TSWLM and QOS
the golden gun guy
USAPosts: 102MI6 Agent
I recently watched QOS again but this time I noticed that there are many similarities to TSWLM. Such as the constant fast paced action and the constant changing of locations, especially in the firs half. Plus there seems to be several homages such as Bond dropping the guy from the roof.
Comments
* TSWLM - Walking along the desert
* TSWLM - Knocking the guy of the roof
* TSWLM - Bonds cover name on the card he gave to Elvis was 'Robert Sterling'
* MR - Freefall with no parachaut
* AVTAK - Greene attacks Bond with an axe like in AVTAK
I find it distrupting that Craig's Bond is a reboot, yet QOS makes so many references to past Bond films - linking a reboot to previous films is really a contradiction in terms.
I hope this doesn't continue in Bond23+, because it cheapens the originality of the films.
oh, we can continue:
007 and the girl ducking in a niche in the Dune Hotel - similar to CR shower scene
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
One more allusion to TSWLM nobody mentioned: Bond asks the Sky Fleet agent in Bregenz to say he is heading for Cairo.
I believe the word "reboot" doesn't truly describe the producers' intentions. What they set out to do was to make "prequels", a la "Batman Begins". They just wanted to show how the legend of Bond started, how he developed into the character that we've known in the previous 20 films. The key is: he will become that iconic character. He will live the adventures that were shown in the first 20 movies. One can't expect the producers to simply wash their hands of the whole canon and say that none of that ever happened. Viewed in this light, the fact that there are links to those films is understandable and acceptable; they act as kind of a clever foreshadowing of things that are still to come.
The allusions, I believe, are less an attempt to ease us into the other Bond films and more of an attempt to repackage what seems to have worked before for new audiences while not entirely alienating old audiences who get the references.
Even the casting of Craig, who despite his lighter features, at first glance has more in common with Connery than other Bond actors, is a kind of retro-looking fellow who nonetheless has contemporary attitudes.
They've reset the game pieces on the board. Bond is contemporary, and still fairly new to the '00' ranks. This Bond is former SBS, with service in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere...He hasn't met Moneypenny or Q yet. Dame Judi is his first M. He's never been married.
And I don't think, as some might, that this disrespects what has come before in the Bond film series. Not in the least. This incarnation stands on the shoulders of the 20 films which preceded him---and he's going to have many new and exciting adventures.*
* Hopefully flavoured with amazingly still-unused nuggets of Fleming scattered throughout the novels!
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
... and eventually we'll get into the "land of the gray area," where all of Bond's events are once again into play, and the continuity gets even more confusing.
Of course, that could be the point where I pretend this reboot never happened :v
I didn't mean that Eon will film these adventures again while merely modernising them. The point I was trying to make in my previous post is that Craig's Bond and the Bond from the first 20 films are the same character, and I see that I'm in disagreement with you and Gassy on this point.
Did I miss the references to Bond's stints in Iraq and Afghanistan somewhere in CR or QoS?
Hopefully, all Bond fans share this opinion of yours, Loeff. I'd hate to think that some Bond fans may feel the "true Bond" was born in 2006, and that they should be embarrassed about what happened before CR.
Oh, I think he's absolutely the same character as in the 20 prior films---just like Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett play the same character in their respective Sherlock Holmes outings. And I didn't mean to imply you felt that Eon should remake the previous titles---it's just that (in my own personal opinion) this particular interpretation of Bond doesn't necessarily defeat Ernst Stavro Blofeld or Kamal Khan later in his career. If you think he will, that's perfectly okay! We all have our own individual frame of reference, I think, and none are necessarily correct or incorrect.
No, you didn't miss them. They're included in the updated fictional dossier on James Bond prepared by Eon in the run-up to CR, and which appeared on the official CR website. The dossier gives James Bond's birthdate as 1968 (Craig's year of birth, I reckon), and details his school days at Eton and Fettes, his career in the Royal Navy (and subsequently the SBS), his recuitment into the Intelligence service, and even a psychological profile by Sir James Molony B-)
If you'd like a PDF file of this dossier, just PM me your email address and I'll send it your way! {[] It's pretty cool, and very entertaining reading---even if you choose to dismiss it entirely...
{[] But inevitably some will; such is the way of life. Daniel Craig is James Bond for a new generation of Bond fans. These fans will most likely go back and watch the old Bonds, whether on TV or disc...and many will probably adopt the majority opinion that Connery is the Ultimate Best...but not all.* Many people's idea of 'James Bond' is shaped by who played him when they started watching...
* This may seem heretical, but to me it's equally heretical that younger generations do not realize that The Beatles are the greatest rock and roll band in history, and changed the course of popular music. Times and tastes do change. Sad, but true!
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
The spectular use of slow-motion in the opera house is clearly inspired by the shoot-out at the train station at the begining of The Naked Gun 3, I applaud the director for being so orgional, and the producers for taking the risk of using this new artist device.
Up-till now although a heavy drinker I never thought Bond wallowed in self-pity,usually he was self-reliantand and a strong charater, It's
great the producers have decided to show this side of Bonds' personality, the weak insecure self-pitying side. This too is an homage to another great movie The Naked Gun 2 when Frank Drebbin in a bar asks "FOR THE STRONGEST THING YOU GOT " and gets offered a bodybilder.
And don't tell me no-one noticed the similarity between Dominic Greene and Pee wee Herman talk about seperated at birth.
Finnaly the producers have to be thanked that during the credit crunch for giving a chance to so many young film makers, sure their camera work is shaky, disjointed and their editing frantic but how else are they to learn.
I really hope the producers continue on these revolutionary ideas perhaps the next car chase could be filmed in a darkened tunnel so we could see even less of the stuntmen's art and after all it would look really artistic
Remember, there's still a full month before the DVD comes out. You've got to be brave B-)
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Could it be that Purvis and Wade slipped those in and didn't tell anyone? I don't think so, in one interview with Forster and Craig they were "joking" about having Jaws in the bar scene in QOS.
If there must be an "homage", I'd prefer a literary one - not a Roger Moore flashback!
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
I didn't like QOS but CR was a hard act to follow, But Daniel Craig is a strong enough actor and should be given the chance to be remembered for his own " Bond Moments" and not for his interpratation of a past actors work, Give the lad a chance.
The gunbarrel at the start of a Bond Film is needed, it just sets you in the right frame of mind( it's almost a Pavlovf's dog thing) But I'm not a total traditionalist. Q could be put to rest, the gadgets work better when not ste up IMHO.Moneypenny has to return if the films once again settle down to a " new formula" after all Bond will have to be at Headquarters and M will always need a secretary,( How about if M stays a female role Monepenny could become Male?).
Yes, a literary Homage would be great but i think there are alot of fans who's only experience of Bond is from the movies and have no intrest in the books, which is fine as i came to the books through the movies.
(I was only joking about Monepenny becoming a man before i get shot down).I can only hope that for Bond 23 they come up with a story big enough for an agent of Bonds class, they don't need so much frantic action. With Daniel Craig they have an actor who can do all the emotional drama to show a more human face of bond, But please not to human, He should still be able to out fight Bourne, His stunts should be bigger than Indiana Jones, and he should always have a major babe on his arm.
I really hope the gunbarrel returns to its rightful place for #23...it's kind of novel and cool at the end of QoS, but my brother and I both agree that there wasn't enough artistic 'bang for the buck' by placing it there. The film could have just as easily started with the gunbarrel, then opened up on that great sweeping zoom shot over Lake Garda B-)
I like the Moneypenny character, so long as they do something fresh with her...and the same with Q. If they're not going to make his inclusion something different and special, just forget about it.
QoS will remain a very polarizing entry in the Bond canon...but now they're free to do what they want. Let's hope it lives up to the promise... -{
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Or even May His Devoted Housekeeper we've only very occasionaly seen Bond's Home, reading so often about his Breakfast Habbits, his views on the perfect boiled egg,( 3 minutes 20 seconds I seem to remember) I'd love to see this simple mundane act caught on screen just once.
or change Moneypenny to Loelia Ponsonby His secratery,as you say they have left the field wide open now.