Amph 60+ Years of James Bond 007

Ideally the next Bond to be set back during the Cold War. I think the Bond flavor just works better in that period, and it would help set it apart from Bournes, MIs, etc.

Also, we wouldn't get lazy screenwriters using "computer stuff" as a magic wand of plot advancement like they do in just about every modern-day setting spy story, action film, thriller, etc.

 

I dunno, we are finally getting the chance to feature Russians as villains again what with all this topical anti-Russian sentiment that's going on today. You can easily make a Bond film that feels Cold War-esque in today's political climate.

 

But even Fleming moved the novels away from Cold War politics, so there's no real need to anchor the character in that period.

I felt they had a great opportunity with Quantum to explore a series of power dynamics, which they wasted quite franky.

I mean, for me, I'd have put Idris Elba in as M - Bond as an avatar of a white, hetero, male, wealthy privilege being stationary as the world around him changes. A young, Bondian head of the service, who is black? Perfect way to try to highlight British equality and progress. And an organisation that is using all sorts of cynical manipulation along the way, to expand its power base? It's how Fleming's S.P.E.C.T.R.E functioned back then, but made relevant to the digital world.

I remember someone in a leftist paper fretting about how the Bond films had made the villain an environmentalist, as if that's what they did. But if you think how enviro-business is profitable and tied to aspiration and hope, it makes Quantum look extremely opportunistic and cynical. Why not have a Quantum operative who is a leading anti-inequality campaigner basically smokescreening a run on the key British banks with whom Quantum's employers have a rivalry? It hits the note people's general distrust of banking today and says the hope of reform, of a "better tomorrow" can be turned to advantage by sufficiently sinister people.

I don't know, I feel Skyfall, whilst beautiful, set up SPECTRE which was arse. And they can't walk back from that too easily.

 

I really enjoyed the direction that CR/QOS was going in. Watching Skyfall and Spectre after watching the earlier films is extremely jarring, but I say that as someone who enjoys Skyfall and can easily dissociate it from its follow-up.

Also, people are dumb. Dominic Greene is not an environmentalist. QoS wasn't about him siphoning Bolivia's water supply in order to preserve and protect an ecosystem.

Sent from Hell--depending on whether or not it exists.

 

The political climate isn't the only factor that makes setting a film a few decades back appealing; for me it isn't even the primary one. It's also a level of technology and overall culture that I think a Bond character feels less out of place in.

There's only so many times they can do the self-aware "You're an anachronism, Bond" song and dance.

 

I agree with ender that taking the films back in time is not necessary. However... I really loved what Noah Hawley did with Legion, with its non-specific time period, and I wouldn't mind him given shot at a Bond movie. I don't really see the Bond films as serious spy films though - they tend to be big heroic adventures, they don't need to be tied to a political reality imo.

 

Perhaps I should've said "50s-70s" (and mayyyybe 80s) rather than "Cold War", because the political situation is really not what I was getting at Bond feeling more 'right' in. I was thinking of the social norms, the tech, the locations, the clothes, the etc. etc. etc.

Secret island bases are more fun if they can't be found in ten seconds thanks to drones and satellite imaging. Villainous plots are more fun when writers can't rely on magic nerds and their computer machines to do whatever the plot requires. Bond being Bond will cause less unfun complaining from a certain sort about outdated sexual politics if he's Bonding in the past. Casinos are more fun when they're the glamorous destinations of the past not the windowless psychologist-designed pits of misery and desperation of today. Exotic locales are more fun before they're full of middle class Western 20somethings taking pictures for their Instagram. I could go on for days listing Bond-y stuff that's better in the past.

Then there's providing a clear divide from the Craig films, allowing them to find their own tone from the start instead of getting the common post-actorswitch awkwardness. Not to mention differentiating it from Bourne, MI, etc. Spectre especially suffered from having a very similar plot to MI: Rogue Nation while being the markedly inferior film.

No, Bond doesn't need to go back in time, but there's so many benefits to doing so and so few reasons not to (there's what, fear of change, increasing the ease of audience identification, and potential for modern sociopolitical commentary? Anything else?) that I really do think he should.

Ender's idea, making Bond's anachronistic nature a focus, only works for a movie or two IMO, before starting to feel like a self-flaggelatory repudiation of what Bond is, sacrificing him on the altar of Relevant Social Commentary. If not handled well, it could feel like that from the start.


...Or maybe I just like cute girls with 60s/70s hair. Not sure.

 

I don't really like the whole secret base thing in Bond films. At least in the Craig era they went out of their way to make the evil underground lairs somewhat plausible (my favorite being Silva's "radioactive" island) but I never want to see a Blofeld monstrosity again unless it's more akin to the Piz Gloria.

I even didn't mind Trevalyan's satellite bunker in Goldeneye.

Sent from Hell--depending on whether or not it exists.

 

Happy Birthday to...

 

So basically, more QoS, less Skyfall?

 

I know this is a generally unpopular opinion, but QoS is quite underrated IMO, and its flaws (while genuine enough) are given disproportionate attention vs. its strengths. So yes, in some ways at least.

I did enjoy Skyfall (despite issues like the villain apparently having a crystal ball, classic move of screenwriters who want to write a mastermind without actually having to think up a clever scheme), but it's the sort of movie that I think works best as a once-in-a-while oddity, not a template for the series to follow.

 

NOT UNPOPULAR WITH ME <3

No but seriously a lot of savages dislike QoS, but it's bloody tops.

 

QoS is great, I don't care what anyone says. I enjoyed the video game too. Of course when it comes to Bond it's not too often I'm completely dissatisfied. Die Another Day, View to a Kill, and Diamonds are Forever are probably my least favorite films but I still got enough bits of enjoyment to own them. Right now I'm really enjoying the comics at Dynamite, but I have yet to read the new volume.

 

I know I've written this before, but the one saving grace of the Spectre debacle would be the rehabilitation of QOS. It may, in certain passages, play like a Daniel Craig Bond film on speed, but at least it IS a Daniel Craig Bond film, with all the indelible characters, committed performances, and thematic weight that entails.

 

QoS is underrated, but having said that I don't find it terribly re-watchable. Skyfall may have gigantic holes in the plot but if it's playing on tv I generally get hooked because there are so many good scenes; when QoS comes on I always intend to watch it through but there are so few really good scenes (imo - it's all subjective) vs the many things which actively irritate me about the film. It does have a evil plot that actually holds water, though (see what I did there?), and that's no small triumph for a Bond movie.

Spectre's still dreck, though.

 

Roger Moore has passed away.

 

Oh no Roger Moore has passed away. One of my childhood icons and a staple of TV growing up in the 80's with the Bond movies being on a lot. He was my favourite Bond for a long time too.

 

No .
Sad to see him go .

RIP Roger , he was a big tv and movie hero of mine , from The Saint to The Persuaders and Bond , many many hours of great entertainment , he had that light touch that is very rare , and a great guy in real life by all accounts too .

.

 

I was just watching an episode of The Persuaders yesterday. He was very good at what he did, even if his Bond work is no longer fashionable or in line from what we want of the character today.

 

Remember, folks: The Bond movies were devolving into silliness (YOLT) and sheer stupidity (DAF) before Moore stepped in. What Moore did was make them palatable.

Rest in peace, Sir Roger. And kudos for your UNICEF work.

 

Wow I hate to hear that. He was Bond when I grew up.

 

Sad news. This is a good obituary: Sir Roger Moore (1927-2017)