100 replies to this topic

[DR76]

Forget "Fleming" and "Bond" and all that old-fashioned flapdoodle that people seem to want to cling to for some reason. Instead, kick back and breathe in the aroma of Greengrass.

Craig was doing "Fleming" Bond or something very close to it. Following Tracy's death in "OHMSS", the literary Bond had a nervous breakdown of some kind in "You Only Live Twice". Thank Ian Fleming for that.


Are you saying that following Vesper's death in "Casino Royale", you wanted Craig to revert back to the old cinematic Bond . . . as Connery had done in "Diamonds Are Forever"? If so . . . God, I don't know what to say about that.

He just does not say cheesy one liners while raising his voice tone and wiggling his eyebrows. His humor is much more deadpan like Connery in Dr. No. and FRWL.

I can recall plenty of cheesy one liners from Connery in FRWL.

Edited by DR76, 26 November 2008 - 08:45 PM.

[Colossus]

Forget "Fleming" and "Bond" and all that old-fashioned flapdoodle that people seem to want to cling to for some reason. Instead, kick back and breathe in the aroma of Greengrass.

Might that aroma be from a freshly laid turd on that green grass by any chance?

Edited by Colossus, 26 November 2008 - 11:46 PM.

[HH007]

Forget "Fleming" and "Bond" and all that old-fashioned flapdoodle that people seem to want to cling to for some reason. Instead, kick back and breathe in the aroma of Greengrass.

Craig was doing "Fleming" Bond or something very close to it. Following Tracy's death in "OHMSS", the literary Bond had a nervous breakdown of some kind in "You Only Live Twice". Thank Ian Fleming for that.


Are you saying that following Vesper's death in "Casino Royale", you wanted Craig to revert back to the old cinematic Bond . . . as Connery had done in "Diamonds Are Forever"? If so . . . God, I don't know what to say about that.

I don't think there is anything to say to those who wanted that.

[jaguar007]

He just does not say cheesy one liners while raising his voice tone and wiggling his eyebrows. His humor is much more deadpan like Connery in Dr. No. and FRWL.

I can recall plenty of cheesy one liners from Connery in FRWL.

There were a few one liners in FRWL, but the delivery was more deadpan.
FRWL:
"She should have kept her mouth shut"
"She had her kicks"

QoS:
"What Happened to Slate?"
"He was a dead end"

"We are teachers on sabbatical, and we won the lottery"
"I'm not going to dwell on the past and I don't think you should either"

[Double-Oh Agent]

I agree. Film is a visual medium, which is why I prefer the "show, don't tell" style of storytelling. I think with multiple viewings, most of these questions will become a lot clearer, including the grief we can see Bond struggling with. Frankly, I like films I can see again and again and get new things with each viewing.

Definitely. And even more specifically, what we have with Quantum is a director who took the Bond brand and integrated it into his own sensibilities, as opposed to the tendency in the past for directors to adjust themselves and bring their ideas into a palette that never changed. One detraction I will afford the Brosnan era is that all 4 films look and feel basically the same, which is not something that was common to any other Bond actor.

Remember allllllll through production, when virtually everyone was saying "It's as much a Marc Forster film as a James Bond film" ? They weren't kidding.

Yes. Its a Mark Forster film with James Bond in the lead. And I feel great about it! It will be interesting if they will have the courage to fully trust the director of Bond 23 just like it was the case with Mark.
I suspect not. Maybe due to Qos bashing. But Im soo ready to see another derector's vision of Bond.

But inspite of the bashing QoS gets, I think some of the points are understandable, valid and is of easy rectifying i.e. no more rapid editing cuts and frantic shakey cam, throw in more traditional Bond hallmarks aaaaaand you've already pleased 3/4 of the people who had issues with this film.

Completely agree.

[dee-bee-five]

Actually, I think Bond was his usual self in the movie... it's the movie that wasn't Bondish.

The film is pure Bond. At least Fleming Bond, not the camp-jolly-romp-Bond* some people mistake for the real deal.



*Not that there isn't a place for camp-jolly-romp-Bond. There is. But not in the 21st century.

[double o ego]

There were plenty of Bondian moments in QoS. I don't understand where these people are coming from saying that Craig has no humor

This is just a guess, but it might come from the belief that seriousness and humor cannot coexist. There's an obvious element of seriousness in QOS, and so the feelers for humor get put away. After all, there's no point in even looking for something that cannot be there.

Erroneous premise, obviously.

I would have thought fishing out the humour in a serious film would be relatively easy and for me personally, I found QoS to be more humourous than CR.

[WesReviews]

As I stated in another thread, I walked out of this one thinking similar thoughts to what I thought after walking out of Emmerich's Godzilla film... "Where was Godzilla in that movie?" Only, this time, "Where was James Bond 007?" EON is ruining the series if they don't wake up.

[dee-bee-five]

EON is ruining the series if they don't wake up.

They are fully awake and ensuring the continuing longevity of the series by the (in my view) correct direction they're taking.

And I can't help feeling that those who're saying the James Bond of QoS isn't James Bond really need to go back and re-read the source Ian Fleming novels. If they ever bothered to do so in the first instance.

[Safari Suit]

*Not that there isn't a place for camp-jolly-romp-Bond. There is. But not in the 21st century.

So you're predicting an entire century where popular culture is dominated by stone cold seriousness?

And because I will get accused of this if I don't point it out; no, I'm not advocating a return to camp, I just found the above to be a very sweeping generalisation.

[dee-bee-five]

*Not that there isn't a place for camp-jolly-romp-Bond. There is. But not in the 21st century.

So you're predicting an entire century where popular culture is dominated by stone cold seriousness?

And because I will get accused of this if I don't point it out; no, I'm not advocating a return to camp, I just found the above to be a very sweeping generalisation.

Perhaps I should have written "early 21st century". And you're right, it was a sweeping bit of flippancy on my part. Doubtless the wheel will turn and the Henry Cavill era ( ) might be a bit lighter from the Craig era. Although I suspect the prevailing mood of CR and QoS will be with us for a long while yet. And I, for one, applaud that. I can enjoy Moonraker like the next fan if I'm in the mood. But it was of its time and I, personally, wouldn't want to see them make another one.