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
Here's the link to his interview: https://ew.com/article/2014/02/05/sean-connery-his-career/
I've seen that lack of fun criticism of Craig and his era by those who don't like it and my response is it depends on what one's definition of fun is. Personally, I don't find Bond hanging off a firetruck being chased by Keystone Cops, driving invisible cars or trading forced one-liners that are meant to appeal to schoolkids to be fun. What I do like are amazing stunts and getting a taste of the character Fleming created and that world.
Then again, they did try that approach with SP with things such as the car chase through Rome and the Jaws/Oddjob approach to Hinx and it really felt out of place. Hopefully the next era will get the balance right.
It doesn't makes sense.
In the book, the retiring thing worked better, because the Book already introduced Bond as an experienced agent, to the point that he's the senior of the Three 00 agents, for sure in the book, he'd already spent years of working as a 00 agent, so him finally deciding to retire with Vesper makes more sense and meaningful in the book given that in the book, he's already a seasoned 00 agent.
In the film, it's like he just started off being a 00 agent, he's just beginning to work as a 00 agent, he's just new to the job, it's his first mission, then suddenly he would retire with Vesper very quickly?
I think the film should just followed the book with Bond just introduced as already a long time professional (experienced) than being a rookie who just started off his job in three days 😅.
Edit: And in the book, he's given that mission because he's the best gambler in the MI6 (Double O Section), meanwhile in the film, it's given because it's his first actual mission.
For me, it's a bit of a stupid thing.
I find the answer to Bond looking to retire is mentioned in the film, but that's okay.
Other than he fell in love with Vesper, I don't know the other reason why, maybe I need to watch the film again?
RM wanted to be different from SC, remember (although I don't believe in such statement), but many people thought Lazenby tried to imitate Connery and it didn't worked out, so when RM was hired they've tried to be different than his predecessors.
When they cast Moore they took a different tack. Hamilton told Moore that there would be no martinis, no casino scenes, even the smoking was a cigar and not a cigarette. Only until FYEO did they fully embrace some of those aspects of the character again.
I have never considered GL as an imitation of SC. His Bond hewed closer to SC than did RM. For me RM has always been a parody of the Bond character.
And on that note, here's my Super 8 1981 short film!
I gotta say that was very informed film-making from the camera angles (that shuttle!) to the model work to the fight stunts to the sound effects to the choices for matching music and the stock footage inter-cut. Performances eyebrows also fun to watch. Not sure where you found that cat that likes to wrestle, he seemed to be having a minor ball until he got tired of it all and pulled a YOLT.
Good to know it's preserved and not lost footage. Maybe there's more.
YES! Great stuff, @chrisisall.
Imagine what those homemade Bond films would have looked liked with today's technology. Fun stuff. I daresay there are thousands of such treasures waiting to be discovered.
YOLT is full of stupid of course, with lots of things being filmed without cameras, but it's so strange that Spectre steals capsules from both sides. In the real world, that would make the involvement of a third party perfectly clear, so they have to write the Soviets (and especially the Americans) as being dumber than a box of rocks. Why not steal from just the Americans, Ernst?
I also love how Osato instructs his people to let Bond leave the building so they can murder him outside in broad daylight. Totally inexplicable!
Roger Ebert famously pointed out that microchips aren't really manufactured in Silicon Valley, so Zorin is actually killing his customers, and not his competition!
And of course Le Chiffre warns Bond that he's going to enter Vesper's account number and Bond's password, which is exactly what Vesper and Bond were going to do anyway before Le Chiffre interfered. Bond doesn't think this is odd.
The writers didn't think it odd.
The writers also didn't think it's odd that unfilmed events are shown on screens in YOLT. 🤷
Oh, another one: in Moonraker, when the cable car stops, Bond says something like "All I know is we're better off outside than in!" and then climbs on the roof. That's pretty weird and stupid!
I always question Bond sending Tily to the woods in GF. What was she supposed to do if she made it? Would Bond leave his cover to run after her? Again, the writers painted themselves into a corner. Tily lived longer in the book but they wished to have her die here as a sacrificial lamb.
Given that the mission, as outlined by Spectre, is for MI6 to send James Bond specifically, I think this is a pretty safe bet. Kronsteen might be less of a genius than we're meant to think. :))
In Octopussy, M says they don't really have any leads to go on. 009 was dressed like a clown when he was found. Is that something he just did for fun?
And an especially annoying one to me: Tracy is absolutely not having it with Blofeld, but after she hears a mysterious voice from an approaching plane, she becomes much more amiable, and Blofeld falls for it immediately.
I didn't know that FRWL one, actually, if there's one stupid thing in that film for me is how did SPECTRE found out that Bond was the one who had killed Dr. No? Even down to his looks or what he looked like, hence Grant's training in the PTS? I mean did Dr. No reported to SPECTRE about Bond and told them what he looked like before he died? How did they knew those? If one might make a suspicion that it's Honey Ryder who's a secret spy working for SPECTRE reported it to them that it's Bond who'd killed Dr. No and identifying his looks 😅, then possibly (as she's also in the island, it's impossible that she didn't know about Dr. No's existence in that island), are there anyone who had reported it to SPECTRE about the man who had killed Dr. No?
And since I'm on talking about Dr. No, why was Honey Ryder could freely hunt for shells in Dr. No's island? Why Dr. No didn't suspected her of entering the island? Did Dr. No never noticed Honey Ryder entering his island? Means Dr. No was stupid enough not to noticed those strangers entering his island, except Bond. 😅
Yes, the Octopussy one was quite stupid, as M should have a thought of having 009 as a lead, but again, maybe what M was talking here was yes, they've sent 009 but he'd failed to gather any information, so there's no lead, no info so far.
In OHMSS, yes Tracy was bored with Blofeld, thinking she's hopeless, but when she heard that mysterious voice from the plane, she thought it's her father along with Bond, so in able to distract Blofeld, she played with him, showing that she's interested in him, Blofeld fell for this because he believed that he'd already caught Tracy's trust, when what he didn't know was Tracy was just deceiving him to avoid his attention from the arrival of Bond and her father.
What do you guys think of M's actions in Quantum of Solace, is it stupid or not?
I can sort of excuse Bond having to go rogue because M thinks he's shot the guy. MI6 would have to confirm the ballistics and that'd take time because it took place in another country's jurisdiction. It's a bit contrived that Bond doesn't immediately specify to M that he didn't in fact shoot the man but oh well....
Getting Fields to escort Bond back is incredibly stupid, yes. Must admit even when I watched the film for the first time I thought it was silly, which is probably what separates much of these other 'stupid' things in Bond films from that - that's to say I noticed/thought about it in the moment.
I always wonder if they could have made that character work a bit better (I mean, after all it's a Bond movie - you kind of need an interesting secondary female character sometimes, much like Paloma in NTTD). If she had been a contact of Mathis or something perhaps the contrivances of her 'falling for Bond' could have been ironed out. It makes little sense in the film we got considering she generally seems like a professional and yet goes along with Bond a little too readily afterwards. Even if they'd kept her as an MI6 agent who fell for Bond it'd been better if she'd done something more than just tripping Elvis. Maybe even if she'd lived but helped Bond escape from the MI6 bodyguards at the hotel it would have been better.
It's a shame because Gemma Arterton is actually a very likeable screen presence and I think has had some great roles. I know she's actually not too fond of her role in QOS and I understand why. They could have done more with that character and that actress.
The Hamilton Bonds generally didn't care all that much about plot logic and credibility. 😄
Not at all. Very few Bonds ever did. 😉