I would agree with pretty much all of that. Although I'm not a fan of Moneypenny becoming head of 00 section, or promoted to M.
Also, I think I'm scarred for life from the Parahawks in TWINE to relish a return to snowmobile types. Having said that the snowmobile chase in JG's Icebreaker worked.
Bond most definitely needs to dive and ski again! The former could have featured most recently when accessing Safin's base, instead of the disappointing Q Glider approach. I guess he literally had No Time To Dive (sorry..)
On snowmobiles: The Parahawk sequence in TWINE didn't really work for me. But that doesn't mean snowmobile chases and stunts couldn't work very well in the future! it would also break new ground. Die Hard 2 and DAD had a litte bit of snowmobile action, but I found those scenes unimpressive too. The Bond movies has the opportunity to be leaders in stunts again! Look at this for a taste of what can be done:
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
Thunderbird 2East of Cardiff, Wales.Posts: 2,930MI6 Agent
edited November 2024
Right then....
I want to see some narrative backbone!
Give some Political tension....
DAD was the last Bond film that pointed the finger at a nation state for its storyline. That was a key point of a lot of ealier stories. Not Beijing or Moscow persae, but figures under their flag. Now is an excellent time for that to resurface.
A Female 00.
Have a recurring 00 (they have had them before) who helps Bond. A woman who is just as capable and potentially fun too. I do NOT want Jemima Bond, I want a female 00 that shuts up the equality brigade beside Bond as a colleague.
Keep the office staff - and in the Office.
There is no reason why Ralph Finnes, Ben Wishaw, Rory Kinnear, and the amazing Naomi Harris should be dropped, all are brilliant and still relevant in those roles. Keep them. But give them solid material to work with in the traditional sense.
M-Messery had a few interesting naval themed offices. M-Mallory could have a few army based ones.
Bankable Bond? - Bear out Bond.
The actor behind 007 needs to have staying power. Not just in the role on screen, but long term to give a decent run of films. Sir Sean and Sir Roger did this. Mr Brosnan wasn't given the chance. (Look at him today, he could be a Bond as M even now!) We need an actor who can hold the role over a series of films.
If not Fleming, at least Fleminesque.
There is, as far as I know, no original Fleming material left to use. Its all been mined out.
(What a waste the poison garden was in NTTD.) As a result, new material will be needed, but it needs to have the correct feel and tone. CR-06 did a good job of using classic Fleming material and adding to it with the first third of the film and in a (then) contemorary setting of post nine - eleven, 2006. It was classic and also very much of the moment. We need that back, esp in the knife edge world we have now in 2024.
Go back to the Toolsbox!
Bring back miniatures. Bond never needed CGI and its a less is more. It dates films in a way miniatures have not. I like my 'and the plot went BOOM!' to be outside a computer database.
Bring back GOOD composers, such as Dave Arnold. Thomad Newman's plinky plonk muck is generic, and crap. It often doesn't fit the scenes its used in.
Bring back UnPC narratives. This is a tricky one and standards have to adhered too. But just because sexism, facisim, racisim etc are (correctly) unacceptable in the real world, they are still present. This should not exclude the idea of Bond fighting these elements in new stories.
Modern British politics shows elitisim is still very much alive and well unfortunately too.
There ARE options, good ones, if The House of EON and MGM have the bottle to pursue them. Once these things are fixed, then thry can 'experiment' with other bits and pieces.
Please excuse me now, I have glasses to wash in the pub, and to feed the cat!
This is Thunderbird 2, how can I be of assistance?
Concerning Fleming, don't forget the continuation novels also exist. They used Colonel Sun in the past, and it could be a good opportunity to give credit to another author than Kingsley Amis. Someone like Anthony Horowitz clearly deserves it considering the quality of his work.
I agree on much of what you write, but not everything. I too want a female 00 poping up now and then. But not to "shut up the equality brigade", but because it would be both fun and realistic.
All big-budget movies use CGI these days, and more than we'd like to know. Bond absolutely needs it. But the tradition of doing the stunts as real as possible must continue. The CGI should help the scene and never BE the scene. CGI in Bond movies must be top notch and used only where it’s needed. I'd love to see more use of miniatures!
I see every reason to get a new MI6 staff, and I mean every one of them. They did a good job, but they belong in a differnt timeline. It just about worked with Dame Judi with Craig's Bond because Bond didn't die in DAD. When NTTD ended as it did it won’t work to bring back any of the actors. It will only cause confusion and encourage the Code Name Theory brigade, and that's never a good thing. A simple rule of thumb is that any actor who was at Bond's wake in NTTD can't be in any more Bond movies.
I'm not sure precisely you mean by "pointing the finger at a nation state". The tradition is to have Bond working in the real international situation. There was never any real doubt that the pre-Brosnan saw the USSR a an opponent and often worked against it. But the main villain should never be a real one in my opinion, and especially not a country.
But more importantly, what do you feed Holly? 🤔
Thunderbird 2East of Cardiff, Wales.Posts: 2,930MI6 Agent
As is oftrn the case, we are agreeing eithout realising it 24!
Female 00. Yrs I referenced Equality brigade, as their double standards annoy me. Realistically, a well rounded, properly written female character not unlike Holly Goodhead, but British and an experienced double oh in her own right. Its something that should have been done years ago. MPenny in Skyfall is the closest we have ever got and Naomi Harris was marvelous. Then they dumped her behind a desk again!
CGI. I am not saying it should be stamped out. There IS CGI in CR-06, but its subtle and effective as a result. I fully agree on miniatures being 'real' as are the amazing stuntmen and women who never get the credit they deserve.
Find the balance Please H.O.E!
Pointing the finger - Going back to the era where baddies have silent partners as political states, and or as financual backing on the quiet.... I agree directly accusing nations is out, but Bond never did that anyway. 😉
Re the office staff... its tricky.
Lois Maxwell was with the series until AVTAK... Desmond Llewellyn was Q until TWINE...
May they both rest in peace. The fact they did such sterling work with several Bond actors speaks volumes.
Dame Judi? (bows) is in a class by herself. As an actress she is almost unstopable!
In the end these characters don't change and that is part of their appeal. Familiar faces, familiar elements... and these actors deliver.
Plus I cannot accept that James Bond 007 is dead.
(Even if the Craig version unquestionably IS. Blown up by the Royal Navy. Its right out of a Looney Toones cartoon. Who wrote such upter Crap?!)
Huge amounts of Chicken, Turkey, Tuna or on special occasions Steak. Oh and she loves fresh Strawberries, ever since she was a cub! 😉
This is Thunderbird 2, how can I be of assistance?
The former MI6 staff did great, and many stayed for a long time. But keeping any of them will be a disservice to Bond. CraigBond is dead - Long live James Bond!
Thunderbird 2East of Cardiff, Wales.Posts: 2,930MI6 Agent
I nearly forgot.
Bring back affordable product placement!
Tom Ford stuff is insane and unreachable.
(I'm a poor Scotsman, its tough to keep up!)
This is Thunderbird 2, how can I be of assistance?
I want more fun names for characters. I was reading about some county level politics and a politician named Elin Maria L'Estrange was mentioned. Why can't we have more names like that in Bond movies again?
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,738MI6 Agent
This is my first post regarding wishes for the future of the franchise which I find as unhealthy as expecting it to be better than my fanfic! Haha
It is more healthy to focus on the creators which you enjoyed.
But:
With Bezos on board what- I focus on the positive- I expect there is a return to -please do not understand me poltical- testosterone power.
I do not need rightfully debatable scenes in fandom like Pussy Galore Rape, from which I distance myself as a woke (without Trans Rights) Person.
That is just me, I think everyone is entitled to his opinion.
But all this Barbara Broccoli Handwriting lately
like. unfunny and overly dramatic and unbelievable Soap Opera Plots- Blofeld is Bonds long lost brother, James Bond has a long lost daughter it is also the Sex:
Bond is having Sex
Top 5 with Man and then telling Silva
Top 4: and immediately falling in love with her of his life like Vesper Lynn
Top 3: with more mature Bondgirls like Belucci
Top 2: not having Sex at all with his Bondgirls like Ana de Armas and this Chicks from Skyfall and Quantum of Solace
and Top 1: is Is redeemed by having a Baby and being a Daddy (which I kind of liked!, but would have Fleming?)
All these Barbara Broccoli okayed plots had its time, but now there should be on why it is great to be man.
From Bezos I read that he wants his wife to be a Bond Chick, I actually think that is fun.
And Bond should be fun and sexy again in my book.
Farewell Craig Era and if you ask me who next Bond should be:
Back to spectacular stunts! Show us groundbreaking stunts that people talk about when leaving the cinema. Tom Cruise is getting old and he has left the Mission Impossible movies. It's time for Bond to take back the mantle.
Bond enjoying life: Food, luxury , wine, places and women.
Speaking of women: Bond is a womanizer. Women having active sex lives and choosing sex partners as they please is Bondian, modern and feminist. Just make sure it's clear that both parties are willing and active partners.
Avoid Hollywood stars most of the time, especially when casting villains and Bond girls. Pick actors who are stars in their own countries, but are fresh faces to most of the international audience.
Avoid locations that are overused in other movies, especially recent Bond movies. This means avoiding Italy and Turkie for a while and instead go to places in sub-Saharan Africa, the Arctic or Antartica, India (it's more than 40 years since last time), other east Asian locations , the Caucasus etc. I also want Bond to spend some time in the culture of the locations. Eat the food, hear the language and use the local culture and history in the story. I think Villeneuve will be good at this.
Bond should ski and scuba dive again, something he hasn't done since the 90's.
The Royal Navy. I'm not saying Bond26 should be an origin story with Bond still in the navy. But we can see 007 in uniform again, maybe training with them or conducting a raid with them.
Raids! Last time we saw Bond raiding the villain's lair with more than one person on his side was a long time ago. Maybe the raid on the Soviet air base in TLD in 1987?
MI6 HQ stays in the real HQ, but the 00-section can be located in the Old War Office building.
More female villains.
More use of the James Bond theme.
Standalone movies.
Bond doesn't need to go through a character arch in every movie.
Most villains don't need to a have a personal connection with 007 or other MI6 regulars.
Bring back fun character names. Why not, when there are real people walking around with that kind of names?
I agree with much of that, one of my quibbles is locations, I don't want to see Bond abandon Europe entirely, like you, I wish for it not to be Italy year after year. There's so many places in Europe Bond hasn't been yet. Croatia, Belgium, Poland and Hungary are some of the places I'd like to see Bond visit.
And another, lets allow the film to breath. The film doesn't need to move like a racehorse. Take more time to allow the audience to see the beautiful locations and to see Bond relax and enjoy himself.
Lifestyle guide to the products and locations featured in the James Bond films.
We agree on Europe. Budapest, Croatia , Helsinki, Prague (we didn't get to see the city in CR) and so on. Norway too. The country has much more to offer than what we saw in NTTD, especially the Lofoten islands.
As an avid reader of all the Bond novels, I would like to see them all made into movies following the novels exactly. These could be done on Amazon Prime as a separate entity to the main movie releases. The Bond of these movies would be different to the cinema Bond. Amazon have a huge intellectual property here and I can't believe they will stop at only doing the movies. At least this way they get more bang for their buck without watering down the whole franchise. I don't want to see Bond figurines in Happy Meals.
A TV series following the novels more closely would be great, but exactly? Would you really want to see a version of GF where 007 works as Goldfinger as a secretary? That's just one example.
It would be interesting to have some material from the continuation novels in the next movies. The Horowitz 'trilogy' is a wonderful tribute to Fleming but with fresh ideas, especially the last one which is a masterpiece and one of myfavorites among the Bond novels (Fleming included).
I agree with Barbels initial statement. No more soap opera plots, please!
And Upgrade Bond to a Smartwatch and a Gadget that is not his watch only . Plus upgrade him to a Modern concealable gun : The Sig P365. Such a great gun!! And slim and single stacked with a polymer frame.
A Song by Lana Del Rey.
PTS should be in Space against Russians. Bond lands with a Russian Defector Bondgirl in an Escape Pod.
I want fun instead of drama. Testosterone Energy instead of soap opera plots like brofeld! Bond should be a swinger not a daddy!
I hope in Bond 26, any car chases etc are performed by "Stunt Drivers" and not ex racing drivers.
Speed does not translate to the screen imo, however making a car do various stunt tricks does.
Story wise there is still the Ian Fleming story from the MWTGG where Bond loses his memory after what happened in YOLT, and he is effectively a prisoner. His memory comes back over time and he goes to Moscow, is taken by the KGB and brainwashed.
He is sent back to Blighty to assasinate M, who survives Bond attempt. He is sent to shrublands to recover, after which M then sends him on a test mission to go after Scaramanga, which he passes and proves himself to return to MI6.
I've just read the Blofeld trilogy and I think that would work, but depends on whether they go with an older actor or a young guy.
I just watched Dr No with my 12 year old grandson and in the meeting with M, Bond has been a 00 for 10 years, and his beretta jammed on his last job in Italy and he nearly died. What job was that?
Comments
I wish they would make any decision just to show some momentum going forward.
I agree @Number24
I wouldn’t go that far. I'd rather wait six months than learn that Bond26 is written by George Lucas and the director is Uwe Boll.
Some of my hopes and wishes for future Bond movies:
I would agree with pretty much all of that. Although I'm not a fan of Moneypenny becoming head of 00 section, or promoted to M.
Also, I think I'm scarred for life from the Parahawks in TWINE to relish a return to snowmobile types. Having said that the snowmobile chase in JG's Icebreaker worked.
Bond most definitely needs to dive and ski again! The former could have featured most recently when accessing Safin's base, instead of the disappointing Q Glider approach. I guess he literally had No Time To Dive (sorry..)
I would be against making Moneypenny M.
On snowmobiles: The Parahawk sequence in TWINE didn't really work for me. But that doesn't mean snowmobile chases and stunts couldn't work very well in the future! it would also break new ground. Die Hard 2 and DAD had a litte bit of snowmobile action, but I found those scenes unimpressive too. The Bond movies has the opportunity to be leaders in stunts again! Look at this for a taste of what can be done:
Like a HALO jump?
Right then....
I want to see some narrative backbone!
Give some Political tension....
DAD was the last Bond film that pointed the finger at a nation state for its storyline. That was a key point of a lot of ealier stories. Not Beijing or Moscow persae, but figures under their flag. Now is an excellent time for that to resurface.
A Female 00.
Have a recurring 00 (they have had them before) who helps Bond. A woman who is just as capable and potentially fun too. I do NOT want Jemima Bond, I want a female 00 that shuts up the equality brigade beside Bond as a colleague.
Keep the office staff - and in the Office.
There is no reason why Ralph Finnes, Ben Wishaw, Rory Kinnear, and the amazing Naomi Harris should be dropped, all are brilliant and still relevant in those roles. Keep them. But give them solid material to work with in the traditional sense.
M-Messery had a few interesting naval themed offices. M-Mallory could have a few army based ones.
Bankable Bond? - Bear out Bond.
The actor behind 007 needs to have staying power. Not just in the role on screen, but long term to give a decent run of films. Sir Sean and Sir Roger did this. Mr Brosnan wasn't given the chance. (Look at him today, he could be a Bond as M even now!) We need an actor who can hold the role over a series of films.
If not Fleming, at least Fleminesque.
There is, as far as I know, no original Fleming material left to use. Its all been mined out.
(What a waste the poison garden was in NTTD.) As a result, new material will be needed, but it needs to have the correct feel and tone. CR-06 did a good job of using classic Fleming material and adding to it with the first third of the film and in a (then) contemorary setting of post nine - eleven, 2006. It was classic and also very much of the moment. We need that back, esp in the knife edge world we have now in 2024.
Go back to the Toolsbox!
Bring back miniatures. Bond never needed CGI and its a less is more. It dates films in a way miniatures have not. I like my 'and the plot went BOOM!' to be outside a computer database.
Bring back GOOD composers, such as Dave Arnold. Thomad Newman's plinky plonk muck is generic, and crap. It often doesn't fit the scenes its used in.
Bring back UnPC narratives. This is a tricky one and standards have to adhered too. But just because sexism, facisim, racisim etc are (correctly) unacceptable in the real world, they are still present. This should not exclude the idea of Bond fighting these elements in new stories.
Modern British politics shows elitisim is still very much alive and well unfortunately too.
There ARE options, good ones, if The House of EON and MGM have the bottle to pursue them. Once these things are fixed, then thry can 'experiment' with other bits and pieces.
Please excuse me now, I have glasses to wash in the pub, and to feed the cat!
Concerning Fleming, don't forget the continuation novels also exist. They used Colonel Sun in the past, and it could be a good opportunity to give credit to another author than Kingsley Amis. Someone like Anthony Horowitz clearly deserves it considering the quality of his work.
I agree on much of what you write, but not everything. I too want a female 00 poping up now and then. But not to "shut up the equality brigade", but because it would be both fun and realistic.
All big-budget movies use CGI these days, and more than we'd like to know. Bond absolutely needs it. But the tradition of doing the stunts as real as possible must continue. The CGI should help the scene and never BE the scene. CGI in Bond movies must be top notch and used only where it’s needed. I'd love to see more use of miniatures!
I see every reason to get a new MI6 staff, and I mean every one of them. They did a good job, but they belong in a differnt timeline. It just about worked with Dame Judi with Craig's Bond because Bond didn't die in DAD. When NTTD ended as it did it won’t work to bring back any of the actors. It will only cause confusion and encourage the Code Name Theory brigade, and that's never a good thing. A simple rule of thumb is that any actor who was at Bond's wake in NTTD can't be in any more Bond movies.
I'm not sure precisely you mean by "pointing the finger at a nation state". The tradition is to have Bond working in the real international situation. There was never any real doubt that the pre-Brosnan saw the USSR a an opponent and often worked against it. But the main villain should never be a real one in my opinion, and especially not a country.
But more importantly, what do you feed Holly? 🤔
As is oftrn the case, we are agreeing eithout realising it 24!
Female 00. Yrs I referenced Equality brigade, as their double standards annoy me. Realistically, a well rounded, properly written female character not unlike Holly Goodhead, but British and an experienced double oh in her own right. Its something that should have been done years ago. MPenny in Skyfall is the closest we have ever got and Naomi Harris was marvelous. Then they dumped her behind a desk again!
CGI. I am not saying it should be stamped out. There IS CGI in CR-06, but its subtle and effective as a result. I fully agree on miniatures being 'real' as are the amazing stuntmen and women who never get the credit they deserve.
Find the balance Please H.O.E!
Pointing the finger - Going back to the era where baddies have silent partners as political states, and or as financual backing on the quiet.... I agree directly accusing nations is out, but Bond never did that anyway. 😉
Re the office staff... its tricky.
Lois Maxwell was with the series until AVTAK... Desmond Llewellyn was Q until TWINE...
May they both rest in peace. The fact they did such sterling work with several Bond actors speaks volumes.
Dame Judi? (bows) is in a class by herself. As an actress she is almost unstopable!
In the end these characters don't change and that is part of their appeal. Familiar faces, familiar elements... and these actors deliver.
Plus I cannot accept that James Bond 007 is dead.
(Even if the Craig version unquestionably IS. Blown up by the Royal Navy. Its right out of a Looney Toones cartoon. Who wrote such upter Crap?!)
Huge amounts of Chicken, Turkey, Tuna or on special occasions Steak. Oh and she loves fresh Strawberries, ever since she was a cub! 😉
The former MI6 staff did great, and many stayed for a long time. But keeping any of them will be a disservice to Bond. CraigBond is dead - Long live James Bond!
I nearly forgot.
Bring back affordable product placement!
Tom Ford stuff is insane and unreachable.
(I'm a poor Scotsman, its tough to keep up!)
I want more fun names for characters. I was reading about some county level politics and a politician named Elin Maria L'Estrange was mentioned. Why can't we have more names like that in Bond movies again?
You mean like naming a woman Connie Lingus or if the Austin Powers movie hadn't used it, Dixie Normus?
No,that wouldn't work today. But Maria l'Estrange would be great!
Would not argue with any of those choices.
.
I'm Sorry 24, as a long time Star Wars fan (you have seen we have Artoo in the pub now and again) this isn't funny!
George Lucas is an industry lead film maker amd world builder. I admire what he has achieved. But he can't write a script for toffee!
And I realise know I completely misread your comment. Apologies and Correction, - I'd rather wait that six months too! Scuse me.
That's okay. I know this is shocking to you, but even I have made mistakes in my life! 😲😲😲
This is my first post regarding wishes for the future of the franchise which I find as unhealthy as expecting it to be better than my fanfic! Haha
It is more healthy to focus on the creators which you enjoyed.
But:
With Bezos on board what- I focus on the positive- I expect there is a return to -please do not understand me poltical- testosterone power.
I do not need rightfully debatable scenes in fandom like Pussy Galore Rape, from which I distance myself as a woke (without Trans Rights) Person.
That is just me, I think everyone is entitled to his opinion.
But all this Barbara Broccoli Handwriting lately
like. unfunny and overly dramatic and unbelievable Soap Opera Plots- Blofeld is Bonds long lost brother, James Bond has a long lost daughter it is also the Sex:
Bond is having Sex
Top 5 with Man and then telling Silva
Top 4: and immediately falling in love with her of his life like Vesper Lynn
Top 3: with more mature Bondgirls like Belucci
Top 2: not having Sex at all with his Bondgirls like Ana de Armas and this Chicks from Skyfall and Quantum of Solace
and Top 1: is Is redeemed by having a Baby and being a Daddy (which I kind of liked!, but would have Fleming?)
All these Barbara Broccoli okayed plots had its time, but now there should be on why it is great to be man.
From Bezos I read that he wants his wife to be a Bond Chick, I actually think that is fun.
And Bond should be fun and sexy again in my book.
Farewell Craig Era and if you ask me who next Bond should be:
Top 5: Robbie Williams (the Singer)
Top 4 Taron Eggert
Top 3: Taylor Aaron Johnson
Top 2 Henry Cavill
Top 1 the Guy from First Light
Some of my wishlist:
I agree with much of that, one of my quibbles is locations, I don't want to see Bond abandon Europe entirely, like you, I wish for it not to be Italy year after year. There's so many places in Europe Bond hasn't been yet. Croatia, Belgium, Poland and Hungary are some of the places I'd like to see Bond visit.
And another, lets allow the film to breath. The film doesn't need to move like a racehorse. Take more time to allow the audience to see the beautiful locations and to see Bond relax and enjoy himself.
We agree on Europe. Budapest, Croatia , Helsinki, Prague (we didn't get to see the city in CR) and so on. Norway too. The country has much more to offer than what we saw in NTTD, especially the Lofoten islands.
As an avid reader of all the Bond novels, I would like to see them all made into movies following the novels exactly. These could be done on Amazon Prime as a separate entity to the main movie releases. The Bond of these movies would be different to the cinema Bond. Amazon have a huge intellectual property here and I can't believe they will stop at only doing the movies. At least this way they get more bang for their buck without watering down the whole franchise. I don't want to see Bond figurines in Happy Meals.
A TV series following the novels more closely would be great, but exactly? Would you really want to see a version of GF where 007 works as Goldfinger as a secretary? That's just one example.
It would be interesting to have some material from the continuation novels in the next movies. The Horowitz 'trilogy' is a wonderful tribute to Fleming but with fresh ideas, especially the last one which is a masterpiece and one of my favorites among the Bond novels (Fleming included).
I agree with Barbels initial statement. No more soap opera plots, please!
And Upgrade Bond to a Smartwatch and a Gadget that is not his watch only . Plus upgrade him to a Modern concealable gun : The Sig P365. Such a great gun!! And slim and single stacked with a polymer frame.
A Song by Lana Del Rey.
PTS should be in Space against Russians. Bond lands with a Russian Defector Bondgirl in an Escape Pod.
I want fun instead of drama. Testosterone Energy instead of soap opera plots like brofeld! Bond should be a swinger not a daddy!
I hope in Bond 26, any car chases etc are performed by "Stunt Drivers" and not ex racing drivers.
Speed does not translate to the screen imo, however making a car do various stunt tricks does.
Story wise there is still the Ian Fleming story from the MWTGG where Bond loses his memory after what happened in YOLT, and he is effectively a prisoner. His memory comes back over time and he goes to Moscow, is taken by the KGB and brainwashed.
He is sent back to Blighty to assasinate M, who survives Bond attempt. He is sent to shrublands to recover, after which M then sends him on a test mission to go after Scaramanga, which he passes and proves himself to return to MI6.
I've just read the Blofeld trilogy and I think that would work, but depends on whether they go with an older actor or a young guy.
I just watched Dr No with my 12 year old grandson and in the meeting with M, Bond has been a 00 for 10 years, and his beretta jammed on his last job in Italy and he nearly died. What job was that?
"Do you expect me to talk? "No Mister Bond I expect you to die"