do think it's kind of stupid how this tough female pilot is easily seduced into turning on her boss.
Well FRWL covered Cold War intrigue and YOLT is pretty much the Cuban missile crisis so saying TSWLM was revolutionary is factually incorrect.
GF, TB, OHMSS and DAF all had action orientated PTS's so that wasn't new. OK TSWLM started the trend of the big stunt PTS but this was merely a natural escalation as the audience expected bigger and more spectacular.
Not sure how being unconcious with Jaws about to tear into your throat or tied to a couch as Atlantis blows up around you doesn't count as being in distress so we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.
The one area you do raise that it might be interesting to discuss is the 'Bond girl as Bonds equal' legacy which was started in TSWLM and has blighted the series ever since.
The Bond films from TSWLM through to and including TLD were all Cold War based to an extent (with MR being the exception). YOLT and FRWL, whilst having small elements of Cold War features avoided the politics of the era due to wanting Bond to be apolitical.
GF, OHMSS and DAF had fights...hardly the big stunt action set pieces i'm alleging TSWLM to have started. TB yes did buck the trend slightly but not sufficiently enough to make YOLT an action set piece in the PTS.
So Amasova being tied up at the END of the film makes her weak? She had been tough and resourceful throughout the whole film up to that point she was captured.
Fair enough mates. The next time I pop her in I'll have to examine that and give my thoughts.
Look, I have to be honest, but to me, TSWLM is a child's Bond film. I was 7 when it came out. It is a remake of YOLT and the villain in TSWLM could have fitted in Austin Powers. I mean when Bond shoots him, it is pantomime.
Women in TSWLM are decorative unless you expect helicopter pilots to wear bikinis with their boobs almost falling out.
For me TSWLM is a step in the juvenilisation of the Bond franchise. The Connery era had an adult feel even when it sends itself up like in DAF.
And yes the PTS is an excellent stunt, but that yellow jump suit Roger is wearing is beyond belief uncool. And yes the British flag opening up too is amusing but how can you take it seriously afterwards? Yeeeeeeeeeeah Baby!!!! :)
FRWL is Bond for Men. TSWLM is Bond for boys. I was a boy once. :)
I love TSWLM. I think Tracy in OHMSS was equal to Bond in spirit, courage, and was a strong character indeed. Anya in TSWLM was Bond's equal professionally, or close to it (as Bond is the best, we know) and was a strong, committed, and loyal character. There is no comparison to Jinx or Christmas or Stacey.
But the earlier Bond women were not as strong (Melina in FYEO is also strong but that is later). So we have Tracy, who unfortunately is killed, leaving this film on a very sad note indeed. What a downer to go out of the theatre on. Well, Honor's Pussy was strong but not as big as impact as Anya. So we have TSWLM, upbeat, fun, exciting, and nicely balanced (unlike Moonraker, which came next), with a strong and appealing main Bond girl.
FRWL remains my #1 film, but not singled out for strong Bond women. TSWLM is #2 on my list for a lot of reasons. Overall, since we are talking about strong Bond women in the Connery/Moore era, for PTS action, blending of humor and action, and great locations, TSWLM comes out on top. Many women in Bond films are decorative; in TSWLM they aren't.
I do think TSWLM was a change in the series, and a good one.
We were all boys or girls once. TSWLM didn't take itself too seriously but that could be said about most Moore Bond movies. Enjoy them, they're good fun, we can allow ourselves to be big kids from time to time.
Sure Bond films have been decorative with women. That's fine too. But I do not see TSWLM as revolutionary when it comes to women in Bond. A feminist is going to see it way different. On paper, Anya is Bond's equal. But when you see it on screen it does not add up. A pretty face with no believability.
TSWLM is spoofy and as a laugh it is entertaining. But it makes such a mockery of the Bond character and lore that it is a "Carry On Bond" movie. The Lawrence Of Arabia spoof is just one example. I do not think Fleming would have been happy with the direction.
When Bond throws the fish out of the car after the underwater scene, it tells you in no uncertain terms that Bond is more a comedian than a spy. That's fine but this approach years later made it hard for the franchise to introduce tougher elements as the audience were so used to camp Bond.
The Moore era unfortunately made the immediate successor true gritty Bond wrongly be seen as the imposter. Bond is a hard boiled character and the comic book writer Frank Miller wisely said the more you mock the source the more you lose the character and credibility.
As for Moonraker. It is so similar to TSWLM that I see them as closely related. How can I applaud TSWLM and then criticise Moonraker for campness? They are closely matched in my view.
But I appreciate that there are many who love Moore's take the most and I won't deny it was successful for the masses.
Also, failing a collectors edition disc of QoS- I would like to know more on what went wrong here. I pretty much bypassed the making of this film and have rarely watched it but after seeing the Youtube press conference the other day, it intrigues me when I compare Mendes to Forster as the later doesn't seem to know what the hell is going on! I don't know if its a language issue but he comes across as if he's taken it on at the last minute and done no pre-production at all. Also are there more deleted scenes? I get the impression not a great deal more exists. He didn't like CR's runtime stating he wanted QoS to be "tight and fast ... like a bullet"
I'd like read more insight into this.
True. I was going to say that. Diana Rigg was intellectually and emotionally Bond's equal. A great relationship and she is a wonderful actress. Now she could have pulled off the Bond's professional equal with her talent.
Couldn't have said it better. In my opinion, Honor Blackman started it all, but it wasn't as significative as Diana's character. Anya just made the woman's role even more remarkable but she was already in the late 70s... Still, it was really well written and she was such a strong character (even though Barbara's acting was so poor).