47 replies to this topic

[S K Y F A L L]

How would you play out Craig's Era?

 

Since the films seem to take about 3 years, I think I'd just end it on five films. 

 

That could give them til 2022 (60th anniversary) for the first Bond 7.

[DamnCoffee]

If Craig does return then I strongly suspect Bond 25 will be his last. I know it's been said a lot but i'm still holding out for the You Only Live Twice adaptation.

 

Spoiler

 

If we do follow the events of YOLT, with Bond getting amnesia and being pressumed dead, then I'd love for M to give a statement in it's closing moments - that turns out to be a highly faithful but mordenised version of Bonds obituary from the YOLT novel. As M wraps up the speech, the camera spans across the water as we see Bond swimming towards the coastline. Kissy?? sitting on the shore waiting for him. They embrace and look out to sea as some final words from M close the Daniel Craig era. "You only live twice. Once when you are born. And once when you look death in the face."

 

Roll credtis.

 

Edited by DamnCoffee, 14 November 2015 - 09:26 PM.

[TheREAL008]

How about something more original than yet another YOLT wish? 

Why not a chapter closer? Something possibly bittersweet that could also introduce the next man proper?

[bond_azoozbond]

Maybe Craig till Bond 26 or Bond 27 .. But at his last movie we see old bond who suffer from his age .. I think Craig can do this part pretty well ..

[coco1997]

I must be in the minority but I simply can't picture Craig playing Bond for another decade, which is how long it would take him to do three more movies at the current rate EON is producing them. I'll miss Craig when he's gone, but he has the opportunity to do something none of the other Bonds have--go out on top. Finish the Blofeld/SPECTRE/Madeleine storyline with BOND 25/SHATTERHAND, then give us a soft reboot with a new actor several years later. 

 

Of course, I say this all now, but most likely I'll be begging Craig to return after BOND 25/SHATTERHAND.

[sharpshooter]

Of course, I say this all now, but most likely I'll be begging Craig to return after BOND 25/SHATTERHAND.

Heh, indeed. I left SPECTRE thinking "just please give me one more." I'd be at peace with five films. It's a good number. Connery's original ending point before being asked back after OHMSS. 

 

And also, Bond getting amnesia at the end Bond 25 would be a pyrrhic victory for Blofeld - considering his torture method in SPECTRE.

[tdalton]

I must be in the minority but I simply can't picture Craig playing Bond for another decade, which is how long it would take him to do three more movies at the current rate EON is producing them.

I can't picture it either. And there's no way that he'd want to stay on for another decade, either. At the very most, I could see him agreeing to one final Bond film in 2018 or 2019, but that's about all I can see him doing. I don't see there being another 2-3 Craig films.

[DamnCoffee]

How about something more original than yet another YOLT wish? 

 

 

I don't really want to be the person who says "I wanted the YOLT adaptation before it was cool", but this plot line has been in the back of my mind for years and considering how SPECTRE ends, it has a pretty strong chance of happening now than it's ever done in the past. If it doesn't then cool, but i'd be surprised.


I'm working on a rough, bullet pointed adaptation of Bond 25 which picks up with Bond (After the opening titles - the PTS revolves around Blofelds escape from confinement) and Madeline after the events of SPECTRE. Shatterhand takes Bond to the French Riviera, London, New York, Las Vegas and Japan. I wanted to introduce things like the Blades Gentlemans Club, The Minister of Defence (Charles Dance), Spectre-ville and of course the Garden of Death. The plot takes from Diamonds Are Forever and You Only Live Twice novels most.

[S K Y F A L L]

The Garden Of Death would be welcome. I only know about it from what I read on here but it has my curiosity.

[sharpshooter]

The Garden Of Death would be welcome. I only know about it from what I read on here but it has my curiosity.

It would be marvellous, to quote Bond in SPECTRE. Along with the sword fight, the question room which spews hot mud, and the finale with Bond losing his memory. Which would also see Blofeld partly getting his wish of Bond failing to recognise Madeleine, ala the drill torture scene. Allowing a clean slate for Bond 7.

[Professor Pi]

 

The Garden Of Death would be welcome. I only know about it from what I read on here but it has my curiosity.

It would be marvellous, to quote Bond in SPECTRE. Along with the sword fight, the question room which spews hot mud, and the finale with Bond losing his memory. Which would also see Blofeld partly getting his wish of Bond failing to recognise Madeleine, ala the drill torture scene. Allowing a clean slate for Bond 7.

 

 

I hadn't thought about amnesia being a good transition into a new Bond actor who doesn't remember his DC missions.  Fascinating!

[Double-Oh Agent]

That is intriguing. I quite like the idea. Were that to happen, you could have Bond being rescued by Blofeld's SPECTRE #2 or some such remaining higher up who discovers Bond has amnesia and instead of killing him gets the idea to send a brainwashed 007 back to MI6 to assassinate M as a way to get revenge for Blofeld's apparent death as well as embarrass the Secret Service a la From Russia With Love. And then of course M has James Molony unbrainwash Bond, and once healthy sends him back after SPECTRE who have regrouped and are causing trouble throughout the world once again. Would be quite a memorable beginning for Bond #7.

[Surrie]

If they do end Craig's era like this, I wouldn't hate it but I'd hope that they don't feel the need to keep making films that following on from the previous one. When they cast a new actor I'd hope that Craig's films stand alone, and along a different Bond time-line. 

[RMc2]

I want (and I expect) Bond 25 to be Craig's last. He'll be 50 or 51 by the time it comes out, and that's old enough before it gets embarrassing. If anything, the poor man's muscles need a rest!

 

However, I don't want Bond 25 to play up Craig's ageing. They did that with SF, and if there's one thing Craig's finale doesn't need, it's yet more repetition of ideas and arcs played out in his previous films.

 

The Garden Of Death would be fantastic to adapt. But apart from that, and possibly the name Shatterhand, I don't want to see anything of YOLT. The amnesia subplot would play out oddly as Craig's finale.

 

Besides, it looks like SP is gearing more towards an OHMSS-inspired finale.

 

So, give me Blofeld's escape in the PTS, Bond and Madeleine on a happy holiday from life, until MI6 comes a-callin' with the bad news about Ernst. They assume he's gunning for Swann, and Bond's back in the service on a standard, but still personal, mission.

 

I'd like to see the threat of Madeleine's death driving the plot, rather than the tired trope of her actual death kickstarting things.

 

Of course, Bond's investigations uncover that Blofeld's got something else even more nefarious planned... But I hope they keep things rooted in espionage and plausibility. SP flirts dangerously closely with the classic Bond bloat that blighted other eras.

[Surrie]

I want (and I expect) Bond 25 to be Craig's last. He'll be 50 or 51 by the time it comes out, and that's old enough before it gets embarrassing. If anything, the poor man's muscles need a rest!

 

However, I don't want Bond 25 to play up Craig's ageing. They did that with SF, and if there's one thing Craig's finale doesn't need, it's yet more repetition of ideas and arcs played out in his previous films.

 

The Garden Of Death would be fantastic to adapt. But apart from that, and possibly the name Shatterhand, I don't want to see anything of YOLT. The amnesia subplot would play out oddly as Craig's finale.

 

Besides, it looks like SP is gearing more towards an OHMSS-inspired finale.

 

So, give me Blofeld's escape in the PTS, Bond and Madeleine on a happy holiday from life, until MI6 comes a-callin' with the bad news about Ernst. They assume he's gunning for Swann, and Bond's back in the service on a standard, but still personal, mission.

 

I'd like to see the threat of Madeleine's death driving the plot, rather than the tired trope of her actual death kickstarting things.

 

Of course, Bond's investigations uncover that Blofeld's got something else even more nefarious planned... But I hope they keep things rooted in espionage and plausibility. SP flirts dangerously closely with the classic Bond bloat that blighted other eras.

 

Couldn't agree more with this, and I would certainly be happy if they went down this road for Bond 25. It would be a very lackluster start to Craig's final Bond film if they killed Madeleine off in the PTS and the rest was based on avenging her. However, it would surprise me if they did take the OHMSS route and have her killed right at the end! 

[Tarl_Cabot]

love to see that YOLT remake but with Bourne having had amnesia I don't see how the film wouldn't look like a rip off, even if Fleming did the amnesia thing before Ludlum.

[Surrie]

I'm sure EON would make it known in the trailers and PR campaigns that Fleming came up with the idea first... should they run with the amnesia story!

[tdalton]

I think that EON could get away with the amnesia angle, assuming that it's done at the end of the film as it was in the YOLT novel. Leaving things off with Bond having amnesia would, I think, negate a lot of the criticism because, unlike Bourne, the character arc and the film itself would not be built upon the foundation of Bond having amnesia.

They might run into more problems when they introduce the next Bond, coming right off the heels of the amnesia finale for Craig, but if they do something along the lines of the opening of TMWTGG and quickly bring an end to the amnesia plot in that way while also not going in the direction that one would expect them based on where Bourne went with the amnesia plot, then I think it could work out.

[Dustin]

The problem is, Bourne is built almost entirely on the amnesia, even three films with the original 'Bourne' character didn't really solve the mystery about why he became what he had been prior to his injury.

With Bond it's the other way around, we know pretty well who he is. And Fleming let him regain his memory mostly off stage, the idea didn't play a huge role in TMWTGG aside from setting him on the trace of Scaramanga. It would not be a really effective plot device unless you really left Bond alone on a deserted shore with a life as a fisherman as his only future.

The next incarnation of James Bond would then probably be another reboot with yet another direction.

[tdalton]

I think that they could get some mileage out of the amnesia storyline without having to take directly up against Bourne. First, I think it would be an interesting way to introduce a new actor without having to do a reboot. It also leaves them the ability to give Bond something personal to explore without it being another one of those "this time...it's personal" plots that we've seen no end to since Barbara Broccoli took control of the franchise.

The way it could work, I think, would be to leave Craig's tenure off with Bond being left to his devices in Japan. I think you'd end the film on the note that Craig's, and therefore Bond's, arc is complete and that's the end. People then are expecting another reboot, but I think that's where you'd come in and subvert that expectation and continue the storyline again. Introduce a new Bond as the amnesiac Bond in the pre-titles of the next film. Start it like TMWTGG novel, with Bond showing up at MI6. Everyone (Moneypenny, Q, M, Tanner, etc.) know something is off, that Bond doesn't look quite right (a wink to the fact that it's a new actor) and then continue on with the attempted assassination of M.

The rest of the film they could take the basic premise of Fleming's TMWTGG, pitting Bond up against a seemingly unstoppable assassin that he really has no chance to kill. The way I'd do it is to have M, against the advice of everyone else who just want Bond quietly executed, sends Bond out against a Scaramanga stand-in under the pretense that the only way he could prove his loyalty is to take out this dangerous assassin, but, in all likelihood, "Scaramanga" will kill Bond and take care of MI6's dirty work for them. Either way, they've got a problem taken off of their hands.

From there, you give the new actor a chance to really explore the Bond character. Who is Bond? What makes Bond "Bond", as he works through what happened to him in Japan and possibly Vladivostok, but it's a personal angle that doesn't involve killing a lover or outright going out into the field for revenge or exploring his childhood relationships with his mother and father.

[Tarl_Cabot]

Bond already had his got hurt, went on the shelf for a while storyline in Skyfall. I want more Bond vs Spectre-Blofeld. A trilogy at least

[The Dove]

Agreed...I think SPECTRE growing in power, Blofeld making a disappearing act from custody and reappearing somewhere for one big showdown with James Bond would be the way to close out the Craig era..

[Surrie]

Agreed...I think SPECTRE growing in power, Blofeld making a disappearing act from custody and reappearing somewhere for one big showdown with James Bond would be the way to close out the Craig era..

 

 

Bond already had his got hurt, went on the shelf for a while storyline in Skyfall. I want more Bond vs Spectre-Blofeld. A trilogy at least

 

I think this is the best way to end Craig's tenure. It would close things off nicely for him, and allow a new actor to step in and take the reigns. 

[Mr. Arlington Beech]

I think that they could get some mileage out of the amnesia storyline without having to take directly up against Bourne. First, I think it would be an interesting way to introduce a new actor without having to do a reboot. It also leaves them the ability to give Bond something personal to explore without it being another one of those "this time...it's personal" plots that we've seen no end to since Barbara Broccoli took control of the franchise.

The way it could work, I think, would be to leave Craig's tenure off with Bond being left to his devices in Japan. I think you'd end the film on the note that Craig's, and therefore Bond's, arc is complete and that's the end. People then are expecting another reboot, but I think that's where you'd come in and subvert that expectation and continue the storyline again. Introduce a new Bond as the amnesiac Bond in the pre-titles of the next film. Start it like TMWTGG novel, with Bond showing up at MI6. Everyone (Moneypenny, Q, M, Tanner, etc.) know something is off, that Bond doesn't look quite right (a wink to the fact that it's a new actor) and then continue on with the attempted assassination of M.

The rest of the film they could take the basic premise of Fleming's TMWTGG, pitting Bond up against a seemingly unstoppable assassin that he really has no chance to kill. The way I'd do it is to have M, against the advice of everyone else who just want Bond quietly executed, sends Bond out against a Scaramanga stand-in under the pretense that the only way he could prove his loyalty is to take out this dangerous assassin, but, in all likelihood, "Scaramanga" will kill Bond and take care of MI6's dirty work for them. Either way, they've got a problem taken off of their hands.

From there, you give the new actor a chance to really explore the Bond character. Who is Bond? What makes Bond "Bond", as he works through what happened to him in Japan and possibly Vladivostok, but it's a personal angle that doesn't involve killing a lover or outright going out into the field for revenge or exploring his childhood relationships with his mother and father.

It still might be risky, because the general movie goers perhaps will not going to care enough about those differences in the treatment for the amnesia theme (or about the literary root justification) to stop the rip-off accusations. Having said that, if EON decides to take that option, I think it could work with a new actor on the role of Bond, thus they could avoid such a gloomy finale for the Craig era, that I think wouldn’t be precisely a big crowd pleaser.

[hoagy]

Bring Blofeld back for just one film ?  Really ?  Seems doubtful.

 

Where could this go ?  Well, when Blofeld came back in the books, he came back in the snowy location.  That has just been used, in SPECTRE.  Location-wise, then, it seems the snowy location would not apply for any Blofeld-Round-2.  (I know, it would not be Round 2, since Blofeld is the author of all Bond's pain, and, therefore, Round 5, but I'm referring to direct contact)  I will keep my comments focused on Location, a very particular, specific aspect of this thread's topic.

 

The classic Bondian location of London has been used a great deal already in Craig's films.

 

The other classic Bondian location ?  As was seen a bit in CR, which had some Bond-in-the-ocean but not that much -- someplace warm, lush and exotic.  (Umm, no, I don't mean Monica Bellucci, though she certainly makes any location meet that description.)

 

   In this regard, I respectfully suggest the Seychelle Islands.

 

      Used by Fleming but not yet in the films, it was -- during the Cold War -- a traditional haven for spies (I'd have said "hotbed" but I already distracted myself; see comment above), and beautiful, lush, etc.

 

Additionally, the Seychelles could tie in with South Africa rather neatly, and could bring in elements suitable to S Africa and to the waters between there and the Seychelle Islands, such as:

   Casinos (DAF story elements, not all of which were used in the film)

      Piracy (the waters between Africa and the Seychelles are teeming with pirates, who could be a front for something larger)

         Garden of Death (YOLT storyline as yet not used, but handy when one intends to bring Blofeld into the next story) -- perhaps with Blofeld's new identity that of a certain Colonel Sun ?  Oh, yeah, I'm throwing waaaay too much in, I know.  But I say go for broke, then edit, edit, edit to get it "tight" and keep the developed-but-not-used pieces for later films.  This would not be as much fun, perhaps, as using the name "Shatterhand."

 

OK, now that I've managed to go all over the map, locationally and figuratively, I'll cease and desist, at least, with regard to this post.

[Professor Pi]

The other classic Bondian location ?  As was seen a bit in CR, which had some Bond-in-the-ocean but not that much -- someplace warm, lush and exotic.  (Umm, no, I don't mean Monica Bellucci, though she certainly makes any location meet that description.)

 

.  That's two LOL's in one week, hoagy.  Thanks!

[hoagy]

SPOILER ALERT !!!

 

This will wander off topic but it is directly responsive to a comment regarding the lovely Ms. Bellucci, and then goes off from there.  Apologies in advance.

 

OK, while on the topic of the wonderful Monica Bellucci:  A criticism I would level at SPECTRE -- and not enthusiastically, as I thoroughly enjoy the film -- is the odd appearance of the corset on the Widow Sciarra...when Bond unzipped her dress (or suit top) it is obvious she has nothing on beneath the top.  Then they share state secrets, off-screen.  Next we see them in a bedroom, with her in bed.  Bond is getting dressed because he is going to the Big Meeting.  But the Widow ?  Did she put clothes ON to make love ?  Perhaps she started to get dressed, like Bond, too, and did not yet finish.  It may be that the film-makers simply weren't going to show R-rated amounts of Sciarra-skin, but sheets would have accomplished that.

 

OK, I've got another item that could have been handled relatively easily with a little groundwork laid in advance.  When Madeleine and Bond escape the ruins of MI6 HQ, they are in a boat which appears to be the same one in which Bond rode earlier.  At any rate -- it is an MI6 boat.  Had they managed to inform the audience that the boat -- an MI6 vessel, after all -- carried some weaponry on-board -- such as a shoulder-mount grenade launcher or small rocket launcher, or even a rifle -- it would have given Bond a much more credible weapon with which to disable the helicopter than a pistol.  Sure, it took Bond a number of shots with the pistol, and it is possible, but the alternative would not have been so difficult to work into the film.  Similarly, giving Bond some little bit of help in finding Madeleine in that big ol' building could have been established earlier, and quickly:  Eg.  Cell-phone tracking, or other homing device tracking (perhaps Bond plants a small one on her in a quick embrace before she walks off down the street).  Alternatively:  Blofeld deliberately clues Bond in (some reference to the earlier loss of Dench M and Swann is in Dench M's former office ?), with Blofeld not too concerned due to his arrogance and to figuring -- reasonably --  it won't give Bond enough time anyway.  Maybe even have Blofeld outright tell Bond.

 

Oh, well, there are moments in the best of Bond films and in the best of other films which could have been improved upon with just the slightest provision within the script, or noticed even on the day of filming.  If you ever have read the Glitch or error lists even for films regarded very, very highly you may be surprised.

[Professor Pi]

Similarly, giving Bond some little bit of help in finding Madeleine in that big ol' building could have been established earlier, and quickly:  Eg.  Cell-phone tracking, or other homing device tracking (perhaps Bond plants a small one on her in a quick embrace before she walks off down the street). 

 

Umm...she had been injected with some smart blood!

[stamper]

My feeling is Bellucci wil be Blofeld for the next film.

 

The current Blofeld is just a decoy. Witness how in Rome the SPECTRE guards knows Bond is coming. Only Bellucci would have tipped them.

 

She would be amazing as the bad guy for the next 4 four films.

[Tarl_Cabot]

" Witness how in Rome the SPECTRE guards knows Bond is coming. Only Bellucci would have tipped them."​

 

 

Huh? The guards knew he was coming because they saw him at the funeral earlier that day.