34 replies to this topic

[Shadow Syndicate]

Craig can get by wearing boots, jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. Why? Cause he's not like any of the other actors that seem like supermen. I loved Casino Royale Beacuse it made Bond seem so real.

I think this is the funniest defense of Craig I always hear. In CR, he was a giant, buff and chiseled Aryan strongman who can burst through walls, swing from giant cranes relatively unharmed, take on an embassy's secruity single handedly, and survive an impossible car crash. Wow, doesn't sound like a Superman at all....

Sure he was more emotional, but that doesn't make his portrayal any less fantastic (in the literal sense of the word.)

But look at it this way, he bled and spent more time hospitalized than any other bond.

[erniecureo]

Oooh, I'm gonna sink my teeth into this one. I love the direction this thread's taken...what defines cool?

Bond should wear and act whatever is the coolest and classiest way for the time.

In my opinion, that's exactly, perfectly, 100-percent wrong. I'm not knocking you, tambourine man, but what makes Bond cool is that he's his own man, SETTING the style, not following it.

In 1964 he mocked the biggest music sensation in recent history, saying the Beatles shouldn't be listened to without earmuffs. Would it have been better if he'd worn a Nehru jacket or gotten a bowl haircut?

In 1968, during the height of the hippie and peace movements, he was still wearing a hat and killing the enemies of his government. Should he have sported a poncho and sandals and tried to reason with them instead?

Bond should be the standard. He was, for a while. He single-handedly made an obscure car maker in Britain a household name. He was responsible for millions of people asking a bartender to shake, not stir their martinis. He heightened Rolex's brand awareness, and then Omega's.

Indeed, the few times he has followed fashion, the results have been laughable. Look at Connery's lavender tie in DAF. Or Roger Moore's leisure suits. The 'Star Wars' dorkiness of Moonraker. And when Grace Jones shows up in a Bond movie, you know they've lost their way.

Enduring, original, authentic pop-culture creations set the style. Look at what happened after a guy in a leather jacket and a fedora came onto the scene in the early 80s. Overnight, everyone's wearing bomber jackets and carrying bullwhips. A little bit later, everyone wanted to be an F-14 pilot and went out and sewed patches on those jackets. Who's going to remember Vin Diesel's GTO in a few years? Or Jason Bourne's pistol model?

I can't say this strongly enough--Bond is, and should always be, the guy out in front, driving, doing and wearing what he wants to. It's up to the rest of the world to try to keep up with him.

[B5Erik]

The thing that sets Bond apart from the Jason Bourne's and xXx's of the world is his CLASS.

He does wear dinner jackets, he does wear suits, he does wear tuxes - when appropriate. And he knows what to wear, he knows what is the best champagne to drink - because he is James Bond.

Does that mean he would wear a suit into the jungle? Hell no! But out on the street, he very likely would - unless the situation called for something else.

But a movie where he never wore a tux or even a suit? No, that would move him towards generic action hero status.

[tambourineman]

I can't say this strongly enough--Bond is, and should always be, the guy out in front, driving, doing and wearing what he wants to. It's up to the rest of the world to try to keep up with him.

I agree, but what Im trying to say is that Bond should not be tied down to past traditions at the expense of looking like an old fashioned fool. Would Connery's Bond really be considered cool if his Bond arrived now how he was then? Or would talking about the blending of brandy, the temperature that certain wines should be served at etc be considered laughably pretentious?
But after CR, Im not worried. I think they got a modern Bond spot on.

lol, but I have to say the Beatles comment is probably my least favorite Bond line. I cringe everytime I hear it. It sounds so conservative.

[Blonde Bond]

It could work. I mean, I am glad, that he didn't wear a tux or even a suit when he went after Dimitrios and the bomb maker at the airport.

It was even a nice touch, that he actually didn't wear a suit, when he played against Dimitrios and the other three at the hotel bar.

Edited by Blonde Bond, 10 February 2007 - 11:00 AM.