Fun The James Bond Movies!

[johnnybear]

There was never any plans of it as far as I know.

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER is book four. GOLDFINGER is book seven.

Bond battles against an American mob family in DAF and encounters further American mobsters in GOLDFINGER.

I think the producers were getting a bit lost with the plots of Fleming's novels to have a ludicrous idea to bring back Goldfinger, whether that be his brother or him having survived the expulsion into outer space! I also read that Blofeld did change his appearance from book to book too, giving credence to the change of actors in the original Bond films!
JB

 

[ant-mac]

He underwent extensive plastic surgery and other less complex procedures between THUNDERBALL and ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE.

However, he retained his height and his eyes - two things that couldn't be changed.

 

[johnnybear]

Funny that but I can't see Donald Pleasence's eyes shine through Telly Savalas and Charles Grays faces!
You're right though about his height and eyes, unless he aged thirty years between returns and lost a few inches that way perhaps!
JB

 

[ant-mac]

Funny that but I can't see Donald Pleasence's eyes shine through Telly Savalas and Charles Grays faces!
You're right though about his height and eyes, unless he aged thirty years between returns and lost a few inches that way perhaps!
JB

Part of his nose was eaten away from syphilis, but apart from that, he had no visible scars - or earlobes after he had them removed.

To be perfectly honest, his original description in THUNDERBALL reminds me very strongly of Gru, from DESPICABLE ME.

Or the other way around...

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Gavin]

Interesting article in today's Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/film/20...es-bond-is-007-too-brutish-for-the-me-too-era

Time's up for James Bond: is 007 too toxic for the #MeToo era?
A viral video of 007’s most misogynist moments is a reminder that this most enduring of characters no longer fits the archetype of a hero

Should we watch old movies with one eye on the time and place in which they were made, or view them through a more modern mindset? That is the question the Twittersphere has been pondering after a video depicting some of James Bond’s most misogynist moments went viral on social media.

In chopping together scenes in which Her Majesty’s top spy takes advantage of vulnerable women, slaps bottoms and physically restrains women until they submit to sex, a YouTube cut-and-paste merchant who goes by the name Guru Kid has even missed most of 007’s nastiest behaviour. For starters, how about when Sean Connery’s Bond tries to beat a confession out of Daniela Bianchi’s Tatiana Romanova in 1963’s From Russia With Love? Or when Roger Moore threatens Gloria Hendry’s Rosie Carver at gunpoint in 1973’s Live and Let Die?

In truth, early Bond films were considered problematic long before the #MeToo and Time’s Up campaigns – and not just for their celebration of sexist attitudes. Live and Let Die would be one of the better 007 movies were it not for its casually racist and ham-fisted riff on blaxploitation. Dr No has equally jawdropping moments, such as the bit where Bond orders John Kitzmiller’s black Cayman Islander Quarrel to fetch his shoes, as well as the casting of Jewish-Canadian Joseph Wiseman as the titular Chinese-German villain.

Bond producers have acknowledged 007’s status as an unreconstructed brute in more recent episodes. When Judi Dench’s M first meets Pierce Brosnan’s suave super-spy in GoldenEye (1995), she lambasts him as a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the cold war”, while she describes the Daniel Craig version as a “blunt instrument” in Casino Royale (2006) and berates him for causing the death of “sacrificial lamb” Gemma Arterton in Quantum of Solace (2008).

In many ways, Dench’s M was a a rare counterpoint to 007’s caddish brutality – a righteous, critical female voice. Now that Ralph Fiennes has taken on the role of Bond’s boss, that sense of balance has been lost.

The uncomfortable truth is that many of the secret agent’s grimmest moments are among the spy saga’s most memorable. For it is when 007 is at his cruellest, most savage and, in Craig’s case, his most damaged and unhinged, that the secret agent is most watchable. Moore was never better as Bond than as the lean, mean killing machine of Live and Let Die, rather than the cheesy eyebrow-raising lightweight of the later movies. By contrast, kind-eyed Timothy Dalton seemed to treat the “Bond girls” of his two 1980s appearances with more genuine consideration than any of his predecessors or successors, yet rarely tops the best Bond lists. George Lazenby, the only 007 to get married and fall in love, is often at the bottom, though there are, admittedly, other reasons for that.

If we do enjoy Bond for his dark side, perhaps it is time to accept that this most enduring of characters no longer fits the archetype of a hero. It would be much easier to accept his spiky edges if the dapper secret agent were not sold as the epitome of British suavity and a role model for young men. He simply doesn’t fit the mould in the modern era, but the millions in corporate sponsorship dollarsthat production company Eon receives every time a Bond movie hits cinemas depend on 007 being an aspirational figure.

Mainstream Hollywood is now more complex than it was in the 1960s and 70s. Is it possible for characters who do not fit the traditional heroic template to flourish today? Case in point: last year’s Logan, which easily had the best depiction of Hugh Jackman’s antiheroic Wolverine, despite his hideous crimes of the past. Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is, when on form, Marvel’s most watchable creation, while Star Wars fans have been clamouring for decades to see the morally dubious bounty hunter Boba Fett get a standalone adventure. If it had not been for director Josh Trank’s unfortunate fall from favour three years ago, they would likely have got their wish by now.

None of the above characters are role models, and maybe Bond fans must accept that 007 isn’t either. Just because we do not always approve of his behaviour does not mean we cannot continue to enjoy his adventures.

 

[Doctor Omega]

It's a tough one.

It seems to me that the options are for Hollywood to now bend Bond out of the Fleming shape more than ever, to the point of being unrecognisable - and an insult to purists.

Or stop.

Given all that popcorn at stake, I can't see it being the second option.

This also makes me wonder if, in this age of re-imaginings, they may decide to remake all the now "uncomfortable" classics, with a much more palatable BOND for modern tastes?

I hope not.

 

[Gavin]

It seems to me that the options are for Hollywood to now bend Bond out of the Fleming shape more than ever, to the point of being unrecognisable - and an insult to purists.

I'd argue that the movie Bond and the Fleming Bond have been very different things for quite some time now.

This also makes me wonder if, in this age of re-imaginings, they may decide to remake all the now "uncomfortable" classics, with a much more palatable BOND for modern tastes?

I don't think that there is even a question about that.


Actually there might be just one question. "Sooner ... or later?"

 

[johnnybear]

Let's just throw away all the shows, films and TV series that had a strong male hero in them and bow down to the will of the PC era! Let us assure our masters that we don't like watching semi naked women and tough guys who win the day and save the world! ..Not on your life! Stuff 'em and their attitude!
JB

 

[Gavin]

Let's just throw away all the shows, films and TV series that had a strong male hero in them and bow down to the will of the PC era!

I don't think anybody is suggesting that. But it can be quite discomforting watching some of the early James Bond movies, which can be quite sexist and racist at times. Sure those attitudes might have been considered acceptable when the movies were made but it does make them harder to watch now. It's ok to have a strong male hero, but does that really mean he needs to be sexist?

 

[Doctor Omega]

With all this talk of expanding the James Bond Franchise into an "Shared Universe" a la Marvel and DC etc....

Should Q get his own tv show or movie?

And, while we are at it, just who is the best Q anyway?

 

[Doctor Omega]

It is unlikely they would win any poll, but they have been included for completion's sake.....


Non-Eon films






Geoffrey Bayldon: 1967

In the 1967 version of Casino Royale, Q is portrayed by Geoffrey Bayldon, but instead of outfitting James Bond, he provides gadgets for Evelyn Tremble (who is portrayed by Peter Sellers). In the film, Q is assisted by Fordyce (John Wells). The sequence parodies the regular series' outfitting, and features Q presenting Tremble with an elaborate bullet-proof vest, laden with preposterous features ("a Beretta in the buttonhole, and a cute little mini-gun in the gusset").

Featured in

• Casino Royale (1967)

Alec McCowen: 1983

In the 1983 film Never Say Never Again, Q Branch is headed by a man (played by Alec McCowen) referred to by Bond as Algernon and Algy, though his opening line is "Nice to know old Q can still surprise you 00s". In the closing credits, he is named as "Q Algy". Q Branch itself is depicted as underfunded and ramshackle compared to the high-tech surroundings of the Eon films.

Featured in

• Never Say Never Again (1983)

 

[Doctor Omega]

I can see Desmond winning this poll...

Have any others even remotely matched up to him?

 

[Doctor Omega]

R.I.P. 007 & “Alfie” Director Lewis Gilbert





Prolific British director, producer and screenwriter Lewis Gilbert has died at the age of 97.

Gilbert will probably best be remembered for iconic British comedies with serious life lessons such as the Michael Caine classic “Alfie,” the Pauline Collins-led “Shirley Valentine,” and the beloved “Educating Rita”.

He also helmed three of the most memorable Bond films – the outlandish but classic Connery-entry “You Only Live Twice”, the outlandish and often hated “Moonraker,” and 1977’s iconic “The Spy Who Loved Me” considered both the best Roger Moore Bond film and one of the best Bond films ever made.

Gilbert’s directing career spanned seven decades with credits on more than forty films starting with 1945 documentary “The Ten Year Plan” and ending with the 2002 comedy “Before You Go”. He worked as an assistant on the first of Alfred Hitchcock’s three adaptations of a Daphne du Maurier story – in this case “Jamaica Inn” in 1939.

Gilbert was awarded the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1997.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Goldfinger Collectables - 007 - Big Chief Studios


A video for the release of the James Bond Sixth Scale Collector Edition Figures - James Bond, Auric Goldfinger and Oddjob.

 

[Simian Jack]

Yes, didn't I read that Blofeld wasn't actually in the novel of Diamonds Are Forever and that plans were afoot for Goldfinger's twin brother to have returned instead?
JB

I read that too. I think it was in an interview Richard Maibaum gave to Starlog, he said that was his plan before it was rewritten.

 

[johnnybear]

I think if they had of gone ahead with Goldfinger's brother then the franchise would have failed miserably! The fact that Goldfinger made them the most money must have been a factor in that silly idea of resurrecting the character! Hell they were even planning to hire an American actor for Diamonds as well!
JB

 

[Doctor Omega]

Lazenby's wife is killed.
Connery gets revenge for it.
Moore visits her grave.
It gets mentioned by Felix while Dalton is at a wedding.

I am gonna forego the "BOND is a codename" theory and instead go with the "Bond is a Time Lord" theory.

 

[ant-mac]

I think if they had of gone ahead with Goldfinger's brother then the franchise would have failed miserably! The fact that Goldfinger made them the most money must have been a factor in that silly idea of resurrecting the character! Hell they were even planning to hire an American actor for Diamonds as well!
JB

They should've hired several American - and Italian-American - actors for the film.

After all, for the most part, Bond goes up against the American Mob, in America.