The James Bond Thread: RIP Robbie Coltrane

[Georgy Zhukov]

Maybe it will be a Jewish terrorist in Israel by the name of Gold?

They fucked up Blofeld in the films. They killed off his bride and what could have been a thrilling sequel with George Lazenby was just another Sean Connery film. I have to admit, Diamoinds are Forever is a lot better than You Only Live Twice, but fuck did they blow the budget on that oil rig. Made a ton of money though. I think I know why Diamonds and Live and Let Die made so much money. They took place in the U.S. Certainly would get Americans interested.

Maybe the next Bond villain is going to be black?

Also, I can't believe I missed this one

Licence to Kill reference. Palm coded grip for PPK/S. Bond used a similar grip in LTK with the camera converted sniper rifle that only fires for him due to coded grip

Following the international Box Office for Skyfall. Edward's got nothing on Bond. Anyone know if they opened in China yet? It is at $5 million in Japan after 3 days.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Georgy Zhukov

[Crazyman]

I have to admit, Diamoinds are Forever is a lot better than You Only Live Twice

Whoa whoa whoa...what? In no way is DAF better than YOLT. Diamonds are Forever is by far the worst Connery film. It's a bad movie and Connery looks like he doesn't give a shit throughout.

[Georgy Zhukov]

He didn't seem to give a shit in YOLT. I think they were both bad movies but I prefer DAF. I wasn't a fan of Spock-Bond. Some impressive action scenes, I like the bit when the British stuntmen were more willing to slide down 100 feet of rope than real Japanese ninjas.

It should be noted that YOLT was the Bond franchise going into decline. They reached too far for their own good. That entire volcano set cost as much as Dr. No. The result was a film that was successful but not quite as Thunderball. Diamonds Are Forever at least generated interest in the series.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Georgy Zhukov

[Crazyman]

He didn't seem to give a shit in YOLT.

True, but it still has a better cast, better stunts, better action, etc. than DAF, which is a complete bore to me. Not to mention, the editing in it is terrible as well.

Plus I feel like Connery gave at least minimal effort for YOLT...but nothing at all in DAF, like he was there to just collect the paycheck.

[Georgy Zhukov]

Maybe he was relieved that it was his last film?

The Blofeld Death Ray bit was stupid. The film was a mess, it seemed like they had to scrap together some Connery elements and forget everything about OHMSS. They did it ever so subtly when Moneypenny asks for a diamond ring (engagement ring) which would have been a little insensitive. People should stop saying OHMSS would have been better with Connery, they wouldn't marry his Bond.

[Georgy Zhukov]

Interesting article.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/20121130114233497311.html

With that said, Skyfall will be huge in China.

[DieselDaisy]

I prefer YOLT to DAF. For all its faults it does have an escapist camp '60s' charm. Connery, a 6 footer scotchman dressed Japanese: you have to like it. By the way the short story The Living Daylights is absolutely superb. By far my favourite of the shorts. I couldn't put it down.

Edited December 6, 2012 by DieselDaisy

[Georgy Zhukov]

Yeah, that is one of the reasons I did not like YOLT, it was rediculous, even for a Bond film. Little Nellie was cool though. SPECTRE has some shitty helicopter pilots.

DAF was more fun for me. The moon buggy chase, The gay henchmen, the obvious reference to Howard Hughes, the ending was stupid though. But there was Bambi and Thumper.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Georgy Zhukov

[James Bond]

Diamonds and Twice both rank near the bottom for me. Diamonds is worse for me though. St. John is hot but she's an awful lead, half the film she's okay and then half she's a total bimbo. Charles Gray was horribly miscast as Blofeld and to make it worse, they dress him in drag. The editing is awful ("Ca-Ca-Cairo!") and it's yet another car stunt ruined. It enters the alleyway on one set of wheels and comes out on the other. Very lazily directed - Guy Hamilton added an insert during the close-up which shows the car switching wheels. I'm all for fantasy in Bond but that's just lazy. Apparently the previous take had too much of a crowd in the background when they shot it. It's Las Vegas - not exactly improbable there'd be a crowd on the street. The secondary stunt team did the stunt on the opposite set of wheels and they kept it.

That's what Diamonds is to me overall - a very lazy effort. "Oh good, Sean's back. We don't really have to worry about too much else."

That said, I do think Sean's performance is better in Diamonds. A little more casual and a little less bored than Twice, which is where you can tell he had had it. It's also unfair to say he's walking through the film just for the paycheck - he donated the entire salary to his Scottish education trust fund.

[Georgy Zhukov]

I saw that take when the car came out right. There was no way they could use it because it the crowd at the road block they used so they can actually film there. It would have been weird if they filmed the actual crowd watching the filming. But I agree, it was lazy and Guy Hamilton just blames it on the French stuntmen.

Yeah it was lazy alright. Sean Connery was a last minute casting, they already had a Bond cast, an American by the name of John Gavin. They wanted to make Bond American so he can be accessible to Americans, but Connery agreed to come back as long he gets enough money (to donate to a Scottish education program) and he gets to golf once a week. He got on really well with Jimmy Dean, of all people

[Powerage5]

http://www.vulture.com/2008/11/how_james_bond_nearly_became_a.html

[Georgy Zhukov]

http://www.vulture.c...y_became_a.html

Bond actually did have a son in the books.

[James Bond]

It's been so long since I watched the documentary but you're probably right, maybe the take was unusable. Still, a very lazy decision.

It's no wonder Connery looked like he was enjoying himself more. Gets to joke around with Jimmy Dean and play golf, plus get a shit ton of money to start his education fund. Not exactly a bad deal.

And Bond's probably got many kids we don't know about. Apparently during the height of AIDS awareness in the 1980s there was actually talk of including a scene where it would be implied that Bond is putting on a condom. Can you imagine?

Glad they scrapped the baby thing for Quantum though.

[Georgy Zhukov]

The filming of DAF was like a family reunion. I believe it was also in a contract that he can take a nap between takes. Basically everyone had a blast. A lot different than the last time they did a film when several people almost died.

Oh I wouldn't be surprised if a portion of the film's budget was blown in the casinos. Much of the crew were gambling. They all ended up losing money.

They seemed to have for The Living Daylights when there was only one woman Bond slept with. Okay, two that 80's looking chick in the pre-title sequence. It worked well since Bond was suppose to get close to the girl and he couldn't do that if he was fucking a bunch of women. He got with Talisa Soto in the next film, one of the hottest Bond girls ever.

I think that article proves why Marc Forster was a good choice. He made some strange decisions but he saved the film from a terrible script.

[James Bond]

That's why I definitely think Connery gave a better performance in Diamonds even though I prefer watching You Only Live Twice. He seems like he's having some fun with it, as was everybody probably. Definitely less tension then there had been on You Only Live Twice. I'm reading a great biography of Connery right now, where it mentions he absolutely never got on with Harry Saltzman. This is briefly discussed in the new Everything or Nothing documentary for the 50th. I guess him and Cubby were fine but him and Harry kept distancing themselves which also probably added some pressure. From what I gather though, Harry started distancing himself from everybody.

Taliso Soto is drop dead gorgeous in that movie. Aside from a few clunky lines of dialogue her and Carey Lowell were great Bond girls.

I do think Marc Forster takes a lot of flak for problems that were mostly the script, but I still think he's the wrong director for Bond. Good at drama, not so much action. Quantum was a real mixed bag.

[Georgy Zhukov]

Yeah, I heard about Harry and Cubby distancing themselves. Cubby was clearly the guy calling the shots, so Harry left. I think Maurice Binder stayed close with Harry.

I don't understand the hate Cary got, she was great. I think when they realized she got too independent they made her dumb by the end of the movie. Dumb and hormonal. Talisa would have been great at the main Bond girl but I guess they didn't want a Latin American actress at the time. Today they would have. I remember awhile back they were looking at Indian actresses but so far they have been staying white.

His action scenes were hit or miss but QoS could have been a lot worse. You don't even feel the affects of the Writer's Strike like you do with Transformers 2.

[DieselDaisy]

At the end of You Only Live Twice (Novel) Kissy Suzuki is pregnant with Bond's child. Bond however leaves for Vladivostok to begin pursuing his former life. Possibly Fleming would have done something with it in a future storyline had he lived longer.

[Georgy Zhukov]

I know future authors mentioned him but it was stupid.

I am sure MI6 has a lot of paternity suits covered.

[Facekicker]

I still can't believe what they did to

the Aston Martin DB5

at the end of Skyfall.

They should be dragged across hot coal for that. What are the implications for future movies?

Very fucking annoying.

[Georgy Zhukov]

There will always be more. I don't think the first DB5 from Goldfinger was recovered

[Facekicker]

Yeah but it just starts to look ridiculous continuity wise.

I like how it was introduced in Casino Royale

but with Skyfall it doesn't make sense continuity wise to

have the exact same model care, in storage suddenly tricked out like the one from Goldfinger and then getting destroyed at the end. If they bring it back all tricked up again it is just kind of dumb. There was no need to destroy it in Skyfall. None. They should have left it well alone so that it can reappear again as needed. Can't believe the producers let that one happen.

[Georgy Zhukov]

Continuity doesn't matter in Bond films. Skyfall like most Bond films isn't really continuing from other Bond films. If they wanted contunuity they would have cast a different M than Judi Dench since in GoldenEye she was recently promoted and cast in Casino Royale when Bond just received his 00 status.

[Facekicker]

Yeah but Casino Royale WAS presented as a reboot, Dench or not. Quantum of Solace was a direct follow on of the story. Now they have just thrown all of that interesting development away. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a great Bond film apart from that. I just think they fucked up by screwing the continuity aspect unnecessarily.

[Georgy Zhukov]

Wasn't the first time though. From Russia With Love was a direct sequel to Dr. No. Bond is seeing Sylvia Trench, they talk of Jamaica and Bond killing Dr. No. After that they didn't really continue. OHMSS did not follow DAF, and events only been referenced but never explained. QoS probably could have been a separate film but writers strike got the team to make it a direct sequel and go from there. Skyfall has little references to QoS, and I do hate it when people bring up Vesper in his conversation to Severine.

[Georgy Zhukov]

Does anyone else think Live and Let Die makes all black people look evil?