38 replies to this topic

[Roebuck]

Diesel is already contracted for a sequel.
Maybe a little competition will give the Bond series a much needed shot in the arm.
Tamahori was spot on with his remark about not getting away with churning out the 80's style of movie anymore.

[IrishCrown]

Kids ask me what my favorite Vin Diesel movie is. I tell them it is Saving Private Ryan. He gets killed in it, you know.

[zencat]

Originally posted by Mourning Becomes Electra
Is it any wonder?  It's a Sony film.  They're still angry that MGM/Eon stopped them from making their own Bond films with McClory.  So now they have XXX, their proclaimed better and hipper than Bond franchise.  Really though it's bad enough that the film rips off Bond scene after Bond scene but then to insult and show contempt for what you're ripping off, could it be tackier?  They won't be getting any of my $, and I too hope it tanks.

MBE

This is a very interesting point. I'm wondering if the ideas in xXx came from Sony's own abandon Bond scripts. I heard there were scripts being developed...seems very possible that when they lost their case they said, "let's use the same story and stunts but create an "anti-Bond" hero.

Hey, maybe Kevin McClory should sue Sony!

[Blue Eyes]

Don't joke Zencat, cause it will probably happen. And I don't want it overshadowing DAD

[Loomis]

Originally posted by Jim
Sounds like quite a successfully edited trailer, then.  

I'm not too bothered. There's a chance it could outgross Die Another Day. Who cares? We're not seeing any of the money from Die Another Die and I've never felt particularly benign or aggressive towards a film studio. It might jigger the Bond series out of its current bland torpor. It's been coasting and it's time somebody created some stakes, regardless of whether they're raised or not.

They're both films. In two years' time, they'll be alongside each other in the shops, two videos or DVDs for ten quid or something like that. Chill.

Totally agree, probably the sanest "XXX"-related posting yet.
A lot of people on this site seem to think "XXX" is a kind of direct competitor to James Bond, and therefore something to be hated with a passion. But how can anything compete with Bond, in terms of cultural impact or longevity? It's rather like claiming that Oasis are taking bread of the mouths of The Beatles' families.
Frankly, there's no connection between "XXX" and Bond at all, other than the fact that the former wouldn't exist without the latter. Personally, I can't wait to check out "XXX" AND "Die Another Day".

[Blue Eyes]

I've got to say Loomis, I hate you don't think of me as such a person. I don't see XXX as any threat to Bond. I just hate it simply for it's contempt for a series which it is plainly copying.

[IrishCrown]

Vin Diesel's movie The Fast and the Furious is worshipped around here by a lot of the rednecks who love that kind of thing. Simpletons love keeping it simple. XXX is no different. Bond, on the other hand, has a lot more going for it.

[WarBird]

Good point.

[Loomis]

Originally posted by Blue Eyes
I've got to say Loomis, I hate you don't think of me as such a person. I don't see XXX as any threat to Bond. I just hate it simply for it's contempt for a series which it is plainly copying.

I've not yet seen "XXX", and presumably you haven't either (in fact you've written that you don't intend to), so I've got to be a little careful about what I write, but....

Blue Eyes, I know that you don't see "XXX" as a threat to Bond, but where is "XXX"'s "contempt" for the Bond series? Surely imitation is the highest form of flattery, and as Bond fans we should be happy that our favourite movie series, the template for which was set all of 40 years ago, is proving to be the single most influential model for one of the blockbusters-to-be of the year 2002. If you look at the trailer for "XXX", with its incredibly Bondian stunts and action scenes, it's pretty clear that, far from holding Bond in contempt, the makers of "XXX" admire the heck out of the Bond series. And if that's not the case, if director Rob Cohen doesn't appreciate what makes the Bond films work, then he belongs in another career. You wouldn't try and copy something you thought sucked, after all. If you like, "XXX" is aiming to be to Bond what Oasis are to The Beatles. As a movie, "XXX" may or may not be fit to polish a Bond film's boots, as it were, but that's something I'll be the judge of when I've sat through it.
Sure, there's a lot of fighting talk from Vin Diesel and co., saying that Bond is old hat, that a British agent gets symbolically slaughtered in the opening scene, and all the rest of it, but the "XXX" are on the PR trail at the moment, they're doing their job they're paid to do when they come out with this stuff. The people behind "XXX" almost certainly WORSHIP the Bond films, and they are certainly aware that they wouldn't've been able to make "XXX" without their inspiration.

I've not yet seen "XXX", and presumably you haven't either (in fact you've written that you don't intend to), so I've got to be a little careful about what I write, but....

Blue Eyes, I know that you don't see "XXX" as a threat to Bond, but where is "XXX"'s "contempt" for the Bond series? Surely imitation is the highest form of flattery, and as Bond fans we should be happy that our favourite movie series, the template for which was set all of 40 years ago, is proving to be the single most influential model for one of the blockbusters-to-be of the year 2002. If you look at the trailer for "XXX", with its incredibly Bondian stunts and action scenes, it's pretty clear that, far from holding Bond in contempt, the makers of "XXX" admire the heck out of the Bond series. And if that's not the case, if director Rob Cohen doesn't appreciate what makes the Bond films work, then he belongs in another career. You wouldn't try and copy something you thought sucked, after all. If you like, "XXX" is aiming to be to Bond what Oasis are to The Beatles. As a movie, "XXX" may or may not be fit to polish a Bond film's boots, as it were, but that's something I'll be the judge of when I've sat through it.
Sure, there's a lot of fighting talk from Vin Diesel and co., saying that Bond is old hat, that a British agent gets symbolically slaughtered in the opening scene, and all the rest of it, but the "XXX" are on the PR trail at the moment, they're doing their job they're paid to do when they come out with this stuff. The people behind "XXX" almost certainly WORSHIP the Bond films, and they are certainly aware that they wouldn't've been able to make "XXX" without their inspiration.