The biggest missed opportunities in the Bond franchise

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  • Posts: 3,333
    Benny wrote:
    I'd say not using Lewis Collins as a suitable replacement for Roger Moore.

    I second that. Lewis Collins would have been perfect for the early 80's Bond, especially FYEO which was written with a replacement Bond in mind when Moore kept stalling on his salary. A huge missed opportunity from Cubby.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    LeChiffre wrote:
    DB5 wrote:
    MR. I HATE that movie!!

    You have horribly bad taste.


    That's a little rich coming from someone who prefers Moore to Craig!

    and to prefer Moore instead of Craig is wrong and blasphemous ? so there's a new rule here stating that no-one can love Moore more than Craig ?
    Is there a rule here stating that you have bad taste if you don't like MR?
  • PrinceKamalKhanPrinceKamalKhan Monsoon Palace, Udaipur
    Posts: 3,262
    bondsum wrote:
    Benny wrote:
    I'd say not using Lewis Collins as a suitable replacement for Roger Moore.

    I second that. Lewis Collins would have been perfect for the early 80's Bond, especially FYEO which was written with a replacement Bond in mind when Moore kept stalling on his salary. A huge missed opportunity from Cubby.

    For those of us unfamiliar with Mr. Collins' acting work, do you have any film recommendations for us so we can judge and compare?

  • Posts: 12,837
    Getafix wrote:
    DarthDimi wrote:
    Henry Cavill in Casino Royale.

    And not have Craig? No sir. ;-)

    Ewan McGregor in CR.

    Campbell apparently wanted him and he's younger/looks younger than Craig so I think he'd be more suited for the rookie Bond. Craig could've taken over when Ewan was done if he wasn't too old by then.

    Not sure about that at all.

    Well he's a good actor, he looks the part and he looked younger than Craig. And Campbell apparently wanted him. That's enough to make me think that he could've done it.
  • Posts: 11,425
    Getafix wrote:
    DarthDimi wrote:
    Henry Cavill in Casino Royale.

    And not have Craig? No sir. ;-)

    Ewan McGregor in CR.

    Campbell apparently wanted him and he's younger/looks younger than Craig so I think he'd be more suited for the rookie Bond. Craig could've taken over when Ewan was done if he wasn't too old by then.

    Not sure about that at all.

    Well he's a good actor, he looks the part and he looked younger than Craig. And Campbell apparently wanted him. That's enough to make me think that he could've done it.

    I dont totally trust Cambells judgement.
  • Posts: 12,837
    Getafix wrote:
    Getafix wrote:
    DarthDimi wrote:
    Henry Cavill in Casino Royale.

    And not have Craig? No sir. ;-)

    Ewan McGregor in CR.

    Campbell apparently wanted him and he's younger/looks younger than Craig so I think he'd be more suited for the rookie Bond. Craig could've taken over when Ewan was done if he wasn't too old by then.

    Not sure about that at all.

    Well he's a good actor, he looks the part and he looked younger than Craig. And Campbell apparently wanted him. That's enough to make me think that he could've done it.

    I dont totally trust Cambells judgement.

    He made GE and CR, 2 of the most successful Bond films that are both in my top 10 (GE is even in my top 5), he seems to have a good idea about Bond, so I trust him.
  • Posts: 11,425
    GE sucks and CR is IMO a bit overrated.
  • Posts: 5,745
    Getafix wrote:
    GE sucks and CR is IMO a bit overrated.

    Do think that due to the directing, or the writing/acting/etc.?

    Because if its not the directing, then this is a pointless argument for you to make.
  • Posts: 267
    If I could change things about the series I'd do this:

    - In 1967 Connery should've done DAF as his final movie. Then let Lazenby do OHMSS and a true YOLT in 1971.
    -Moore's entire era should've had a bit more seriousness added in like his role as the Saint. Would've made OP his last as well.
    - I wish Dalton had done 5 films ('85, '87, '89, '91, '93).
    - Then Brosnan should've had better scripts and casts in TND-DAD and done a final movie in '04.
    - I would've made QoS longer, and add more character development and exposition. That film would've been much better if it'd been closer to 2 hours and simply slowed down a little bit.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited May 2012 Posts: 6,382
    bondboy007 wrote:
    If I could change things about the series I'd do this:

    - In 1967 Connery should've done DAF as his final movie. Then let Lazenby do OHMSS and a true YOLT in 1971.
    -Moore's entire era should've had a bit more seriousness added in like his role as the Saint. Would've made OP his last as well.
    - I wish Dalton had done 5 films ('85, '87, '89, '91, '93).
    - Then Brosnan should've had better scripts and casts in TND-DAD and done a final movie in '04.
    - I would've made QoS longer, and add more character development and exposition. That film would've been much better if it'd been closer to 2 hours and simply slowed down a little bit.

    All good points. Can you imagine if Moore went out on the ending of OP? He tarnished his own legacy with AVTAK.

    Brosnan definitely would have benefited from better scripts and casts (namely Michelle Yeoh (no chemistry), Denise Richards, Toby Stephens, Rick Yune, and Halle Berry). Brosnan can be good in a spy film: The Tailor of Panama proves this.
  • Posts: 3,333
    For those of us unfamiliar with Mr. Collins' acting work, do you have any film recommendations for us so we can judge and compare?

    He hasn't done a lot of film work so the pickings are pretty slim. He was mostly well known in the late 70s for a hugely popular British tv series called The Professionals. Much like the American's support of Brozza for Bond when he was stuck in TVs Remington Steel, a lot of Brits at the time felt (including Stanely Kubrick) that Lewis Collins would have made an excellent Bond. And some of us still view it as a missed opportunity.

    He did make a movie called Who Dares Wins in 1982 but I think his Bodie character in The Professsionals is the better thing to judge him by. You can find this on Youtube, Prince.

  • Posts: 1,548
    LeChiffre wrote:
    DB5 wrote:
    MR. I HATE that movie!!

    You have horribly bad taste.


    That's a little rich coming from someone who prefers Moore to Craig!

    and to prefer Moore instead of Craig is wrong and blasphemous ? so there's a new rule here stating that no-one can love Moore more than Craig ?


    Not at all. I was just responding to your unneccessary put-down of a fellow fan's quite valid opinion although personally dont mind MR, compared to DAF or VTAK anyway (apart from the Jaws Romance and double taking pidgeon!).
  • Posts: 172
    Biggest missed was not giving more screentime to JDB in TLD.

    He could easily have had a few more scenes and there is a fans idea over on CommanderBond. net i want to share here.

    Different Daylights.

    ■1) Defer the Blayden Hall snatch back of Koskov. Instead devote time to Koskov’s persuasion and convincing of SIS that Pushkin has to be taken out as intercut with 2 and 3 below.
    ■2) Cut to Whitaker’s Tangier base where we seem him in huge war chamber eavesdropping on CIA/KGB reaction to escalating spy war (Necros either onscreen or implicitly taking out spies).
    ■3) Cut to a global briefing to the NATO agents intercut with the same scene in the Soviet Union (in unsubtitled Russian) would have been an economically visual storytelling device. The machinations are given context displaying the way Smiert Spionam was affecting the intelligence apparatus, heightening the tension Koskov spoke of.
    ■5) Koskov disappears while under Bond’s protection. Bond should have had the fight in the kitchen, knocking out one of Necros’s helpers. When Bond declines to kill Pushkin, M throws this failure in his face. Plus Bond is at the centre of the best fight in the film.
    ■6) The reveal that Koskov is in league with Whitaker must be a dramatic moment.
    ■7) Koskov and Whitaker extolling their plan to raise funds in Afganistan to fund Necros’ wars of revolution in said huge war chamber in the villa with maps and tin soldiers in Africa, Asia and South America (providing a more dramatic setting for the eerie shoot out at the finale). If there’s one Bond villain who needed his own private army, Whitaker was the man. These guards should be swarming all over the villa, to be taken out by Bond at the end. These wars will be Whitaker’s wars, where he will finally play general with real soldiers and then be a powerful man in those spheres of influence. The money raised is the means to this global threat. This would streamline the need for introducing new elements later (the diamonds, the raw opium would be understood and have context) and could shorten the running time of this already overlong film. Admittedly, some of the mystery element would be lost but Koskov’s duplicity would provide the intrigue
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,382
    Biggest missed was not giving more screentime to JDB in TLD.

    He could easily have had a few more scenes and there is a fans idea over on CommanderBond. net i want to share here.

    Different Daylights.

    ■1) Defer the Blayden Hall snatch back of Koskov. Instead devote time to Koskov’s persuasion and convincing of SIS that Pushkin has to be taken out as intercut with 2 and 3 below.
    ■2) Cut to Whitaker’s Tangier base where we seem him in huge war chamber eavesdropping on CIA/KGB reaction to escalating spy war (Necros either onscreen or implicitly taking out spies).
    ■3) Cut to a global briefing to the NATO agents intercut with the same scene in the Soviet Union (in unsubtitled Russian) would have been an economically visual storytelling device. The machinations are given context displaying the way Smiert Spionam was affecting the intelligence apparatus, heightening the tension Koskov spoke of.
    ■5) Koskov disappears while under Bond’s protection. Bond should have had the fight in the kitchen, knocking out one of Necros’s helpers. When Bond declines to kill Pushkin, M throws this failure in his face. Plus Bond is at the centre of the best fight in the film.
    ■6) The reveal that Koskov is in league with Whitaker must be a dramatic moment.
    ■7) Koskov and Whitaker extolling their plan to raise funds in Afganistan to fund Necros’ wars of revolution in said huge war chamber in the villa with maps and tin soldiers in Africa, Asia and South America (providing a more dramatic setting for the eerie shoot out at the finale). If there’s one Bond villain who needed his own private army, Whitaker was the man. These guards should be swarming all over the villa, to be taken out by Bond at the end. These wars will be Whitaker’s wars, where he will finally play general with real soldiers and then be a powerful man in those spheres of influence. The money raised is the means to this global threat. This would streamline the need for introducing new elements later (the diamonds, the raw opium would be understood and have context) and could shorten the running time of this already overlong film. Admittedly, some of the mystery element would be lost but Koskov’s duplicity would provide the intrigue

    These are really great suggestions. I still wish they had gone ahead with the Gogol plan.
  • Posts: 1,985
    One big mistake i feel they made was making YOLT before OHMSS. That killed a great 2 part story with make those movies the order that they did. OHMSS should have been in 1967 with Connery and had the same plot os the original movie did and have YOLT in 1969 and follow the Books plot rather then the plot they made for the film in 1967. I feel if they had done those movies that way Connery would have stayed for a Bond film in 1969
  • Using Ralph Finnes as M instead of as Blofeld...
  • For me the single biggest missed opportunity in the franchise's history was not giving Brosnan a script/story like Casino Royale.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    Monica Bellucci and Salma Hayek not being cast as Bond girls.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited November 2012 Posts: 6,382
    Tossing the novels of MR, YOLT, and TMWTGG largely aside, although I suspect we will see these adapted some day.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    For me the single biggest missed opportunity in the franchise's history was not giving Brosnan a script/story like Casino Royale.

    Good shout. I think he had more in him to give as an actor. Visually I still maintain he's the closest to what I envisage when reading the novels (circa TND).
  • Brosnan needed a better exit Bond film than DAD. The missing Dalton Bond films in the early 90's.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Kate Winslet has STILL not been a Bond girl. [-X
  • * Lazenby in DAF
    * Dalton in FYEO and AVTAK (I can't see him on ''Octopusssy'' though)
    * Brosnan as Bond in 1987-1989 (Not that I dislike Dalton, but I do wonder...)
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    - A better introduction of Moore as the new Bond in LALD (Moneypenny and M turning up at his flat? Awful.)
    - Using the brainwashing plot line from MWTGG novel as a central premise in any of the films (think that opportunity has passed now that they've flirted with it in the openings of DAD and SF)
    - LALD unfortunately discarding two great sequences from the novel (keel haul sequence and shark attack - even though they were used in FEYO and LTK - if they'd been in LALD that film could have been much better.)
    - Putting OHMSS before YOLT and both having Lazenby.
    - The one opportunity they shouldn't miss but probably will - Blofeld for Bond 24!
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    edited November 2012 Posts: 16,359
    The biggest missed opportunity in the entire franchise was Firing Lee Tamahori, Purvis and Wade as soon as the entered EoN productions in 2001.
  • Posts: 161
    The entire Brosnan era.

    Yes! Yes! Yes!
    He lacked the class kick assery and sheer coolness of a Craig and Connery
  • Posts: 161
    Henry Cavill in Casino Royale.

    Over a more extremely talented actor in Craig. i think you know you're joking.
  • AliAli
    edited November 2012 Posts: 319
    Some will cringe, but I honestly think Dougray Scott should have had a shot at Bond. More so than Daniel Craig, even though Craig has grown on me. Scott is the closest thing to a modern day Connery for me. I can't imagine Lewis Collins though. His acting started and ended with looking good shooting a gun. As a kid, I loved The Professionals, but the acting was pretty dire.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    lahaine wrote:
    Henry Cavill in Casino Royale.

    Over a more extremely talented actor in Craig. i think you know you're joking.

    Would have been interesting to see a genuinely younger Bond though.
  • Yeah I liked Craig in CR but he was too old to play a rookie. Just another reason why CR shouldn't have been a reboot/origin story.
    Ali wrote:
    Some will cringe, but I honestly think Dougray Scott should have had a shot at Bond. More so than Daniel Craig, even though Craig has grown on me. Scott is the closest thing to a modern day Connery for me.

    He could've been a good Bond.

    The biggest missed opportunity is Dalton not getting at least a 3rd film. He was ahead of his time and even though I think he went out on a massive high with LTK (rare for Bond actors to get a great last film imo), he deserved more.
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