5 replies to this topic

[JimmyBond]

This was posted by Welscat from the "I want Bond21 to be a smaller flim" ok, thats not exactly the title of the thread, but you know what I mean:

I'd also really like to see Pierce Brosnan in Casino Royale, his one official Ian Fleming Bond film. Brossers ought to get to do at least one Fleming novel for his service to the films so far, and since we don't know how many films he has left in him, it should be Bond 21. In fact, CR should have been Bond 20 in my opinion, as it's 50 years since the novel this year and the 40th anniversary. That was a wasted opportunity with a good Bond actor.

However, if it were Bond 21, I don't see that it has to necessarily be a small film with the plot solely about him attempting to out-play Le Chiffre in a baccarat game. That could merely be the first act.

For example, TLD short story is really the first act of the actual filmed version. Then there is a lot more plot after that. The same goes for FYEO, incorporating parts of Risico, or Octopussy, incorporating The Property of A Lady. As for TSWLM or YOLT, the plots don't resemble the books at all.

So Casino Royale could easily be a big spectacle of a film if a further plot were invented. Then Bond could play against Le Chiffre just as Sean Connery did against Emilio Largo in the World Domination game in NSNA. Then later he could face off against him at the climax of the film after some other plot has developed, and after possibly being tortured (for the third film in a row if it were Bond 21).

As for whether Vesper Lynn dies at the end, well that's another matter. If she's the main Bond girl, I'm not sure the producers would want that now.

If Casino Royale were made, it would ensure a good Bondian and Fleming title which fans would be happy with, as well as many genuine Fleming/Bond elements, a decent villain with a decent name, and a Bond girl with a Flemingesque name. It would keep everyone happy.  

Why am I posting this you ask, cause I wanted to make sure Welshcat knows that I am not stealing his idea, simply saying that its a damn good one, and it could work. Heres how I see them being faithful to the novel while still making it feature length:

Ok, now I know theyll probably change the plot, but just for this post, lets say they retain all the elements of the novel. But change who Le Chiffre is working too, say he's working for a shadow orginazation and the only way for MI6 to get a fix on them is to have Bond bankrupt Le Chiffre, once he does that, they will send an assassain to get Le Chiffre, Bond hides in Le Chiffre's hotel room and spots the assassain, then Bond tails the assassain and gets his first lead.

Presto, we've just been pretty darn faithful to the novel, ok, we've removed the torture sequences, but we can still retain the bit where Vesper is killed. Then the producers and writers are free to craft a great Bond plot out of the remaining movie. I imagine all this would be the first hour.

What do you guys think?

[freemo]

Yeah, not bad, I like the "TLD" idea of taking the orginal story as the "launching pad" for the writes to builf a great Bond plot out of. A few things would have to change, I think most would argee with that, but no reason why they couldn't do Casino Royale, I think it's a terrific idea. I'd be very interested to see the interpretations of Vesper, Mathis and Le Chiffre and whatnot, good work very well.

But, isn't there supposed to be a character from DAD returning for B21 ? How would he fit into the mix ?

[brendan007]

id love to see casino made into a movie, but if it were to be bond 21 id want the torture scenes removed, due to TWINE and DAD both featuring them.
im not sure about the death of vesper. i can think of reasons for and against keeping it, but id prefer to let her live, due to the films already having an ending featuring the death of the bond girl.
and if characters are supposed to return from DAD (i wouldnt know, im avoiding spoilers), i would gather it would be quite easy to write them in if they already have to make a new plot to stretch it out.

[WC]

I'm glad that there are others here equally keen to see Casino Royale made into a movie and think that it is thoroughly filmable. I've had some other ideas about the film:

The scene with Bond playing against Le Chiffre could possibly play like the scene from Thunderball where Sean Connery plays against Largo, and keeps making references to "the Spectre of death on his shoulder" etc. Hey, I just realised that perhaps that scene might be the inspiration for the World Domination scene in NSNA! :cool:

Perhaps it could even be that Bond's original mission is to bankrupt Le Chiffre. He could be sent by M to do that, and Bond could initially protest, saying that it seems far too trival an operation for his skills, asking M to send someone else (These sentiments would be a nod to many fans' opinion that Casino Royale is too small a film for Bond today, but this view would then be turned on its head). M could then respond by saying that, after the events of DAD in which Bond was held captive for a long time etc, she wants to give him something less threatening and more menial, perhaps because she may have lost some confidence in him or is concerned for his safety now. It would be a somewhat humiliating experience for Bond, like a policeman being put back onto traffic duty.

But then, once Bond succeeds in bankrupting Le Chiffre, he could actually uncover a much larger plot when he discovers that Le Chiffre is working for a SPECTRE-type organisation which has much more sinister plans in store. We haven't had a really mysterious operation going on in the Bond films for some time now. Le Chiffre could be a really big villain like Dr No, but working for someone else who is either behind the scenes, or is suddenly revealed near the end of the film (possibly leaving room for the real villain to appear in another film).

Vesper could be a pawn in the whole thing so that, instead of her being a spy, she is being used by Le Chiffre's organisation. Then, meeting Bond, she succumbs to his charms etc and switches sides. She could be like Tatiana Romanova who had to discredit Bond but ended up turning against SPECTRE.

Of course, some scenes could be moved around - the torture scene, if still retained, doesn't have to be part of the first act, but could appear later in the film.

So what could start out as a smaller film to the audience and a smaller assignment to Bond could actually open up into a much larger spectacle and fantastical adventure, a la Dr No, which started just as a normal 1960s film about a simple investigation but ended up on Crab Key Island as something the audience had never seen before. That way the producers of Bond could recapture the feel and spirit of the early films while satisfying modern audiences too. Being a more complex assignment (as it turns out) could also please the film critics who want to see something more challenging than the standard "Bond-is-sent-to-kill-megolomaniacal-villain" plot. Of course it would turn out to be that in the end, but the film wouldn't start that way, so it would be a pleasant change.

[WC]

I would also just add that maybe Le Chiffre could be working for someone named Shatterhand. Then Bond 22 could be about him, with Bond in the Garden of Death. Think about that: Bond 21: Casino Royale; Bond 22: Shatterhand.

[Peter]

Re: Vesper, I think it would be awesome to retain the original ending. In OHMSS, Tracy's death echoed Vesper's, the first woman he seriously loved, but in the films it would be the reverse. (I don't think Paris and Elektra qualify as having done this)