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What makes Bond different than any other good Action/Spy character?

chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
edited January 2013 in General Discussion Posts: 17,800
In YOUR opinion, what makes Bond a better or more interesting character for you than, say, a Jack Ryan or Smiley or even Flint?
What makes experiencing Bond movies or books absolutely unique to you?
I mean, there are plenty of other secret agent-type characters to choose from. Lots of other anti-hero heroes.
Why do you keep watching/reading this dude's adventures?

What makes a Bond films/novels so special to ME is an absurdity threaded throughout the seriousness.
A perfect example is when Bond unfolds the note left on Felix in LTK. Is it funny? No. Is it entirely serious? No. It's in that zone that was something unique to Fleming. It is what makes Bond Bond and not Ryan or Bourne.
It is a singular wit that others have copied with varying levels of success, but belongs to BOND IMO.

What is it for you?

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Comments

  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    I put forth for consideration a nice preface to this thread title:

    Nobody Does it Better

    B-)
  • lahainelahaine
    edited January 2013 Posts: 161
    0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 wrote:
    I put forth for consideration a nice preface to this thread title:

    Nobody Does it Better

    B-)

    If Connery Dalton and Craig in the role of Bond. Its simply just Bond never gives up which what makes him special and his loyalty even though his bosses sometimes leave him for dead never wavers.

  • ElliotCarverElliotCarver
    Posts: 249
    I'm going to say something controversial here. It's not Bond himself that I enjoy. It's the movies, and the supporting cast. Yes, Bond is vastly different depending on which actor who plays him, but I just often don't think he's that interesting of a character. Notice that I say interesting, I don't mean he isn't a good character.

    So what I'm saying is basically, I don't go into a Bond movie thinking "Ooh, I wonder how Bond is going be played this time and what he's going to be going through", I go into it thinking "I wonder how the villain is like and what his plot is and what stunts are going to happen and how the Bond girl is."
  • Matt007Matt007
    Posts: 1,314
    For me it's two things.

    Firstly he is British.
    Secondly he is a gentleman and connoisseur.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,800
    ElliotCarver wrote:
    "I wonder how the villain is like and what his plot is and what stunts are going to happen and how the Bond girl is."
    So, what makes that substantively different than going into a Mission Impossible film- "I wonder how the villain is like and what his plot is and what stunts are going to happen and how the Hunt girl is." ?
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    To put it simply, the Tennyson scene in Skyfall is exactly why I keep coming to Bond.

    No matter what, no matter how much he is shot at, punched, kicked, betrayed, spit on, degraded, teased, overworked, exhausted, weak, or beaten, he will always continue on, no matter the cost to himself to serve his country, his Queen and his boss. The Tennyson scene is the perfect exemplification of all Bond is with both the wonderfully fitting text from Ulysses and also the stunning visuals of Bond racing with everything he has to save M.

    He makes me so proud. :((
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    Posts: 12,837
    Hot girls, brilliant cars, amazing stunt work, OTT villians and henchmen, the gadgets, the exotic locations, the amazing variety in the films, etc.

    Other franchises have these things too but Bond was the first, it set the standard and no other action movie, wether it's Jack Ryan or Die Hard or Jason Bourne or Batman or anybody, has ever done it better.
  • TriggerTrigger
    Posts: 183
    Other characters may rip open the back of a train with a digger, climb along the digger and jump down into the back of the train, but ONLY Bond would then check a cufflink! One of many reasons I love the character!
  • ElliotCarverElliotCarver
    Posts: 249
    chrisisall wrote:
    ElliotCarver wrote:
    "I wonder how the villain is like and what his plot is and what stunts are going to happen and how the Bond girl is."
    So, what makes that substantively different than going into a Mission Impossible film- "I wonder how the villain is like and what his plot is and what stunts are going to happen and how the Hunt girl is." ?

    It's not different actually. It's just that the quality of the Bond films are higher than that of the Mission Impossible films. So I enjoy them more.
  • YtterbiumYtterbium
    edited January 2013 Posts: 269
    As an action character, I like Bond, because contrary to other hero, he does not have to prove that he is the main character worthy of interest. From Dr. No onward, we all know that he's the best coolest hero ever, so the movies doesn't need these slow motion / hero sequence which usually bores me to death. The fact that he is a spy, saving the planet on a daily basis as a job also involves that he does not have to act like an anti-hero, or someone who needs recognition from the planet. He's just a hero saving the planet with cool adventures and a cool personality which changes over time, and that I like to follow.

    As a spy, I like James Bond, because he's the least secret of spies. Everything he should be supposed to do as a spy (stay low, live in shadows in cheap hotel, etc) he does not, and he never takes himself too seriously, which is nice compared to other heros.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,800
    Ytterbium wrote:
    Everything he should be supposed to do as a spy (stay low, live in shadows in cheap hotel, etc) he does not, and he never takes himself too seriously, which is nice compared to other heros.
    So, the 'absurdity factor' is important to you, then! Good show!
  • MrBondMrBond Station S
    edited January 2013 Posts: 2,044
    Bond as a character is just simply brillaint. He's got the panaché, the impeccable class and charm but he is still a dark and complex man which make it so interesting to watch. Bond can change from film to film but still have some of the basic elements still there.

    And then it's the whole experience, with the girls, the locations, the action, the music, the villains, the allies etc that makes Bond superior to all the competition!
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,800
    MrBond wrote:
    Bond can change from film to film but still have some of the basic elements still there.
    This, I believe, is another unique feature of the (cinematic) Bond that nearly no other franchise can boast- and part of what keeps us, the audience, off balance enough to find fascinating! Even the differences within an actor's tenure can be startling.
  • RogueAgentRogueAgent
    Posts: 12,526
    Purely and simply he is the mainstream original that all the others compete against! And with now having run over 50 years? We can't all be wrong! :D
  • TuuliaTuulia
    edited January 2013 Posts: 2,081
    Trigger wrote:
    Other characters may rip open the back of a train with a digger, climb along the digger and jump down into the back of the train, but ONLY Bond would then check a cufflink! One of many reasons I love the character!

    That's a great example. I loved that, too, and it's just so Bond.
    Excellent thinking from Mr. Craig there. (And Mr. Mendes, being a Bond fan, too, naturally liked it and kept it in.)

  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Tuulia wrote:
    Trigger wrote:
    Other characters may rip open the back of a train with a digger, climb along the digger and jump down into the back of the train, but ONLY Bond would then check a cufflink! One of many reasons I love the character!

    That's a great example. I loved that, too, and it's just so Bond.
    Excellent thinking from Mr. Craig there. (And Mr. Mendes, being a Bond fan, too, naturally liked it and kept it in.)

    Did Dan say it was his idea?
  • TuuliaTuulia
    Posts: 2,081
    Not that I've heard, but Sam Mendes did.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Tuulia wrote:
    Not that I've heard, but Sam Mendes did.

    Oh boy, please let there be a commentary with Dan and Sam on the Skyfall disc! [-O<
  • TuuliaTuulia
    edited January 2013 Posts: 2,081
    0Brady, I was sure it was in one of two long Sam Mendes interviews I watched some weeks ago. It was not in the first one I checked, but I didn't mind re-watching it, it's a great interview, and I really, really recommend it if you haven't seen it. This one:


    Ok, since the bit I was specifically looking for wasn't there it had to be in the other one, and it was, here, at 15.30:
    http://www.metacafe.com/watch/9339311/meet_the_filmmaker_sam_mendes/

    :)
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Wow, thanks @Tuulia! I will have to give those a watch ASAP!
  • Jason19Jason19
    Posts: 90
    Everything Mr.Bond says in his Jan.8 post is true but only for the first seven films . What is palmed off as Bond today is the same noisy crap as Die Hard and all the other action film rubbish on the market.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Jason19 wrote:
    Everything Mr.Bond says in his Jan.8 post is true but only for the first seven films . What is palmed off as Bond today is the same noisy crap as Die Hard and all the other action film rubbish on the market.
    How so, oh Master?
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    edited January 2013 Posts: 17,800
    Jason19 wrote:
    What is palmed off as Bond today is the same noisy crap as Die Hard and all the other action film rubbish on the market.

    There are elements that are similar, general pace, fast edits, extended physical confrontations, but Bond movies still retain that certain something that sets them apart, even if it is a bit diluted after all these years.
  • TriggerTrigger
    Posts: 183
    Tuulia wrote:
    Not that I've heard, but Sam Mendes did.

    Did not know it was Daniel Craig who suggested that, very interesting! I also love the bit in the Skyfall PTS when Bond drives into the bridge with the motorcycle to get on the train before its gone. Although something like that is not something you would only see in a Bond movie, I still thought when i saw it "that's very Bond"!
  • TuuliaTuulia
    edited January 2013 Posts: 2,081
    Trigger wrote:
    Tuulia wrote:
    Not that I've heard, but Sam Mendes did.

    Did not know it was Daniel Craig who suggested that, very interesting! I also love the bit in the Skyfall PTS when Bond drives into the bridge with the motorcycle to get on the train before its gone. Although something like that is not something you would only see in a Bond movie, I still thought when i saw it "that's very Bond"!

    From what Sam says in the interview above it doesn't sound like Daniel suggested it, rather, he just did it to find out what Sam thought of it... though in a way that was a suggestion, too, I guess, just not a verbal one. ;) I'm not surprised Sam liked what he saw.

  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 14,582
    I'm quite pleased to learn it was Dan who came up with the cuff check, much like Pierce's idea to straighten his tie underwater- albeit less tongue in cheek.
  • ShirleyBrassyShirleyBrassy
    Posts: 8
    There is a rhythm to Bond films which I think sets them apart from other spy franchises. There is a sense of tradition and clarity of purpose/idea that is absent from Bourne (which I like) and even TTSS (which is also exceptional). Bond can be incredibly forward looking while also being very traditional. I find that appealing.
  • TuuliaTuulia
    edited January 2013 Posts: 2,081
    Another bit about the cuff fixing, since many seemed to be unaware of it coming from Daniel... I just came across another Mendes interview where he talks about it more. It's not new, but maybe it wasn't posted here at the time. I hadn't seen it before myself, there was too much material to read everything... This is what he says:

    You have the moment where Bond adjusts his cuff. Where did that come from?

    That’s Daniel. He didn’t tell me he was going to do that. I loved it, because I was sitting there like this [mimes clapping and cheering] because it’s a great moment. He was jumping off a digger arm. All I was thinking was, “Just land.” You know what I mean? I wasn’t thinking about the cuffs. I was just like, “Just land and don’t fall off the back.” Because, yeah, he’s on a safety wire, but the wire’s narrower than your biro. But he’s just, “It’s fine, it’s fine.”

    And he’s jumping off a digger arm, it’s 15 feet up and the train’s moving. It’s making a loud noise, you’re in the carriage with a monitor screen and it’s dusty and hot and all that, and he jumps. And to have the courage to do it – which is Daniel all over, courage slash madness to do it – and to have the canniness to know that, at this point, maybe Sam would like it if I did the [adjusts cuff].

    Why did you love it? What’s your reading of it?

    What I loved about it was that I felt there was a little bit – and by the way, we debated it, and we got a take of him not doing it – of the old-style pride and the élan and the chutzpah of Bond. The style of the man. What I like, when Daniel does it – and you can’t print this – is there’s a real “fuck you” about it. And I love that about what Daniel does.

    It’s not self-conscious. It’s something fuelled by a bit of anger. So you get both things. You get a real action hero, and you get a man with a sense of style and poise. That’s Bond. You have to find those moments that are quintessential Bond, and it’s not easy to find them. There’s a moment in the Komodo fight, and Daniel again went for a little idea – he points like this, and even when he’s turned upside down, he’s still staring at it.

    Part of the movie’s channelling your 13-year-old self, and that’s who it’s for – it’s not just for you and me, it’s for my 13-year-old son and his mates. And so you’re talking to both sets of audiences, really.


    The whole interview (it's a good one):
    http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/23157/sam-mendes-interview-directing-skyfall-stunts-cinematography

    "courage slash madness" :P
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,123
    If I could sum it up in one line I would say it is that Bond is not a puritan. That's what puts him above pretty much all action heroes.
  • TriggerTrigger
    Posts: 183
    Just fantastic Tuulia, thanks for all that info! There really is a "fuck you" about the way he does it!
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