19 replies to this topic

[GalaBond]

READ THIS BEFORE GOING ANY FURTHER: This forum will more than likely contain spoilers involving Skyfall and past Bond, so if you want to avoid spoilers - don't go any further. Thank you.

In every Bond film since GoldenEye in 1995 to Skyfall in 2012 has had one or both of the Bond girls/ women die/ killed:

Goldeneye - Xenia Onatopp

Tomorrow Never Dies - Paris Carver

The World Is Not Enough - Cigar Girl, Elektra King

Die Another Day - Miranda Frost

Casino Royale - Vesper Lynd, Solange and Valenka

Quantum of Solace - Strawberry Fields

Skyfall - Severine, M (if you count M is up to you)

Is this the new Bond tradition? If so, what do you think about it?

[JimmyBond]

Skyfall spoilers are not allowed in the Bond 24 forum at this time.

[GalaBond]

I know I realised my mistake as soon as I posted it but wasn't sure how to move it??

[Pussfeller]

I hate this. It's a cheap way to up the stakes, hammer home the villain's villainy, and (usually) clear the female field so that Bond can boink the survivor without producing Licence to Kill-style complications. It's become so predictable, it has no effect at all. I really wish they would make a deliberate effort to kick the habit. There are other ways to achieve one's narrative goals without resorting to fridge-stuffing.

[plankattack]

I hate this. It's a cheap way to up the stakes, hammer home the villain's villainy, and (usually) clear the female field so that Bond can boink the survivor without producing Licence to Kill-style complications. It's become so predictable, it has no effect at all. I really wish they would make a deliberate effort to kick the habit. There are other ways to achieve one's narrative goals without resorting to fridge-stuffing.

I agree. Then again, it's not a new tradition (ie since GE). A female character getting offed has long been a staple of the series (GF x 2, YOLT, DAF, LALD, TMWTGG, MR - have I missed any??). I didn't list OHMSS as it's the end result rather than a plot point to move the story forward.

[marktmurphy]

Yeah, this is not a new thing at all.

[Pussfeller]

It's not new. It's just tired.

[Tony_OO_Black]

It's drama though, isn't it? And it more than has its roots in Fleming.

[GalaBond]

Obviously it's not new but I mean its becoming used a lot now, but in my opinion I think it works for Craig's Bond as it's kind of another part of creating the man that we all know and love.

[Twingolot]

The new tradition is: Craig's Bond is left with his loneliness at the end. That's a shame.

[JimmyBond]

I'm sure we'll get at least one Craig film which ends with him and the leading lady about to get it on (by water, of course).

[Pussfeller]

Craig is definitely the unluckiest Bond. His last film better end in an inflatable raft.

[R. Dittmar]

It's drama though, isn't it? And it more than has its roots in Fleming.

I'm not quite sure that this is the case. The only deaths in the books are Vesper and Tracy and those were for very unique reasons. I wouldn't say Fleming ever made a habit out of knocking off the female leads. And Fleming also had the good taste not to include those annoying Fiona Volpe femme fatale characters. They're the ones that count for a lot of the body count in GalaBond's list.

Edited by R. Dittmar, 02 November 2012 - 01:29 AM.

[Hfrog1999]

nm

Edited by Hfrog1999, 02 November 2012 - 01:44 AM.

[R. Dittmar]

D'ohh! Hfrog just reminded me that both of the Masterson sisters bought the farm in "Goldfinger". I think that just about does it for the novels though.

[DR76]

This has more or less been a tradition in Bond movies since "GOLDFINGER". I don't think I would count Rosa Klebb as a "Bond girl". The only movies that avoid this are "DR. NO", "FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE" (I think), "OCTOPUSSY", and "THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS".

[JimmyBond]

Don't forget Licence to Kill.

[Guy Haines]

"Quite the body count" as M said, I think, in CR 2006. Only two "Bond women" (in the traditional, as opposed to maternal sense) survived the three Craig films and he slept with neither. Daniel Craig has at least two films left of his tenure, we are told. Do we have to wait for a "Bond and girl, happy ever after" scene until his final adventure? I wonder.

[thecasinoroyale]

Craig is definitely the unluckiest Bond. His last film better end in an inflatable raft.

Agree!

It was another thread I think, hoping they wouldn't introduce Craig's Bond to Tracy as I think he'd top himself the way that pans out...!

If there are other Bond girls who need to be killed off, usually villains - why not have Craig do a Connery circa 'Dr.No', and get them arrested like Miss.Taro. I love that, he has his way knowing she tried to kill him off and then gets spat in the face but deals a great little pun.

Craig would be so good at coldy handing someone over to be locked away and then moving on, rather than having them die at his hands near enough.

But I have to say, in recent memory, and I'm not just saying this, Severine's death is so more tragic than others under the circumstances. She's already afraid of living around Silva, and he then puts her in the positions she knows she's going to be killed, but have Bond play a sadistic game with her, and you see her shaking and tearful with the mascara running down her face... that is such a powerful performance by all three actors, especially Berenice and is one of the greatest, shocking deaths for a Bond girl in many years. It actually benefits the plot, adding more to Silva's character rather than just someone killed off for no reason.

[Hfrog1999]

D'ohh! Hfrog just reminded me that both of the Masterson sisters bought the farm in "Goldfinger". I think that just about does it for the novels though.

Yeah, I edited my post because I included the movie bodycount and reread your post and realized you were talking about the books. I had a couple of Martinis in me last night when I was posting.

I do like how in the Bond movies they are willing to kill off important characters to build drama though. Writers of other movies often seem scared of killing off sympathetic characters.

Bond is surrounded by death. I think that's a key part of his character.