I agree. This has been coming up in the "why should the films be like the books thread". Anyone who somehow thinks that "realism" was a hallmark of the books needs to go back and re-read the novels.
That polerizes this issue a little too much. I, nor i believe Campbell, is suggesting the books were relaistic. Nor are the films
pure fantasy.
I think, left unchecked and pandering too much to the box office the films having drifted too close to fantasy. Thus throughout the opus we see a swing between the extremes of the cartoonish Moonraker and the poe faced License to kill.
There's no reason why, in capable hands such as Campbell's, the franchise can't employ fantasy without sacrificing the realism (As Campbell demonstrates in both of his films).
-Now, when i say realism, i don't mean depressing or dull, i mean opportunities to see the characters normally lost among the explosions (such as the shower scene in CR). This was far more exploited and successful in CR, not because Brosnan is a poor actor in GE (as Matador revealed, he's an excellent actor), but because Craig is such a hugely talented actor (we're very lucky to have him).
The biggest problem that i believe Campbell is identifying is that in the Bond films, arguably in Connery's films in particular, the character is a superman; to some extent Bond seems physically indestructible, but more importantly he's emotionally indestructible - almost without emotional weakness.
In the books, Bond is emotionally fallible, and most of his victories bring an emotional pathos; a great example is the end of the novel Moonraker [
SPOILER] in which Bond defeats the bad guy and considers settling down with Gala Brand, only to see her walk off with her fiances. This would never happen to Connery and wouldn't sit too well. But it's a great end to the book that brings the character down to earth with a thud, adding much needed 'realism', reminding us that this fella is human. This makes him all the more heroic, if a little damaged and masochistic.
With this fresh more literal approach that Campbell speaks of, Craig is, for the first time sinse Lazenby's wonderfully improvised tears in the finale of OHMSS, giving us a Bond that has something to lose and therefore adventures with more jeopardy and tension - great assets when one's producing drama.
