33 replies to this topic

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

Why, out of all places, did Forster pick the Atacama Desert for the film's climactic (sort of) ending? I had heard a rumour that the Swiss Alps was supposed to be the location where the end scene would take place...I do like the desert setting, don't get me wrong, but why not the Alps, which are more exotic?

[DamnCoffee]

The desert reflects Bond's emotional state. He's just lost Vesper, he's lonely. He needs time for contemplation. I think Forster mentioned it in an interview, and his reasons for picking it. I think it was in Total Film, but I'm not too sure.

[Mister Asterix]

Easier to control the water in the desert. And I believe the Alps scenes were to be earlier in the film.

[MkB]

Why, out of all places, did Forster pick the Atacama Desert for the film's climactic (sort of) ending? I had heard a rumour that the Swiss Alps was supposed to be the location where the end scene would take place...I do like the desert setting, don't get me wrong, but why not the Alps, which are more exotic?

Well, it all depends on your definition of exoticism. To a European audience, the Alps don't sound exotic at all, but the atacama desert does
I found the desert location very well fitted for both the cinematography of this movie (stylish and spare), and the state of the characters' emotions (although the Alps, with their jagged skyline and threatening heights, could have worked well too).

[DamnCoffee]

Saying this, I really do hope to see the Alps in Bond 23.

And Mister *, I think I remember Forster saying that he wanted the Alps for the movies climax.

[Mister Asterix]

And Mister *, I think I remember Forster saying that he wanted the Alps for the movies climax.

Cool. Thanks for the correction, MHark. Staying spoiler free I missed some stuff.

[sthgilyadgnivileht]

Here is a quote from Empire:
"...where Haggis had the film conclude in a flurry of snow- harkening to the alpine cool of OHMSS - Forster pictured Bond against a desert".
It quotes Forster saying "in the desert, its unforgiving. You're out there and you might die"
So there!

[Pierce - Daniel]

the desert is a metaphor for Bond's isolation, he's alone and by himself from now on.

[Conlazmoodalbrocra]

It's also a more sinister place for the death of Greene.

[DamnCoffee]

Personally, I would've loved to see him shivering in the snow, cradling his wounded leg. Nasty Individual.

[Conlazmoodalbrocra]

Personally, I would've loved to see him shivering in the snow, cradling his wounded leg. Nasty Individual.

Haha! You make a good point there Mharkin!

[Colonel Moon]

The desert reflects Bond's emotional state. He's just lost Vesper, he's lonely. He needs time for contemplation. I think Forster mentioned it in an interview, and his reasons for picking it. I think it was in Total Film, but I'm not too sure.

Bla bla bla
I dont care about Bond's emotional state
I want to have a good entertainment from Bond movie not study of his emotions

And i dont care what you say

[DamnCoffee]

The desert reflects Bond's emotional state. He's just lost Vesper, he's lonely. He needs time for contemplation. I think Forster mentioned it in an interview, and his reasons for picking it. I think it was in Total Film, but I'm not too sure.

Bla bla bla
I dont care about Bond's emotional state
I want to have a good entertainment from Bond movie not study of his emotions

And i dont care what you say

I didn't ask you too.

[Conlazmoodalbrocra]

The desert reflects Bond's emotional state. He's just lost Vesper, he's lonely. He needs time for contemplation. I think Forster mentioned it in an interview, and his reasons for picking it. I think it was in Total Film, but I'm not too sure.

Bla bla bla
I dont care about Bond's emotional state
I want to have a good entertainment from Bond movie not study of his emotions

And i dont care what you say

I didn't ask you too.

LOL! But in response to Colonel Moon's post, it's ideas such as this that make Marc Forster the great cinematographist he is. True, his action set-pieces weren't brilliant, but you can blame the second unit for that mostly. But as far as location shots go, Forster nailed it.

[Vauxhall]

I want to have a good entertainment from Bond movie not study of his emotions

I contend that I consider desert sand better entertainment than Alpine snow.

And i dont care what you say

Oh.

[dinovelvet]

The desert reflects Bond's emotional state. He's just lost Vesper, he's lonely. He needs time for contemplation. I think Forster mentioned it in an interview, and his reasons for picking it. I think it was in Total Film, but I'm not too sure.

Bla bla bla
I dont care about Bond's emotional state
I want to have a good entertainment from Bond movie not study of his emotions

And i dont care what you say

Oh, SNAP!

[Colonel Moon]

[MattofSteel]

I soooooooo wish I could read the subsequent drafts of the film, right from the initial P&W script right through to the shooting draft. But I suppose that will never happen.

[AgentBentley]

The story is also about Greene monopolizing the water supply. It's more difficult to do that in the Alps.

[JimmyBond]

The desert reflects Bond's emotional state. He's just lost Vesper, he's lonely. He needs time for contemplation. I think Forster mentioned it in an interview, and his reasons for picking it. I think it was in Total Film, but I'm not too sure.

Bla bla bla
I dont care about Bond's emotional state
I want to have a good entertainment from Bond movie not study of his emotions

And i dont care what you say

There's 20 other movies out there that don't care about Bond's emotional state. You can have them, I'll enjoy QoS for developing Bond as a character thank you very much

[Mr_Wint]

The desert reflects Bond's emotional state. He's just lost Vesper, he's lonely. He needs time for contemplation. I think Forster mentioned it in an interview, and his reasons for picking it. I think it was in Total Film, but I'm not too sure.

That is the official version, yes. The truth is that MK12 couldn't find any fitting Font Styles for the Swiss Alps, so they had to rethink the whole thing.

[Judo chop]

Plus, the desert is exotic and not widely used in Bond; SWLM, TLD, ???

(I don't count DAF. For much of anything, actually.)

The desert reflects Bond's emotional state. He's just lost Vesper, he's lonely. He needs time for contemplation. I think Forster mentioned it in an interview, and his reasons for picking it. I think it was in Total Film, but I'm not too sure.

That is the official version, yes. The truth is that MK12 couldn't find any fitting Fonts Styles for the Swiss Alps, so they had to rethink the whole thing.

And Quantum (via Greene Planet) originally had their eyes on owning and controlling the ozone layer…


Sure. Makes sense.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

Well, it all depends on your definition of exoticism. To a European audience, the Alps don't sound exotic at all, but the atacama desert does
I found the desert location very well fitted for both the cinematography of this movie (stylish and spare), and the state of the characters' emotions (although the Alps, with their jagged skyline and threatening heights, could have worked well too).

It's not like I hated the desert setting. I thought that the desert was an interesting place to set the villain's lair. I just thought that it would be more interesting if the finale had taken place in the Alps.

[MicroGlobeOne]

The story is also about Greene monopolizing the water supply. It's more difficult to do that in the Alps.

Absolutely. Doesn't the plot of the film logically suggest that its climax would be suitably situated in a desert? Shouldn't setting and plot be ideally intertwined? The villain's motives throughout, one of the driving mysteries of the film, concerns depriving a drought-stricken population of their most precious natural resource. It seems to me that a desert--which is certainly extreme and deadly enough an environ to provide the backdrop for a proper Bond adventure--is the setting that would most complement the film's story.

[Jose]

It's also a more sinister place for the death of Greene.

Death of green, too. Green being plants, Dominic Greene, freshness, vegetation, life and so on.
And Greene sought to rob everyone of water. His death in the desert (which is pretty much devoid of water) is very appropriate because he died in what he sought to create- a place lacking in water. That's my thoughts.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Oooh! So many layers to this movie!

And people said QOS was shallow entertainment...

[Turn]

The fact that OHMSS is so linked with the Alps, I am glad QoS didn't go there. There was no way they were going to improve on that.

Besides, after all the snow scenes in the Brosnan era, it's nice to have gotten away from that for a couple of films. The desert has been underused in the series, as has South America, largely. It worked out better.

If they want snow or a frigid area, go instead to Alaska or the Arctic, which was used to good effect in Gardner's Icebreaker. Eon has freely taken parts out of the other Gardner books for the films. I'd be interested in seeing the ice torture scene, one of the more original tortures in the entire series, just as long as it didn't look like they were trying to redo the CR torture scene.

[Captain Tightpants]

Turn, I don't think they intentionally dipped into the Gardner and Benson books. Or even unintentionally; if they had, Gardner would have had something to say about it.

Why, out of all places, did Forster pick the Atacama Desert for the film's climactic (sort of) ending? I had heard a rumour that the Swiss Alps was supposed to be the location where the end scene would take place...I do like the desert setting, don't get me wrong, but why not the Alps, which are more exotic?

But why go to the Swiss Alps simply becase they're more exotic? The entire point of the new continuity is to get away from the tired old methods, but still retain the James Bond feeling. The Swiss Alps might be exotic and spectacular, but they're also a pretty obvious choice.

[Turn]

Turn, I don't think they intentionally dipped into the Gardner and Benson books. Or even unintentionally; if they had, Gardner would have had something to say about it.

From what I understood, Eon actually has the rights to the continuation novels but chose not to do anything with them. Heard this years ago, probably in the '80s. Somebody else can probably give more insight into that.

There's a thread somewhere in the literary section counting all the similarities between the continuation novels and the films.

[quantumofsolace]

Turn, I don't think they intentionally dipped into the Gardner and Benson books. Or even unintentionally; if they had, Gardner would have had something to say about it.

From what I understood, Eon actually has the rights to the continuation novels but chose not to do anything with them. Heard this years ago, probably in the '80s. Somebody else can probably give more insight into that.

There's a thread somewhere in the literary section counting all the similarities between the continuation novels and the films.

Here is a CBn article:

http://commanderbond.net/article/520