31 replies to this topic

[Loomis]

Am I the only one here who thinks the scene between Q and Bond in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH makes no sense whatsoever?

"I've always tried to teach you two things:"

Has he? In the 36 years between FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and TWINE, I'm not sure we've seen Q "try" to "teach" Bond anything apart from the importance of treating his equipment with respect.

"Never let them see you bleed...."

Okay, what does that actually mean? Does it translate as: "Don't let the enemy see that you're wounded"? Is that advice not rather, well, obvious? A little like: "Don't forget to keep breathing air, 007, otherwise you'll die"? After nearly four decades, this is one of Q's two big grains of wisdom????

"....and always have an escape route."

Now, this is just getting silly. Since when has it been Q's business to teach Bond about escape routes? He's a gadget-meister, full stop.

Is Q not actually on the point of retirement in TWINE, but on the point of being fired for senile dementia?

[Ezekiel]

I thought never let them see you bleed was a sort of pretty regular soldier thing to say, even in the worst situations, never let on that it's that bad. Never let the enemy think it's winning, even if you are up **** creek?

[Qwerty]

I agree with Ezekiel, they obviously wanted to give some good dialogue to Q and the line, to never allow the enemy to see more than you want them to, was their choice.

[M_Balje]

[Tarl_Cabot]

The line refers to Bond never sucumbing to defeat/dispair, even if a hail mary is the only option? Who knows? The film was written by Niel Purvis and Robert Wade!

[zencat]

I always took it to be an a in-joke reference to the Nike commericial "Never let them see you sweat." Terrible line. I have no idea why this line is coming out of Q's mouth.

[Dunph]

Yes, the two bits of 'advice' that Q gives Bond are pretty meaningless, but the last one "Always have an escape plan" refers to the gadgets he gives Bond; in any situation- no matter how desperate it gets- Bond should always have a gadget ready, and those gadgets Q has supplied. And of course, via. a gadget the Quartermaster makes his escape from that scene and the series.

"Never let them see you bleed" could again be attached to the use of gadgets, the enemy should never think that Bond has lost or believe their superiority to 007, and Q's gadgets give Bond that upper hand to ensure his enemies never see the man 'bleed.'

[Roger Moore's Bad Facelift]

As much as I love Desmond, I thought his "goodbye" scene was pretty lame.
"R" was terribbly unfunny in his introduction into this franchise, as well. He made up for it in DAD, though.

I know the "never let them see you bleed" scene wasn't necessarily intended as Desmond's "official" sign off to the series, but it sure felt that way. Personally, I felt Fierstein did a much, much better job handling Q's retirement and his replacement (smithers) in his original draft of TND. It was a fun dignified exit..not all sappy and deppressing like in TWINE.
Besides, we even got to see Q's granddaughters. How cool was that?



From Fierstein's TND the 1st draft.....

The next morning Bond and Wade prepare to look for the Indomitable when they climb aboard this sleek search vessel. Out pop`s Q from his retirment and immediately proceeds to arm Bond with plenty of gadgets. Q is surrounded by a bevy of beautiful women...

BOND: I must say, Q, you seem to be doing rather well in your retirement.

Q: Don`t even think about it, 007. They`re my granddaughters!

good stuff

[Double-Oh-Zero]

Quite. I've always felt the lines were really just an excuse for him to use the little contraption that makes him sink into the floor, hence the "escape plan" part. The lines sound like something M or Moneypenny would tell him, not Q.

[Moore Not Less]

"Never let them see you bleed" To me it means that you never show any fear, pain or weakness when you are dealing with the enemy.

"Always have an escape plan" In other words, plan ahead as much as possible so that you can get out of a dangerous situation quicker than you get into it.

An agent of Bond's experience doesn't need to be told these things. Why did Q choose that particular moment? He really must have felt that he would never see Bond again, for whatever reason, retirement, death etc, otherwise the scene makes little sense.

[Loomis]

He really must have felt that he would never see Bond again

And note that he doesn't. Why is Q absent at the end of the film, with everyone else gathered round? Presumably, he retires while Bond is off on assignment hunting Renard and trying to stop whatever may be about to happen involving Elektra.

[Qwerty]

Right Loomis, I wonder if it was a way to start getting people used to the fact that John Cleese would be having the larger gadget guru role in the upcoming films, therefore they would diminish Q's role in The World Is Not Enough and not have him at the end with the rest of the MI6 staff.

[Agent 76]

"I never joke about my work OO7!"

remember....?

[Blofeld's Cat]

As much as I love Desmond, I thought his "goodbye" scene was pretty lame. 

At the time yes, but as a result of his death later it's now become terribly poignant now. To me at least. Now, the soulful look on Desmond's face as he sinks slowly into inmortality almost brings tears to my eyes.

Q wasn't seen at the end of the movie for two reasons:

1) He was too busy trying to fix his "retirement boat."
and
2) He knew that "R" was going to say that truly lame "millenium bug" quip.

[JimmyBond]

The line refers to Bond never sucumbing to defeat/dispair, even if a hail mary is the only option? Who knows? The film was written by Niel Purvis and Robert Wade!

The film was, but the Q scene was written by Bruce Fierstien.

[Roger Moore's Bad Facelift]

He wrote that?!?!

I've always felt Fierstein's strength isn't in plot but rather with witty, smart dialogue. That's why he makes the perfect script doctor. He polishes up every crap line and manages to turn it into gold.

I'd like to think Fierstein would come up with something more clever than that.

Kinda dissapointing if that's the best BF came up with.

Oh well.

[Tanger]

I agree that this scene is pretty lame. I cringe every time I see it. There's just no reason for Q to be saying it. It would work with an M but it makes no sense with Q. It just comes across as cheesy imo.

[1q2w3e4r]

I wasn't aware any writers worked on it except P&W. Oh wait that's Die Another Day which is full of off one liners

I agree with BC that the look Desmond gives adds a whole dimension to the scene as he sinks into the floor.

[brendan007]

I always took it as a great little scene, the whole point is that Q is saying goodbye to Bond after all these years. Neither would want a big emotional scene, so this vague dialouge between them sums up their goodbye.
I always took the 'never let them see u bleed line' as a reference to Bond starting to show a little emotion over Q leaving. By saying that Q was telling him 'i dont want a scene, keep your emotions in check'.
However why they wrote such a perfect farewell scene I dont understand. Nobody knew that Desmond wouldnt be back for the next one, so its inclusion is quite odd.
We're quite lucky that Q as a character did get a send off, as Desmond's death was so unexpected.

[Tanger]

Rumour had it that Desomond would have returned for Bond20, had he not unfortunatly passed away.

[[dark]]

Rumour had it that Desomond would have returned for Bond20, had he not unfortunatly passed away.

He often said that he was there "so long as the producers wanted me, and The Almighty didn't".

I, too, love this scene. Perfect send-off for Q. Quite emotional. Perhaps the only Q scene to end on a downer [more so when we cut to the next scene, and David Arnold's heartfelt music kicks in].

Edited by [dark], 16 March 2004 - 12:03 PM.

[Blofeld's Cat]

If it wasn't for the fact that he unexpectedly died in an unfortunate car accident one could almost think that he knew that he was going to die of some well kept disease before the next movie with that look.

[booyeah_]

That was my senior quote in high school.

[Jim]

Dismal line in dismal scene in dismal film.

[Blofeld's Cat]

The line refers to Bond never sucumbing to defeat/dispair, even if a hail mary is the only option? Who knows? The film was written by Niel Purvis and Robert Wade!

The film was, but the Q scene was written by Bruce Fierstien.

"Never let them see you bleed"

I did a 'net search of this phrase and while virtually all of the results were Bond related, about three or four produced results on a different subject.

This webpage lists the following...

Never make excuses, never let them see you bleed, and never get separated from your baggage.
-- Wesley Price, "Three Rules of Professional Comportment for Writers" (Saturday Evening Post)

I did a free search on the Saturday Evening Post's site, but there were no results going back to January 1992. A paid search probably goes back much further.

Fierstein could've lifted the phrase from this article. Conjecture, of course.

[Bon-san]

Bruce Feirstein comments on the construction of this scene in Issue #42 of 007 Magazine.

"I felt very strongly that Q, after 17 films, one of the most beloved characters in history had better go out right. I kind of lobbied everyone with one sentence, 'look, this is Merlin saying goodbye to Arthur.' Pierce got it immediately. Merlin says goodbye to Arthur and Arthur says goodbye to Merlin, this has got to be a moment. The original line was going to be, 'just remember Bond, I've always tried to teach you two things. First, never comfort the enemy. Second, always have an escape plan.' Michael and I went back and forth on it, back and forth and Apted remembered something about 'never let them see you bleed,' and I said, 'let's do it.'"

[Loomis]

"I felt very strongly that Q, after 17 films, one of the most beloved characters in history had better go out right.  I kind of lobbied everyone with one sentence, 'look, this is Merlin saying goodbye to Arthur.'  Pierce got it immediately.  Merlin says goodbye to Arthur and Arthur says goodbye to Merlin, this has got to be a moment.  The original line was going to be, 'just remember Bond, I've always tried to teach you two things.  First, never comfort the enemy.  Second, always have an escape plan.'  Michael and I went back and forth on it, back and forth and Apted remembered something about 'never let them see you bleed,' and I said, 'let's do it.'"

One for Private Eye's Pseuds Corner.

[Jim]

"I felt very strongly that Q, after 17 films, one of the most beloved characters in history had better go out right. I kind of lobbied everyone with one sentence, 'look, this is Merlin saying goodbye to Arthur.' Pierce got it immediately. Merlin says goodbye to Arthur and Arthur says goodbye to Merlin, this has got to be a moment."

Oh, good grief

I hear the sound of resplendent vomiting a-ringing out.

[Bon-san]

Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.

[DanMan]

So I guess purvis and wade didn't write the line...