007, No Time To Die (Review)

[Diamondback]

Yep, I would "Mad Men" the entire atmosphere of every film. That would be a winner.

The Gardner novels were set in the '80s-'90s, with an older near-retirement and later semi-retired Bond who unfortunately still has the curse of getting every woman he ever actually loves killed. Interestingly, in the Gardner books the DB5 "Silver Beast" was sold off as MI6 surplus and is now Bond's personal ride. If you could find a pair of actors to pass for young/old versions of each other the way Mark and Sean Harmon do, maybe stagger them so you have a Fleming and Gardner movie interleaved for side-by-side production and staggered releases so you get Casino Royale first, then License Renewed, then progress down the two parts of the storyline in parallel.

[Adrenaline_6]

The highlight of this movie was Ana De Armas.

[SteyrAUG]

I am glad I will never have to suffer through another Bond movie with Craig.

Careful what you wish for, I don't see things improving. Stand by for your gender neutral 007.

Did you like the first one or did you hate them all? If so, what Bond films did you like and why?

[SteyrAUG]

The Gardner novels were set in the '80s-'90s, with an older near-retirement and later semi-retired Bond who unfortunately still has the curse of getting every woman he ever actually loves killed. Interestingly, in the Gardner books the DB5 "Silver Beast" was sold off as MI6 surplus and is now Bond's personal ride. If you could find a pair of actors to pass for young/old versions of each other the way Mark and Sean Harmon do, maybe stagger them so you have a Fleming and Gardner movie interleaved for side-by-side production and staggered releases so you get Casino Royale first, then License Renewed, then progress down the two parts of the storyline in parallel.

Honestly I don't even know who Garner is. Casino was written by Fleming, unfortunately the 1967 film was f'ed over by Woody Allen and a bunch of other shitheads. David Nivens is NOT James Bond and even Ursula Andres couldn't save this turd.

I also think the plotline of a cursed 007 who gets every woman he loves killed is freaking retarded. Probably another reason I hated all the recent films.

The highlight of this movie was Ana De Armas.

Can't you say that about pretty much every film she's ever been in. War Dogs, she was the main attraction. Blade Runner 2049, unnecessary sequel but had Ana De Armas in it.

[Diamondback]

Honestly I don't even know who Garner is. Casino was written by Fleming, unfortunately the 1967 film was f'ed over by Woody Allen and a bunch of other shitheads. David Nivens is NOT James Bond and even Ursula Andres couldn't save this turd.

https://jamesbond.fandom.com/wiki/Ca...Gardner_novels Quite agreed with the '67 blight upon the IP... the '54 CBS TV version was better, and it was no prize either. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casino...le%20(Climax!)

I also think the plotline of a cursed 007 who gets every woman he loves killed is freaking retarded. Probably another reason I hated all the recent films.

It's a straight lift from the books IIRC, going all the way back to Fleming establishing the first two dots with Casino Royale and OHMSS.

[Jellybean]

If I was brought in by the Broccolis to try to save the franchise, I'd go as far from Woke as possible--roll back to the '50s/'60s and do them as Period Pieces in original Fleming storyline sequence, ditto the authorized continuances approved by Glidrose (who hold the Fleming Estate custodianship). Lightly massage things as described in the books to fit what actually existed in the day, set them against a backdrop of historical events and then always add a closer with M discussing the official cover-ups that explains why, as with the opening text of The Hunt For Red October, "nothing of this... ever happened."

Yep, I would "Mad Men" the entire atmosphere of every film. That would be a winner.

Yes!
I literally scrolled to the bottom to post these things myself - almost exactly what popped into my head to revive a current Bond franchise.

The problem with Craig as Bond, starting with even Casino Royale, is he's too "operator". So much so, that I don't buy him in other elements of the film[s]. He can't turn the "cold and calculating" aura off. He'd have been great in some sort of Punisher/Leon-esque lone wolf vigilante role, or John Wick-ish gunslinger/assassin, but he never worked for me as Bond. I know Bond has been described as a "blunt weapon", but he's TOO blunt. And so, for me, the films were never able to mesh that old-school debonair-Bond charm with updated stories and action, because they had an actor that just is NOT suave at all. Craig would actually have been better cast as a recurring villain...

If I was behind the camera to reboot the franchise, it would be very similar to the quoted ideas. Roll it back to a "period piece" instead of current day, and maybe even add in a bit of conspiracy theory "nothing ever happened" element that perhaps plays into the way thing really are today - why things happened, how it turned out this way, etc.
Critically, I'd have to find an actor that can be smooth and romantic, but also cold and badass like, at the drop of a hat. Heck, speaking of Mad Men, John Hamm could probably pull it off...
Add back in the "old charmer" element of Bond, where he often gets his way by being more of a 'people person' when required, as well as with his own cunning and cool gadgets form Q.
At the same time,for the action scenes, I'd ramp those up to a really hardcore level of simple, brutal, utter realism. If you ever had a chance to watch the one (great) season of Quarry, the gunfights would be more like the last shootout at the carnival. Keep it feeling like it's in that "era", but hits way harder, in a more modernized way, hold the cheese and skip the karate-craze that's infested everything since the 80s. Simple brutality, keep the scenes as one-cut as possible without the 50,000 cuts and shaky-cam (most) everything has nowadays.
Also, Bondish one-liners. Because, yes, we DO need him to say "shocking" in the best utterly deadpan british style after assassinating someone with a toaster.

[SteyrAUG]

Yes!
I literally scrolled to the bottom to post these things myself - almost exactly what popped into my head to revive a current Bond franchise.

The problem with Craig as Bond, starting with even Casino Royale, is he's too "operator". So much so, that I don't buy him in other elements of the film[s]. He can't turn the "cold and calculating" aura off. He'd have been great in some sort of Punisher/Leon-esque lone wolf vigilante role, or John Wick-ish gunslinger/assassin, but he never worked for me as Bond. I know Bond has been described as a "blunt weapon", but he's TOO blunt. And so, for me, the films were never able to mesh that old-school debonair-Bond charm with updated stories and action, because they had an actor that just is NOT suave at all. Craig would actually have been better cast as a recurring villain...

If I was behind the camera to reboot the franchise, it would be very similar to the quoted ideas. Roll it back to a "period piece" instead of current day, and maybe even add in a bit of conspiracy theory "nothing ever happened" element that perhaps plays into the way thing really are today - why things happened, how it turned out this way, etc.
Critically, I'd have to find an actor that can be smooth and romantic, but also cold and badass like, at the drop of a hat. Heck, speaking of Mad Men, John Hamm could probably pull it off...
Add back in the "old charmer" element of Bond, where he often gets his way by being more of a 'people person' when required, as well as with his own cunning and cool gadgets form Q.
At the same time,for the action scenes, I'd ramp those up to a really hardcore level of simple, brutal, utter realism. If you ever had a chance to watch the one (great) season of Quarry, the gunfights would be more like the last shootout at the carnival. Keep it feeling like it's in that "era", but hits way harder, in a more modernized way, hold the cheese and skip the karate-craze that's infested everything since the 80s. Simple brutality, keep the scenes as one-cut as possible without the 50,000 cuts and shaky-cam (most) everything has nowadays.
Also, Bondish one-liners. Because, yes, we DO need him to say "shocking" in the best utterly deadpan british style after assassinating someone with a toaster.

Quarry...now we are f'ing talking. That series was awesome but they took it away.

Speaking of Mad Men, Hamm was already "undercover" through most of the series. Hard drinking, hard smoking with a stressful life. Add in some SAS and RM training and you are there. But also the environment of Mad Men, where everyone drinks, smokes and is generally a F up while they all believe they are superior to everyone else.

They took the most boring subject possible, advertising, and made a completely engrossing series from it by fully developing nearly every character and with brilliant writing, that seemed painfully authentic for the time. They also didn't sermonize about anything with "isn't this terrible", they simply presented it as the way things are and got on with it.

Add spies and cold war elements and you have a damn winner. Easily 20 films can come from that if done right.

[SteyrAUG]

https://jamesbond.fandom.com/wiki/Ca...Gardner_novels Quite agreed with the '67 blight upon the IP... the '54 CBS TV version was better, and it was no prize either. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casino...le%20(Climax!)


It's a straight lift from the books IIRC, going all the way back to Fleming establishing the first two dots with Casino Royale and OHMSS.

But then they wised up and stopped wacking all the Bond girls.

[CharlieDeltaJuliet]

My favorite Bond movies are Goldfinger, Skyfall, Casino Royale, and Goldeneye. I was a big Daniel Craig fan until he opened his mouth outside of the movies. Then he was another hypocrite who made a fortune off of something he stood against. I get it is just entertainment, but still. Don’t claim the high ground if your hands are dirty from climbing there. I enjoyed the films and enjoyed No Time To Die. I just dread what they will do with the series to make it “woke”. James Bond was a misogynist, an alcoholic, and a womanizer who broke all of the rules. Anything other than that and it isn’t a Bond movie.

[Renegade]

Careful what you wish for, I don't see things improving. Stand by for your gender neutral 007.

Did you like the first one or did you hate them all? If so, what Bond films did you like and why?

The plots were generally ok. I just did not like him as an actor - too robotic. Odd because I have seen him on other roles and thought he was good.

I was hoping for Tom Hiddleston but that is not likely now. Killing off Bond leaves the show no place to go. And now they killed off Dexter. WTF…