James Bond In Skyfall - Part 3

[JackMercy]

She is a fine actress, and I hope she doesn't retire any time soon. But 77 is just too old for somebody to credibly have executive control of a secret service. It must be an incredibly stressful, demanding and tiring job; and British civil servants genuinely get pensioned off at 65-70, anyway. Sad to say, but a spymaster's judgement and fitness would be a constant concern, where he or she to retain the position as they approached their 80s.

Judi Dench's M should, in my opinion, just bow out, to be replaced with another character in the same position.

To be fair, I think that they nicely approached this idea in Royale, at least, when Bond visits M in her apartment -- you can see that she doesn't deny herself at least some 'womanly time'...and indeed was pretty P.O.d when Bond barged into her "personal space."

But yes, I think the indications are clearly that this is Dench's last picture in this franchise -- the story's brief all-but confirms it, with its talk of 'no matter what the personal cost' and an attack on MI6. While they're keeping details under lock and key, my bet is that this entry will take things beyond M's peril in The World is Not Enough.

"People will die."

 

[Hunter Rider]

MOnica Bellucci 2.0

I've been saying it since the press conference the other day but that pic is perhaps the most like a young Monica Belluci yet!

 

[Homer J. Fong]

I would be sad to see her go, but Dame Dench has had a fantastic run, giving us a more fully-rounded M than we'd had before, and for 6-soon-to-be-7 films. If it's time, it's time, and it may be time. it is still an "if," though.

 

[KRIM]

I'm more hoping this movie doesn't end up like QoS; which also had an A+ cast, and director but still managed to drop the ball.

QoS had nowhere near an A+ cast.

I'd argue that the trio of Craig/Bardem/Fiennes alone, beats all the previous casts by a wide margin, on pedigree alone. Frankly I'd be more than glad for them to get rid of the trend in casting unknown's, and consequently delivering very average characters/performances.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

I share some concern over what kind of film Sam Mendes will give us (particularly when Matthew Vaughn and Christopher Nolan are such exciting potential Bond directors - 'though when Mendes was hired, Nolan was busy on Inception and Vaughn on either Kick-Ass or X-Men: First Class). On the other hand, this is certainly not the first time the series has selected an out-of-left-field filmmaker (Michael Apted for The World Is Not Enough, Marc Forster for Quantum of Solace). I don't really know enough about the careers of Terence Young, Guy Hamilton, or Lewis Gilbert to say whether any of them were unexpected choices, and Peter Hunt and John Glen had been editors for multiple Bond films, so they were part of the family. Martin Campbell and Roger Spottiswoode weren't such strange choices, and I love the Bonds they made; Lee Tamahori was, and he made one of the more embarrassing. That leaves Apted and Forster, and both TWINE and QoS are good, but have substantial weaknesses dragging them down. So even if Mendes isn't the first surprise choice, he's still a big question mark. If the gang at EON are confident in him, though, then so am I.

 

[Webhead2006]

i still dont want to see dench gone myself. And who cares about how old she is really, her character could be younger and its a film so age rules in the real world may not play into effect. I dont think sam will screw with things remember this is still eon/the producers of bond calling the big calls. If they dont like what sam is doing things will change.

 

[Golgo-13]

I'm talking more specifically, given what the director says he is aiming for with the movie, and his previous work. What i think the danger is, is that we get an Ang Lee's Hulk. He overshoots the mark and makes the film so po-faced it is not much fun, because let's not forget what film franchise we are talking about here.
Hopefully he will find the balance between thrills and high drama like Nolan did with the Batman films.
but, man, i can't help but think of RtP, and think he will miss the mark with the pacing.

I seriously doubt the studio will allow the film maker to make a high end drama. If anything, the tug of war between the director shooting for the drama, and the studio wanting bigger and better explosions to sell in their trailers will give us the perfect balanced Bond movie.

 

[Golgo-13]

QoS had nowhere near an A+ cast.

I'd argue that the trio of Craig/Bardem/Fiennes alone, beats all the previous casts by a wide margin, on pedigree alone. Frankly I'd be more than glad for them to get rid of the trend in casting unknown's, and consequently delivering very average characters/performances.

Your joking right? The only weak link in the QoS cast was Olga, and that's due to her lack of experience compared to the rest. Even Gemma Arteton is a stage trained actress.

I distinctively remember people saying how great QoS was going to be due to the cast, and the amazing director right here on the hype.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Mendes is known for dramas but he may well be looking forward to cutting loose with the action and will of course be aided by a world class stunt team.

 

[KRIM]

Your joking right? The only weak link in the QoS cast was Olga, and that's due to her lack of experience compared to the rest. Even Gemma Arteton is a stage trained actress.

I distinctively remember people saying how great QoS was going to be due to the cast, and the amazing director right here on the hype.

Olga and Gemma had no acclaim to even be considered great choices. Mathieu and Giancarlo are satisfactory actors, and Jeffrey Wright is the only one that that matches Craig in acting talent. So that 2 outta 5. Again, nowhere near A+ cast. That is solely reserved for an ensemble that's beyond awesome and really impresses solely by names on a paper. I don't at all see that with QoS. If there was a large contributor to the hype, it was likely due to it being a follow-up to CR.

 

[Slushy]

Skyfall is better than Carte Blah.

 

[regwec]

The title makes me think of the Roger Moore/Jaws parachute fight at the beginning of Moonraker. Cool scene.

 

[Project862006]

I'm just sick off those loud, poppy, orchestral Bond Themes that just draw on and on we've been getting for the last 15 years. I want something different and interesting. More jam-rockish with beautiful instrumentation and odd ball vocals from new and fantastic lyricists...

you did'nt like Chris Cornell's Bond Theme from CR?

 

[antsman41]

you did'nt like Chris Cornell's Bond Theme from CR?

It was ok, if the vocals sounded more like Soundgarden than "solo Chris Cornell"...

I'd be happier.

 

[DyeLorean]

The problem with the latest soundtracks is that is more about being 'updated' with artists than making a proper song for a movie.

 

[Raiden]

I seriously doubt the studio will allow the film maker to make a high end drama. If anything, the tug of war between the director shooting for the drama, and the studio wanting bigger and better explosions to sell in their trailers will give us the perfect balanced Bond movie.

Yeah, Mendes may have an Oscar (for American Beauty), but any director hired by EOS to direct a James Bond movie must answer to the producers. There's no way that they'd allow Mendes to make a bored, conversation-heavy Bond movie after QoS pretty much failed to meet the high expectation as a sequel of CR.

As for Dench leaving, I think it is possible, but only if she decided to hang it up so they want her character to go out with a bang. So far, I haven't heard anything from the media so I'm not going to rule her out of Bond #24 just yet.

 

[Dave McFly]

hey, as long as Bond is driving something like this:

2012 Aston Martin DBS

I will be happy, bring on 007 to the screens again!

 

[chamber-music]

I think Sam Mendes will do fine with Skyfall. American Beauty and Road To Predition were great.

Most of the action stuff is handled by the experienced technical side of the crew. Stunt men, special effects people, DP's all advise directors on how to film action scenes and with the Bond movies they often use the same crews out of Pinewood Studios who are some of the most experienced in the world anyway.

Agreed. OHMSS is a good film, but it doesn't draw me in like my favorites do. And Lazenby just wasn't that great of a Bond. It's not fair he only had one shot at it, but that's what makes an actor a good fit for Bond. An instant good impression. Throughout I was just debating whether he was good or not, unlike Connery, Craig and Bronson where I immediately fell in love with their Bonds.

I don't feel sorry for George Lazenby it was his decision to only play Bond once. The scenes where Bond was Sir Hilary Bray and they dubbed that stupid voice were bad.

 

[Two-Face]

Sam Mendes is a fine director, I love his movies but I'm worried about action sequences though. I wish Martin Campbell did Bond movies for life. I love CR & GE.

 

[redhawk23]

I share some concern over what kind of film Sam Mendes will give us (particularly when Matthew Vaughn and Christopher Nolan are such exciting potential Bond directors - 'though when Mendes was hired, Nolan was busy on Inception and Vaughn on either Kick-Ass or X-Men: First Class). On the other hand, this is certainly not the first time the series has selected an out-of-left-field filmmaker (Michael Apted for The World Is Not Enough, Marc Forster for Quantum of Solace). I don't really know enough about the careers of Terence Young, Guy Hamilton, or Lewis Gilbert to say whether any of them were unexpected choices, and Peter Hunt and John Glen had been editors for multiple Bond films, so they were part of the family. Martin Campbell and Roger Spottiswoode weren't such strange choices, and I love the Bonds they made; Lee Tamahori was, and he made one of the more embarrassing. That leaves Apted and Forster, and both TWINE and QoS are good, but have substantial weaknesses dragging them down. So even if Mendes isn't the first surprise choice, he's still a big question mark. If the gang at EON are confident in him, though, then so am I.

Have you seen Road to Perdition?

 

[Metallo]

Mendes is known for dramas but he may well be looking forward to cutting loose with the action and will of course be aided by a world class stunt team.

I hope that he was hired to give us some great drama along with being allowed to do something with more action. I'm looking forward to this just as much as CR. Maybe even more in a lot of way. Now that everything is more established after CR and QoS there could be much more freedom to explore more of the character and his world in an interesting way.

 

[redhawk23]

Road to Perdition had some well directed gun fights and some very tense scenes, not to mention featured Daniel Craig.

Add on another decade of directing experience and I don't think we have much reason to doubt Mendes... Just as long as the Barrel Sequence doesn't just feature bags blowing in the wind.

 

[chamber-music]

I really liked Daniel Craig in Road to Perdition.

 

[Raiden]

I don't feel sorry for George Lazenby it was his decision to only play Bond once. The scenes where Bond was Sir Hilary Bray and they dubbed that stupid voice were bad.

Yeah, Lazenby walked away from the Bond franchise so nobody should feel sorry for him. And while I think OHMSS is a fine film, I don't think Lazenby was very memorable so I don't think he left a void when he departed the series.

 

[Dark Raven]

I wish Connery did OHMSS.