51 replies to this topic

[Blonde Bond]

Does anyone know why Blofeld didn't recognize Bond, when he met him face to face...again ?

I've heard that they were first going with the plot/marketing trick, that Bond had gone thru a series of plastic surgeries, because his face was well known to the criminal underworld and to spectre especially.
However,I got the idea they ditched that idea.

So is there any explanation why Blofeld doesn't recognize Bond ?

Edited by Blonde Bond, 18 August 2006 - 08:12 AM.

[Mr_Wint]

The only logical explanations I can see:
1. James Bond was disguised as a Japanese in YOLT.
2. Bond had glasses in OHMSS (just like Lois can't see that Clark is Superman...).

Two reasons why Blofeld didn't recognize him in OHMSS and the best I can come up with.

Sadly, they filmed Flemings Blofeld triology in the wrong order. Should've been TB-OHMSS-YOLT.

[Blonde Bond]

I did some diggin and these three tidbits might explain it;

*George Lazenby was the only actor to ever break the "fourth wall" of Bond movies and say he wasn't the same guy with his opening line, "this never happened to the other fella."

*Early drafts of the script had a subplot of Lazenby getting plastic surgery to explain the change in appearance.

And like you noted, on the order novels were written

*The producers tried to stay as true to the original novel as possible, explaining why Blofled didn't recognize Bond. The literary SPECTRE trilogy was Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and finally You Only Live Twice.


If you want, you can lock and sink this baby in the bottom of the sea.

Edited by Blonde Bond, 18 August 2006 - 09:44 AM.

[DaveBond21]

When they made OHMSS, they decided to stick strictly to the Fleming book, in which Bond meets Blofeld for the first time. That is why Blofeld does not recognise Bond when meets him in OHMSS.

As Lazenby only made one film, and Connery decided to come back for one more film (DAF), the producers decided to distance themselves from the film. This explains why there is no mention of Bond's wife in DAF and also the film begins in Tokyo, suggesting it follows on from YOLT and assuming that OHMSS never happened.

In DAF, M even says it is time that Bond got back to some serious work again (not the kind of thing you say to a grieving staff member).

OHMSS gained popularity via television, as the 70's went on, and so as a nod to its increased fame, they finally decided to acknowledge its existence, by showing Tracy's grave at the beginning of FYEO.

[Lancaster]

I wonder what would have happened if Connery had stayed on and made OHMSS after YOLT. I assume Peter Hunt would have still directed and he wanted to stick closely to the book. Would they still not have known each other? The fact they don't recognise each other is made easier with the change of actors.

[Nimsworth]

Personally I always go by the explination that Blofeld knows damn well who 007 is but is keeping it under wraps in order to continue the charade of being the count.

And the fact that Blofeld changes appearance (at least in the Titan graphic novels) in OHMSS so much so that 007 doesnt reckognize him.

[Mister Asterix]

It is quite clear that Blofeld had eye damage in You Only Live Twice.

[DamnCoffee]

he should have gon to Specsavers

[Shaun Forever]

Why does Blowfeld change so often though? fair enough he is played by different actors, but in YOLT/OHMSS he is bald, then in DAF he has hair, not to mention the missing scar on his eye

[Blonde Bond]

It is quite clear that Blofeld had eye damage in You Only Live Twice.

Yeah, that's an explanation to my taste. He changed his oculist.
In my mind I want to think the producers did aknowledge OHMSS, because in the DAF's bt-sequence Bond seems clearly desperate on his crusade seeking revenge on the man who had murdered the woman he loved and initially married in the last film.
More obsessive than he was while he was attached in the operation "bedlam"

Edited by Blonde Bond, 19 August 2006 - 12:08 AM.

[Tiin007]

Guys, just like Mr._Wint said, he was disguised in OHMSS. Did we forget that? Yes, it wasn't a great disguise, but it was by no means a horrible one. If you can accept Superman's glasses disguise as Clark Kent (which is far more obvious), why can't you accept this? Yes, we might need to stretch our imagination a tad, but it still makes sense. And Blofeld did eventually figure it out. After all, they had only met once before and for a very brief time, and it had been two years since then. So, with a clever disguise, it isn't that hard to understand why Blofeld couldn't recognize Bond

[dunmall]

well here is my own theory I made up a while back in another thread:

here's my own little bit of fan wankery i came up with on the train ride home last night re: YOLT/OHMSS....
Bond undercover as Sir Hilary recognises Blofeld immediately and begins plans, as in the novel, to get him out of Piz Gloria and more importantly Switzerland so he can be arrested. Hence why he becomes so keen to visit the ancestral tomb of Blofeld's false identity.
Blofeld also recognises Bond immediately, but why does he do nothing? Because as we see later this Blofeld is a huge snob. He sees himself as the Master of the World. He wants to see the great OO7 humiliated before being killed. So he allows him to find out details, of his plan before finally grabbing him. This way Bond in his false sense of security thinks that he can make it out and warn people, when in reality the trap has already sprung. Even the act of putting Bond in the machine room is an effort to try and break him. So that he will be totally defeated and humiliated, having witnessed Blofeld's "inevitable" victory, when he is finally pushed down a mountain like Campbell....
see it's all a game of cat and mouse between to vindictive and driven men.

[Scottlee]

I just pretend that Bond's Japanese make-up at the end of YOLT was more concealing than it appeared to viewers.

[JimmyBond]

I just pretend that Bond's Japanese make-up at the end of YOLT was more concealing than it appeared to viewers.

That's a good reason...except for the fact Bond didnt have on his Japanese make up when he was in the base and met Blofeld face to face.

[stamper]

They should have shot that plastic surgery changing face thing for OHMSS as they initially wanted to.

[Scottlee]

I just pretend that Bond's Japanese make-up at the end of YOLT was more concealing than it appeared to viewers.

That's a good reason...except for the fact Bond didnt have on his Japanese make up when he was in the base and met Blofeld face to face.

I know, hence 'pretend'.

I also had the idea of pretending that Savalas' Blofeld is the evil brother of Pleasance's Blofeld, and not the same person. This makes sense if you consider the complete physical contrast between the two villains; one is very physical and the other is not.

[Robert Watts]

Blofeld never says he didn't know OO7 at first.

I just stick to the assumption that he knew but waited for Bond to make the first move.

[Johnboy007]

I just pretend that Bond's Japanese make-up at the end of YOLT was more concealing than it appeared to viewers.

That's usually my "explanation" for it as well.

[Santa]

It's the same as plot holes in GF and all the other Bond films, they've all got them. Huge, gaping errors, but it's all so much fun that I don't care.

[Mr_Wint]

To be honest I've always felt that the order TB-OHMSS-YOLT-DAF feels more logical, even for the movies! OHMSS is closer to TB in style and YOLT feels more 'modern' than OHMSS. Also, DAF is a more logical follow-up to YOLT since the film starts in Japan. Just change the order in you shelf and all problems solved.

Thunderball (1965)
On Her Majestys Secret Service (1967)
You Only Live Twice (1969)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

[JimmyBond]

Doesnt change the fact that Bond's still going to meet Blofeld for the first time. Only with your order, it's in YOLT.

[DaveBond21]

Just to reiterate what I said earlier, yes, the Bond producers tried to distance themselves from OHMSS at the time - hence Lazenby was out, Connery back in, and no obvious mention of the short-lived marriage.


However, now OHMSS is considered by many to be the best 007 movie, but back in the early 70's it was not.

[Mister Asterix]

[mra]Between Blofeld

[Daddy Bond]

I think it's because Sean Connery and George Lazenby look nothing alike. Changing the actors who played Bond completely confused Blofeld.

(That's a joke by the way - a lame one, I know).

Regards

[Mister Asterix]

I think it's because Sean Connery and George Lazenby look nothing alike. Changing the actors who played Bond completely confused Blofeld.

(That's a joke by the way - a lame one, I know).

Regards

Thank you for pointing out that my joke was lame.

[DaveBond21]

Also someone mentioned similarities with Clark Kent/Superman and the fact that Kent wears glasses.


But Bond is not wearing his glasses when he "meets" Blofeld in OHMSS.

[Skudor]

Bond is in disguise. He's cleverly disguised in kilt and glasses and general nerdishness. Blofeld even comments on what a pathetic disguise it is.

[DaveBond21]

He's cleverly disguised in kilt and glasses and general nerdishness. Blofeld even comments on what a pathetic disguise it is.

He isn't wearing the glasses when he meets Blofeld. He has been to dinner with the girls and Irma Bunt, and goes directly to meet with Blofeld without his glasses.

[Skudor]

He's cleverly disguised in kilt and glasses and general nerdishness. Blofeld even comments on what a pathetic disguise it is.

He isn't wearing the glasses when he meets Blofeld. He has been to dinner with the girls and Irma Bunt, and goes directly to meet with Blofeld without his glasses.

Clearly Blofeld knocked his head while escaping from that volcano... afterall he somehow looks different too.

I guess it's just one of those situations where we have to be glad that they were willing to 'eff' continuity in favour of staying faithful to the source material.

Or subscribe to the codename theory....

[jaguar007]

Does anyone know why Blofeld didn't recognize Bond, when he met him face to face...again ?

I've heard that they were first going with the plot/marketing trick, that Bond had gone thru a series of plastic surgeries, because his face was well known to the criminal underworld and to spectre especially.
However,I got the idea they ditched that idea.

So is there any explanation why Blofeld doesn't recognize Bond ?

The answer to your question is the same answer as to how Dench is M in CR : Suspension of disbelief, you just have to accept the movie on its own and deal with it.