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Get the Girl?

H007MERH007MER
edited September 2011 in Bond Movies Posts: 136
The last couple of films haven't ended with Bond in bed with his leading lady. It made sense for Casino Royale as it was following the book and Vesper was "unavailable" but some have questioned why Bond didn't jump into the sack with Camille at the end of QoS. Further, I have read hopes that the next film ends more traditionally with Bond getting the girl in the last scene. I was wondering what you guys thought. Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy to see Bond back to his bed-hopping best but I don't think it has to be the last scene of the film. Should the next film end like this? Are there any suggestions for alternative closing scenes?

Comments

  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    Posts: 13,355
    Some twist on this would be better. Such as Bond with the girl but maybe in a Thunberball novel kind of way.

    The only novel that ends with Bond in bed is Goldfinger if I remember correctly, so I see no reason to go back to it every film, at least not in the next one.
  • ltwftwltwftw
    Posts: 78
    *** Moonraker novel spoiler alert ***

    I like the very end of the book Moonraker, when Bond is all excited about running away to France with Gala Brand, only to discover that she is engaged to another man. "She had the look of a girl who is not for you, who is on her way to make love to someone else." This very familiar feeling made Bond more human to me than anything else in the canon.
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    edited September 2011 Posts: 13,355
    That ending would work for Craig's last film I think @ltwftw. I love it and hope it's used one day. There's so many great novel endings out there thanks to Fleming, it's time EON start using them for the films.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,267
    I hope we don't cut back to the cheese. Bond is still bedding women, so why put it as astandard ending? In QoS he has Fields. I preferred him not bedding Camille. It suited the story better, and Bond should be a loner. Bonds' isn't the kind of ' he gets the girl in the end' sort of story.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    I hope we don't cut back to the cheese. Bond is still bedding women, so why put it as astandard ending? In QoS he has Fields. I preferred him not bedding Camille.
    I agree @CommanderRoss. The thing I loved about the film(amongst so many others) was that Bond didn't abuse Camille for sexual pleasure. They were a good team and it was left at that. I appreciated that, and the peck on the mouth tells me, 'I'll return later and we'll have a relationship then'. I can picture the lovely Camille in Bond 24, and Olga will most likely be willing to return.
    Bonds' isn't the kind of ' he gets the girl in the end' sort of story.
    I don't know what you are referring to with this. If you are talking about the old Bond's he gets all the women, and you're wrong, but if you are talking about Craig's run you are absolutely right. In CR and QoS every woman he has "had" has ended up dead. It is quite sad and Craig's Bond truly is not to end up happy at the end of these tales.
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    The thing about CR is that it never was 'the end'. It was part 1 of a story arc. Therefore Bond didn't end up with a girl. The end of the full story (QoS) was the end of Bond's obsessional quest for the man who betrayed Vesper.

    I prefer it when the Bonds don't tick boxes. Tuxedo tick, Q tick, Martini tick, Aston tick etc. That sort of thing (the Brosnan years) is Bond by numbers.
  • shadowonthesunshadowonthesun Banned
    Posts: 1,894
    some have questioned why Bond didn't jump into the sack with Camille at the end of QoS
    Because there is clearly - and quite deliberately - no sexual chemistry between them. Camille serves a very specific purpose in the story: to show Bond what will become of him if he chooses to take revenge. On the back of Bond trying to find solace after Vesper's death, sleeping with Camille - for the sake of having Bond bed her at the end of the film - would have undone a lot of the character development up until then.
  • H007MERH007MER
    Posts: 136
    Well said @shadowonthesun. I was very happy with how Qos handled Bond's relationship with Camille.
    I agree with @NicNac too, I hope the franchise avoids falling into the box ticking trap again.
  • OHMSS69OHMSS69
    Posts: 2,341
    I agree with Nic Nac. Who needs Bond by the numbers?
    Bond was still heart broken over Vesper and not in any real emotional mood to bed Camille. Just as well.
    Maybe if the next one (the third of the trilogy) he would get the girl as a sort of closure to Vesper. I dunno....
  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    Posts: 7,653
    I agree with Nic Nac. Who needs Bond by the numbers?
    Bond was still heart broken over Vesper and not in any real emotional mood to bed Camille. Just as well.
    And yet he gave Strawberry Fieds the works without any second thought , so much for his emotional mood. :-q
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,306
    ltwftw wrote:
    *** <i>Moonraker</i> novel spoiler alert ***

    I like the very end of the book <i>Moonraker</i>, when Bond is all excited about running away to France with Gala Brand, only to discover that she is engaged to another man. "She had the look of a girl who is not for you, who is on her way to make love to someone else." This very familiar feeling made Bond more human to me than anything else in the canon.

    Camille was basically a variation on this--unavailable for another reason (she was on a revenge mission). I believe we've seen the last of Camille. Every time they talk about bringing a Bond girl back (remember the Yeoh rumors?) it never happens, probably because it would distract from the story at hand.

    I wouldn't mind seeing Gala Brand in a future Craig film, though--the one who Bond wants but who gets away.
  • VeryBondVeryBond
    Posts: 306
    I'm rolling my eyes... I would love to see Bond happily indulging in his favourite pastime with a beautiful woman at the end of a successful mission. What a nice change from this tortured loner crap. Every successful series ' ticks the boxes '. I want Sherlock Holmes to solve the crime, I want Zatoichi to use his katana on a bunch of bad guys, and I want Bond to get laid. There comes a point where you're trying so hard to be different that you don't give the audience what it wants. It's part of the mythos, part of the fun, and this is the kind of stripping away of Bond's character I was talking about. And PC to boot.

    In QOS, I didn't care because I liked Fields much more than whatshername and since she was dead... But this time I don't think him walking down a street in moody thought is going to cut it.

    My REAL pet-peeve is that they stopped giving us the last minute fight with the leftover henchman. I love that last blast of action (a BONUS scene if you will) before he locks lips with the girl of the minute. Whatever they do, something exhilarating not funereal...please.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited February 2012 Posts: 6,306
    VeryBond wrote:
    I'm rolling my eyes... I would love to see Bond happily indulging in his favourite pastime with a beautiful woman at the end of a successful mission. What a nice change from this tortured loner crap. Every successful series ' ticks the boxes '. I want Sherlock Holmes to solve the crime, I want Zatoichi to use his katana on a bunch of bad guys, and I want Bond to get laid. There comes a point where you're trying so hard to be different that you don't give the audience what it wants. It's part of the mythos, part of the fun, and this is the kind of stripping away of Bond's character I was talking about. And PC to boot.

    In QOS, I didn't care because I liked Fields much more than whatshername and since she was dead... But this time I don't think him walking down a street in moody thought is going to cut it.

    My REAL pet-peeve is that they stopped giving us the last minute fight with the leftover henchman. I love that last blast of action (a BONUS scene if you will) before he locks lips with the girl of the minute. Whatever they do, something exhilarating not funereal...please.

    The ending of Moonraker is Fleming. And the LAST thing Fleming was was PC (although the term didn't then exist). Fleming's Bond doesn't always get the girl (CR, MR, OHMSS, arguably YOLT). And sometimes he "dies" at the end (FRWL).

    The "leftover henchman" trope has been gone for some time--TND was the last time, I think, and before that maybe TSWLM.

    Craig does "moody" so well. I don't want to see him end up unhappy in every film and likely not in Skyfall, but I think it would be a mistake--now that we have such a strong and dedicated actor--to give him the lazy, same ending that we've already seen done to death in 19 films. Whatever QoS' faults, that last scene was at least different.
  • shirlz00shirlz00
    Posts: 4
    I watched 'On Her Majestys Secret Service' the other day, and I'd forgot how sad the plot is with Bond getting married and losing her almost instantly... it stands out from the rest of Bond films of the time. Maybe they should incorporate a similar plot into Skyfall! that would send Bond right over the edge then! lmao
  • VeryBondVeryBond
    Posts: 306
    The ending of OHMSS is very powerful, and completely works in my opinion because A) Diana Rigg was wonderful as Tracy, and B) It comes as such a surprise and contrast after a great popcorn adventure. Now, because of the tone of the last two films, people almost expect a downbeat ending, so it can't have that same impact.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited February 2012 Posts: 6,306
    Yep, I don't think all of Craig's films should have a downbeat ending, although he certainly can carry it off. Skyfall, I'm guessing, will be more of a traditional happy one.

    But in Bond 24 and beyond, I hope they continue to stretch themselves...if they want to do the end of the novel YOLT and the beginning of the novel TMWTTG, Craig is clearly the man for the job. This is their opportunity!
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    Posts: 13,355
    echo wrote:
    if they want to do the end of the novel YOLT and the beginning of the novel TMWTTG, Craig is clearly the man for the job. This is their opportunity!

    Yes, indeed. I'd love to see that and would say it'd even work if it was Craig's last film with the conclusion picking up for the next actor's first film. At least then we'd be invested in the story and this may hope the man who has to step into Craig's shoes when the time comes.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,306
    Samuel001 wrote:
    echo wrote:
    if they want to do the end of the novel YOLT and the beginning of the novel TMWTTG, Craig is clearly the man for the job. This is their opportunity!

    Yes, indeed. I'd love to see that and would say it'd even work if it was Craig's last film with the conclusion picking up for the next actor's first film. At least then we'd be invested in the story and this may hope the man who has to step into Craig's shoes when the time comes.

    This is an intriguing idea, a cliffhanger across Bond actors!
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