81 replies to this topic

[Sanjuro007]

If they can legally use the name SPECTRE and Ernst Stavro Blofeld, then by all means I hope they do. However, they will need to give the organization a total overhaul to match the tone of Casino Royale and avoid any unintentional Austin Powers references. In that respect, Blofeld will need to look and act differently. Of course, if that's the case, maybe EON should just invent their own criminal organization and leaders to start afresh without all the baggage.

[RazorBlade]

I'm for a new org and a new villian sans baggage. But if Eon uses Spec and Blofeld it will end up being the same process- in other words either way Eon has to create a believeable, for this Bond universe, org to threaten international stability.

The new org will take advantage of the new regional strife opened up due to the fall of the USSR to generate profits. It's happening anyway in real life, let's fictionalize (condense) it for the audience of a JB movie (reel life).

IMHO anyway.

[Blabbermouth]

I'm all for the return of SPECTRE and Blofeld - but like others have said go back to the way Fleming described them.

This from Wikipedia:
"Fleming details Blofeld's background in the novel Thunderball; none of his background is ever revealed in the Bond films. He was born on May 28, 1908 to a German father and a Greek mother in Gdingen, Germany. After the First World War he became a Polish national. Blofeld attended the University of Warsaw where he studied economics and political history. He later went to the Warsaw Technical Institute to study engineering and radionics. He then took a communication position with the Polish government, at the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. He began to use his position for insider trading, buying and selling stocks at the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Foreseeing World War II, Blofeld made copies of top-secret wires and sold them to Nazi Germany. Before the German invasion of Poland in 1939, he destroyed all records of his existence, then moved to Turkey, where he worked for Turkish radio and set up an intelligence organization. During the war, he sold information to both sides. After the defeat of Erwin Rommel, he decided to back the Allied war effort; ironically, he was awarded numerous medals by the Allied powers after the war's end. After the war, Blofeld temporarily moved to South America before founding SPECTRE.

Despite his willingness to murder millions to get what he wants, Blofeld has a few professional scruples. For instance, in the novel Thunderball he learned that during a standard fundraising kidnapping mission of a young girl, the responsible agent had sexual relations with her. Although Blofeld says that the relations may have been "voluntary or involuntary on the girl's part," he had the agent killed as punishment and returned the girl and half the ransom to her father as compensation. His reasons had nothing to do with morality, but rather with the importance of SPECTRE being known for keeping their word to those they did their "business" with."

Remove all the timelines and maybe replace the WWII refences with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 89. Blofeld could have sold information to both sides in the cold war. IMO Blofeld could be used easily. Also I don't remember Blofeld in the novels having a pet cat, so the Austin Powers reference would dissappear.

Also on the page it says:
"Blofeld appears in the 2004 game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, this time with the likeness of Donald Pleasance." This could have something to do about the rights, but I don't know who is behind the games.

Edited by Blabbermouth, 22 November 2006 - 10:37 AM.

[bogard]

Did Blofeld have the fluffy cat in the books, or was it created for the movies?

[Marquis]

I'd welcome a re-invented SPECTRE and Blofeld as long as it's in keeping with the serious/intelligent tone set by Casino Royale.

[Mr_Wint]

I think it will be very difficult to come up with something that can beat the Blofeld in FRWL/TB. Ken Adams set design, Pohlmann's cold voice... you dont "re-invent" stuff like that.

But I think it would be a good idea to create a new evil organization, that could return for a couple of films.

[DOUBLE-O-JOE]

As much as I love SPECTRE in the old Connery Bonds I don't think it's a good idea to bring them back, for these reasons:
1. SPECTRE was cool back in the 60's but could translate into today's world as being too cheesy;
2. The Craig Bonds need to keep creating it's own style & tone and not bring back too much from the past. It needs to stand on its own two feet, lest it get criticised for lack of originality. For example, the new Dr Who series loves bringing back some of the favourite old villains but have they come up with any new villains that will be as popular & well remembered as the old ones????
3. The new Org is so intriguing that to have SPECTRE behind it all would seem to me to be anti-climatic;
4. A new SPECTRE based on Fleming's original vision sounds interesting but using their name still conjures up the cheese factor mentioned previously.

At the end of the day I don't think we should be reading too much into what Craig said. He doesn't really know who or what it's going to be.

[MillesGloriosus]

If they can legally use the name SPECTRE and Ernst Stavro Blofeld, then by all means I hope they do. However, they will need to give the organization a total overhaul to match the tone of Casino Royale and avoid any unintentional Austin Powers references. In that respect, Blofeld will need to look and act differently. Of course, if that's the case, maybe EON should just invent their own criminal organization and leaders to start afresh without all the baggage.

I agree wholeheartedly. Let's have the SPECTRE envisioned by Ian Fleming when he wrote "Thunderball," not the jokeshop SPECTRE we see in the movies.

Perhaps the only way to bring forth SPECTRE to the screen in 2008 is to call it something else. SPECTRE had its run in the '60s and has been parodied hundreds of times.

[Gabriel]

I think the rights to Thunderball will simply pass on to McClory's next of kin when he dies - he was given them in court!

McClory isn't the villain people make him out to be: he was co-writer of a story that was later used ***without his permission*** for a book Fleming made money from.

Legal cases over ownership have always been commonplace.

The issue is that Fleming died a while after the verdict and people blame the court case and, therefore, McClory for it. For all we know, Fleming might've died anyway!

[deth]

I'm a bit unsure as to whether or not I'd like to see SPECTRE in a Daniel Craig Bond movie. If they were to do so, I think that they would have to reboot that organization as well, and go with a total overhaul of the Blofeld character. After the Austin Powers films, I'm not sure that anyone would take seriously a man who just sat in a chair while petting a white cat. I think that they would have to go one of two routes, the first being a complete reinvention of the Blofeld character, or the second, being SPECTRE with a different character acting in the leadership role.

I doubt they'd go the route of the "movie" Blofeld anyway.


the book Blofeld didn't have white cats about did he?

[Johnboy007]

He did not.

SPECTRE back? That'd be pretty cool.

[Gobi-1]

McClory got his film made in 1965 and an unessesary remake in 1983. He should have sold his rights years ago. He's just become a greedy old man trying to squeeze more money from the same old story. Give it up. Sell your rights and make a nice little sum of cash and be happy about it.

[Jack Spang]

Spectre returning would be cool. Somehow I don't think they'd do it though.

[Bucky]

i agree with what most of you have already said. i would welcome the return of spectre and blofeld if done in a more serious tone. as iconic as the image of spectre from the connery films was it has been tainted by the austin powers films and cannot be taken seriously if done the same way.

[delfloria]

I think it's a little short sighted to think that a new version of SPECTRE and Blofeld would not work concidring how well EON just reinvented 007 himself. I would love to see the return of SPECTRE. (unfortunately, my sources who were involved with the lawsuit think that McClory still own's SPECTRE). BTW when did they ever want to take over the world? Wasn't that Thrush?

[stamper]

I believe SPECTRE was integral in the success of the early Bonds.
If they name the new organisation SPECTRE, Babs and Wilson will make money beyond their wildest dream. All 007 fans, from 8 to 80 years old, will attend the next one like in church.

[TheREAL008]

The way I see it:

Since Casino Royale IS A REBOOT it's too late to go back and make it part of the old universe.

I say bring back Blofeld and SPECTRE but make them more modern..make them the puppetmasters of terrorism. They'd be more scarier that way too.

[Marquis]

I think it will be very difficult to come up with something that can beat the Blofeld in FRWL/TB. Ken Adams set design, Pohlmann's cold voice... you dont "re-invent" stuff like that.

Why not? After all, EON have just successfully reinvented the character of Bond, have they not?

[stamper]

1. SPECTRE was cool back in the 60's but could translate into today's world as being too cheesy;

It's a bit like saying Bond was cool back in the 60's but couldn't translate into today's world as being too cheesy.

[I Like Sharks]

Why not have a new organisation but as Bond eventually brings it down, we see for a moment that a new organisation (ie Spectre) will rise from it.

Blofeld could be a younger man in this organisation, a lieutenant or paid assasin for this group with aspirations of starting a global crime syndicate of his own. Obviously given legal wrangles they wouldn't be able to use the Bolfeld name but he could be called something else ie a direct alias, and not directly meet Bond but would be part of the story nonetheless.

As the organisation collapses he escapes with say the spectre symbol seen in Thunderball, his pet white cat and sketches for building a base inside a volcano....and a lot of dreams of world domination. It would be a nod towards Bond's future ie the Connery films and wouldn't have to be played in the campy Dr Evil manner as Blofeld has not become this man with this powerful organisation trying to dominate the world. These are just aspirations of his and he is just another villain in this film but the audience know that this man will become James Bond's arch enemy. It could be left as a loose end for Bond 22/23 as we know what happens to this character. Best of all this character would exist in the film and only when the audience see that he takes his cat with him and recives a scar down his face in escaping from the falling Organisation, do they know that this man is Blofeld before he sets up Spectre.

[Rolex]

Have yet to CR but have read enough threads /reviews to determine that this is a reboot to the franchise. So in theory SPECTRE can be revived , however it would be crossing an already dodgy timeline into the old world of James Bond which would open a lot me questions of how, why, when that could not be answered satisfactory.

I would personally prefer a new organisation with SPECTRE's credentials and have new adventures around destroying this organisation. I will say though and slightly off thread that the only thing from the old James Bond that should ever cross over to the new Bond world should be a remake of OHMSS (my favorite film, never know might be CR by tomorrow ) to address if they (the producers) want to Bonds' marriage to Tracy be addressed.

[Vauxhall]

Agreed that in theory SPECTRE could be revived but I don't think that it should. SPECTRE was the threat that constantly faced (and was dealt with) by Connery and Lazenby. To bring them back would be as if the producers thought they could improve upon those movies. I think that this is the perfect opportunity for a new organisation to be put into place.

[the other fellow]

I agree with tdalton

[tdalton]

I know that I've said it many times before in the months leading up to Casino Royale, but I think that it fits here as well. Why not use SMERSH? Since this is a total reboot, and they can conceivably use SPECTRE and Blofeld again, then why not go back and give SMERSH some screen-time? All they would have to do is just change it from a Russian organization to an international organization. IMO, this would be a great way to keep everything close to Fleming without recycling villains that we've already seen in the films.

[K1Bond007]

I know that I've said it many times before in the months leading up to Casino Royale, but I think that it fits here as well. Why not use SMERSH? Since this is a total reboot, and they can conceivably use SPECTRE and Blofeld again, then why not go back and give SMERSH some screen-time? All they would have to do is just change it from a Russian organization to an international organization. IMO, this would be a great way to keep everything close to Fleming without recycling villains that we've already seen in the films.

Because SMERSH was a real organization (based on one anyway). That's the same as wanting the organization to be the KGB. It just doesn't work. And all that just for a name. We're better off with a completely new organization that encompasses the spirit (so to speak) of Fleming's SMERSH and SPECTRE, but is fresh and new to audiences.

[tdalton]

I know that I've said it many times before in the months leading up to Casino Royale, but I think that it fits here as well. Why not use SMERSH? Since this is a total reboot, and they can conceivably use SPECTRE and Blofeld again, then why not go back and give SMERSH some screen-time? All they would have to do is just change it from a Russian organization to an international organization. IMO, this would be a great way to keep everything close to Fleming without recycling villains that we've already seen in the films.

Because SMERSH was a real organization (based on one anyway). That's the same as wanting the organization to be the KGB. It just doesn't work. And all that just for a name. We're better off with a completely new organization that encompasses the spirit (so to speak) of Fleming's SMERSH and SPECTRE, but is fresh and new to audiences.

Fair enough. I always thought that it was just a completely fictional organization like SPECTRE.

Frankly, I don't want to see SPECTRE return. They've had their day, and doing it in a more serious tone would probably be so radically different from what SPECTRE has proven to be to the film series thus far and would probably be a bit of a disappointment no matter what they did with it. I'd say just go with a fictional organization rather than the return of SPECTRE.

[Vauxhall]

Fair enough. I always thought that it was just a completely fictional organization like SPECTRE.

Nope, SMERSH was real alright, and given this week's story of the Russian defector being poisoned in London, may well still continue to exist to some extent (slightly controversial).

[tdalton]

Fair enough. I always thought that it was just a completely fictional organization like SPECTRE.

Nope, SMERSH was real alright, and given this week's story of the Russian defector being poisoned in London, may well still continue to exist to some extent (slightly controversial).

Thanks for the link. Never knew before that they were actually a real organization, and since they are, it's probably best that they are not used in a Bond movie. With that said, however, I still don't think that SPECTRE should make a return.

[columbo]

I would love to see again Spectre, and even more if Blofeld is in the shadows !!!
I would be great if the leader was - Irma Bunt.
She (with Blofeld) kill Tracy, they have been in the best movies.
To me it was Amazing.


But it wasn't bad at all another organization like SMERSH

[stamper]

Frankly, I don't want to see JAMES BOND return. They've had their day, and doing it in a more serious tone would probably be so radically different from what JAMES BOND has proven to be to the film series thus far and would probably be a bit of a disappointment no matter what they did with it. I'd say just go with a fictional character rather than the return of JAMES BOND.

Sorry couldn't resist LOL