Bond plot holes - any possible explanation?

[Pricey]

In the novel of “Goldfinger” the eponymous villain invites a cross section of hoodlums and Mafia leaders to his evil lair and seeks their organisation’s participation in his plans to steal all the gold from Fort Knox. Most agree to tag along – the one dissenting voice is quickly silenced. In the movie, the eponymous villain invites a cross section of hoodlums and Mafia leaders to his evil lair and seeks their organisation’s participation in his plans to eradiate all the gold in Fort Knox. The one dissenting voice is paid off in gold bullion and driven to the airport, however he is shot and crushed (along with the gold – “he had a pressing appointment”). But hang on a minute, all the other hoodlums and Mafia leaders are then gassed and killed themselves back at Goldfinger’s lair. So why did Goldfinger bother to tell them all of his plan – why did he pay off, shoot and crush the one hood (and put himself to the trouble of having to then extract back his gold from the wreckage) when he was going to kill them all anyway? It is without doubt the stupidest and most illogical plot hole of any Bond movie – and that’s saying something. For example, in “The Spy Who Loved Me”, a guy who has spotted the huge and shiny toothed Jaws stalking him leaves the safety of sitting in the middle of a floodlit crowd and decides he would probably be much safer wandering off alone into a dark and deserted tomb. Surprisingly, he gets chewed. Who wrote this stuff? Not Ian Fleming that’s for sure.

[Lord Brett]

Mind you, Fleming's Goldfinger has it's own major plot flaw compared to the film.

In the book, Goldfinger hires Bond as his leutenant for the attack on Fort Knox after having met him twice. Would he really trust Bond, a virtual stranger, with the secrets of his most important scheme ever? The film's version of events is much more clever, with Bond being kept hostage, but not abviously so, so that the CIA don't suspect what's about to happen.

[hankoler]

One thing I can't understand about the bond films is when they capture him, they have elaborate ideas about getting rid of him . Why not a single bullet to the head ! ,or is that too easy .

[batman]

Originally Posted by hankoler One thing I can't understand about the bond films is when they capture him, they have elaborate ideas about getting rid of him . Why not a single bullet to the head ! ,or is that too easy .

That would spoil the fun (and end the franchise). I quite enjoy seeing how he gets out of scrapes.

[Lord Brett]

Originally Posted by batman That would spoil the fun (and end the franchise). I quite enjoy seeing how he gets out of scrapes.

Shadbolt, A favourite episode of the seventies TV series The Protectors uses this plot device very intelligently. The killer insists on explaining his clever plot to the hero, who realises that this display of vanity is the key to his personality, and that he isn't the professional he makes out.

[m35541]

My recollection of Goldfinger is that he kills the mafia people because they have supplied the various equipment for his project and he doesn't want any witnesses.

I agree that gathering them all around and explaining everything to them is a bit silly but (a) it does provide a handy device for Bond and the audience to understand the plot (b) its all part of his vanity - note his reaction when Bond says he enjoyed the presentation "So did I".

I also think that the film's idea of exploding a bomb inside the vault is better than the book's idea of actually stealing the gold.

[christoph404]

The film "Diamonds Are Forever" is a bit of a mess with plots holes, the dumbest one being when Bond uses one of Q's gadgets to change his voice on the phone, convincing Blofeld that he's one of his sidekicks, Bert Saxby. Blofeld orders "Saxby" to assassinate Willard Whyte which allows Bond to track down the millionaires whereabouts. But...the real Bert Saxby turns up to try and kill Whyte....yet how can this be? Blofeld issued the order over the phone to the disguised Bond, not Saxby!

[john audley]

Originally Posted by batman That would spoil the fun (and end the franchise). I quite enjoy seeing how he gets out of scrapes.

You mean like 'BATMAN'

[batman]

Originally Posted by john audley You mean like 'BATMAN'

Bond nicked all his best escape ideas from me!

[batman]

Originally Posted by christoph404 The film "Diamonds Are Forever" is a bit of a mess with plots holes, the dumbest one being when Bond uses one of Q's gadgets to change his voice on the phone, convincing Blofeld that he's one of his sidekicks, Bert Saxby. Blofeld orders "Saxby" to assassinate Willard Whyte which allows Bond to track down the millionaires whereabouts. But...the real Bert Saxby turns up to try and kill Whyte....yet how can this be? Blofeld issued the order over the phone to the disguised Bond, not Saxby!

There are loads of plot holes in DAF .... many of these are the result of heavy editing prior to release. For example .... Bond finds Plenty's body in Tiffany's pool, but why was she there? Plenty hadn't met Tiffany up to that point. In fact scenes were shot where Plenty saw Bond with Tiffany and followed her home. She later went back and was murdered by Wint and Kidd .... none of these scenes appear in the film.

[john audley]

This is a good thread and needs research to find good examples, as for Goldfinger,
I always thought the first third of the film until Bond is aboard the small jet is very good but seems to go very silly in parts after that. As if there are two Directors.

[batman]

Who is this 'other fella' referred to by Bond at the start of OHMSS. He's not in the beach scene and he is never spoken of again.

There was a good Bond trivia book out a few years back called 'Keeping the British End Up' which had a lot of this sort of stuff in it.

Amazon.co.uk: Keeping the British End Up (Coronet Books): Roger Ryan,Martin Sterling: Books

Not to be confused with this book ...

[Moor Larkin]

Originally Posted by hankoler Why not a single bullet to the head ! ,or is that too easy .

I think Mike Meyers covered this quite well in Austin Powers. He also covered the "where are on earth do all the cohorts in the secret caverns live normally? And what do their wives and children think they are doing, when they set off to work each morning, with their packet of sandwiches? Not to mention what happens when none of them arrives home one evening?" question.

[maninasuitcase]

Originally Posted by batman Who is this 'other fella' referred to by Bond at the start of OHMSS. He's not in the beach scene and he is never spoken of again. There was a good Bond trivia book out a few years back called 'Keeping the British End Up' which had a lot of this sort of stuff in it. Amazon.co.uk: Keeping the British End Up (Coronet Books): Roger Ryan,Martin Sterling: Books Not to be confused with this book ...

Yes, and in OHMSS why doesn't Blofeld immediately recognise a crappily disguised Bond? Oh I forgot both characters were played by different actors!

[m35541]

The OHMSS problem stems from the fact that in the books OHMSS came before YOLT so it was the first time they met in the books (and then Bond is heavily disguised in YOLT so Blofeld doesn't initially recognise him but Irma Blunt suspects that it is Bond and get Blofeld rto force Bond to reveal whether he is Bond or not). Changing this point in OHMSS would have required a substanital plot re-write.