What was the last true 'Bond' set you recall?

For me it is the OCTOPUSSY war room. I don't think any sets have articulated since then (besides silo doors and weird tubes of light in the last one), and even though Adam was already gone by OP, that war room had some panache to it, with the color as well as the movement.

I also like the Scaramanga reactor set, so it isn't just that I'm mostly an Adam guy (tho I am.) Shoot, with the matte painting ceiling, the chess scene in FRWL even has that Bond feel I'm trying to describe.

There are big sets in later outings like the terraced one at the end of GE, but there's something too clean and real about it that doesn't evoke how Bond used to go 'beyond' with art direction. Maybe the eye at the Opera in QUANTUM qualifies, but that was an existing found thing, rather than something designed for the film.

I've been trying to lay my hands on a Koltsov computer for years...

Good topic, BTW. I'll have to give it some thought.

I thought the brutalistic bunker headquarter Safin used in NTTD gave off exactly that Bondian larger-than-life feel of old.

i'm aware of the film's other shortcomings, but would the Ice Palace interior in DAD count here?

Another vote for the ice palace.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

i'm aware of the film's other shortcomings, but would the Ice Palace interior in DAD count here?

Absolutely, though the fact I totally forgot about it shows I probably need to watch the movie again (have only ever seen it 2x all the way through.)

And I think the blimp briefing room in VIEW might also qualify.

Phantom Commander wrote:

I thought the brutalistic bunker headquarter Safin used in NTTD gave off exactly that Bondian larger-than-life feel of old.

"CJB's not gonna like this!"

trevanian wrote:

Blunt Instrument wrote:

i'm aware of the film's other shortcomings, but would the Ice Palace interior in DAD count here?

Absolutely, though the fact I totally forgot about it shows I probably need to watch the movie again (have only ever seen it 2x all the way through.)

And I think the blimp briefing room in VIEW might also qualify.

Howzabout Dr. Joe Butcher's "meditation chamber" in LTK? Or, for the matter of it, that entire cocaine-processing complex? Zapotec, I think it may have been called.

Craig did say he'd no problem with (as he put it) the 'submarine pen' aspects of Bond, as long as there was a way to make it work in the context of his Bonds. So I guess NTTD (as PC pointed out) had that.

Not sure if Silva's server room in Skyfall counts? The elevator gives it that little extra 'Bond touch', maybe.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Phantom Commander wrote:

I thought the brutalistic bunker headquarter Safin used in NTTD gave off exactly that Bondian larger-than-life feel of old.

"CJB's not gonna like this!"

If only they did something proper with the Garden of Death...

I've seen the suggestion that the Safin's poisonous orchids in NTtD are a nod to the Garden of Death. If so, only a glancing nod. That entire Garden of Death/Castle of Death setting needs to be committed to film. It's one of the brightest sparks struck off Fleming's fertile imagination.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

I've seen the suggestion that the Safin's poisonous orchids in NTtD are a nod to the Garden of Death. If so, only a glancing nod. That entire Garden of Death/Castle of Death setting needs to be committed to film. It's one of the brightest sparks struck off Fleming's fertile imagination.

I think I mentioned the idea of having a villain who is riffing on nature/environment in an almost Lord Summerisle/Wicker Man manner, and this would be ideal if they went that route. Man, is there anybody left alive who sounds remotely as sublimely evil (yet melodious) as Christopher Lee?

Incidentally, I just reread actor Andrew Robinson's novel about his Garak character from DEEP SPACE NINE called A STITCH IN TIME (actually has some sci-fi in it along with great characterizations.) In it, he, back in his evil spy days, is called upon to engineer a particular plant to grow in a garden at a certain proximate distance to another flower, and the little-known symbiotic relationship between these bits o' botany turn the garden into an undetectable murder weapon. Wonder if Robinson read Fleming?

trevanian wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

I've seen the suggestion that the Safin's poisonous orchids in NTtD are a nod to the Garden of Death. If so, only a glancing nod. That entire Garden of Death/Castle of Death setting needs to be committed to film. It's one of the brightest sparks struck off Fleming's fertile imagination.

I think I mentioned the idea of having a villain who is riffing on nature/environment in an almost Lord Summerisle/Wicker Man manner, and this would be ideal if they went that route. Man, is there anybody left alive who sounds remotely as sublimely evil (yet melodious) as Christopher Lee?

Incidentally, I just reread actor Andrew Robinson's novel about his Garak character from DEEP SPACE NINE called A STITCH IN TIME (actually has some sci-fi in it along with great characterizations.) In it, he, back in his evil spy days, is called upon to engineer a particular plant to grow in a garden at a certain proximate distance to another flower, and the little-known symbiotic relationship between these bits o' botany turn the garden into an undetectable murder weapon. Wonder if Robinson read Fleming?

Sure sounds like it.

I’ll give a shout to Silva’s island lair. The abandoned buildings juxtaposed with the high tech server room has something striking about it. But otherwise the ice palace. Would love to down a martini there and warm up Miss Frost.

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

I’ll give a shout to Silva’s island lair. The abandoned buildings juxtaposed with the high tech server room has something striking about it. But otherwise the ice palace. Would love to down a martini there and warm up Miss Frost.

I like the island lair, too. Charles Trenet's "Boum" playing over the loudspeakers is a nice touch. Reminds me of the Edith Piaf song playing in the bombed out French town in Saving Private Ryan.

Indeed. And on that motif, how Silva’s playlist emerges again at Skyfall. A music enthusiast Bond villain not seen since Necros... or Drax.

Boom, boom, boom, booom! Gonna shoot you right down!

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Indeed. And on that motif, how Silva’s playlist emerges again at Skyfall. A music enthusiast Bond villain not seen since Necros... or Drax.

Speaking of which, interesting that both Stromberg and Drax were into classical music so much. It is of course not the only thing MR brought over from TSWLM. Both were also surrounded by magnificent sets, btw.

Phantom Commander wrote:

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Indeed. And on that motif, how Silva’s playlist emerges again at Skyfall. A music enthusiast Bond villain not seen since Necros... or Drax.

Speaking of which, interesting that both Stromberg and Drax were into classical music so much. It is of course not the only thing MR brought over from TSWLM. Both were also surrounded by magnificent sets, btw.

Which scene are you referring to in TSWLM? I always thought the classical musical cues were part of the score and not diegetic sound.

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Phantom Commander wrote:

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Indeed. And on that motif, how Silva’s playlist emerges again at Skyfall. A music enthusiast Bond villain not seen since Necros... or Drax.

Speaking of which, interesting that both Stromberg and Drax were into classical music so much. It is of course not the only thing MR brought over from TSWLM. Both were also surrounded by magnificent sets, btw.

Which scene are you referring to in TSWLM? I always thought the classical musical cues were part of the score and not diegetic sound.

No ,you can see him clearly enjoing the music. At least, that is my take on it. I seem to remember he enjoys Bach while killing his underlings, and Mozart during the raising of Atlantis. I could be wrong.

Never thought it was actually in the scene itself, that characters hear. Just non-diegetic music to enhance the visuals. I’ll pay closer attention with my next watch.

I always thought the Mozart was activated directly Stromberg pushed the button that precipitated the girl into the shark tank. But it's not terribly clear one way or tuther.

I have also always thought the classical pieces in Spy were 'in' the scenes in question, not just on the soundtrack.