56 replies to this topic

[DaveBond21]

A missed marketing opportunity was surely not having a 007 movie coming out in 2007.

[Admiral Messervey]

 

As for a title - well, if it can't be YOLT, how about "Shatterhand"?

We'll find out in 2017/18.

 

I guess I'll add my thoughts to this:

 

1. The novel's cliffhanger ending for From Russia with Love.

2. Poor timing and casting choices for On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

3. Diamonds are Forever; this one was a train wreck from the get go. Even without Lazenby, Connery should never have been brought back on. He had no interest and he phones it in the whole time. On top of that, the script is terrible. There's no mention of Tracy and rather than be depressed and angry, Bond just looks bored.

4. A conclusion for the Blofeld arc.

5. Not casting Claudia Cardinale as a Bond girl.

6. Frank Sinatra never singing a Bond theme.

7. Moonraker. This should have been made pre-Star Wars. We would've gotten a more faithful adaptation and I agree with Mr. Haines, that it would've been perfect in the 60s.

8. Not replacing Moore after For Your Eyes Only.

9. A View to a Kill

10. Poor marketing for Licence to Kill....and Dalton's hair.

11. Dalton's 3rd film

12. Moonraker again (My bad, Die Another Day)

13. A 5th Brosnan film.

14. Not delaying Quantum of Solace until 2009.

15. A Bond film in 2010

 

 

2. Definitely agree

4. THIS! Not to mention there was no love lost between Connery and Harry Saltzman

5. My god. This was definitely a crime.

6. Curious as I think it happened in a alternate universe

11. Dalton really deserved a 3rd outing had the financial woes of EON and how LTK got slaughtered by Batmania Mk2 and other competition not threw a wrench into things.

12. Moonraker deserves a better adaptation

13. Having a 5th Brosnan film in 2003-2004 would've been best to give him, Bond and Cleese their proper swansong instead jettisoning it like what happened with Dalton

14 and 15: EON really should've waited til the Writer's Strike was over to have Quantum made and with extensive re-writes to where it would come out late 2010 then start prepping for Skyfall right away

 

 

Other missed opportunites

 

*Not using Straw's The World is Not Enough (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) at the end of the film instead of another Arnold rendition of the 007 theme.

*Picking a better song and artist on Quantum of Solace

*The Man With The Golden Gun

*The constant avoiding of using the name Gala Brand

Edited by Admiral Messervey, 11 December 2014 - 06:57 AM.

[seawolfnyy]

*Picking a better song and artist on Quantum of Solace

*The Man With The Golden Gun

*The constant avoiding of using the name Gala Brand

 

100% agree on the theme song for QoS. A duet with Jack White and Alicia Keys, who thought that was a good pairing? The song itself is also pretty bad, but I will admit that I heard a version in which Alicia Keys sings it solo and while it doesn't make it a classic, it at least makes it bearable.

I didn't include The Man with the Golden Gun as it was already based off the weakest of novels. That said, it completely omitted the novels best part (M's assassination attempt), while bizarrely reworking the duel.

I also would've liked to have seen Gala Brand on screen by now. Not sure why the producers felt that they needed to rename her Holly Goodhead in MR (what was 'I think he's attempting re-entry sir' not enough for you?) Miranda Frost was the other character who nearly became Gala Brand. She was named Gala Brand in early drafts, but I fine with the change as Brand is a good girl through and through. Other literary Bond girls that have yet to make their big screen debuts are Vivenne Michel, Liz Krest, Trigger and Loelia Ponsonby.

[Professor Pi]

Vivienne Michel will never be a Bond girl name as per the contract with the Fleming estate on using the title for TSWLM only and nothing else.

[seawolfnyy]

Vivienne Michel will never be a Bond girl name as per the contract with the Fleming estate on using the title for TSWLM only and nothing else.

Jaws was based on a character from TSWLM.

[tdalton]

 

Vivienne Michel will never be a Bond girl name as per the contract with the Fleming estate on using the title for TSWLM only and nothing else.

Jaws was based on a character from TSWLM.

 

 

True, but he wasn't called Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me.  I'm not sure that they could create a character based on Vivienne Michel, though, as they're prohibited by the Fleming estate from adapting much, if anything from that novel.  Even if they could use the name, I doubt that they could use enough of her character from the novel to make it a worthwhile endeavor.

[DaveBond21]

 

*Picking a better song and artist on Quantum of Solace

*The Man With The Golden Gun

*The constant avoiding of using the name Gala Brand

 

100% agree on the theme song for QoS. 

 

 

 

Well, "No good about goodbye" was written for the movie by Bond composers David Arnold and Don Black, and the song actually features in the score. It's a shame they didn't use it as the main theme.

Well the song "No good about goodbye" (Shirley Bassey) was written for the movie by legendary Bond composers David Arnold and Don Black, and the song actually features in the soundtrack. It's a shame they didn't use it as the title theme.

[Admiral Messervey]

 

*Picking a better song and artist on Quantum of Solace

*The Man With The Golden Gun

*The constant avoiding of using the name Gala Brand

 

100% agree on the theme song for QoS. A duet with Jack White and Alicia Keys, who thought that was a good pairing? The song itself is also pretty bad, but I will admit that I heard a version in which Alicia Keys sings it solo and while it doesn't make it a classic, it at least makes it bearable.

I didn't include The Man with the Golden Gun as it was already based off the weakest of novels. That said, it completely omitted the novels best part (M's assassination attempt), while bizarrely reworking the duel.

I also would've liked to have seen Gala Brand on screen by now. Not sure why the producers felt that they needed to rename her Holly Goodhead in MR (what was 'I think he's attempting re-entry sir' not enough for you?) Miranda Frost was the other character who nearly became Gala Brand. She was named Gala Brand in early drafts, but I fine with the change as Brand is a good girl through and through. Other literary Bond girls that have yet to make their big screen debuts are Vivenne Michel, Liz Krest, Trigger and Loelia Ponsonby.

 

 

It seemed Babs and Michael inherited Cubby's poor judgement in what musical act's popular to where they robbed us of having Bassey sing her 4th Bond theme and I'd settle for David Arnold composing an instrumental theme for Die Another Day ala OHMSS instead of Madonna

Edited by Admiral Messervey, 12 December 2014 - 12:26 AM.

[tdalton]

I don't know if I'd go that far in criticizing EON for the issues with the title songs in recent films.  First, getting Madonna for a 40th anniversary film is a pretty understandable mood, given that she'd been one of the biggest pop stars on the planet for a big chunk of Bond's cinematic history.

 

With regards to Quantum of Solace, I don't think that there's much denying that the song isn't good.  Most likely the way forward with those two would have been for Jack White to stay away from the vocals and simply craft the music for the song and let Alicia Keys sing it.  The actual music of "Another Way to Die" is quite good.  The problems with that song are, most notably, the fact that Jack White and Keys aren't great duet partners and, secondly, the lyrics aren't particularly great either.  It's still, though, not the absolute trainwreck of a song that it's made out to be, largely thanks to how good the instrumental is underneath of the lyrics.

[seawolfnyy]

The actual music of "Another Way to Die" is quite good.  The problems with that song are, most notably, the fact that Jack White and Keys aren't great duet partners and, secondly, the lyrics aren't particularly great either.  It's still, though, not the absolute trainwreck of a song that it's made out to be, largely thanks to how good the instrumental is underneath of the lyrics.

I agree that, yes, the instrumental is quite good. The problem is everything else and the fact that the music doesn't fit the tone of the movie. The reason Adele's Skyfall works so well is that if fits the tone of the film. You Know My Name fits the tone of Casino Royale. Another Way to Die has LITERALLY nothing to do with Quantum of Solace and is made worse by the poor vocals (especially from Jack White). Personally, I think Quantum of Solace's title track had a lot of potential and Alicia Keys was a great choice. Had Jack White not been included and the song be created more in the way Skyfall was, I think QoS' title track could've been one of the best. Alas, the title song was just another in a long line of what turned out to be one of the most tumultuous productions in Bond's storied history.

[Animal Clans]

Other than the obvious ones, like giving Lazenby/Dalton more movies, or having Connery/Moore do one or two less films, some that I can think of:

 

1. Not letting Madonna anywhere near DAD. Her cameo was harmless, but her song is by far the worst in the series, IMO.

 

2. Making Jinx's role in DAD much more serious.  Halle Berry had a lot of groan-inducing one-liners and that was pretty much the worst thing about DAD for me.

 

3. Not letting MK12 anywhere near the titles for QOS.  I actually enjoyed Another Way to Die and felt the background animation sequence was good, but that font was horribly distracting and actually kind of took me out of the movie for a moment.

 

4. Using k.d. lang's Surrender as TND's title song instead of the Sheryl Crow song.

 

5. Casting someone other than Denise Richards as Dr. Jones.  And giving her a different name than Christmas.  Truth be told, Denise Richards could have made a better Bond girl if used in any other capacity than a nuclear scientist!

[S K Y F A L L]

This threads a classic.

 

Oldies but Goodies

 

1) Connery in OHMSS 

 

2) Dalton in his 3rd film (92 would have been the 30th anniversary)

 

OR 

 

Brosnan in a fifth film in 2004 (take your pick)

A missed marketing opportunity was surely not having a 007 movie coming out in 2007.

That would have been cool. 

 

Does any one remember hearing MGW saying during the filming of TWINE he would like Brosnan to do 7 films ending on 2007!?...

95, 97, 99, 01, 03, 05 and 2007

Other than the obvious ones, like giving Lazenby/Dalton more movies, or having Connery/Moore do one or two less films, some that I can think of:

 

1. Not letting Madonna anywhere near DAD. Her cameo was harmless, but her song is by far the worst in the series, IMO.

 

2. Making Jinx's role in DAD much more serious.  Halle Berry had a lot of groan-inducing one-liners and that was pretty much the worst thing about DAD for me.

 

3. Not letting MK12 anywhere near the titles for QOS.  I actually enjoyed Another Way to Die and felt the background animation sequence was good, but that font was horribly distracting and actually kind of took me out of the movie for a moment.

 

4. Using k.d. lang's Surrender as TND's title song instead of the Sheryl Crow song.

 

5. Casting someone other than Denise Richards as Dr. Jones.  And giving her a different name than Christmas.  Truth be told, Denise Richards could have made a better Bond girl if used in any other capacity than a nuclear scientist!

Agreed to all.

 

What was Austin Powers Beautiful Stranger doing sing DAD? I didn't like the QOS title sequence either. Denise Richards really!

 

They should have used the HOTEL OF DOOM/closest thing we came to building the Death Star in DAD.

[Animal Clans]

The irony is that, IMO, Beautiful Stranger was actually a good song while DAD was awful.  It's odd that they went with someone who had already sang an Austin Powers theme to do a James Bond theme.

[Admiral Messervey]

Other than the obvious ones, like giving Lazenby/Dalton more movies, or having Connery/Moore do one or two less films, some that I can think of:

 

1. Not letting Madonna anywhere near DAD. Her cameo was harmless, but her song is by far the worst in the series, IMO.

 

2. Making Jinx's role in DAD much more serious.  Halle Berry had a lot of groan-inducing one-liners and that was pretty much the worst thing about DAD for me.

 

3. Not letting MK12 anywhere near the titles for QOS.  I actually enjoyed Another Way to Die and felt the background animation sequence was good, but that font was horribly distracting and actually kind of took me out of the movie for a moment.

 

4. Using k.d. lang's Surrender as TND's title song instead of the Sheryl Crow song.

 

5. Casting someone other than Denise Richards as Dr. Jones.  And giving her a different name than Christmas.  Truth be told, Denise Richards could have made a better Bond girl if used in any other capacity than a nuclear scientist!

 

Re: Jinx- They should've called her Jia and left it at that

[Admiral Messervey]

This threads a classic.

 

Oldies but Goodies

 

1) Connery in OHMSS 

 

2) Dalton in his 3rd film (92 would have been the 30th anniversary)

 

OR 

 

Brosnan in a fifth film in 2004 (take your pick)

A missed marketing opportunity was surely not having a 007 movie coming out in 2007.

That would have been cool. 

 

Does any one remember hearing MGW saying during the filming of TWINE he would like Brosnan to do 7 films ending on 2007!?...

95, 97, 99, 01, 03, 05 and 2007

Other than the obvious ones, like giving Lazenby/Dalton more movies, or having Connery/Moore do one or two less films, some that I can think of:

 

1. Not letting Madonna anywhere near DAD. Her cameo was harmless, but her song is by far the worst in the series, IMO.

 

2. Making Jinx's role in DAD much more serious.  Halle Berry had a lot of groan-inducing one-liners and that was pretty much the worst thing about DAD for me.

 

3. Not letting MK12 anywhere near the titles for QOS.  I actually enjoyed Another Way to Die and felt the background animation sequence was good, but that font was horribly distracting and actually kind of took me out of the movie for a moment.

 

4. Using k.d. lang's Surrender as TND's title song instead of the Sheryl Crow song.

 

5. Casting someone other than Denise Richards as Dr. Jones.  And giving her a different name than Christmas.  Truth be told, Denise Richards could have made a better Bond girl if used in any other capacity than a nuclear scientist!

Agreed to all.

 

What was Austin Powers Beautiful Stranger doing sing DAD? I didn't like the QOS title sequence either. Denise Richards really!

 

They should have used the HOTEL OF DOOM/closest thing we came to building the Death Star in DAD.

 

Had they went straight for that after Thunderball, yes. Sadly, looking back on his DAF perfomance and his discontent for Saltzman, he would've phoned it in there as he did in DAF.

[seawolfnyy]

Had they went straight for that after Thunderball, yes. Sadly, looking back on his DAF perfomance and his discontent for Saltzman, he would've phoned it in there as he did in DAF.

 

Yea, I kind of agree with you Masservy. Had On Her Majesty's Secret Service been filmed instead of You Only Live Twice, then I could see Connery giving a great performance. However, in 1969, Connery was very disillusioned with everything Bond and I am completely sure he would've given a terrible performance as he did in Diamonds are Forever. As it stands, Lazenby isn't terrible and he has great chemistry with Diana Rigg. If we were to have a different actor in On Her Majesty's Secret Service I wouldn't mind Roger Moore.

[tdalton]

Connery would have given a much, much better performance than Lazenby, disillusioned with Bond or not.  He's just that much better of an actor than Lazenby.

[seawolfnyy]

Connery would have given a much, much better performance than Lazenby, disillusioned with Bond or not.  He's just that much better of an actor than Lazenby.

If he actually cared, then yes he would've been so much better. However, I think that if he didn't care, as he did with Diamonds are Forever, I don't think it'd really be that different. Bad or not, the cast of On Her Majesty's Secret Service has great chemistry and that includes Lazenby. I guess because of that, I just can't see Connery in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

[tdalton]

I'd still take a disinterested Connery in On Her Majesty's Secret Service over Lazenby's performance.  For my money, it's Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas that elevate On Her Majesty's Secret Service into an upper-tier Bond film, but it could have been so much more if the role of Bond was played by a more seasoned actor.

[west]

Not keeping the Silvia Trench date-interruption joke going for more of the Connery films.

[Admiral Messervey]

 

Connery would have given a much, much better performance than Lazenby, disillusioned with Bond or not.  He's just that much better of an actor than Lazenby.

If he actually cared, then yes he would've been so much better. However, I think that if he didn't care, as he did with Diamonds are Forever, I don't think it'd really be that different. Bad or not, the cast of On Her Majesty's Secret Service has great chemistry and that includes Lazenby. I guess because of that, I just can't see Connery in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

 

 

Thank you! 

I'd still take a disinterested Connery in On Her Majesty's Secret Service over Lazenby's performance.  For my money, it's Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas that elevate On Her Majesty's Secret Service into an upper-tier Bond film, but it could have been so much more if the role of Bond was played by a more seasoned actor.

You would, the rest of us not so much

Edited by Admiral Messervey, 13 December 2014 - 07:55 AM.

[seawolfnyy]

Not keeping the Silvia Trench date-interruption joke going for more of the Connery films.

Eh...

[Admiral Messervey]

Not keeping the Silvia Trench date-interruption joke going for more of the Connery films.

I couldn't be bothered with Trench. She's just there!

[west]

 

Not keeping the Silvia Trench date-interruption joke going for more of the Connery films.

I couldn't be bothered with Trench. She's just there!

 

 

The scene in From Russia With Love always gets a bit of a laugh out of me, so it's a bit of a guilty pleasure! Hardly a big missed opportunity by the franchise to be fair.

 

More realistically though, as a lot of people have said, I think Dalton not doing more than two is one of the biggest missed opportunities.

The squandered potential of Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough. I think that there are good stories and ideas in these films, but a number of issues really let down the final product. Watching the films always leaves me with a sense of 'what-if'.

[seawolfnyy]

The squandered potential of Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough. I think that there are good stories and ideas in these films, but a number of issues really let down the final product. Watching the films always leaves me with a sense of 'what-if'.

 

That happens everytime they try to rush the film. Goldeneye successfully revived the Bond series, so they rushed production on Tomorrow Never Dies, began filming with an incomplete script and got a hack of a director (they did same for the subsequent 2 Brosnan films). They repeat this same problem with Quantum of Solace following the success of Casino Royale. That film began with an incomplete script and was directed by, admittedly a pretty good director in Marc Forster, however one that CANNOT do action films. He bungled Quantum of Solace and made an even larger mess of World War Z. I wonder what QoS would have been had Mendes been lured to franchise one film earlier.

[Walecs]

Not keeping the Silvia Trench date-interruption joke going for more of the Connery films.

 

I agree with this. I can easily see Silvia Trench as the girl in Goldfinger before Leiter's arrival.

[seawolfnyy]

 

Not keeping the Silvia Trench date-interruption joke going for more of the Connery films.

 

I agree with this. I can easily see Silvia Trench as the girl in Goldfinger before Leiter's arrival.

 

Actually, that would be pretty funny.