43 replies to this topic

[DamnCoffee]

I was discussing this with Sharpshooter earlier, if SPECTRE does indeed return, then what would you say if Bond found himself stuck in the middle of a war between both organisations. Quantum vs SPECTRE. Also, what if Mr White is a mole for SPECTRE within Quantum. Think Snape being a mole for Voldermort for Dumbledore. Could make a really interesting film.

[Pussfeller]

It could be very interesting. When two ruthless criminal organizations are locked in deadly combat, anything is possible. Just look at the nightmarish rivalry between the Mexican drug cartels. This concept has the potential to be bloodier, more terrifying, and generally more unpredictable than a plot in which one disciplined organization has the situation under tight control.

So what role would Bond have? The classic temptation is to imagine a sort of Yojimbo situation in which 007 deftly plays one foe against the other. But perhaps Bond could simply be trying to survive, minimize casualties, and "keep the British end up" as the turf war spirals wildly out of control. Lots of dramatic possibilities in this.

[Jim]

What if "the organisation" is called Skyfall?

[tdalton]

I hope that this isn't the case, mainly because I don't think it would work with Quantum not having been built up enough on its own yet. We know very little about Quantum at this point, so I'd like to get a film or two where we see what exactly what Quantum is, how they operate, how high up in the governments their operatives are positioned, etc.

Sadly, though, I would expect, given the vehement public outcry against QOS, that we've possibly seen the last of Quantum.

[Pussfeller]

I'd say "lukewarm", not "vehement". QOS was far from a flop.

They built up Quantum too much to just drop it. Surely it will return. Despite what they've said about Skyfall being unrelated to CR and QOS, that doesn't mean it will be a one-off in the grand scheme of things. A character may well be introduced, or a chain of events set in motion, which will, in the subsequent film, tie it back in with Quantum. If Fiennes turns out to be Blofeld or a Blofeld-type character, he will turn out to have been the force behind everything in CR and QOS. That way everything wraps up in the fourth film rather than the third. If we assume that Craig is doing one more film after Skyfall, which is a reasonable assumption, it will make very little sense to resolve everything in Skyfall and leave no unfinished business for Craig's final outing.

[Vauxhall]

What if "the organisation" is called Skyfall?

In my skimming earlier, I thought I saw a line from the news conference saying that the word Skyfall would have some sort of "emotional" resonance? Naturally, I may be deluded, but it was the word "emotional" which piqued my interest. It seemed like an odd word to make reference to. The matter at hand is whether 'Skyfall' is a who, a where, a what, etc.

Anyway, I do indeed like the idea of it being Quantum vs. A.N. Other Group of Baddies - but that may well be redundant given the comment that it's not connected to QUANTUM OF SOLACE and CASINO ROYALE.

[Col. Sun]

What if "the organisation" is called Skyfall?

NOPE. SkyFall is the Scottish estate where the climatic scenes take place. It's obvious from the
title, Craig's comments, and the brief story synopsis.

And I very much doubt Blofeld is back, but we def know Quantum is NOT back for this film.

[DamnCoffee]

I think Jim was being sarcastic.

[Matt_13]

What if "the organisation" is called Skyfall?

NOPE. SkyFall is the Scottish estate where the climatic scenes take place. It's obvious from the
title, Craig's comments, and the brief story synopsis.

And I very much doubt Blofeld is back, but we def know Quantum is NOT back for this film.

Ehh maybe.

"Sam, tell us about the Scottish elements and Bond going back to his roots.

Mendes: “You’re not entirely accurate about him going back to his roots… there is a Scottish element, and it is the wilds of Scotland.”

We shall see, but Craig did say that Skyfall refers to a geographic region.

[Vauxhall]

The Isle of Sky(e)fall. Ticks the Scottish box.

[Col. Sun]

What if "the organisation" is called Skyfall?

NOPE. SkyFall is the Scottish estate where the climatic scenes take place. It's obvious from the
title, Craig's comments, and the brief story synopsis.

And I very much doubt Blofeld is back, but we def know Quantum is NOT back for this film.

Ehh maybe.

"Sam, tell us about the Scottish elements and Bond going back to his roots.

Mendes: “You’re not entirely accurate about him going back to his roots… there is a Scottish element, and it is the wilds of Scotland.”

We shall see, but Craig did say that Skyfall refers to a geographic region.

Yep, it's a location - which maybe about M's roots, not Bond's. I never said it was about Bond's roots - but, hey, maybe it is (?)

[Miles Miservy]

It could be very interesting. When two ruthless criminal organizations are locked in deadly combat, anything is possible. Just look at the nightmarish rivalry between the Mexican drug cartels. This concept has the potential to be bloodier, more terrifying, and generally more unpredictable than a plot in which one disciplined organization has the situation under tight control.

So what role would Bond have? The classic temptation is to imagine a sort of Yojimbo situation in which 007 deftly plays one foe against the other. But perhaps Bond could simply be trying to survive, minimize casualties, and "keep the British end up" as the turf war spirals wildly out of control. Lots of dramatic possibilities in this.

I could see 007 playing one off the other like Clint Eastwood did in FIST FULL OF DOLLARS. Reminds me a little of LTK. Think about it; Timothy Dalton's Bond really didn't kill any bad guys (other than SANCHEZ). they were killed of as Sanchez began to distrust them all.

[Aris007]

Considering that Skyfall will have nothing to do with the two previous films, that means we can rule out the word Quantum from our dictionary.

However a possible return of SPECTRE would be greatly appreciated if of course the organisation is up-to-date regarding its criminal activities.

[Satorious]

Personally I can't really see Spectre returning to the series anytime soon. We are more likely to see Quantum return, but perhaps the luke-warm reception of QOS might have nixed this. I get the sense this is very-much a stand-alone adventure ala Goldfinger.

[dinovelvet]

What if "the organisation" is called Skyfall?

NOPE. SkyFall is the Scottish estate where the climatic scenes take place. It's obvious from the
title, Craig's comments, and the brief story synopsis.

Scottish estates don't really have names like that (its too pronouncable, for a start). Another guess - with the comments about M's past coming back to haunt her, maybe "Skyfall" was the code name of an operation she headed up in the cold war/in her early days as M, which ended badly and now the consequences of it are happening.

[DamnCoffee]

Oh yeah. That's a very good idea!

[Captain Tightpants]

If Fiennes is Blofeld, I wouldn't mind if he only appeared in one film and was killed off at the end. I'd much rather EON go in for one deifnitive interpretation of the character rather than dilute him over multiple appearances.

[Single-O-Seven]

If Fiennes is Blofeld, I wouldn't mind if he only appeared in one film and was killed off at the end. I'd much rather EON go in for one deifnitive interpretation of the character rather than dilute him over multiple appearances.

I was thinking along the same lines. Have him be a powerful presence in one film, much the way Moriarity initially had one strong appearance in The Final Problem but his character resonated over the whole original mythology thereafter.

[Captain Tightpants]

I actually reckon Fiennes could be Miles Messervy. Sure, the tabloids have talked him up as Blofeld, but they also thought Naomie Harris would be Moneypenny. If they can be wrong about Harris, they can be wrong about Fiennes. And when you think about it, the role of M is "darkly complex" the way the reports talked the role up - he's a man who has to order the deaths of other people, be perfectly willing to send others to their deaths, and (if I'm right about certain other elements of the plot:

Spoiler

He's going to have to rebuild an MI6 devastated by the controversy that ousts Judi Dench's M, and he's going to have to do it while facing intense public and political pressure and scrutiny.

Tell me that's not "darkly complex".

[Single-O-Seven]

For all we know, Fiennes is playing a character we've never heard nor thought of. But I suspect he will play somebody we all know. Blofeld is just as likely as Messervy but I could live with a one-off Blofeld portrayal; Messervy needs to appear recurrently. I suspect Fiennes could return again and again in a series (he did it recently!), especially in the role of M if they once more downplayed the character to brief appearances that would not require a large commitment on Fiennes' part. Whatever the case, I love that we don't yet know for sure!

[Messervy]

Everything that gets Fiennes back for more, I'm all for it! He's such a terrific actor. Be it as M, as Blofeld or whatever, I do wish he could be onboard for several movies.

That being said, I don't want to know what his character in Skyfall will be. I remember that TWINE's plot was somehow ruined from the very beginning when we learnt, well before the movie was released, that Sophie Marceau was to play a villain. No surprise, everybody knew that Bond was chasing the wrong villain, hence a weakened plot.

[stromberg]

I actually reckon Fiennes could be Miles Messervy. Sure, the tabloids have talked him up as Blofeld, but they also thought Naomie Harris would be Moneypenny. If they can be wrong about Harris, they can be wrong about Fiennes. And when you think about it, the role of M is "darkly complex" the way the reports talked the role up - he's a man who has to order the deaths of other people, be perfectly willing to send others to their deaths, and (if I'm right about certain other elements of the plot:

Spoiler

He's going to have to rebuild an MI6 devastated by the controversy that ousts Judi Dench's M, and he's going to have to do it while facing intense public and political pressure and scrutiny.

Tell me that's not "darkly complex".

Played with the idea of Fiennes being Messervy myself ever since they didn't want to reveal the character names for Fiennes, Whishaw and Finney, because they'd be to revealing for Bond fans.
Three familiar names. Let's say at least one of them has to be a good guy.
Three options:
1st: One of them is a new M. Whishaw too young, Finney too old - it's Fiennes.
Which means that we've seen the last of Dench's M. And they won't dismiss her in some kind of witch hunt, too important character - she's going to die.
2nd: One of them is the new Q. Finney too old, Fiennes just not the type - it's Whishaw. Could play the nerdy/geeky type, young enough to be a believable gee-whizz kid handling modern technology.
3rd: Whishaw is the new Fiennes M's secretary Sheldon J. Monneypenny. Not very likely, but it's an option.

No real good guy option for Finney, that leaves him as baddie. With Bardem playing the Largo type, he could be Blofeld. Or -dare I say it - Shatterhand...

[Pussfeller]

Finney would make an excellent villain of the super-mobster type.

[Captain Tightpants]

Which means that we've seen the last of Dench's M. And they won't dismiss her in some kind of witch hunt, too important character - she's going to die.

I disagree. I don't think it automatically means that Dench will be killed off. The plot synopsis makes it pretty clear that M's previous actions will have consequences for the film, so evidently something big is going to happen. I think it would be far more interesting to see M's career ruined, simply because it would give Dench some good material. Once she's dead, she's dead - but how would she react to being forced to resign out of disgrace?

No real good guy option for Finney, that leaves him as baddie.

The Daily Mail claims that Finney is a career politician who has amassed a lot of power form himself, and has managed to position himself as M's boss. However, my suspicion is that "Skyfall" is the name of an operation that was covered up when it failed, because it could be damaging to those involved. In that case, I could see Finney as one of M's co-conspirators, and maybe named Frederick Grey ...

[George88]

How about Bardem's character's father went down on the Belgrano, sunk by false information fed through by M, and now he wants RE-WEN-GE and the castle in Scotland isn't in Scotalns it's actually in the Falklands (which looks a bit like Scotland) - the Skyfalklands- and all sorts of crazy stuff happens? A little bit of politics for you there.

[The Shark]

How about Bardem's character's father went down on the Belgrano, sunk by false information fed through by M, and now he wants RE-WEN-GE and the castle in Scotland isn't in Scotalns it's actually in the Falklands (which looks a bit like Scotland) - the Skyfalklands- and all sorts of crazy stuff happens? A little bit of politics for you there.

Needlessly political, with a decidedly un-Bondian anti-Thatcher bent.

[Captain Tightpants]

How about the proxy wars in Africa, then? Although the West and the Soviets never directly came to blows, they did supply various factions across the world. One of the flashpoints was Angola, which was particularly close to the Soviet Union until 1990 and gripped by civil war for twenty-seven years. Angola itself was a Portuguese colony until the outbreak of was in 1975. Bardem, a Spaniard, could reasonably play an Angolan (of Portuguese descent, though his accent took some criticism in the dismal EAT PRAY LOVE) who worked with MI6 to try and stop Soviet influence in his homeland - until MI6 backed out and left him in the lurch. Feeling that M destroyed his homeland would be a pretty powerful motivator, and since Bardem was born in 1969, it might fit if he wanted to return Angola to its pre-Soviet-influence state, which he would have remebered as a boy. It would also tie in nicely with talk that southern Africa will be used for filming.

[RazorBlade]

All this speculation is too much fun. I can't wait to see the flick though. All answers then. Or maybe not. more fun that way.

And that's my thing, just make it fun EON, just make it fun.

[Pussfeller]

How about Bardem's character's father went down on the Belgrano, sunk by false information fed through by M, and now he wants RE-WEN-GE and the castle in Scotland isn't in Scotalns it's actually in the Falklands (which looks a bit like Scotland) - the Skyfalklands- and all sorts of crazy stuff happens? A little bit of politics for you there.

Needlessly political, with a decidedly un-Bondian anti-Thatcher bent.

No comment on the idea itself, but I don't see how it's "anti-Thatcher" if the villain is an Argentine. Unless it's anti-Thatcher merely because it alludes to an episode in the Falklands War which doesn't necessarily reflect well on the UK. Was it "anti-Churchill" to mention the Lienz cossacks?

[Captain Tightpants]

I don't see how it's "anti-Thatcher" if the villain is an Argentine.

If the Falklands were to be a part of the plot, would the villain be a member of the Argentine Air Force, or the Argentine Army? One would be very convincing as a villain ... the other, not so much.