The James Bond Film Discussion Thread (With Bonus Lazenby!)

[Starkers]

That's a rather interesting connection to make.

Yeah

It was realising John Wyman had been in Assassin and FYEO that started the ball rolling. From that I went automatically to Julian Glover and then wondered if there were any others. I'd genuinely thought it'd just be a handful, certainly didn't expect to find 16 (almost 17)!

 

[Starkers]

That was an enjoyable read. I do enjoy a bit of spotting Brit thesps and character actors in blockbusters, be it vintage Bond or even 2022’s The Batman. Tomorrow Never Dies is probably the best recent ish 007 film for spotting various graduates of Corrie etc as well as future names like Pip Torrens or Jason Watkins.

Not to mention Hugh Bonneville, Gerrard Butler...I mean there's loads!

 

[Tallguy]

Samantha Bond is in something called the Marlow Murder Club. Pierce Brosnan (and Jonathan Pryce!) are going to be in The Thursday Murder Club (and hopefully LOTS of sequels). This is giving me unrealistic expectations for senior citizenship!

 

[Commander Troi]

Ooh! Jo Martin (the Fugitive Doctor) is in Marlow Murder Club too! I'll have to check both of those out.

Senior citizenship definitely ain't what it was when we were kids.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I plan to nose around murder scenes once I retire. Murder rate is pretty low in my small town, so hopefully things will pick up.

 

[oktay]

James Bond Reboot Planning Divisive Move to Appeal To Younger Audiences

Is this really what 007 fans want?

movieweb.com

 

[Tallguy]

And now the fan base that has railed against Craig's grounded, miserable, sad sack Bond will now declare him the true and final heir to the Fleming vision and anything with a lighter touch or, heaven forfend, a joke to be an unparalleled travesty.

(More Connery, less Moore, please.)

You know, I'm increasingly OK with a one-off adventure with Old Man Pierce. (He's already playing M in Black Box.)

 

[oktay]

And now the fan base that has railed against Craig's grounded, miserable, sad sack Bond will now declare him the true and final heir to the Fleming vision and anything with a lighter touch or, heaven forfend, a joke to be an unparalleled travesty.

(More Connery, less Moore, please.)

You know, I'm increasingly OK with a one-off adventure with Old Man Pierce. (He's already playing M in Black Box.)

He says we will appeal to young people. I think it will have a more Marvel-like tone.

 

[Tallguy]

I think it will have a more Marvel-like tone.

People say that like it's an easy thing to do. Even Marvel is having trouble having a "Marvel-like tone" these days.

There are far worse calibrations than having a Tony Stark-ish Bond.

 

[Starkers]

I think there's plenty of older fans for whom a return to a quippy Bond would appeal.

As long as they don't make it a live action James Bond Jr. I'll be fine, but then I never met a Bond I didn't like and my favourite three Bonds are Dalton, Craig and Moore so serious or silly appeals to me!

 

[oktay]

People say that like it's an easy thing to do. Even Marvel is having trouble having a "Marvel-like tone" these days.

There are far worse calibrations than having a Tony Stark-ish Bond.

I mean they will make it more for Generation Z. And it will be for streaming and meme culture. Like Doctor Who.


What I mean is Bond will not be a streaming movie. It will be released in theaters first. But it will be made with streaming in mind.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I'm all for a return to a lighter tone with the Bond movies, as long as they don't go over the top silly like some of Roger Moore's films did with some sequences.

 

[Captaindemotion]

It shouldn’t come as a massive surprise if the next Bond film is somewhat different from the last few. They’ve always changed tone as and when it suits; going from Roger’s OTT last few movies to the grittier Living Daylights, following the grim Licence to Kill with a more crowd-pleasing Goldeneye and then the turnaround from Die Another Day to Casino Royale.

It’s of course possible that, like with eg The Batman coming after the Snyderverse and the Nolan films they will follow dark and gritty with more dark and gritty but anyone who’s followed the history of the 007 films will be expecting another change in style and so far as I can see that’s all the insight that the people interviewed for this feature have.

I don’t think a move away from the arc and direct sequel structure that the Craig films has to be a negative nor does a series that’s more like classic Bond. Doesn’t mean it’s going to be Austin Powers either.

 

[Tallguy]

OK, MGM / EON - Here are your patterns. Mix to taste.

From Russia With Love - Gritty, more realistic, but still globe-trotting espionage Bond. Especially if you're going to do Retro Bond.
Thunderball - Everything and the Kitchen Sink Bond. This is as over the top and as quippy as you should go. This is your red line.
Goldeneye - This is a nearly perfect movie. Study it.

You think it's a good idea but it isn't:
Goldfinger: I don't trust you with this. You couldn't figure out what was good and what was bad the LAST time you made followups. No. Put it down. Step away. (Also, IIRC, this was really the only Bond girl with a dirty name in the books. This was not a Fleming trope. Stop it.)

You will be tempted by The Spy Who Loved Me / Moonraker. You can't handle it. (You Only Live Twice is right out.)

 

[PCz911]

If Disney HAD acquired the Bond franchise…. Would it be “Tomorrowland never dies”?

Sorry.

I’ll show myself out

 

[cardinal biggles]

If you want to feel better about where the franchise might be going, read the whole article from The Times rather than that cherry-picked clickbait from MovieWeb:

https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/next-james-bond-actor-amazon-cpnxjf6rv

I'll just highlight this part that illustrates perfectly why things are taking so long:

I have met [Barbara] Broccoli on numerous occasions and she was always friendly, if steely and not afraid to be blunt. So when, at the end of 2021, I asked what the Amazon deal meant for Bond, she was not exactly effusive. "The truth is we don't know," she said. "We are not really any more enlightened about how we fit in."

And how is that relationship going now? "These people are f***ing idiots," an exasperated Broccoli told friends last year, according to The Wall Street Journal. Or, as her father, Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, once said, "Don't have temporary people make permanent decisions."

 

[Firebird]

I'm all for a return to a lighter tone with the Bond movies, as long as they don't go over the top silly like some of Roger Moore's films did with some sequences.

The Spy Who Loved Me was the one Moore installment that struck just the right balance for me.

 

[Nerys Myk]

He says we will appeal to young people. I think it will have a more Marvel-like tone.

Bond could do worse than emulate Marvel movies,

 

[cardinal biggles]

Depends, are we talking the heady early days of the MCU when they were putting together the Avengers, or are we talking post-Endgame, where we all staggered across the finish line mentally exhausted only to find that sweet baby Jesus, there's fifty more of these things (and a dozen TV shows) in the pipeline?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Depends, are we talking the heady early days of the MCU when they were putting together the Avengers, or are we talking post-Endgame, where we all staggered across the finish line mentally exhausted only to find that sweet baby Jesus, there's fifty more of these things (and a dozen TV shows) in the pipeline?

The Bondiverse is just around the corner. Ms Moneypenny will be a banger! (Perhaps I should rephrase that? Nah, It's Bond. )