Watching all the James Bond movies (SPOILERS) (1 Viewer)

[benbess]

Regé-Jean Page has also been mentioned.

 

[benbess]

.....To this point, on another board I offered a (quickly disputed) theory: that Michael and Barbara may consider remaking the original Bond flicks -- Dr. No, From Russia With Love, etc. Not to replicate the mores of the era, and not even to set them in the '60s, but to update them for modern-day realities while still accomplishing some of the visuals and set-pieces of the books. And this time, thanks to CGI, they'd have the luxury of hewing more faithfully to Fleming's imagery. Dr. No, for example, did not die submerged in radioactive water in the novel; he was drowned under a giant pile of guano deposited on him by a steam shovel operated by Bond. Not so easy to depict on film in 1962; a layup today....

Interesting idea. I know EON has said that Bond is going to remain theatrical, but I wonder if a series of streaming movies running parallel to the theatrical movies might attempt more faithful adaptations of the original novels.

 

[Camps]

Thanks, benbess. I just couldn't think of many ideas on how the producers deal with the conundrum of what they do next.

* Spoiler *

Do they do a re-boot via Sopranos-style prequels? Do they just intro a new, live Bond guy and just continue on as if nothing happened, saying "Never mind" about the NTTD ending? After all, this isn't a sci-fi series; they can't bring Bond back to life via a regenerative planet (a la Spock) or simply throw him back into the Tardis Box and bring out another Dr. Who. How do they propose to pull this off?

 

[benbess]

Although Barbara Broccoli of EON productions has said no thanks to streaming for Bond for the near future, she seemed to maybe leave the door open a tiny bit?

"It’s tough to think about the future until this film has its moment," Broccoli told Total Film. "I think we just really want to celebrate this and celebrate Daniel, and then when the dust settles, then look at the landscape and figure out what the future is.”

No, James Bond isn’t getting a TV show on Amazon Prime Video

Bond is sticking to the big screen

www.techradar.com

 

[Sam Favate]

I always thought they should adapt the John Gardner novels for the screen. Would solve the problem of using the same poor writers they’ve used for 22 years and get the series back to its literary roots.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Thanks, benbess. I just couldn't think of many ideas on how the producers deal with the conundrum of what they do next.

* Spoiler *

Do they do a re-boot via Sopranos-style prequels? Do they just intro a new, live Bond guy and just continue on as if nothing happened, saying "Never mind" about the NTTD ending? After all, this isn't a sci-fi series; they can't bring Bond back to life via a regenerative planet (a la Spock) or simply throw him back into the Tardis Box and bring out another Dr. Who. How do they propose to pull this off?

They should just reboot again like they did with Craig. He wasn’t the same Bond that ran from Dr. No through Die Another Day.

 

[TravisR]

They should just reboot again like they did with Craig. He wasn’t the same Bond that ran from Dr. No through Die Another Day.

I don't know what the intent was but I've always considered each actor's Bond to not be connected to the other Bonds. Each one is self-contained in my mind.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don't know what the intent was but I've always considered each actor's Bond to not be connected to the other Bonds. Each one is self-contained in my mind.

They both are and aren’t, at least for films 1-20.

For instance, in OHMSS, Lazenby Bond threatens to quit and packs up his desk, which is full of mementos from Connery Bond. Yet, when Bond and Blofeld meet, they don’t immediately recognize each other even though they finally came face to face in the previous film.

Roger Moore Bond visits Tracy’s grave at the beginning of FYEO.

There’s other little stuff scattered throughout. On the whole, it’s not something the films dwell on so I try not to either. I think the intent is that they’re the same character but the films play down any passage of time so it generally works however you need it to work.

 

[Camps]

The characters of Bond, Blofeld and Felix Leiter were continuing threads throughout the life of the series and throughout different actors.

I guess they'll simply do what Paramount did with the Star Trek franchise. I guess the Chris Pine Capt. Kirk is a "prequel" Kirk after all, is he not?

 

[TravisR]

They both are and aren’t, at least for films 1-20.

For instance, in OHMSS, Lazenby Bond threatens to quit and packs up his desk, which is full of mementos from Connery Bond. Yet, when Bond and Blofeld meet, they don’t immediately recognize each other even though they finally came face to face in the previous film.

Roger Moore Bond visits Tracy’s grave at the beginning of FYEO.

There’s other little stuff scattered throughout. On the whole, it’s not something the films dwell on so I try not to either. I think the intent is that they’re the same character but the films play down any passage of time so it generally works however you need it to work.

I know there's a few things that go across actors & movies but the passage of time is exactly why I choose to think of each actor as the Bond of his own 'universe'. The backstory might be the same (your example of On Her Majesty's Secret Service/For Your Eyes Only is a good one) but I don't think of the guy from Dr. No being literally the same guy in Die Another Day. Certain major events just happened to both versions of the character.

 

[Worth]

Although Barbara Broccoli of EON productions has said no thanks to streaming for Bond for the near future, she seemed to maybe leave the door open a tiny bit?

"It’s tough to think about the future until this film has its moment," Broccoli told Total Film. "I think we just really want to celebrate this and celebrate Daniel, and then when the dust settles, then look at the landscape and figure out what the future is.”

I think it's entirely possible that Broccoli and Wilson will bow out with this one and sell their stake in Bond.

 

[Worth]

I know there's a few things that go across actors & movies but the passage of time is exactly why I choose to think of each actor as the Bond of his own 'universe'. The backstory might be the same (your example of On Her Majesty's Secret Service/For Your Eyes Only is a good one) but I don't think of the guy from Dr. No being literally the same guy in Die Another Day. Certain major events just happened to both versions of the character.

I think of Connery/Lazenby/Moore as all being the same character along the same timeline, from about the age of thirty to his early-fifties. Dalton and Brosnan exist in another timeline, shifted about fifteen years later, and Craig is of course entirely separate from the others.

 

[benbess]

I think it's entirely possible that Broccoli and Wilson will bow out with this one and sell their stake in Bond.

That does seem possible. Perhaps I missed it, but I haven't heard of a next generation Broccoli who is involved in EON. I suppose they could even sell and still remain on as consultants for the next 5-15 years.

(If Lucas could sell Lucasfilm and Star Wars...)

 

[Dave Moritz]

I grew up with Roger Moore as James Bond as I got into watching 007 starting with The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. And even then for some crazy reason it was not until I watched Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade did I actually get into Sean Connery. After that point I went back and started watching the Sean Connery 007 movies. I learned to appreciate the early Bond movies and now have the entire set not including No Time To Die of course. To me there are core elements that are in the Bond character that each actor has kept even while adding a little of themselves to the roll. But moving forward after Daniel Craig it is very hard to say who will be the next Bond if if pc and what is going on with society will have any impact on the next 007. And even though I grew up with Roger Moore as James Bond and discovering Sean Connery as 007 the new movies for me have placed Daniel Craig on top as 007. To my knowledge no other movie franchise has the number of films and has spanned as much time as James Bond. I still love the older movies like Goldfinger, Dr No, Moonraker, The Spy Who Loved Me, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies and Die Another Day. But now Skyfall, Specter and No Time To Die are at the top and now what will follow?

 

[JimmyO]

If they wanted to retcon that James Bond is a code name, that would be a pretty big retcon. His family name is Bond, as has been shown through several of the films in various ways. If however, they wanted to declare from here forwards Bond is a code name, they could certainly do that. Just so long as they don't try and pretend it was always a code name.

Honestly though, I think we've had to suspend disbelief to the point where - does it matter? A new Bond comes along who is a new actor altogether and they reboot - it worked before, why not again? In this case I think its necessary when a Bond dies, but they could likely go through another handful of actors over the next 40 years and just keep the timeline going without a reboot if they decide to do that. The audience has already demonstrated that they will accept whatever given with respect to actors and timelines. This is not new ground.

 

[benbess]

I've seen No Time To Die twice already, once in a Cinemark theater, and the other time at AMC in 3D. And I've actually just gotten a ticket with AMC A-list to see it a third time today, yet again in 3D.

I think the last time I watched a Bond movie more than once in the theater was For Your Eyes Only.

Has anyone else here seen NTTD more than once? And are there any additional reviews of NTTD that anyone feels like posting?

 

[benbess]

In terms of the multiple James Bonds, it does seem like EON has long practiced what might be called "strategic ambiguity." I mean, right now it could almost be read either way I think. And so going forward being ambiguous might be wise. In other words, with a new Bond and possibly a new MI6 crew they might just carry on. But as when Lazenby said in OHMSS, "This never happened to the other fella," maybe there is some subtle and ambiguous way to acknowledge the passing of Craig's Bond?

By the way, that quote is found starting at about 3:55 in this clip from On Her Majesty's Secret Service from 1969.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

My take is that you just make a new Bond movie. It made sense to reboot for the very specific reason that Eon finally had the rights to do Casino Royale, the first novel, so why not use that as the starting point?

But I don’t think it makes sense to remake Casino Royale at this moment, and without the need to do the origin story novel, there’s no need to do anything other than what Dr. No or Live And Let Die did. Dr. No is quite possibly my favorite of the series and everything in it just works. If they call the next actor “Bond” onscreen, we’ll accept that he’s Bond. If he calls his boss “M,” we’ll accept that person is M.

 

[Virgoan]

Critics Debate: Is ‘No Time to Die’ a Triumph or a Letdown? And Where Does the James Bond Series Go From Here?

The release of "No Time to Die" marks a crucial turning point for James Bond. Variety critics Owen Gleiberman and Peter Debruge discuss.

variety.com

Owen Gleiberman: ...."Consider how the ending of “No Time to Die” completes the James Bond films. Think of how many of those movies, over 60 years, reference death in the title. “Live and Let Die.” “Tomorrow Never Dies.” “Die Another Day.” “You Only Live Twice.” The essence of James Bond, as a character, is that he lives every day on the edge of death — and that he embraces that precarious and existential state of being. It’s what liberates him. (It’s what makes him, in the earlier films, a libertine.) But the reason he accepts death is that he knows he’d be dying for a higher purpose: MI6, Britain, Western Civilization. He’s the knight of the postwar world, and he lives out its freedoms and its pleasures. But he’ll die, at any moment, for that life he believes in protecting. And that’s why what he does at the end of “No Time to Die” feels right. It’s not a change of character. It’s a quintessentially Bondian move. He embraces death…as an act of saving."

No “spoiler” alert?

 

[TonyD]

The characters of Bond, Blofeld and Felix Leiter were continuing threads throughout the life of the series and throughout different actors.

I guess they'll simply do what Paramount did with the Star Trek franchise. I guess the Chris Pine Capt. Kirk is a "prequel" Kirk after all, is he not?

He is not.