Daniel Craig: One liners back for new Bond Skyfall

There is plenty of humour in DN: Bond checking his watch when with Taro, "be careful of her nail varnish", "I think they were on there way to a funeral", "Make sure he doesn't get away", etc. Less humour in LTK and TLD.

FieldsMan wrote:

There is plenty of humour in DN: Bond checking his watch when with Taro, "be careful of her nail varnish", "I think they were on there way to a funeral", "Make sure he doesn't get away", etc. Less humour in LTK and TLD.

Not exactly thigh-slapper supremes, FM.

And I'd say Sanchez alone had more funny lines than were contained in the whole of DN. Of course, that's saying damned little.

I don't expect Bond films to be thigh-slapper supremes. Not even DAF produces hysteric laughter. Just little chuckles and moments that make me smile is enough humour in Bond films. And hence, I find DN to be a good balance between humour and drama.

Not sure why I'm arguing this case though - I find the humour in QOS to be almost spot on. Of course, it doesn't match the best in the series (TB, FRWL, TND, OHMSS, GE, especially in terms of balance) but I like the dryness :)

I consider DAF, LALD and MR to have moments of serious laffoutloud hilarity. All three are borderline comedies. Not that that much uproarious humor is necessarily conducive to creating the best Bond films, but I'm glad those movies were made the way they were. They add something unique and entertaining to the canon, without undermining essential Bondiness.

I'd say that the important thing for Bond humor is not its quantity, but how it's delivered. What really gets me about Bond meeting Plenty in DAF is how deadpan Sean is. He does give Plenty a lookover, but he goes right back to craps. Then he delivers the killer line, and goes straight back to craps again. That's the way Bond humor should be. It doesn't matter if it's more out in the open humor like we get in DAF or edgier humor like in DN ("Sergeant, make sure that man doesn't get away"), it has to be delivered properly, and the actor delivering it has to say it with conviction (which Dalton couldn't do) but not smirk at the camera the way Moore tended to in TSWLM or MR (his delivery was better in LALD and TMWTGG).

So for me the question is not primarily whether or not SF's script actually has humor in it (though I'll believe it when I see/hear it). I'm not even as concerned with how good the humor is on the page. It all boils down to whether Craig can deliver it properly. His, "The last hand . . . nearly killed me" quip gives me some hope, but I haven't seen enough to know yet.

FieldsMan wrote:

There is plenty of humour in DN: Bond checking his watch when with Taro, "be careful of her nail varnish", "I think they were on there way to a funeral", "Make sure he doesn't get away", etc. Less humour in LTK and TLD.

You don't need much when you have beauties like "salt corrosion" to carry through. But Dalton's 'bon appetit' absolutely sucks compared to Connery's, plus it is a reuse (like the 'full of it' remark in TLD), which is unforgiveable.

Sanchez' 'launder it' is grand.

right idea, wrong pussy wrote:

I'd say that the important thing for Bond humor is not its quantity, but how it's delivered. What really gets me about Bond meeting Plenty in DAF is how deadpan Sean is. He does give Plenty a lookover, but he goes right back to craps. Then he delivers the killer line, and goes straight back to craps again. That's the way Bond humor should be. It doesn't matter if it's more out in the open humor like we get in DAF or edgier humor like in DN ("Sergeant, make sure that man doesn't get away"), it has to be delivered properly, and the actor delivering it has to say it with conviction (which Dalton couldn't do) but not smirk at the camera the way Moore tended to in TSWLM or MR (his delivery was better in LALD and TMWTGG).

So for me the question is not primarily whether or not SF's script actually has humor in it (though I'll believe it when I see/hear it). I'm not even as concerned with how good the humor is on the page. It all boils down to whether Craig can deliver it properly. His, "The last hand . . . nearly killed me" quip gives me some hope, but I haven't seen enough to know yet.

The best line in that sequence was actually delivered by Lana: "You handle those cubes like a monkey handles coconuts!"

WTF?

Shame Connery never got Plenty into bed or he could've quipped "Now what were you shaying about monkeysh handling coconutsh..."

FieldsMan wrote:

I don't expect Bond films to be thigh-slapper supremes. Not even DAF produces hysteric laughter.

DAF doesn't, no, but certainly not for lacking of trying. :) I also don't expect to laugh out loud at a Bond film. In fact, I wonder how often I have actually done so. I'd have to think about it.

lachesis wrote:

I think Thunderball hit the perfect balance humour wise, there are plenty of gags tossed in but they generally have a sharp edge, one that emphasises the rather cruel side of the man we're following.

Thunderball is my pick for best Bond humour.

trevanian wrote:

You don't need much when you have beauties like "salt corrosion" to carry through.

I love that line.

right idea, wrong pussy wrote:

... it has to be delivered properly, and the actor delivering it has to say it with conviction (which Dalton couldn't do) but not smirk at the camera the way Moore tended to in TSWLM or MR (his delivery was better in LALD and TMWTGG).

You're right that delivery is more important than the actual line. The worst thing that could happen is that the writers try and shove lines into Craig's word-hole that he can't properly deliver. There is humor and then there is dark humor. A great example of dark humor properly delivered was Dalton's line: "You earned it, you keep it.......old buddy."

Another good line was written for LICENSE REVOKED, but I think the accents kept some people from getting the joke: "But patron. What should we do with the money?" "Launder it."

Dalton's best line in TLD was "He got the boot." His worst delivery was when he was asked to be Roger Moore-ish: "Salt corrosion".

Dalton's best deliveries were when he was being snarky:

Sanchez: 'You have to have a special skill that the people in Isthmus don't have'.
Bond (looks around): "That shouldn't be too difficult."

But Moore had his moments of ultra-coolness; I would say Moore's defining moment as his version of Bond was after brazenly shooting Drax's sniper out of the tree, handing the gun back to Drax, and doing a call-back for the audience: "As you said, such good sport." I could see Connery pulling off that scene, but probably not Dalton. Maybe not even Brosnan.