772 replies to this topic

[dinovelvet]

I thought that there could be a more traditional car chase early on at the point I've suggested - through the streets of Capetown. I imagined that the rally car chase could come later, after Bond has met Quarrel and is working to track down the contact - it could come after he has tracked Dent down to his families farm estate in the veldt and killed him, the rally car chase would then become the escape from the farm estate.

I had an idea for a fun car chase - Bond and whoever he's chasing oould both be in Smart Cars.

Their small stature means they'd be able to zip in and out of narrow alleyways, weave through traffic, fit under some barriers, etc. I had a notion that the chase would end up with both cars plowing through a shopping mall or market.

Bond, upon arriving in Cape Town, would be given this Smart Car, and naturally would look at it in disgust, saying "Where's the rest of it?", but he'd soon find that it has it's uses. (We could even have it as a punishment of sorts from M, who in reference CR and QOS, asks "How many more bloody Aston Martins are you planning to wreck, Bond?")

South Africa Bond examines Dent's corpse, recovers a wifi device disguised as a tooth

Do you mean one of his actual teeth in his head, or like a shark tooth he wears around his neck?

And as Strangways will be getting approx. 15 minutes of screen time, we'll need to cast him too. So, a junior MI6 agent. Dare I suggest...Henry Cavill?

[terminus]

I'm down with including Strangways on the mission with Bond in the PTS, sort of like Carter in CR (though Strangways is presumably a bit more competent!)

I'm also on board with using "just" South Africa as the central location. We don't need to go globe-trotting if the plot doesn't call for it, so we can scrub the additional location slots I included in the proforma. As it stands, we're now looking at :

Jamaica - London - in and around Cape Town - Bouvet Island

Hopefully my hint about Strangways' corpse was picked up by all - I had it in mind that it will later be revealed that Strangways (and other unlucky fishermen) all died at the hands of Dr.No's giant squid.

Glad you like the idea of using Strangways in the PTS.

I'm onboard with the fewer locations

And yes - the hint about our fishy friend was picked up on

I had an idea for a fun car chase - Bond and whoever he's chasing oould both be in Smart Cars.

Their small stature means they'd be able to zip in and out of narrow alleyways, weave through traffic, fit under some barriers, etc. I had a notion that the chase would end up with both cars plowing through a shopping mall or market.

Bond, upon arriving in Cape Town, would be given this Smart Car, and naturally would look at it in disgust, saying "Where's the rest of it?", but he'd soon find that it has it's uses. (We could even have it as a punishment of sorts from M, who in reference CR and QOS, asks "How many more bloody Aston Martins are you planning to wreck, Bond?")

Do you mean one of his actual teeth in his head, or like a shark tooth he wears around his neck?

And as Strangways will be getting approx. 15 minutes of screen time, we'll need to cast him too. So, a junior MI6 agent. Dare I suggest...Henry Cavill?

Bond using a smart car could be fun - definitely worthy of a few one-liners.

Re: the tooth. I did envisage an actual tooth in his head, but it could be more like a shark tooth that he wears around his neck - that's likely more sensible.

Cavill? Definitely a candidate.

[coco1997]

That being said, perhaps we could focus now on what needs to be changed for the latter part of the story (the part terminus left off at)?

[tdalton]

I wouldn't say it's wrong for a modern female character to be superstitious - to do that is to suggest that all independant female characters ought to be Amazonian warriors.

Quite agreed. The Honey Ryder of the 1962 film was very much what one would count as an independent woman, as she had traveled the world (presumably on her own) and was in the process of educating herself through the use of the encyclopedias, all seemingly without the help of anyone else. With that said, she wasn't exactly the most intelligent character Bond has encountered in his travels either, and she had a seemingly narrow view of things (she's worried about leaving her shells behind which were worth roughly $50 when Bond and Quarrel are worried about getting away from the men coming for them armed with machine guns).

On the topic of the dragon, I do think that it should stay. One idea for the dragon could be that it would be something similar to what we saw in the original Dr. No (i.e. some kind of tank that's painted to look like a dragon and spews fire), but the environment that it's found in could be changed to help accommodate some changes to the idea. What I mean by that would be to perhaps have the fields/forests/whatever that the dragon would be patrolling crawling with hallucinogenic plants, which would release hallucinogens into the air when they were burned by the tank, causing those being hunted by the tank to hallucinate that the tank is actually a living, breathing dragon.

[coco1997]

What I mean by that would be to perhaps have the fields/forests/whatever that the dragon would be patrolling crawling with hallucinogenic plants, which would release hallucinogens into the air when they were burned by the tank, causing those being hunted by the tank to hallucinate that the tank is actually a living, breathing dragon.

Fantastic idea. Borrows a bit from "Batman Begins", and it could provide for some awesome surreal, otherwordly visuals in a Bond film.

[dinovelvet]

That being said, perhaps we could focus now on what needs to be changed for the latter part of the story (the part terminus left off at)?

-Bond, Honey, and Quarrel all head for Bouvet Island by taking a helicopter from the deck of a US-owned freighter (courtesy of Felix, who sent it over from South America).

-They are fired upon as they reach the island, Bond manages to land it safely (or maybe Quarrel should be the pilot?), but the chopper is basically ruined. They head inland, passing through an unnatural area of plants. Bond suspects something as his vision begins to blur. They see what looks like a dragon coming at them, breathing fire. Quarrel screams and flees, but is killed. Bond and Honey are captured, and as the hallucinogens from the plants wear off, they see it was basically a modified and painted truck.

-Bond and Honey are taken to a vast underground lair that looks like an opulent, Asian hotel. As they are shown around, Bond notes the place is powered by a nuclear reactor. They are invited to dinner, where they finally meet Dr.No. A fourth guest joins them : Mr. White. With armed guards watching him, Bond is powerless as White mocks him. "The last time you saw me sat in a chair, things were a little different, weren't they?"

-Dr.No and White reveal their plan to Bond - No initially used the island as a remote location to synthesize a nuclear detonation; as a brash, arrogant young scientist, his early experiments went out of control, causing the Vela Incident which resulted in the loss of his arms. He spent years developing cybernetic arms while researching into satellite technology. No has now developed the technology to fool defense satellites into thinking their countries are under nuclear attack, resulting in automatic counterattacks. With the backing of QUANTUM, No will launch simultaneous fake nuclear explosions over London and Pyongyang, North Korea. No's scheme is bizarrely born out of a love for his home country - he wants to see its dictatorship government overthrown, but a massive disaster is needed for that to happen. White personally chose London as the second target simply because Bond and MI6 have been undermining QUANTUM's plans. After their little talk, White gets up from the dinner table to leave the island, bidding Bond farewell.

-No then explains he intends to put Bond through his torture pipes, designed to measure how much pain a man can take. He remarks that Strangways did very well. Bond is thrown into a cell and is told he can either go through the pipes, or stay in the cell and die.

-Bond crawls through the pipes and is subjected to intense heat, cold, venomous spiders, etc (What else was there? I don't have the book handy). After surviving all this, he is dropped into a tank to be fed to a giant squid. Amazingly, Bond defeats the squid (insert gadget here?), and crawls out, barely alive.

-As Dr.No prepares for the fake detonations, Bond disguises himself as a guard and causes a power surge, which threatens to overload the reactor. Stuff starts blowing up.

From there, Bond should fight Dr.No, I'm not sure how that will go down. And I'm not sure what Honey has been doing in these scenes!

[coco1997]

I presume then that in this version we don't want Honey to be present at dinner with Bond, No and White? There's also that deleted scene from the original movie where Honey is taken away and strapped to the ground of a cave where she is swarmed by ravenous land crabs. Not sure they'd have crabs like that on Bouvet Island, though.

Seems like we just need to work in that SmartCar chase and figure out the very ending and we'll be done.

EDIT: Also need to decide on a director, composer and title song singer. I guess a 'safe' choice for director would be Campbell, since he seems to be the go-to guy to 'rescue' the series whenever it's hit troubled waters.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Wait... rather than Quarrel dying, how about Honey dying, and Quarrel accompanies Bond to No's lair? Since Quarrel is now a woman, there wouldn't be any uneasiness about a romantic scene between them at the end, would there?

[coco1997]

Wait... rather than Quarrel dying, how about Honey dying, and Quarrel accompanies Bond to No's lair? Since Quarrel is now a woman, there wouldn't be any uneasiness about a romantic scene between them at the end, would there?

I don't know about that. Given that Honey is established as the primary Bond girl, I think after the outcomes of "CR" and "QOS", it's about time Bond winds up happy with the main Bond girl in the end. Killing off Honey and having Bond and Quarrel together seems like an unnecessary change.

[tdalton]

Wait... rather than Quarrel dying, how about Honey dying, and Quarrel accompanies Bond to No's lair? Since Quarrel is now a woman, there wouldn't be any uneasiness about a romantic scene between them at the end, would there?

I don't know about that. Given that Honey is established as the primary Bond girl, I think after the outcomes of "CR" and "QOS", it's about time Bond winds up happy with the main Bond girl in the end. Killing off Honey and having Bond and Quarrel together seems like an unnecessary change.

Agreed.

While I admire the fact that they took the Bond/Bond-girl relationships in new directions with the last two films, I think that a return to a more traditional setup would be best for the third film in the reboot. This would be one of the very few areas that I'd like to see a return to normalcy, however. We'll still have the opportunity with MR for a different kind of ending that doesn't feature Bond getting together with the main Bond girl if we get to that point.

As for what to do with Honey while Bond is going through his ordeals towards the end of the film, maybe we could give her some investigative work to do on her own. Maybe she is looking for some closure on the death of her father, and she goes looking for it on the island before being captured and tied up to be fed to the crabs.

[dinovelvet]

Wait... rather than Quarrel dying, how about Honey dying, and Quarrel accompanies Bond to No's lair? Since Quarrel is now a woman, there wouldn't be any uneasiness about a romantic scene between them at the end, would there?

I don't know about that. Given that Honey is established as the primary Bond girl, I think after the outcomes of "CR" and "QOS", it's about time Bond winds up happy with the main Bond girl in the end. Killing off Honey and having Bond and Quarrel together seems like an unnecessary change.

Yeah, hmm, I mean we've made quite a few changes and updates here, but I don't really see the point of switching Honey and the female Quarrel around, just for the sake of being different.

BTW I had an idea of doing a modern version of the sight gag where Bond sees the stolen painting in Dr.No's lair. Is there a modern equivalent of a notorious missing object that audiences would recognize?

I will try and iron out the first half of the movie later today and figure out the car chase(s)!

[Mr. Blofeld]

Possibly this?

[terminus]

Possibly this?

Maybe this - it's a bit more recent and it's BIG.

Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris 2010 Theft

[coco1997]

Looking forward to seeing the first half hammered out, dino.

Also, is there a way to adapt No's death in the book? Guano isn't going to work in this instance, I'd imagine.

[tdalton]

Also, is there a way to adapt No's death in the book? Guano isn't going to work in this instance, I'd imagine.

If the guano scene doesn't work for this particular version, what if we took the escape method for Bond and Honey in the novel (the dragon) and use that as the means by which Dr. No meets his demise? They could escape using the dragon after they dispatch Dr. No and take it back to the beach and then sail back to the mainland.

[Mr. Blofeld]

What if Dr. No dies at the hand of his own "dragon"? Chased down and then blowtorched to death by Bond?

[tdalton]

What if Dr. No dies at the hand of his own "dragon"? Chased down and then blowtorched to death by Bond?

That's pretty much what I was thinking should happen as well.

Although maybe we could have it not be so much Bond just chasing him down with the dragon and killing him. Perhaps Bond and Dr. No are involved in a knock-down, drag-out fight that neither really appears to be winning (I think that, since I believe we were going with a younger Dr. No this time around, that this might be a bit more feasible), and then maybe Honey drives up in the dragon, instructing Bond to get in and then she torches Dr. No to avenge her father's death (which Bond tries to stop her from doing, going back to the lessons he learned in QoS), who at this point would be hallucinating that he's staring in the face of a real dragon in the same fashion as the many other people he's had meet their end at the hands of this "dragon".

[coco1997]

What if Dr. No dies at the hand of his own "dragon"? Chased down and then blowtorched to death by Bond?

That's pretty much what I was thinking should happen as well.

Although maybe we could have it not be so much Bond just chasing him down with the dragon and killing him. Perhaps Bond and Dr. No are involved in a knock-down, drag-out fight that neither really appears to be winning (I think that, since I believe we were going with a younger Dr. No this time around, that this might be a bit more feasible), and then maybe Honey drives up in the dragon, instructing Bond to get in and then she torches Dr. No to avenge her father's death (which Bond tries to stop her from doing, going back to the lessons he learned in QoS), who at this point would be hallucinating that he's staring in the face of a real dragon in the same fashion as the many other people he's had meet their end at the hands of this "dragon".

Very cool, and superior to how it went down in the actual film.

[terminus]

Me likey that suggestion, tdalton.

As for the themetune singer - we might see someone like Brandon Flowers, like Cornell and Jack White, he was the frontman for a rock group. He's recently released a solo album, so he's making headway with solo projects. I'd highly doubt we'd get a duet again, so he won't be joined by a co-singer.

We can't have the movie title being the title of the themetune, but I don't expect that dinovelvet will want to go as far as naming the themetune.

[coco1997]

These suggestions lately have got me really pumped for the future remakes. "Dr. No" is great and all, but I can only imagine how some of the more compelling stories, such as "Goldfinger", "OHMSS" and "YOLT" will turn out.

[tdalton]

These suggestions lately have got me really pumped for the future remakes. "Dr. No" is great and all, but I can only imagine how some of the more compelling stories, such as "Goldfinger", "OHMSS" and "YOLT" will turn out.

I'm fairly excited for several of the upcoming ones as well. I especially hope that we make it to "Live and Let Die" because I think that I've got some ideas for that one that I've been working on a bit on the side. I think I've got a couple of solid casting choices (and one for Solitaire that I think I may have to make a case for as I doubt anyone other than myself would necessarily see it as a slam-dunk casting), and some other ideas on how to make that story a bit better (it's the only one of the Bond novels/films that could really lend itself towards the horror genre, which is territory I've always wanted to see the Bond films gravitate towards for something of a one-off).

[coco1997]

(it's the only one of the Bond novels/films that could really lend itself towards the horror genre, which is territory I've always wanted to see the Bond films gravitate towards for something of a one-off).

Ooh, "LALD" + horror? I'm intrigued.

[terminus]

And even though there's been decision to not do Thunderball (as we've done Warhead 2010), there's always it's sequel, Warhead 2012 to look forward too

[dinovelvet]

And even though there's been decision to not do Thunderball (as we've done Warhead 2010), there's always it's sequel, Warhead 2012 to look forward too

I think we'll have to at least sketch out Thunderball a little, as it will be part of the ongoing Quantum/Blofeld storyline, but yeah I don't plan on doing the entire casting and new action scenes on it, etc.

[terminus]

That's cool!

[dinovelvet]

I fleshed out the PTS.

GUNBARREL SEQUENCE

The circle opens up to reveal a nighttime view of a pleasant looking house on beachfront property, which may look familiar to Bond aficionados. A title card tells us we are in ORACABESSA, JAMAICA. Armed guards patrolling the estate grounds reveal that somebody serious lives here.

Two figures clad in black silently descend from the sky using parachutes, landing amongst the trees. One of the figures disappears out of sight as the second struggles to unhook his parachute. An armed guard appears behind him, raising his gun as...a SILENCED GUNSHOT blows a third eye socket into his head.

The first figure in black pulls his balaclava off, revealing him to be JAMES BOND : "Bloody hell, Strangways, forget the parachute, let's just get in there and do the job".

Strangways removes his balaclava also, and we see that he is a younger man much in the Bond mould himself.

The two men move through the woods towards the house, silently taking down more guards as they trade banter.

Strangways - Nice house. How did Haines get his hands on it?
Bond - Don't know. Used to belong to some kind of author, I think.

They reach the house and enter through a back door. They quickly KICK open a door, with guns drawn. A figure is seated in a swivel chair, his back to them.

Bond - Guy Haines, I have a signed warrant ordering you to be returned to Britain for immediate questioning regarding your association with the criminal organization known as QUANTUM (*bit clunky, I know, but this line will remind audiences of the last film and why they're after him).

Haines doesn't respond. Bond moves in and spins the chair around. Guy Haines slumps forward, dead. Bond notices : "Two bullets in the back of the skull. Interesting."

Strangways - What does it mean?
Bond - QUANTUM. They got here first.

At that moment, an ALARM sounds and the entire house lights up.

Bond - Well, we certainly walked right into this one.
Strangways - So what's the plan now?
Bond - I suppose we could kill everyone and make our escape.
Strangways - You say that like it's a bad thing.

A FIREFIGHT ensues, with Bond and Strangways using teamwork to cut down waves of guards. The two agents flee the compound into a jeep as the last remaining guards shoot at them.

Strangways - So who are these QUANTUM people, anyway?
Bond - It's a long story.
Strangways - Good, we've got a long flight back to England.

Bond rolls his eyes, as we SHOOT UP to the sky, and beyond, into outer space, where a SATELLITE orbits.

On a monitor in an unseen location, a MAN watches the satellite feed as Bond and Strangways make their escape. He punches numbers into a cellphone and speaks. "Haines was taken care of. Our old friends didn't get to him, so we can proceed with the operation as planned. I'll see you on the island". The man hangs up the phone and leans forward, his face now visible in the glow of the monitor. It is MR. WHITE.

-CUT TO CREDIT SEQUENCE-

-----
I'm kind of thinking this PTS lacks a little punch. We don't always need a big PTS stunt, but I feel there could be something more going on here. Any ideas, or is everyone OK with it?

[coco1997]

Well done, dino. I think it's taut and intense enough for the purpose it's meant to serve.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of it fleshed out.

[terminus]

Well written, dino. It's low key - but that's fitting with the Craig Era, the pretitles of CR were very low key and despite the pretitles of QOS being an adrenaline fueled car chase, they weren't that explosive when you consider what has come before. I don't think it needs to be beefed up any - it sits perfectly well as is.

And I look forward to seeing what you come up with for the rest of the treatment.

[dinovelvet]

OK then, I shall proceed

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

"Six months later", a title card tell us. We see Strangways infiltrating a building at night, a sign on the front reading "Dent Fishing Industries LLC". The security seems unusually hi-tech for what looks like a low-key fishing company; Strangways dodges security cameras, laser tripwires, and floor sensors as he makes his way though the top level office buildings. He picks the lock to an office marked "Desmond Dent". Inside, he switches on the computer and quickly accesses files. He enters a command to copy files to a wireless device, but strangely we don't see him holding any devices.

As the copying ensues, Strangways opens additional files. He sees one labelled "DOCTOR NO", and moves the cursor over it when a CREAKING noise makes him look up. Two AFRICAN MEN with guns are outside the doorway. They OPEN FIRE as Strangways ducks behind the desk. Blasting back at them, Strangways takes the room's only other exit - the window. He slides down an outer fire escape as the gunmen follow him. Weaving around disused boats and other fishing equipment as he dodges bullets, he makes his way to a parked car and slips into the driver's seat. He has his key in the ignition when - WHACK. A third African man in the back seat clubs Strangways with the back of his gun, sending him slumping forwards.

The other two men gather outside the car.

"Do we get rid of him here?"
"No. The Doctor wants him."

LONDON

We are looking at mugshots on a large projection monitor in a darkened room as we hear the voice of TANNER. "Gregor Kakarov, Siberian mining entrepreneur. Dead in an alleged accident in one of his own mines. Moishe Soref, former Mossad turned telecom giant, found drowned in his own bathtub. Guy Haines, found dead, courtesy of 007".

We see Bond and M watching the briefing. Bond drinks heavily as Tanner continues with the slideshow.

"Yusef Kabira, former MI6 prisoner, currently awaiting trial at Guantanamo. Dominic Greene, found deceased in a desert in Bolivia."

Bond smiles slightly at that one as he refills his glass.

"And finally, Mr.White, no other name known. Escaped from MI6 safehouse in Siena, current whereabouts unknown".

"But presumed to walk with a limp", notes Bond cheerfully.

M hits a switch and the room brightens. "Thank you, Bill. So, 007, it appears all leads and information on this QUANTUM organization have dried up."

Bond - "They're cleaning house; tying up the loose ends, but they'll be back. People like this just don't stop what they're doing."

M - "And neither do we. As we've had no further information on these people since you found Haines dead six months ago, we're moving on. New assignment, it involves that young man who helped you out in Jamaica, Strangways."

Bond - Wants me to recommend him for a promotion, does he?

Tanner - I'm afraid not, Bond. He's turned up dead in South Africa.

Tanner hands Bond a file with Strangways' dossier and photographs as M continues.

M - "He was found on a beach three days ago. Preliminary autopsy indicates he was attacked by some kind of animal, possibly at sea".

Bond - But also with the kind of wounds typically inflicted by punching and kicking. What was he doing out there?

M - What do you know about abalone, 007?

Bond - A kind of sea snail, endangered in many parts of the world. It's shells are valuable, which has given rise to illegal poaching and smuggling in recent years. Oh, and they're quite tasty.

M - We had Strangways looking into the poaching in South Africa, as it was affecting British fishing industries in Cape Town.

Bond - Is this kind of thing really worth MI6's time?

M - If someone is prepared to kill for it, then yes. I want you to carry on where Strangways left off. All the information and contacts he had gathered so far are in the dossier.

Bond - Well, I've always fancied a trip to South Africa...

back to CAPE TOWN.

Bond arrives at Cape Town International Airport, and is immediately met by a Driver who says he has been sent to take Bond to his hotel. Bond tells him he'll meet him outside, as he calls M. Asking if she sent a car to meet him, M says "No. MI6 doesn't have an unlimited supply of Aston Martins for you to wreck, 007".

Outside the airport, the Driver opens the car door for Bond, who casually grabs the man's head and slams it into the hood of the car. "I'll take the car, but I don't need a driver, thanks". The driver gets up, clutching his bloody nose. Bond is in the driver's seat, pointing his gun at him. "Go back to whatever rock you crawled out from". The driver runs, as Bond checks his cellphone again. A dot on a Google Map-esque landscape is moving, as we see a tiny tracking device on the Driver's collar where Bond grabbed him. Satisfied, Bond starts the car and leaves, eventually arriving at the 'One and Only' Cape Town resort.

---
That's as far as I got today, I ended up writing the MI6 scene in minute detail when I only intended it to be a paragraph or two. Up next, I'm looking to introduce Dent and Quarrel, possibly leading to a car chase. Terminus or anyone else is welcome to connect the dots for these scenes!

[terminus]

Excellent work, dino. Most excellent.