How I would have started DAF
AlphaOmegaSin
EnglandPosts: 10,924MI6 Agent
Here is my Opening for DAF, if I was personally in charge for writing the Script for it. Feel free to Laugh at how awful it is 
)
After the opening Gunbarrel Sequence, we are shown the Scene of a rather quite South London Pub. The Camera moves to show our devastated Bond sitting in the Corner, nursing a small Sherry whilst staring into Space thinking about the Moment when he had to inform Draco of Tracy's Death. We see Bond leaving but is confronted by a couple of fellow Service Members who tell him to come with them back to HQ. Bond has gone A.W.O.L for the last couple of Weeks since the Ending of OHMSS.
Meanwhile, in a small Corner of Amsterdam a Meeting is going on. It is a SPECTRE Meeting with Blofeld sitting in his Place at the Head of the Table as NO 1. He discusses the failure of his most recent Plan to destroy the Worlds Crop Supply and that he struck a huge Blow to his Enemy, James Bond 007 of the British Secrete Service. But being the Mastermind that he is, he then quickly moves on to his next Target - The Worlds Diamond Trade and how SPECTRE can take over and use it for there own Purposes.
We cut back to London where Bond is standing in front of M's Desk, who is getting berated for his vanishing Act. He tells Bond to shape up or consider resigning from the Service. M informs Bond that has been some recent trouble from the Diamond Trade coming in from South Africa and he want's him to Investigate the Matter. He then goes on to say that there could be a Possibility of SPECTRE being involved. Bonds Face goes Stone cold and a Fire ignites from within at the thought of getting Revenge on Blofeld for the Death of his beloved Tracy. We see Bond leaving M's Office and the Title Sequence Starts.
)After the opening Gunbarrel Sequence, we are shown the Scene of a rather quite South London Pub. The Camera moves to show our devastated Bond sitting in the Corner, nursing a small Sherry whilst staring into Space thinking about the Moment when he had to inform Draco of Tracy's Death. We see Bond leaving but is confronted by a couple of fellow Service Members who tell him to come with them back to HQ. Bond has gone A.W.O.L for the last couple of Weeks since the Ending of OHMSS.
Meanwhile, in a small Corner of Amsterdam a Meeting is going on. It is a SPECTRE Meeting with Blofeld sitting in his Place at the Head of the Table as NO 1. He discusses the failure of his most recent Plan to destroy the Worlds Crop Supply and that he struck a huge Blow to his Enemy, James Bond 007 of the British Secrete Service. But being the Mastermind that he is, he then quickly moves on to his next Target - The Worlds Diamond Trade and how SPECTRE can take over and use it for there own Purposes.
We cut back to London where Bond is standing in front of M's Desk, who is getting berated for his vanishing Act. He tells Bond to shape up or consider resigning from the Service. M informs Bond that has been some recent trouble from the Diamond Trade coming in from South Africa and he want's him to Investigate the Matter. He then goes on to say that there could be a Possibility of SPECTRE being involved. Bonds Face goes Stone cold and a Fire ignites from within at the thought of getting Revenge on Blofeld for the Death of his beloved Tracy. We see Bond leaving M's Office and the Title Sequence Starts.
1.On Her Majesties Secret Service 2.The Living Daylights 3.license To Kill 4.The Spy Who Loved Me 5.Goldfinger
Comments
I'd flip the SPECTRE sequence with the pub one, especially if they reference Bond but in a threatening way. Then, when you cut to the pub scene, the audience would not know if the two agents are enemies or friends. Let a fight ensue, where most of the pub is destroyed, but in the end, Bond is subdued and the agents are revealed to be British. Depending on the tone you want -- which seems serious here -- you could make the fight suspenseful or outrageous.
When Bond is in London, he could still have visible signs of the fight -- black eye, cut lip, etc.
Let M berate Bond but also show a hint of fatherly concern especially when Blofeld is named in the briefing with Bond.
One alteration. Have the scufffle between Bond and two seedy criminal types who tried to wind him up and rob him. Then have a couple of characters from MI6 show up after the landlord has called the police (This happens in the backgroind of the scrap). It paints Bond as a bit wreckless and unfocused and will really give M an excuse to blow his lid!
It will also contrast the lift fight with Peter Francks later on, where Bond has a clear purpose in stopping the other man blowing his cover.
The picture ever expanding, to end up showing a dead Tracy and broken
Windscreen.
Then an on screen credit, Present day .
Spectre meeting various ideas being discussed, out side a couple of guards
Quickly dispatched by a balaclavaed figure, who gatecrashes the meeting
With two other agents smashing in through side windows. After a fight and
minor gun Battle, our hero removes his balaclava to show us it's Bond, he
Immediately chases after an escaping figure into another room.
Bond captures Frau Bunt during his rough questioning as to where Blofeld
has gone to ground, she pulls a gun, only to be dispatched with a single shot
to the fore head from Bond's gun.
Another 00, rushes in, saying "He' s not on Board the charges has been set, so
Hurry up Bond We don't have all the time in the world".
Bond and his two colleagues rush through the spectre boardroom to the outside
showing for the first time, that they in on a luxury yacht. They quickly jump into a
Military speedboat, speeding off as the yacht begins to explode.
Well something like that.
When writing this, I had Lazenby in Mind (If he had done DAF)
Sadly, though I'm quickly going from the " salt'n' pepper " look to
the full all over grey.
The basic problem with the existing PTS is that it is simply too fast (about 4 mins, not counting the gunbarrel). The audience has to recieve a lot of information in this brief sequence-
(1) Bond is travelling the world in search of Blofeld
(2) He's thirsting for revenge for Tracy's death
(3) Sean Connery is back (the importance of this to the film mustn't be underestimated)
(4) Blofeld is busy creating duplicates of himself, which affects the plot later
(5) Blofeld is being played by a different actor
(6) Bond mistakenly believes he has killed Blofeld
(007) The tone of this film is different to the last one (again, important to the film)
In screen time, four minutes can convey an awful lot of information and the DAF PTS does manage to give all the necessary details... but in too quick a fashion (almost like the action scenes in the first half of QoS). Just another 30 seconds or so would have been to its benefit.