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Quantum of Solace as the final Bond film


36 replies to this topic

#1 coco1997

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Posted 06 July 2010 - 07:22 PM

With all this recent talk of MGM's financial troubles and the possibility of not seeing another Bond film for many more years, I was considering today how people would feel if "Quantum of Solace" had been the last Bond film ever made.

There's certainly more of a feeling of closure to it than "CR" in that Bond has started a new chapter in his life (by letting go of his resentment towards Vesper), he seems at peace with M and himself and we've learned more about Quantum, although there's the obvious sense that he's walking off to continue his crusade against the mysterious organization armed with more knowledge and resolve than before, which I guess qualifies it as a sort of cliffhanger.

So, would you be satisfied with "QoS" being the final Bond film? It certainly brings about some closure to the Bond character arc that began with "CR," however, in my opinion, it doesn't feature the 'epic sweep' that I always imagined the final Bond film to possess. Having said that, what would you keep/change about "QoS" to make it a suitable final chapter to the Bond series?

#2 byline

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Posted 06 July 2010 - 07:38 PM

You know, this almost makes me wonder if that's why the original ending was not used. Did Barbara and Michael see the MGM handwriting on the wall and go for a more clear-cut ending, rather than the rumored cliffhanger?

#3 Dr. Metz

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Posted 06 July 2010 - 08:19 PM

So, would you be satisfied with "QoS" being the final Bond film?

Not really, but at this point if the series was put to rest, i wouldn't mind. The series has had a more than stellar run(over 40 years isn't too shabby in my book), and has been going down hill since TWINE. Bond's golden age is more than over, and it won't be going back to it if they keep going in the direction they have been.

#4 marktmurphy

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Posted 06 July 2010 - 08:23 PM

It'd be a shame if the series didn't end on a good one.

#5 tdalton

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Posted 06 July 2010 - 08:25 PM

I'm fine with QoS as the final Bond film, although it does leave a bit of a sting there to have the final words ever spoken by Bond be "I never left." Given that EON has only on two other occasions produced two quality films back-to-back (DN/FRWL; TLD/LTK), and that there have only been two quality Bond films in the last 20 years, I'm fine with letting the series end on the high-note of the two Craig films. Certainly the track record shows that there only direction to go from where they are right now in terms of quality is down.

#6 DamnCoffee

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Posted 06 July 2010 - 09:02 PM

I don't really want to think about the end of the cinematic James Bond. It's just too much.

I for one will live in hope. The series has more to offer with Craig, and Bond 23 WILL be released, and Craig WILL be Bond.

If the series were to end though, I would rather it ended with Casino Royale. The end is the beginning. Quantum left me with a sour taste. I REALLY wouldn't want it to be the final Bond film.


Lets face it, though. James Bond is a cash cow, and Bond films will continue to be made, until they stop making money. James Bond will return, I'm sure of it.

#7 Colossus

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Posted 06 July 2010 - 10:05 PM

There's no way QOS will be the final Bond movie, the Bond phenomenon is simply too great and it will continue with or without EON/Craig.

#8 JimmyBond

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Posted 06 July 2010 - 10:26 PM

QoS the final Bond film? Never. Will it be the last time we see Craig in the role? Quite possibly.

#9 darthbond

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Posted 06 July 2010 - 10:34 PM

Someone made the comment earlier that maybe we would see a rehash of the 89-95 hiatus. I think that is far more likely to happen then QoS being the last Bond film. If for some reason it is, this point in the series would probably be the best time for it to die a natural death. 46 years, 22 films, two spin offs, 6 actors and $5,412,017,447 in box office receipts.

darthbond

#10 tdalton

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Posted 06 July 2010 - 10:41 PM

QoS the final Bond film? Never. Will it be the last time we see Craig in the role? Quite possibly.


You're probably right. QoS won't be the very last Bond film, but it will be the last film for a very, very long time.


And, sadly, I do think we've seen Craig's final performance as Bond. It's a shame, too. They finally happened across an actor who could pull off the level of quality of someone like Dalton but could match that with the popularity of someone like Connery or Brosnan, but even managed to find a way to mess THAT up.

#11 JimmyBond

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Posted 06 July 2010 - 10:44 PM

To be fair it's not their fault (they, I'm assuming is EON). They're just along for the ride and unfortunately their ride hit a bump. It happens.

#12 dinovelvet

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Posted 06 July 2010 - 10:45 PM

While I'm glad we got a second one from Craig, I think it would be more poetic if the "last one" was CR. Going out on a high note by going back to the beginning. Reclaiming the Fleming Bond and showing that Nobody Does It Better.

#13 Mike00spy

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Posted 07 July 2010 - 01:01 AM

I'm fine with QoS as the final Bond film, although it does leave a bit of a sting there to have the final words ever spoken by Bond be "I never left." Given that EON has only on two other occasions produced two quality films back-to-back (DN/FRWL; TLD/LTK), and that there have only been two quality Bond films in the last 20 years, I'm fine with letting the series end on the high-note of the two Craig films. Certainly the track record shows that there only direction to go from where they are right now in terms of quality is down.



I disagree.

There are certianly more quality pairs than just the two you mentioned.

FRWL/GF
GF/TB
TB/YOLT
YOLT/OHMSS
FYEO/OP
LTK/GE

#14 tdalton

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Posted 07 July 2010 - 03:21 AM

I'm fine with QoS as the final Bond film, although it does leave a bit of a sting there to have the final words ever spoken by Bond be "I never left." Given that EON has only on two other occasions produced two quality films back-to-back (DN/FRWL; TLD/LTK), and that there have only been two quality Bond films in the last 20 years, I'm fine with letting the series end on the high-note of the two Craig films. Certainly the track record shows that there only direction to go from where they are right now in terms of quality is down.



I disagree.

There are certianly more quality pairs than just the two you mentioned.

FRWL/GF
GF/TB
TB/YOLT
YOLT/OHMSS
FYEO/OP
LTK/GE


With the possible exception of FYEO/OP, the rest of those pairs has at least one bad movie in them. GF, YOLT, and GE are all films I'd certainly rank very near to the bottom of the rankings.

EON simply isn't very good at being consistent in terms of quality with the Bond films, which is why I'm not too upset with the prospect of QoS being the final one. I'd rather see Craig go out without having made a bad picture than see him come back only to be stuck with the usual fare that EON churns out every couple of years.

#15 JimmyBond

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Posted 07 July 2010 - 03:31 AM

While I quite agree that YOLT is a bit of a stinker. I love Goldfinger (yeah yeah, I've ragged on it before, but it's really a good film, even if it does have some serious flaws). And I can't dislike Goldeneye, it's a good introduction to Brosnan through and through. While yes it does have some moments that plagued the later Brosnan films (peeling back the layers, etc.) it's not done in so much excess.

#16 tdalton

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Posted 07 July 2010 - 03:35 AM

While I quite agree that YOLT is a bit of a stinker. I love Goldfinger (yeah yeah, I've ragged on it before, but it's really a good film, even if it does have some serious flaws). And I can't dislike Goldeneye, it's a good introduction to Brosnan through and through. While yes it does have some moments that plagued the later Brosnan films (peeling back the layers, etc.) it's not done in so much excess.


Well, I will say that I do hold some sense of sentimental value towards GE, as it was the first Bond film I saw in theaters and the movie that really got me into the franchise. It's also the only Brosnan Bond film that I can stomach to watch. That still doesn't stop it from being a low-tier Bond film for me, though. I guess that would put it ahead of GF and YOLT, which I haven't watched in years and never plan to view again.

#17 Murdoc

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Posted 07 July 2010 - 05:04 AM

I wouldn't be totally satisfied because I felt that Quantum was the last breath that Casino Royale was going to give off to kinda tie up loose ends that some people may have wanted to see in CR. I would love to see Bond return with something fresh, yet still connect to the last two somehow.

#18 DaveBond21

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Posted 07 July 2010 - 05:31 AM

I remember thinking LTK was the final Bond film. I thought that they'd never make another one; that it was just a series of movies between the 60's and the 80's.

However, I'd never believe that again. Even if it took 20 years, more 007 flicks will me made. With or without EON.

#19 Time Agent

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Posted 07 July 2010 - 07:11 AM

I love Quantum of Solace, I really do. But I wouldn't be happy at all if it was the final Bond film.

#20 jamie00007

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Posted 07 July 2010 - 07:20 AM

I wouldnt be satisfied. Not that I dont love QoS, because I do, I just dont think its the right note to go out on. It had too much of a feeling about it that it was leading to something, that it was setting up Quantum as the villains for the next few movies. We dont really learn anything about them, it was like Bond just scratched the surface. If the Quantum storyline isnt continued the CR/QoS story is always going to feel incomplete to me.

CR would have been a far more fitting movie to end on. Quantum didnt play a big part in the film, we could just write them off as some random terrorist group Le Chiffre was mixed up with, they didnt really need to be addressed further from their part in CR alone, and the last scene with Bond in the suit saying the line, becoming the Bond we know would have been a fantastic final scene in the series. And theres something fitting and poetic about the final Bond movie showing how Bond became 00 and his first mission and being based on the first Fleming book. The movies go full circle. Though I'd have been very disappointed not to see Craig in the role again, I would feel that the series had a sense of closure. Which I dont feel after QoS.

#21 Guy Haines

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Posted 07 July 2010 - 09:10 AM

If they were going to tie up the "Bond becoming Bond" storyline, I for one would have approached it this way:-

Penultimate scene - Bond confronts Mr White and Guy Haines, obtains further information, finishes off both.

Last scene - as filmed, Bond confronts Yusef in his Russian apartment.

CR started with Bond waiting for someone in a darkened room, and I liked the fact that QoS (almost) ended that way.

As for the pessismistic tone on this thread, I'm saddened. Surely there is a way out of this mess? I'm disgusted at the machinations by the MGM studio heads and the money men, which are depriving not only Bond fans and general movie goers of Bond, but cinema audiences generally of new films from that studio.

I can't believe that QoS was the "last" Bond film, or even Craig's last Bond film. There's an audience out there for both - the box office figures proved it. What is needed is for MGM, the creditors and the people in between to get their fingers out and sort this ruddy mess! Whether they will or not is, of course, a different matter.

#22 Harry Fawkes

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Posted 07 July 2010 - 04:29 PM

I can't see QOS as the last Bond film in the series. No way. If the Bond series really had to end, then by God they'd need ten times better a swan song than QOS. They would have to give us a Goldfinger for that.

#23 elizabeth

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Posted 07 July 2010 - 11:13 PM

I can't see QOS as the last Bond film in the series. No way. If the Bond series really had to end, then by God they'd need ten times better a swan song than QOS. They would have to give us a Goldfinger for that.

This. 100%. QoS was weak in every way, shape, and form.

#24 blueman

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Posted 08 July 2010 - 07:20 AM

I can't see QOS as the last Bond film in the series. No way. If the Bond series really had to end, then by God they'd need ten times better a swan song than QOS. They would have to give us a Goldfinger for that.

This. 100%. QoS was weak in every way, shape, and form.

Really? I thought it was awesome in every way, shape, and form.

Doubt the series ever ends, Bond films will keep getting made as long as the medium exists, people want to see them (even the bad ones B) ).

#25 Aris007

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Posted 08 July 2010 - 10:49 AM

I can't see QOS as the last Bond film in the series. No way. If the Bond series really had to end, then by God they'd need ten times better a swan song than QOS. They would have to give us a Goldfinger for that.

This. 100%. QoS was weak in every way, shape, and form.

Really? I thought it was awesome in every way, shape, and form.

Doubt the series ever ends, Bond films will keep getting made as long as the medium exists, people want to see them (even the bad ones B) ).


I agree with the two first comments. QoS was a weak film. From every aspect. They need to give us a better one for last. But what if the end will be sudden and unexpected?

Anyway, to answer directly to the thread question, not in a million years!

#26 volante

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Posted 08 July 2010 - 01:21 PM

If it was; it goes out on a high, as far as I'm concerned.
The longer the gap, the more people will come to recognise the quality within QOS.

If the final line be "I never left"
I think it would warrent a chill down the spine; everytime I have a Bond session.

I simply do not want to admit that the series is over; and because I love Daniel Craig's portrail of Bond; I truly hope Bond 23 will be in production within the next 12 months.

My real fear is that the franchise lowers its standards and employs a sub standard Bond in a CGI mish mash of explosions and special effects.
I don't want to see Harry Potter and the Quantum of Twilight.

#27 Orion

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Posted 08 July 2010 - 01:32 PM

Interestingly I'd say QOS was one of the few films in the series that couldnt serve as the final film. Most Bond films do have a note of finality to them, but neither of Craig's do, both end with a feeling that more is coming. So, as much as i love QOS as a film, I'd definitly not want it to be the final Bond film.

#28 TheREAL008

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Posted 08 July 2010 - 03:25 PM

As long as the monniker "James Bond WIll Return" appears in the credits, then it's never over.

#29 Gogol Pushkin

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Posted 08 July 2010 - 07:02 PM

As long as the monniker "James Bond WIll Return" appears in the credits, then it's never over.


I very much agree REAL008. As Cubby once said, the Bond movies will continue until doomsday. If there is money to be made, and say what you want about the qualities of QoS (I liked the film personally, although I realise there are lot out there that didn't) the movie made a small fortune at the box office and there's money to be made. I genuinely hope Bond walking off, into the night, after telling M that he never left, is not the end of the series and the last we'll see of Bond. The idea of a world without the regular scheduling of a Bond film every two years or so is frightening. It almost seems like one could stare into an empty void of nothingness if you ask me if there were to be no more Bond. I hope he comes back and I really hope this mess with MGM gets settled.

#30 BoogieBond

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Posted 09 July 2010 - 09:23 AM

As long as the monniker "James Bond WIll Return" appears in the credits, then it's never over.


I very much agree REAL008. As Cubby once said, the Bond movies will continue until doomsday. If there is money to be made.

Yeah, QOS won't be the last Bond film. We would need 2 or 3 box office stinkers in succession I think for that to happen. Even then I think they would put it on a 7-8 year hiatus and try again. The character is so proven over almost 50 years, with such a reputation that Bond can't go out on this note(like a film that grossed 585 million and Bond is as popular as ever). It will go out with say a film with say a lower profile actor as Bond on a budget of 30 million grossing 10 mill before the money men would say "call it a day"
Hell look at the Halloween and Friday the 13th Franchises, they are not big bucks but they always seem to bring them back.

Edited by BoogieBond, 09 July 2010 - 09:23 AM.