Posted on 12/06/2021 5:27:21 AM PST by Rummyfan
I’ve proudly seen every James Bond movie ever made, even the George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan doozies, plus Woody Allen’s 1967 “Casino Royale” spoof. As a kid, I even inhaled Duco Cement fumes assembling a plastic model 1964 Aston Martin DB5—with a working ejector seat!
Bond films delivered a feeling of sophistication and fun. The original James Bond was suave and sassy while he resolved sinister plots. He exemplified cool: He drank vodka martinis but never to excess, was impeccably dressed and, though flirty, was a gentleman. The early films were filled with innuendo and scenes that were simultaneously exotic and a touch campy. Sean Connery’s Bond had a joie de vivre. Roger Moore’s was less serious and a little over the top, but the audience was in on the joke.
Scholars love to analyze Bond creator and author Ian Fleming’s work as an allegory: Bond is the new Churchill, saving the British Empire from its inevitable postwar decline. Bond’s motivation in Her Majesty’s Secret Service is always God and country, epitomized in the opening scene of “The Spy Who Loved Me” when he skis off a cliff and unfurls a parachute emblazoned with the Union Jack.
But since Daniel Craig took over in 2006, things have turned strange, especially with his final Bond film, “No Time to Die,” which I recently watched. It was dark and gloomy like 2012’s “Skyfall.” Billie Eilish practically whispers the theme song, seemingly from a shrink’s couch. Bond was brooding, with a constant scowl on his face. What was he so depressed about, Brexit? No wonder Mr. Craig reportedly couldn’t wait to finish his run as 007.
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We saw the movie but did not like the ending at all. How will anther Bond movie be made after that ending?
The Bond series is dying a slow, painful death. RIP.
I’ve seen every Bond film at least twice, some more then 5 times. No Time to Die will be my last Bond film, a new female Bond doesn’t work for me. So no more Bond for me, get woke go broke.
I bought the 50 year anniversary cd collection. copied to my video server and watch them. For some reason i like them.
Bond is a man’s man who saves the world and gets all the girls.
Bond is escapism for men who want to be like Bond and for women who want to be bedded by a man like Bond.
The Daniel Craig (who should play a live action Charlie Brown) Bond films threw much of this formula away for nothing.
After reading Ian Fleming's original James Bond books (highly recommended), and seeing most of the films, I think Daniel Craig was an excellent choice for the James Bond character, following closely behind Sir Sean Connery. Unfortunately, I believe the next James Bond will be an affirmative action character and/or story, like the last three Star Wars episodes.
I guess I’m a different breed of Bond fan from most of you. Skyfall is a dark and haunting film that gives Bond the appearance of a soul. Sure, it’s not the almost campy fun of Live and Let Die, doesn’t have Honey Rider, or a bottle of wine from Phoo Yuck, but it’s a quality film. Daniel Craig’s films have been quite a change, but just as I found Timothy Dalton’s Bond to be somewhat wimpy and moralizing, they have their place.
Connery will always be my favorite Bond, Ursula Andress my favorite Bond woman, and Goldfinger the best villain. Bond is going woke, we all knew it would happen. I’m not even watching No Time to Die. Auric Goldfinger is getting his wish after these many decades...Mr. Bond will die. RIP.
“The Bond series is dying a slow, painful death. RIP.”
That was it. There will not be another James Bond movie.
I saw Craig in the first Bond movie he made, and never wanted to see him again in that roll. He maintained a mannequin-like face the whole time, and that fight he had in a lake at night that was so lit up you could read news print was bit too much. And the plot was also stupid.
I thought the female (probably a POC) Bond project was scrapped as initial public feedback was very negative.
Yep, no time to die and Skyfall were not my favs. I do think Casino Royale was one of the best ever.
Either Bond will morph into a black or gay - that no Bond fan wishes to see - or they won't make another one for years and years, and then re-invent the franchise for the next "woke" generation. Ian Flemings books will be banned as "White Supremacist" literature and "re-imagined with a "global cast."
Favorite: On Her Majesty's Secret Service
And how many of us gentlemen, after putting on a tuxedo for a night out, stand in front of the mirror and say, “The name’s Bond...James Bond”? Come on, admit it.
Love the early Bond films. The witty macho, me too offending, martini swilling, reckless driving, gadget toting guy running up the body count throughout the flick, was the good guy The guy with a cat as his only friend and a bunch of nukes in his basement was always the bad guy. I can’t imagine ever having to ask 007 what his pronouns were. I can, however, definitely imagine asking the guy with the cat.
They can easily reboot the series with a new Bond and pretend Craig didn't happen, or happened in an alternate universe. In Casino Royale, Bond was made a double-o agent at the beginning of the film, even though he had been 007 in films since 1962. And yet we see him as a freshman agent in Casino Royale. They even kept the same M as played by Judy Dench who had worked with Brosnan as 007 proving they are not slavishly devoted to their story lines and continuity. All they need to do with a reboot is get a new Bond (which they will hype for all it is worth), and start a new adventure as though No Time to Die never happened.
I do think Bond has reached the end of his usefulness. The early films (and before them the novels) were popular because the Cold War was going on and it had not been so long since the Kim Philby treason, so spies were very "in". Also the films were very daring for their time showing a man having several amorous liaisons per movie and smoking and drinking and enjoying the high life while living dangerously. The newness and daring of the early films can never be recaptured, IMO.
When the daughter took over production, it turned to social justice.
The villains were no longer crazy crimimals with outlandish plans for world domination, but capitalists.
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