SKYFALL Pre-Release

Bit early, isn't it?

To be fair, The Dark Knight Rises thread has been around since October of 2010. Skyfall comes out next year. So no, not really early.

 

 

Naomie Harris already gave away one spoiler:

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

 

 

Like Drew McWeeney though, I am hoping somehow Quantum continues over in some way. I know they say they are doing a stand alone, but I like the idea of Quantum being out there.

Fine by me. It's just that really early pre-release threads, without even as much as a teaser to feed them, tend to get buried fast.

Why do I think that won't be an issue here?

Heh.

 

Quite true.

This thread could very well have more posts than  the Prometheus thread in about a month, and the TDKR thread in oh, about six months.

I'm really looking forward to this, not jumpy-claps excited like PK is, but ready to see Craig kick ass again. I really do hope he does more films. I don't know if he needs to do eight though, as I would be happy to never again see a bond in his fifties. 

Have they confirmed Leiter is coming back?

Wright has yet to be contacted about returning and considering they are deep into principal photography, I'd say no Felix Leiter this time 'round.  I won't be surprised if he shows up in the next one though, whether it involves Quantum or not.  EON tends to shy away from recasting supporting roles these days, so they'll keep him on.

They've also said that Ralph Fiennes' character can't be named due to him playing someone familiar to Bond audiences. Given the rumours about this one involving Dench's M and her shady past, I'm going to go out on a limb and say Fiennes is the new M by the time the film closes.

Fiennes plays Ernst Stavro Blofeld

 

 

At least, I hope.

There are a few vague hints that this might be the case:

 

Screenwriter John Logan: 'Bond should always fight Blofeld'.

 

Daniel Craig: 'Before we started, Sam and I sat down together and rubbed our hands and said, 'Right – what shall we do?' We watched the films, we read the books again, just to find what makes a great Bond movie.'

 

Blofeld Makes a great Bond Movie!

I think he's explicitly said he's not playing Blofeld.

Maybe he's playing the Count De Bleuchamp?

 

I read something a while back where he dodges around the question:

 

When the Playlist asked about rumors whether he’d play famous Bond villain Ernst Stavros Blofeld in the film, Fiennes played coy. “I can’t say anything more,” he said with a grin, having already discussed with The Playlist about how screenwriter John Logan (who wrote “Coriolanus”) was partly responsible for Fiennes appearing in the new ‘Bond’ film because “because he wrote this really interesting part which is really quite fun.” When we asked him directly if he would be playing Blofeld he laughed once more. “I can’t say anything,” he said, but then did allow this: “I will not be stroking a white pussy!

 

...hmm...I suppose it doesn't make things much clearer. But I hope he's playing Blofeld. Le Chiffre in Casino was so-so, and Quantum's Dominic Greene was about as menacing as a damp towelette...Craig deserves a better villain.

Yeah, he easily could have said "NO" to the Blofeld question.  Saying he isn't holding a white cat isn't much of an answer.  He could be a "pussy-less" Blofeld.  He could be another villain entirely.  He could be an ally.  He could be a non-"evil" antagonist.  He could be anything!  All we really know is that he won't be holding a white cat.

Cinematically, Blofeld isn't that interesting of a villain. His best versions are where he's unseen (FRWL), and discounting OHMSS, where his plot is not unlike Quantum's plan to jack up everyone's utility bills in Bolivia, the only time Blofeld is a "main" baddie is Diamonds Are Forever, where he's in drag for part of the movie. You need either a ground-floor reinvention of Blofeld, or a return to the novels and SPECTRE, which is soaked in Cold War silliness. I hope he's not Blofeld.

I don't have a problem with Blofeld, because I like the idea of Bond having an iconic archnemesis. And indeed, the Craig Bond has hit its highest highs so far in reinventing the mythos for a new era, so this is another whole branch of it to make work, which could be thrilling to watch. It's easy to forget, but Blofeld was actually pretty intense and scary when he was played by Donald Pleasance.

 

They will, of course, have to get rid of most of the visual elements, which are now permanently associated with Dr. Evil, but the basic idea of a hyper-rich insane bald guy with a scar never goes out of style.

Does Blofeld have to be bald? He was only so because Donald Pleasence already was when replaced the first actor who got let go after five days of shooting in YOLT. If they really want to avoid that image of Mike Myers they could just let Blofeld have hair like in the books.

That leaves the question of Javier Bardem's character, who we had been led to believe would be a villain. I'd say a Blofeld henchman, but I can't see someone as high profile as Bardem doing that.

Bardem will definitely be the main villain. If Blofeld turns out to be in SKYFALL he'll likely be a small part remaining in the shadows like in the early Connery films. That would mean Bardem's character would be more in line with Dr. No, Rosa Klebb and Emilio Largo. All operatives working for Blofeld but overall they're the ones running the schemes and the villains that Bond confronts face to face. If Fiennes is Blofeld that will mean he'll eventually become a full fledged villain in either Bond 24 or 25. If that's the case, I would hope Craig will stick around until the confrontation with Fiennes' Blofeld is resolved. Given how Michael G. Wilson is eager to keep Craig and the latter's enthusiasm for the series, hopefully means he'll be around for five films total at minimum.

=



?

I don't think so, but I like your train of thought. Kudos.

 

 

I hate this trend of recycling and recasting iconic characters that were perfect just as they were in past films of a franchise. The idea of reviving a villain from a Connery or Moore era movie annoys me just as much as the idea of putting Khan in a new Star Trek movie. And I'm not even much of a Bond fan, I just object to reusing characters like that on principle. I'd rather see people come up with new characters instead of going back to the well. I only feel that way with regard to villains, though.

 

Having a new Leiter, M, or Q is fine because they are to Bond as characters like Alfred and Commissioner Gordon are to Batman. The villains are just a sore spot with me. Speaking of Michael Shannon, I'm opposed to him being cast as Zod in the new Superman movie because I believe Terrence Stamp so owned the role that nobody else should ever play it since they're going to pale in comparison no matter what they do. The last thing he needs to do is play ANOTHER role that was originated by someone else who did a great job with it.

 

I guess it doesn't really matter if a role like Jaws is played by someone else since he's a mostly mute henchmen, but he's still iconic, so again, on principle I don't like the idea of recasting him. I believe he should be left in the past. Maybe a similar big mute henchmen with a different name and gimmick in a Bond movie might be fun again at some point, but that sounds too goofy for the tone established for Daniel Craig Bond films in "Casino Royale".

Any feelings on Sam Mendes?  He seems an unlikely choice, to me, but that's hardly a bad thing.

Which is the one thing I'm not crazy about about the Craig Bonds: they tip a little too much into "grittily realistic" at times. We really need an over-the-top baddie for Skyfall. They don't have to be as ridiculous as Oddjob or Jaws, but make them iconic and supervillainous. This isn't a realistic spy series. The problem with the Brosnan era (and, for that matter, the Moore and chunks of the Connery eras) wasn't that the bad guys and technology were over the top, it was that they were stupidly and shallowly written.

If any movie thread here ever becomes longer than the TDKR thread ends up being, I will give you money.

 

 

Didn't they do that with that one guy in Quantum of Solace? Only his gimmick was that he had an awful bowl cut and generally sucked at everything?

 

Anyhoo, with Deakins on the camera, this'll at least look great.

I think Mendes could be a pleasant surprise. I think back to the way he shot the machine gun battle in "Road to Perdition" and dropped out the gunshots, bringing up the soundtrack music. It was nothing earth shattering, but it was an unusual twist on what could have been a standard action sequence. Some of that might make "Skyfall" stand out a bit from the Bond norms. 

Yeah, I think Mendes could really knock it out of the park. He's a bit of a stodgy Oscar-bait director, but he's always willing to try new things, and he's beyond reproach from a technical perspective. Casino Royale was well served by one self-important Oscar winner (Paul Haggis) letting his hair down, I'm hoping Mendes will be the same. I always like it when "serious" filmmakers make populist action movies, because those are the guys who still understand things like character consistency and coherent plotting. Action directors who get this stuff are few and far between these days.

I wish they would let someone else take over scoring duties. like to hear a fresh approach to the Bond music. Arnold has been great, but I would love to hear someone new.

Damn, I wish John Barry was alive to score this. 

Mansell's score for Sahara is very Bond inspired. Listen to the piece for when they hop on the train. Just great. Love for Mansell or Giacchino to get a shot at the Bond score.

 

I have to say, the plot of the hunt on for a downed satellite reminds me of For Your Eyes Only which is one of my favorite Bond films and probably the most serious Moore outing (and one of the best endings to a Bond film).

  I don't want to hear a hip hop Bond theme. These are a few artists I think could do it: The Killers, Duran Duran again, Lady GaGa and Christina Aquilera. I may be the only one who thinks this is a good idea, the theme would be written by Alice Cooper and sung by Pink. Alice did write a theme song for TMWTGG, but it wasn't used. Its on his box set. One of his newer tunes, Dirty Diamonds, has a Bondian song. Having Pink sing it would give a pop with some rock to it sound.

 

  I can see Lady GaGa as the bad Bond girl; however I went her to play it as weird as possible. I don't think that would work with the Craig Bond. I would like to see a bad Bond girl in a future Bond flick. Christina Hendricks would be awesome at that!

 

 

After listening to Giacchino's MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE scores, I would dread the news of him being hired to score Bond. So far his work outside of PIXAR and LOST has been pretty awful. The guy should just give up on live action work. David Arnold is no John Barry but he puts some decent work in and QOS has been his best so far.

I know it might be a left-field choice, but why oh why oh why can't the fates be kind and give Nicole Atikins the job for a Bond song? She's practically begging for the job with this song: