11 replies to this topic

[Blue Eyes]

Thought this might provoke something. It never really crossed my head. But I received both of these in an e-mail today and thought they had some clever points:

 Anyone else notice how the character of Kamran Shah and the Afghan resistance storyline in The Living Daylights takes on a whole new meaning in the light of recent events?

Which something replied to with

It's been going through my mind a lot.  Actually, while seeking some sort of distraction, I popped "The Living Daylights" into my VCR very soon after the attacks and halfway through the movie was very, very sorry.  I couldn't help wondering which side Kamran
eventually found himself on, and look what buffoons the ex-Soviets looked like, and so forth and so on.  

Actually, Bond is the original lone-wolf-terrorist buster, isn't he?  Not much of a distraction anywhere in the series.  One might argue that "License to Kill" was a wasted story about Bond going after a relatively isolated, small-potatoes drug lord rather than saving the world, but now that we've been reminded (as was
also shown in "The Living Daylights), that at least some of these terrorists get their money from mega-drug deals, maybe not so small...

Then again, this has given Bond a whole *new* lease on life in some people's eyes.  Remember all those critics who have been complaining that with the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was left "only" to fight a terrorist here and there and wasn't so
interesting any more?  

Really, hasn't he actually been doing that all along?  So I guess we can say he's been ahead of the times for 40 years.

--S.

Interesting hey!

[Blue Eyes]

Isn't it strange how the tables have turned? The Mujahahdin, who aided Bond against the Russians and were always against the Russians, could now very well be the fighters whom would attack America. And therefore Bond!

You know it could make a very interesting piece of fiction. Once Bond's allie and now his enemy. Very interesting indeed.

[Blofeld's Cat]

I am now reading that this whole new Afganistan 'issue' will actually bring Russia and the US closer together in the cause to fight terrorism.
How ironic, that one attacked Afganistan and ended up having their own Vietnam war, while the other had their Vietnam war, and plan to attack Afganistan.

[Jacques Nexus]

This is a very clever topic. The question is: is Kamran Shah now a bin Laden terrorist ? or is he fighting the evil Taliban regime as a member of the Northern Alliance ?.....He was educated in Britain...and besides, he seemed like a pleasant enough chap to me !...so I guess he may NOT be a terrorist these days (although some of the fighters at his side looked evil enough to be Taliban supporters now).

[zencat]

Blue Eyes (26 Sep, 2001 02:47 a.m.):
Isn't it strange how the tables have turned? The Mujahahdin, who aided Bond against the Russians and were always against the Russians, could now very well be the fighters whom would attack America. And therefore Bond!

You know it could make a very interesting piece of fiction. Once Bond's allie and now his enemy. Very interesting indeed.

You're right, Blue Eyes. This could be a VERY interesting plot. What if Kamran Shah returned as a Bin Laden-like villian? What happened to him? Why did he turn on the West? Does he have a legit beef, or has he just gone insane in the desert? Could be wild!

[White Persian]

Yep, its Art Malik.

[Blue Eyes]

It is the same actor isn't it White Persian?

[White Persian]

If Kamran Shah DID become a Bin Laden type terrorist, he'd have ended up as the character played by Art Malik in James Cameron's Bond homage, "True Lies"

[Blue Eyes]

Exactly what I was thinking. Put perhaps that is too much Draco ala NDOD? I could personally imagine him in the Northern Alliance. Perhaps Bond could have some mission in Afghanistan to recover top secret info contained on a CD. And who helps him out... Shah!

[zencat]

It's a very interesting topic. I have been thinking about TLD a lot lately. I choose to believe that Kamran Shah would now be a part of the Northern Alliance who have been fighting the Taliban for years. Seeing as he was educated in the West, Shah struck me as someone who wanted to free Afghanistan from the Russians and then help lead it into the modern world. Certainly the Taliban would be a enemy in that cause.

Too bad we didn't have novelizations back then because it would have been interesting to know Kamran Shah

[RossMan]

Very interesting.
The other week I heard something on the news where they briefly mentioned the Mujahahdin (spelling??) which is of course the rebel fighters who were portrayed in TLD as Bond's allies. I wish I could recall what was said exactly.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Don't forget that the Mujahahdin were the 'good guys' fighting the invading 'evil empire', as Ronald Reagan called Russia.
When TLD was made, this 'theatre of action' was very topical. In fact, real life events started to overtake the production of TLD, to actually make it more interesting upon its release.
How things have changed. TLD look's a bit naive now.