612 replies to this topic

[Call Billy Bob]

 

Die hard 2, cliffhanger, the long kiss goodnight...GREAT action movies.

Of the three you have mentioned, the only GREAT action film Harlin has made is Cliffhanger.

 

AKA Die Hard on a Mountain

[x007AceOfSpades]

 

 

Die hard 2, cliffhanger, the long kiss goodnight...GREAT action movies.

Of the three you have mentioned, the only GREAT action film Harlin has made is Cliffhanger.

 

AKA Die Hard on a Mountain

 

I wouldn't go that far as to say that, but it's really one of the finest action films of the 90's.

[tdalton]

 

 

Die hard 2, cliffhanger, the long kiss goodnight...GREAT action movies.

Of the three you have mentioned, the only GREAT action film Harlin has made is Cliffhanger.

 

AKA Die Hard on a Mountain

 

 

Pretty much, except it's nowhere near as good as Die Hard.  

[Call Billy Bob]

 

 

 

Die hard 2, cliffhanger, the long kiss goodnight...GREAT action movies.

Of the three you have mentioned, the only GREAT action film Harlin has made is Cliffhanger.

 

AKA Die Hard on a Mountain

 

 

Pretty much, except it's nowhere near as good as Die Hard.  

 

Neither was every other late 80s/early 90s action movie that followed Die Hard for a while:

 

- Sudden Death   -   Die Hard at a Hockey Game

 

- Under Siege   - Die Hard on a Ship

 

- Speed - Die Hard on a Bus

 

Etc...

[DaveBond21]

I like the fact that it seems to be a real team effort at the moment, and Mendes and Craig are responsible for a lot of what is happening in Skyfall and SPECTRE.

 

So my question would be how can they replicate this with a different director and eventually a different 007?

[JCRendle]

I like the fact that it seems to be a real team effort at the moment, and Mendes and Craig are responsible for a lot of what is happening in Skyfall and SPECTRE.

 

So my question would be how can they replicate this with a different director and eventually a different 007?

 

Daniel Craig and Marc Forster also worked together, often rewriting the script due to the writers strike. I think Craig tries hard to establish a good working relationship with his directors - and the producers trust him.

[Odd Jobbies]

 

I like the fact that it seems to be a real team effort at the moment, and Mendes and Craig are responsible for a lot of what is happening in Skyfall and SPECTRE.

 

So my question would be how can they replicate this with a different director and eventually a different 007?

 

Daniel Craig and Marc Forster also worked together, often rewriting the script due to the writers strike. I think Craig tries hard to establish a good working relationship with his directors - and the producers trust him.

 

I'd agree that seems to be the case according to the whispers. Sounds like he's a Director's kind of Actor - has ideas of his own, but can also listen - traits that are not at all common in Hollywoodland.

 

But it's Eon's job to make sure they continue to get that actor /director chemistry correct if it's to continue. If they should sign a director who thinks actors should just turn up prepared and get on with doing their job (and what they're told), then the good times are over. Likewise, if they get an actor who's not that interested in the collaborative aspect - a face/a poser/an ego, then the days of attracting great directorial talent are likewise over.

 

I think the reboot films have made it easy for Eon to cast better actors and attract better directors, so it's all for them to lose, really. I'm sure BB won't 'F' it up  

 

ETA:  He's far  from an ideal Bond director and wouldn't be interested in the gig in a million years, but it would be a mighty interesting experiment to see the great Mike Leigh's  James Bond movie. Craig would work well with him i imagine as they rehearsed, scriptless, forming the story via improvisations with fellow cast members. Like i said, just an experiment, but i'd pay premium to see the results.

Edited by Odd Jobbies, 19 February 2015 - 10:18 AM.

[DamnCoffee]

How about Gareth Evans? Just seen The Raid 2 and it was fantastic. i've heard the reviews were positive but I wasn't really expecting it to match up to the first. It's a very different film, but full to the brim of fast, furious hand to hand combat you truly feel.  And If you're not sold, check this out...

 

 

Hows that for a car chase?

Edited by DamnCoffee, 14 March 2015 - 02:21 AM.

[x007AceOfSpades]

I'm not sold.

[Double-Oh Agent]

His time has probably passed him by, but I will always be in favor of John McTiernan. He was great in the late Eighties and Nineties and is currently in pre-production of directing his first film in 12 years. The man knows how to direct action films. He should have been the director for at least one of Pierce Brosnan's films, most especially The World Is Not Enough.

[tdalton]

McTiernan's opportunity to direct a Bond film has long since past.  He hasn't directed a film since 2003's Basic, and hasn't directed a good film since 1999's The Thomas Crown Affair. 

 

I'm also not sure exactly what he would have brought to The World is Not Enough, considering that film's story lent itself more to a dramatic director than one whose specialty is straight-up action films.  I think McTiernan, if he were to have directed a Brosnan Bond film, probably would have been a better fit for Tomorrow Never Dies.

[SecretAgentFan]

I'm not sold.

 

Me neither, I must say.  I think it´s competent, gets the job done - but I HATE the overhead shot within the car, turning it all in a fantasy/computer game without physical boundaries instead of focusing on the tight interior which would make that kind of action impossible by the way.

[tdalton]

Me neither, I must say.  I think it´s competent, gets the job done - but I HATE the overhead shot within the car, turning it all in a fantasy/computer game without physical boundaries instead of focusing on the tight interior which would make that kind of action impossible by the way.

 

 

I wasn't impressed with it either. 

[007jamesbond]

Ben Affleck! 

[tdalton]

Ben Affleck! 

 

He's one of my top choices as well.

 

Sadly, it won't happen for a long while (if it ever does) since he'll be tied down with the whole Batman thing for a while.

[rubixcub]

Not so much a wish list as who would be likely to get the bid.

 

According to IMDb (and I believe I've seen most if not all of these corroborated elsewhere), the following are some of the names that were considered for "Spectre" before Sam Mendes committed to returning:

Ang Lee, Tom Hooper, David Yates, Danny Boyle, Shane Black, Christopher Nolan, Nicolas Winding Refn, and (not on IMDb's list) Morten Tyldum.

 

From least likely to most likely, IMO:

 

LEAST LIKELY

- Shane Black: American

- Danny Boyle: despite doing the Bond bit for the Olympics, he hates big budgets, and the critical drubbing of "The Beach" keeps him low here

- Ang Lee: the sort of successful genre-hopper they'd normally be attracted to, with his 2 Golden Globes, 2 DGA awards & 2 Oscars (for 3 different films in total), and with the visually stunning, critically acclaimed martial arts piece "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" under his belt.  But the moment an article appears that names him, his one foray into big-budget action, "Hulk", will come up, and negatively.

 

MAYBE

- David Yates: never finished the "Harry Potter" series b/c of how dull "Order of the Phoenix" was.  Still, he can handle big budgets, though it seems now they're looking for a little more in the prestige dept.  We shall see.

- Christopher Nolan: would be hard to reach a deal.  He'd want to co-produce with his wife, Emma Thomas, through Syncopy, and co-script.  It's been 9 years since he's turned in a movie well under 2 1/2 hours.  And as much as his most devoted fanboys won't acknowledge that he has ANY flaws at all as a filmmaker, he has, notably when it comes to female characters and sometimes when it comes to dialogue.  That being said, the producers haven't offered three-picture deals to directors, but if anyone gets the nod to do a "trilogy" of Bonds, it'll be him.

- Joe Wright: not on any list proper but the kind of successful British director (like Lewis Gilbert, he directed a Best Picture Oscar nominee) who's achieved critical success without much in the way of prizes for himself, which may make him more affordable.  If "Pan is successful, I half expect to hear his name come up.

 

MOST LIKELY

- Nicolas Winding Refn: "Drive" proved he could do action & suspense, as well as crafting a memorable villain, but was under-the-radar enough to keep his profile fairly low.

- Tom Hooper: another genre-hopper in the spirit of Marc Forster, only with an Oscar for Best Director.  He's achieved enough success in various genres to be perceived as versatile, but outside of some recurrent stylistic flourishes, he comes across as more the type of journeyman director EON likes to work with, only with more serious critical cred.  IMO, Hooper doing a Bond is only a matter of time.
- Morten Tyldum: was in talks early to do "Spectre" and in the meantime, directed Oscar-winning British WWII drama "The Imitation Game", about the life & work of Alan Turing, and scored an Oscar nomination for himself in the meantime.  His next project is a sci-fi romance from a hot script that will star Chris Pratt & Jennifer Lawrence, perhaps the two most bankable American stars at the moment.  Count on his name coming up again.  Because he'd already met with the producers, and was asked about future availability, I'd COUNT on his name coming up.

 

Any names to add?  Delete?  Comment on?

 

Dave

Edited by rubixcub, 14 July 2015 - 02:31 PM.

[Odd Jobbies]

Shane Black and Tydium - even money.

 

Chris Nolan - a dead cert, just a question of when (perhaps with Hardy succeeding Craig)

 

Joe Wright - an outsider with very long odds imo (not my choice.

 

Refn - probably zero chance, but would be my choice.

[x007AceOfSpades]

Isn't there already a thread, just like this?

[tdalton]

 

Refn - probably zero chance

 

Hopefully that's the case.  

 

I can't decide which I'd be less excited about: a Refn-directed Bond film or a Nolan-directed Bond film.

[ChickenStu]

Justin Lin would be a good fit. Paul Greengrass for sure. 

[rubixcub]

I probably should've put Joe Wright in the "maybe" list since his name has never been mentioned officially.  Edited to change.

 

Forgot about Greengrass, although: would Bond want Bourne's director?  Seems like that would be chasing the tail of another successful franchise, not that one can't make a case for it having been done before (MR following "Star Wars", SF having villain / plot elements in common with "The Dark Knight", even QOS being stylistically similar to Bourne right down to the 2nd unit director).

 

Dave

Edited by rubixcub, 14 July 2015 - 02:31 PM.

[SecretAgentFan]

Isn't there already a thread, just like this?

 

Yes!  Topics merged!

[rubixcub]

Looked for but missed the original thread.  Thanks.

 

Dave

[Orion]

This seems such a trite, cliche pair of suggestions now, but I still, 10 years on, think either Christopher Nolan or Matthew Vaughn would be perfect for Bond.

[Emrayfo]

On the topic of future directors, I guess we can rule one out now - or rather he has ruled himself out: Mendes. No Bonds trilogy for him.
Link: http://www.mirror.co...recting-6094189

[SecretAgentFan]

I wouldn´t trust anything show business people say.  It´s always about strategy.

[Harmsway]

Mendes hasn't firmly put himself out of the running. He's just said a return is unlikely, given how he's invested five years of his life into it. If EON makes the offer tantalizing enough, it's at least possible that Mendes would come back on board. Certainly there must be a certain level of appeal in concluding the entire Craig Bond era.

 

Due to scheduling concerns, this couldn't happen for a while. But my ideal Bond team would be Bryan Fuller writing with Vincenzo Natali directing. Their work together on Hannibal makes it pretty clear that they could knock a Bond film out of the park.

[Orion]

He felt like that at the end of Skyfall as well. It's why SPECTRE is in 2015 rather than 2014, so Mendes could do something else rather than (what would've been for him) 5 years consecutively on Bond. There's every chance after doing another theatre piece, he really feels like doing a movie of Bond's scale, which Mendes mentions himself in that interview (though it was more of a casual chat than an interview)

[JohnnyWalker]

Well I'm fine with Morten Tyldum being lined up for the next one.

[Pierceuhhh]

There's no worse choice than Nolan. In his 15 years as a mainstream director, he still hasn't bothered to learn how to stage a scene, instruct an actor, compose a shot. His entire career is predicated on Heath Ledger dying. Besides, Bond should never come second to the behind-the-scenes personnel.

I love the list of journeyman Brits - Young, Hamilton, Gilbert, Campbell - and rubixcub's speculation above is the best match for this PROUD LEGACY!!