It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
1. No connections between Bond and Oberhauser.
2. No connection between Spectre and Quantum. Instead, Spectre has risen from the ashes of Quantum, and Mr. White has been on the run ever since. He knows too much and Spectre believes he is a risk. That's why they want to kill him.
3. No air bag. (One of the most ill-timed, ill-advised gags I have ever seen in a Bond film)
4. Somehow fix the security camera plot device in White's lodge. As is, it truly makes both men (especially Bond) seem very stupid. There's no way Bond would leave without destroying the discs...or maybe the entire place. Or, if that won't work, White needs to add in his little speech about "he's everywhere" to include the cameras in the house. Thus, destroying discs is pointless and Bond needs to hurry.
5. Clarity on why Hinx is trying to kill Bond (and/or Madeleine) on the train when Blofeld apparently wants (and has planned for) their arrival at the crater.
6. A more realistic torture scene.
7. Two or three scenes (perhaps one at MI6 headquarters) buffering the escape from the lair and Madeleine being placed in the safe house.
8. The whole London finale needs revision. I think it starts with how Madeleine and the safe house are handled. Let's try this: Madeleine stays at the safe house with two agents. Bond leaves with Tanner and Moneypenny. As they cross a street, there are rats in the gutter. Tanner says, "Damn rats. They're everywhere." Bond has a moment of clarity. He quickly turns and runs back to the safehouse...by then, Madeleine is gone, the agents are dead. One of them has his eyes gouged out. HINX!
9. Get rid of the pictures of people from Bond's past.
10. After saving Madeleine, Bond has one more, final encounter with Hinx. Perhaps have the helicopter fight moved here, from the PTS (?)
If I could choose just one thing to change, it would be #8. There is no way Bond would let Madeleine walk away, late at night, through the streets of London. It's absurd.
That should go in the question thread I think.
However I think that they rushed Blofeld into Bond's world. I much rather would've had an introduction to SPECTRE as an organisation and a taste of it's power, with only a cat-stroking mastermind lurking in the background of one scene. The build-up of SPECTRE in the 60's was intriguing. This time around it was done quite bluntly.
I don't entirely mind Silva being linked; Just have Spectre provide Silva with logistics and weaponry and set him lose.
I liked the meteorite scene. It says something about Blofeld's megalomania rather than do something for the plot. Like the magnifying glass in DN come to think of it.
They really should have just announced that Waltz was Blofeld from the beginning. It would have generated more hype for the film and the "surprise reveal of a classic villain" trope is in everything these days and it never works. I really can't believe that an evil step brother got past the first brainstorm - this is James Bond, not Hollyoaks.
Other than that, the action scenes desperately needed some work. The car chase and the crater escape are an embarrassment. Both are devoid of any tension or excitement whatsoever. I do wonder if Mendes just didn't have his heart in it - the bike chase and inquiry shoot out in SF were pretty well done, did he forget his brain medicine this time around?
And Madeleine tied up next to some explosives? That's your finale? F**k off.
- The motivation of Blofeld is rather pathetic: "he pushed my daddy away from me".
- Bond trying to rescue Madeleine by flying the plane below the tree tops. Take a look at his surprise when the wings break of. Didn't see that coming? Really?
- Why is it, during the torture scene, that the second drilling has no effect? Love conquers all? Just didn't hit the right nerve?
- I agree with an earlier comment: the torture scene seems to have done him a world of good. Apparently quite invigorating.
- Bond is leaving loose ends behind: after the major explosion that destroys Blofeld's headquarters, you clearly see a couple of cars leaving the scene. Why does Bond let Blofeld get away? Normally, a helicopter is the perfect weapon for that man to get his man.
- Christopher Waltz doesn't convince me: I find his Blofeld a tad childish.
Regarding Blofeld's motivation, it completely makes sense, IMO. The whole daddy loved you more than me just highlights his level of insanity.
More than a tad, I'd say.
I agree with everything you've said, with the exception of the first point. The film is all over the place, but I find myself so bored with it that I had no problem catching my breath (never lost it in the first place).
Can't argue with a word of that. Very well said.
I'd add that the Blofeld name reveal isn't helped by Bond's two inane lines either side of it.
'Do you know any other bird calls Franz?' with a little chuckle to himself.
What? Unless when they were kids Franz's party trick was mimicking bird sounds of the Tirol while Bond was off skiing with Hannes where does this come from? Just because he said 'cuckoo'? But then Bond chuckles like it's hilarious. Perhaps the drilling hit his one liner nerve? It's clearly only a feeder line where Bond utters his name so he can say 'No I'm Blofeld'. You note it's conveniently the first time Bond calls him 'Franz'. It wouldn't have had the 'dramatic' impact if Bond had said 'Hello Franz' the moment he saw him and he had responded 'Actually the names Ernst Stavro Blofeld these days. Do you like my meteorite?'
And then 'catchy name'. Not much else Bond can say here as it has zero relevance to him at all. Blofeld might just as well have said 'My name's Barry Jizzpants'. It's practically 4th wall breaking by having a character say something utterly meaningless to all the other characters and that only the audience can understand the significance of and expect those characters to react to it.
Again I agree.
Particularly the plane sequence. What is Bond's thinking here? '
'I know how best to rescue the girl. Instead of just tailing them I'll deliberately crash my plane into the cars then through blind luck in an out of control vehicle I'll ram into the car with her in it knocking out the villains but leaving her and myself unscathed. What could possibly go wrong?'
And given this strategy is such a success you wonder why when the cars are driving off from the crater he doesn't say to Madeline 'Hang on I've got an idea here'.
Perhaps the drilling affected his memory so he forgets everything from the point where he meets Q in the clinic? So although he can remember Madeline he can't remember anything after that including his brilliant new 'crashing a flying vehicle into cars' ruse. Although he must be a tad confused why that woman who just told to leave or she'd call security is now kissing him.
No I don't think you are. They just needed Bond to feed him a line ending in 'Franz' so he could say 'It's Blofeld now' for the big reveal.
Unless anyone else has any other credible theories I'm happy to just put it down as sloppy script writing.
Well unless I'm missing something too. Anyone?
Maybe in an earlier draft there's a thing where they reminisce about passing the long winter evenings doing impressions? Franz was a dab hand at owl tweeting but Bond's Bruce Forsythe was unsurpassed. That's where part of his resentment stems from; Hannes rolling about on the floor when Bond said 'Nice to see you, to see you nice' but only mustering a weak smile at Franz's accurate mimicking of a green crested cockatiel.
Have the Nine Eyes established at the very beginning of the movie, and play it from there, so...
First Act
1) Day of the Dead Festival happens as normal. Bond nicks the ring.
2) Bond is berated by M - 'You were supposed to retrieve the intel and terminate him quietly'. Informed of the new 'Nine Eyes' initiative - been live for a few weeks. Soft launch to 'Iron out the Bugs'- full launch in 3 weeks.
3) Next day, visits Q, gets given gadgets. Informed by M of new 'Nine Eyes' data - an attack is imminent in Cape Town - terrorist chatter.
4) Goes to Cape Town. Big action sequence. Bond identifies Target - Mr Hinx - chase results in Hinx escaping. However, mission ends in failure - a large scale terrorist attack happens.
5) Back in London - MI6 berated by 'C', blames poor agents and actions of MI6. Bond and M not so sure. Q uncovers potential surveillance tampering in the Nine Eyes data - code references to 'Spectre' etc.
Second Act
6) Bond, linking the ring, goes off to Rome as per the film. Meets up with Lucia and goes off to the meeting. Infiltrates - same as the film. Discussion of Spectre activities and attack in Rome - achieved through Nine Eyes initiative. Mentions 'The Grand Plan' one simultaneous attack on all Nine Eyes Countries and their capital - on behalf of a foreign superpower. Attack co-ordinated through Nine Eyes programme - Spectre completely untraceable. Blofeld is not seen directly - he is bandaged up an on a drip - meeting lead by Franz Oberhauser (different character all together - here Oberhauser is a minor character).
7) Hinx sees Bond in meeting. Car chase ensues (though is more exciting). Results in cars getting smashed up - Bond and Hinx have epic fight on the side of the road. Bond kills Hinx in some cool way - but takes his ring - but has he really killed him?
8) Bond returns to Lucia's villa. They have a discussion. She mentions her husband was to complete one last job - terminating Mr White. Hands Bond the details.
9) Bond goes to Austria as per the film. Meets Mr White and Madeliene Swann there. Plays the same as the movie. Spectre goons show up. Small, compact ski chase.
10) Meets M and Q at bar in Austria. Strange occurrences within Nine Eyes. Bond tells them everything he has discovered. Nine Eyes launches tomorrow - all the world leaders invited to 'CNS' building in London where the core mainframe is.
11) Bond and Madeline travel back on a place. Talks about her father, childhood, etc which is in the current film. They get to know each other. Bond discusses his childhood (very briefly).
Third Act
12) Happens the same as the movie. Meet up at Hidebrand - get going - Bond and Madeliene in car get smashed up and kidnapped. M, Q, Moneypenny and Tanner continue onto CNS. C is holding a party - all Nine Eyes leaders are there for the launch.
13) Bond comes around - computer control room same as the Moroccan one in the movie. Sees Madeliene being shown the computer banks by a man with a white cat. Still bandaged. Bond gets up. Armed guards everywhere. The bandaged man explains the plan - Spectre to bomb all capital cities on an hourly basis - London is first. Nine Eyes programme used to co-ordinate this - means countries wont know its coming. Spectre leaving evidence in 9Eyes to suggest it was member countries targeting each other - leading to a new global war. Mentions very rich billionaire far east powers at play. The 9 Eyes leaders will have a front row view. Walks away - Bond says 'I didn't catch your name'... response is 'Ernst' and walks away.
14) Bond and Madeliene lead away to cells by Hinx - Bond fiddles with his watch - which is taken from him by Hinx. Exploded. Scars Hinx badly - gives Bond and Madeliene enough time to escape. Work their way to ground level. Alarms going off everywhere. Lead out onto Helicopter pad - takes off for CNS building. Hinx grabs on.
15) Back at CNS - M and Q etc, arrive. Force their way in but stop as 'C' gives a big speech. Has big 'go live' button in front of him' Intercut with -
16) Helicopter approaches CNS building. Hinx and Bond fighting. Bond looks like a gonner but Madeliene delivers fatal blow. Hinx falls - dies. Bond jumps from helicopter to CNS party level. Runs in. C about to press button when suddenly - Bond shoots C. Madeliene lands helicopter and joins him. Q begins 9Eyes removal. Bond and Madeliene leave.
Epilogue
Bond and Madeliene are at his flat relaxing on the sofa watching TV. The picture flickers and breaks up - its been taken over. Ernst is now on the TV. 'This isn't the end, Mr Bond... Our organisation is vast and our resources deep. Oh, and my name, Mr Bond, is Ernst Stavro Blofeld'.
Cut to Black. End.
For something I literally made up as I went along, not too bad...
Well, I've pretty much covered the madness of the literary Blofeld here on my blog:
http://thebondologistblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/the-madness-of-king-ernst-i-in-ian.html
Enjoy!
PTS
Redo the music (aside from Los Muertos Vivos Estan). Cut the collapsing building. Keep everything else.
London
The current M had asked Bond to kill Sciarra quietly, so he reprimands Bond, until he produces the ring. M does not ground Bond, but accepts the ring and assigns him the mission of uncovering this organisation. Bond exits and meets Moneypenny in the antechamber like in the old continuity, asking her to look up the Pale King. C does not exist.
The next day Bond is led to Q's workshop by Tanner on the boat. He is equipped with the fancy car and maybe one reasonable gadget (not an exploding watch, which directly conflicts with what Q said one movie ago about not going in for exploding pens). Bond is going to Rome to attend the funeral, hopeful for a lead. Q returns the ring to Bond.
Rome
As normal till the meeting. He does not recognise 'Oberhauser,' there is no such character. Bond escapes and is pursued by Hinx in a car chase that's maybe less jokey and rougher and more intense. Bond receives a call from Moneypenny only after the chase, who tells Bond that the Pale King is Mr. White.
Austria
Bond meets White, who explains that Quantum collapsed soon after Bond foiled their plot in Bolivia. One of its senior members, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, took control over what was left, and radicalised people across the globe to join a new organisation that was a 'ghost' of Quantum - Spectre. White is in hiding because he has critical information that could compromise Spectre. White tells Bond where to find Madeleine and shoots himself.
Bond meets Madeleine and after she tells him to leave, he sees Hinx and his men coming. Bond tells her she has to go with him, and she makes a split-second decision to trust him. They escape from Hinx in a car. Hinx, seeing no other option, commandeers a plane. Hence, the roles are reversed and hopefully this makes a little more sense, since Hinx is trying to kill Bond, in the actual movie, Bond was trying to save Madeleine which didn't make sense because he was endangering her. In the end, Hinx crashes the plane into Bond's car and they tumble down a short slope. Bond is unscathed but Madeleine has a large gash on her arm and blames Bond. The next scene is quiet and emotional; Bond helps to bandage her and she talks to him of Spectre and L'Americain.
Tangier
Mostly the same up until they meet Blofeld. No torture scene, instead, a dinner scene where Blofeld explains his plan of Nine Eyes. Blofeld explains that attacks have been planned in various spots around the globe like in the PTS, therefore much like the film. Blofeld tells Bond that he wants revenge against him for interfering in CR and ruining them in QOS. As Nine Eyes is about to go online, Bond and Madeleine escape and in a massive shootout they stop it from going online. Blofeld escapes safely with his cat, but has a scar. This really is the climax of the film and hence the end, but I came up with an alternate way to write the London sequence as well which could add on easily.
London
Tanner is driving Bond to the safe house where Madeleine is. When he gets there, she's gone and a man is dead with his eyes gouged out. Bond is suddenly jumped by Hinx and rendered unconscious. Taken to Mi6. Cut the Bond posters and pictures of Le Chiffre and M etc. Bond meets a vengeful Blofeld who turns on the light in the back of the room to reveal Madeleine tied to an explosive, then switches on the timer and flees. Hinx appears to stall Bond. Bond kills him and breaks past the glass, frees Madeleine, then gets into the boat and escapes as Mi6 explodes. Bond shoots at the helicopter multiple times and it turns around. One of Blofeld's men begins shooting at Bond when Bond retaliates with a signal flare. I don't know where he would've gotten it from but if you're making a homage party AVTAK deserves a real homage. Anyway the signal flare stuffs up the helicopter and it crashes on the bridge. Bond reaches Blofeld, finding him unconscious, but survived. As Tanner appears with M at the bridge to apprehend Blofeld, Bond returns to the boat, kisses Madeleine, and speeds down the Thames with her into the night. Obviously it's still flawed which is why Tangier should be the end.
I like your version more but still everything seems a bit forced and I still have many problems with it, if I am honest.
I still can't really see what role Madeleine is playing in that film. In all former Bond films the Bond girls had a particular role to play. They had a particular part and - even if they were often poorly acted - were essential to the actual plot. Madeleine who has much screen time never really seem to have anything to do with the main plot. And there is just no reason why SPECTRE should kidnap or kill her especially since Mr. White is dead.
They should have made her more essential to the plot. Give her some basic skills or knowledge that make her important for Bond. And don't try to make another Vesper out of her. It is not believable that Bond falls in love with every girl he knows for a day.
I have also still problems with the transition from Quantum to SPECTRE. If Quantum had been destroyed why are they able to build up an even more dangerous and powerfull organisation in a few years? Why should they even rename it and where is the difference at all, if the characters (i.e. Mr. White) remain the same? Here is one of the biggest flaws of the whole movie. They want to force continuity which is just not there. They just put every villain from the former Bond films and said they had been part of SPECTRE but that is just an awfull and completely unrealistic idea that makes no sense. And I don't really see how they could have done this better. They just shouldn't have tried it but build up a new and isolated story. Maybe they could have used Mr. White again by telling that he has left Quantum after Green had been killed.
Finally, the climax should have been in the crater. I agree. But here they should have been more creative, how they stopped Blofeld. Goldeneye did that Actually pretty well and they could have gone in a similar direction. Maybe they could have given Madeleine some skills that might have helped there (like Natalya) and maybe Bond could have fought against Hinx in a final fight whereas Blofeld manages to escape. I find both, Hinx and Blofeld to be completely underused in Spectre. Hinx dies much too early and Blofeld being arrested in the end makes him a weak villain, too.
I would have prefered if Hinx actually wins the fight over Bond on the train and takes him and Madeleine to the crater. This would have made so much more sense. This would have made Hinx a much more competent henchman and it would have been possible to have a final fight between Bond and Hinx.