13 replies to this topic

[Navy007Fan]

Considering what was going in the world on while Octopussy was being filmed, was the country shown during the PTS supposed to be Argentina?  It would make sense to have the 00s supporting HMG/MoD during the Falklands War.  Thoughts?

[Single-O-Seven]

Argentina is a good bet. I always thought it was meant to be Cuba, given the look of the uniforms, the beard and cigar, and the fact that Bond agrees to meet the girl in Miami. However, the fact that he passes over a land border before he lands at the gas station suggests otherwise.

[Gobi-1]

I like to think it's a county called the Republic of Banana.

[AMC Hornet]

The Falklands crisis was over by the summer of 1983. The land border makes me think it might have been Haiti/Dominican Republic, but what was fomenting at the time I don't know.

 

Alternately, it could have been anywhere in Central America - Honduras/Guatemala, Nicaragua/Honduras, Nicaragua/Costa Rica or Panama/Costa Rica.

 

Or, Like Isthmus in LTK, it could have been entirely made up (Castro was nowhere as big and healthy as the General who tries to move in on Bianca).

[Navy007Fan]

AMC, concur the war was over by the time the film opened in '83, but it was in pre-production in the spring of '82 (filming began in August).  This tells me that the writers may have been influenced by events in the South Atlantic during script development.  I have no proof this was the case, but it makes for an interesting discussion.

[Dustin]

I suppose the Falklands/Argentina war was not alluded on purpose. That story could easily have turned out anything but favourable - as for over 1000 British sailors it did. Bond films are well advised to steer clear of too much closeness to actual events beyond a certain degree. The type of military uniforms worn in the pts to me very much hints a vaguely Cuban setting (not the typical peaked cap of Argentinian junta generals), possibly even with Cubans as 'military advisors' stationed in some other country. Nicaragua comes to mind...

[Navy007Fan]

Good catch, Dustin!  I forgot about EoN's aversion to real-world politics.

[Dustin]

Maybe not an aversion as such - Eon is always trying to keep their product up to date - more a tendency to stay half a step away from things that could go very wrong. Of course it's also a bit of luck in a run of 50 years never to hit a seriously bad theme; just imagine MOONRAKER had come in the summer of 1986. With wars it seems obvious to me Eon prefers the fictional variety of the Sea Wolves/Wild Geese flavour to the real thing happening around the world each day. Frankly, if we forget about all the silliness in DIE ANOTHER DAY it's baffling how close they cut to the bone with that one. Goes to show you can never be sure.

[AMC Hornet]

AMC, concur the war was over by the time the film opened in '83, but it was in pre-production in the spring of '82 (filming began in August).  This tells me that the writers may have been influenced by events in the South Atlantic during script development.  I have no proof this was the case, but it makes for an interesting discussion.

 

 Fair enough.

 

With wars it seems obvious to me Eon prefers the fictional variety of the Sea Wolves/Wild Geese flavour to the real thing happening around the world each day.

 

Wild Geese yes, but The Sea Wolves was based on a little-remembered actual event: the Last Charge of the Calcutta Light Horse  (sez so in the titles).

[Dustin]

With wars it seems obvious to me Eon prefers the fictional variety of the Sea Wolves/Wild Geese flavour to the real thing happening around the world each day.

Wild Geese yes, but The Sea Wolves was based on a little-remembered actual event: the Last Charge of the Calcutta Light Horse (sez so in the titles).

True. Still, it has a largely adventurous gin-and-tonic feel about it, just what the real thing rarely does. That's close to where the fantasy realm of Bond's adventures* is located.


*Said fantasies also share the odd grain of reality, as numerous wartime events can attest to. But the real thing itself is a much more gruesome affair, horrible in ways we never get to see on screen.

[AMC Hornet]

"Get" to see, or have to see?

 

If I ever feel like watching Saving Private Ryan again, I'll skip the first half-hour. That has to be the most graphically authentic depiction of D-Day ever filmed. It should be enough to convince any gamer that warfare isn't really as much fun as it seems from the safety of the basement sofa.

 

Being aware of the brutal realities, I prefer the 'gin and tonic' approach, me - especially in times of strife. Give me fantasy, especially with Bond!

[Dustin]

It is a fantasy entertainment after all. One telling detail: even in films with huge battling factions - YOLT or TSWLM for example - Bond's primary objective is to prevent a war. Bond as such is the force that keeps stuff like the Falklands from happening too often, rather than having a role in it himself. Though Gardner mentioned in passing he supposedly figured in some function prior to the actual battle.

[DaveBond21]

I always think of it as being Cuba.

[FlemingBond]

i always thought Cuba