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Foreign Government Alliance with SPECTRE in YOLT


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#1 Universal Exports

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Posted 10 October 2013 - 01:23 PM

In reference to the scene where Blofeld is speaking with the two Asian gentlemen in his apartment, one of those men mentions that his "government is happy" with what's going on, and it is made clear that this "government" has provided Blofeld with much of his equipment/resources.  Is it ever made clear or hinted as to which government these two men represent?  I'm guessing it is the same country that has provided all the "soldiers" (who are also Asian) for Blofled.

 

It can't be Japan - otherwise Tiger would not be helping Bond.  I guess China is the only real option?



#2 AMC Hornet

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Posted 10 October 2013 - 03:08 PM

Of course it was China, just as it was supposed to be China who gave Goldfinger his 'atomic device', but the climate at the time was such that movie-makers had to be coy about naming them as the 'enemy.'

 

"After America and Russia have annihilated each other," Blofeld declares, "we will see a new power rise in the east."

 

SPECTRE was only serving the same purpose as it was in FRWL - pitting east against west and profiting from the conflict. Those who imagine that Blofeld was bent on world domination ("same old dream" Bond says to Dr. No) are missing this point. The only Bond villains who ever sought world domination were Stromberg and Drax, in the increasingly OTT 70s.

 

Blofeld was a seducer - a kingmaker who enticed people like Osato, Metz and Bert Saxby to seize power and influence, while at the same time using them as pawns.

 

Now, as M declared at her hearing in SF, the enemy isn't any country and can't be identified solely by political borders or agenda. "We must fight them where they live - in the shadows."



#3 Universal Exports

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Posted 10 October 2013 - 03:24 PM

Of course it was China, just as it was supposed to be China who gave Goldfinger his 'atomic device', but the climate at the time was such that movie-makers had to be coy about naming them as the 'enemy.'

 

"After America and Russia have annihilated each other," Blofeld declares, "we will see a new power rise in the east."

 

SPECTRE was only serving the same purpose as it was in FRWL - pitting east against west and profiting from the conflict. Those who imagine that Blofeld was bent on world domination ("same old dream" Bond says to Dr. No) are missing this point. The only Bond villains who ever sought world domination were Stromberg and Drax, in the increasingly OTT 70s.

 

Blofeld was a seducer - a kingmaker who enticed people like Osato, Metz and Bert Saxby to seize power and influence, while at the same time using them as pawns.

 

Now, as M declared at her hearing in SF, the enemy isn't any country and can't be identified solely by political borders or agenda. "We must fight them where they live - in the shadows."

 

Thanks, AMC.  I agree with you.  So, the implication is that the soldiers inside the volcano are also Chinese?


Edited by Universal Exports, 10 October 2013 - 03:25 PM.


#4 AMC Hornet

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Posted 10 October 2013 - 09:59 PM

Or minions recruited from 1-800-Henchmen, Japan Chapter.

 

In the novel Blofeld's guards were recruited from the Black Dragon society, but there isn't so much as a passing nod to that in the film, so the minions could be Chinese soldiers or Japanese crooks - take your pick. (I always figured they were Japanese, a step up in the food chain from the stevadores who accost Bond and Aki at the Kobe docks.)



#5 Guy Haines

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Posted 11 October 2013 - 07:01 AM

As much as I enjoy YOLT the movie, a couple of things always perplexed me from a practical point of view. First, how do you construct a rocket base on someone else's territory - even one hidden in a hollowed out volcano - without the authorities noticing there might be something a bit out of the ordinary going on? Rome wasn't built in a day, and I'll bet SPECTRE's rocket base wasn't either!

 

And secondly, the locals on that Japanese island might have noticed some highly unusual aerial activity around that volcano - molten lava is one thing, helicopters and a couple of missile launches is quite something else! - yet the only odd thing they report is the death of an ama diving girl.

 

Ah well, best not to think about these things, just sit back and enjoy the show! :)

 

As for Blofeld's business partner, I always assumed it was "Red China" - then going through political convulsions internally, shunned by the UN, and with both the US and the USSR hostile. China setting the West and the East against each other was a plot trope of the era in other media - for example there's an episode of The Saint called "The Gadget Makers" which has Russian agents being killed off and assassination attempts on MI6 agents, until Simon Templar discovers it's all a Chinese plot.

 

I doubt a similar storyline to YOLT in this day and age would feature China as the villain, not least because of the lucrative Chinese film audiences. North Korea, on the other hand....... ;)



#6 Turn

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Posted 11 October 2013 - 12:04 PM

Interesting that just a few years after using Chinese backing for his YOLT plot that Blofeld demonstrates the power of his diamond-powered satellite to destroy Chinese missiles in DAF. Not that you'd expect him to be loyal or anything like that.

 

And when you think about it, that whole scene with the destruction of military hardware helps Blofeld dupe Metz, who thinks he's doing it all for world peace. It's a glanced-over subplot point that gets lost in the madness of DAF.



#7 plankattack

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Posted 11 October 2013 - 01:27 PM

 

I doubt a similar storyline to YOLT in this day and age would feature China as the villain, not least because of the lucrative Chinese film audiences. North Korea, on the other hand....... ;)

 

I think that's for another day. Ta dum!



#8 Universal Exports

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Posted 11 October 2013 - 02:32 PM

As much as I enjoy YOLT the movie, a couple of things always perplexed me from a practical point of view. First, how do you construct a rocket base on someone else's territory - even one hidden in a hollowed out volcano - without the authorities noticing there might be something a bit out of the ordinary going on? Rome wasn't built in a day, and I'll bet SPECTRE's rocket base wasn't either!

 

And secondly, the locals on that Japanese island might have noticed some highly unusual aerial activity around that volcano - molten lava is one thing, helicopters and a couple of missile launches is quite something else! - yet the only odd thing they report is the death of an ama diving girl.

 

Ah well, best not to think about these things, just sit back and enjoy the show! :)

 

As for Blofeld's business partner, I always assumed it was "Red China" - then going through political convulsions internally, shunned by the UN, and with both the US and the USSR hostile. China setting the West and the East against each other was a plot trope of the era in other media - for example there's an episode of The Saint called "The Gadget Makers" which has Russian agents being killed off and assassination attempts on MI6 agents, until Simon Templar discovers it's all a Chinese plot.

 

I doubt a similar storyline to YOLT in this day and age would feature China as the villain, not least because of the lucrative Chinese film audiences. North Korea, on the other hand....... ;)

Yep.  Those are great observations.  Also, can you imagine the political ramifications of Japan discovering a bunch of Chinese soldiers hidden in a volcano in Japan that are carrying out such an insidious plan?  

 

I read the book again recently, and even though the movie has a much different plot, I loved watching the movie shortly after.  It makes me want to go to Japan- at least the Japan of the 1960's.  Tiger (in the book and the movie) is one of my favorite Bond allies.



#9 mrevans

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Posted 14 October 2013 - 11:01 PM

I agree. It's a shame Tiger never made it back for another film. Though I must admit I don't know where else he could have fit in the series.

#10 AMC Hornet

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Posted 15 October 2013 - 03:12 AM

I agree; he had no place in modern-day Japan either - just ask Raymond Benson about that.



#11 AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän

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Posted 03 November 2013 - 04:18 PM

It is China. Sino-Soviet Split was a reality of the day back then.