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Bond's mission between Skyfall and SPECTRE


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#1 DaveBond21

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Posted 07 April 2016 - 05:23 AM

At the end of Skyfall, the new M gives Bond a mission.

 

At the start of SPECTRE, Bond is on another mission that was given to him by the previous M. He received the tape in a box 2 weeks after she died. Let's say that this is about a week after her will was read out, she left him the china bulldog, and he received his mission from M.

 

Do you think he completed that mission? Did he track Sciarra ('for months") while doing other jobs for MI6?

 

Will they ever revisit this mission?

 

Are there any other unseen missions mentioned in the Bond movies? Bond & M in Tokyo spring to mind, as well as the African job at the start of Moonraker.

 

I am keen to read all your thoughts on all of these points.

 

Thanks

 

Dave

 

 



#2 Major Tallon

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Posted 07 April 2016 - 08:44 AM

Several come to mind.  We learn at the beginning of "Dr. No" that Bond had spent months in hospital after his gun jammed on a previous mission.  In FRWL, Bond refers to a previous visit to Tokyo with M, though it's not clear that they were on a mission, and in YOLT he denied any previous visit to Japan.  In "Goldfinger," there's a reference to Felix Leiter's prior mission in Jamaica, and though we don't know for certain that Bond was involved, his familiarity with the mission suggests that he was.  In LALD, Bond had previously had a mission with an Italian female agent who afterwards wound up sharing his bed.  His familiarity with Pola Ivanova in AVTAK suggests a prior mission.  In "Licence to Kill," Bond tells M that Leiter had previously saved his life many times. There likely are others, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind.



#3 hilly

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Posted 07 April 2016 - 08:53 AM

Bond describes, in detail, the mission in Octopussy, involving tracking down Major Dexter Smythe

In Licence to Kill, a mission that never happens is one where Bond fails to show up in Istanbul



#4 bribond

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Posted 07 April 2016 - 12:39 PM

The mission in Jamaica referenced in Goldfinger I believe is the Dr No mission.

 

At the start of the Man With the Golden Gun Bond has been following the scientist.

 

A lot of the pre-title sequences seem to show the end of Bond's previous mission, which are a little less dramatic than the story about to be told, and sometimes connect to it.  (Goldfinger, Octopussy, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day).



#5 Vauxhall

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Posted 07 April 2016 - 02:49 PM

The mission in Jamaica referenced in Goldfinger I believe is the Dr No mission.

 

Yes, that's what I always assumed too.



#6 AMC Hornet

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Posted 07 April 2016 - 03:54 PM

Let the man have some privacy.



#7 Double-Oh Agent

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Posted 09 April 2016 - 10:06 AM

Bond may be referencing the Dr. No mission in Goldfinger, however Felix Leiter was never in any real danger in that film. I always took it as an "in-joke" from the screenwriters toward the novel Live And Let Die, which does take place in Jamaica, although Leiter is maimed in Florida.

 

Another mission mentioned is in GoldenEye when Bond says he gave Valentin Zukovsky his limp.



#8 hoagy

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Posted 09 April 2016 - 08:36 PM

Since this touches a bit on unfinished business, I sure hope he back to the lovely lady from the beginnings of DN and FRWL.  This entire topic raises an interesting production and story-telling question.  It's been addressed in the books commissioned by the Ian Fleming Foundation.

 

In the books there already have been retro-fill-in stories, going back to adventures which occurred between stories which already have been depicted.  Additionally, there are the Young Bonds.

 

Might it be interesting -- in addition to Period (in their own time) productions of the Young Bonds, to present Period productions of stories before and between the Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and Craig films ?

 

Disney obviously sees it as worthwhile to produce a Han Solo prequel, a Bobba Fett prequel, etc.  They'll find actors to portray the characters everyone already knows well.  You know, going in, that Solo and Fett won't die, but that won't stop the films from being fun, exciting and SUCCESSFUL.  Disney plans to release 6 Star Wars films in the next 5 years (2016 already April, through 2020).  Some will be continuing the trilogy started by the most recent release, and others will be stories depicting events which occurred before the first Star Wars film (now called "A New Hope") from 1977.  (Those events did not necessarily precede those in the second set of 3 films, prequels to the first trilogy (the George Lucas mucks-it-up trilogy).  As for seeing a prequel or fill-in Bond, sure, we know he won't die.  Sure, he won't be played by the same actor who played the role for stories in the same time period or the one which followed.  But couldn't it still be fun, exciting and likely successful ?

 

I think the current model of Bond production tells them this could be cannibalistic.  It could present a Bond actor to the audience whom they prefer to the current Bond.  But I think that should just push them to make high-quality films with scripts that are COMPLETELY thought through.

 

I realize there is a BIG difference in this idea vs. Star Wars.  The Star Wars films will not all involve the same protagonist.  Making a bunch of Adult Bond prequels or fill-ins will result in some lack of credibility -- when does he heal ?  how many adventures could ONE man have ?  But...so what ?!!?  This is fiction !  Besides, Bond's missions tend to occur over a matter of days, perhaps a couple weeks.  FURTHERMORE -- it opens the door to, say, a Felix Leiter movie, or Honey Rider movie, etc.  The producers already considered this -- the idea of "side adventures of interesting characters from the films" -- for Jinx.  (I know many fans are not fond of her character, but this discussion is concerned with a story-telling and production, not her character, specifically).  You could even have depictions of adventures of villains.  For example -- Silva, before he was captured.  Not all the villains would lend themselves to this, but some would.  Largo ?

 

In other words, take Bond from being a one-film-at-a-time production of films in a linear sequence, to period films in various periods plus current ones.  It would work ONLY if done to the highest standards, as employed in the Potter films (with young actors), and the Star Wars film just released and those on the way.  It would allow for using different directors, different actors, more-or-less fantastical elements, etc.



#9 dtuba

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Posted 09 April 2016 - 09:32 PM

What about all the missions that (supposedly) took place between QOS and SF? In just 2 films we went from "rookie Bond" to "old dog Bond" who's been "playing the game for long enough". I realize that SF was alluding to the Bond character in general (and not just Craig's Bond) but surely Craig's Bond had some other assignments in between films. Was Blofeld the "author" of all of them too? Or just the "personal" ones?

 

I just wish we could go back in time and have 1 or 2 fun, stand-alone films between 2008 and 2012. :sad:



#10 Professor Pi

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Posted 10 April 2016 - 03:11 AM

Disney can get away with it in Marvel's MCU and Star Wars because there are so many characters, worlds, and stories.  Bond is one world, one man.  Sony wasn't able to make a universe out of Amazing Spiderman as it was about just one superhero.  And quite frankly, I think the Boba Fett movie is probably a misstep.

 

While on the one hand it'd be nice to fill in movies for the gaps in 1991, 1993, 2004, and 2010 (and maybe 2018?), I think that is best left to the literary endeavors.  And even that is fraught with problems (are John Gardner and Raymond Benson novels considered canon still?) 

 

Craig's era, despite spanning a decade, may just be less than a year's worth of missions.  QoS follows on the heals of CR (he doesn't even sleep for most of it), and SPECTRE seems to happen within months, if not weeks, of Skyfall.



#11 hoagy

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Posted 17 April 2016 - 03:58 PM

I acknowledged that point, and noted that one world is actually more than one - when you consider different timeframes. After all, would a Young Bond film be at all entertaining if it were NOT in period ?  And wouldn't it be fun to still have some 50s/early 60s Bonds ?  Many a plot formerly feasible gets dashed thanks to cell phones, computers, etc.  And within those worlds, there ARE other characters.

As I pointed out earlier -- films featuring villains before they met Bond ?  The Scorpion King prequel went back to when he was a good guy.  The various Hannibal Lecter films and series consistently portray a bad guy -- and one you know will survive because you'll know he'll be around for Silence of the Lambs and stories set thereafter !

How about Felix Leiter -- whether in period or not, or both...Matthew McConnaughey for the 50s/60s ?  Idris Elba for periods since or the present ?

Would they run the risk of novelty -- or just a better story -- cannibalizing Bond's own popularity ?  Sure !  So make them ALL good !  And the fans would get a Bond-verse film more frequently !  You could have staggered releases of Young Bond in period, "side characters" such as Felix or villans in their youth, the Moneypenny Diairies, even Young M (female or male, why not both), period Bond (50s), current Bond...all the films not depicting present-day Bond would be able to tell stories and show things the present-day Bond films could not tell or present.


is it madness ?  Yes...a fine madness ; >



#12 AMC Hornet

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Posted 17 April 2016 - 04:18 PM

Do it on TV, so it won't detract from the GOOD films still coming out every three years.



#13 tdalton

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Posted 17 April 2016 - 04:21 PM

 

While on the one hand it'd be nice to fill in movies for the gaps in 1991, 1993, 2004, and 2010 (and maybe 2018?), I think that is best left to the literary endeavors.  And even that is fraught with problems (are John Gardner and Raymond Benson novels considered canon still?) 

 

 

That could be an interesting direction to go with the literary franchise.  Might as well try something new, as the current state of the literary series is pretty poor.  

 

I think they could also accomplish some of that with a series on a premium network (HBO, Showtime, Netflix), telling more low-key stories to fill in the gap.  

 

Whatever they end up doing, I'd like to see someone other than the current regime at EON getting a chance at telling some Bond stories, in one format or another.



#14 DaveBond21

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Posted 17 April 2016 - 10:40 PM

 

 

While on the one hand it'd be nice to fill in movies for the gaps in 1991, 1993, 2004, and 2010 (and maybe 2018?), I think that is best left to the literary endeavors.  And even that is fraught with problems (are John Gardner and Raymond Benson novels considered canon still?) 

 

 

That could be an interesting direction to go with the literary franchise.  Might as well try something new, as the current state of the literary series is pretty poor.  

 

I think they could also accomplish some of that with a series on a premium network (HBO, Showtime, Netflix), telling more low-key stories to fill in the gap.  

 

Whatever they end up doing, I'd like to see someone other than the current regime at EON getting a chance at telling some Bond stories, in one format or another.

 

 

I'd be up for that.



#15 larrythefatcat

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Posted 18 April 2016 - 11:06 PM

We learn at the beginning of "Dr. No" that Bond had spent months in hospital after his gun jammed on a previous mission.

 

The previous mission is actually a "future" mission as that's a reference to Bond's gun jamming at the end of 'From Russia With Love'... well, the novel anyway.

 

And, as others have said, the Leiter line in 'Goldfinger' seems to be a reference to 'Dr. No', but possibly "punching it up" to sound like Felix's peril was just shy of his fate in 'Live and Let Die'... the novel, once again.

 

That's a pretty good list you came up with, though!


Edited by larrythefatcat, 18 April 2016 - 11:07 PM.


#16 DaveBond21

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Posted 19 April 2016 - 01:58 AM

I wonder what the African job is at the start of Moonraker?



#17 AMC Hornet

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Posted 19 April 2016 - 01:34 PM

Perhaps that depends on which direction Jaws was swimming when he escaped Atlantis.



#18 David_M

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Posted 19 April 2016 - 07:23 PM

 

 

I wonder what the African job is at the start of Moonraker?

 

That would have been the "Wild Geese" mission, with Bond operating under the alias Shawn Fynn. :-)



#19 AMC Hornet

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Posted 21 April 2016 - 08:54 PM

"Oh, now I suppose I have to prove to you that crime is only a hobby with me."



#20 DaveBond21

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Posted 19 October 2016 - 01:10 AM

I'd like to see Bond and M in Tokyo at some point. See what they got up to!



#21 hilly

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Posted 21 October 2016 - 02:06 PM

I bet there was booze involved, if Bernard Lee had anything to do with it!



#22 DaveBond21

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Posted 26 October 2016 - 02:19 AM

I bet there was booze involved, if Bernard Lee had anything to do with it!

 

Well women were certainly involved.

 

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