SPECTRE

[Bao]

I think Idris would be an excellent Bond but hardly what Fleming had in mind, [he had a problem with Connery not being old school tieish] 'Shaken not stirred WTF.

David Niven was Flemming's first choice and personal favorite. Second choice was Richard Todd who was a little bit older than Connery and had probably got the role if there were no scheduling conflicts that made him turn down the offer. Flemming probably wanted a less tough and more witty and intellectual character. IMO, Timothy Dalton is probably the Bond that comes closest to what Flemming thought about his own character. He was offered the role two times before The Living Daylights, as early as 1967, but turned the role down becauase he thought he was too young. But I can imagine that Idris would really suit a more modern and physically demanding Bond.

[Steve James]

Fleming envisaged that Bond would resemble the composer, singer and actor Hoagy Carmichael, although others, such as author and historian Ben Macintyre, identify aspects of Fleming's own looks in his description of Bond.[80][81] General references in the novels describe Bond as having "dark, rather cruel good looks".[82]

Fleming also modelled aspects of Bond on Conrad O'Brien-ffrench, a spy whom Fleming had met while skiing in Kitzbühel in the 1930s, Patrick Dalzel-Job, who served with distinction in 30AU during the war, and Bill "Biffy" Dunderdale, station head of MI6 in Paris, who wore cufflinks and handmade suits and was chauffeured around Paris in a Rolls-Royce.[79][83] Sir Fitzroy Maclean was another possible model for Bond, based on his wartime work behind enemy lines in the Balkans, as was the MI6 double agent Dušan Popov.[84] Fleming also endowed Bond with many of his own traits, including the same golf handicap, his taste for scrambled eggs, his love of gambling, and use of the same brand of toiletries.[41][85]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfOYvrpbSYc

[KEND]

Islamic terrorists might be a little risky at the moment, look what happened to Hebdo. Pity Omar Sharif is no longer around, elegantly stroking a white cat while playing backgammon, a perfect foil for the new Bond

[Andy_S]

Just watched Mojo's list of Top 10 Actors Who Could Play Bond. I think this list is largely ridiculous - their criteria seems to be "anyone who has been in a superhero movie is a potential Bond." I mean Tom Hiddlestone, FFS!

BUT - credit where credit is due - they have nailed it from a totally unexpected direction: Richard Armitage.

Look at the way he walks through the door; inclines his head; raises an eyebrow; and says "Gandalf...."

Remove the Tolkein parapharnelia and bedeck him in a Jermyn St suit; replace broadsword with Walther PPK; and insert "M" instead of "Gandalf" and - voila.

THIS MAN IS BOND! (Or at the very least, Connery Jr.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rSxoWiwnF0

[Dmitri]

Watched it last night, was almost bored towards the end... Great production and all, but never cared for main character(s). It would definitely benefit from losing about an hour (i.e. should have been 1.5 hours instead of 2.5)

Overall, for what it is, I'd give it 6 out of 10, FWIW

[GrahamB]

Yeah, agree - the opening sequence in Mexico was amazing, after that it was a long slow decline into the usual plot 'twists' you can see a mile away and typical Bond cliché.

[I-mon]

Saw it yesterday. It was a very strange, weird, campy tribute to ageing white imperialist dreams, where every woman and man wants to fuck the virile, primal, British alpha male; and all women, black or otherwise ethnic people either know their place or get killed if they don't.

Obviously, it's a bond film, so all of that's to be expected. Unfortunately though I really found this whole movie to be more like "Austin Powers" in its level of tired, pathetic humour. I liked all of the previous Daniel Craig Bond movies, but he really didn't seem to be enjoying himself in this one, and nor did anyone else, possibly excluding the guy who played "M", who did a standup job as an older British chap representing the good and honourable Old Ways. Yeesh. I was squirming in my seat, embarrassed by the whole thing.

One star.

[I-mon]

Also - it made no fucking sense, and they jumped from scene to scene with very little continuity. All of a sudden, he's in a plane! Oh look, he's gone to some random fucking house in the mountains, based on what? It was like watching "Commando", but not as funny, just sad, and mildly sickening.

[Andy_S]

SNIP
every woman and man wants to fuck the virile, primal, British alpha male
SNIP

You will be pleased to learn that this is but a fantasy. This virile, primal, British alpha male gets precious little female attention.

SNIP
Also - it made no fucking sense, and they jumped from scene to scene with very little continuity. All of a sudden, he's in a plane!
SNIP

Bond Movies 101: Exotic scene - action setpiece - exotic scene- action setpiece - exotic scene (etc, etc - until end credits roll.)

SNIP
Oh look, he's gone to some random fucking house in the mountains, based on what?
SNIP

To rescue the helpless chick from the horrible chaps you dolt. Why else? (BTW, second best line in the movie was Bond's "cut out the middle man" at the organic juice bar.)

BTW, are not you not taking it all a bit seriously"

I mean:
Why does one bullet from Bond cause an explosion that brings down an entire, colossal building?
How do you infiltrate, then escape from, the AGM of the world's deadliest super villains with such ridiculous ease?
How do you steer a plane with no wings through chalets and down a mountainside without suffering a bruise or a scratch?
Why would a train in the arse-end of Tunisia boast a luxury dining car and sleepers?
Why does nobody on the train notice the deadly ruck that takes place in (by my count) at least three different carriages?
How do you shoot a helicopter down with a WWII-era small caliber pistol, while simultaneously steering a surging speedboat with your free hand?
Etc, etc, etc.

The good points:
Killer actor
Sweet motors
Badass tailoring
Awesome backdrops
Sizzling chicks
Fair-to-good setpieces
A handful of excellent H2H rucks
And...er...

That's about it.

Still, plenty of bang for your buck.

[I-mon]

Yes, all true, but it was BORING AS FUCK. All of the scenes were fucking TIRED, and the whole thing, the whole pathetic attempt at storytelling was straight up lazy and just shite. Lame, tired, ticking the boxes, going through the motions, pretending to be sexy but actually not sexy, just lame. Craig is impressive, the opening scene in Mexico was impressive, the hot psychedelic octopus tentacle action was super sweet, and then the movie just died.

Screw you Andy!

[I-mon]

The babes were "hot" but BORING! Not funny, not outrageous, not clever, just "pretty". Gah! I swear to you not one of them was actually having a good time. Pshaw! Bah!

[Michael]

Can't handle Bond for the longest time. Re-runs of the Rockford Files are sooo much better.

[KEND]

So everybody's taken over from Siskel and Ebert, what next, frame by frame analysis. Go back to the classics, a guy blowing up fort knox, attacking satellites etc. Fantastic plotlines are part of the franchise
For starters the theme music and floating dancers was bad, its been done before and better, opening scenes , great, Belluci sexy even in middle age, the other chick standard blonde bimbo. Special effects good as usual, car chase pretty good, lacked emotional stuff in his first two movies, too long, unconvincing villain, Overall run of the mill bond, what did you expect, Kurosawa

[Steve James]

The problem is that "James Bond" is the name for a fantasy archetype. His films are the model for action-hero flicks with spectacular gadgets, cars, dames and stunts. Every edition has to have more and bigger everything. But there have been hundreds of quasi-James Bond flicks since the start of the series. There really doesn't need to be any more JB pictures at all. Each one will just be more of the same. That's not so bad; it just means that complaining that JB is doing the same thing is beside the point. It's possibly true that Idris Elba might not be appropriate to play JB because it wouldn't fit the formula. That said; there's no reason why a super-spy movie with Elba couldn't be better than any new JB try.

I'll see the latest Bond, but it has little to do with who's playing him. No matter how good they get, I'll never like one as much as I did "From Russia with Love" or "Goldfinger." I do think that, as someone pointed out, the super homo Britannicus character is getting a bit cliche. It's why "Spooks" and other more contemporary UK spy programs are better. Some heroes will die. James Bond ... Jack Bauer, it's like watching Superman with no kryptonite around.

[Bao]

The problem is that "James Bond" is the name for a fantasy archetype. His films are the model for action-hero flicks with spectacular gadgets, cars, dames and stunts. Every edition has to have more and bigger everything. But there have been hundreds of quasi-James Bond flicks since the start of the series. There really doesn't need to be any more JB pictures at all. Each one will just be more of the same.

The problem is that they don't write good scripts. There is no storytelling and there is no development of characters or development of relationships. You had great exemples there. From russia... And Goldfinger. They don't really have action based plots, but instead they have relation based and character based plots. Never say never again and The living Daylights are also good examples. Casino Royale also has good classical elements. And take a look at the Bourne movies. They are all about character development. The same goes for the best Mission Impossble movies as well.

A good JB movie can be done, it has been done. But sadly, the producers are idiots because they don't understand what is most important in a script to create a great movie.