Totally agree. Bond is a storied franchise. I'm more P.O.ed about how NTTD was basically a giant middle finger wrapped with a F.O. to the fans who have loyally supported it. Bond shouldn't die. Period.
No one’s forcing you to like throwbacks. But “nostalgia bait for older audiences?”
First of all, we’re not all dead yet and still have a sizable financial investment in the series and everything that comes with it. Second, despite the hubristic ageism that’s seemingly socially tolerated these days, I think it’s reverent to even in a small way acknowledge previous generations’ contributions to the most successful film franchise in history. Success, progress and achievement aren’t attained in a generational vacuum.
Oh, and Gen X here before anyone misuses the word “Boomer.”
The best way to "acknowledge previous generations’ contributions to the most successful film franchise in history" is to make a good Bond film that stands on its own feet and doesn't need to trade in nostalgia. Goldfinger had no need to frequently reference earlier films. Of course that was back in the day when Bond films felt new and exciting, not like a tribute band.
Throwbacks in modern Bond films are patronizing to older audiences, not respectful. They're a cheap way of building on the goodwill audiences felt for earlier Bond films and applying it to newer films that often don't deserve it.
It's funny that people see them merely as Easter eggs. I think they're more revisionist and deconstructing than that.
Take Fields, for example. In Goldfinger, Masterson is killed for betraying her keeper, who Bond essentially cuckolds. It sends a warning to Bond and potentially implicates him for murder, should he decide to try anything else. (Remember, at this point, Goldfinger does not know who Bond really is.)
In Quantum of Solace, though, Fields is similarly killed not for betraying anyone but merely for her association with Bond, especially after she trips Elvis while Bond makes his escape with Camille. In this respect, Bond is more responsible for her death because Greene would have no other association with her except through Bond.
There are similar moments with other "Easter eggs." The Aston Martn DB5 makes its return, but in this case, it's not merely an life-saving accessory that helps Bond to defeat the bad guys. It's initially something he takes from a villain, apparently is refurbished with spy toys (assuming it's meant to be the same car), and then all but utterly destroyed in Skyfall -- after being used to transport M to what ultimately will be her death. It returns in No Time to Die to be where Bond nearly allows himself to be killed while mulling over the perceived betrayal by Swann. It's not the fun toy anymore.
When we see callbacks to the previous Bond films, they're often rather negative.
I guess these posts are the closest thing we’ll get to an “older audience” opinion poll on this.
60 years into these films with a robust older core fan base, I think it’s unrealistic to expect zero nods to the past. Anything can be overdone of course. The filmmakers are acknowledging that market whether you think the strategy is relevant or not. At the end of the day, we still pay lots of their bills.
Appreciation for nostalgia typically increases with age. Opinions in this thread will vary, but the only generational mouthpiece you qualify for is your own.
I quite enjoyed the throwback in QOS to Goldfinger with the death of Strawberry Fields.
It was a classic homage while giving it a modern tinge, while being absolutely relevant to the plot of that film, along with providing a satisfying subtle detail to Greene's off-screen death.
@Revelator "Goldfinger had no need to frequently reference earlier films."
I love how a shot from FRWL of Bond ducking and running from a helicopter is incorporated in the GF credits sequence, followed later by images from DN of explosions on Crab Key. It's not that GF needed to reference the earlier films; it's probably more the case that Brownjohn had been looking back to find some exciting stuff to cut in.
Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
I liked most of the references, Delectados was probably my favourite one. But I found the references to OHMSS a little too overt and slightly confusing considering how well OHMSS has aged and how if anything made NTTD's sentimental pieces somewhat confusing in terms of continuity and 'universe'. And...I don't really care too much about things in Bond needing to be explainable or overly congruous!
In Last Film Seen, I 'review' the current release Licorice Pizza and I think it has a similar thing going on slightly, it has nods to other films and there's the sneaking suspicion that it's trading on others' glories, a thin line between paying homage and being too lazy to think up something new. There's also that tendency to pick up issues, plot moments or issues and simply drop them, you're thinking, right, here we go then, this is interesting but you never hear about it again. You get these odd plot holes and start to wonder if it isn't deliberate in some way, like it's a different kind of movie. Tbf, some Bond fans would have felt the same nose out of joint thing with stuff like Moonraker and others, the distaste that it's a kind of film that one doesn't quite recognise, a different kind of filmmaking which isn't meant to be taken in the same way.
I agree Drax, delectados was a particular favourite, especially with how DAD is usually thought of by even the most devoted of fans on here. I just can't stop watching NTTD and it is rapidly becoming my favourite of the Craig Bonds. Interestingly I learned this week that of the top 5 grossing movies of all time in the UK - 3 are Craig Bonds! Harry who??? Hehehehe.
Comments
Totally agree. Bond is a storied franchise. I'm more P.O.ed about how NTTD was basically a giant middle finger wrapped with a F.O. to the fans who have loyally supported it. Bond shouldn't die. Period.
😂😂😂
James Bond will return, as always.
No one’s forcing you to like throwbacks. But “nostalgia bait for older audiences?”
First of all, we’re not all dead yet and still have a sizable financial investment in the series and everything that comes with it. Second, despite the hubristic ageism that’s seemingly socially tolerated these days, I think it’s reverent to even in a small way acknowledge previous generations’ contributions to the most successful film franchise in history. Success, progress and achievement aren’t attained in a generational vacuum.
Oh, and Gen X here before anyone misuses the word “Boomer.”
The best way to "acknowledge previous generations’ contributions to the most successful film franchise in history" is to make a good Bond film that stands on its own feet and doesn't need to trade in nostalgia. Goldfinger had no need to frequently reference earlier films. Of course that was back in the day when Bond films felt new and exciting, not like a tribute band.
Throwbacks in modern Bond films are patronizing to older audiences, not respectful. They're a cheap way of building on the goodwill audiences felt for earlier Bond films and applying it to newer films that often don't deserve it.
It's funny that people see them merely as Easter eggs. I think they're more revisionist and deconstructing than that.
Take Fields, for example. In Goldfinger, Masterson is killed for betraying her keeper, who Bond essentially cuckolds. It sends a warning to Bond and potentially implicates him for murder, should he decide to try anything else. (Remember, at this point, Goldfinger does not know who Bond really is.)
In Quantum of Solace, though, Fields is similarly killed not for betraying anyone but merely for her association with Bond, especially after she trips Elvis while Bond makes his escape with Camille. In this respect, Bond is more responsible for her death because Greene would have no other association with her except through Bond.
There are similar moments with other "Easter eggs." The Aston Martn DB5 makes its return, but in this case, it's not merely an life-saving accessory that helps Bond to defeat the bad guys. It's initially something he takes from a villain, apparently is refurbished with spy toys (assuming it's meant to be the same car), and then all but utterly destroyed in Skyfall -- after being used to transport M to what ultimately will be her death. It returns in No Time to Die to be where Bond nearly allows himself to be killed while mulling over the perceived betrayal by Swann. It's not the fun toy anymore.
When we see callbacks to the previous Bond films, they're often rather negative.
I guess these posts are the closest thing we’ll get to an “older audience” opinion poll on this.
60 years into these films with a robust older core fan base, I think it’s unrealistic to expect zero nods to the past. Anything can be overdone of course. The filmmakers are acknowledging that market whether you think the strategy is relevant or not. At the end of the day, we still pay lots of their bills.
Appreciation for nostalgia typically increases with age. Opinions in this thread will vary, but the only generational mouthpiece you qualify for is your own.
I love all the Easter eggs!! I have a digital download now and keep spotting more and more with each viewing.
I quite enjoyed the throwback in QOS to Goldfinger with the death of Strawberry Fields.
It was a classic homage while giving it a modern tinge, while being absolutely relevant to the plot of that film, along with providing a satisfying subtle detail to Greene's off-screen death.
yes youre right, it took me several viewings to get that the villain's death-by-oilcan was symmetrical payback for Fields's death.
did anybody notice the name Mathilde Bond could be shortened to Mata Bond?
=
😁😁😁 No, I d-didn't n-n-notice.
@Revelator "Goldfinger had no need to frequently reference earlier films."
I love how a shot from FRWL of Bond ducking and running from a helicopter is incorporated in the GF credits sequence, followed later by images from DN of explosions on Crab Key. It's not that GF needed to reference the earlier films; it's probably more the case that Brownjohn had been looking back to find some exciting stuff to cut in.
I liked most of the references, Delectados was probably my favourite one. But I found the references to OHMSS a little too overt and slightly confusing considering how well OHMSS has aged and how if anything made NTTD's sentimental pieces somewhat confusing in terms of continuity and 'universe'. And...I don't really care too much about things in Bond needing to be explainable or overly congruous!
"Better make that two."
In Last Film Seen, I 'review' the current release Licorice Pizza and I think it has a similar thing going on slightly, it has nods to other films and there's the sneaking suspicion that it's trading on others' glories, a thin line between paying homage and being too lazy to think up something new. There's also that tendency to pick up issues, plot moments or issues and simply drop them, you're thinking, right, here we go then, this is interesting but you never hear about it again. You get these odd plot holes and start to wonder if it isn't deliberate in some way, like it's a different kind of movie. Tbf, some Bond fans would have felt the same nose out of joint thing with stuff like Moonraker and others, the distaste that it's a kind of film that one doesn't quite recognise, a different kind of filmmaking which isn't meant to be taken in the same way.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I agree Drax, delectados was a particular favourite, especially with how DAD is usually thought of by even the most devoted of fans on here. I just can't stop watching NTTD and it is rapidly becoming my favourite of the Craig Bonds. Interestingly I learned this week that of the top 5 grossing movies of all time in the UK - 3 are Craig Bonds! Harry who??? Hehehehe.
After seeing Spectre I never wanted to see it again. But I can see myself revisiting NTTD fairly quickly.
"Better make that two."