I was asking this question myself last Friday when my friend and I were watching "Skyfall". There are quite a few scenes that could evoke feelings like "ieeeeuwww, disgusting!". Now, I know Bond films will never turn into the next "Final Destination" franchise. And equally, we will never see a spy split in half with perfect precision ("Kingsman: The Secret Service") in future Bond films.
Still, there is quite a big list of some scenes that you can indicate is slightly "gore-ish". Scenes that could evoke some disgust or that could female audiences perhaps say this: "Was this blood splatter really necessary??". Here's a short list:
--> "DN": Jones killing/foaming himself with cyanide
--> "FRWL": The witch-like death scream of Rosa Klebb
--> "TB": Largo's henchmen throw Quist to the sharks, leaving a pool of red blood
--> "YOLT": Blofeld throwing Helga Brand to the piranhas (death screams)
--> "OHMSS": Blofeld's skiing henchman falling into a snow-plough, leaving a trail of blood and minced meat
--> "DAF": 2nd Blofeld being shot by a mountaineering pin, creating a final "death shock" on his body
--> "TMWTGG": Scaramanga leaving gulping big bullit holes on both Rodney and Gibson
--> "TSWLM": Jaws eating raw shark meat, leaving a trail of blood / biting Fekkesh in his neck
--> "OP": Dead bodies of the Indian twins, hanging in an abattoir
--> "AVTAK": KGB-agent Klotkoff being pulverized by a oil pump screw, leaving lots of blood and death screams
--> "LTK": Milton Krest's exploding head and seeing the bone and flesh of Leiter's leg when it gets bitten off
--> "TND": Carver's henchman being pulverized by a newspaper printing machine, leaving lots of "printed blood"
--> "DAD": Zao being split in half by ornaments of the ice palace, leavinf lots of blood
--> "CR": Seeing Solange's dead body in a state of decay
--> "QOS": Picture of a severely mutilated dead body, with stitched eye sockets (on a picture)
--> "SF": Silva exposing his mutilated jaw, by taking his prothesis out, leaving lots of saliva
Personally, I like these kinds of "mild gore", as they always show that Bond is not fighting some cheeky, cheesy Dr Evil or any other harmless guy. It shows that Bond is dealing with real dangers. I especially like the "gore" in "OHMSS". Yes, Bond creates quite a bit of humour by ushering the line: "He had loads of guts!". Still, if he skied one meter to the right, it could have been him that was the "guts".
Comments
I think you've hit the nail on head, really. The Bond films should not be over-the-top gore-fests but I think you can't go too far in the other direction either. There needs to be real risk of harm on display so that Bond has something to fear.
You've also created a pretty conclusive list and I'm struggling to think of other moments on the series that are a little bit gory. I guess the scene where Dario falls into the cocaine pulveriser is pretty damn nasty!
Ufff, I actually forgot about that scene. That's indeed quite a disturbing one.
Or do you remember how Mr Kil's hand got chopped off by a laser, and then Jinx simply picked up the cut-off hand and used it for the vingerprint ID scanner :-P.
I personally think it would be great to re-do the scene from "LALD", where Tee Hee almost chops off Bond's little finger. What IF that's done for real with a henchman from S.P.E.C.T.R.E.? That we can actually the little finger being cut off. It's a bit Martin Scorcese-esque, but why not?
Check back Nov, 6th 2015.
I understand what you mean and I apologize if I inadvertently spoiled anything. Not my intention there. I never outright said I read the script though. I'd say it's a fact that taking one look at Bautista, one could say he's gonna pretty brutal baddie one way or another. Again I apologize.
What the hack are you talking about. If you take any wishes for spoilers, than you're not reading properly. NOTHING has been spoiled so far in this topic. Absolutely nothing. I was just stating a nice idea, and someone reacted on it by giving the premiere date. I think you're seeing ghosts.
Thanks for posting this @Seven_Point_Six_Five :-). I think it deserves a mention in this topic.
It makes chopping out an eye by Hinx slightly less gory. But I also think the amount of gore should be carefully edited. I think it's one of the reasons why fans like me got a slight turn-off with QOS. Don't forget, it didn't outgross CR.
It's a fine line with Bond, given its mass appeal to both sexes.
I think they should always have an uncut version, and put that out on the Blu, to satisfy us gore lovers.
Elliot Carver's death scene
I think in all honesty that such gore should foremost be executed by the villain...or henchman. Then it'll be much more accepted by the public. Bond in LTK and QOS was simple way too....vengeful for people's taste. A reckless instrument, loose cannon.
Another example would be Carlos in CR, if you've read the novel you should know the graphic details of what probably happened while all we see is a shot of Craig's face as the bomb goes off. I would say Slate's demise was not so much "gory" but it is perhaps the most brutal and methodical killing of a henchmen in a Bond film, very coldblooded.
That said I don't want another full on LTK, just one or two memorable and creative demises done tastefully are what I like and hopefully it looks like SPECTRE will deliver on that.
The Hinx slap above looks to be just what the doctor ordered.
Indeed. Just the right prescription with possibly a surprise. I'm still hoping we get a little bit more guts in there too haha. From the TV spot it looks like lots of action with planes and helicopters, flying machines can be very dangerous to ones health.
Well, let him use his Walther then to kill more "cleanly". Bond isn't Vin Diesel.
Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Predator, Steven Seagall's films and a slew of other late eighties films. The deaths were gruesome but handled with great class and taste.
If I had to focus on one or two I would say Mr. Kil's death in DAD and the decision to mutilating his corpse was kinda gory.
I enjoy all these gruesome flourishes as they add colour (pun intended) to an adventure. A director I admire for this is Paul Verhoeven, he always knows how to add a little extra violence/T&A whilst remaining tasteful (IMO)
By the way why hasn't this man been approached for helming an entry in the series yet?! He would be wonderful!!
I love Verhoeven. The invisible night excursions by Bacon's character Sebastian in Hollow Man come to mind, in terms of those little gratuitous (and agreeably teenage) flourishes he is known for...
I loved Elektra's gory, mutilated ear. But such a scene was done even better in SF when Silva took out his jaw prothesis. Man....and then all that saliva leaking wildy :-P.
After analyzing the trailer, I must say that Hinx to me looks like an effing menacing scary henchman. And I don't know if I'm right, but does Hinx prefer killing people in this typical way? Popping out an eye, as a means of getting a better grip on the yet-to-be-snapped head/skull?? It's like.....all I ever dreamt off :-O! And then look at the guy who's being -most likely- killed by Hinx. It looks pretty much horrific to see a human with an empty eye socket: