Spectre - anyone see it yet?

[Clonefan94]

I haven't seen this yet, but I get what you are saying. To me the last couple Bond movies have been very "dark", much more so than the older Bond films. I agree that they should go back towards the silly cartoonish antics.

I'm really not torn either way. My personal preference is for the old style, they were entertaining for the fact that you didn't have to take them too seriously. The new direction is also fine, but it just seems like they are relying on the 007 name, but not really taking into account that they are being judged on a different level now than they used to be.

I do get it, if you are going to be a darker, more "real" type of film, the classic tour through the test facilities doesn't really fit. It's almost like they are kind of writing the same *******, took out the humor, gadgets and cool cars and replaced that with dead air. I don't find Spectre to be a terrible movie, it's just kind of out there and falling into a genre where other people are doing it better.

If that makes any sense.

 

[roundball]

when asked if he'd do another bond movie he said he'd rather slash his own wrists.


So I took that as a no...

Hmmm, slash wrists or accept this dump truck full of money they've parked in front of my house... I wouldn't read too heavily into Craig's probably tongue-in-cheek comment. Especially since they've spent the past few movies re-casting so many other roles, like M, Moneypenny, etc.

I haven't seen it, but everyone's reviews echo what I've heard. A lot of people have (negatively) compared it to Skyfall, which means I probably won't see it because I didn't Skyfall was any good (I still can't understand why it was praised so much). Casino Royale was the best Daniel Craig Bond movie by a longshot, in my view.

If this is the best they can do, I'd be in favor of either putting the franchise to bed permanently, or doing yet another reboot with a completely different cast, director, etc...someone like Christopher Nolan if we could time travel and get the Christopher Nolan from 10 years ago. There have been several Bond "phases"...Connery was the styling playboy, Roger Moore's movies were zany and full of corny jokes, Timothy Dalton was...whatever...Pierce Brosnan was the modern, post Cold War Bond, and Daniel Craig's been the super bad-***. I think the type of character that Connery portrayed was the best and most fitting; Bond needs to be a mix of action hero and bad comedian instead of going to one extreme over the other.

 

[roundball]

I'm really not torn either way. My personal preference is for the old style, they were entertaining for the fact that you didn't have to take them too seriously. The new direction is also fine, but it just seems like they are relying on the 007 name, but not really taking into account that they are being judged on a different level now than they used to be.

I do get it, if you are going to be a darker, more "real" type of film, the classic tour through the test facilities doesn't really fit. It's almost like they are kind of writing the same *******, took out the humor, gadgets and cool cars and replaced that with dead air. I don't find Spectre to be a terrible movie, it's just kind of out there and falling into a genre where other people are doing it better.

If that makes any sense.

Wow...I think we just said basically the same thing, at the same time. ESPN?

 

[Farnsworth]

I haven't seen Skyfall yet, so haven't want to see Spectre. Do they at least wrap up the story line from Casino Royal? QoS didn't seem to move the story along at all.

 

[Cyclonetrombone]

The statements about how Spectre improved on Skyfall are dead on with this movie. Spectre referencing back across the other three movies was something I enjoyed. That said it did have moments that felt like a checklist tying off loose strings left from the previous 3. I wish they had done more with Batista's character though. It had potential to be an old school bond featured henchmen on the line of Jaws and OddJob but it just felt like it didn't fulfill its potential.

Curious about the next series and who is going to take up the mantle from here.

 

[Cyclonetrombone]

I haven't seen Skyfall yet, so haven't want to see Spectre. Do they at least wrap up the story line from Casino Royal? QoS didn't seem to move the story along at all.

Definitely see Skyfall first. Spectre is clearly designed to wrap up the previous 3 and in that sense it is pulled off well in my opinion.

 

[NickTheGreat]

Except he's signing up to do commercials where, he isn't directly Bond, but you can tell he's playing the character.

Anyways, what I think the Bond films are lacking now are the "crazy antics" that the older films were famous for. I admit, the formula did get kind of tiring, but in a lot of ways, it was like watching a cartoon. A caricature of a playboy spy and not having to take them so seriously is what made them fun. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think the new formula is terrible, but when you take out a lot o the classic "Bond" elements, you have to really make a solid movie then. I think in their attempt to get away from the old Bond, they've gone a little too far to try to enter the psychological thriller genre.

Bond was always Bond, it was a genre of it's own that others tried to copy. Now Bond is switching gears and moving into the Mission Impossible, Taken and those types of films. So, instead of being able to say, "Meh, it was a Bond Film, what do you expect?" You are now saying, "How did it compare to MI4?"

I've read this before and Craig has said the same thing, that Mike Meyers forced this type of Bond. You can't do the silly, campy Bond when Austin Powers lampooned it. You have to ratchet things up.

I mean, have you seen Moonraker??? :twitcy:

 

[Gorm]

I've been a Bond fan ever since I was a kid. Favorite movies are still From Russia with Love and OHMSS.

I enjoyed Spectre for what it was. I think it was an attempt to bring in some more classic Bond elements into Daniel Craigs Bond tenure. The pre-titles scene was excellent. The title song was not good. The title sequence was not good. The soundtrack was almost all recycled material. There was mostly Skyfall music in it, with mixed in archived David Arnold music. I mean, Arnold was an awesome composer, why couldn't they get him for Skyfall. During all of the "Bond moment" scenes, your hearing recorded Arnold work from the late Brosnan era.

I think Craig will be back for the next movie, and Blofeld will be back as well. This movie already started to go down the remake of OHMSS route. The next movie will likely continue this. They are already trying to make the "blonde gal" the Tracy Bond of Craig. Those of us who have seen OHMSS knows how that turns out...

 

[Wesley]

He talked that way after the last couple of Bond films also, but they managed to drag him back for another one each time. It sounds like the role is very taxing and a huge burden on him.

Oh to pity the rich man.

 

[Rogue52]

As a huge Bond fan, SPECTRE had excellent moments. It was not nearly as good as Skyfall, but Skyfall is arguably the best Bond movie ever if people could look past the nastalgia of Sean Connery.

The first half of SPECTRE was great. The Mexico City scene as Craig strutted his way down the street in mask and then the action scene that followed. The mystery that was M sending him a video after she died. The build-up to the SPECTRE round-table meeting. Of course, my favorite part of the movie was the return of Mr. White.

"I always knew death would wear a familiar face, but not yours."

"You're a kite dancing in a hurricane, Mr. Bond."

And then, things seem to deteriorate a bit from there and get weird. And I think the problem was they were trying too hard to call back to the old days of Bond in a Craig world.

My hope is they build on the SPECTRE plot with Blofeld still running the world from prison. I expect a OHMSS type film in the next movie. White's daughter is not going to survive.

While nothing is official, Daniel Craig is under contract for another film and I expect he will do one more.

 

[tm3308]

As a huge Bond fan, SPECTRE had excellent moments. It was not nearly as good as Skyfall, but Skyfall is arguably the best Bond movie ever if people could look past the nastalgia of Sean Connery.

The first half of SPECTRE was great. The Mexico City scene as Craig strutted his way down the street in mask and then the action scene that followed. The mystery that was M sending him a video after she died. The build-up to the SPECTRE round-table meeting. Of course, my favorite part of the movie was the return of Mr. White.

"I always knew death would wear a familiar face, but not yours."

"You're a kite dancing in a hurricane, Mr. Bond."

And then, things seem to deteriorate a bit from there and get weird. And I think the problem was they were trying too hard to call back to the old days of Bond in a Craig world.

My hope is they build on the SPECTRE plot with Blofeld still running the world from prison. I expect a OHMSS type film in the next movie. White's daughter is not going to survive.

While nothing is official, Daniel Craig is under contract for another film and I expect he will do one more.

This was what I thought the issue was. The movie was fine; it definitely wasn't QoS-level. But it's a distant third behind Skyfall and Casino Royale, IMO.

It was way more tongue-in-cheek, which I personally don't care for, at least not with Craig's Bond. The older Bonds definitely have their place, but Craig's Bond isn't those Bonds, and that's why I've always liked his the best. The Bond in the books was a monster thinly veiled as a playboy. He was just as likely to kick your *** for no reason at all as he was to have a drink with you. Craig portrayed that better than anyone, IMO. And going for cheap, corny chuckles like the old films just doesn't jive with that kind of portrayal, IMO.

 

[CYcoFan]

Daniel Craig has signed on for two more movies. Question for some of you hard core fans. Do you feel like the next film is the OHMSS remake or is it Craigs final film?

Personally I feel like Daniel Craig's current Bond story arc brings OHMSS next. OHMSS was the 10th novel with You Only Live Twice, Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy and The Living Daylights following.

My pipe dream is to have OHMSS remade next and at the end his wife is shot with a golden bullet. Then Craig's final movie is a You Only Live Twice/ Man with the Golden Gun combo. Blofeld contracts Scaramanga and Bonds final act is to take them both down. There are a few ways they could work that depending on how they end the next movie, but that would make Craig's silver screen Bond essentially Fleming's comprehensive work.

Thoughts

 

[Rural]

I think these movies have also been Tom Cruised and Matt Damoned.

 

[3GenClone]

So CyCo, what did I miss, because I thought Spectre was terrible. Are the Daniel Craig/Sam Mendes films more true to the books? If that's the case then maybe I need to rewatch them again, starting with Casino Royale.

I thought the Blofeld reveal was beyond stupid, but I could see how that is the way it unfolds in the novels.

 

[Gorm]

An OHMSS remake with Craig would be really interesting. Although it would be hard to top. The original OHMSS is probably my favorite Bond movie.

 

[CYcoFan]

So CyCo, what did I miss, because I thought Spectre was terrible. Are the Daniel Craig/Sam Mendes films more true to the books? If that's the case then maybe I need to rewatch them again, starting with Casino Royale.

I thought the Blofeld reveal was beyond stupid, but I could see how that is the way it unfolds in the novels.

A couple of things. First Sam Mendes only directed Skyfall and Spectre. Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace were diff guys.


What I meant is that all of Craig's films are more congruent. For instance, Quantum of Solace is the first sequel in the film series as it literally picks up right where Casino Royale leaves off. The continuity throughout the four movies is very much like the novels and in some ways is a pared down version of the nine novels it represents to this point.


In the novels Blofeld is not an adoptive brother of Bond. That part of the story was a creative liberty. I dont love or hate it. I was just glad to see Blofeld and Spectre behind everything so far in the movies (even Quantum in the first 2 and what takes place in Skyfall). That is very much like the novels and is what I meant.

 

[3GenClone]

Sounds like you guys wanting an adaptation of On Her Majesty's Secret Service may be getting your wish. The rumor is that the next Bond movie starts with... (I'll put it in spoilers just in case)

Spoiler: Bond 25

the murder of Bond’s wife. The role will reportedly be played by Lea Seydoux (Madeline Swann from Spectre).


https://pagesix.com/2017/09/04/surprising-plot-for-new-james-bond-movie-leaks/

A Hollywood insider tells us that in the film that’s so far been dubbed “Bond 25”: “Bond quits the secret service, and he’s in love and gets married.” The source continues that “his wife then gets killed,” bringing Bond back into action.

In the franchise’s last film from 2015, “Spectre,” Bond’s love interest was Léa Seydoux as Dr. Madeleine Swann — who’s (naturally) rescued by Bond just before the closing credits. But the source says that as the next film opens, they are in wedded bliss. “The film’s like ‘Taken’ with Bond,” says the source, who adds that the suave spy is trying to avenge his wife’s murder.

 

[3GenClone]

Didn't see another "James Bond" thread, so figured this would do:

Just announced that Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Sunshine, 28 Days Later) will direct the latest Bond film, and it will be Daniel Craig's last film as James Bond.

https://io9.gizmodo.com/danny-boyle-announces-hes-directing-daniel-craigs-final-1823793816