677 replies to this topic

[Walecs]

I also would like to see a "re-imaging" of Blofeld. The man in the Mao/Nehru suit with the Persian white cat wouldn't work with this Bond, and probably not with today's audiences - Dr Evil and Mini Me have seen to that, imho!

 

 I think it would be a challenge if, instead, one actor could try and portray Blofeld differently in more than one film, or maybe within the same film, keeping Bond guessing (As he did in the novel OHMSS, when 007 couldn't believe that "The Count" and the number 2 of SPECTRE in Thunderball were one and the same man.)

 

Excellent idea. I would love to see this used in a future Bond movie. I agree with everything you've written.

 

Now, they're not forced to stick with the name "Blofeld". They could use "Shatterhand" or a completely new one, so that things would feel fresh.

[Call Billy Bob]

I too would approve of a "Blofeld by another name." A heard, but not seen, background figure for a film or two before the big reveal - would love for them to use a name like Shatterhand or something similar, something that ties back to literary Bond.

[dtuba]

If any Bond film uses the title Shatterhand, or creates a villain of that name, than surely 100's of CBn forumer's will surely suffer a collective heart attack.

[Call Billy Bob]

I'd like to see Kincade back, honestly. A window into James' past and also a fun character in his own right. Maybe have him in the May role from the novels as a butler/handyman but also a close friend.

[Walecs]

I'd like to see Kincade back, honestly. Maybe have him in the May role from the novels as a butler/handyman but also a close friend.

It does sound like a really good idea, although I'm sure they way they would realise it would be really cheesy.

[Marcin]

Hello everybody, greetings from Poland. This is my first post here, though I've been following this Forum for many years.. 

 

Since James Bond is an officer of Secret Intelligence Service, I'd like to see more espionage plots, spy games etc. in Bond 24. Of course I know we can't expect this film to be the next "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" or anything, but "The Living Daylights" is one of my favourite episodes and it did work well then, don't you think? Since I prefer novels to films (is it just me?), I'm not a fan of this whole "Bond Coctail" concept. I want Mendes to keep it more down-to-earth. What I don't want to see is another personal, vengeance plot, which is great, but we've seen too much of this lately. 

 

Ps. Sorry for my English. It's not my native language, but I hope it's understandable.

[Major Tallon]

No, Marcin, you're not alone.  I also prefer the novels, though I'm also very fond of a great many of the films.  Your English is very good, and so is your thinking!  Welcome to CBn.

[x007AceOfSpades]

The last two Bond films have dealt with the theme of revenge, so I hope Bond 24 is more straightforward and more espionage/thriller-esque, while still keeping in tone with the usual isms of the character that we can expect to see. 

[Marcin]

Thanks Major Tallon!

There is one more thing I expect from Bond 24 (if not the most important one): a good, solid script. The best plot, the most intriguing idea for the story will be spoiled if the script is superficial or shallow, e.g. "Skyfall", which, for me, is a wasted potential (yes, I know most people loved it). I'm concerned about all the confusion with Bond 24 screenplay. Let's just hope that producers know what they're doing (fingers crossed!). 

[Walecs]

The last two Bond films have dealt with the theme of revenge, so I hope Bond 24 is more straightforward and more espionage/thriller-esque, while still keeping in tone with the usual isms of the character that we can expect to see. 

 

You mean the last eight Bond movies (therefore I agree even more with your point), bar possibly Casino Royale.

[Call Billy Bob]

There is nothing wrong with this formula: awesome PTS, titles, show off villain, Bond in M's office, gets mission, flirts with Moneypenny, goes on his way, etc.

[Turn]

I won't mind the formula as long as it doesn't feel forced. Back in the late '70s and early '80s it was like a STRICT formula, and it got predictable. I've welcomed the last 3 films because they didn't adhere to the formula and the Brosnan era seemed to take more chances from it, although the Moneypenny exchanges got worse and worse. I can say I don't care if we ever have a Moneypenny flirtation again, which doesn't mean I want her in the field either. I could do without her, actually.

 

No gunbarrel at the beginning, I didn't mind. Lack of M office scenes, fine. But if we do get them, at least give us intriguing villains, decent plot and creative action I haven't seen anyplace else.

 

Most of all, don't make it personal and no more traitors in Mi6, which seemed to have been plugged in in place of the formula. Give and take, I guess.

[Messervy]

There is nothing wrong with this formula: awesome PTS, titles, show off villain, Bond in M's office, gets mission, flirts with Moneypenny, goes on his way, etc.

Of course there's nothing wrong! It's one of the reasons we love Bond in the first place! This is (part of) what makes a Bond movie.

[Guy Haines]

Since we've been discussing "Blofeld by any other name", how about this for Bond 24 and possibly into Bond 25?

 

Bond takes on a character named "Serge Angstrom" (refer to the book "Thunderball" and you'll know who I'm getting at!) initially, who then chooses the alias Dr Guntram Shatterhand. The usual Bond-v-villain stories follow, possibly with Angstrom aka Shatterhand getting away at the end of "24" to return in "25", and possibly with yet another alias.

 

Only near the end of the story arc do we discover that this villain's real identity is........ guess who?  . It would compress into two new Bond movies what it took four to reveal, that "Number One" is Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

[SecretAgentFan]

I would welcome a return of Blofeld - in a rebooted version.

[Call Billy Bob]

Seconded.

[Guy Haines]

I'll second Call Billy Bob's second, if that's possible! I left the cinema after CR-2006 thinking - in fact saying to someone I was sitting next to - that I wouldn't be at all surprised if "the organisation" mentioned in the film was SPECTRE. We got Quantum - we may yet in Bond 24 - but after the events in QoS it seems to me to be  hopelessly blown. In the book "Thunderball", Blofeld, we are told, went through one or two "organisations" before founding SPECTRE. In the current film series, maybe Blofeld was the power behind Quantum but now has to resurface with a new set up comprising the remnants of Quantum plus elements from every crime, corrupt big business, intelligence and terror syndicate you can think of - including rogue elements from Western intelligence. It would be a modern day version of the SPECTRE from the original novels - made up as it was of cells from SMERSH, the Gestapo/SD , the Mafia, the Union Corse, Yugoslav SIS and Turks from Blofeld's middle eastern interests.

 

I don't know about you, but it might work!

[Messervy]

I'd very much welcome a return of a rebooted Blofeld/SPECTRE indeed. One of the driving forces of Bond movies, for quite a long time, has been the returning nemesis; it would be good to have it back as one of the Bond patterns.

[Call Billy Bob]

Guy Haines, is thirded a thing? Haha  Maybe that's what you were going for!

 

And remember, all those people watching Tosca while having a secret Quantum meeting are still out there... Mr. White is still alive... and I don't think we saw absolutely everyone in attendance that night. Blofeld/Shatterhand/whatever the devil his name ends up being may have been there! I had forgotten the previous organizations from Thunderball, so having Quantum be one of those is a fantastic idea in my book!

 

It's still possible that Mr. White is our Blofeld analogue, which was my thought immediately after viewing CR for the first time!

[Messervy]

 

 

It's still possible that Mr. White is our Blofeld analogue, which was my thought immediately after viewing CR for the first time!

I doubt it. Blofeld's the guy who pulls the strings from the distance. Whereas Mr. White is mostly the chief operational in the field.

To me, if Quantum were to be compared to SPECTRE, Mr. White would be Number 2, and we still haven't met Number 1.

[Call Billy Bob]

I thought about that for a while... perhaps White is waiting for the right time to betray his superiors in order to take control of Quantum, forming SPECTRE in its place?

[Messervy]

I thought about that for a while... perhaps White is waiting for the right time to betray his superiors in order to take control of Quantum, forming SPECTRE in its place?

Could work, indeed. After all, we've had a reboot of James Bond where we saw how this character was forged. Why not having a reboot of SPECTRE where we see how the organisation came to be, and Quantum could indeed be its predecessor on the basis of which it was eventually forged?

[seawolfnyy]

I won't mind the formula as long as it doesn't feel forced. Back in the late '70s and early '80s it was like a STRICT formula, and it got predictable. I've welcomed the last 3 films because they didn't adhere to the formula and the Brosnan era seemed to take more chances from it, although the Moneypenny exchanges got worse and worse. I can say I don't care if we ever have a Moneypenny flirtation again, which doesn't mean I want her in the field either. I could do without her, actually.

Yea, the Moneypenny/Bond flirtations lost their luster following Octopussy/AVTAK, the latter of which included the series' most cringeworthy line: a 58 year old Roger Moore telling a 58 year old Lois Maxwell that he "will fill you in later, Moneypenny." That said, I don't see why we couldn't finally add Loelia Ponsonby to the Bond films. In the novels, Bond never flirted with Moneypenny, instead it was Ponsonby.

 

 

 

I thought about that for a while... perhaps White is waiting for the right time to betray his superiors in order to take control of Quantum, forming SPECTRE in its place?

Could work, indeed. After all, we've had a reboot of James Bond where we saw how this character was forged. Why not having a reboot of SPECTRE where we see how the organisation came to be, and Quantum could indeed be its predecessor on the basis of which it was eventually forged?

I could see it. After having been discovered through the events of CR and QoS, Quantum has to be disposed of and rising from the ashes in it's place.....SPECTRE.

[DaveBond21]

A stand-alone PTS not related to the main plot.

 

It has been a while since we had one of those.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[S K Y F A L L]

-Bond Skiing

-Gadgets

-Car chase

-DBS

-Better dialog with Moneypenny

-I always love a silenced PPK

-NEW Locations. Canada and Poland would be cool

[Marcin]

S K Y F A L L, I agree with most things on your list. Moderate use of gadgets, why not? But I'm not a fan of sci-fi type of gadgets and/or excessive reliance on them.. In fact, I can live without them.
I've always thought that one of the best things of Brosnan era was changing Bond's gun to Walther P99. I know that PPK is somewhat cult pistol, but it's a bit outdated now - it lacks the stopping power of P99's 9 mm ammunition. I'm no expert, though, so I may be wrong about this.
As for the locations, definitely! Canada and Poland (of course) would be my choice as well.

[x007AceOfSpades]

- it lacks the stopping power of P99's 9 mm ammunition. I'm no expert, though, so I may be wrong about this.

For me, the Walther PPK is culturally significant with Bond. I love it. However, while I do love it, there is the argument that yes, it is indeed outdated, especially for a modern spy. The Walther P99 is good, but I have always called for Bond to switch over to the Walther PPS. It's basically an updated model of the PPK, but it's taken more from the P99 and is chambered in 9MM. While it only holds 6-8 9x19MM parabellum bullets, it's just enough and isn't the overkill that is the 16-20 9x19MM bullets the Walther P99 has.

 

As for disecting the weapons: the Walther PPS and P99 are chambered in 9x19MM Parabellum bullets, whereas the Walther PPK is 7.65MM Browning, or, .32 ACP. And of course, 9MM pistols are generally larger than that of .32 pistols. Diameter for the PPK is .312 of an inch and a 9MM is .355 of an inch. A 9MM generally fires at a high velocity rate, compared to the .32. The 9MM is of course better than the .32 ACP, but it's not going to really improve or increase stopping power drastically. If it's stopping power, than Bond should switch to a pistol chambered in .40 S&W.

 

The .32 ACP will only work if it hits vital areas with it's target, and of course, Commander James Bond is a weapons expert With the right kind of ammo, the .32 could be on the same level with .38 Special and .380 ACP, which would slightly tie the gap between .32ACP and 9MM, but again, nothing too marginally. The 9x19 Parabellum bullet is much heavier than the PPK's .32 ACP, but it's not a big stopper like a .40 S&W or .45 ACP. However, a 9MM is much more lethal when loaded into a submachine gun (Duh! Lol), which shows it's versatality, whereas pretty much anything chambered in .32 ACP is basically what's considered a "pocket pistol" like the PPK.

 

Now the pros and cons of Bond with both, a PPK and P99. With the P99 Bond is gaining more range than the PPK due to the 9x19 Parabellum bullets and the high velocity that comes with it. He also gains a damage increase too. However he is much more difficult to conceal it. With the PPK, it is only most lethal when in close quarters, as it really isn't designed to be a range weapon, but he is able to conceal it.

 

Unless Bond wants to upgrade to something chambered in .40 S&W and have a hard time concealing it, I would go with the PPS, small like the PPK and chambered like the P99. Hope this ridiculously, long and boring post helps 

[seawolfnyy]

I agree with your assesment Ace. The PPK is a Bond icon, but in 2014, I do believe a change is in order. The P99 is strong and sleek, but it is too big and bulky for a modern spy to accurately conceal. The PPS would be a nice, modern successor to the PPK. Much in the same way, when Bond used the Walther P5 in Octopussy.

[Marcin]

 

Unless Bond wants to upgrade to something chambered in .40 S&W and have a hard time concealing it, I would go with the PPS, small like the PPK and chambered like the P99. Hope this ridiculously, long and boring post helps 

 

 

Very much, thank you  . Isn't PPS avaliable in .40 S&W chambering? That would solve the stopping power issue you mentioned, right? 

Anyway, I haven't considered PPS before, but I must say I'm convinced by both you and seawolfnyy. 

So the big question is: since PPK is an icon and symbol of James Bond series, are we (Bond fans in general) willing to see him changing his weapon of choice permanently? But I guess that's the question for another topic.

[univex]

Keep the ppk and all the iconography of Bond intact, please. ffs, it´s just a movie. Don´t people have enough realism in...say...real life? I, for one, don´t mind if the fella shoots a baddie from a mile away with the ppk and hits him in the eye. But I do understand the gun crowd; even Fleming was a born researcher. But somethings make Bond an icon(oclast) and one of those things is the ppk, silenced for even better effect. I´m quite tired of this stripping Bond from Bond and than replacing the layers brick for brick. 

 

What do I want to see in B24? Escapism, exoticism, sensual women being sensual (like Solange was...but then again, Bond had to leave...); snow, Blofeld, 007 theme, 007 with hair, 007 having fun off duty, his flat, M debriefing in his office (only in his office), May Maxwell, Gadgets (believable, but better than a freakin radio bigger than the one Bond had in his shoe on GF).

 

That being said, these are very exciting times for being a Bond fan. Roll on December!

 

Cheers