New Bond Movie: Casino Royale - I am really looking forward to this

[Morrus]

M is the Minister of Defense. It's a government position, so it will change.

No, he's not. Field agents don't report directly to government ministers! I believe M is the head of MI6 - if not, then some very similar position. I'm not entirely up on how the intelligence and security services are set up (although I know MI5 is domestic and MI6 is foreign operations). There's something called SIS or something, too - not sure what that is.

 

[Fast Learner]

If you read Fleming, just be forewarned that the stories are extremely sexist and often somewhat racist. It doesn't make them bad, imo, as they fit the time they were written in. Just don't be surprised.

Oh, and Bond is much more lethal than he is in the films. He doesn't have that license to kill for nothing. (Makes you wonder what the exam and field test were like, to get a license like that. And the fees must have been outrageous. And, I'm sure, his picture on the license looks nothing like him. Those cameras all suck.)

 

[Dark Jezter]

No, he's not. Field agents don't report directly to government ministers! I believe M is the head of MI6 - if not, then some very similar position. I'm not entirely up on how the intelligence and security services are set up (although I know MI5 is domestic and MI6 is foreign operations). There's something called SIS or something, too - not sure what that is.

SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) is the real name of the British Foreign Intelligence Agency. People started referring to it as MI6 during World War II when the War Office circulating section acquired the military designation "Military Intelligence [section] 6."

So the actual name of the agency is SIS. MI6 is just a very popular nickname for it.

 

[Morrus]

SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) is the real name of the British Foreign Intelligence Agency. People started referring to it as MI6 during World War II when the War Office circulating section acquired the military designation "Military Intelligence [section] 6."

So the actual name of the agency is SIS. MI6 is just a very popular nickname for it.

If I recall correctly, there were originally a whole bunch of MI- branches. MI1, MI2... MI5, MI6, MI7 and so on. All of them had different fields of operation. I've no idea what became of them (perhaps they're still around? I really should look it up!)

Also, there's GCHQ which is something else again. And, undoubtedly, there are also branches that none of us know about!

 

[Morrus]

Ah, here's something on MI6:

http://www.five.org.uk/security/mi6org/

The Intelligence Services Act 1994 (SW9311) defines the role of MI6 as;

(a) to obtain and provide information relating to the
actions or intentions of persons outside the British
Islands; and (b) to perform other tasks relating to the
actions or intentions of such persons...[in relation to]
the interests of national security, with particular
reference to defence and foreign policies...the interests
of the economic well-being of the UK...or in support of the
prevention or detection of serious crime.
The Act brought into existence the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee which oversees the "expenditure, administration and policy" of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ (SW9501). Of its nine members, five are former Tory ministers.

Oooh, and here's a whole bunch of stuff about the intelligence services:

http://directory.google.com/Top/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/Government/Intelligence_Services/

Includes info on MI5, MI6, NCIS, GCHQ, Special Branch and more.

 

[Olive]

No, he's not. Field agents don't report directly to government ministers! I believe M is the head of MI6 - if not, then some very similar position. I'm not entirely up on how the intelligence and security services are set up (although I know MI5 is domestic and MI6 is foreign operations). There's something called SIS or something, too - not sure what that is.

I'm pretty sure there's at least one moment in the movies when M has to go and meet the minister anyway.

 

[Greylock]

The books are VERY different from the movies. VERY, VERY different.

I love them. I think they're great writing. Nobody reads like Ian Fleming.

I've always loved the original books. Of course, growing up pre-video and poor, everything I knew about Bond came frrom the books. It was, I must say, a real shock and disappointment when I finally caught up with the films in the '80s.

There's something real and gritty about the books the films miss completely. That, and the fact that Fleming seems hell-bent to kill Bond for good at the end of several books. He's quite cruel to Bond, quite often.

I've given up hoping for a good Bond movie.

Well, they aren't all bad. From Russia with Love comes kinda close, and Live and Let Die is just a good movie. I wouldn't mind seeing them all remade in the spirit of the books someday, though (as if...).

 

[Chaldfont]

Just an aside: I think the 'Q' in 'Q Branch' comes from the term 'quartermaster'.

 

[barsoomcore]

Well, they aren't all bad. From Russia with Love comes kinda close, and Live and Let Die is just a good movie.

Sorry, you're quite correct. I should have been more explicit:

Over the past TWENTY-FOUR years (since For Your Eyes Only, the last really good Bond picture), I've steadily given up hope for ANOTHER good Bond movie.

I didn't mean to say they were all bad. I just meant for the past few frickin' decades.

I think the 'Q' in 'Q Branch' comes from the term 'quartermaster'.

I believe you're correct.

 

[Klaus]

Question for the literary spy-types out there:

I'm a Frederick Forsythe (The Deceiver, The Negotiator, The Fist of God, The Shepherd, The Avenger) fan. Would I like Ian Fleming's writing?