7 replies to this topic

[zencat]

How do people feel about Bond permanently changing his firearm from the long-standing Walther PPK to the Walther P99?

The P99 is certainly a formidable weapon, and it's logical that Bond would upgrade, but every time I see a pic of Pierce from GoldenEye holding the PPK I feel a pang of nostalgia. John Gardner upgraded Bond's gun in his first book, LICENSE RENEWED, but he quickly discovered this was a trap. If you upgrade, you have to keep upgrading. Bond used several different guns in the Gardner books and the specialness of the Bond PPK relationship never materialized. Could this happen with the films? Should the PPK be returned?

[zencat]

I've noticed Benson has Bond use both guns in the course of his books for the simple reason that the P99 is a gun that can't be concealed beneath a dinner jacket.

[scaramanga]

I really hate the P99, it just isn't James Bond. Like someone said, it's just too big and bulky to conceal. Bring back the PPK, thats what I say, especially for the 40th anniversary!
I don't mind having Bond use the P99 as a secondary gun, for instance if he lost or damaged the PPK during the course of the mission, but I really think he should go back to the Walther PPK, its part of Bond history, a tradition that should continue.

[James Page]

Contrast how Bond grudgingly gave up his Berretta in DN ("leave the Berretta" - the book follows up with the excellent line "the old bastard"), but how he almost threw away the PPK for a P99 in TND ("..asked Q to get me one of these").

I think we'll see Bond stick to the P99 for the foreseeable future. I like the gun, more macho than the puny PPK (or "pop-gun" as Whitakker put it).

[Blue Eyes]

I thought I'd repost in here as it's been so long. It will give the opportunity for the whole heap of new people we have to come in and discuss things further.

Does Bond have to always be about nostalgia? I can almost see this conversation bordering on the "should Bond stay in the 60's" conversation. I don't think that Bond has to be about nostalgia. Whether it was Connery or Lazenby or Moore or Dalton or Brosnan, Bond has always been modern. And he's always been ahead of the times.

Bond has a pager and a portable phone (albeit one out of the 80's) in FRWL. That ingenuity and advancement. But it's not nostalgia. Nostalgia would be Bond contacting HQ with a carrier pigeon.

But is sticking with the PPK ingenuity and advancent? It's it reasonable? No it's not. It's the 21st Century. Gangs all over the world in real life carry weapons like Uzi's (God know why, they're awful weapons). How many shots does the average PPK carry? Too few. Too few for a man who goes up against people with better weapons.

Bond's weapons have to be updated, just like the man. His clothing is (God forbid we ever get flairs back) , his hair style, his car. Everything.

And while I admit Bond does have the PPK, and the PPK has it's advantages. But Bond has to have a newer weapon. Cause in a real situation he'd be stuffed without it. But just make sure that the new weapon is always a Walther.

[Mister Asterix]

Feliksh!

Good to have you in the forums, ol' boy. How's the Studilac?

Since our man, Leiter, has brought breath back to this topic, I'd like to way in.

The P99 is too big. This isn't a 'Dirty Jimmy' movie; it's James Bond. The P99 is fine for certain situations (Like those that Fleming had Bond use the Smith & Wesson .38 ). But the P99 is just not a practical gun for a secret agent. It's not very easily concealed. The P99 does have more stopping power, but is that really been a problem for a man with a shot like James Bond?

The other issue is personality. The P99 just not quite Bond and I can't see Zukovsky saying, 'Walther P99, 9 millimetre. I know of only fifty-three people who use such a gun. I've killed six of them. Two are in the hospital. I know three are on vacation this week. One is in Guam. Then there is Steve, who is off visiting his sick mother...'

I was excited when Gardner first switched Bond's gun but never really grew fond of any of those guns. As the books went on was no rush of adrenalin reading about a Browning 9mm or a H&K VP70 like there is reading about the Walther PPK. I think the P99, though a Walther, will have the same problem as it gets old.

[LeiterCIA]

I just started posting at this site, so I hope no one minds if I dust off some old topics.

I agree that you can't look at a PPK without thinking Bond, and vice versa. And I'm just not a big fan of P99, for theatrical reasons of course. I mean, the PPK in Brosnan's hands, does transform him into James Bond. I dont see it nearly as much with the P99.

And it does bring up the question of being able to keep such a gun as well concealed. Look at how big it is when they clunk it down on the desk in the opening of TWINE.

Also, my biggest problem with the new gun is the sound effect. Now granted, I've certainly never fired this type of gun, and I do like realism in my movies. So I dont need to near the kind of "explosion" gun shot effects from some movies, like Beverly Hills Cop 2 for example...

But I really dont like that little "pop" sound that come from the P99 in TWINE. I suppose you could argue that the classic PPK effect could have used some updating, but man I sure used to love to hear that sound effect. It was part of the Bond experience. Sort of like how Indiana Jones, has his signature "punch" sound effect.

I wish they'd bring back the PPK, and of nothing else, come up with a better sound effect than a little "pop for the P99.

[Blue Eyes]

What a clever topic, well done Zencat

There's something Bondish about the PPK isn't there, you can't help but see Bond whenever you see the gun. A lot of Australian cop-dramas have the offices issued with PPK's (I think the stations all share the one gun actually ) and everytime I see it it's straight away a thought of Bond.

But Bond does have to upgrade at some stage. Atleast he has stayed with the Walther, which is important.

I'd like to see a scene up some stage where it's revealed that the PPK is a personal choice for Bond, much like he decided to keep the DB5 (Good Lord I hope the contract with Aston Martin doesn't stop them from showing the DB5!!). A scene where Bond has to pick between the PPK and the P99 and he takes the PPK or even carries it as a secondary weapon in an ankle holster or something.