1981 replies to this topic

[Shrublands]

Why should they cut scenes 173+174? They're pretty important for us bondians, I guess.

Are you saying that you know about scenes after the Whitehall rooftop (172) and what happens in them?

[Royal Dalton]

This is all leading me to think it’s Mallory, and Bond 24 will concern itself with that.

The only problem with Mallory being a villain is that it's a bit too obvious. What with the character being described as "Machiavellian" and a nemesis to M and all the rest of it. And casting Ralph Feinnes in the role.

Maybe we're led to believe he's the traitor, but it turns out to be somebody else?

[Shrublands]

This is all leading me to think it’s Mallory, and Bond 24 will concern itself with that.

The only problem with Mallory being a villain is that it's a bit too obvious. What with the character being described as "Machiavellian" and a nemesis to M and all the rest of it. And casting Ralph Feinnes in the role.

Maybe we're led to believe he's the traitor, but it turns out to be somebody else?

I know what you mean.
However, I think we on this forum were the ones who speculated that he might be a new kind of M with a Machiavellian character. As for any supposed inside info, I’ve seen ‘darkly complex’ but not ‘Machiavellian’.

The casting does give me pause in thinking he’ll turn out to be a villain, for the reasons you say. But by the same extent – Why cast someone like Ralph Fiennes as a ministerial type who’s there just to give M a hard time?

I think it comes down to this, either he’s the new M (possibly characterised as above) or he’s the villain behind it all, who comes more to the foreground in Bond 24.

[univex]

Or both.

[S K Y F A L L]

I hope Mallory doesn't turn out to be a villain I was hoping he would replace Judi as our new M. Perhaps he is unaware that he is guilty?....

[univex]

If he turns out to be the new M, I suppose we got the first gimpse of the future M dialogues in future trailers when he spoke to Dench in the last trailer.

[PPK_19]

Ok, i've been in Las Vegas on a Hangover-esque experience for the last 10 days, away from the internet and the outside world.

I'm a mess, i've just got home and i'm wondering what i've missed re: Skyfall? The only thing i've seen are the new posters (which are disappointing). Any more morsels of information?

[JCRendle]

Any more morsels of information?

Other than Daniel Craig being fired and replaced with Alan Carr, Hugh Grant being confirmed as the new M and Kathy Bates as the new Moneypenny?

[PPK_19]

Any more morsels of information?

Other than Daniel Craig being fired and replaced with Alan Carr, Hugh Grant being confirmed as the new M and Kathy Bates as the new Moneypenny?

Ha that probably would have made QOS more exciting.

Seriously though?

[JimmyBond]

Any more morsels of information?

Other than Daniel Craig being fired and replaced with Alan Carr, Hugh Grant being confirmed as the new M and Kathy Bates as the new Moneypenny?

Back in the day I thought Hugh Grant would have made a good 007, had the producers not gone with Brosnan.

[MattofSteel]

I'm a Hugh-j (ha!) fan of Grant, but 007 he is not.

[thecasinoroyale]

New report from Sam Mendes here about Javier Bardem and a snippet from Daniel Craig via EMPIRE:


Skyfall director Sam Mendes has revealed that the latest Bond villain, Silva, is "full of surprises" - and the 007 helmsman believes the character is "up there with the greats".
In an interview with Empire magazine, Mendes praised Spanish actor Javkier Bardem's performance as Bond's latest nemesis.

"It is larger than life in one respect but full of surprises," he told the magazine. "Never entirely, at any given moment, exactly what you think it is. Javier takes some risks. But he's an amazing actor and I think he gives you something you may consider to have been absent from Bond movies for a long time."

The director added: "Silva's up there with the greats for me, and that's why I worked very hard to persuade one of the great actors of the world to do it."
In the new issue of Empire, Daniel Craig also revealed why he loves the role so much.

He said: "When I'm doing the movie I'm totally single-minded. I keep my energy levels as high as I can all the time. I want to inspire, and be inspired.
"And I'm lucky enough to work with some incredible people with vast experience."

Daniel explained: "I was standing on top of a train in Turkey with this crew of people, I looked around and I thought, 'You know, this is the best place to be for an actor'.
"So I kind of give it all I've got, and then collapse for a while!"

[Vauxhall]

Hadn't read this before - Esquire set report from Istanbul:

http://www.esquire.c...et-for-skyfall/

Apologies if it's already been posted elsewhere.

[Simon]

Superb - thanks for posting.

[Vauxhall]

British folk of a certain age might remember actress Elize du Toit from HOLLYOAKS. Well, according to IMDb (pinch of salt, etc.), she's been cast in the role of Vanessa in SKYFALL. She is M's assistant at the start of the movie, but it's not clear if she survives the attack on MI6 Headquarters.

[Royal Dalton]

That's interesting. I remember saying on here years ago that she'd make a good Miss Moneypenny.

[thecasinoroyale]

A snippet of an interview here from TOTAL FILM with Sam Mendes about filming 'Skyfall' for "Bond Geeks"!

Inside, Craig and director Sam Mendes explain how they’re marrying 007’s modern-day grit with old-school wit. The new issue’s out now but you can read an exclusive excerpt below.

When we spoke to Mendes about taking on a film with such a revered legacy and devoted fanbase, he explained: “There are definite echoes of other Bond movies - the Aston Martin DB5, the return of Q - and there are some that only the hardcore geeks will get! I hope they want to go on this adventure.”

On his own relationship with Bond movies, he added: “I wanted to make a great Bond movie… A great movie, full stop. I wanted to go back in tone, back to Ian Fleming. I didn’t want to make a movie in reaction to the last two movies. I wanted to make what I want to see when I see a Bond movie.”

[Vauxhall]

That's what I wanted to see. Very happy with everything I've read and heard from Sam Mendes thus far. Sure that "the hardcore geeks" are more than ready to go on an adventure with this movie.

[thecasinoroyale]

I got my ticket! Literally.

I really hope if this all works out and he wants to, Sam Mendes returns for a future Bond film. I'd love a run with consistency of the same crew and actors, like the golden era did.

[Vauxhall]

Count the mistakes in this article: http://www.thisiscro...tail/story.html

Also, note the page's URL. The version which went to print in The Croydon Advertiser newspaper referred several times to the new James Bond film "Skylark". Incidentally, there's a Wetherspoons pub in Croydon called The Skylark. Extraordinarily amateur attempt at writing an article.

[JimmyBond]

Whats also funny from that article is the driver of the hearse complaining about driving up and down a route for the better part of a day. I suppose he's unaware of how films are made.

[JCRendle]

Well, I believe they were used, but they were only given limited information so that they couldn't leak plot details. We know there is a multiple funeral, but they were either told nothing other than they were filming a funeral or they were fed misinformation regarding the Afghanistan angle.

[Vauxhall]

James Bond Skyfall crew "blown away" by scenery in the Highlands
http://www.bbc.co.uk...slands-19827107

[Luigi Ferrari]

Superyacht Captain Tells about Filming 007 in Skyfall

http://news.thehowor...ut-filming.html

[Vauxhall]

Some nice details there. Thanks, Luigi!

[Vauxhall]

Archivo 007 has obtained the Spanish language SKYFALL Production Notes. Discussion here: http://debrief.comma...oduction-notes/

[Vauxhall]

The Daily Telegraph: Skyfall - Istanbul for James Bond fans
http://www.telegraph...-Bond-fans.html

[Luigi Ferrari]

http://uk.movies.yah...-092209646.html

007 Days of Skyfall: The secrets behind Bond action scenes

From Roger Moore jumping off a mountain with a Union Jack parachute to Daniel Craig's freerunning chase in 'Casino Royale', Bond films are famed for the their epic action sequences.
These days the job of dreaming them up falls to Gary Powell, the stunt coordinator for all of Craig's Bond films, including the upcoming 'Skyfall'. We had a chat with the 007 veteran, who told us some behind-the-scenes stunt gossip.
He revealed to us that…
The Istanbul sequence seen in the 'Skyfall' trailer, with Craig pursuing a goon on a motorbike in a digger and finally by foot on top of a train, was at least 90 per cent the real Daniel Craig, rather than one of his many stunt doubles. "He was up there at the top of the train, going across a bridge 300 foot high at 40-50mph, running and fighting. Very few actors would actually do that". However, when Bond is accidentally shot by Naomie Harris' Eve, it was a stunt guy who fell off the bridge. Funny that.
We reckon most actors who "love doing their own stunts" are liars, but it seems Craig is that masochistic. "I knew I could put Daniel on top of a speeding train and he would say 'yeah I'll give that a go'. He says to us: 'you just go and dream it up, and figure out where you'll put me'.
The biggest worry for filming the train scene wasn't 007 falling off a carriage, but running over children. "We're shooting in places that have never seen a film crew, let alone a James Bond film crew, and every kid in that town wanted to be a part of it, so we needed people to block out the road to stop them running onto the track."
The pressure to outdo the previous Bond films is intense on set. This time it was the on-train digger and riding motorbikes across rooftops that was uncharted territory, stunt-wise. "We always try and push something new. Bond films really kicked off the modern action scene. 'Dr. No' was so far in advance of anything else at the time so we have to keep this up."
When Powell dreams up Bond action sequences, he hums Monty Norman's classic theme tune to get the right vibe. "Everyone on set is a huge Bond fan, even the caterers," he said.
Gary Powell began his career as Pierce Brosnan's stunt double in 'GoldenEye'. "I look nothing like him, but one scene I did was in a tank and the other was a boat. Luckily both were going so fast you couldn't tell it was me." His family has been working on the franchise for years, and Powell's first experience on a Bond set was 'The Spy Who Loved Me'. He made the tea and was allowed to fire off machine guns as a reward. It's unlikely Health and Safety would've approved.
Much of the tube chase/crash sequence in 'Skyfall' was filmed in a little used section of King's Cross underground station. Transport For London was surprisingly relaxed about the team creating a massive tube accident.
While filming the underwater fight under ice (again glimpsed in the trailer), the actors (Craig and one of Silva's henchmen) could only shoot for around 10-20 seconds at a time because it was so exhausting. It also messes with the ears to keep coming in and out of water, so the duo had to stay mostly under water for two days while they finished the scene, breathing through tubes. "Daniel definitely had a good night's sleep afterwards."
After 007 jumps off the digger, you might notice him shoot his cuffs after landing on the train carriage. Craig improvised it. "He comes up with that stuff all the time. He knows how the character will react. We leave it up to him."

[JimmyBond]

That was a pretty good read. And I loved reading that Craig improvised the cuff bit on the train.

[DaveBond21]

I think it's a pretty solid idea myself. The best I've heard, in fact.

When I'm looking at these meetings on a rooftop, I'm seeing Craig hand the box off to Eve in a way that is ... well, a little shady. The rooftop is a dead end; there is nowhere else to go. I'm guessing that Bond is entrusting the box to Eve so that she can get it out of London safely. I'm thinking events will play out like this:

- Eve thinks she is Bond's equal. She's running around firing a machine gun, but it begins to catch up with her.
- At some point, Eve realises that she cannot continue to live like Bond. She opts out before the villains realise her involvement in the plot.
- During the events of the film, Eve has earned Bond's trust. This won't be the whole "Can I trust you?" subplot, but instead could be something as simple as proving to be competent and capable at her job. For example, she could do something unorthodox but clever, like the way Bond tricked the Quantum members to reveal themselves at the opera.
- After Eve opts out, Bond continues pursuing the villains. He begins to realise that there is a very serious and multi-layered conspiracy going on. As he prepares to confront Javier Bardem for the final time, he comes to the conclusion that Bardem may have allies who will try and stop him. Bond may be able to identify this particular ally, but will be unable to directly act against them.
- The box is Bond's "insurance policy": it contains something that can hurt anyone who might try and stop him; if Bond should die before confronting Bardem, the contents of the box will be made public, and will consequently ruin that person's reputation.
- Knowing that he is being hunted by Bardem's people, Bond turns to the one person who is outside the system that he knows will be able to ensure safe passage of the box: Eve. He hands it to her with instructions that if he does not contact her again by a certain time, she should reveal the contents of the box through the apporpriate channels (possibly Ralph Fiennes or Helen McCrory).
- Once the exchange is complete, we cut to the finale, with Bond arriving in Scotland to find Bardem.

Why are you making stuff up?

Love these original thoughts about what might be in the box that Eve passes to Bond on the rooftop. If only someone had told you guys what was really in it!

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