18 replies to this topic

[coco1997]

Who else thinks "For Special Services" would have made a great Bond film had it been released during the mid 1980's? It really seems to be the most 'cinematic' of all the Gardner titles. Had the book been adapted to film, what would you change about the plot, if anything? And who would you have cast to play the characters?

My cast:

James Bond - Roger Moore
Cedar Leiter - Camilla More
Nena Blofeld - Sarah Douglas
Felix Leiter - David Hedison

The only problem with the plot is that Felix doesn't get married until "LTK" but I guess it can be thought then that he gets remarried in that film and that Cedar is the product of his first marriage.

What are your thoughts/ideas on this?

[OmarB]

Sounds good, I'm all for adapting Gardner. A movie based solely upon one of his books would have been an interesting turn for the series. I happen to think most of his books are quite filmable if not totally cinematic, with the exception of The Man From Barabarossa due the the trial scene ... though even that can be adapted.

[Binyamin]

For Special Services was the one where Bond uses the Saab's high-power spotlight to win a car chase, yes?

I always thought that sequence would play out well on screen. Realistic "gadget" combined with Bond's own ingenuity.

And the Ruger revolver would be awesome to see on screen

Edited by Binyamin, 04 November 2007 - 04:19 PM.

[TheSaint]

Who else thinks "For Special Services" would have made a great Bond film had it been released during the mid 1980's? It really seems to be the most 'cinematic' of all the Gardner titles. Had the book been adapted to film, what would you change about the plot, if anything? And who would you have cast to play the characters?

My cast:

James Bond - Roger Moore
Cedar Leiter - Camilla More
Nena Blofeld - Sarah Douglas
Felix Leiter - David Hedison

The only problem with the plot is that Felix doesn't get married until "LTK" but I guess it can be thought then that he gets remarried in that film and that Cedar is the product of his first marriage.

What are your thoughts/ideas on this?

I love the casting of Sarah Douglas as Blofeld's daughter.

[coco1997]

Anyone else have any ideas? Who could play the other characters?

[ACE]

What do you think, coco1997? Tell us what you liked about the book? What would you do?

[Trident]

To make FSS work as a film I'd probably dump Cedar Leiter. Her character doesn't work at all, neither as CIA part-time-rookie/student nor as Leiter's daughter, nor as Bond's love interest. Her most remarkable scene is screaming the hell out of the evening when discovering the harvester ants. Sorry, but to me she comes next to Dale Arden in a Flash Gordon serial. Sending her to the head of a friendly secret service to reveal sensitive information seems pretty unlikely for the CIA, at least IMHO.

I'd let Bond pick up the scent of SPECTRE after his encounter with the hijackers on the airplane. When the trace leads to the USA Bond gets the order to work undercover as not to stirr up US services. When he arrives at Rancho Bismaquer the plot of the novel is followed (minus Cedar) until he's captured on the monorail.

The next big change would be the chapters 'Four-Star General' and 'Cheyenne Mountain'. I see absolutely no reason why the hell SPECTRE should go to the trouble of drugging, hypnotizing and not only taking along a sworn enemy of its organization but even making him the focus of the operation at Cheyenne Mountain. That would be simply ridiculous, apart from the lousy security the NORAD would keep at its headquarters.

In the movie Bond would have been kept alive by his captors as a hostage. He'd have to escape (secretly helped by Markus Bismaquer) and try on his own to rescue Nena Bismaquer and sabotage the attempt at Cheyenne Mountain. After succeeding in doing so, Bond would fly with Nena to her house on the Bayou where he learns about Nena's real name while she cripples her husband. A fight with Nena, Luxor and the pythons would ensue.

[coco1997]

I haven't read the book in a while, actually. Can anyone post a more thorough synopsis than the brief one they have on Wikipedia? I already know a few things I'd do to make the book/film more "Moore-ish" but I want to make sure I have the facts straight so it's right.

[MissDalton99]

The only problem with the plot is that Felix doesn't get married until "LTK" but I guess it can be thought then that he gets remarried in that film and that Cedar is the product of his first marriage.

Actually, this is exactly what happens. If you read John Gardner's novelization of LTK, it is mentioned that Della Churchill is his second wife:

"James, you have got...?" Felix began, not even smiling.

"The ring?" Bond smiled, producing the little box and flicking it open to reveal the solid gold band. "That's the fourth time you've asked me, Felix. You're as nervous as a Victorian virgin and you've been through all this before."

Leiter grunted. "They say it's worse the second time."

(Taken from: Gardner, John. Licence to Kill. New York: Charter, 1989. p. 2).

[coco1997]

AH! Cool, I didn't know that. Thanks!

[MissDalton99]

AH! Cool, I didn't know that. Thanks!

You're welcome. EON productions didn't take For Special Services into account when they made LTK, which left Gardner to thumb around for an explanation when he began writing the novel.

[coco1997]

Do you have any opinions on what the producers could have done had they adapted "For Special Services," Miss Dalton?

[TheSaint]

AH! Cool, I didn't know that. Thanks!

You're welcome. EON productions didn't take For Special Services into account when they made LTK, which left Gardner to thumb around for an explanation when he began writing the novel.

They didn't have to. For Special Services is a novel, LTK is a film. The literary Bond is a different animal than the cinematic Bond.

[Trident]

Come to think of it I realize that SPECTRE's aim for the 'Space Wolves' and the mention of the particle beam weapon reminds me strongly of the 'Goldeneye' plot. Funny I didn't notice that before.

[MissDalton99]

They didn't have to. For Special Services is a novel, LTK is a film. The literary Bond is a different animal than the cinematic Bond.

You're absolutely right, but being such a big fan of books, I kind of wish that they had stuck to the books more (especially because I'm such a big Leiter fan!)

Do you have any opinions on what the producers could have done had they adapted "For Special Services," Miss Dalton?

Do I have an opinion? Well, that's kind of hard to say right now, considering I'm still working on finishing the book. I might have an idea once I'm done with it.

[OmarB]

We are way too far into the game to start bringing movie and novel continuity together. Heck, even the novels themselves don't follow the same line after Fleming.

I always think of Conan in a similar light. There's no real timeline of events, there are suggested chronologies but really each story stands on it's own. Much like Bond sometimes you have to just take the story for what it is and keep moving.

[coco1997]

I understand that, but this topic asks the hypothetical question of what "For Special Services" would have been like had it been adapted to film in the mid 80's.

[SPOTTER]

I think the idea of making some more Bond films using the Amis/Gardner/Benson novels is a really good idea. A lot of those novels have some really original plots in them and i did like For Special Services very much, it had a great twist at the end. As for who would play Bond is quite difficult because i never imagined any of the Bond actors when i read it but the Benson novels would have made great Brosnan films as they were written around the same time he was playing him. High Time To Kill would have been bloody good film.

[Double-Oh Agent]

I like to do casting for all the Bond novels and For Special Services is no exception. When I first made out my cast list over 10 years ago, here was my selections:

CEDAR LEITER -- Ashley Judd
MIKE MAZZARD -- William Sadler
NENA BLOFELD -- Gina Gershon