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Bond

Started by asids, December 28, 2017, 01:05:52 AM

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lipsink

Good point. I still don't like the fact that at the end of Skyfall, M is disposed of and Moneypenny chooses to sit behind a desk. It screams of "Now the men can do the serious work.

Dench really was the best M, wasn't she?

I kinda hate how Spectre tried to link the 3 films before though I do like the arc that Bond starts off as a loner in CR and then kinda assembles a family unit (M, Moneypenny, Q and that other guy)

mothman

There's also an element of professional respect in Bond's relationship with Eve Moneypenny, in that he knows she can walk the walk as well as talk the talk, she's been in the field  etc. And also was wise enough to know she wasn't really cut out for it. You see the same in QoS - I don't tnink he ever sleeps with whatserface (Olga Kurylenko), and he respects her abilities; meanwhile, the desk officer played by Gemma Arterton, an actual colleague, is fair game to him.

It seems to me there is a relatively consistent theme running through the Craig Bond's relationships: the ones who will willingly enter into casual relationships with him, he doesn't respect; the ones who he could maybe view as equals, and might be able to enter into a fulfilling relationship with, either don't reciprocate his feelings (because they know better) or end up betraying him and/or dying.

Fun Fact: I was at school with the actor who played Eve's bed partner. So she definitely likes fortysomething men, which might make her rejection of/disinterest in Bond all the more cutting for him!

grassbath

Bond's riddled, isn't he? All of them, but Connery particularly. Bellend gummed up with tropical STDs.

As good as Skyfall was, the final act was rubbish and Spectre was bobbins.

kidsick5000

Quote from: thecuriousorange on December 31, 2017, 04:18:21 PM
As good as Skyfall was, the final act was rubbish and Spectre was bobbins.

Spectre was a film I left thinking was quite good but then just gradually infuriated me the more I thought about it.
It really painted the franchise into a corner.

As an aside, someone on the James Bonding podcast had a great suggestion that Bond was more likely to keep calling Blofeld Oberhauser just to annoy him.

biggytitbo

Spectre is a lot better than Skyfall. The correct Craig order is -


1 Quantum of Solace
2 Casino Royale
3 Spectre
4 Sky diving with a Queen
5 Skyfall

lipsink

I'd be interested to see what the next Craig film will be like. Spectre felt like a final chapter in his era. Can they keep his relationship with his new lady going? Surely they can't kill her off and have him avenge her/be all angsty again. We've been down that road. Plus having them broken up kinda undoes the ending of Spectre. Thos series has progressively got lighter and lighter with each film so I wonder if they'll continue with the Moore-isms of Spectre.


mothman

That's just Biggy.

Maybe they made a bit too much of his relationship with whatserface (I *cannot* remember character names anymore. Senile soon). But I think they could still convincingly have them break up in the interregnum. Bond is always going to stay single.

biggytitbo

Quantum of Solace is the best bond film, a poignant mediation on grief and revenge with by far the most interesting relationship between Bond and the 'Bond girl' of any of the films. Tight and fat free, it also has the best and most realistic villainous scheme of any of the films,  plucked straight from real headlines. This is a film that completely exists in the real world, it's a raw and imperfect but that's why it's so good. It's bond without the pretenses or smoothed out edges, just a damaged man in a damaged world, with a damaged companion desperately trying to find some sort of closure and redemption to the terrible things the world has done to them. A great film, arguably too good to be a bond film, which is perhaps why some people seem to hate it so much.

itsfredtitmus

Quote from: biggytitbo on December 31, 2017, 11:56:59 PM
Quantum of Solace is the best bond film, a poignant mediation on grief and revenge with by far the most interesting relationship between Bond and the 'Bond girl' of any of the films. Tight and fat free, it also has the best and most realistic villainous scheme of any of the films,  plucked straight from real headlines. This is a film that completely exists in the real world, it's a raw and imperfect but that's why it's so good. It's bond without the pretenses or smoothed out edges, just a damaged man in a damaged world, with a damaged companion desperately trying to find some sort of closure and redemption to the terrible things the world has done to them. A great film, arguably too good to be a bond film, which is perhaps why some people seem to hate it so much.
you ever see Bourne?

Dr Rock

Quote from: biggytitbo on December 31, 2017, 11:56:59 PM
it also has the best and most realistic villainous scheme of any of the films,  plucked straight from real headlines.

I don't want realistic villainous schemes in my Bond films, there are other film series that can have them. Why can't Bond be a essentially daft? That's the fun!

kidsick5000

Quote from: biggytitbo on December 31, 2017, 11:56:59 PM
Quantum of Solace is the best bond film, a poignant mediation on grief and revenge with by far the most interesting relationship between Bond and the 'Bond girl' of any of the films. Tight and fat free, it also has the best and most realistic villainous scheme of any of the films,  plucked straight from real headlines. This is a film that completely exists in the real world, it's a raw and imperfect but that's why it's so good. It's bond without the pretenses or smoothed out edges, just a damaged man in a damaged world, with a damaged companion desperately trying to find some sort of closure and redemption to the terrible things the world has done to them. A great film, arguably too good to be a bond film, which is perhaps why some people seem to hate it so much.

I can never tell when Biggy is being facetious but this pretty much why I rate QOS as one of my favourites. It's the closest Bond gets to a procedural, there's no down time, the relationships make sense. While the fights weren't quite connect as hard as Casino Royale, the little things count for a lot. Like the way he stays on the guy after he bleeds out on the balcony, like a creature with its prey, partly making sure he's gone allso checking nobody clocked them and is raising the alarm.
I also like the way he trots around the hotel atrium avoiding M's people. Quiet move done to great effect.
Overall, it's a great sequel/coda to Casino Royale.

Rich Uncle Skeleton

Quote from: mothman on December 28, 2017, 08:43:22 PM
Plus, much as I love many of the Luv Besson films which showcase his work, fuck is Eric Serra's work on this terrible. Every so often you hear these little "pok" noises that are him deciding that what the soundtrack needs at this point is the sound of somebody hitting a piece of bamboo, or whatever it is.

That sound's a patch called Infinite on the Emu Proteus FX, it's the sound of a tambourine slowed way down for anyone wanting to pepper their HaHa Tape contribution with it. Bloody love it in the game especially and I like the film soundtrack a lot but get why some people can't stand it.

Quote from: mothman on December 28, 2017, 08:43:22 PMAnd then letting him sing over the end credits. I've no problem with there being an end-credits song - really, kd lang's Surrender should have been the title theme to Tomorrow Never Dies - but Serra's has to be the worst ever (though Madonna and Sam Smith had a good try at the title).

Yeah fuck that Serra track on the credits, each time I watch that film I'm just left thinking who the fuck does he think he is and why did nobody stop him and get someone else to do a track or just an instrumental of the title song? Mind boggling.

Agreed on Tomorrow Never Dies that track is ridiculously good. Pulp's offering is great too though Jarvis basically whispering the chorus instead of belting it out drags it down a bit.

Madonna and Sam Smith are easily the two worst, no mean feat making Licence To Kill sound good in comparison.

Rich Uncle Skeleton

Also after Skyfall did so much to repair the damage of QoS,  Spectre was an absolute piece of shit.

greenman

Quantum and Spectre to me kind of feel like opposites in strengths/weaknesses. I preffer the former but I do think its ultimately lacking in a bit of class falling rather too much back to the Bourne style action/plotting, Spectre is a bit of a mess but does have a bit more class to it and I'd say a superior cast which should really have been put to better use.

popcorn

It's extraordinary that they opted for Sam Smith over the two Radiohead songs they rejected. Especially the Spectre track, which is gorgeous.

Rich Uncle Skeleton

If anything it's lucky they didn't have their worked attached to such a terrible film, but you're right Spectre is a brilliant track. Glad the bond people got wind of them reheating a 20 year old song and asking for an original silver lining we got two great tracks out of it.

Sam Smith's track just makes me irrationally angry, especially since its the only one to get to number 1, I don't know why that annoys me so much. Again it's such a step down from Skyfall. I'm not a big Adele fan but that song was perfect for the film.

popcorn

Agreed on every count there, especially since Spectre is so hugely superior to Man of War.

greenman

It will be interesting to see what the keep from Spectre in the next one, Waltz obviously has potential but his Blofeld was ultimately pretty cartoonish and really seems to preclude much attempt to bring things down to earth again where as you'd think Fiennes would stay on and be well suited to that. Bond girls do actually have some holdover these days so I wouldn't be supprised to see Seydoux again, her character and Mr White were by far the best thing in that film IMHO.

kidsick5000

Quote from: Rich Uncle Skeleton on January 01, 2018, 01:23:24 PM
If anything it's lucky they didn't have their worked attached to such a terrible film, but you're right Spectre is a brilliant track. Glad the bond people got wind of them reheating a 20 year old song and asking for an original silver lining we got two great tracks out of it.

Sam Smith's track just makes me irrationally angry, especially since its the only one to get to number 1, I don't know why that annoys me so much. Again it's such a step down from Skyfall. I'm not a big Adele fan but that song was perfect for the film.

Are you me? My sentiments exactly.
In fact, I listened to Radiohead's Spectre so much that when I recently tried Spectre again, I was disappointed when the Sam Smith dirge started up.


Attila

I like the one with the roly-poly corgis.


kidsick5000

Quote from: greenman on January 01, 2018, 02:18:56 PM
It will be interesting to see what the keep from Spectre in the next one, Waltz obviously has potential but his Blofeld was ultimately pretty cartoonish and really seems to preclude much attempt to bring things down to earth again where as you'd think Fiennes would stay on and be well suited to that. Bond girls do actually have some holdover these days so I wouldn't be supprised to see Seydoux again, her character and Mr White were by far the best thing in that film IMHO.

I wouldn't be surprised if they walked away from the whole Blofeld-brother-everything-is-connected thing. It's as incongruous as the Aston Martin machine guns from Skyfall.
A daft decision that I half want them to readdress in the next one. "Were you really the mastermind behind everythng?" "Naaaah bruv. Just winding you up. Just googled you and made a couple of printouts"
That whole finale in the MI5 building was bloody stupid.

I hope Fiennes stays on, even if he seems to turn into the Peter Serafinowicz's Rigsby version. If Seydoux does make it to the next film, given that they seem set to stay together at the end of Spectre, I don't think that they'll let her last through the film. I was half expecting Spectre to have the OHMSS ending.

mothman

Quote from: Rich Uncle Skeleton on January 01, 2018, 01:03:32 PM

That sound's a patch called Infinite on the Emu Proteus FX, it's the sound of a tambourine slowed way down for anyone wanting to pepper their HaHa Tape contribution with it. Bloody love it in the game especially and I like the film soundtrack a lot but get why some people can't stand it.

Well I never, learn something new etc. It just takes me out of the fiom and make me think I'm watching, I dunno, The Big Blue (a film and soundtrack I do actually really like).

Quote from: kidsick5000 on January 01, 2018, 02:44:22 PM
That whole finale in the MI5 building was bloody stupid.

Plus, I know that they got the layout of the inside of the building completely wrong. And given that key members of the production have visited the place, either they ignored it or were asked to not depict things so exactly for security reasons. So I'll let that one pass. But, there still being fucking motorboats down in the basement/river-level dock? Why would they leave them there? Do they know nothing about modern demolition methods? It's totally nonsensical.

Dr Rock

And aside from the time they used the motorboat in that Brosnan film, I can't imagine many circumstances where it would be necessary to have a bunch of motorboats ready to burst onto the Thames. I bet that time we saw it was the only time it's ever been useful.

greenman

Quote from: kidsick5000 on January 01, 2018, 02:44:22 PM
I wouldn't be surprised if they walked away from the whole Blofeld-brother-everything-is-connected thing. It's as incongruous as the Aston Martin machine guns from Skyfall.
A daft decision that I half want them to readdress in the next one. "Were you really the mastermind behind everythng?" "Naaaah bruv. Just winding you up. Just googled you and made a couple of printouts"
That whole finale in the MI5 building was bloody stupid.

I hope Fiennes stays on, even if he seems to turn into the Peter Serafinowicz's Rigsby version. If Seydoux does make it to the next film, given that they seem set to stay together at the end of Spectre, I don't think that they'll let her last through the film. I was half expecting Spectre to have the OHMSS ending.

On one level though I can be a bit more  forgiving of it as the film was at least an attempt to go something different in merging the modern style with a Moore era larger than life adventure even if it ended up being a rather clunky mix.

With Bloefeld its less the mastermind role which isn't too far off of the previous NWO like shadey criminal group and more the personal and over the top way it was played that seems much more "moonbase master race" than it does "neoliberial 0.0001%er". I'm not sure I can imagine that character involved with a plot similar to those we saw in the first two Craig films although I spose moving past him wouldn't be that hard would it? he's already been captured and perhaps someone else more akin to Mr White rises and dismisses him as a lunatic who took things too personally?

I do tend to think one weakness of Quantum was that whilst it came up with arguably the best Bond girl in background it went with a more typical casting in Kurylenko, not bad but she didn't really give much of an edge to the character either for me where as Seydoux character's rejection of and threats to Craig did carry some weight to them.  If the film does carry on with a Blofeldless quantum/spectre then she seems like an obvious link back to it as well with some link though her father.

mothman

Quote from: Dr Rock on January 01, 2018, 04:36:48 PM
And aside from the time they used the motorboat in that Brosnan film, I can't imagine many circumstances where it would be necessary to have a bunch of motorboats ready to burst onto the Thames. I bet that time we saw it was the only time it's ever been useful.

Yes, I presume it must have been foremost in their minds when they were thinking "how do we get Bond out of a still-pretty-secure abandoned building about to be demolished in about one minute?" I can't recall if any of the boats there resembled the TWINE river-chase boat at all...

Sebastian Cobb

[tag]Films for Clarksons[/tag]

Blumf

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on January 01, 2018, 07:18:49 PM
[tag]Films for Clarksons[/tag]

Wonder what Clarkson's fave Bond film is.

I'd always thought Connery would be his Bond, and Goldfinger would be his straight down the middle choice.

He says here that Moore is his best Bond, and For Your Eyes Only is his top film, but that could just be Phil Space obituary talk. FYEO? Really?

popcorn

Quote from: Rich Uncle Skeleton on January 01, 2018, 01:03:32 PM

That sound's a patch called Infinite on the Emu Proteus FX, it's the sound of a tambourine slowed way down for anyone wanting to pepper their HaHa Tape contribution with it. Bloody love it in the game especially and I like the film soundtrack a lot but get why some people can't stand it.


Thank you for this fascinating bit of trivia. Love stuff like this. I've got to go and find that sound now.

I think I got this from CaB in the first place years ago, but the car chase music from GoldenEye is worth examining in isolation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahi2gmwDhhw