https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/ Sun, 28 Jun 2026 12:12:14 +0000 en SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) — ajb007 https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/53396/if-you-read-this-you-will-finally-love-spectre Thu, 17 Dec 2020 07:11:11 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) thegreatgalling 53396@/index.php?p=/discussions
I think there are many fans who are like me that WANT to love SPECTRE and just can't wrap their head around a few issues. If you let me, i am going to try to help you love this film and understand why every part of it was so important to Craig's Bond. In fact, you might never see Craig's Bond films the same way every again.

So let's go to the beginning.

The only feeling that best describes how I left the theater after seeing SPECTRE for the first time is disappointment.

I wasn't disappointed because the entire movie was terrible. On the contrary, I loved SO MUCH of it.

The problem were that the parts I HATED impacted my entire enjoyment of the film.

I don't have to tell you there were parts to the film that were stellar. The PTS, the throwbacks, the love story, the tech villainy: there is a lot to enjoy.

But no matter how much I loved MOST of the film, I could not shake the nagging pit in my stomach thinking about what I felt was one of the worst plot points of any Bond film, Bond's personal connection to Blofeld.

My pit started in the theater long before Blofeld uttered the words. The picture, the burned face, the avalanche. There's no way they are going to Austin Powers this, are they? I thought. No way!

Yes way.

The entire thing seemed so implausible that it immediately ripped my attention from the movie. They lost me.

You mean to tell me that out of all the billions of people in the world, we are meant to believe that a super agent just happened to be foster brothers with the world's biggest arch enemy in modern history?

What's more, they are going to insult our intelligence and shoe-horn Blofeld in three barely related plots?

But that, as it turns out, is the very key to understanding why this plot is not so far fetched as it seems to be.

What if Blofeld was in fact a shadow that was there the whole time?

What if it wasn't a coincidence these two men were connected at all?

Let's run through the films and just what the implications of Blofeld's words really mean:

So James Bond, a blue-eyed orphan is graced with the generosity of Hannes Oberhauser (who as a character is far from imagined and has literary roots in Fleming authored Octopussy).

We learn of young Franz's early psychopathy which leads him to kill his father. To those who find that story farfetched, Oberhauser was likely a sick child whose paternal discomposure probably had far more complexity we are not privy to. But his father's seeming love for James and Oberhauser's intense jealousy was simply the impetus that finally made him snap.

This alone has tremendous implications for Bond's psyche. Here we have not one, but THREE devastating childhood losses he was forced to bear (his parents and Hannes). It makes his traits even more understandable, and I think believable given Craig's performances. Craig Bond is also not unhesitant to love. He strives for it. And with SPECTRE taken alongside Casino Royale, we can see an almost desperation in Bond to find and protect attachment when he can find it. Craig's Bond is willing to love deeply and not once, but twice is willing to end his career to attain it. We can begin to see why Bond would nourish a hard protective exterior, while still nursing an immense loss and loneliness he strives to ameliorate.

So now we assume the two boys go their separate paths. Oberhauser eventually finds himself on a long and treacherous road that leads to him becoming the head of SPECTRE. Bond's career on the other hand I believe is formed a little differently.

I think that Blofeld creates Bond. (And even if Oberhauser was an afterthought of the Craig films, let's pretend for a moment that every single moment was intended).

How far back Oberhauser's behind the scenes impact has on Craig Bond's career is open to imagination. For the sake of argument, let's say Oberhauser's trail begins shortly before the events of Casino Royale. As Bond rises through the ranks of Naval Intelligence, the head of SPECTRE would certainly have the means to follow his every move.

That would mean that Bond's entire career is one giant Bond Villain trap set by Oberhauser. Forget being left in Fort Knox. Forget being left under a rocket preparing to fire. No, here, Bond's entire career is the trap. A way for Oberhauser to control Bond's fate and destroy him over and over every single chance he gets. Who knows how many of Bond's unseen missions were Oberhauser influencing MI6 to do his bidding?

Here, Oberhauser becomes not only a sick voyeur, but a willing participant in Bond's pain.

It now becomes easy to imagine just how impactful Oberhauser has been in the Craig Bond films.

Take the following two scenarios:

SPECTRE has people everywhere, and Oberhauser would have no problem learning Bond was in the running for the 00 program... especially when he learns that MI6 has chosen James Bond to kill one of his moles, Dryden.

Yep that's right. Dryden was selling secrets to SPECTRE.

Of course Oberhauser knew when Drydan's SPECTRE contact was killed in an MI6 hit, that Dryden would be next. Was he surprised to learn it was none other than James Bond?

Or was it the second possibility. Did Oberhauser PLAN for Bond to join the 00 program just to watch him burn? It is not hard to imagine SPECTRE was there at every turn. In every MI6 system. Moles. Bent agents. Like a twisted voyeur playing chess as well as marionettes, Oberhauser could have devised a scheme to involve and frame Dryden and manipulate whatever cogs he had to so Bond was recommended for the task.

Oberhauser then never leaves Bond in peace - always keeping him close simply to enjoy inflicting pain and watching it happen from the shadows.

Everyone Bond is close to dies. All by design.

Didn't it seem a tad convenient that Bond happened to "be the best card player in the service?" - or was that information planted so Bond would be sent to play Le Chiffre. Just so Oberhauser could watch him lose, humiliated. But Bond never really allows Oberhauser the satisfaction of great failure - he beats Le Chiffre - but not before the screws are tightened on Vesper Lynd, his love. Oberhauser couldn't have known that Vesper would end her life - but if she didn't, he would have made sure she died someway or another. And he would be close by, in the shadows to watch it happen.

Oberhauser could stop Bond at any minute. But he doesn't. He enjoys watching Bond sweat, unravel the webs. SPECTRE is huge, every person who sits at its table is another Le Chiffre. So he has no problem keeping Bond close. To him its worth the thrill.

Something changes, it's more than just watching Bond suffer. He begins to take pleasure in the suspense of Bond's savviness. Will he stop the attack on the Skyfleet plane? Oberhauser relishes the thrill.

Wasn't it a little convenient for Mr. White to spare James' life at the end? Vesper makes a deal in exchange for Bond's life? Why would SPECTRE honor that deal?

No.

Oberhauser spares his life, because watching his destruction is too much fun and he is not through.

The events of QoS continues the narrative. The closer Bond gets, the more he is hurt, the more Oberhauser closes in - fully privy to Bond's every move, every report.

And person by person, he continues to inflict his pain from the shadows.

Bond's friend Mathis? it was Oberhauser who has him killed.

Fields? It was Oberhauser who ordered her lungs filled with oil - not only misdirection as Bond believes - but part of Oberhauser's sick game to test Bond's cunning, all the while he watches.

When Bond slips past Oberhauser's traps, he orders Green to tell the CIA to eliminate Bond. Constantly testing. Constantly hurting.

BUT THEN. Like a flash, Oberhauser's plans come to an end.

He learns that Bond is dead.

It's too quick. Unsatisfying. But Oberhauser of all people knows that just because a man is said to be dead, doesn't make it so. So he devises a schema to make sure Bond is really dead. He has Silva attack MI6 to see if he can draw Bond from the shadows or if he is really gone.

Sure enough, Bond reveals himself. The plot of Skyfall really plays as an elaborate trap for Bond and M. Oberhauser harnesses Silva's grudge and releases him to inflict his pain on someone he knows means the world to Bond.

And like all the people close to him, Oberhauser doesn't stop until they are dead.

Bond finally closes in. Hello JAMES. What took you so long?

For Oberhauser, with Bond so close, his Pièce de résistance is the reveal. Like every Bond villain before him, Oberhauser cannot resist the temptation to gloat how Bond was played. It's not enough for him to hurt him all those years. Now, he gets to tell Bond it was him. It was him, all along.

Oberhauser tells him he was the author of all his pain.

Because he was.]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/52897/bond-and-madeleines-whirlwind-romance Mon, 03 Aug 2020 17:59:26 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) DavidJones 52897@/index.php?p=/discussions
Spectre had this fault too, and I wonder if this could have been fixed if the film had started with Bond already in a serious relationship with her.

Of course, that's what will happen in No Time to Die, but we expect it now. It would have been quite a twist to have that in SP, I think.

FRWL hinted at this with Bond's riverside dalliance with Sylvia Trench, but that seemed very casual and he seemed to forget about her awfully quickly A serious relationship from the start would be more of a rug-pull.

What y'all think?]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/46601/spectre-reviews-spoilers Wed, 21 Oct 2015 22:21:47 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Moore Than 46601@/index.php?p=/discussions
'James Bond is back with a brutal blast....
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-reviews/james-bond-back-brutal-blast-6677940]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/52892/top-hat-toss Thu, 30 Jul 2020 21:04:34 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) nobody 52892@/index.php?p=/discussions Missed opportunity for a true “Bond moment”...]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/48399/spectre-one-year-later Mon, 24 Oct 2016 22:58:25 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Halcon 48399@/index.php?p=/discussions
I had enjoyed the film immensely at the theater, I guess you could count me in the 'love' bracket rather than 'hate'.

The film for me was even more enjoyable this time around. There are SO many scenes that more than make up for any slip ups.

-the pre title sequence of course, generally applauded universally, so vibrant yet restrained. We've seen Bond do this before with helicopters but still doesn't take anything away. The colors and vibe reminded me of the warm and golden hues of the Roger Moore era.

-the scenes with M at the new/old MI6, seeing Bond back in that office was pure pleasure.

-the meeting Spectre holds in Rome scene- pure perfection! the slow and subtle pace of this scene, with the various Spectre members interacting really creates an 'observer' dynamic, I felt like I was right there witnessing Spectre doing its evil 'thing'. very realistic! The setting, the shadows, the opulence, and then Blofield walks in! Number 9's (or whatever his number was) demise at the hands of Mr. Hinx was a wonderful realistic reference to Thunderball's spectre scene.

-the scene with Mr. White, again very subtle and the relationship comes full circle to its fitting 'spy'ish conclusion, very well handled.

-the train scene, where do I start?? This has to be one of the best 'classic' sequences in James Bond films, very elegant, very classic, very dangerous with Bond's fight against Mr. Hinx.

-the Blofield layer sequences were, (also) fantastic. They clearly channeled Dr. No, YOLT, OHMSS, Blofield was equally menacing and intelligent enough to be capable of such a complex endeavor. His 'minions' in the background brought a smile to my face as well as the damn cat. How can these details be offputting??? loved the torture scene, very fitting for Blofield. The explosion scene was absolutely too short and should of had better suspense and tension. Bond escaped too easily compared to previous films with grandiose layers.

-from here I skipped to the end of the film, bypassing the final act which I must admit I had no desire to watch again. this is certainly the film's major weakness.

loved Monica Bellucci, Lia Sedoux, loved the suits (especially the tan), loved that Bond was more relaxed, loved the score...

As a Bond fan, I enjoy watching Bond in settings more so than the story itself (he's been there done that right?) I'll take a great story for sure, but settings are equally satisfying and this film had a many good ones. B-)]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/52437/lamericain-scene-question-spoiler Thu, 26 Mar 2020 22:15:30 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) bondfan10 52437@/index.php?p=/discussions https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/52331/ohmss-rework Mon, 02 Mar 2020 16:46:38 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Jflynn2112 52331@/index.php?p=/discussions
I'd love to revisit it.]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/46798/mr-whites-change-of-heart-spoilers Sat, 07 Nov 2015 05:46:01 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Absolutely_Cart 46798@/index.php?p=/discussions
Years later in Spectre, he finds White, but cooperates with him instead. White was an extortionist - not a terrorist, and drew the line at Franz/Blofeld's murdering of innocent people. Apparently, White was exiled from the organization and remained in poor health. Bond cooperating with him signifies that he's gotten over Vesper and cares more about his mission than his personal vendetta.]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/47237/spectre-bluray-dvd Tue, 05 Jan 2016 14:19:14 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Kent007 47237@/index.php?p=/discussions https://www.facebook.com/JamesBond007GB/photos/a.175707369188755.40681.167093060050186/973494569410027/?type=3&theater

Details have been released in regards to the release date of SPECTRE on Digital HD, Bluray and DVD.

Have to say, I quite like the poster but disappointed that for the second film in a row, the poster is also the DVD cover near enough.

Would have liked to have seen an original cover done but oh well, guess it's what inside the case that matters.]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/51984/bond-s-cold-weather-wear Mon, 04 Nov 2019 18:34:00 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) nobody 51984@/index.php?p=/discussions https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/51314/question-about-the-double-os Fri, 15 Feb 2019 21:25:33 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Unknown007 51314@/index.php?p=/discussions https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/48657/spectre-and-digital-colour-correction Thu, 29 Dec 2016 06:20:11 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Silverchain 48657@/index.php?p=/discussions
For example, Rome (a beautiful city which I've seen) and Tangier look like they were filmed through a jar of urine. I get the director was trying to emphasize the age of the cities but this overuse constantly broke the fourth wall for me. (The yellow tones in these scenes also aged Craig and were very unflattering to his face.)

I know films have been doing this for a while but in a movie like the Matrix, it was much more subtle and therefore much more effective. In Spectre, it was as subtle as a flying mallet and damaged the film in IMHO...]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/46702/bonds-flat-in-spectre Thu, 29 Oct 2015 21:28:58 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) CmdrAtticus 46702@/index.php?p=/discussions https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/50809/spectre-tattoo Thu, 16 Aug 2018 18:33:19 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) RedDawn289 50809@/index.php?p=/discussions

]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/44759/monica-bellucci Thu, 04 Dec 2014 12:40:03 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Dutchfinger 44759@/index.php?p=/discussions
Also, did you realise that this is only the third time a Bond girl is actually older than the actor playing Bond?
That only happened with Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg if i'm not mistaken. So that hasn't happened since the 60íes!]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/50309/reviewing-spectre-box-office Thu, 22 Feb 2018 21:03:35 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) db5.007 50309@/index.php?p=/discussions Apart from the huge budget Mendes had at his disposal - and we can argue endlessly if he used all that money in the best way or not - keep on reading how fantastic are the box office figures of Thor’s Ragnarok or Wonder Woman or even now Black Panther.
Funny enough, Spectre’s usd 880 mio is in general above many MCU’s big releases which ended their run in the usd 650-750 mio range.
From a commercial point of view, don’t think Spectre was really a flop as claimed by many reviewers at the time of its release.]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/49266/spectre-in-4k Wed, 07 Jun 2017 14:53:55 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Higgins 49266@/index.php?p=/discussions
Would be great after VHS (Including several Special Editions), Laserdisc, DVD (including Editions like the tin box...), Blu Ray to add another line of the same movies in a different formatte ]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/50102/first-of-multiple-part-scene-by-scene-review-of-spectre-film Tue, 02 Jan 2018 14:08:12 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) osris 50102@/index.php?p=/discussions
Looking for reviews of Spectre online, I came across this one—the first of multiple part scene-by-scene review of Spectre:

http://danielcraigisnotbond.com/index/blog/2016/07/20/the-spectre-introspection-part-1-p-t-s-d-over-the-p-t-s/

Obviously with it being from danialcraigisnotbond.com it is critical of the film. I’ve only read the first instalment of the reviews and some of the points it make about the various plot weaknesses and flaws in production elements in the film’s opening scenes makes sense.

I’m posting this not to start a row but to see if people here noticed some of these things themselves. And if so do they think it matters in a Bond film?]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/46930/re-writing-re-editing-spectre Wed, 18 Nov 2015 19:34:21 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) am747 46930@/index.php?p=/discussions

Below is a slightly different version of SPECTRE:


PTS

Bond is investigating a series of high profile assassinations. His trail has lead him to pursue Marco Sciarra in Mexico City. The PTS opens with like it did on the Day of the Dead Festival and ends with Bond blowing up Sciarra in that building and landing on the sofa. .... Before blowing up the building, Bond heard the group discuss the Pale King.


Theme Song

It is a theme song on SPECTRE on how it wants to dominate the world. The theme song has a catchy SPECTRE tune as well.


Act 1 - Blofeld's Introduction

Post the theme song, the scene opens with the SPECTRE meeting (a bit Thunderballish) in an undisclosed location. The group is taking stock of the situation and discussing a replacement for Sciarra. Blofeld is shown with his cat (no "welcome James and cuckoo"). Hinx self-appoints himself as the replacement by getting “rid” of his competitios. Hinx's next mission is to eliminate the Pale King.


Act 2 - London

Bond and M discuss the Pale King. Moneypenny searches the database and discovers that Pale King is in fact Mr. White. Q traces Mr. White's current location to Austria. We are also introduced to the new Defense Minister who wants to stop these high profile assignations.

Bond goes to Q's lab where he is given smart blood (don’t know if this would be useful in the film), the watch and the car.


Act 3 - Mr. White

Bond drives through the scenic Alps in “his car”. He arrives at Mr. White's house. Mr. White hands him the SPECTRE ring and asks him to find and protect his daughter who would provide further clues to Bond. Then Mr. White kills himself (of course after saying the kite thing).

Hinx arrives at Mr. White's house but find him to be dead already. His eyes flash on to the security camera from where he extracts the necessary information.


Act 4 - Dr. Swann

Bond meets with Swann who asks him to leave. Q meets with Bond at Swann's place to help him with his investigation. Bond hands him the SPECTRE ring. Swann is kidnapped by Hinx. Bond follows them in his car (instead of in the plane). Q is being chased as well and escapes like he did in the film.

In a breath taking death defying sequence, Bond uses multiple gadgets in the car to save Swann. Hinx survives but Bond is unaware of this.

Bond, Q and Swann meet to discuss the ring and the information obtained from it. Swann tells the group about “Point X”. Q punches the information (co-ordinates) given to him by Swann in his magical laptop and discovers the location.


Act 5 - Point X

Swann and Bond head to the Point X on the Desert Orient Express. Point X is hidden somewhere in the desert. After some private moments, they land at an unidentified station. Later, they are picked by a RR. Similar sequences as in the film follow.

Bond is captured and tortured. He learns that the assignation attempts where a part of a big scheme by Blofeld to put SPECTRE members in to key government positions throughout the world. The next move is to assassinate the PM of Britain.

Bond is held captive in the desert. He escapes in an extravagant sequence using the alarm in his watch. Blofeld lair is destroyed.


Act 6 - London

Hinx is assigned to assassinate the PM of England. In an extravagant sequence involving great action and stunts including in a helicopter, Bond, along his team, manages to defeat Hinx and save the PM. The SPECTRE contact in the British Government is revealed as well.


Act 7 - The End

Bond and Swann are driving away on snaky mountain roads in the old Aston. They believe that they finally have peace. However, someone is watching them through binoculars. The binoculars lower and we get to see a face - Blofeld. Blofeld is alive but is now sporting a scar on his face. He looks angry (very angry I must say). He once again watches through his binoculars - Bond and Swann driving away in the Aston. .... There is an evil smile of Blofeld's face. May be something unpleasant is about to happen to Bond and Swann!

Bond theme plays, the credit roll. James Bond will return.


Hope you enjoyed this version too ]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/48136/dia-de-muertos-spectre-poster Mon, 22 Aug 2016 15:19:34 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Mileham007 48136@/index.php?p=/discussions ]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/46682/spectre-oddities-miscellaneous-discussion-thread-spoilers Tue, 27 Oct 2015 21:09:29 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Jellyfish 46682@/index.php?p=/discussions
-Reference to The Hildebrand Rarity, with Q's remark about never having heard of it probably representing the majority of people.

-The Colonel Sun reference, with the torture scene and Bond telling Blofeld to get on with it as it's probably less painful than listening to him speak.

-The programmed music in the DB10. Was 009, the car's intended recipient, being sent on an assignment to New York? -OR- Was it another lesser-known Bond reference; 007 in New York?]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/47523/blofeld-behind-everything-actually-helps-skyfall-make-some-sense Mon, 29 Feb 2016 19:29:29 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Gassy Man 47523@/index.php?p=/discussions Skyfall's still a stupid movie. I didn't think as much early on, but the more I see it, the stupider it gets. It's entertaining and sentimental, but it's plot is just dumb and derivative. I enjoy it the way I do Star Wars, which is just not to think too much about it.

Oddly enough, though some critics slammed Spectre's plot, it actually helps to make Skyfall's dopey plot make more sense.

For instance, Skyfall required an enormous suspension of disbelief to believe that Silva could pull off all the machinations of his scheme, some of which appeared to rely on completely random events. But not if Blofeld was really calling the shots with some earlier version of Nine Eyes, watching every move MI6 was making and giving Silva updates in real time. In the film, we're led to believe that Silva is essentially already doing this. But Spectre suggests -- and that's the problem, as it only just suggests -- that Blofeld is really the one behind it all.

Now, the issue is there is nothing dramatic onscreen to support this except one or two flimsy lines by Blofeld. A better film -- heck, a B movie from the 60s -- would have had Blofeld take Bond to one of those many, many TV screens in his lair and play back sequences from Skfyall, showing Bond and the audience just how he did it. He would have reference White, Le Chiffre,Vesper, Green, and Silva. Then, once the gravity of what's happened has sunk in to Bond, he could have twisted the knife by showing Madeline her father's demise. It would have been tense and dramatic and also filled in the blanks without a cheesy throwaway line.

But these are writers who don't seem to understand the bricks need mortar to keep them together. They think that barely mentioning something and letting the audience imagine the rest happening off screen is all that is needed.]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/46968/what-changes-were-made-to-the-original-script Sun, 22 Nov 2015 17:23:08 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Julius No M.D. 46968@/index.php?p=/discussions
Also, the villains name was changed from Stockmann (sounds like some kind of Ayn Rand corporate hero) to Franz Oberhauser (in order to make him related to the Hannes Oberhauser).

Bond was originally supposed to kill Blofeld with a shot to the head, but the executives deemed it too brutal.

What other changes did you notice?]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/47039/why-did-they-remove-it Wed, 02 Dec 2015 18:57:50 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Jarvio 47039@/index.php?p=/discussions
This did not appear on the final film, and I am just wondering why?

I have a theory as to why they cut it:

As some people suspect, there are speculations that Madeline will get murdered by Blofeld at her and bond's wedding in the beginning of bond 25. This may well actually be the case, and so the writers cut the final dialogue because they felt it would be too big a hint that this will happen in the next film - so want to keep it as much as a surprise as possible (although having said that, everyone suspects this will happen, and they hardly kept Moneypenny and Blofeld's identity a secret).]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/49446/sp-is-not-a-by-the-numbers-bond-film-at-all Tue, 25 Jul 2017 17:18:17 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Jarvio 49446@/index.php?p=/discussions least by the numbers bond film, out of the entire series.

To me, a "by the numbers" bond film is basically:

- The feel of what I like to call an "episodic romp", which is basically how I feel about the first 15 bond films
- Minimum level of personal stuff
- Little character development for the supporting characters like Q, M, Moneypenny
- Bond just sent on missions, getting with the girl at the end
- Little focus on MI6 itself


So let's look at SP...

FULL of personal storylines - bond's parents references, the blofeld foster brother storyline. Bond going rogue. Big role for M, nineyes plot. Returning character commiting suicide and his daughter getting with bond. Bond retiring at the end. There is absolutely bugger all "by the numbers" about SP, a remark that I have never understood.

To me, none of the bond films have been "by the numbers" since LTK. Although LTK still felt episodic like the rest somehow.

The Brosnan era, on a whole, were almost by the numbers, although from this point onwards, M had a big role - her introduction in GE, the admiral in TND telling her she didn't have the balls for the job, her big role in TWINE - from the Brosnan era onwards there seems to have been big character development for M, when prior to this, it was bond only. Having said this though, the Brosnan era still maintained an "episodic romp" format to some extent. But the DC films did not, and magnified the character-driven stuff introduced in the Brosnan era by 10x, and from that point on, the bond films were now psychological, character-driven thrillers, rather than the episodic romp feel that bond had been since 1962.

So yeah, none of the DC bond films were "by the numbers" at all, and that includes SP, and I'd even go as far to say that SP is the least by the numbers bond film of them. Anyone agree?]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/46813/so-it-did-copy-austin-powers-spoilers Sun, 08 Nov 2015 04:33:07 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Absolutely_Cart 46813@/index.php?p=/discussions
Many Bond fans (including myself) said "Oh, they wouldn't do that. There must be something more to this." And there wasn't. They didn't add anything to it.

Since Star Wars established the hero-villain blood relation thing (Luke, I am your father), its become a cliche that dozens of works have adopted.

Worse than the fact that effectively being Bond's brother wasn't a good origin story is the fact that James Bond copied from the same film series which has been accuses of being a Bond knockoff.]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/49400/my-little-brother-is-in-love Wed, 12 Jul 2017 04:28:38 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Ammo08 49400@/index.php?p=/discussions ]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/49300/so-basically-mr-white-is Sat, 17 Jun 2017 05:25:33 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) Gassy Man 49300@/index.php?p=/discussions https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/46519/very-disappointed-thomas-newman-is-doing-the-spectre-score Tue, 13 Oct 2015 17:24:37 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) osris 46519@/index.php?p=/discussions
Why was Arnold ditched anyway?]]> https://www.ajb007.co.uk/index.php?p=/discussion/48933/spectre-disapointed-me-a-bit Wed, 01 Mar 2017 16:58:56 +0000 SPECTRE - Bond 24 (2015) twinarchers 48933@/index.php?p=/discussions I have been looking thru the posts but did not see the exact thing I was looking for in the time I took.
First let me say I am a huge fan and enjoyed this film.

But....
I took it from the ads that this was going to be more a revenge story involving what happened to his parents.
With Blofeld being the guilty party, I wanted to see Bond get some rage out of his system with I suppose Blofeld still getting away.
Did not like at all the fact that he took down the helicopter with his little pea shooter.
Total crap to me.
Did not like them putting the basic same scar on Blofeld that they used way back in 1967.
The car chase was very blah and who cares that they filmed it in Rome where no other film company could but the Bond team.
I don't think the audience has a clue about such things.
The ejector parachute was cool but his landing was bit too smooth and cute.
They started trying to hard with the humor like they did with Brosnan and that does not work with Craig for my money.
Keep the realism going.
He got out of that death chair a little to easy because the power shut off??
And lets hope they never bring back the DB5 again, enough already.
Like I say I did enjoy the film and the fight scene on the train was great stuff. I was just a little bummed about these things.

I do think Craig will be back for one more. He is just fantastic and has restored my faith in the series. I have been watching since Goldfinger came out and have not recovered yet.]]>