1531 replies to this topic

[terminus]

I look forward to seeing what you come up with - and good choice, coco1997. I've always thought the new credits to Hustle felt more than a little like the credits to Casino Royale

[terminus]

A revised outline for the treatment. I still think there's probably a lot more work we can do before we start fleshing out scenes properly. If there's anything anyone thinks we can change and develop, do shout it out. I did wonder about Bond being injured by Murik as someone suggested - but wonder if this could come later, in the Iceland segment, than in Taiwan. Likewise, if there's anything that I've missed, give me a yell and I'll rectify the problem.

• TAIWAN - Bond and Yvonne relax, are attacked by a scarred Murik but he is, in turn, killed.
  
• TITLES
  
• ICELAND - At a top-secret conference hosted at a geo-thermal power station operated by Krause, several Heads of the worlds intelligence agencies meet to discuss Quantum. Bond is present to protect M, his Chinese counterpart, Jiang, is present to protect the Head of Chinese Intelligence. Terrorists try and eliminate the attendees. Bond and Jiang save the attendees but fail to stop the destruction of the power station - and after an action sequence on a train, they are both almost killed.
  
• LONDON - Bond suspects that Krause is involved with Quantum and the terrorist attack on the conference and shares these beliefs with Moneypenny and M. M promises to look into it and introduces Bond to Mary Goodnight - an agent being considered for Double-Oh Status.
  
  Bond and Mary establish their relationship over combat and firearms training. During combat training, there is an unspoken game of one-upmanship where each person gets the better of the other with Bond's injuries from Iceland affecting his performance - and then Goodnight places a bet, the loser in the session will have to buy the winner dinner. Goodnight looses, the pair change out of their exercise clothes in the locker room (Mary suggests that the showers in the womens locker room aren't working) - there's a sexually charged moment with them catching glimpses of each other as they shower.
  
  As they step out of the locker room, M calls the pair to his office and reports on Krause - they can find no conclusive connection to Quantum, with the exception of the fact that he was due to (or possibly did) attend the opera in Bregenz the night Bond flushed out several Quantum members during his investigation into the Tierra Project. That's good enough for M, he sends Bond and Goodnight to Australia to look into Krause. As Bond and Mary leave M's office, "Don't worry, I know a nice restaraunt in Canberra -"
  
• CANBERRA - Bond and Mary arrive in Canberra. The pair pick up the Aston Martin One-77 at the airport and there is a car chase through the streets of the city. There are three parties involved in the car chase, one party just tailing the two agents and one party actively seeking to run the two agents off the road. It is suggested that both drivers are Asian - either Taiwanese or Chinese.
  
  Bond and Mary first encounter Krause at an event celebrating a planned solar energy program that Krause Energy is about to roll out in Australia. This would result in Bond being invited, under the guise of being a journalist with a focus on energy programs, to visit Krause at his ranch in the outback with Mary to join as his photographer/girlfriend. Scarlett is present at the event but her true nature is, at this point, unknown to Bond. Also present at the celebration is a Taiwanese man - he is smart and besuited and there's the air of the bored bureaucrat about him. He reveals himself to be the liaison between the Taiwanese government and Krause's current operations off the coast of Taiwan - mining for fuel.
  
  Over dinner at Mary's favourite restaraunt, the two agents talk about Krause. Bond doesn't trust him - and neither does Mary. Both recognise the Taiwanese liaison him as the driver of the car that was tailing them earlier. They agree to split the workload - with Mary following the mysterious Taiwanese government official and Bond further investigating Krause.
  
  In the middle of the night, Bond breaks into a building owned by Krause which is under a programme of renovation and extension - areas of the building are under construction. Bond has earlier witnessed Krause meeting with a Chinese national and, in the building, discovers evidence to indicate that Krause has also been dealing with Henri Grant - a black market arms dealer who has surfaced on the MI6 radar on occasion. Bond glimpses Scarlett in Krause's office, stealing documents. He pursues her, and she escapes the building, but the pursuit ends up with him being discovered. Bond plays a cat and mouse game through the corridors of the under-construction building before discovering that he was being shepherded into a sort of pen (surrounded by an electrical fence) where hired thugs, overseen by Clarisse, try to smash him with wrecking balls or force him into the electric fence. Bond is powerless - until he finds himself rescued by Sun Demeng - Krause's liason to the Taiwanese government.
  
  Once Bond has been rescued by Sun Demeng the pair enjoy a drink in a hotel bar - there's a fast friendship established, like that between Bond/Mathis or Bond/Felix. Mary returns from her investigation, walks into the bar and is shocked to see Bond and Sun Demeng together - she explains that the Taiwanese man is actually an operative of Taiwanese Intelligence.
  
  Sun Demeng admits that he is Taiwanese Intelligence and explains that they have suspicions of untoward dealings between Krause and militant factions within the People's Republic. The car that attempted to force Bond and Mary off the road was driven by representatives of the militant faction. Taiwanese Intelligence agree to let MI6 and Bond take point on the investigation.
  
  Bond wants to know what Scarlett was doing stealing files from Krause. Together, the three agents work to track down the mysterious woman - and presumed Quantum operative. They eventually track her down and find her with representatives of a second Chinese political movement, this one is pro-democracy. Bond must steal the documents from them that Scarlett took from Krause's office - which they do, discovering that the documents pertain to deep-sea drilling and geological studies off the Taiwanese coast.
  
  At the same time as Bond, Mary and Sun Demeng track down Scarlett and the pro-democracy faction, Krause discovers that the documents have been stolen by Scarlett and work to track her down as well. Krause gets to Scarlett before Bond does, but after she has passed the documents to the pro-democracy faction. Krause has her tortured by Clarisse and, under duress, she reveals that Quantum were hanging Krause out to dry - that the project to mine the faultline off the coast of Taiwan was set-up as a means to get documentation for the pro-democracy group to embarass Beijing with.
  
  Krause is furious. He isn't happy with being manipulated by Quantum and claims that he'll show them that he's not to be messed with. Krause knocks Scarlett out. Clarisse asks what he wants done with her - he asks when the foundations of the building are being filled. Clarisse smiles - and the final shot we see is off a woman's hand wearing a Quantum ring being submerged beneath concrete as the foundations of the construction site are being filled. This, we presume, is the end of Scarlett.
  
• THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK - A group of reporters have been invited to tour a solar energy facility in the Australian Outback and they have been put up at Krause's ranch. The ranch is beautiful and expansive - a mix of traditional and futuristic architecture. After Bond and Mary settle into their assigned suites, Bond takes a wander around the ranch where he comes to a large swimming pool. Bond sees the figure of a woman ascending a diving board, nude, backlit by the sun so she's just a silhouette. She gives him a knowing glance of sorts, dives in, glides across the water. Then he's there with a towel and remark as she comes out.
  
  This is Dana Krause, Krause's wife, former model and war orphan. She flirts with Bond and Bond returns the flirtation until Krause arrives. Dana becomes the dutiful wife. At some point, there is a barbecue for the reporters and Bond meets Krause face-to-face for the first time, discover a mutual enjoyment of certain sports and Krause challenges Bond to a game of his favourite sport - chess boxing. It's a tough competition - Bond is initially loosing but ends up winning, both the game and Krause's respect as a worthy competitor.
  
  Bond and Mary try to continue their masquerade as reporters on a visit with other representatives of the press to a solar energy facility based in the blast furnace of the Outback. The pair are trapped in a room that is heated using the solar panels - the pair try to escape, but only succeed in smashing a handful of solar panels and eventually just pass out. Which leads into the sequence at the abandoned Chinese Funfair with Bond recalling being drugged and manhandled onto and off a plane in hazy flashes.
  
• THE CHINESE FUNFAIR - After being transported from the Australian Outback, Bond and Mary wake to find themselves in the middle of an abandoned funfair somewhere in China. Bond recognises the name of the location as a location that the Chinese were believed to have used as a testing range for nuclear weapons in the seventies - if they remain in the area for much longer, they will die. Bond seeks out a method of transport out of the area, but many of the trucks are out of petrol or in disrepair - though Bond is able to jury rig a ham radio and get a signal out that way. It is revealed, when a bullet clips Mary's shoulder, that the pair are being hunted by hunters in biological and chemical protection suits and pumped full of anti-radiation medication with more on the hunters. Bond must take down one of the hunters in order to get the anti-radiation medication for Mary - and the pair must then work on a cat and mouse chase, hunted by extemely talented predators used to stalking prey on reserves in Africa, throughout the abandoned funfair and the nearby town until they find the truck the hunters arrived in and a secondary stash of anti-radiation medication. Bond and Mary now escape in the truck and drive until they find themselves in the hands of the Chinese authorities, spearheaded by Jiang Yimou.
  
  Together with Jiang, the two MI6 agents must track down the leader of the militant Chinese faction, take him into custody and find out where Krause has vanished to. It is eventually revealed he has retreated to a business venture off the Russian coast known as Oil Stones -
  
  However, before Bond and his friends can act, Krause manages to set off one of the nuclear bombs causing devastation to some coastal areas of Taiwan.
  
• OIL STONES - Bond, Mary, Jiang and Sun Demeng must work together to stop Krause setting off the remaining nuclear bombs and causing further catastrophe. Krause has had the bridges connecting the mainland to the Oil Stones location blown up to slow the approach of the joint military convoy intended to stop him. One of the bombs goes off as a truck conveying Bond and his comrades to the location is passing over a section of the bridge - the truck almost plunges into the freezing Caspian Sea but stops with its rear tires hanging over the edge of the collapsed section. Bond radio's in for assistance - which leads to an assault by the joint military forces by air and sea.
  
  Sun Demeng - more of a bureaucrat than the others - remains behind to coordinate operations whilst Bond, Mary and Jiang are all inserted onto Oil Stones by helicopter. They fight their way through to Krause and Dana and the control centre and stop the detonation of further nuclear bombs, preventing unwanted further devestation of the Eastern coast of Taiwan. At some point, the three agents inserted into the location are placed in mortal danger - and Jiang sacrifices himself to save the other two. He dies in the arms of the 'decadent capitalist'.
  
  Clarisse is seen to die during the assault on Oil Stones.
  
  This leads to Bond and Mary encountering Krause and his wife on a military helicopter that several commando's have used to get to Oil Stones. Krause and his wife have disguised themselves and smuggled themselves onto the helicopter. Dana throttles the helicopters pilot to death using her necklace and Krause begins to run take-off procedures. Bond and Mary jump onboard as the helicopter (am picturing a Boeing CH-47 Chinook, or something in that mold) takes off - a fight ensues. Bond is wounded after his earlier injury leaves him open to Krause's boxing moves, but he defeats Krause and Mary defeats Dana - this is Mary's second kill in cold-blood (she should probably kill someone in one of the earlier sequences) - and Bond takes the control yoke of the helicopter despite his wounds, landing the helicopter on the deck of a waiting aircraft carrier that is part of the taskforce in either the Mediterranean Sea or Persian Gulf.
  
• MI6 HEADQUARTERS - In the penultimate scene, we are shown a meeting between M and his opposite number in Chinese Intelligence (whom we met during the conference scenes in Iceland). Bond and Mary are honored by the People's Republic of China for their services to Beijing and in maintaining stability in the region. Likewise, M commends the sacrifice of Jiang Yimou and calls him a true patriot - and an example to the peoples of the United Kingdom, China and Taiwan. M's opposite number asks if he could thank Bond and Mary in person but M explains that they are recuperating from their injuries.
  
• THE PERHENTIANS - A figure in a barely-there bikini swims through clear blue waters before stepping onto a beach fringed by palm trees and the odd backpackers shack. The woman in the bikini is Mary and she's approaching one of the shacks outside of which is a hammock. Bond is in the hammock and as Mary approaches, he puts the book he is reading onto his chest and reaches into a cooler filled with ice, removing a bottle of champagne -
  
  BOND: "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a bottle of Dom Perignon '73 in the middle of the South China Sea?"
  
  Mary laughs, Bond opens the bottle which erupts (it's almost sexual) in a fountain of foam -
  
  BOND: "Congratulations - 008"
  MARY: "Thankyou - 007"
  
  Bond pours two glasses of champagne and as Mary sips it:
  
  GOODNIGHT: "Not really your usual high-class fare, is it, James?"
  BOND: "Mmmmm... well, teachers on sabbatical is certainly turning out to be a better cover than I'd ever thought it'd be."
  GOODNIGHT: "So, we've won the lottery, then?"
  BOND: "Oh, so you heard about that, did you?"
  
  Bond pulls her down onto the hammock, winces as the pressure aggrivates his bandage-wrapped abdomen, and kisses her on the lips.
  
  GOODNIGHT: "Didn't your Doctor tell you to take it easy?"
  BOND: (in between kisses) "Now where's the fun in that?"
  
  We pull out from the backpackers shack, away from the golden sand on the beach, across beautiful turqoise waters until the Perhentian Islands are but a speck on the horizon - and there's a moan, and "Oh, James ..."

[dinovelvet]

I propose that we shouldn't shoehorn extra gadgets in if the story doesn't call for them. Craig's tenure thus far has been relatively gadget-free, so maybe the flashbang device I proposed should be enough. Maybe we can leave it open so that if a situation comes up where a gadget would work, we can write it in as we go.

If there's a cellphone conversation, Bond's phone should have video chat though. If the new iphone has it, Bond should have it!

[terminus]

Oh, I agree with the video-chat thing. I'm sure we could work that in somehow in Canberra. Product placement and all that guffins. Lol. And on the idea that we shouldn't shoehorn in gadgets if the story doesn't call for them - that's a good point. The story, at present, doesn't call for many gadgets - the flashbang device will, of course, be written into the treatment - but there's no obvious point at which we will definitely require another gadget. This is the Daniel Craig Era and low-key gadgets are de-rigeur, though. That said, I'm we'll discover points at which one might be handy.

[tdalton]

I'd have to agree about trying to come up with more gadgets than we currently have. I was trying to think of something to add to the gadgets earlier, but just couldn't come up with anything that would fit the story that we've got mapped out at this point.


Also, I don't know if we've decided on an actual location for the event that Bond and Goodnight attend in Canberra when they arrive. If not, and we decided that we were looking for something more than the standard "event" locations, I found (incidentally while trying to find a suitable gadget idea for the project) a wonderful-looking "houseboat" that, with some modifications, could make for a really cool "Bondian" location:

Houseboat / X-Architects

While, obviously, such a structure for the purpose we'd be wanting to use it for in the film treatment would have to be a bit larger (and, for the sake of the treatment, we could say that there's a balcony somewhere on it from which Krause can make his grand speech, assuming that he, like most Bond villains, actually makes one), but I think that the basic idea behind this structure would be fantastic for such an event. Take a similar, but much larger vessel, and have the party out on Lake Burley Griffin, which is the lake that is in the middle of Canberra. I think that that structure, all lit-up at night, would look pretty cool.

If not, that's cool, just thought I'd pass on the idea since I found this while trying to find a gadget for the project. Either way, though, IMO, it's a pretty cool looking boat nonetheless.

[terminus]

I was actually pondering setting that scene on a lake, on a yacht or something like that - and was looking at other Canberra landmarks that could be used as a backdrop for it. A massive houseboat on Lake Griffin would definitely be something that would fit into that - and would definitely fit in with the Craig Era mould we're working with.

Also, what sort of food do we fancy giving to Bond and Mary when she takes him to her favourite restaraunt in Canberra? Greek, possibly?

I also pondered using Shanghai instead of Beijing as our Chinese location where they track down the leader of the militant faction, using both the Shanghai Peninsula Hotel and the Donghai Bridge for an action sequence. But running an action sequence with a bridge in Shanghai into the Oil Stones location which opens with a moment on a bridge could be problematic - so I'll need to ponder that.

[tdalton]

Also, what sort of food do we fancy giving to Bond and Mary when she takes him to her favourite restaraunt in Canberra? Greek, possibly?

I hadn't given much thought to that, but will do some research on the topic and report back with some possibilities.


One other thing that I think that I may have overlooked to this point, since we are making Goodnight a Double-oh by the end of the project. As we know from the PTS of CR, the "two kill" requirement is still in effect for promotion to Double-oh status. Maybe we could go into the events of this film with Goodnight having already gotten her first, with M giving Bond the authority to decide and issue her orders for her second one within the context of their assignment (obviously, this would be one of the villains of the film). My thinking would be that, since in the reboot, we've seen M watching over Bond like a hawk and basically doing no other work that wasn't related to Bond's assignment, there may actually be no other 00 agents, and that Goodnight's promotion would make the number of agents of that rank rise to 2, and that M is actively in the process of trying to field a new Double-oh section (this wouldn't need to have much emphasis in the story, if any at all, beyond a mere implication that that's what she's trying to accomplish). This would allow her to reach the rank in the correct way, while also giving a glimpse of that cold-blooded side that we were thinking about examining down the road in a future installment of ULTIMATE BOND.

[terminus]

That's certainly an idea about the consistency of the Double-Oh section - Has there been any evidence in the films (CR and QOS) of there being more than Bond? I'm not sure there has. Dryden suggests that Bond isn't the first and intimates that there are others - but the same intimation could just be that Bond isn't the first (and there have been others before him).

Fleming suggests that there are only three Double-Oh agents at any given time (008 and 0011 at the time of the mention) but later references 009 and 006 - though these aren't necessarily existant at the same time as 008 and 0011. So we could follow the Fleming idea of an extremely limited group of personnel - with Mary Goodnight being the first female admission to the ranks, possibly?

Re: the two kills. I suggested that Dana would be the second kill, with the first coming presumably earlier at some point - but, as you've suggested, the first kill could have occured before the film begins.

[tdalton]

That's certainly an idea about the consistency of the Double-Oh section - Has there been any evidence in the films (CR and QOS) of there being more than Bond? I'm not sure there has. Dryden suggests that Bond isn't the first and intimates that there are others - but the same intimation could just be that Bond isn't the first (and there have been others before him).

Fleming suggests that there are only three Double-Oh agents at any given time (008 and 0011 at the time of the mention) but later references 009 and 006 - though these aren't necessarily existant at the same time as 008 and 0011. So we could follow the Fleming idea of an extremely limited group of personnel - with Mary Goodnight being the first female admission to the ranks, possibly?

Re: the two kills. I suggested that Dana would be the second kill, with the first coming presumably earlier at some point - but, as you've suggested, the first kill could have occured before the film begins.

I think that it would be more interesting way of looking at the reboot of the Bond films, having M trying to establish a new Double-oh section. While Dryden did hint that there may be others, that's really the only evidence that there's been that there could even potentially be others in the section. Having M starting out a new Double-oh section would, first, be a good way of explaining why she's constantly looking over Bond's shoulder every step of the way (if he was the only agent she had, it would be easier to accept, and it would look like she's making sure that the new section gets off on the right foot). Secondly, it would be an interesting narrative device because it's something we've not seen in the Bond films. Not that we'd have to see every Double-oh agent on screen at some point, but the knowledge that there is potentially one or two more out there being considered to join the section would lend more of a sense of realism, I think, to the universe in which Craig's Bond operates, rather than having him be the lone ranger out against all of the villains of the world. Plus, we could go back to some of those great threats by M to have him replaced with another Double-oh. Maybe in the next ULTIMATE BOND, M can threaten to replace Bond with Goodnight.

[terminus]

I need to be convinced if we're going to go with Bond being the only Double-Oh until Goodnight gets promoted to 00 Status, because I'm not thoroughly sure about it yet. I'm still leaning towards having Bond being one of three agents, with Mary Goodnight being the newest - and 0011 being out there somewhere, unmentioned as yet (as Goodnight's predecessor was). I think with only three agents you could continue to believe that M would be able to devote that much time to the various agents - or, at least, focus on the agent that had the highest priority (as Bond presumably did in CR and QOS). If anything, the current economic climate would suggest the downsizing of the 00 Section instead of the upsizing of it - so were we to put Goodnight out to pasture as Head of Station for the Caribbean in a future installment, it could be suggested that she'd be unlikely to be replaced.

And the three-person 00 Section would be one more thing we'd be taking from Fleming for the Craig Era. But, yes, it would be fun to have the old threat by M that she will replace him with either Goodnight or 0011.

[tdalton]

I need to be convinced if we're going to go with Bond being the only Double-Oh until Goodnight gets promoted to 00 Status, because I'm not thoroughly sure about it yet. I'm still leaning towards having Bond being one of three agents, with Mary Goodnight being the newest - and 0011 being out there somewhere, unmentioned as yet (as Goodnight's predecessor was). I think with only three agents you could continue to believe that M would be able to devote that much time to the various agents - or, at least, focus on the agent that had the highest priority (as Bond presumably did in CR and QOS). If anything, the current economic climate would suggest the downsizing of the 00 Section instead of the upsizing of it - so were we to put Goodnight out to pasture as Head of Station for the Caribbean in a future installment, it could be suggested that she'd be unlikely to be replaced.

I think that's a fair way of looking at it.

[dinovelvet]

I was actually pondering setting that scene on a lake, on a yacht or something like that - and was looking at other Canberra landmarks that could be used as a backdrop for it. A massive houseboat on Lake Griffin would definitely be something that would fit into that - and would definitely fit in with the Craig Era mould we're working with.

Also, what sort of food do we fancy giving to Bond and Mary when she takes him to her favourite restaraunt in Canberra? Greek, possibly?

I figured a nice little wink/reference could be in order, with Bond ordering "grilled sole" (like Bond's business card in QOS reading "Robert Sterling"). Mary could then choose the wine, and Bond could remark "Very good. Not everyone gets that right".

[ConnerysToupee1983]

Still enjoying how everything seems to be going. Not much for me to specify or comment on in general. Haha.

[coco1997]

Finally caught up on everything I'd missed. Great ideas, everyone! And kudos once again to terminus for finding a way to bring everything together. This is shaping up to be another fantastic installment of "Ultimate Bond". I've already a few ideas in the back of my head for UB26...

EDIT: I know there isn't a field for this, but I would like to suggest Daoming Chen as the Chinese M:

[terminus]

Oooh, grilled sole and wine. Unless we've any objections?

You're welcome to throw in ideas and thoughts whenever you want/can, connerystoupee, your input so far has been excellent. And welcome back, coco1997, I don't see any problem with casting that specific character. Looks like he'd fit the casting mould of the Craig Era perfectly.

And you're right, everyone has done brilliant work, working together, so far.

If we use Beijing as our Chinese location, then I'd like to work the Beijing National Aquatics Stadium in there somehow - it looks fabulous when lit up at night HERE and I imagine there could be a scene there, during an aquatics competition, where Bond has to ensnare the leader of the militant faction - but then so would the 'Birds Nest' Stadium. HERE

[ConnerysToupee1983]

Grilled Sole and Wine sounds delish in my book. As does the Aquatic Stadium, very Bondian.

[tdalton]

Grilled Sole and Wine sounds delish in my book. As does the Aquatic Stadium, very Bondian.

Agreed on both counts.

Just curious at this point what other details of the story still need to be straightened out before it's ready to be put into the writing phase? While there still may be a few issues to sort out at this point, I will say that I think that this particular round has been the best of the three and I'm certainly looking forward to continuing work on both this project and continuing on to another. Conversing on this thread and hashing out storylines with everyone here has been much more enjoyable than discussing the indefinite delay of BOND 23.

[terminus]

Grilled Sole and Wine sounds delish in my book. As does the Aquatic Stadium, very Bondian.

And the sole/wine is a lovely little tip of the hat to FRWL too. Glad you both like the Aquatic Stadium.

Just curious at this point what other details of the story still need to be straightened out before it's ready to be put into the writing phase? While there still may be a few issues to sort out at this point, I will say that I think that this particular round has been the best of the three and I'm certainly looking forward to continuing work on both this project and continuing on to another. Conversing on this thread and hashing out storylines with everyone here has been much more enjoyable than discussing the indefinite delay of BOND 23.

I think we're more or less ready to move from the planning into the more detailed writing phase of the project - we just need to sort out the Beijing Sequences and maybe have a think about Canberra and whether there's any more elements we need to try and slide into the film at any point.

Yes, this is my favourite of the three too. I was saying to coco1997 the other night that I think this is an amazing UB25, but it would also make an amazing Bond 23 (with a few minor changes, such as an alternative PTS which doesn't feature Yvonne and isn't set in Taiwan) too.

I wonder if we could convince anyone to do a fan-art poster when we're finished with the treatment!?!

[tdalton]

I wonder if we could convince anyone to do a fan-art poster when we're finished with the treatment!?!

That would be pretty cool. If I had any talent whatsoever in that area, I'd volunteer to do it, but I unfortunately do not. Still, I do think that it's something that we should consider, though.

As for ideas about what to add into the Beijing and Canberra sequences, I'll read over the last outline that we have a little later today and see if I can think of anything, but I do think that we're pretty close to being finished with the planning stages of the project.

[Mr. Blofeld]

An interesting thing about those buildings: Fleming-Bond would hate them. Let's throw in a line from Bond about not really liking Modernist architecture...

[terminus]

I'm sure a sly dig is something we can work in there. Is there a specific line from any of the books we could borrow?

[coco1997]

Since Mr. Blofeld created a rather fleshed-out PTS, I assume we'll be getting a detailed Iceland portion next?

[terminus]

Indeed. connerystoupee did create a fairly fleshed out version of that sequence in his initial post which was rather good, so I'd expect that will form the basis of fleshing things out for Iceland.

[terminus]

Here's a full summation of the first chunk of the movie - with the full scenes (with my revisions) incorporated. I'm sure the conversion of the Iceland sequence could have been transferred better, so I'm hoping people will be able to come up with suggestions on how to change and develop that sequence and the others.


TAIWAN


The gunbarrel opens on a long shot of the island of Taiwan, then cuts to a luxurious suite in the Grand Hotel in Taipei -- a marble bathtub overflows with bubbles that run across the floor and soak into an already sodden carpet. M is on the phone to Bond who stands in the nearby bedroom, wearing just a terrycloth bathrobe. As Bond slips the Walther into the pocket of the bathrobe, he listens to a rather well-chuffed M, who is very pleased at the uncovering of the plot to bankrupt the country. British Intelligence have brought Faust into imprisonment, and the PM sends his highest thanks to the secret agent and the corporate spy -- and wants to convey these thanks in person. Bond tells M that his datebook is full for the next couple of days, but can he possibly fit the Prime Minister in Wednesday next? M frowns as Bond hangs up -- and slips into the luxurious bubbles, now tastefully naked as he joins Yvonne.

YVONNE: "Who was that?"
BOND: "M; he wants me to bring you in."
YVONNE: "...and in the meantime?"
BOND: "Oh, just that I ought to take down your particulars..."

Bond leans in for a kiss as the pair descend beneath the horizon of bubbles --

BOND: (faintly) "...and what fine particulars they are."

A delicate feminine laugh trickles up from Yvonne, ending in a traditional "Oh, James"... but, suddenly, a hard pair of hands reaches down and forces Bond's head under the water! Yvonne's head pops up from under the bubbles, and she screams in horror, grabbing Bond's terrycloth bathrobe to wrap around herself as she backs out of the water. 007 struggles within the tub, but finally holds his breath and bites the wrist of one of the hands -- the owner of said hands screams faintly from above the water, and he lets go.

Bond erupts from the bath, ready to face his attacker -- Murik. He has survived Faust's attempts to kill him, and now wants revenge on 007 -- but is momentarily distracted by Bond's nakedness. Bond uses this to his advantage; as Murik stands in shock, muttering, "Really?", 007 lunges at Murik's side, hitting him near the vagus nerve... but not close enough to keep him down. Murik grabs Bond between his neck and shoulder, and forces him back into the luxury suite mirror; the pair knock over various toiletry supplies and beauty products from the sinktop as Murik pushes Bond against the wall. Finally, Murik has Bond's head against a cupboard, but 007 desperately boxes at Murik's ears, until he scores a direct hit on the third jab and disorients Murik, and he involuntarily lets go of Bond.

We hear the ringing in Murik's ears as he stumbles back towards the tub, groaning in pain and holding his head. Bond wings an elbow at Murik's jaw, but Murik is not finished yet; he aims a well-placed jab directly at Bond's hip socket. Another kick at the thigh, and Bond is on the floor, immobilized. Finally, it seems as though Murik has 007 at his mercy, but then a shot rings out. Murik clutches his chest in shock, looking to the shooter -- an equally shocked Yvonne, clad in Bond's terrycloth bathrobe and holding his gun. She fires another shot into Murik, who releases his last breath, wobbles, and collapses headfirst into the bubble bath with a loud splash.

Yvonne sighs in relief, sliding the gun across the floor to Bond, who picks it up. He somewhat painfully rises to his feet, and limps over to the lip of the tub. Yvonne explains:

YVONNE: "I found it in the pocket of your robe."
BOND: "Well... a very good thing it was loaded, wasn't it?"

Yvonne chuckles, and Bond ejects the spent casing from the gun; it slows to a crawl as it falls to the floor, the surroundings go black, and we start titles...


ICELAND


Representatives of the Intelligence Agencies of the G-20 countries have been gathered in Iceland at a geothermic power station positioned over a volcanic vent. The power station is owned by a man named Wilhelm Krause, a German businessman born on the Soviet side of the Iron Curtain and raised on the coast of the Caspian Sea. James Bond is present at the conference as bodyguard to M - and M introduces Bond to the Chinese representative, a former classmate of hers at Oxford. Bond sizes up his opposition, a lithe forty-something man called Jiang Yimou.

The conference is on the subject of how various governments are handling the threat of Quantum and how they may be able to work together to better combat the organisation. Unbeknownst to the representatives, Quantum have planned a terrorist attack on the conference. As the conference reaches a critical point, the Saudi representatives bodyguard discovers a series of explosives planted so precisely that they would destroy not only the power station but also ten kilometres of surrounding land.

As the other bodyguards and attendant staff rush to evacuate the representatives, Bond and his Chinese counterpart, Jiang, spring into action and trace the location of the remote detonation device intended to detonate the explosives (a Krause supply train, racing away from the plant at top speed). As the officials begin to make their escape they are seized by armed rebels, security agents blast their way through the rebels, as they fight to clear a path for the representatives, but this severely hampers evacuation procedures.

At the depot, Bond and Jiang hijack what should be a single person repair transport and push it to it's breaking point in order to reach the supply train before the terrorists can detonate the explosives and decimate the power station and the surrounding area. At speeds nearly hitting the sound barrier Bond and Jiang catch up to the train in little time, but Bond still fears he may be too late. Bond slows the single person transport as he nears the supply train, then boards it from the rear. Locked into survival mode and feeling every second tick by Bond and Jiang shoot their way through the first car.

At the second car the pair run out of ammo and takes out several more men with stealth, a serrated knife and adrenalin alone. At the last car before the engine there is but one man to face, and he's giant. A thickly accented German, muscled from neck to toe, head shaved, dark eyed, menacing Tattoos on each arm and a near missing lower jaw. This mountain of a man seems to have been expecting Bond, and looking forward to his arrival. Bond and the giant go head to head in hand to hand combat as Jiang tries to slip by and stop the explosives. Jiang is knocked out by the giant and it takes all of Bond's dwindling strength to stay on his feet. Just as Bond gets a few good blows in someone signals the giant German from the engine. The massive thug smiles sadistically, he was just toying with Bond all along. Before Bond can respond a quick uppercut to the chin sends him flying to the end of the car. As Bond looks on through stunned vision he sees the enormous brute step into the engine and lock the door.

Bond shakes away his pain and struggles to his feet. Bond gets to the door just in time to see the front of the train lift off it's framework and fly forward into the air. The engine of the train is a helicopter and the villains are making their escape. The giant German thug looks back at a frantic Bond and raises the remote control for the hydrocarbon plant explosives. The monstrous brute smiles an evil grin as he presses the detonator's trigger. Thinking as fast as his anguished mind can Bond reaches into a pocket and produces a small device, from Q Branch. Bond sets the device on the door in front of him, presses a button and moves away. The train's door is blown from it's housing in a matter of seconds. Bond grans the semi-conscious Jiang and climbs out the freshly made exit and on to the top of the still speeding train, just in time to see several massive explosions blazing in the distance.

Enraged Bond looks back at the still hovering copter. The massive German smiles again and points menacingly at the train. Bond's eyes grow wide in expectant terror as the thug laughs silently from above. Explosions start at the back of the train and work their way toward Bond. Moving purely on instinct Bond throws himself and his Chinese counterpart from the train as his car erupts beneath his feet. Bond's body hits the harsh ground hard and skids. With nothing to stop himself and little strength left Bond must allow momentum to carry him and Jiang closer and closer to an ever approaching cliff face nearby.

Jiangs body rolls to a stop but Bond contiues to slide, goes over the edge and the enormous German orders the helicopter pilot to "Go." As the chopper flies away from the smoking devastation just wrought we see Bond's hand gripping the cliff's face. Bond, bloodied, drained and haggard uses his last ounce of strength to pull himself back from the brink of death. Bond watches the helicopter fade into the distance through blurred vision. Bond wonders, as he lays there on the cliff side, slowly dying, if the German Brute is somehow connected to Wilhelm Krause...


LONDON


A few days later, Bond is given a greenlight to return to active duty by MI6 physician, James Molony. His first port of call is a meeting with M, who has gathered all of the Double-Oh Section in his office - the Double-Oh Section consisting of Bond and a handsome raven-haired man in a pinstrip suit called Jack Giddings. Giddings is 006. There are normally three Double-Oh operatives at any given time but 0011 recently vanished and is presumed dead whilst on assignment in Singapore and is due to be replaced - which could explain the presence of a beautiful blonde woman at the meeting. M, who survived the explostion at the power station in Iceland along with all of the other representatives, introduces Mary Goodnight - a candidate to join the Double-Oh Section, replacing the missing 0011.

M outlines plans to pursue the terrorists who bombed the conference, gives 006 his assignment and the male agent leaves the room. M explains that Goodnight will be attached to Bond for the duration of the current mission, that he will evaluate her performance and clear her two kills. M is about to give Bond and Goodnight their assignment when Bond puts forward his theory about Wilhelm Krause's involvement in the bombing. M is hesitant to investigate, but agrees to look into the possibility - and says that he will call Bond and Goodnight back to his office when he has made the decision. He suggests they not leave the building - his decision shouldn't take long.

Bond and Mary establish their relationship over combat and firearms training. During combat training, there is an unspoken game of one-upmanship where each person gets the better of the other with Bond's injuries from Iceland affecting his performance - and then Goodnight places a bet, the loser in the session will have to buy the winner dinner. Goodnight looses, the pair change out of their exercise clothes in the locker room (Mary suggests that the showers in the womens locker room aren't working) - there's a sexually charged moment with them catching glimpses of each other as they shower.

As they step out of the locker room, M calls the pair to his office and reports on his decision about investigating Krause - they can find no conclusive connection to Quantum, with the exception of the fact that he was in attendance at the Tosca performance in Bregenz the night Bond flushed out several Quantum members during his investigation into the Tierra Project. That's good enough for M, he sends Bond and Goodnight to Australia to look into Krause. As Bond and Mary leave M's office, "Don't worry, I know a nice restaraunt in Canberra -"

[coco1997]

A job well done, terminus. Looking forward to how you adapt the Australia sequences, as well.

[tdalton]

Here's a full summation of the first chunk of the movie - with the full scenes (with my revisions) incorporated. I'm sure the conversion of the Iceland sequence could have been transferred better, so I'm hoping people will be able to come up with suggestions on how to change and develop that sequence and the others.

I think that the Iceland segment turned out pretty well and I'm not sure what (if any) changes could be made to it. Granted, I haven't been too focused on that particular aspect of the project as most of my efforts have been aimed at developing the Goodnight character and the Bond/Goodnight relationship (which I think is portrayed quite well in this first part ), so perhaps someone else may have some suggestions to put forward for the Iceland sequence. I think that it's rather good, though.

[coco1997]

Any idea when the Australia segment will be completed, terminus?

[tdalton]

Any idea when the Australia segment will be completed, terminus?

I was wondering the same thing. The first completed part of the project was excellent. Looking forward to the continuation.

[terminus]

Having a bit of a struggle coming up with a connecting section - how they manage to track down Scarlett to the Pro-Democracy Faction.

[coco1997]

Any progress on this?