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"Breaking the Ice" - Your views on John Gardner's Icebreaker (1983)?

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  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    Calvin Dyson's Review of John Gardner's Icebreaker (1983):

  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,436
    Calvin just posted his review of "Win, Lose or Die". I often thought the novels had some value as cinematic stories to be mined. But apparently EON thinks differently. :)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited April 2023 Posts: 18,281
    thedove wrote: »
    Calvin just posted his review of "Win, Lose or Die". I often thought the novels had some value as cinematic stories to be mined. But apparently EON thinks differently. :)

    Yes, I saw his latest review. I can't wait until he reviews one of my favourite Bond continuation novels, Never Send Flowers (1993). He said in the comments that he's looking forward to reviewing that one as he'd heard it features Bond visiting Euro Disney.

    Yes, although Eon seem to have pinched a few general ideas from the Gardner Bond novels it appears their policy is to keep them at arm's length as far as a full adaptation goes.
  • peterpeter Toronto
    Posts: 9,509
    Yes, although Eon seem to have pinched a few general ideas from the Gardner Bond novels it appears their policy is to keep them at arm's length as far as a full adaptation goes.

    I think it makes sense… If they did a full on adaptation of Gardner’s novels would the films represent John Gardner’s James Bond? Or; Ian Fleming/John Gardner’s James Bond?

    Gardner’s Bond felt to me as a new interpretation of the character and I think from a rights and film residuals perspective, it really muddies the waters.

    I think that that’s why EoN keeps his novels at arm’s length.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited November 2022 Posts: 6,306
    Agreed and I also think that some of the "adaptations" are coincidental. For instance, AVTAK and Role of Honour. Clearly video games and Silicon Valley were in the zeitgeist, so it's possible that Maibaum/Wilson picked up on these without referencing Role of Honour. (Also recall that OP had a video game in it that was taken out because of the video game in NSNA.)

    The airship is oft-cited as a reference from RoH, but by AVTAK they were looking for unique vehicles for Bond chases such as the firetruck and airship. Could also be a coincidence.

    Remember that MGW is a lawyer and his best practice would be *not* to read the Gardner novels, which is someone else's intellectual property.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,638
    I think Icebreaker could have also worked as an Indiana Jones adventure as well. It has a lot of story and character similarities to a Indy adventure. Just put a artifact for Indy to find and set it somewhere in the 1930s-1960s and I think it could have worked.
  • Some_Kind_Of_HeroSome_Kind_Of_Hero
    Posts: 6,844
    peter wrote: »
    Yes, although Eon seem to have pinched a few general ideas from the Gardner Bond novels it appears their policy is to keep them at arm's length as far as a full adaptation goes.

    I think it makes sense… If they did a full on adaptation of Gardner’s novels would the films represent John Gardner’s James Bond? Or; Ian Fleming/John Gardner’s James Bond?

    Gardner’s Bond felt to me as a new interpretation of the character and I think from a rights and film residuals perspective, it really muddies the waters.

    I don't think the way Gardner wrote Bond would factor much at all into an adaptation of one of his books unless Eon was already thinking of making movie Bond an older, more seasoned agent who constantly has poetry and scripture on the brain. How often has Eon ever modeled their Bond on Fleming's beyond as Gustav Graves would say, "oh, just in the details?"

    That said, I do think it would be really interesting to see a Bond who's deliberately written and played as an older agent, someone in his 50s/60s, for the duration of an actor's tenure—and not just because that would open the possibility of a return by Dalton or Brosnan. ;)

    I suppose you could say Skyfall and No Time to Die played with the idea, but coming off the back of CR and QOS Skyfall seemed a bit confused as to whether Bond was washed up or just getting started, and No Time to Die had rather too much going on altogether to really appreciate the idea of Bond as a seasoned agent just doing his job.

    NSNA, FYEO onwards for Moore, and DAD I guess would be examples of an onscreen Bond similar to Gardner's. Promote him to captain, incorporate some training into his job, make reference to how long he's been a 00, and there you go. It wouldn't need to be a big part of any one film. Just a unique approach to one actor's Bond.
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