The next Bond movie was named this week, along with the cast.
http://deadline.com/2014/12/bond-24-title-1201308576/
Quote
And, now we know. Director Sam Mendes has revealed the title for Bond 24 which will be Spectre. Mendes made the announcement this morning from the 007 stage at Pinewood Studios where the film will shoot along with London, Rome, Mexico City, Tangier, Erfoud and the Austrian Alps. The newest cast members are confirmed as Christoph Waltz, Andrew Scott, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci and Léa Seydoux. Daniel Craig will of course return as Bond along with Rory Kinnear as Tanner, Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny and Ralph Fiennes as the new M. Oscar winner Waltz will play Oberhauser, while Blue Is The Warmest Color's Seydoux is Madeleine Swann and Bellucci is Lucia Sciarra. (Bellucci is a nice get for the Bond folks who I hear have been eyeing her for a role for a long time.) Guardians Of The Galaxy's Bautista is playing Mr Hinx and Sherlock's Scott is Denbigh. Interstellar cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema will shoot the film with Mendes. And that same film's Lee Smith is joining as editor. Also rolling in is the Aston Martin DB10 which was designed specially for Spectre.
The logline for the new film is: "A cryptic message from Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE." (Check out the animated title sequence below.)
Bond aficionados may recognize the title from the 007 canon. It's an acronym for "Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion." A global crime organization, it's previously been led by evil genius Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the Ian Fleming novels, who also appears in the films From Russia With Love, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever and For Your Eyes Only. There had been speculation that Waltz would play him in this 24th Bond movie, but his character name would seem to dispel that — unless it's a ruse. Bond lore has it that Hannes Oberhauser was an Austrian climbing and skiing instructor who taught a young James while he was on breaks from Fettes College. They formed a strong father-son relationship, but Oberhauser mysteriously disappeared. The Daily Mail has reported that Waltz will be introduced as Franz Oberhauser, Hannes' son, but later be revealed as Blofeld. (A long-running legal battle was settled last year between the producers and the estate of Kevin McClory which involved rights to the character and other elements of the 007 franchise.) Erstwhile Bond, Roger Moore, tweeted this on today's announcements:
Spectre hails from EON Productions, MGM, and Sony Pictures Entertainment with Mendes directing his second Bond film after global blockbuster Skyfall. Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson are producers. John Logan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are writers. Spectre releases on November 6, 2015.
Monica Bellucci O0 :smitten:
Love it. Great cast lined up.
(https://s.yimg.com/cd/resizer/2.0/FIT_TO_WIDTH-w500/e6f454582e8acadb095ff36dc27f5a6bfa7bf99c.jpg)
(https://s.yimg.com/cd/resizer/2.0/FIT_TO_WIDTH-w500/5920d8ffedcb0c6f2c51e620c7d31158805f46b3.jpg)
very GOOD eye Mirth! O0
Maybe they'll be a Marvel cross-over! ;) :P
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg1.wikia.nocookie.net%2F__cb20140726103432%2Fm__%2Fmarvel%2Fpl%2Fimages%2F1%2F11%2FColossus_Bloodline_Vol_1_4_Textless2.jpg&hash=48d18794c8b0527238d92174ccaeee4d4e99a71e)
Hail Spydra!
QuoteFor Your Eyes Only
well yeah, but only in the pre-credit title sequence when Blofeld gets dumped down an industrial chimney
I hope there will be some worthwhile connections to QUANTUM, since that group was already basically SPECTRE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPECTRE
QuoteLed by evil genius and supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the supranational organisation first formally appeared in the novel Thunderball (1961) and in the film Dr. No (1962). SPECTRE is not aligned to any nation or political ideology, enabling the later Bond books and Bond films to be regarded as apolitical.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(comics)
QuoteHydra first appeared in Strange Tales #135. In its original continuity, it was headed by nondescript businessman Arnold Brown, who was killed as S.H.I.E.L.D. apparently crushed the organization. It soon returned, however, headed by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, with the support of the Nazi Red Skull; Hydra's changing origin was one of Marvel's earliest retcons. After its initial defeat, several of its branches, such as its scientific branch A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) and the Secret Empire, became independent.
Strange Tales #135 was published in 1965
So SPECTRE came first
^slow day at the office?
they're all slow...
I see what your grammar did there.
Hopefully it doesn't suck as hard as Skyfall does.
I thought Skyfall was pretty good. What didn't you like about it.
Pretty much everything.
The villain was a lamer copy of Sean Bean from Goldeneye. Silva's diabolical plot made absolutely no sense. For his plan to work, a chain of events have to occur in a way that are beyond Silva's control. So Silva's scheme is to get captured by MI6 so he can plant a virus in their PCs as a distraction so he can then go kill M at the hearing. He's even got two fake cops planted there to hand off a package of stuff to him. OK, but then the film tells us that the only way Bond caught him was by analyzing a bullet fragment in the dead assassin. This leads Bond to some guy who has a poker chip from a casino so he goes there and manages to find some chick who just happens to know where Silva's hiding out. So how'd he know exactly when Bond would nab him? Just how many days were those fake cops just supposed to stand around in the subway tunnel, holding their package in the hopes that Silva would show up. Yet somehow we're supposed to believe that Silva had it timed out so perfectly that he'd been able to plan it so exactly that he even knew when to trigger a bomb to drop a train on Bond.
Bond's plan wasn't a whole lot better. So Bond plants hidden information in MI6's computers for Silva to find to let him know that Bond and M will be hiding out at Bond's family estate in Scotland. OK, but if you're going to inform the bad guy of this, why would you even bring M there at all? She's a withered old woman, not a field agent. The only link Silva has to M at this point is what Bond tells him so why not hide here anywhere else on the planet? And why wouldn't you set up defences a little more robust than "angry old Scottish git with a shotgun" if you know the baddies are coming?
Other bits of stupidity are having Q meet Bond in the middle of an art museum during open hours to hand him a pistol in full view of everyone at the gallery.
And having nice, bright green LEDs on the pistol because that's always good in low light situations when you're trying to be sneaky.
I thought Casino Royale was great. Quantum of Solace was alright but suffered from a weak bad guy. Skyfall was shit. The trend isn't going in the right direction.
To be fair, look who complaining. ;)
I enjoyed it as a Bond film.
SDR wakes up on a sunny day and complains about the hue of a blue sky and how bright the sun is.
Giggity! Definitely looking forward to this.
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on December 05, 2014, 08:18:49 AM
Monica Bellucci O0 :smitten:
+1
I'm honestly surprised she hadn't been a Bond girl already.
Quote from: JasonPratt on December 05, 2014, 12:13:33 PM
I hope there will be some worthwhile connections to QUANTUM, since that group was already basically SPECTRE.
There will be. The actor who played Mr. White confirms he'll be returning in Spectre.
QUANTUM was only used as a name because when Casino Royale was released, there was still an ongoing dispute with the McLory over the ownership of SPECTRE and the Blofeld character.
Only after McLory died and his estate sold the Thunderball rights back to EON in 2013 was SPECTRE finally available for use in the Bond canon.
I'm loving it, Bond hasn't quite been Bond without SPECTRE. I'm hoping Waltz is playing Blofeld, really hoping.
Everyone's noted how the bullet resembles the SPECTRE logo. But has anyone else caught the little callback of a single bullet hole in glass to a certain scene at the end of On Her Majesty's Secret Service?
^^ Ah, nice! (Yes, knew QUANTUM was supposed to be the new SPECTRE due to rights issues, but didn't know Mr. White would be back to forge the link properly.)
And nice! Nope hadn't noticed the callback to OHMSS. Hope they don't try to do that plot twist... too soon after Vesper, who notably was presented as being Miss Moneypenny, M's accountant. "Are you the money?" "Every penny." I realize they had to introduce an 'official' one eventually, but I was still kind of sad that they did. (Also sad that the writers intentionally killed the "James Bond is a code name" theory with Skyfall.)
As for Monica, I always figured she had too much class artistically and personally than to end up joining a line of actresses on an extra promo, talking about how each of them wanted to do something different with the Bond girl. :buck2:
I barely understood a single word of that... :P
All you really need is, "Bond. James Bond".
In Bond-related news, Christopher Lee, one of the key real-life inspirations for the character, died this past Sunday. (I just found out while checking on some other things.)
Indeed. R.I.P. Saruman/Dracula/ Taramunga. I heard he was in the SAS during WWII. He probably had real life stories more exciting than the parts he played. A great loss.
Peter Jackson, directing the final Saruman/Grima scenes: "Okay, now when he hits you, remember to imagine what a man being stabbed in the back sounds like -- "
Christopher Lee And His Eyebrows: "I don't have to imagine."
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on December 05, 2014, 04:55:43 PM
Pretty much everything.
I thought Casino Royale was great. Quantum of Solace was alright but suffered from a weak bad guy. Skyfall was shit. The trend isn't going in the right direction.
Yeah, Skyfall started out ok, but ended-up disappointing me. Bond movies (IMHO) should have cheeky humour, wonder, colour, gadgets, hot babes, and all-that.
If Skyfall was a movie about another secret agent, it would have been fine. But it was a Bond-movie, it didn't follow the canon as I would have liked, so it left me cold.
Looks like Spectre is going to be more like Skyfall than anything else, which does nothing to excite me.
Skyfall made $1.1bn, so get used to this new style of Bond film.
FWIW, I wasn't much of a fan of it either.
Skyfall was much closer to the Bond books than the previous movies have been
Casino Royale seemed like a reasonably faithful adaptation.
Not according to David Niven and Woody Allen.
Quote from: Staggerwing on June 15, 2015, 06:06:43 PM
Not according to David Niven and Woody Allen.
Yeah, that might have been a looser interpretation.
Quote from: mirth on June 15, 2015, 02:01:22 PM
Skyfall made $1.1bn, so get used to this new style of Bond film.
FWIW, I wasn't much of a fan of it either.
:coolsmiley:
Yeah, I wasn't expecting my dismay to sway the direction of Eon Productions.
Quote from: Centurion40 on June 15, 2015, 01:41:27 PM
Bond movies (IMHO) should have cheeky humour, wonder, colour, gadgets, hot babes, and all-that.
This is why I will argue that the Brosnan years were the apex of the classical form.
I'm not against the reboot from Casino Royale onward -- I've enjoyed all three films (even though they're rarely 'fun'), and have watched each numerous times, and I would even argue they're better films overall. But they don't really feel like James Bond films. Which was the razor's edge they were walking by intentionally making them grittier and more realistic (sort of): could they make some Bourne Identity films that were legitimately James Bond films?
The Bourne films are total abortions. They are great action flicks, but sooooooooo disconnected from the original Bourne stories that they shouldn't be allowed to claim the name.
Quote from: bayonetbrant on June 17, 2015, 03:21:53 PM
The Bourne films are total abortions. They are great action flicks, but sooooooooo disconnected from the original Bourne stories that they shouldn't be allowed to claim the name.
Indeed. Solid action flicks, but the book are sooooooooooo much better.
books are always better.
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on June 17, 2015, 11:15:03 PM
books are always better.
Except for non-horror stories written by Stephen King. I found the film adaptations for
Shawshank,
Stand By Me, and
The Green Mile to all be superior to the original works.
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on June 17, 2015, 11:15:03 PMbooks are always better.
The
For Your Eyes Only movie was far superior to the short story from which the named was taken.
Ditto the Philip K Dick short story that was the basis for
Total Recall ("We Can Remember It For You Wholesale").
Quote from: JasonPratt on June 17, 2015, 03:15:58 PM
Quote from: Centurion40 on June 15, 2015, 01:41:27 PM
Bond movies (IMHO) should have cheeky humour, wonder, colour, gadgets, hot babes, and all-that.
This is why I will argue that the Brosnan years were the apex of the classical form.
I'm not against the reboot from Casino Royale onward -- I've enjoyed all three films (even though they're rarely 'fun'), and have watched each numerous times, and I would even argue they're better films overall. But they don't really feel like James Bond films. Which was the razor's edge they were walking by intentionally making them grittier and more realistic (sort of): could they make some Bourne Identity films that were legitimately James Bond films?
All fair points.
Latest trailer. My interest is picking up.
Monica Bellucci, at 50, is the oldest ever 'Bond Girl'. And I'm just fine with that.
Quote from: JasonPratt on December 05, 2014, 12:13:33 PM
I hope there will be some worthwhile connections to QUANTUM, since that group was already basically SPECTRE.
BTW Jason, it looks like you'll be getting your wish in this regard. Mr White is returning, at least.
Quote from: mirth on July 22, 2015, 11:53:59 AM
Monica Bellucci, at 50, is the oldest ever 'Bond Girl'. And I'm just fine with that.
Monica Bellucci is a beautiful woman of sexual fantasy.
Hotter now than most Bond girls in their prime, in my opinion.
Quote from: bayonetbrant on June 18, 2015, 07:05:56 AM
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on June 17, 2015, 11:15:03 PMbooks are always better.
The For Your Eyes Only movie was far superior to the short story from which the named was taken.
And yet far from the best of any generation of Bond films. :P
(I watched it in full for the first time last year after getting the Bond Blu megaset, along with a few others I had never gotten around to watching; and I can't say I missed much of anything in any of them, except maybe
From Russia With Love -- though it still didn't live up to expectations I had heard about it.)
Quote from: HuwHotter now than most Bond girls in their prime, in my opinion.
I was just thinking the other day, was Maude Adams the previous record holder for oldest Bond girl? In her first appearance (as another character in an earlier film) she doesn't seem that old, but as the title character of
Octopussy she seems as old as Roger Moore! (Which couldn't possibly be true, but still...)
Mirth,
Yes, I'm very curious to see how the writers segue into Spectre from Quantum (which I know was created due to the Broccolis not really having the rights to the group and its infamous Blofeld anymore)! Though it's weird how the writers and/or producers have sort of written themselves into a corner from the outset by casting an actor as Bond who is old enough to play up an early retirement angle. They started trotting out the loose-cannon-off-the-grid ideas already back in
Skyfall, and now they're doing it again, which seems... unfresh and a bit desperate. I hope I can ignore it successfully. ;)
In passing, I heard the "Secret Service" theme for the first time in what feels like forever -- I'm sure not since before
A View to a Kill. Is David Arnold coming back to do the music? His tenure from
Tomorrow Never Dies through to
Quantum of Solace (I own all the CDs), though it stumbled occasionally in an attempt to seem technofresh in the Brosnan films, was super-high quality, and rather better than the Skyfall score (though that wasn't bad). It's even more amazing because his other scores have been pretty dang weak (by my standards anyway. ;) Though I admittedly liked
The Musketeer, much moreso than the film itself.); but after a Bond tribute concert/album he very literally became John Barry's recommended heir (after the interesting but overly experimental score for
Goldeneye, written by a frequent contributor to Luc Besson films. Frankly most of Arnold's tribute album is far too experimental for my taste, too, but...) He's apparently coming back in 2016 for Emmerich's sequel to
Independence Day -- but, according to his wikipedia entry, isn't doing
Spectre. Hmmm... okay, according to imdb (not always correct this early), it's Thomas Newman again returning from Skyfall. I guess that's okay; the trailer seems like he's taking some good steps forward if he's bringing the "Secret Service" theme back!
Meanwhile, man
Rogue Nation suddenly jumped on the radar! I didn't even know Tom Cruise was making another M:I film. And it's coming at the end of July! I'm not a big fan of the crew once again fighting people who are basically IMForce operatives, but a whole army of them sounds... unsustainable for writing a movie, to be honest, but I guess we'll see. At least for the first time he's returning with the same crew (more or less) as the previous movie (plus Luthor, the only recurring teammate from the first three films.)
Quote from: mirth on July 22, 2015, 11:53:59 AMMonica Bellucci, at 50, is the oldest ever 'Bond Girl'. And I'm just fine with that.
Maud Adams wasn't over 50 in Octopussy? Wow.
(checking Wikipedia)
Wow... she wasn't even over 40. I totally thought she was older than that based on her having been in Man With The Golden Gun, too.
Quote from: JasonPratt on July 22, 2015, 05:31:03 PM
Quote from: bayonetbrant on June 18, 2015, 07:05:56 AM
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on June 17, 2015, 11:15:03 PMbooks are always better.
The For Your Eyes Only movie was far superior to the short story from which the named was taken.
And yet far from the best of any generation of Bond films. :P
Blasphemy!
For Your Eyes Only was totally what Bond was supposed to be... securing the interests of the British Empire and international borders / laws / treaties be damned.
He wasn't fighting worldwide existential threats (Moonraker, Spy Who Loved Me) or silly quasi-supernatural cartoon characters (Live & Let Die, Man With The Golden Gun). FYEO was right up there with Goldfinger and Thunderball and Living Daylights for focusing on the interests of Queen and country and not trying to blow him up into a save-the-world superhero.
I'm with Brant. FYEO was a return to 'old-school' Bond and a welcome change of pace after Moonraker. It certainly was one of the better entries of the Roger Moore era. I hated the song though.
Quote from: mirth on July 22, 2015, 07:59:40 PM
I'm with Brant. FYEO was a return to 'old-school' Bond and a welcome change of pace after Moonraker. It certainly was one of the better entries of the Roger Moore era. I hated the song though.
just googled FYEO and that is indeed what it was intended to do - return to the first few books and their style
one of the baddies in it is Grand Master Pycelle in Thrones, and another baddy is the guy who walks on and fires the PPK in the opening sequences in a few Connery Bonds
It's difficult to imagine, today, that Moonraker was so wildly popular and successful when originally released.
Quote from: mirth on July 22, 2015, 08:12:08 PM
It's difficult to imagine, today, that Moonraker was so wildly popular and successful when originally released.
I saw it in the theater and when the US Shuttle was saved from distruction and then started disgorging armed dudes in space suits I heard some guy in the audience behind me yell "No Fucking Way!". I think he meant it positively.
Quote from: bayonetbrant on July 22, 2015, 07:41:16 PM
Quote from: mirth on July 22, 2015, 11:53:59 AMMonica Bellucci, at 50, is the oldest ever 'Bond Girl'. And I'm just fine with that.
Maud Adams wasn't over 50 in Octopussy? Wow.
(checking Wikipedia)
Wow... she wasn't even over 40. I totally thought she was older than that based on her having been in Man With The Golden Gun, too.
I totally thought she was over 50 based on her having skin like Mick Jagger. Or like, you know, Roger Moore. :crazy2:
Re FYEO, I didn't mind the attempt at returning to a more realistically grounded story -- I very much enjoyed and appreciated the
Casino Royale reboot and even
Quantum of Solace (though a lot of people don't like that movie -- I just regard it as the final hour and a half of a four hour epic Bond origin movie. I partially disliked
Skyfall because it shifted straight to "Bond's old, broken, washed up" in only the third film -- and then has the audacity to continue completing the origin story! Between the two tones, it should have stuck with the latter.) What bothered me was the wild shifts in narrative tone that accompanied FYEO. I like
The Living Daylights pretty well, which is one of the far more soberly plotted Bonds, but cannot stand
License To Kill -- another realistic Bond -- for much the same reason as I have trouble with FYEO. (Perhaps not coincidentally, LtK was one of those few Bond films I had never watched all the way through -- just couldn't stand it for reasons I have a hard time qualifying -- which I made an effort to rectify when I got the Blu set. My opinion by the end had not changed a jot: teethgrinding.)
It occurs to me this could be the reason why I didn't like
To Russia With Love as much as I wanted to. The balance between realism and fantasy can be hard to nail down in tone. I'm entirely sure this is my problem with
Live and Let Die, too (another one of the films I had never managed to watch all the way through): the shifts in tone are just too jarring, maybe more all over the map than for any other Bond film.
I actually liked Moonraker, but I also liked On Her Majesty's Secret Service too, so what do I know.
License to Kill is garbage. Living Daylights is one of my favorite Bonds of all time. The Spy Who Loved Me is my favorite of the Roger Moore era.
I like Daniel Craig and the new Bonds have been pretty good (with the exception of Quantam of Solace - the only Bond film I've never watched in it's entirety). However it's hard to think of them as 'Bond'. They're more like 'Bourne, James Bourne'.
I think DC is my favourite Bond - i like that theyve taken away the artistry and smugness, that hes almost a thug in a suit - no fancy oneliners just a shot in the face or a push off a building
Quote from: undercovergeek on July 23, 2015, 01:16:11 PM
I think DC is my favourite Bond - i like that theyve taken away the artistry and smugness, that hes almost a thug in a suit - no fancy oneliners just a shot in the face or a push off a building
Agreed. The bit in Quantum of Solace where he casually upends the motorbike with the guy still on it is pure brilliance.
The whole roaring rampage of revenge in QoS is pretty boss. Often shot in an incomprehensibly Bournish way, but still boss.
Quote from: mirth on July 23, 2015, 11:56:08 AM
... However it's hard to think of them as 'Bond'. They're more like 'Bourne, James Bourne'.
Amen brother. A-feking-men!
Quote from: mirth on July 22, 2015, 11:53:59 AM
Latest trailer. My interest is picking up.
Oh, yeah. I'm in.
Necro thread... ariiiisssee...
{dum dum dum}
Mopy song, grey skiiiiess...
{dum dum dum dum dum, dum-dum}
Old James Bond, is sad and old and all
only four films in
and already, somehow
the writing's on the waaaalllll....
Creepy ser -- enaaaade...
As Bond walks -- my waaaayyy...
:2funny: :2funny: :2funny: :2funny:
Quote from: Martok on June 18, 2015, 06:15:41 AM
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on June 17, 2015, 11:15:03 PM
books are always better.
Except for non-horror stories written by Stephen King. I found the film adaptations for Shawshank, Stand By Me, and The Green Mile to all be superior to the original works.
Stephen King really isn't a very good writer IMO. A good storyteller, sure, but his writing style often gets in the way. Not a big fan of struggling through his prose to get to the good bits.
His best writing were his short stories, where he didn't get lost in annoying & needless literary wanderings so much. I enjoy a lot of detail, if the writer has an engrossing or beautiful style, but 'ole Stephen doesn't have that.
Saw this with my son last night. Pretty standard Bond fare with the typical "Bond can hit anything but the bad guys can't" gun battles and the eternal question of why the hell isn't the guy dead from concussions?
The bad guy survives in the end so look for at least one more movie I would think.
They crank up the gadgets just a bit with the car and the watch. Lot's of good action flying sequences.
Did NOT care for the theme song.
My Dad can't really go to movies anymore, and I don't like going to see movies without him or someone else to share them with (and the nearest theater is 45 minutes away); so I haven't seen this yet.
An author-friend of mine saw it and she thought it was not very good. And she liked Skyfall whereas my appreciation of that movie is highly mixed. So I'm increasingly dubious about catching this in theaters.
http://swan-tower.livejournal.com/749833.html
I didn't care for Skyfall, and therefore I have avoided Spectre thus far. A friend saw it and said he almost fell asleep, twice. A local radio morning zoo guy also said to stay away.
I saw it and it was OK.
The problem with the series is they have so many "traditional" bond elements they have to work into a film that it gets bogged down.
Also, the "villain" is the exact same thing in the last couple of superhero movies. Captain America did this villain a lot better.
I've tried to get into this movie a few times and just can't do it. It's not very engaging at all.
I have a bad feeling the whole Bond franchise is about to shit the bed, especially if Craig is as done with these movies as he's said he is.
Glad I didn't see it in the theater now. May skip PPV too. Too bad because JB was one of my favorites growing up. And Connery's SPECTRE were really cool.