57 replies to this topic

[White Persian]

Lee Tamahori has been quoted as saying that he resolves Bond's agelessness by subscribing privately to the notion that each new Bond actor is a new character, assigned the James Bond 007 codename.

Don't buy it myself, since Moore/ Bond, and Dalton/Bond by implication, remember Lazenby/Bond's marriage to Tracy. But is it any more implausible than that the original James Bond 007 is stll in his forties and fighting fit ?

Any thoughts?

[zencat]

It's crossed my mind. Not a bad way to look at it really (unless you factor in Tracy).

[White Persian]

Of course, the corollary is that the CIA do the same thing with the code name Felix Leiter.

[Roebuck]

Well it would explain the lack of references to Tracy in the post-Moore Bond's. But why then does Roger's character visit the grave in FYEO? Is this just part of his cover, or could there be (for the sake of discussion) some personal connection between him and Tracy?

[Double-0 Six]

This is something I've argued with friends about for a while.

I'm more than willing to ignore the fact that Bond hasn't aged in 40 years, and when I watch the older films I can easily let my mind skip over the more dated lines and elements and treat them as the timeless classics they are.

If you go with the different men with one codename idea, how can you explain the unlikely coincidence that every person given the "James Bond 007" codename has the same attitudes towards women and death, and the same nack for one-liners, etc?

My argument would be that the producers shouldn't acknowledge the passage of time with the other characters either - By establishing that Judi Dench is "the new M" and John Cleese "the new Q" on film, they've highlighted the problem that everybody is aging and Bond isn't ... it's much easier to just ignore it and treat them like the same characters every time, which is how I imagine things to be anyway.

[1q2w3e4r]

Gee and I always thought LT was a smart bloke. Maybe he should just accept that Bond's fictional, should always (Fleming said) be in his mid to late thirties (streched currently but eh) and at his peak, ageless and removed from the surroundings of the real world.

[zencat]

Originally posted by Roebuck
Well it would explain the lack of references to Tracy in the post-Moore Bond's. But why then does Roger's character visit the grave in FYEO? Is this just part of his cover, or could there be (for the sake of discussion) some personal connection between him and Tracy?

But don't forget that Felix says of the weepy Dalton, "He was married once, but that was a long time ago."

[White Persian]

Originally posted by Double-0 Six


If you go with the different men with one codename idea, how can you explain the unlikely coincidence that every person given the "James Bond 007" codename has the same attitudes towards women and death, and the same nack for one-liners, etc?

Well you could argue that Connery/Bond was a ruthless seducer with a nice line in throway quips, Moore/Bond was a smarmy playboy stand up comic, Lazenby/Bond a lothario whose jokes fall a little flat, Dalton/Bond was a humourless disillusioned romantic, Brosnan/Bond a sexist misogynist dinosaur etc.
Similar attitudes but not identical. They're probably part of the 007 job description.

[zencat]

This would also mean that the name "James Bond" is just a cover. So what do we think the current 007's real name is? Remenigton Steel maybe?

[Roebuck]

Originally posted by zencat

But don't forget that Felix says of the weepy Dalton, "He was married once, but that was a long time ago."

Good point. But following Tamahori's theory, how do we know Felix is referring to Tracy? Maybe all the 'Bond's' are running from (or atoning for) some kind of deep personal tragedy. Something that motivated them to give up their own identity and become 007

[mi6spy005]

I absolutely hate that theory. It feels like an affront to my intellectual capacity-that I need everything explained and spoonfed to me. I can accept and not be bothered by the impossibility of the fact that it's the same guy that's been a secret agent for 40 years. The character and basic formula are timeless. That's all I need to know.

[DLibrasnow]

Well considering that Bond was in his 40s in the Fleming novels of the 1950s, shouldn't Bond be in his 90s right now???!!

[General Koskov]

This is like when the Discovery channel runs those segments around Christmas explaining how St Nick could actually do his work.

I figure that Bond must've started off at eighteen in Dr No, and had a mission at least every year. Then he'd be thirty-eight now! But when we factor in all the other stuff, one just must suspend disbelief.

[1q2w3e4r]

Technical speaking. If you want to get into it, Fleming in Moonraker tells us that Bond is the head of the Double-O section and only three times a year does an assignment come up that requires his attentions. Sometimes a little more. That means that considering Fleming puts Bond at 37 and at three assignments a year he's only 45.

But anyone, LT certinally lacks imagination if he can't just accept their all the same bloke.

[Turn]

Don't forget Tamahori was the guy who didn't know Bond's father was dead when we almost got Connery in the cameo. So it make it plausible he would come up with this theory no matter how it sounds. Just because these guys are directing the films doesn't mean they are that deep into the history of the series.

It's a movie, so I just accept it's the same guy whose had adventures for years.

[B5Erik2]

Sounds like Tamahori's an idiot. That's the lamest idea I've read in quite a while.

Different guys, all code named James Bond.

No - the code name is 007.

Bond is ageless and timeless. No need to explain why Bond doesn't age. He's a guy around 40 no matter what year it is. The SAME guy.

[JimmyBond]

My parents subscribe to this theory too, I suppose they are idiots too then eh? Dont knock someone for having an idea thats different than the norm lest you want us to turn into a communist dictatorship.

I dont agree with the multiple Bond theory, doesnt mean people who do are stupid.

[level007]

hey speaking about Tracy, You forgot that in TWINE, Elektra ask Bond if he already loses someone he loved ? Bond didn't answer but he has been touched (because he thinks about Tracy)

[belvedere]

Also remember that in the Gardner books, age is never mentioned. Gardner said that one of the criteria is that Bond is ageless. So there you have it, Tamahori is wrong.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by B5Erik2
Sounds like Tamahori's an idiot.  That's the lamest idea I've read in quite a while.

Different guys, all code named James Bond.  

No - the code name is 007.

Bond is ageless and timeless.  No need to explain why Bond doesn't age.   He's a guy around 40 no matter what year it is.   The SAME guy.

I take great offense in you referring to my friends as idiots..
I don't subscribe to the idea that they are different people with the code name James Bond, but I do not put down people who subscribe to that view.

There was talk in the early 1990s that the James Bond character would be played by a female actress (Sharon Stone was mentioned by EON at the time). That would seem to suggest that some people at EON and MGM at least toyed with the idea.

[Mister Asterix]

I've heard this theory before and Casino Royale always seems to come to mind. (So was Connery's Bond Evelyn Tremble's replacement or vice-versa?) I don't buy in to this theory any more than I buy in to the 'Bond is a Timelord' theory.

[kevrichardson]

it rather stupid to give weight to the rantings of Tamahori. He been paid all ready. Job well done. Now it's time to move on. Bond is a ageless cinematic and literty hero. Like Sherlock Holmes. All Tamahori is doning is campaingn for the next Bond assignment:D

[B5Erik2]

Don't let Tamahori get anywhere near the set for Bond 21. Comments like this one just cement my utter disgust for him as a Bond filmmaker.

And, the only talk of a "female" James (or Jane) Bond was by agents and the media. MGM and EON never considered it.

There is only one Bond. He lives in the present, and is timeless. No need to explain it any further than that.

[zencat]

Come on gang, I don't think Tamahori or anyone else takes this theory seriously. It's just for fun.

[B5Erik2]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow


I take great offense in you referring to my friends as idiots..

Hey, I never said Tamahori was an idiot - I just said he SOUNDS like an idiot. I was withholding judgment. And it sounds like you should be more selective with who you consider "friends."

I don't subscribe to the idea that they are different people with the code name James Bond, but I do not put down people who subscribe to that view.  

That's fine. Here's the thing, though - it's a stupid idea.

Seriously, it is a pretty lame concept. Why a code name Bond? There is already the code name/designation 007, so there is no need for the redundancy. It would only confuse matters, both in Bond's world, and for the movie fans...

[zencat]

Originally posted by zencat
Come on gang, I don't think Tamahori or anyone else takes this theory seriously. It's just for fun.

What I said...

[Glen Barrington]

Bond IS one man, one character and only the faces that have portrayed him in film have changed over time.

Lee is welcome to his "theory", but I put no stock in it's seriousness.

JMHO.

[mkkbb]

Well "M" in GoldenEye called him a "relic of the Cold War" so this would imply that it is the same man from Connery's days.

[White Persian]

Having started this ball rolling, I must say that I don't think that Tamahori's wedded to the idea, it was a fairly frivolous comment.

And I hoped that discussion of it would be fairly light-hearted.

Still, I like the idea that Tamahori approached the job by trying to find plausibility in the character and his world.

Personally, I've privately (and how tragic is this!) explained Bond's longevity by imagining that back in the sixties some evil mastermind out to cheat death used a captured 007 as a guinea pig for his experimental anti-aging treatment.

Or Bond has a mouldering portrait in his attic.

[rafterman]

when I was younger I thought that each time there was a new actor, it was a new Bond series that had it's own continuity and no connection to the rest, but I don't think so anymore, it's the same guy, but that said, I think the first four could be the same series and that Brosnan's Bond can be like a second series, one that uses the same character, but doesn't hold to previous events. Connery and Moore were close enough in age that the pass over was fine, Bond aged, then we get Dalton, and because of the Felix comment, it's the same guy, but now that we've had DAD and it's references, like the TB jetpack, it's clear that this is obviously the same guy and the fact that he hasn't aged is just something you have to go with, these theories and such are just a bit of fun, I seriously hope no one buys into the codename James Bond garbage...