Posted 18 September 2005 - 12:31 AM
1969 : On Her Majesty's Secret Service
1970 :
George Lazenby
is
Ian Fleming's James Bond, 007
in
S H A T T E R H A N D
Starring
James Bond : George Lazenby
Karol : Brigitte Bardot (EON go back to their original choice for Tracey)
Tiger Tanaka : Tetsuro Tamba
Hong : (actor from the pre-credits sequence of DAF)
M : Bernard Lee
Director : Peter Hunt
Score : John Barry
Locations : London, Australia (Sydney, Great Sandy Desert)
Background : Following on from the mixed reception of OHMSS, the producers debate over what direction to take Bond in. As Lazenby points out, movies like Easy Rider and Midnight Cowboy reflect the changing times, and he is reluctant about playing Bond again. Actors like Burt Reynolds and John Gavin are considered for the role of Bond, but EON decide having three different actors in three movies would be disastrous. Lazenby only agrees to return if the movie will take place in his homeland of Australia. EON agree, intrigued with the possibilities of shooting there. Story-wise, they decide to pursue Fleming's follow-up to OHMSS by using unfilmed ideas from the You Only Live Twice novel. Thus, SHATTERHAND is filmed, and released in December 1970.
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Pre-credits sequence (EON try something different by having a non-Bond PCS).
Late at night, a desperate Japanese man is seen rappelling down a wall. He reaches the ground and proceeds carefully through a jungle-like environment filled with exotic plants and fauna. We see snakes, bats, tarantulas, and various other deadly predators. Brushing up against some bushes, the man clutches his arm in agony. He staggers onwards to a murky lake and topples in, where sharks rush in and rip him to shreds. A bizarre clanking metallic noise is heard, and a huge figure in a suit of medieval armor is seen, observing the grisly spectacle. A Japanese assistant follows. The figure speaks, with an electronic/disguised pre-Darth Vader style voice : "How many is that?", "That's the 22nd this month, so that makes 439 in total". "Excellent. The Garden of Death is even more productive than we had ever anticipated". They walk away, as bloody rags and bones rise to the surface in the water.
Title credits : Images of Tracey, Blofeld, and Irma Bunt flash in and out through the usual Binder girls-and-guns motifs. The song is SHATTERHAND, sung by a hot up-and-coming British rock group called Led Zeppelin.
Fade in.
James Bond 007 is a broken man after the death of his wife, Tracey, with no enthusiasm for his work and spending his nights gambling and drinking. Determined to shake him out of it, M sends Bond on an impossible diplomatic mission to Australia; Bond must investigate the still unsolved 1967 vanishing of Prime Minister Harold Holt. Arriving in Sydney, Bond goes through the motions but gets nowhere with the case. While meeting with the police and secret service, he hears rumors of a bizarre 'Garden of Death' somewhere in the outback, where hundreds of people have vanished over the last few months. Bond is intrigued, and investigates further, finding reports of half-eaten, mutilated, and poisoned corpses in the middle of the desert. With the evidence that many of the vanished/dead were Japanese tourists, Bond contacts his old ally Tiger Tanaka to see if he knows anything about it. Tiger agrees to fly in to Sydney to discuss it.
They meet at Sydney Opera House, where Tiger reveals that a mysterious figure attempted to import numerous poisonous plants and animals into Japan several months earlier, but was refused permission; he assumes the same person is now operating in Australia. The word has spread around Japan that anyone wanting to commit suicide is invited to do so in this Garden of Death. Bond asks who this person is, and Tiger gives him the name Dr. Guntrum Shatterhand, an eccentric figure with an obsession for all things medieval. As soon as he says this, several masked figures burst through the window and assault Bond and Tanaka, who fight them off. One escapes, and Bond chases him up to the roof. A fight ensues and Bond hurls him to his death into the bay, after recognizing the familiar SPECTRE tattoo on the attacker's wrist.
Bond contacts the Australian government for more details on Dr.Shatterhand, but is told the information is strictly private. That night, Bond breaks into a government building, (OHMSS safe-cracking style) to find the files on Shatterhand, who he discovers had bribed the government into keeping all his information secret. He steals a briefcase full of receipts and shipping orders for plants, plus blueprints for a medieval castle, and Shatterhand's immigration papers, which have had the photographs removed. However, the papers show Shatterhand arrived from Switzerland. "Blofeld!" exclaims Bond.
The next day, Bond heads to Sydney university for information on these plants, and meets Karol, an attractive botany research student from Germany, who tells him that all of these plants and creatures are the deadliest on Earth. She too has heard of the Garden of Death, and advises Bond not to go there. Then we have the 'romantic interlude' section, but controversially for a Bond Film, Bond doesn't bed the girl; they kiss chastely, but Bond withdraws moodily, still mourning Tracey.
Bond collects some ninja equipment and supplies from Tanaka. He asks Tiger for help in stopping Shatterhand, but Tiger regrets he can't do anything about it, and bids him good luck and prepares to head back to Japan. Bond angrily states that he helped Tanaka's country a few years ago. Tanaka is conflicted, but has to say no.
Bond sets off into the outback, determined to put an end to Shatterhand, whom he now is convinced must be Blofeld. After several days journey, including an obligatory scenic shot of Ayer's Rock, Bond arrives at a huge walled compound. He scales the walls, ninja style and enters the Garden of Death. In a tense sequence, Bond narrowly avoids the snakes and plants, and sneaks into the main castle-like structure. From a distance, he sees the huge figure in the armor suit. It must be him. Watching from a distance, Bond sees, of all people, Karol greeting the armored figure. They go inside. What the hell!, says Bond.
Sneaking into the castle, Bond fights off several guards, but is overcome. He is thrown into a death trap cell where a geyser shoots up once an hour. As the minutes tick away until Bond will be drowned in the small room, explosions are heard from outside. Tanaka, and an elite force of ninjas, have stormed Shatterhand's compound. Tanaka finds Bond and frees him. While the ninjas are busy with the guards/soldiers, Bond heads to the private quarters on the top floor. Tanaka sees Hong, the assistant from the pre-title sequence, and recognizes him as a Japanese murderer. Tanaka gives chase.
Bond finds Shatterhand, in the 'aquarium room', with huge Dr.No style aquariums covering three walls. Dressed in the suit of armor, ready to face Bond. "Good evening, Mr.Bond. I've been expecting you". Bond lunges at Shatterhand, who pummels him with huge armored fists. A swordfight ensues; Bond is cut badly, and is on the verge of defeat when Shatterhand raises the sword to stab him; a small slit in the armor appears in Shatterhand's elbow. Bond rams his sword into the exposed elbow, and Shatterhand screams. A woman's scream. Bond walks over to the collapsed armored figure, and rips the helmet off. He is shocked at what he sees. Dr. Guntrum Shatterhand is IRMA BUNT (played by a very convincing lookalike to the recently deceased Ilse Steppat). "Good. I want you dead even more than I want him, you old cow". As Bond is about to deliver the death blow, someone else comes into the room behind him. It is Karol, holding a gun on him. Off Bond's puzzled reaction, Karol explains that Bunt is her mother, and she is working at the university so she can research and obtain more and more poisonous plants for the garden. She is about to shoot him, when blood trickles out of her mouth, and she collapses, with a throwing star in her back. Tanaka is in the doorway : "I have lost count of all the debts you owe me, Bond-San". Meanwhile Bunt grabs her helmet and hurls it at Bond and Tanaka. It misses, and smashes the aquarium. Water gushes everywhere. As Bunt tries to escape, Bond grabs a poisonous fish and threatens to stuff it down her throat, unless she tells him where Blofeld is. She refuses, so Bond feeds her the fish, Hildebrand Rarity-style, quipping "Compliments of Mrs. Bond" (19 years later EON would reference this line in LTK). As they leave, Bond says to Tanaka : "I wouldn't recommend the fish".
As Tanaka is explaining that Hong got away through a secret exit, explosions rock the castle, and Bond, Tanaka and the remaining ninjas escape. The next day, Tanaka contacts Japan and obtains Hong's address in Japan, giving it to Bond. M phones Bond and asks him if he's coming home anytime soon. "Not yet Sir, I have some unfinished business in Japan". Fade Out.
THE END
JAMES BOND WILL RETURN IN "DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER"
Hmmm, I've got a concept for one with Dalton - so might submit that in the middle of next week.
