Questions About Bond Films that You Have been Afraid to Ask SPOILERS

I honestly think that Lazenby had a nice future in front of him with Bond. Its a shame we only got one film out of him.
 
I like that take on it Wes. In the movies, a certain competition of sorts seems to exist between Bond and 008, who we get the sense in M's OTHER favorite agent. (M threatens to replace Bond with 008 a few times in fact).

Perhaps this could be Bond making a joke that 008 tends to be more monk than hitman...with the ladies.
 
Oh I know, just would be interesting.

Sure would have!

I like that take on it Wes. In the movies, a certain competition of sorts seems to exist between Bond and 008, who we get the sense in M's OTHER favorite agent. (M threatens to replace Bond with 008 a few times in fact).

I never got that impression. I always figured they were using the obvious "next on the list" thing.

However in the Goldfinger Novel Flemming notes that 008 is "a good man, more careful than Bond".
 
So where does Skyfall fit in the 007 movie timeline?

This question has been playfully ruminating in my mind since I saw the movie - particularly where it falls among the other Bond movies.
We know without a doubt that the Craig films were a pseudo reboot. Not an absolutely explicit one, but we were warned that past continuity would not be absolutely secure.

We really have to enjoy the gambit of movies with a "squinty eye." Meaning that there is no way for continuity to work at this point, so just sit back and enjoy without over thinking things.

To be honest, I first questioned the blatant continuity problems that I thought were avoidable. Why cast Dench? But I learned to really enjoy her performance. So I'll use that squinty eye to imagine the GE M is not the same woman.
Why is he using a P99 in CR? Squinty eye.

Perhaps someday, we will be treated to a "reboot" that is a period piece. Set in the 60s, at the height of the Cold War, smack in the middle of the Connery time period. That would be really cool. But short of this, no contemporary Bond scenario is going to be 100% continuous. For Heaven's sake, Craig was born 6 years after Dr. No was in theaters. Geopolitically, at some point, some major Bond plots do not work.

With all that said, along with my squinty eye, I still think it's fun (and possible) to create a timeline that works. If I were ordering the Bond movies, I'd probably list them like this:

CR
QoS
GF
DN
FRWL
TB
OHMSS* (these two are hopeless together)
YOLT* (and somewhat interchangeable. I don't like that Bond wouldn't seek revenge in YOLT but it makes more sense that Blofeld's line introducing himself for the first time was "sarcasm" Blofeld not recognizing him in OHMSS)
TSWLM
TLD
GE Pre title sequence
TMWGG
LLD
LTK
GE
DAF
TMWTGG
TND
FYEO
DAD
SKYFALL
TWINE
OP
Moonraker
AVTAK

Many of these are just based on general feelings and can be moved here and there. I put AVTAK at the end merely because its the oldest we see Bond with regard to Roger Moore's age.
 
So where does Skyfall fit in the 007 movie timeline?

Right after the two others that exist in this timeline... ;)

We know without a doubt that the Craig films were a pseudo reboot. Not an absolutely explicit one, but we were warned that past continuity would not be absolutely secure.

Not pseudo, legit reboot. Think of it like JJ Trek, it's a different universe now. However, let's play your game anyway... ;)

"squinty eye."

You need more than that! You need a ruddy blindfold! :lol

Perhaps someday, we will be treated to a "reboot" that is a period piece. Set in the 60s, at the height of the Cold War, smack in the middle of the Connery time period. That would be really cool. But short of this, no contemporary Bond scenario is going to be 100% continuous. For Heaven's sake, Craig was born 6 years after Dr. No was in theaters. Geopolitically, at some point, some major Bond plots do not work.

Will NEVER happen on film. At least not while the Broccoli's are still involved and Barbara has a good 30 years of Bond left. What I would love to see is a group of mini-series somewhere like HBO. 6 episodes to a novel, just as written, taking place in the late 50's early 60's. It would be brilliant.

CR
QoS
GF
DN
FRWL
TB
OHMSS* (these two are hopeless together)
YOLT* (and somewhat interchangeable. I don't like that Bond wouldn't seek revenge in YOLT but it makes more sense that Blofeld's line introducing himself for the first time was "sarcasm" Blofeld not recognizing him in OHMSS)
TSWLM
TLD
GE Pre title sequence
TMWGG
LLD
LTK
GE
DAF
TMWTGG
TND
FYEO
DAD
SKYFALL
TWINE
OP
Moonraker
AVTAK

Alright, lemme have a go. Here are the important overall plot point films:

CR - Origin story
QOS - Immediate sequel to CR
DN - Big "squint" here. Bond's Beretta is replaced with the PPK.
OHMSS - Obvious
DAF - Needs to be closer to OHMSS. Bond is looking for revenge at the start.
FYEO - Death of Blofeld

Everything else, for the most part, is interchangeable.

However, letting go the fact that Moore looks 80 in his last couple films it would make more sense to me this way:

CR
QOS
DN
FRWL
GF
TB
OHMSS
YOLT
DAF
FYEO - After killing Blofeld, Bond's able to return to guilt free life.
LALD
TSWLM
MR
OP
AVTAK
TLD
LTK
GE
TND
TWINE
SF
DAD
TMWTGG - Everyone and their mother knows who 007 is in this film. Would only make sense after a very public prisoner exchange hence DAD then this.
 
Mike your post of the order was a great read. I have really enjoyed your opinions. Thank you for ping ponging this discussion. :lol it's been a lot of fun. I think I have come close to tiring my friends who are Bond fans with my attempts at such conversations. :lol
 
Mike your post of the order was a great read. I have really enjoyed your opinions. Thank you for ping ponging this discussion. :lol it's been a lot of fun. I think I have come close to tiring my friends who are Bond fans with my attempts at such conversations. :lol

:lol:thumbsup

I *LOVE* talking Bond and am happy to exhaust any topic within it. I could think that you're completely wrong on everything and still enjoy the conversation. :)
 
Any fun "in universe" explanations for Lazenby's "This never happened to the other fellow" line?
Cinderella's Prince. Having his lovely lady run out leaving a slipper behind.... But the Prince wasn't beaten up and nearly killed by Cinderella's stepsisters!

;)

I always thought that was the point, until seeing the "making of" documentary a few years ago.

(edit)

Agreed, and often wonder the same thing.

I tend to think Bond has a gambit of personality traits, but its almost like each actor emphasizes one more than the others - Connery and his masculinity, Moore and his wit, Dalton and Bond's coldness, Brosnan and his class, and Craig's emotion. I felt Lazenby's trait was Bond's arrogance. His words just roll of his tongue. I liked that a lot. That caviar scene is one of my favorites. Sure it might have been because Lazenby was an arrogant ******* in real life, but it worked.


Superb analysis, sir.

I like to play a revisionist game with OHMSS ... I mute the volume on the 3-4 occasions where they overdubbed some quip that I don't think was said on set.[1] My tip off was years ago when I noticed his lips weren't moving. Without those, Lazenby's Bond is a bit quieter, more serious like in the books.

I wonder if Peter Hunt had Lazenby playing it a bit straight with just glimmers of wit, and in post-prod someone said, "Oy, WTF are the casual quips? We need the jibes and jokes. Dub 'em in, dammit!"

[1] "This never happened to the other fella..." "Beluga caviar...." "Mystery tour, eh?" "Guns make me nervous..."

Agree with everything except Moore. As a big fan of the literary character I can assure you that Moore's version of Bond's "wit" is so far removed from the character it's not even recognizable. Moore is just a series of punchlines, Bond isn't AT ALL.

Easily the closest to the true character was Dalton. That said Connery is my favourite Bond. :)
I liked Moore in LALD when it came out (all of 10 years old) as I liked him as The Saint, and thought he played a slick, smiling, cold-blooded manipulator and killer pretty well. Then it all went downhill faster than pig **** in a coal chute. Brief breath of fresh air in FYEO (which I just re-watched and started gagging ... he was already too old for the role), then back to cartoon nonsense.

When the Dalton films came out, I recognized that they had to have at least minimum sprinklings of tropes and motifs a la FYEO, but Dalton was playing Bond as a bit more private and keeping his own counsel. Like Lazenby's on-set behavior, copyright and legal circumstances scuttled us from getting 1-2 more great flicks with Dalton. And I always wanted Felix Leiter to come back, as in the book IIRC. More gravitas then "they got a lot closer to you in Jamaica" in GOLDFINGER.

Really? In OHMSS he sleeps with loads of women back to back! He even starts lining them up in his schedule before he's found out. :lol

That's right out of the book, actually. Read it again last year.... While he's at the clinic, I think he goes over a letter he got from her at *her* clinic (she goes into a sort of Betty Ford / Get Yer S*** Together for Rich People place), and thinks about how it would be spending his life with her. In a very cold, analytical way. So, bookwise that is, before he escapes Piz Gloria, he's already thinking of Draco's offer.

In the movie, they pumped up the romance prior to the Gumbold break-in, Satchmo etc. Including looking at an engagement or wedding ring. Kinda makes him a bit of a ****. :p Granted, when Draco asks Tracy if "he returns your feelings," she shrugs and sighs, "Perhaps in time." Well, it WAS 1969, after all....
 
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In the movie, they pumped up the romance prior to the Gumbold break-in, Satchmo etc. Kinda makes him a bit of a ****. :p

Agreed. The "We have all the time in the world" montage takes place shortly before the Gumbold break-in, long before Bond tears through the clinic.
 
Thought this was funny
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Ok, so here's a Bond question I'm almost afraid to ask...

Am I the only Bond fan here that actually kind of dug Never Say Never Again?

Yeah, yeah, I *know* about why it was made. I *know* it's not really canon. I *know* it was a contractual remake of Thunderball.

Still...

For one thing, I liked the older Connery in the role. And it was nice to see him looking like he was actually enjoying it (as opposed to his final "official" Bond appearance).

I liked Irvin Kershner's direction. He did a decent job given the copyright constraints of the story and the relatively limited budget.

Kim Basinger.

I get a kick out of the ridiculous, over-the-top foley work on the sound.

I want to play that video game. I don't care how cheesy it looks.

So there. I said it. I liked Never Say Never Again.
 
Nah, I liked it too, particularly when I was younger.

I particularly like the line "I'm to eliminate all free radicals."
 
I like NSNA too. Although Basinger is horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE in it. It took all the way to LA Confidential for her to live it down for me.
 
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