Bond, James Bond. No Time To Die (spoiler thread)

[Stalker0]

Yeah, I didn't really understand the villain's motivations beyond revenge for his father's death.

My take away (and granted I had to stretch for this, the movie does not do a good job portraying it).

1) Parents killed by Spectre, swears revenge.
2) Obsessed with poison, probably from parents profession and upbringing.
3) In pursuit of Spectre and new poisons, makes the connection to Heracles (the how of this is probably the biggest mystery considering how secret it is....but then again he managed to poison all of Spectre so ???)
4) Now realizing the theoretical power of government and what could be done with Heracles.... he decides to take it for himself. Ultimate control so he can never be abused again (and perhaps believing he will stop abuse in the world to).

So that's what I went with, but yeah agree the villain is paper thin but at least was interesting.

 

[Stalker0]

What I'd love to see them do next, now Craig is gone -- go back to the 1960s. Glamour and gadgets, but with modern film-making. Make the next few Bonds period pieces.

One thing I can't remember. Was Craig's movies the only Bond movies that were "truly connected". It always felt that older Bonds had multiple movies, but rarely did the plot of one connect to the other, though that could be faulty memory talking.

I would not mind going back to the model for a bit either. We have enough connected universes, I am find if Bond just remains more singular in his movies.

 

[RangerWickett]

Not to mention, apparently most studios don't have the ability to actually play something across multiple movies spanning a decade or more. I mean, Quantum of Solace provided little to the narrative. Then to have James get shot in Skyfall and go into retirement felt like something you only do at the end of someone's career. Except then he's back in Specter, where suddenly he has a whole new chapter in his backstory that never came up before. Oh, and let's not forget that Specter basically ended the way the movie Brazil did, with Bond getting lobotomized and hallucinating a nonsensical action-packed victory where he gets the girl.

No Time to Die ended up being surprisingly good considering the shaky foundation it was built on.

 

[Marc_C]

My wife is really upset they killed James Bonds. She wants to sue the Broccoli family for psychological damages.

 

[Mercurius]

Just saw it today. For me it split the difference between the two good and two bad (or mediocre) Craig films, probably closer to the former. I'd rank them:

1. Casino Royale
2. Skyfall
3. No Time to Die
4. Spectre
5. Quantum of Solace

4 and 5 are about the same, but I ranked Spectre higher because despite seeing a couple times, I literally can remember very little about QoS.

As for No Time to Die, I liked it, but it seemed to be overly drawn out. The first half to two-thirds was really excellent; the part on the island, not so much--it almost felt added on, as if the first half was really well constructed, with some epic stunts, and the second half was made much later and more rushed.

It will be interesting to see what they do next. Obviously a reboot, but what approach will they take? I like Morrus' suggestion of a period piece. I hope they take the same approach as they did with Craig and go for someone that can make it their own, and do Bond slightly differently.

 

[Morrus]

Yeah. It was definitely too long.

 

[Mercurius]

Here's my all-time list:

Sean Connery | George Lazenby | Roger Moore | Timothy Dalton | Pierce Brosnan | Daniel Craig

1. Casino Royale
2. Skyfall
3. Goldfinger
4. From Russia With Love
5. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. Dr No
7. Thunderball
8. You Only Live Twice
9. For Your Eyes Only
10. Moonraker
11. Goldeneye
12. No Time to Die
13. Live and Let Die
14. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
15. Living Daylights
16. License to Kill
17. Spectre
18. Quantum of Solace
19. Diamond's Are Forever
20. The Man With the Golden Gun
21. Octopussy
22. Never Say Never Again
23. Tomorrow Never Dies
24. The World Is Not Enough
25. Die Another Day
26. A View to a Kill

Or something like that. I could fiddle with films and swap some of them, but the general placement is about right.

 

[Morrus]

I can’t remember them all well enough to make a list like that. Many of them I haven’t seen in decades.

 

[Mercurius]

I can’t remember them all well enough to make a list like that. Many of them I haven’t seen in decades.

Yep. I'm fudging it a bit, based upon the general memory impression I have.

 

[ART!]

I'm thoroughly enjoying a Bond films review podcast, Kill James Bond. The three hosts take a dim view of the whole affair, but the show is hilarious, and points out just how genuinely bad many of the movies are. They rate each film on the SCUM scale (Smarm, Cultural insensitivity, Unnecessary violence, and Misogyny). Listening is giving me a fresh perspective on things. I can still enjoy the movies fore their strengths, ridiculousness, cheap thrills, and cultural place, but I see them with a much more critical eye now.

Here's my all-time list:

Sean Connery | George Lazenby | Roger Moore | Timothy Dalton | Pierce Brosnan | Daniel Craig

1. Casino Royale
2. Skyfall
3. Goldfinger
4. From Russia With Love
5. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. Dr No
7. Thunderball
8. You Only Live Twice
9. For Your Eyes Only
10. Moonraker
11. Goldeneye
12. No Time to Die
13. Live and Let Die
14. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
15. Living Daylights
16. License to Kill
17. Spectre
18. Quantum of Solace
19. Diamond's Are Forever
20. The Man With the Golden Gun
21. Octopussy
22. Never Say Never Again
23. Tomorrow Never Dies
24. The World Is Not Enough
25. Die Another Day
26. A View to a Kill

Or something like that. I could fiddle with films and swap some of them, but the general placement is about right.

But...but...View to a Kill has Grace Jones and Christopher Walken in it! And a great theme song!

I'd put a lot of the Connery movies much lower, and probably the Dalton movies higher.