The biggest missed opportunities in the Bond franchise

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  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,593
    A big opportunity to be missed is another Making Of book from Charles Helfenstein. The amount of detailed work he put into OHMSS and TLD is amazing! Perhaps Dr. No next?
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,593
    Not getting that Hugo Drax short story that Fleming originally had planned. Maybe Anthony Horowitz or Dynamite Comics can take that material and put into a story for us?
  • RemingtonRemington I'll do anything for a woman with a knife.
    Posts: 1,534
    Having only two films during the 2010s.
  • Remington wrote: »
    Having only two films during the 2010s.
    This is the big one.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,593
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    Not getting that Hugo Drax short story that Fleming originally had planned. Maybe Anthony Horowitz or Dynamite Comics can take that material and put into a story for us?

    Or perhaps both?
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,105
    If they have let out some of juvenile humour from Octopussy, it would be a top 5 contender in my book.
  • Posts: 15,099
    Oona Chaplin in a proper Bond girl role. In Game of Throne she was as good as she was gorgeous.
  • edited February 2019 Posts: 17,740
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Oona Chaplin in a proper Bond girl role. In Game of Throne she was as good as she was gorgeous.

    It's not the only time acting talent is wasted in a Craig era Bond film. Ola Rapace is too good an actor to only feature in a non-speaking role.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,205
    Ludovico wrote: »
    mattjoes wrote: »
    bondjames wrote: »
    tmg-facebook_social.jpg
    For what it's worth, I personally really enjoyed Under Siege 2. Casey Ryback was quite a character.

    Everett McGill is presented as this tough, threatening bad guy, but only seconds into the final fight with Seagal he's already running for his life.

    I hated that movie.

    It's so, so bad but so good.
  • Posts: 9,842
    I honestly would of been interested if instead of one we got two rival bond films in the 80’s or st the very least Connery in Casino Royale in the 80’s would of been far more interesting then never say never again
  • Lazendy should have done at least 2.
    Dalton should have done at least 4.
    Brosnan should have refused to play in DAD after reading the script.
    Marc Forster never should have been allowed under 2000km from a Bond filming location, even farther from an editing room.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,593
    Lazendy should have done at least 2.
    Dalton should have done at least 4.
    Brosnan should have refused to play in DAD after reading the script.
    Marc Forster never should have been allowed under 2000km from a Bond filming location, even farther from an editing room.

    I agree, especially on Marc Forster. He openly said that he wasn't a Bond fan. And it shows.
  • edited February 2019 Posts: 1,661
    I think the biggest missed opportunity was a serious sequel to OHMSS. Diamonds Are Forever rewritten as a story where Bond pursues Blofeld and Bunt. You could keep the original DAF screenplay elements of Blofeld using a space weapon and his base is on oil rig but the tone of the story is serious. Bond is investigating a diamond smuggling ring via South Africa, Holland and North America. Ideally, George Lazenby would have returned. No Sean Connery. DAF would end with Blofeld and Bunt killed when the oil rig is blown up. You don't see their actual deaths.

    Front forward to SPECTRE (2015) and it's revealed Blofeld didn't die. He escaped the oil rig explosion but was badly scarred. You'd need to change the backstory between Craig's Bond and Blofeld. SPECTRE would be set after Diamonds Are Forever so we have to assume Craig's Bond had already fought Blofeld. It's a bit of a continuity mess but it would have been cool to imagine Bond did 'kill' Blofeld in DAF but Blofeld didn't really die (!), we didn't see the death on screen, and decades later he's back in SPECTRE.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,274
    I agree.

    It is positively shocking, the change from style and panache in OHMSS to tackiness in DAF. I know the world changed from 1968-70 but wow what could have been in a true follow-up.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,593
    RARE not doing another Bond game. Goldfinger 64 proves the potential of them.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    edited February 2019 Posts: 4,593
    Hopefully in the Dynamite Comics version of LALD, Bond mentions Vesper. It would feel more emotional for the audience to be reminded of her and her relationship to SMERSH. I'm surprised that Fleming never did that in the original LALD book.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    edited February 2019 Posts: 5,131
    Missed opportunities = Not faithfully adapting all the Fleming novel elements of YOLT, DAF, LALD, TMWTGG, MR, OP, FAVTAK. Also, what about The Spangs? Gala Brand, the short story of The Hildebrand Rarity? Frasso and McGonagall? Titles such as Risico? The Hildebrand Rarity? The Property of a Lady? Instead of uninspired crap titles like Die Another Day!
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,274
    I'm all for using as much as from the novels as possible...but the Spangs? That's pretty bottom of the barrel Fleming.

    If they were name-checked a la THR in SP, that would be cool, but that's about all I expect from those characters.
  • Posts: 1,916
    While I agree titles like Die Another Day can be a bit too similar to the countess Steven Seagal or other straight-to-video action trash, I also don't think just because a title came from Fleming's pen it automatically sounds appealing, especially if you were a general moviegoer.

    Unless you know Fleming, why would anyone think The Hildebrand Rarity would be an appealing title for a Bond movie? Risico at least sounds kinda' intriguing as it sounds like risk. I've never thought Property of a Lady sounded appealing either. It sounds like some Merchant Ivory production or something begging for attention at awards season.

    I'd be willing to bet there are some people who have ignored Quantum of Solace because they had no idea what it meant.
  • Posts: 2,914
    echo wrote: »
    I'm all for using as much as from the novels as possible...but the Spangs? That's pretty bottom of the barrel Fleming.

    That doesn't mean the characters weren't conceptually interesting. Fleming just underused them. And it's not like the Blofeld of DAF was much better.
  • RoadphillRoadphill United Kingdom
    Posts: 984
    fanbond123 wrote: »
    I think the biggest missed opportunity was a serious sequel to OHMSS. Diamonds Are Forever rewritten as a story where Bond pursues Blofeld and Bunt. You could keep the original DAF screenplay elements of Blofeld using a space weapon and his base is on oil rig but the tone of the story is serious. Bond is investigating a diamond smuggling ring via South Africa, Holland and North America. Ideally, George Lazenby would have returned. No Sean Connery. DAF would end with Blofeld and Bunt killed when the oil rig is blown up. You don't see their actual deaths.

    Front forward to SPECTRE (2015) and it's revealed Blofeld didn't die. He escaped the oil rig explosion but was badly scarred. You'd need to change the backstory between Craig's Bond and Blofeld. SPECTRE would be set after Diamonds Are Forever so we have to assume Craig's Bond had already fought Blofeld. It's a bit of a continuity mess but it would have been cool to imagine Bond did 'kill' Blofeld in DAF but Blofeld didn't really die (!), we didn't see the death on screen, and decades later he's back in SPECTRE.

    Couldn't agree more.

    Plus the chaps who have talked about Casino Royale in the 60's. One could only imagine how good that would have been with Connery.

    Turning Jaws into a comedy character at the end of Spy and the whole of MR. This guy should have been kept as mysterious and intimidating. The scene at Giza when he stalks Fekkesh is almost horror film worthy. Then he just descends to camp.

    Another obvious one is a third Dalton film, between LTK and GE.

    On a slight side note, would any of you liked to have seen a villain other than Blofeld or Jaws survive, and return again?
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131

    BT3366 wrote: »
    While I agree titles like Die Another Day can be a bit too similar to the countess Steven Seagal or other straight-to-video action trash, I also don't think just because a title came from Fleming's pen it automatically sounds appealing, especially if you were a general moviegoer.

    Unless you know Fleming, why would anyone think The Hildebrand Rarity would be an appealing title for a Bond movie? Risico at least sounds kinda' intriguing as it sounds like risk. I've never thought Property of a Lady sounded appealing either. It sounds like some Merchant Ivory production or something begging for attention at awards season.

    I'd be willing to bet there are some people who have ignored Quantum of Solace because they had no idea what it meant.

    I do think just because a title came from Fleming's pen it automatically sounds appealing.......it means it is is pure Bondian.

    Quantum of Solace was a great title.
  • Posts: 4,603
    The lack of a serious follow up to OHMSS goes beyond Bond IMHO, it's one of the missed opportunities within cinema.
    There must be some decent fan fiction where fans have written a decent follow up?
  • Posts: 4,044
    It was never going to happen once Lazenby was out of the picture.
  • Posts: 17,740
    Roadphill wrote: »
    On a slight side note, would any of you liked to have seen a villain other than Blofeld or Jaws survive, and return again?

    Kronsteen perhaps? Always liked that character.
  • Last_Rat_StandingLast_Rat_Standing Long Neck Ice Cold Beer Never Broke My Heart
    Posts: 4,571
    Roadphill wrote: »
    On a slight side note, would any of you liked to have seen a villain other than Blofeld or Jaws survive, and return again?

    Kronsteen perhaps? Always liked that character.

    Baron Samedi. I would have found a way to work him in to TMWTGG.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,593
    Roadphill wrote: »
    On a slight side note, would any of you liked to have seen a villain other than Blofeld or Jaws survive, and return again?

    Kronsteen perhaps? Always liked that character.

    Baron Samedi. I would have found a way to work him in to TMWTGG.

    Interesting choice. At least Goldeneye N64 got him in a celver way.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,593
    I'd say not getting Sean Bean as Alec Trevelyan back in Goldeneye Reloaded. He could be Bond's idol, like originally written.
  • Last_Rat_StandingLast_Rat_Standing Long Neck Ice Cold Beer Never Broke My Heart
    Posts: 4,571
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    Roadphill wrote: »
    On a slight side note, would any of you liked to have seen a villain other than Blofeld or Jaws survive, and return again?

    Kronsteen perhaps? Always liked that character.

    Baron Samedi. I would have found a way to work him in to TMWTGG.

    Interesting choice. At least Goldeneye N64 got him in a celver way.

    And for some reason I thought he was in Golden Gun prior to ever seeing it due to the game. I was half expecting him to trap Bond in a duel in Egypt. Granted I was 11 and had only seen GE
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited February 2019 Posts: 6,274
    YOLT more down to earth. Would we have had this DAF without YOLT?

    Or a close DAF adaptation more in the spirit of LALD, with Roger Moore. Easy to see Moore and Hedison in that story.

    A proper adaptation of the FYEO short story, with Bernard Lee.

    Generally, more Fleming from 1971-1985.
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