Bond 23 - Skyfall

[will.15]

Me too .... I don't why they keep using Purvis and Wade. Each of their 'scripts' have had a serious re-write so why not get someone in who can do the job properly.

Some scribes don't work well under duress.

[Mr Pastry Time]

One of the things which endear us to Bonds perhaps is watching them at the Cinema in our youth. For me the Roger Moore ones were the best offering up action along with some comedy, the latter may not have appealed to Bond followers perhaps quite so much. My other favourite Bond is Timothy Dalton who I would have loved to see return as Bond once again if they had overlooked Danny boy.



As the franchise has been running so long now I can see a time when they try to put all the ex Bonds into one film as a sort of “The Five Doctors” sequel. Don’t get me wrong I am a massive Bond fan but they could do with having a hard look at where they are taking our British hero next time round..

[batman]

Don’t get me wrong I am a massive Bond fan but they could do with having a hard look at where they are taking our British hero next time round..

I read recently that the start date for Bond 23 has been put back several months because the producers want to do just that. The article stated that they were taken aback by the degree of hostility towards QOS and wanted to make the next one more 'Bondian' ... hence the possible return of Moneypenny and Q. Mendes is a great director and has worked with Craig before (on Road to Perdition) so hopefully things will run more smoothly than last time. My one reservation is that Craig had a lot of creative input into QOS and indeed recommended Forster for the directing job. Hopefully the producers will take back some of that control and give us what we all want .... a rip-snorting Bond adventure with the new Bond getting truly immersed in the world of 007. This situation isn't new to the series, similar 'crises' occurred after YOLT, OHMSS, TMWTGG and LTK .... and our hero survived them all. I think there are few more years left in the old chap yet.

[will.15]

But it would be a mistake if the lesson they learn from this is to play it safe and just rehash the old formula. But I don't think that will happen because they don't have the usual hack director at the helm.

[HammerDave]

When we saw Lewis Gilbert at the BFI as part of their Bond weekender, there was a strong round of applause from the Bond-fan crowd when he said he liked Casino Royale but hated QoS. Michael G Wilson was in the audience so hopefully he was taking notice.

[Lord Brett]

I think there was always going to be a return to a more traditional Bond with 23, as signalled by the return of the gunbarrel logo at the end of QOS. Having said that, the type of Bond movie we get is dictated to a large extent by the choice of leading man, and we're never going to see Daniel Craig in Diamonds Are Forever or Moonraker.

[batman]

Having said that, the type of Bond movie we get is dictated to a large extent by the choice of leading man, and we're never going to see Daniel Craig in Diamonds Are Forever or Moonraker.

That's very true .... look how ill at ease Timothy Dalton appeared during the scenes in TLD that were written for Roger Moore's Bond (eg the cello case escape) and how awkwardly he delivered the one-liners. Dalton was at his best during the more dramatic sequences (eg the confrontation with Pushkin) and the same is true of Daniel Craig. He is a Bond perfect for drama and action, but he is also good with the one liners so maybe Mendes will be able to bring out the best of both.

[christoph404]

When we saw Lewis Gilbert at the BFI as part of their Bond weekender, there was a strong round of applause from the Bond-fan crowd when he said he liked Casino Royale but hated QoS. Michael G Wilson was in the audience so hopefully he was taking notice.

I was also there to see the screening of "Moonraker" followed by the question and answer session/interview, Gilbert was very honest in his opinion but also very funny, as he listed the things he thought were wrong with QOS in the presence of Michael Wilson, he ended by saying the main mistake was the fact that he wasn't asked to direct it! That got a big laugh but I think many, including me, had wished he had directed it! Slowing down the frantic cutting would have been a good start.

[bluenose]

I'm so bored with Bond. It's all been done already. There are Bond films with great stories, great direction, great action sequences etc etc etc.



The only new thing they could bring to the series is for Bond to get a sex change operation and start chasing men.



The most talked about thing for Bond movies these days is how they compare to the older stuff (and the majority don't compare at all) which makes me think it's about time he was pensioned off/ killed off/ locked away/ forgotten.



<Gogglebox hides and prepares for ranting hordes>



:

He ain't bloody spying anymore. He's just chasing blokes around building sites, destroying Embassies single handedly and pretending to be Ursula Andress.

I started sniggering in the flicks when I saw the credits....wheres the girls gone, where has Bond's libido which was always associated in the credits...where's it gone?



It was all whatisname, in profile, sillouhette, outline..doing his kung foo karate moves, jumping, standing still - it was a farce of narcisism if you accept the credits as having any relation to the character of Bond.



I know the technology has dated the Connery films, but they were well written and were not built around 2 or 3 set pieces.You had acting actually playing a part in the narrative.

Now we have Dame Judie doing her one week on set, some other bloke doing his one week on set cameo - who is it now Cleese ? - touch the bases and lets have our action set pieces.Formula driven rubbish now, slightly better than Moore when they were taking us down Camp Alley and lost millions.



I've nothing against whatisname - Craig - well, I have really.



Spies don't go around with a " you looking at me?" expression all day - they're more like James Mason and Connery. Affable, humourous and deceitful. Craig is a brilliant action hero for a Brit.



But for goodness sake, get the writers to chill out and THINK about what spying entails. We don't need impossible gadgets and invisible cars.



We need plausible, bolt-on gadgets; an ammoral Bond; dozens of Britains best girls just for candy and preferably stories that move, gyrate and have humour along the way.



If I didn't speak english and saw QoS for the first time I'd have figured it was a gay film. Not homophobic, but I did wonder later.....

[christoph404]

:



Spies don't go around with a " you looking at me?" expression all day - they're more like James Mason and Connery. Affable, humourous and deceitful.



But for goodness sake, get the writers to chill out and THINK about what spying entails. We don't need impossible gadgets and invisible cars.....

Bond in any incarnation is the worlds most unlikely spy....but then he is not a spy anyway....he is a government agent with a licence to kill....sent on covert missions to solve world threatening problems. As Roger Moore once said, how could Bond be an effective spy when every bar tender and croupier around the world recognized him and knew his name. The world of real spying is fairly boring and bleak, usually ex Cambridge bods, Art dealers etc and usually part of a homosexual clique. Fictional spys bear no relation to real spys and I would say that includes the fictional and romantaicised characters as portrayed by James Mason and Connery. If you want to watch a film that deals with real spys I would recommend the TV fim "An Englishman Abroad" or perhaps the TV series "Smiley's People" I'll stick with the fantasy, escapist world of Bond.

[Torquemada]

Daniel Craig is brilliant as Bond and calls for a younger Bond are just nonsense I'm afraid and shows a complete lack of understanding not only of the character but also elements such as the gravitas that can only come with experience required for a good hero. We need to stop catering for the disinterested under 30 minority and get back to good film-making. I agree the fight scene in QoS was rubbish (shaky reverse camera YAWN!), but on second viewing I thought the film as a whole was good and it suffered because of the expectation following Casino Royale which of course was excellent. QoS's biggest failing was it had no third act and went from straight from second to finale and so then highlighted the fact that it was too short.

[batman]

I agree the fight scene in QoS was rubbish (shaky reverse camera YAWN!), but on second viewing I thought the film as a whole was good and it suffered because of the expectation following Casino Royale which of course was excellent.

I totally agree Torque.

[christoph404]

I read a snippet in "The Evening Standard" that suggested a 3D production for the next Bond.....not sure how outlandish that is or whether there is an ounce of truth in it. Anyone else heard anything like that? My first reaction would be to guffaw, but then again 3D is very much in vogue right now.

[batman]

I read this earlier today ....



The new James Bond film will be in 3D.



The next instalment in the British spy movie franchise - which stars Daniel Craig as 007 - has been delayed because bosses reportedly want the movie to utilise new three-dimensional technology.



An insider said: "The 23rd Bond movie has been put back a few months and that has given them the time to prepare to film it in 3-D. Everyone involved in the project is really excited because it will take the franchise in a new direction."



The as yet untitled project had already bee delayed due to issues surrounding the impending sale of MGM Studios.



Producer Michael G. Wilson previously said: "Our timeline's a little up in the air, so we have to be flexible. We just don't know enough about the situation to comment, but we know it's uncertain."



Sam Mendes - who won an Oscar for his debut feature 'American Beauty' - is also reportedly set to direct the film.



Sara Keene, Sam's publicist, confirmed he had met representatives of the Bond franchise to discuss the possibility of him helming the movie but is adamant nothing has been finalised.



She said: "I can confirm that he has had a meeting, but Sam always has lots of projects on the table that he might direct next. Sam's method is to have a number of projects as possible next films and at some point confirm which film he's going to do."



from stuff.co.nz



And it's in The Sun so it must be true ...



link: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...-be-in-3D.html

[noglea]

My choice of director for the next Bond film would be either John MacKenzie or Mike Hodges. Both would make a great job of it i.m.h.o.

[batman]

My choice of director for the next Bond film would be either John MacKenzie or Mike Hodges. Both would make a great job of it i.m.h.o.

Interesting choices, but neither of them has made a decent film in years ... Hodges last decent film was Croupier in 1998 and MacKenzie has done little of note since The Fourth Protocol in 1987.



IIRC both were considered by Eon in the past but nothing happened.

[Rowdon]

A Bond in 3-D would be OK if it stands up as a film in 2-D. I saw "Creature form the Black Lagoon (just to take an example) in 2-D long before I saw it in 3-D, and it's equally good (or poor) in both versions. How many of us have seen Dial M for Murder in 3-D? Not me, but it's still a favourite Hitchcock (for John Williams as much as anything.)



If the film works as a film, and isn't just a technological fashion victim, then go ahead. I think a big, full cinema, huge screen and James Bond in 3-D might just be perfect.

[penfold]

A Bond in 3-D would be OK if it stands up as a film in 2-D. I saw "Creature form the Black Lagoon (just to take an example) in 2-D long before I saw it in 3-D, and it's equally good (or poor) in both versions. How many of us have seen Dial M for Murder in 3-D? Not me, but it's still a favourite Hitchcock (for John Williams as much as anything.)



If the film works as a film, and isn't just a technological fashion victim, then go ahead. I think a big, full cinema, huge screen and James Bond in 3-D might just be perfect.

Dial M worked well in 3D because Hitchcock refused to do anything too gimmicky - there are tables and bits of furniture in the foreground to give the picture depth, that you wouldn't necessarily expect in a 2D set, but IIRC there's none of the throwing stuff at the audience you get in the Howard Keel Kiss Me Kate from the same era. Grace Kelly in 3D was enough.....

[Rowdon]

Grace Kelly in 3D was enough.....

Grace Kelly in 2-D is already too much, in fact. In a good way.



That's the point: nothing gimmicky - concentrate on the film.



(Although in Dial M for Murder, I think she stretches her hand towards the camera where the scissors are, while being strangled - that was pretty much the only 3-D moment...?)

[James Fox]

My choice of director for the next Bond film would be either John MacKenzie or Mike Hodges. Both would make a great job of it i.m.h.o.

I'm thinking Mike Leigh directing Timothy Spall as an ageing Bond who's really let himself go. Living alone in a squalid flat, reflecting on the emptiness of his life. He finally gets up the courage to ask out Miss Moneypenny and the date is awkward but quirky and sweet....