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[Donovan]

I know there was another thread a while back about this treatment and some other speculation about what would have been the third Timothy Dalton film. But I recently acquired this treatment, and having read the older thread, felt that a more concise breakdown of the story would help others understand the story better.

Characters
James Bond

Connie Webb - American adventuress, athletic, free lance hired to infiltrate various labs by stealth

Sir Henry Lee Ching - half British/half Chinese entrepreneur, mid 30s, brilliant with complex technical designs.

Denholm Crisp - set to retire from the Secret Service, Bond's contact in Japan...seems to be modeled on the film version of Henderson from YOLT

Otto Winkhart - Connie's contact for her recent free lance jobs for Sir Henry

Nigel Yupland - rising star in the Ministry of Defence, would love to see the OO section disbanded. "The cowboy days are over, Bond. I want you reporting to me every step of the way."

Kohoni Twins - physically huge Japanese twins, together head the Kohoni Industrial Empire, and are ruthless Yukzi organized crime members (as the treatment spells it, but I have also seen it spelled Yakuzi)

Rodin - Sir Henry's henchman, heavyset, uses a special helmet with various heads-up displays

Mi Wai - (or the highway?) Female Chinese agent

Quen Low - Chinese secret service head, suspects the British as planning to reneg on promise hand control of Hong Kong over to China in '97. Mi Wai's boss.

############
FIRST ACT

Nothing is provided for the opening sequence, except that there of course was a plan to have one. By contrast, the treatment for Bond XVI (ultimately "Licence to Kill") at the time did at least have the basic outline for the pre-titles.

The film proper starts with the British military and an elite bomb squad supervised by Yupland searching a chemical weapons lab in Scotland. Nothing is found. Among the lab's equipment are special robotic devices used to handle jobs too dangerous for humans, such as performing tests. Suddenly one of the robotic machines acts crazy, and a fire breaks out. Outside the lab, Yupland and the military dive for cover as the building explodes.

In the House of Commons, the Prime Minister is being angrily questioned about the explosion. After consulting Nigel Yupland, she assures everyone that the matter is being carefully investigated.

In M's office, Bond meets Yupland, who comes off as a stuffy bureaucrat, and believes due to the impending crumbling of the Soviet Union (which would in fact later dissolve on December 31, 1991) the OO section is outdated and should be disbanded. But the PM has faith in M and his department, and wants them to investigate the lab destruction. There was a threatening letter sent by anonymous terrorists, but no demands were made. Another threatening letter was sent to the British in Hong Kong with the promise that in three days another attack will occur. No one can tell how the plant was destroyed, as there was no evidence of a bomb. M is very concerned, commenting that they have 72 hours to "find out who is behind this. What they plan to do. And to stop it." (remember M's marching orders to Bond in "GoldenEye"?)

Yupland has set up a situations room, which includes a wall covered with images of government facilities all over the world. The only lead they have is a rash of break-ins at high-tech government and military contractor complexes. In each case nothing was reported missing. In each case a single perpetrator skillfully maneuvers inside. Only a blurry image can be made of the individual from a security tape, which Bond has Q work on with an experimental computer. It'll take at least 8 hours to know if anything can be made of it.

In Tokyo, a black Lamborghini pulls up to Kohoni Industries (first thing I thought of with this name was Franz Sanchez---"Senor Bond, you have big cojones.") A black clad figure steps out and sets about agilely infiltrating the complex. Inside, a crate marked for Nanking is pried open, and the figure opens a panel on a robotic device. A chip is pulled out and the figure replaces a different one in, then puts everything back in order and re-seals the crate.

Outside, a large security force has gathered with the Kohoni twins, two large Japanese men who own/run the company. The grappling rope used by the figure has been found, and everyone begins eagerly searching for the intruder, who manages to escape by using a Schermuly Pains-Wessex Speedline between two buildings and swings down to the waiting Lamborghini. The car tears off into the foggy night with the Kohonis giving pursuit. As the Lamborghini speeds on, the Kohonis car finds itself off the end of a dock in the water....the Lamborghini seemingly driving away on the water when in fact it boarded a high-speed ferry and kept going.

On shore, a Kohoni security man looks through an infra-red scope to spot the licence of the fleeing car. On the ferry, the black-clad figure removes some clothing to reveal a beautiful American adventuress named Connie Webb. She takes the chip she stole from the Kohoni lab and hides it in a bracelet on her wrist (almost like 003 hiding the Zorin microchip in a locket).

Back at Q's lab, Bond and Yupland are looking at the image of Connie that Q was able to reconstuct from the video security camera. Yupland recognizes her and the background check shows she was the only daughter of a master cat burglar. She's ex-CIA where she used her techniques of stealth to infiltrate embassies, etc, to plant bugs and gather intelligence. M.I.6 (in the treatment, called M.I.5) knows she arrived in Tokyo from Hong Kong. Yupland admits he has hired her in the past. His plan is for Bond to go to Tokyo, make contact, gain her trust, and discover who she's working for. The bait will be provided by Q...a microchip superconductor capable of controlling room temperature. Bond asks for special equipment, but Yupland is strongly against it. After he leaves, Q takes Bond to a storage room where the original DB5 is waiting to be scrapped, but Q can't bring himself to do it. He says he'll get her going again and ship it out to Bond in Tokyo via friends in the Royal Air Force.

TOKYO: Bond meets his contact Denholm Crisp, retired and bored with life but is at least excited enough to be working on something important with Bond. He has booked Bond into the same ski resort that Connie Webb is staying at. Bond arrives there (in a plain Toyota) and sees a red Lamborghini in the lot. Later at the lodge, he spots Connie and shadows her via car to a private resort. There she gets her skis out and boards a helicopter. Bond gets into another waiting helicopter and tells the pilot "follow that chopper!"

Later from the air of Bond's chopper, down below a single skier is seen traversing a volcano mountainside. The pilot cannot set the chopper down, so Bond jumps out (apparently he put skis on) and goes after Connie. She sees him and speeds up. She enjoys the chase and begins challenging him to follow her along dangerous glacier-sided steep faces, and making long jumps. At one point she flies under a threatening overhang of snow. Bond tries to warn her but she ignores him and winds up caught in an avalanche. Bond skis to where she was buried and madly digs until he pulls her out, then lectures her about her recklessness. Her response is that it's the danger that makes it fun followed by and abrupt "last one down buys dinner!" and speeds off.

Later, Denholm watches as Bond pays for dinner at a restaurant overlooking outdoor "jungle baths", where the elite jet setters apparently bathe au natural. Connie reveals she was also an Olympic caliber skier. She looks for excitement wherever she goes. Bond walks her to her room where she gives him a passionate kiss and invites him in. In the room, she order drinks from room service and wants to talk business. "I can assure you, my attentions are strictly dishonorable," replies Bond and shows the super conductor material for the room temp microchip. Bond wants an introduction to someone who would know the value of such a component. She acts evasive, saying he has mistaken her for someone else. "I don't think so," says Bond as the door bell rings. Bond thinks it's the room service as he answers the door. When he opens the door, he is knocked down by a karate kick to the chest. In walk the Kohoni brothers and there menacing entourage. Bond is sat in a chair, his wrists handcuffed to the chair arms. They have two questions for Connie: what did she take from their plant and who is she working for? Connie replies with the usual "I don't know what you're talking about." Seeing Bond's gun they know they're professionals of some sort. "Do you think we are fools?!" the Kohonis ask, enraged. One of them shoots Bond's leg with a taser and blasts him, knocking Bond unconscious. "Talk, or your lover will suffer..." they threaten. Bond comes to and denies knowing her and they zap him again. He trashes wildly until he topples the chair, where he grabs one twin and shares the electricity with him. Connie kicks down another henchman, and Bond breaks the arm of the chair and uses it to break the nose of another captor. Connie flattens the last Kohoni twin with a flying kick as Bond grabs her and they fly out the window. Turns out they were only one story up so it's not a bad fall. Connie gets away in her Lamborghini, but Bond is hindered by his cuffs, and leads the Kohoni goons on a chase through the resort among the annual torch light parade (a-la Junkanoo). Once safe, he calls Denholm Crisp to find someone to get the cuffs off.

Connie calls her liason, Otto Winkhart, to tell of her ordeal. She wants her money, plus she has something extra he might be interested in (Bond's room temp material). Winkhart instructs her to come to Hong Kong via a private plane he will provide. The next morning, Winkhart drives to a huge and impressive office building wehre he must pass through several complicated security systems, passing high tech labs. He is escorted by guards to Sir Henry Lee Ching, who is busy with his hands-on involvement of running this company. One underling asks if a radar system can be shipped to Iraq. "Not until the one we shipped to Iran is up and running. We don't want one side stronger than the other...that's bad for business." Finally he spares a minute for Winkhart, who provides him with the material Connie got from Bond. The head of R&D looks at the sample and is delighted, everyone in the room is giddy, except Ching, who grabs the material and leads everyone to a lab. He examines the material and is impressed. He knows what it is, and wants to meet the man who provided it. There's a party tonight (like all Bond villains have) and he wants Bond there.

In the meantime, Ching goes to another part of the building with a huge world map on the wall (another necessary Bond villain piece). Have the Chinese responded to his letter? No? "Well, let's see if we can get their attention." Pointing to a Nanking atomic power plant, he muses "Let's have a little accident, shall we?"

In the Nanking atomic power plant, the automated robotic devices are seen constantly adjusting the rods in the core of the reactor. We see the same machine Connie tampered with in Japan go haywire and smashes rods, causing a fire. As confused technicians run the plant explodes.

That business done, Sir Henry Lee Ching is upset with the Kohoni twins "throwing their weight around." He wants a meeting set up in their office in Hong Kong where he'll have a proposition for him.

Back in Tokyo, Bond and Denholm Crisp are out of leads. But the bait was taken and Bond is handed a ticket to Hong Kong. He tells Crisp to have Q re-route his special equipment to him there.

[Donovan]

SECOND ACT

In Hong Kong, the impending meeting with the Kohonis has Winkhart nervous. Sir Henry seems unconcerned as Winkhart explains they're "Yukza...Japanese Mafia. They play rough." At the same time, a large man named Rodin is posing as a courier on a motorcycle and rides up to the building. He keeps his helmet on, the inside of the faceplate has a heads-up display. He targets the building security men, including those behind walls, and opens a compartment mounted on his hip which reveals a gun mounted on a gimbal. The gun is hooked up to the heads-up display and independently adjusts aim to kill all the guards, even shooting through the walls to kill the others.

Inside the office complex Sir Henry and Winkhart meet with the Kohonis. We recognize some of the people as being involved with the hotel inquisition of Bond, including the man whose nose Bond smashed. "I don't think a nose job is going to make all that much difference, Kiren," quips Sir Henry. Everyone gets seated around a long conference table.

On the roof of the office building, a guard is killed by Rodin, who carries a bag over to the window cleaning scaffolding. He changes the window cleaning solution for a canister of something else. In the conference room Sir Henry is praising the Kohoni twins on their security measures, but has some suggestions. The Kohonis don't like to be lectured and list all of the stringent security equipment, including walls that are six inches thick. "Nobody uninvited gets in." Sir Henry cheerfully replies, "Hard to get in, hard to get out." But have the Kohonis considered his proposal for a buyout? They aren't interested in selling. Sir Henry replies that with the impending market "only the strong will survive." His arrogance annoys the Kohonis, who characteristically lose their cool. Sir Henry shrugs it off and bids them good day.

As Sir Henry and Otto leave the building, he signals Rodin who is watching from across the street. Rodin flips a switch and the window washer starts down the side of the building. Inside the conference room, the Kohonis are enjoying their standing up to Sir Henry as the window washer stops at their floor. Gas sprays out of the nozzles and a spark-starter turns them into flame throwers. The men inside begin to panic and try to get out of the room as the glass melts and gives way.

Down below and outside, Winkhart is glad there wasn't a deal. There would be all kinds of problems with the SEC and anti-trust issues. As the explosion is heard overhead, Sir Henry explains that now all they have is an estate issue. "Make a deal with the widows," he commands.

At the Hong Kong airport Bond and Crisp watch as a British cargo transport taxi towards them. Crisp reports that there's still no sign of Connie, and that Yupland is arriving to personally take charge of the investigation. Q comes off the plane with the DB5 and gives Bond a run-down on the newer refinements. Bond gets in and peels out as Q shouts after him to "take care of my beloved car!"

It is Chinese New Year, and Bond is checked into the Imperial hotel by the Assistant Manager, Mi Wai. Bond is escorted by her past some celebrations where many pictures are being taken, including Bond's. This is immediately sent electronically via the lobby pay phones to Quen Low, a Chinese agent. Bond is shown to his room where he gets ready to take a shower. Inside the bathroom, the shower is already on (an elaborate sauna-steamroom called an environmental room is how this set is described). Behind the glass and water beads Bond can see there is a female in there. He walks in to find Connie, who tells him his sample impressed her friends. They have been invited to an important party later that night. She hands him a drink and toasts to their partnership. "I was thinking more of a merger," replies Bond as they kiss.

Later, the DB5 makes its way through the streets crowded by the Chinese New Year celebration. Bond is driving Connie there and is asking some questions about the Kohonis. Why did they want to know if anything was missing? Connie explains vaguely about switching imitation jewels for real ones and no one would know for years ("Octopussy"-esque). At the office building of Sir Henry, they are laser-scanned before being admitted. In a control room, Rodin looks at Bond's scanned image and do a computer search on him. No matches found. Rodin orders a deeper search as he doesn't like the look of Bond.

The party is crowded with dignitaries. Bond spots Denholm there talking with Mi Wai. As Connie returns to Bond's side with drinks, he instinctively reaches for his gun as a commando unit storms the party by repelling through the glass windows in the ceiling. Bond relaxes his grip on the gun when he notices a smiling Sir Henry enjoying the display of the commando unit being effectively neutralized in seconds by built proof glass, hidden machine guns, and security robots. The guest are frightened but effectively impressed. Sir Henry explains that this is the office building of the future, impregnable to terrorist attack. Everything from security to maintenance is computer automated.

Connie introduces Bond to Winkhart, who assures Bond that the unfortunate encounter with the Kohoni twins will never happen again as they met with an unfortunate accident that wiped them out. Bond has been given a Chinese New Year fortune cake. He opens it to find an invitation to a meeting in Aberdeen for later that night. Sir Henry approaches Bond. "Interesting fortune?" he asks. The two vaguely discuss the invention component Bond baited him with. Then Nigel Yupland walks up and slaps Bond on the back. "Getting a little R&R?" and to Sir Henry, " I see you've met one of our seasoned agents, James Bond." Sir Henry "smiles like a cobra" and tightly grips Connie's hand under the table. "Don't you have something for me?" Sir Henry asks and Connie passes the chip from her bracelet to him. Then she holds out her hand for Bond to shake goodnight. Bond takes her hand and quickly exits, ignoring Yupland's pompous "stop by the office in the morning." Bond looks in his hand to see the chip Connie just slipped him. The words "Kohoni Industries" can be made out on it.

Meanwhile Denholm Crisp sees Rodin roughly escorting Connie to the elevators.

At Aberdeen Bond arrives to the location on the fortune to find Mi Wai waiting for him. She gets in the car and says it's too crowded there and suggests they go to a countryside restaurant to talk.

Back at Sir Henry's office building, he and Rodin are looking over a sleek new car he has developed. It's a "fun vehicle" designed to hunt and destroy other cars. Rodin is dressed in a black fire suit and helmet with the heads-up display visor. He peels out to search for Bond as Sir Henry makes his way into a large viewing room where some of his cronies, including Winkhart, are looking at an elaborate video display that looks like a computer game.

Later, Bond in the DB5 with Mi Wai notices the sleek black car coming up fast behind him. The lights go off as Rodin goes to infra-red. Back at the office, Sir Henry and the others are having a good time, shouting encouragements to the screen. When Bond turns his car lights off, the "audience" groans. But when Rodin switches on his "Track-While-Scan" mode, everyone cheers...except Connie, who was brought in to watch. Rodin's car has missile launchers and a 20mm gun. Bond releases time-delayed grenades which Rodin avoids. Rodin gets a missile lock, which the DB5 detects. Bond releases a flare which the missile follows. This whole sequence is described as a high speed fighter plane dogfight. The pursuing car has a lock on the DB5 and mirrors its every move, leaving Rodin to aim the 20mm gun. Bond raises the rear bullet-proof shield which can't sustain the fire for long. Bond, realizing the other car imitates his maneuvers, drives the car(s) through the guardrail and over the cliff. Mi Wai is horrified, as is Rodin, but Bond presses a button and both seats are ejected and deploy parachutes.

In the viewing room boos are heard as the parachutes open, except Connie yells in triumph. Sir Henry orders her taken to his penthouse. Under water Rodin forces his way out of the sunken car. On land, Bond has unbuckled himself from his ejector seat to find a gun pressed to his temple. Mi Wai talks into a radio and a helicopter with the Red China insignia lands and picks them up.

The chopper takes to a base camp of Quen Low, who wants to know why Bond is in Hong Kong. He is suspicious of Bond because where 007 goes, death and destruction follow. Bond wants to know what is really going on. Quen Low tells of the letter China received demanding Hong Kong be declared free and independent, or a disaster would befall one of their nuclear power plants. China disregarded it -- unfortunately, and Bond is handed a radiation suit.

They drive to Nanking via armored car, passing dead livestock and wreckage on the way. Bond wants to see the plant, but radiation is so high they can only stay in for a few minutes. The Chinese knew one of the robotic devices caused the incident. Bond finds the remains of the robot at the center of the core, determines it was made by Kohoni Industries, and discovers the chip Connie handed him fits in the control module (well--assuming the explosion was of an atomic magnitude, the robot and much of everything else would have been vaporized).

Outside Quen Low tells Bond that Sir Henry's father used to be with General Chian Kai Shek. When Shek was defeated, Sir Henry's father fled with his treasury and raised an Army that he ruled as a war lord, making money in the opium trade. Quen Low was sent to smash the army and operation. Sir Henry's father was killed, but Sir Henry and his English mother fled to Hong Kong. No one really knows Sir Henry's true origins, but it's obvious to Quen Low and Bond that the apple never falls far from the tree. He wants revenge against China. Quen Low doesn't trust the British (he believes they will reneg on their agreement to hand over control of Hong Kong later in the decade) and reluctantly agrees to work with Bond to solve this situation.

In downtown Hong Kong, Mi Wai drops Bond off in front of a plain looking building and waits for him. Inside, it is the far east offices of Universal Exports. He is buzzed through a door marked "no admittance". On the other side is bustling with high tech activity. Bond is buzzed into Yupland's office. He wants to know what Bond has been doing and gets in his face about it. A third letter has been delivered. Bond guesses "demanding the British withdraw from Hong Kong." Yupland is stunned. How could Bond know that? It was delivered only minutes ago. Bond explains the situation, and Yupland gets upset, claiming it's all preposterous. Sure Sir Henry can play tough in business, but not terrorism. Yupland vouched for Sir Henry's clearance and feels he is perfect for the future of Hong Kong. He even asked Sir Henry to help in the investigation. Bond cannot believe what an imbecile Yupland is, including recklessly blowing his cover at the New Year's party, which also jeopardized Connie. Bond wants a full commando raid on Sir Henry's office building. Yupland says Bond is paranoid and orders him off the case and back to England. Bond tells him to go to hell and storms out. Yupland calls security to arrest Bond.

At his penthouse, Sir Henry is overlooking the city which will soon be his. With him is a beautiful woman, Nan. Sir Henry gets a call that Bond has been located. Sir Henry looks at a monitor.

Back at UnivEx East, Bond passes a security robot, which his takes a moment to stare at apprehensively, then proceeds on. Sir Henry is smiling as he looks at Bond staring back at him through the monitor. Rodin, again dressed in courier motorcycle attire, is ordered to find Bond.

Bond gets in Mi Wai's car and they pass Rodin. It looks like he has a courier tube strapped to the side. Bond tells Mi Wai that Yupland doesn't believe him and he needs her help. She tells him that the control center must be in the basement, but it's impossible to penetrate without a military operation. Rodin is following them and getting ready to strike, but he hears a siren behind him and pulls over for Royal Marines pursuing Bond. They pull Mi Wai over and ask Bond to step out. Across the street, Rodin takes his courier tube, which is really a rocket launcher, and fires at the car. It explodes under the car, throwing it over into water below the bridge/dock it was parked on. Mi Wai has been killed, and Bond unconsciously floats out. The Marines had hit the deck and are radioing for help. Bond regains consciousness below and struggles out of the water and out of sight.

Back at his penthouse, Sir Henry has been in bed with Nan, a beautiful girl. Just after, he is asking Connie about Bond and why she brought a British agent to spy on him. She replies she had no idea he was an agent. She'd just like to be paid and on her way. Sir Henry is pleased and tells her Bond is dead. She reacts with subtle tears which Sir Henry believes are out of fear for her future. He assures her it would be a crime to destroy such exquisite female flesh. But he has plans for her. He must go, but Nan will keep her company.

Yupland, Crisp, and Q watch as Mi Wai's wrecked car is brought up. No way Bond could have survived. Yupland, notices Q and asked who authorized his trip. Q angrily replies that they "just lost our best agent, there's ten hours left to save Hong Kong, and you're worried about a bloody airline ticket!" Q and Crisp get drunk in memory of Bond. They return to Crisp's quarters to find a dirty pile of clothes on the chair, and someone is in the bath. It's Bond! Relieved and immediately sobered up, Q and Crisp listen to Bond's urgent instructions. First, he's officially dead and that gives him an edge he wants to keep. He's angry with himself for Mi Wai's death, due in part to his carelessness. Bond has a list of things he needs Q to get for him.

[Donovan]

THIRD ACT

Later, Bond and Crisp are in the Hong Kong network of sewers, wearing breathing masks and protective coveralls in what is described as a rather nasty environment. They find the pipe that leads to Sir Henry's office building. Bond shimmies into a pipe with a bag of equipment. At the end of the pipe he uses an acetylene torch to cut through it. Inside the maintenance areas of the office building, Bond sets to work sabotaging several valves and components, including tampering with the fire hose pressure system. Bond makes his way to the elevator shaft and rides his way up to the top penthouse. He maneuvers into the air conditioning ducts and finally enters the room where Connie is being held. She can't believe her eyes. As she runs into Bonds arms, Nan appears wearing tight-fitting corset and spandex shorts. Connie explains it's just Sir Henry's mistress -- nothing to worry about. Bond politely and apologetically explains that they'll have to tie her up. She replies with a super-human blow that sends Bond across the room. Connie grabs her and Nan flings her aside, with Connie pulling off the corset. What's underneath reveals she is a sophisticated robot. Bond scrambles to his feet as Nan pounces, attacking ferociously. Bond maneuvers the fighting over towards the window, where she springs at him. Bond steps out of the way as she crashes through the window and falls to her, well, death.

Bond drags Connie into the air duct and over to the elevator shaft. Alarms go off and security monitors can't see Connie in the building. Rodin puts on his special helmet and searches for her (remember, he can see through walls). He looks in the elevator shaft to find her and Bond grappling downward. He boards and elevator and sends it down after them. They swing out of the way to avoid getting crushed by the high speed car. Rodin stops the elevator and gets out through the emergency hatch. He climbs up after them. Security is called in to help.

In the maintenance areas in the basement, effects of Bond's tampering are building up. Water pressure gauges for the fire prevention systems are moving into the red.

Bond and Connie are outmatched in the elevator shaft and are captured by Rodin and his men. In his control room, Sir Henry is amused to see Bond and Connie as they are brought in. Bond informs him that it is only a matter of time before the world knows who is behind this and move to stop him. Sir Henry is unconcerned. "The fools believe their weapons give them invincibility. In paranoid flights of fancy they lavish billions on weapons systems built by my companies, but in actuality they have become imprisoned in their own armour." Sir Henry goes on to explain he can render any world power's military technology useless from this room. Perhaps a demonstration would convince Bond. He will make a Royal Navy submarine fire its missiles at Shanghai.

On the upper floor, various fire hoses and sprinklers explode with water cascading into the rooms. The problem is reported to maintenance, and all efforts to turn off the water fail (Bond's work). They inform Sir Henry. Sir Henry laughs at Bond's "pathetic attempt" to disrupt his plans. The power mains of the building are shut off, then the building switches to auxiliary power and the countdown continues.

But the flooding on the upper floors continues, and the manual shut-off valves break off in the engineer's hands. Upon hearing of the situation, he is moderately impressed with Bond. What's his plan? The countdown should be sped up.

By now the water level on the upper floor is head-high, and an underling opens a door, allowing a tidal wave of water to flush through the complex down to the floors below. Panic breaks out in the control room and Bond and Connie make their escape. Rodin follows them. As Bond and Connie duck out of the way into a stairwell, Rodin looks up at them to be hit with a force of water that knocks him down to his death.

The control room is hit with the water and presumably shorts out, ending the countdown. Sir Henry sees Bond and Connie make their way into a dark maintenance area. Sir Henry finds Rodin's night vision helmet and goes after them. Water is dangerously high everywhere. He attacks Bond who cannot see. Bond finds his acetylene torch and ignites it, then thrusts it into Sir Henry's face, overloading the night vision. Now Sir Henry is also blinded, and Bond "dispatches" him and escapes with Connie in the nick of time...via the sewer pipe.

COMMENTS

Well, obviously a treatment is where the initial ideas are organized. It is obvious that there was a bit of research that went into this before it was written up. It is dated May 8, 1990 (with some changes dated May 10) which certainly indicates preproduction was on track for the usual bi-annual release dates.

As far as the story and characters, there are many things that we've seen before -- particularly in the 1970s. The black-clad figure infiltrating a igh security complex and escaping, turning out to be a female, is very similar to the beginning of "Return of the Pink Panther". The water flooding of a building is like "The Towering Inferno". But a lot of it seems entertaining enough. Of course, we'll never really know....

[Blofeld's Cat]

Very interesting indeed. Great stuff, Donovan!

I can see bits that were used in Tomorrow Never Dies and Die Another Day.

But the Nan character is going TOO far I think. Would even be way over the top for Die Another Day.

[hrabb04]

This would have been the final nail in the coffin of James Bond in the early 1990s. MGM was still in the [censored]house and nowhere near ready to put Bond out like they did with Goldeneye. And aside from a few of you here, was there really a popular demand for a 3rd Dalton Bond? It would be like them going ahead in 1999 with a sequel to Batman and Robin.

[Tanger]

This would have been the final nail in the coffin of James Bond in the early 1990s.  MGM was still in the [censored]house and nowhere near ready to put Bond out like they did with Goldeneye.  And aside from a few of you here, was there really a popular demand for a 3rd Dalton Bond?  It would be like them going ahead in 1999 with a sequel to Batman and Robin.

I would have quite like to have seen Batman: Triumphant. Judging from the storyline, it would have been a return to form for the series and considering Batman and Robin was really the only bad one, surely that would have been a good thing.

Oh, well, it'll never happen now anyway and apparantly the screenplay is locked away in the WB vaults, never to see the light of day.

[hrabb04]

Considering the budgetery limits and the quality of the directors they were looking at--Ted Kotcheff, John Landis, etc--this would have been a baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad bad Leroy Brown turkey, if there was one. Dalton would have looked lost in this kind of movie. Think of how Connery would have looked in a Moonraker. Agreed, it is interesting to see how they picked and scavenged this thing for elements to use later.

[Donovan]

I agree that there are elements of this story that are asking a lot of the audience, especially flooding from the top floor from fire hoses and sprinkers. The treatment for Bond XVI was very close to the finished film, so sometimes the ideas for treatments survive through to the finished product. I find it interesting that the female lead isn't too far from Pam Bouvier (American, tough, doesn't take @%#$ from Bond). Also, the subplot with the Chinese secret service involvement from the other side of the case is very similar to "Licence To Kill", as is the Bond going at it alone part of the story.

Conventional wisdom dictates that without a good script/story, it doesn't matter how good anything else is like casting, direction, action scenes, music, etc. "The Living Daylights" has great action scenes and music, but a pretty shallow story when you think about it, and it still rates pretty high among Bond fans. But there are things that I like in this Bond XVII story, starting with locations -- not that they're new to the Bond cinematic universe. I like Sir Henry Lee Ching, I think he's a good central villain. The Yupland character was obviously trying to create the usual tension that you see in so many other action films, ignorant authority for the main hero to deal with on top of the basic menace. I also like the DB5, something Bruce Feirstein took credit for in interviews regarding "GoldenEye" (which, to be fair, may be true in part because Michael France had Bond driving a DB7).

I think Dalton would be just fine in a high tech action film...I mean, I think he's more than a good enough an actor to pull it off. I look at "The Man With The Golden Gun" when again, questions about Bond's future were raised, and the answer was a production with huge scope called "The Spy Who Loved Me". High production values like the sets described in this treatment would have done wonders for Dalton's legacy as Bond.

As for the director, it's hard to say who they would have gone with. But someone who would actually direct Dalton was what would be needed. I've said before that John Glen was the best action director for the Bond films, but he was not really the guy needed for they type of actor Timothy Dalton is. Things like that make a world of difference.

[Loomis]

I can see bits that were used in Tomorrow Never Dies and Die Another Day.

Pointing to a Nanking atomic power plant, he muses "Let's have a little accident, shall we?"

In the Nanking atomic power plant, the automated robotic devices are seen constantly adjusting the rods in the core of the reactor. We see the same machine Connie tampered with in Japan go haywire and smashes rods, causing a fire. As confused technicians run the plant explodes.

Round about the time shooting started on TOMORROW NEVER DIES, I seem to recall reading in some paper or magazine that the film would feature an attack on a nuclear power station.

[SnakeEyes]

There's an early treatment of TND floating around that has an attack on a nuke power station near the end.

This is a sort-of turkey treatment and way off the mark for a Dalton-Bond.

Interesting though...

[Blofeld's Cat]

As a matter of interest Donovan, is what you posted word-for-word from the treatment or a concise review on your part?

[Donovan]

What I wrote is a condensed version of a 19-page treatment which is formatted more to like what I understand to be a "step outline." I noticed in re-reading it that I mistankenly mention Denholm Crisp is retired in one graph when in fact his retirement is five months off. There's more detail in the treatment about what Bond does in the maintenance basement to create the water havok. Thinks like hack-sawing shut-off valve and glueing them back on so that later when one tries to turn them they break off in their hands.

The other thing I don't think I mentioned is that there is a notation on the first page concerning the robots to be more of a "form follows function" lot, not humanized "Star Wars" types...although Nan is the exception. Maybe not since Sir Henry was using her for sex, so again "form follows function"....

[Blofeld's Cat]

Cheers, Donovan.

[hcmv007]

Hey, I liked Dalton. He isn't my favorite but, damn some of you guys are harsh! I liked the story idea and would have liked to seen any new Bond movie between 1989-1995. I liked Goldeneye, by the way.

[Scottlee]

I enjoyed reading that treatment. Interesting.

Does anyone think that storyline is worth bringing back up for whoever the 6th Bond actor is in future?

[Bond_Bishop]

Really really interesting. Great thread Donovan. I quite liked the treatment

[Mr. Somerset]

Interesting treatment. I'm envisioning the Dalton of Tales from the Crypt, circa 1992, for this adventure. I think given the right marketing campaign, this might've been the film that would've established TD as the Bond for the 90s. I wonder if this was "The Property Of A Lady" treatment that was rumoured to be Bond 17's title? Anyway, I remember an article on this film in Cinefantastique, 1990. Also, Dalton briefly mentioned the film on The Arsenio Hall Show in'91.

[Cody]

Does anyone think that storyline is worth bringing back up for whoever the 6th Bond actor is in future?

Sure. I think the treatment's pretty good overall. Get a good writer to write the script, update it, remove the bits that have been used during the Brosnan era... I wouldn't be against a version of this as Bond XXII.

[terminus]

As someone has said above, I think this would make a fabulous Bond XXII when the time for that movie comes round with a few changes, it has the right amount of grittiness with the right amoung of gee-whiz.

And three hot Bond girls.

I mean, have Asia Argento as Connie, Zhang Ziyi as Mi Wai.

Edited by terminus, 01 October 2005 - 03:56 AM.

[Flash1087]

Decent enough story, with John Glen and Dalton it might've worked, although it doesn't seem like a great 'send-off' movie had they made it and Dalton still opted to not come back.

I may have missed it, but was there ever a title for this?

[Qwerty]

I thought The Property Of A Lady was mentioned before. Maybe be mistaking it with something else though.

[terminus]

i think 007FOREVER reported this on their site and mentioned the basic plot, calling it THE PROPERTY OF A LADY which would have reportedly referred to Hong Kong being the property of the queen or something - or Bond being the property of the queen.

[Qwerty]

There's also a small paragraph about this in The Bond Files too I believe.

[Donovan]

Any speculation on the title being "The Property of a Lady" was from fans who were following the established trend by Eon to alternate stories/titles of short stories published in "For Your Eyes Only" and "Octopussy."

Incredibly, it was I think the JB British Fan Club (or maybe Richard Shenkman's club) that reported a working title of "Portrait of a Lady", which of course was also the title of a popular novel by Henry Jones.

[Cody]

Any speculation on the title being "The Property of a Lady" was from fans who were following the established trend by Eon to alternate stories/titles of short stories published in "For Your Eyes Only" and "Octopussy."

It would've been odd having a Bond film called "The Property of a Lady" just 8 years after The Property of a Lady was part of the "Octopussy" plot. Though I doubt the average movie-goer would notice.

Plus it sounds like it'd be the title of a Merchant Ivory-type movie... Now that I think about it, though, "The Property of a Lady" could've worked as an alternate title for "The World Is Not Enough".

[belvedere]

Why? You had The Living Daylights 4 years after Octopussy. TLD was originally titled Berlin Escape and was published in Argosy magazine. The screenplay took the Berlin locale from the novella TLD, forcing the movie to relocate to Bratislava.

[ayroxus94]

I would be very interested in reading the thing word for word. Is this something that you own or did you just get lucky and someone let you read it. 

 

(ps: I do appreciate that this thread is almost 10 years old and probably won't get answered)

[glidrose]

There's another thread on this subject here: http://debrief.comma...rd-dalton-film/

Any speculation on the title being "The Property of a Lady" was from fans who were following the established trend by Eon to alternate stories/titles of short stories published in "For Your Eyes Only" and "Octopussy."

Incredibly, it was I think the JB British Fan Club (or maybe Richard Shenkman's club) that reported a working title of "Portrait of a Lady", which of course was also the title of a popular novel by Henry Jones.

Henry James.

Don't believe the "Portrait" title.

There is no proof that "Property" was ever the title, tho' it's not entirely out of the question that it *may* have been the title. After LTK, the producers may have thought to play it safe, use a Fleming title, especially one highly appropriate to the story. As for Octopussy, only fanboys would have noticed. Nobody else would have noticed or cared. So yes, the producers could have easily used the title again.

 
 

Considering the budgetery limits and the quality of the directors they were looking at--Ted Kotcheff, John Landis, etc--

Roger Spottiswoode claims he met the producers when they were prepping this never-to-be-made film. Broccoli had liked RS's film "Shoot to Kill" and so wanted RS to direct the third Dalton film. MI6HQ mentions Michael Caton-Jones tho' I've seen no mention let alone proof elsewhere.

Decent enough story, with John Glen and Dalton it might've worked.

John Glen was no longer part of the series. I vaguely recall that Variety article announcing that Maibaum - whom one insider called a "has been" who lately had contributed nothing - and Glen were dropped from the franchise.

[Major Tallon]

I also recall the article from Variety, to the same effect.

[FlemingBond]

This would have been the final nail in the coffin of James Bond in the early 1990s. MGM was still in the [censored]house and nowhere near ready to put Bond out like they did with Goldeneye. And aside from a few of you here, was there really a popular demand for a 3rd Dalton Bond? It would be like them going ahead in 1999 with a sequel to Batman and Robin.

 

 

 

 

 

I have no idea. With no internet there was no way to even gauge demand. Truth is i had no idea what had gone on with MGM even after Brosnan came on board. Several years later i read a book about the Bond films. At the time there was little entertainment news out there. Unlike today when everything is entertainment 'news'.

 

Edited by FlemingBond, 28 November 2014 - 01:45 AM.