We already saw that in CASINO ROYALE. A 00 designation literally means you’ve had to kill two people, that’s all there is to it.
Spoilers No Time to Die - Grading & Discussion
- Thread starter Commander Richard
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You could flesh it out into a whole film. Start with Bond on a mission with the Special Boat Service or something, then have him recruited and then he gets his two missions. Obviously in CR we saw very little of the background to those jobs, and they were connected. I can't recall whether it's the book Casino Royale where he mentions who the targets were but I don't think they were explicitly connected in the way they are in the film so you could build a whole movie around his recruitment and those two kills, especially if one or both of them required detective work...
The question is why would you? Maybe if we hadn't had the Casino Royale PTS, but even so people want to see Bond, fully formed, if anything I think they're likely to go the other way. The next Bond will be fully formed, he won't be newly minted as a 00, we'll be back to him as an experienced long term agent the way Connery et al played him.
Because of the pandemic or the word is out about Craig's fate in the movie?
Totally agree. Casino Royale basically gave us a fully fleshed out Bond and the whole 00 thing was before the opening credits. There is a ton you could do with the character's background à la 'Batman Begins'.
Partly? I think the trailers didn't sell the movie too well. But it's a far stronger movie than what we were lead to believe.
Bond does bring up how he got his 00 number in the novel CASINO ROYALE to Mathis, and the two kills were separate assignments. Tying the two kills together in the pre-credits of the film was just a way to condense it.
But I do feel it would be better for the new Bond to be introduced as a veteran agent, because if they try doing another Bond Begins story that will invite more comparisons to Craig. The objective should be to present something different, like they did with past Bond actors (except Lazenby and Brosnan where they laid heavy on the tropes).
I really enjoyed this, much much more so than SPECTRE. My initial reaction to give No Time to Die a "9" on this thread's poll... but it's possible that my dislike of SPECTRE is clouding my judgment of NTTD and leading me to give it a higher rating in contrast.
Edit: Story stuff in spoiler block.
Kor
What I liked most was the development of Bond and Madeline's relationship. I also enjoyed the nods to OHMSS, which I feel is often overshadowed by the Connery and Moore movies. I thought it was kind of convenient that the Spectre organization was wiped out so quickly to make room for another villain; I had kind of been hoping to see Spectre take center stage for at least one more whole film. And I thought Safin was rather clichéd, what with the scars and the robes and the secret island lair. Primo, the guy with the eye, struck me as an attempt at a more serious and modern take on the "Jaws" type of henchman. I also wish Paloma had been in this story longer.
If this is indeed the end of the Craig Bond era (how could it not be??) then to me it's quite fitting. Of course, after the end credits it shows the typical "JAMES BOND WILL RETURN." Yes, the actual character of James Bond, not another agent assigned the 007 designation. In this case that can only reasonably mean another reboot will happen. Overall I've liked this run of Bond films (except SPECTRE
), and I'm not really interested in another contemporary take on Bond. If the next incarnation isn't a Cold War historical period piece, then I might not be watching.
If this is indeed the end of the Craig Bond era (how could it not be??) then to me it's quite fitting. Of course, after the end credits it shows the typical "JAMES BOND WILL RETURN." Yes, the actual character of James Bond, not another agent assigned the 007 designation. In this case that can only reasonably mean another reboot will happen. Overall I've liked this run of Bond films (except SPECTRE
), and I'm not really interested in another contemporary take on Bond. If the next incarnation isn't a Cold War historical period piece, then I might not be watching.Edit: Story stuff in spoiler block.
Kor
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Gave it a 7...for the one scene on Cuba, Paloma was brilliant....the rest...never mind, and I hate IMAX theaters...worst sound I ever have experienced in my life, the screen was equally bad.....
Liked Q, Moneypenny, M, Felix, Paloma.....the rest was either strangely out of place or was badly/strangely directed, I like Nomi....but they never really made her do much....dunno did not enjoy it much
Liked Q, Moneypenny, M, Felix, Paloma.....the rest was either strangely out of place or was badly/strangely directed, I like Nomi....but they never really made her do much....dunno did not enjoy it much
I thought Nomi was used just right. She may have been the new 007, but this was clearly Bond’s movie so no one is gonna overshadow him on his own flick.
I agree, just suggesting it could be done if they wanted to (frankly it's the sort of thing that's work well in a period set tv series than a film)
Much as I disliked the way CR dispensed with various aspects of Bone lore, and much as I hated Bond driving a BMW in GE to TWINE, it would be nice to ease back on the nostalgia porn, at least for a film or two. "Bond, James Bond," you can keep but does he have to order/drink a vodka martini, shaken not stirred, and does he have to wear a dinner jacket and does he have to drive an Aston? Hell, does he have to use a PPK? The answer is no because there are films where he doesn't do those things (the only time Moore drove an Aston Martin was in The Cannonball Run, there's no tux in YOLT or LALD, Brosnan used a P99 for most of his run and Craig used one in CR, hell there are several films where he doesn't drink a vodka martini or introduce himself as Bond, James Bond either.)
I'm not saying lose all these things, just trim them down so one or two turn in in the new guy's first film, and maybe the others happen in the second etc. NTTD definitely didn't need 135 different Astons (ok it was three but still)
Yeah, she was side-lined somewhat at the end (Safin and M defer to Bond, M barely mentions her, she doesn't even get reassigned another 00 number) although I am at least grateful she didn't die or turn out to be working for Safin all along. As you say it's Bond's flick, he has to dominate! Apart from the fact there's nothing sexual between them, is Nomi really that different to Jinx?
She seems more competent than Jinx, who seemed to need to be saved by Bond a ridiculous amount of times.
According to a photo book for NTTD there’s a photo (when they’re on the plane before taking off in that glider) with a caption referring to Bond and Nomi as 003 and 007 respectively. I suppose they just left out any reference to Bond’s temporary designation in the final cut.
According to a photo book for NTTD there’s a photo (when they’re on the plane before taking off in that glider) with a caption referring to Bond and Nomi as 003 and 007 respectively. I suppose they just left out any reference to Bond’s temporary designation in the final cut.
Which is a shame because I kept wanting to hear what his temporary designation was and I, too, wanted to know what Nomi's new designation was after she gave 007 back to Bond.
As they would say “it’s only a number”.
That's one of the things I disliked about SPECTRE and a bit with Skyfall too because they started to lean into that with those films. One of my favorite scenes of Casino Royale was when Bond orders a martini and when the waiter asks if he wants it shaken or stirred Bond replies with "Do I look like I give a damn?". More of that would be fine with me. I'm done with the tuxedos, martinis, straightening the tie after a fight. Those things belong to the instagram generation now. It's kinda like Star Wars, they can't get away from certain tropes.
I think making it modern is problematic since the producers seems keen not to get on the wrong side of any country's audience and government. Taking Bond back to earlier times in history might make that less of a problem. Instead of having some bad guy of some organization working independently we could actually have countries playing against each other again and up the stakes.
Well either she's 003 or it was designed to throw people off the scent that she was 007. By the time They're on the glider hasn't she given him 007 back?
I don’t mind the tropes, because compared to how the Brosnan era handled them it was far more conservative with Craig’s run. It felt more like an evolution of seeing Bond start off strictly based on Fleming, and then by SPECTRE they felt ready to embrace all the cinematic tropes with glee.
One difference between NTTD and the two Mendes’ films is that the gadgets feel more modern and near future-esque with stuff like nanobots, magnetic suits, a device that scans and maps an entire fortress, etc. With Mendes’ films it felt like he took a more rudimentary approach to gadgetry, maybe intentional so it didn’t feel such a departure from near grounded realism of the first two Craig entries. So all Bond gets in SF is a fingerprint gun and a radio. Same with SP featuring the exploding watch and the tricked out Aston Martin. It’s stuff that would have seem very cutting edge in the 60s, but not the 2010s.
One difference between NTTD and the two Mendes’ films is that the gadgets feel more modern and near future-esque with stuff like nanobots, magnetic suits, a device that scans and maps an entire fortress, etc. With Mendes’ films it felt like he took a more rudimentary approach to gadgetry, maybe intentional so it didn’t feel such a departure from near grounded realism of the first two Craig entries. So all Bond gets in SF is a fingerprint gun and a radio. Same with SP featuring the exploding watch and the tricked out Aston Martin. It’s stuff that would have seem very cutting edge in the 60s, but not the 2010s.
Ewww noooo. That guy is so dull and wooden. We can do so much better than a glorified clothes horse.
I was bummed he didn’t get a temporary code name. Would have been funny if it was 006
When I watched James Bond movies, the actor cast as OO7 correctly* I was convinced the character was more than just a handsome face. Henry Cavil is the kind of actor, with his limited acting talent, would portray a "Saturday Night Live" interpretation of James Bond, OO7.
*Craig was appropriate casting for Casino Royale.
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