Do any of you care about the future Bond girls in Skyfall and beyond??
JohnMasterson
MinnesotaPosts: 326MI6 Agent
Because to tell you the truth, at this point I would be hard pressed to give a damn about the Bond girls who are appearing in Sam Mendes's first (and possibly only) Bond film. And my reasons are twofold, one, I have a certain amount of expectations that are swirling around in my head about what's going to happen to these Bond girls or about what they're going to do to Bond, himself.
Either one or both of these Bond girls are going to die, and/or either one or both of these Bond girls, are going to betray James Bond, himself, somehow, in someway...Don't ask me how. But right now, the expectation in my head is that the Bond girls are either going to betray Bond or they're going to die. (At least one of them will probably die. And at least one of them will probably betray James Bond.)
And my second reason, for not caring about them, is I seriously doubt that Sam Mendes is going usurp my expectations by having NEITHER Bond girl betray Bond, and by having NEITHER Bond girl, die. But again, I seriously doubt that Mendes is going to do that, and even if he does, that doesn't mean that those Bond girls are going to come back as recurring characters and Mendes is gonna come back to direct another one. So, why should I care about them? The only character, I care about at this point is James Bond, himself, because he's the one constant in this series.
Either one or both of these Bond girls are going to die, and/or either one or both of these Bond girls, are going to betray James Bond, himself, somehow, in someway...Don't ask me how. But right now, the expectation in my head is that the Bond girls are either going to betray Bond or they're going to die. (At least one of them will probably die. And at least one of them will probably betray James Bond.)
And my second reason, for not caring about them, is I seriously doubt that Sam Mendes is going usurp my expectations by having NEITHER Bond girl betray Bond, and by having NEITHER Bond girl, die. But again, I seriously doubt that Mendes is going to do that, and even if he does, that doesn't mean that those Bond girls are going to come back as recurring characters and Mendes is gonna come back to direct another one. So, why should I care about them? The only character, I care about at this point is James Bond, himself, because he's the one constant in this series.
"Goodbye, my son. Our hopes and dreams travel with you." Jor-El ~ Man of Steel (2013)
Comments
DC has more nookie in the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo then he has had in both 007 films combined!!
It seems odd having a Bond who does not sleep with the ladies, in CR he blows off the Italian to dash to the airport and his liaison with Meadows just didnt seem believable for some reason in QoS, I thought she was one of the worst Bond girls ever!!
It's kind of stupid to care about whether Bond has sex with the Bond girls or not. Because one, how does the implied sex scene help further the narrative in any way? And two, what does it matter? It's not real. And it's not like Daniel Craig could star in a pornographic scene where he actually bones one of the Bond girls. It's just something that's not done. Especially since Craig is now a married man.
Bond sleeping with the ladies is part and parcel of the Bond film franchise!
PS - the last Bond girl didn't really betray Bond or die!!
Um, I was talking about the redhead Bond girl, who was really a side character of no real importance. She died when she got painted with oil. Also Bond girls have betrayed James Bond before in the past, just look at the Bond series that was made before Daniel Craig came along, also Daniel's Bond was betrayed by Vesper.
By the way, I know it was a joke, and I know you think the sex in the James Bond movie series is mandatory but when the sex in and of itself is not real, it's hard to appreciate it. The fight scenes I can appreciate because even though they're play fighting each other, the movie can be edited in such a way where the fight scenes can almost come across as real, especially when an actor does his own stunts.
With the sex, it's planned movie bull **** because they can only show so much before they have to cut away, so they can leave implication there that they (the characters) had sex. But you can tell it's fake. And to me, it's not appealing. It's about as appealing as a lonely guy playing with himself....
No, I'm complaining because sex can't be edited in a Bond film, in such a way that it looks real. No matter how well you edit sex in a movie, it never looks real. It has always looked fake in not just a Bond picture but in any picture. And that's the reality of it. You can make the fighting scenes look as real as possible in the editing room, but you can't do the same thing to the sex, unless it was done for real. And that in my humble opinion is what's so frustrating about it.
Also Bond girls have reached the point where they in Vesper's words have become "disposable pleasures," You see them in one film, where they happen to be having a lot of fun "messing around" with James Bond and then they disappear. Never to be seen again. Ever. So why should I care about them if I only get to see them for this one film entry in the Bond series? At least Vesper and Tracy had good reasons for never coming back for a second film appearance.
I just happen to think that if you can't make sex in a movie look as realistic as the fighting scenes then you shouldn't have them in there at all....But that's just how I feel and I recognize that not a lot of people would be inclined to agree me on this James Bond message board. And I'm okay with that. To each their own.
Don't really care how realistic the sex scenes are, its all bit of fun - I mean we have had to put up with Roger Moores pathetic fighting for most of a decade, unbelievable stunts and cheesy one liners that would guarantee him a slap from most ladies!! Realism doesn't come into play for majority of Bond films, its all fantasy and escapism say bar a handful of flicks!!
Oscar Wilde
Gemma Arterton!
Oscar Wilde
Is that the only reason why we (meaning everyone who goes to the trouble of watching a Bond film) should care about the Bond girls? Because they're eye candy?
Because if so I can sort of see the appeal of that. I mean, The Man With The Golden Gun gets a bad rap because it's not a very well written spy thriller, but I sort of like it because I'm probably one of the few people who thought Britt Ekland and Maud Adams were great eye candy for that film.
I mean, Britt Ekland was great in that movie as long as she never said anything but as soon as she opened her mouth, it made every intelligent person want to slap her, hard. Or violently whack her in the shoulder blades with a baseball bat. But like I said before Ekland was great eye candy as long as she never said anything.
Although with rumours M dies, I hope he doesn't sleep with her first
Um, that's a lie. Bond slept with most of the other one-dimensional Bond girls who happened to make it to the end credits and they didn't die. At least not on camera.
So that's two Bond Girls, one of whom dies, the other who is extremely one-dimensional?
The transient nature of the Bond Girl is part of the fantasy of the films. These are beautiful women who adore our hero but are only there for a good time; they want no-strings, no complications, no long-term relationships. I think it's to the series' credit that no Bond Girl has ever returned (though not for want of trying - see Honey, Anya, Wai Lin). If a Bond Girl returned, she'd become the "little woman" - tying 007 down to a relationship, and acting as a dramatic block. If Bond had hooked up with, say, Octopussy, and stayed with her into A View To A Kill, then (a) we'd have lost Kimberley Jones, Pola Ivanova, May Day and Stacey Sutton as romantic conquests and (b) there would have had to have been a dramatic reason for her to suddenly appear in the USA with him as an assistant. Which seems unlikely.
If there are two women in a film, both of whom desire Bond, then one has to be "disposed of" for a happy ending. She could just leave - but that's extremely unsatisfying dramatically. Think of Manuela in Moonraker, who just wanders off and is never seen again. Or Magda in Octopussy, who's very important in the first half hour, and then practically invisible for the rest of the film. She could hang around to the end, like Lupe Lamora - but then we have Bond torn between two women, one of whom is ace, and the other is, well, Talisa Soto. If she betrays Bond, then we have an excuse for her to leave the plot, especially as she can then be killed without remorse - like Miranda Frost, or Rosie Carver. If she doesn't betray Bond, but still dies, it allows us a moment to reflect on how evil the villain is, and how Bond's job often causes the innocent to die - see Strawberry Fields, Countess Lisl, Paula or Aki. Kingsley Amis referred to these characters as the Obligatory Sacrificial Lambs; in the novels they were usually men like Quarrel or Kerim, but in the films they much prefer to have a hot girl in a bikini die.
An alternative would be to just have one Bond Girl from the start to the end, like Kara Milovy. And then you get complaints that Bond isn't the same shag machine he used to be.
Just remember: according to Roald Dahl, there should be three girls: one betrays Bond and dies, one is loyal to Bond and dies, and the other is loyal and lives. We've had to cut one out because there just isn't enough time for all those babes...
@merseytart
As I've said before, I like these two women because of their ability to bring eye candy to the film. I didn't like Maud Adams and Britt Ekland because I thought they were great characters with dimension and depth, no, I liked them because I thought they were incredibly sexy in The Man with the Golden Gun.
Unfortunately, judging purely by the press conference photos, Naomie Harris and Berenice Marlohe do nothing for me. For some reason I just think that women look incredibly sexy if they either look like a young Britt Ekland, a young Maud Adams, or a young Eva Green.
Hm. I think you and I have very different opinions on what is bland. Granted though, Olga Kurylenko is no Denise Richards...
That's a pretty sick attitude. You want to physically assault someone, a Woman, just because of how she sounds! An intelligent person wouldn't want to slap or do anything violent to another human being just because of how they sound. That mentality is disturbing.
Sex scenes in movies can't be realistic for one reason, censorship. Bond movies are trying to appeal to a wide mix of people and lets not forget that a lot a kids will also watch the movies at home. If you want realistic sex scenes then watch porn.
Upon reflection perhaps that was a bit harsh. Still she is very much of a type favoured in recent outings. Would it kill us to have a Redhead or a Blond? (please don't cite 'blink and you'll miss her Fields)
I would also prefer a more 'age appropriate' choice.
Okay, maybe that's a little bit extreme. But I know a lot of people who don't like ditzy blondes such as Mary Goodnight in The Man With The Golden Gun, and I'm guessing those people would want to slap her silly for her idiocy, at the very least, just because Mary Goodnight is a smart woman in the Ian Fleming book but she's dumber than a sack of **** in the freaking Cubby Broccoli movie!
I know. That's my point. They should either minimize the sex scenes or if they can't do that then they get rid of them entirely because the fake sex, they put in these movies isn't very attractive looking....It's not like porn, which is designed to make you feel something down there.
Swimming against the tide I know, but she left me completely cold. I loved the whip smart dialogue on the Train, and bought the antagonism, but could not see the traits and qualities which caused Bond to fall for her so completely. It's one of the few weaknesses in CR for me that the love affair seems a bit rushed. One wonders what was left on the cutting room floor in order to squeeze in the unessessary collapsing building scene.
Well I do agree it feels like they left out the part where they really fall for each other. It sort of seemed to go from keeping distance to right into the middle of the love affair. But it didn't stop her from charming me.
This painting sort or helps romanticize it all to me...: http://www.redbubble.com/products/configure/7711582-photographic-print
It does, however annoy me when we get scenes like the one with Pam Bouvier in LTK, when she and Bond inexplicably start making out about five minutes after they meet. Likewise, Bond's seduction of Fields in QoS. I mean, c'mon screenwriters, put a little effort in!