Jump to content


This is a read only archive of the old forums
The new CBn forums are located at https://quarterdeck.commanderbond.net/

 
Photo

Oil or Gold?


65 replies to this topic

#61 pgram

pgram

    Lieutenant

  • Crew
  • PipPip
  • 621 posts
  • Location:Okinawa, Japan

Posted 15 December 2008 - 03:10 PM

OK, since now everyone has commented on style, tradition and so on (or should I say, recited Forster et al), can someone please explain to me, why was Fields killed?

My feeling was that it was the same reason Solange was killed in "Casino Royale." Fields was with Bond, had been sent by MI6 to track him down, and Haines or someone else with Quantum was probably aware of that (just as Quantum was able to figure out that Vesper had been assigned to accompany Bond in "Casino Royale"). So Greene and his henchmen tracked her down in the hope of getting Bond. Then, when he wasn't there, she probably got treatment similar to Solange, and when she wouldn't give them what they wanted (Bond), they killed her.

Why the oil? Must be an "in" joke with Quantum, since everyone thought that's what they were after with the Tierra Project.


I appreciate the effort, but then again, I think it is different. Solange did betray Demetrius (and the Organisation) and cheated on her husband. Her death was punishment, revenge and example-making.

I would get it if Quantum wanted to kill Bond, and since he was absent they killed Fields. And that they did it in a ceremonial way in order to let him get the point. But still, Fields was a nobody, and didn't deserve such an end. They didn't even know if Bond had any particular interest in her (I guess he didn't). And at that point, he had no clue about oil or water or whatever (or at least, so they thought).

At the best of cases, the choice is weak. Typical example of style over substance. A kind of writing typical of Purvis and Wade.

#62 Qbranchtech

Qbranchtech

    Midshipman

  • Crew
  • 44 posts

Posted 15 December 2008 - 03:36 PM

Yeah, I also have a bit of the problem with why Quantum would be interested in killing Fields either. You would think that they expect Bond to die from the DC-3, then who will see to oil covered Fields? The maids? M? My main beef remains that if they giving a character such an (almost) iconic sendoff, they probably should make the character more pivotal, just to pull the audience's heartstrings a little bit. If Fields did what Bourne's girlfriend did at the beginning of his second film, then the oil drowning would make sense.

Edited by Qbranchtech, 15 December 2008 - 04:03 PM.


#63 Commander Shaun

Commander Shaun

    Midshipman

  • Crew
  • 57 posts

Posted 15 December 2008 - 04:16 PM

I liked this version better than the one in Goldfinger. It went well with the storyline itself, oil...

I also liked Bond's reaction to this particular part.

#64 krypt

krypt

    Sub-Lieutenant

  • Crew
  • Pip
  • 320 posts
  • Location:classified

Posted 15 December 2008 - 07:46 PM

I enjoyed the scene as both an homage to GF and an emotional punch in QoS. [I stayed away from media coverage and didn't know about the scene until I saw it opening night]. I was caught up in the story and the sight of Fields on the bed was shocking, positively shocking.

#65 byline

byline

    Lt. Commander

  • Veterans
  • PipPipPip
  • 1218 posts
  • Location:Canada

Posted 15 December 2008 - 08:44 PM

OK, since now everyone has commented on style, tradition and so on (or should I say, recited Forster et al), can someone please explain to me, why was Fields killed?

My feeling was that it was the same reason Solange was killed in "Casino Royale." Fields was with Bond, had been sent by MI6 to track him down, and Haines or someone else with Quantum was probably aware of that (just as Quantum was able to figure out that Vesper had been assigned to accompany Bond in "Casino Royale"). So Greene and his henchmen tracked her down in the hope of getting Bond. Then, when he wasn't there, she probably got treatment similar to Solange, and when she wouldn't give them what they wanted (Bond), they killed her.

Why the oil? Must be an "in" joke with Quantum, since everyone thought that's what they were after with the Tierra Project.


I realised something last couple of times I watched QOS. I wouldn't be surprised if Fields after warning Bond, ran into the seemingly safe Colonel of the Bolivian Police. She wouldn't have known he and the police were actually at Quantum/Greene's disposal as far as she knew they would be helpful to her.

Good point. I hadn't thought of that. The only reason I thought of Greene and his henchman was because of her note telling Bond to "Run!" If she were duped into a false sense of security with Carlos, then I don't think she would've left that note. However, she did know that there was something wrong between Greene and Bond, so IMO it seems more likely that she would have known they were following her; hence, they were after Bond. So she stopped in the lobby to write the note, then continued up to her room, possibly believing that they wouldn't be interested in her.

I appreciate the effort, but then again, I think it is different. Solange did betray Demetrius (and the Organisation) and cheated on her husband. Her death was punishment, revenge and example-making.

Well, Fields did trip Elvis, and I doubt that either he or Greene bought her "Oh, I'm so sorry!" routine. So maybe, after getting nothing from her in the way of finding Bond, they decided to punish her for that bit of daring.

One other thought: Greene apparently didn't take too well to people seeing him for who he really was (a dangerous criminal, as opposed to a magnanimous environmentalist). After grilling Fields over Bond's whereabouts, he wouldn't have cared that she was innocent; he knew she knew enough about him to pose a threat, so he would have had her eliminated, just as he did Haines' bodyguard (who, by the way, appears to have been similarly innocent). The fact that Greene chose such a "signature" for his killing would have been meant to send a direct message to Bond and/or MI6 about oil. Was it supposed to be a red herring, to deflect attention away from the dammed aquifers in Brazil (and potentially elsewhere)? I think so. Something along the lines of: "Look at all the oil we have. So much that we can drown someone in it."

Edited by byline, 15 December 2008 - 09:15 PM.


#66 Qbranchtech

Qbranchtech

    Midshipman

  • Crew
  • 44 posts

Posted 20 December 2008 - 10:25 PM

I wonder the oil scene in QoS will eventually get censored when it eventually hits network TV 5 or 6 yrs down the line, after all, you can still see a buck naked woman regardless of the oil...unlike the gold scene in GF which is G-rated and ready for primetime. Or maybe there is just so much that needs to be censored action-wise anyway?

Edited by Qbranchtech, 21 December 2008 - 08:13 PM.