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What would Ian Fleming's favourite Bond films be?

Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
in Bond Movies Posts: 11,119
I'm not sure if this hasn't been discussed before. And probably it's a question that can not be answered. But we know what his thoughts were of DN and FRWL. And he's been on the set of GF. So perhaps we can at least anticipate a bit what Fleming's favourite Bond films would have been based on his wishes for a perfect Bond film.
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Comments

  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    Posts: 7,653
    I think he would be amused about Roger Moore's antics
    Be pleasantly surprised by the faithfullness of OHMSS and Lazenby perhaps.
    He would have enoyed Brosnan and perhaps less his OTT movies
    He would be terrified by Craig in CR looking more like a thug than a gentleman.
    He would like Dalton I think.
  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    I think he'd HATE the moores. Tarzan Yell? In a Bond film? Redneck sheriff? C'mon.
  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    edited November 2014 Posts: 7,653
    doubleohdad wrote: »
    I think he'd HATE the moores. Tarzan Yell? In a Bond film? Redneck sheriff? C'mon.

    He liked Roger Moore well enough, and Roger is the quintessential English Gentleman I believe Fleming would really enjoy his movies.

    As for the redneck policeman, I doubt he would have worried about the archetype that was used and made to look like a fool.

    Like Roger he would feel bad for the kid in TMWTGG that was thrown of the boat after helping 007.
  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    Liking Roger Moore and liking him as Bond are two different matters.
    No tarzan yelling in a Bond film.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited November 2014 Posts: 12,480
    I have no idea; I think Fleming was a bit complex. However, I am guessing he would enjoy:

    Dr No (or should say did enjoy)
    FRWL
    GF
    TB
    FYEO (minus the PTS and the final ending with the Thatcher imitation; the rest, yes, I think he would approve)
    TLD
    LTK (only maybe)
    CR
    SF

  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    edited November 2014 Posts: 7,653
    doubleohdad wrote: »
    Liking Roger Moore and liking him as Bond are two different matters.
    No tarzan yelling in a Bond film.

    You are speaking about yourself and not about Fleming are you now??

    And it is the Weismuller yell, copied later as the ultimate Tarzan yell.

  • BeatlesSansEarmuffsBeatlesSansEarmuffs
    Posts: 3,566
    As usual, I think @4EverBonded has the right idea. Fleming was on the record about approving of Connery's portrayal, that's why he gave the literary Bond a Scottish background in OHMSS.
  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    The tone of Fleming's stories are sincere and do not lend themselves to self-parody.
  • BeatlesSansEarmuffsBeatlesSansEarmuffs
    edited November 2014 Posts: 3,566
    doubleohdad wrote: »
    The tone of Fleming's stories are sincere and do not lend themselves to self-parody.

    Are you kidding? Have you read TSWLM recently? Fleming had a very sly sense of humor, not least about his own literary "worth."

    I don't care for the Tarzan yell either, or Bond dressing up as a clown for that matter -- but really, Fleming didn't take himself anywhere NEAR as seriously as we do!

  • Some_Kind_Of_HeroSome_Kind_Of_Hero
    Posts: 6,844
    I agree with your list, @4Ever Bonded. I would just add that I think Fleming would definitely have approved of OHMSS and I think he would have enjoyed GoldenEye at around the same level as he would have For Your Eyes Only and The Living Daylights (he perhaps would not have approved of everything, but would have found much to appreciate in them). I also think that, editing aside, Fleming would have liked much of Quantum of Solace.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    I think he would have approved of OHMSS except not Lazenby so much. I think the lack of gravitas, to put it one way, is something Fleming would surely have noticed.
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    I'd say Fleming would have really loved:
    --> DN
    --> FRWL
    --> OHMSS
    --> FYEO
    --> OP
    --> TLD
    --> LTK
    --> CR
    --> SF
  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146


    I don't care for the Tarzan yell either, or Bond dressing up as a clown for that matter -- !

    [/quote]

    That's the stuff I am referring to.
  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    Posts: 7,653
    doubleohdad wrote: »

    I don't care for the Tarzan yell either, or Bond dressing up as a clown for that matter -- !

    .[/quote]

    For me 007 as clown infiltrating and dismantling a nuclear weapon has actually little to do with being funny. And if you remember that that another 00 died in the same outfit in the beginning, which was not very funny either.

    You may complain about Weismullers yell and the tiger, but with the clown outfit I found that Moore and the director did do something that is fairly suspenseful, they took the funny & scary out of the disguise. And Moore was clearly not playing the clown at that moment.
  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    Again, would Fleming think the Tarzan yell and the clown outfit and the 'sit!' joke, and the venice gondola car and all that silly, silly, self parody stuff be funny?

    I don't think he would have. He wrote his humor into hard stories, not silly, over the top stuff that was more in the tone with the Pink Panther than the actual Fleming stuff.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    Something like this was discussed in Life Magazine's 50 Years of James Bond issue. And with the discussion each film gave speculation to what Fleming would have thought about the films.
  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    I'll have to look that up, sounds cool.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    I'll give one quote from it about what Fleming would have thought about Moonraker.
    Life Magazine wrote:
    HE PROBABLY WOULD APPLAUD. He was always a modernist, forcing Bond to deal with the latest twists in the Cold War or life in the wider world. In his Moonraker, the concerns of British society were the V-2 Rocket, a reemergence in England of fascism and particular a romance with communism, not to mention the so-called "threat from within," accentuated by the activities of turncoat spies like his former MI colleagues Kim Philby and Anthony Blunt. If movie-makers two generations on had his James Bond fighting it out in zero gravity, well he might have written that himself.

  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    Did the article write what he'd think about the crocodile sub?
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    doubleohdad wrote: »
    Did the article write what he'd think about the crocodile sub?

    Doing a quick skim through my copy of the magazine, it doesn't have a "What Fleming Would have thought" note on all the films since Octopussy was broken up with an article on Never Say Never Again. Unfortunately there isn't one for every Bond movie.

  • OHMSS69OHMSS69
    edited November 2014 Posts: 2,341
    He would have hated the Moore films especially MR
    He would have urinated on DAF and DAD
    He would have loved
    FRWL
    CR
    OHMSS
    TB
    SF
    He would have been okay with the rest, IMO
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,804
    He would have loved TND. The sexual innuendo was at its peak in that one. :))
  • OHMSS69OHMSS69
    Posts: 2,341
    Bond actors as far as Fleming goes, I daresay he would have loved Pierce Brosnan after Sean.
    He would have had problems with Craig's rough edges but he would come to love him (like Sean)
    He would have despised Moore as being too "dandy"
    He would have been okay with Laz and Dalts
    my three cents for what its worth...
  • doubleohdaddoubleohdad
    Posts: 1,146
    OHMSS69 wrote: »
    He would have despised Moore as being too "dandy"

    That's the word I was looking for, thank you.
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,369
    Didn't Fleming say he hated Dr. No when it came out? I can't quite remember but thought I heard that in some fleming documentary.

    He would probably love CR. Be confused by the CGI of DAD given that it didn't exist at the time.
  • AnonAnon
    Posts: 246
    I think he'd have disliked all of the movies, but would have come to put a good PR face on his views, not wanting to bite the hand that feeds.

    And we can all thank the producers for going their own way regardless of what Fleming thought.
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    Do we have actually written/spoken statements from what he thought of FRWL? I am really curious about that.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    He probably would have disliked YOLT, DAF, LALD, TMWTGG and MR because they were so different from what he wrote. Perhaps he would have enjoyed TSWLM as an alternate take since they were only allowed to use the title. I also think that he would have enjoyed all of the actors to take on the role.
  • Gustav_GravesGustav_Graves
    Posts: 11,119
    Again: Do we have actually written/spoken statements from what he thought of FRWL? I am really curious about that. :P
  • BeatlesSansEarmuffsBeatlesSansEarmuffs
    Posts: 3,566
    He liked FRWL enough to make a cameo appearance in it. Isn't that enough to demonstrate his approval?
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