43 replies to this topic

[Triton]

Well if they do bring back Baron Samedi, they need to hire Geoffrey Holder for the role. He is 73 so they better hire him quickly. I don't even know what kind of physical shape he is in at this point, not very menacing if he needs a walker or is in a wheel chair.

It wouldn't be the same character if they hired Morgan Freeman or Laurence Fishburne, although I think both actors are very talented. Geoffrey Holder has a very distinctive voice, West Indian accent, and laugh that added a lot to the Baron Samedi character and made him very memorable. It just wouldn't be the same with another actor wearing the white face paint like a skull and top hat.

Don't forget that the actor hired by Mr. Big/Dr. Kanangai to play Baron Samedi fell into the coffin with poisonous snakes and died of snake bite. Baron Samedi's appearance at the end of Live and Let Die was almost like the angel of death, he seems more like a spirit, like he came to the train to collect the soul of Tee Hee at the end of the fight.

[Bond111]

I wouldn't want Morgan Freeman or Laurence Fishburne as Baron Samedi, just as villains. And it would be great to get Geoffrey Holder back for the character, but if Baron Samedi is immortal, I wouldn't think he would age, right?

[ChandlerBing]

But didn't you know? Tee Hee didn't die either! He went through the breakaway glass and landed on a conveniently placed mattress.

[Triton]

Originally posted by bond111
I wouldn't want Morgan Freeman or Laurence Fishburne as Baron Samedi, just as villains. And it would be great to get Geoffrey Holder back for the character, but if Baron Samedi is immortal, I wouldn't think he would age, right?

I would presume that the members of the Voodou pantheon do not age and are immortal and unchanging. But I really haven't spent much time reading about Voodou belief.

I really think that the character could only re-appear if some part of the Bond XXI plot occurred in the West Indies or the Carribean in areas where Voodou is still worshipped. I think that the chances of this happening are slim to none. They did discuss bringing back Baron Samedi during the filming of Live and Let Die, and this is the reason why we see Baron Samedi the way that we do at the end of the motion picture. But every Bond film since Live and Let Die does not use a Carribean location as the Carribean. (I know that the waters of the Bahamas have been used by the makers of the Bond films for years for all of the underwater stunts and miniature photography.)

If they had decided to film Man with the Golden Gun in Jamaica, instead of Thailand, then the return of Baron Samedi would have been appropriate.

Since Geoffrey Holder is 73, I think the chances we will ever see Baron Samedi again are slim to none.

[Bondian]

There are many Black Actors who could play the part.
It's the mood of the piece that would be interesting. In fact it could the start of a few 'sort of' remakes of previous Bond Films.

A Bond Film with a hint of Voodoo would make a pleasant change to the mundane realism that he have to put up with in the previous efforts.

Bond is a fictional Character and the stories are fictional. So why are the stories these days basically based on fact. Bond should be comfortable in any world because he isn't real. A real Secret Agent is secret and no one would know them and I would of thought they'd use a Condom as well.

[Bond111]

Now that I have been thinking about it for a while, I have reaffirmed my opinion that Lawrence Fishburne could probably do a great job as a Bond villain. Does anyone else agree with me?

[Triton]

Laurence Fishburne is perfectly capable of being a good and memorable villain in a James Bond picture. It depends on how well the character is written and whether Fishburne is appropriate for the part. He is certainly talented and played a very morally dark CIA operative named Nelson Crowe in Bad Company (1995) with Frank Langella and Ellen Barkin. But would audiences identify him too much with the character of Morpheus from the Matrix series?

[Bond111]

Originally posted by Triton
But would audiences identify him too much with the character of Morpheus from the Matrix series?

That's what I was afraid of, but if they write an original villain role that's different, I think it would be fine.

[ray t]

i think it would be quite cool to see bond kill baron samedi (again) in a pretitles set in the carribean...i mean why not have a pretitles that has very little to do with the movie proper a la Tomorrow Never Dies (where gupta and the encoder only appear for a few seconds)

the half white/half black face is so folklore-ish in the James Bond series...why not 'link' a future bond to a previous bond without it appearing in any way as a so-called sequel?

very interesting suggestion

[worchyld]

I've often wondered in Live and Let Die about Baron Samedi - Bond shoots him with his big gun (almost with shotgun power) and another Baron comes up - who was the first Baron - was it a model or something?

Are they clones or the same person? Why doesn't the first one move, except his eyes?

[Triton]

Originally posted by worchyld
I've often wondered in Live and Let Die about Baron Samedi - Bond shoots him with his big gun (almost with shotgun power) and another Baron comes up - who was the first Baron - was it a model or something?

Are they clones or the same person? Why doesn't the first one move, except his eyes?

Actually, Bond uses a Smith and Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver. During the film's climax, the first Baron Samedi is a mannequin with moveable eyes.

[CommanderBond]

i think busta rhymes could play Baron because hes got a crazy laugh like Baron and he doesnt have to do much acting...but if baron came back i think he should be in the pre-title scene

[ChandlerBing]

Will Ferrell can play Baron Samedi.

[CommanderBond]

Originally posted by ChandlerBing
Will Ferrell can play Baron Samedi.

hahaha ...... funny one