No Time to Die - Spoiler Free Reviews

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Not sure if Fleming HATED Bond per se, but there was the likes of that time he referred to him as 'a cardboard booby'.

That kind of talk from him always struck me as being self-deprecating rather than serious.

Wasn't there something about him having tired of Bond by the time he came to write FRWL, which is why it ends with the unresolved cliffhanger of a Klebb-poisoned Bond lying on the floor?

It's interesting because the original FRWL manuscript at the Lily Library has a happy ending. So he must have changed the ending later in the year during the revision process, yet that puts him closer to writing the first draft of No. Seeing as how he didn't take any time away from writing the books, it makes me think it was more about the cliffhanger ending than any serious attempt at killing him off.

hegottheboot wrote:

I tried one of these first impression type videos. No spoilers but it turned into a bit of a ramble as I still try to process the damn thing.

I really enjoyed this HGTB, thanks for sharing. All things considered you actually sound more positive about this one than the other Craig films. Or am I misreading that?  

CJB wrote:

Not sure if this has been posted, but The Guardian had a thing where Craig answered questions from some famous types, including George Lazenby:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/01/i-eat-greasy-fried-eggs-at-least-once-a-week-daniel-craig-on-bond-being-buff-and-crying-at-british-gas-ads

LAZENBY: Daniel, we both made our 007 debuts in films (unusually for the series) based closely on Ian Fleming’s source novels. What do you think about Fleming’s work and the challenge for an actor of imparting some genuine human feeling and emotion in the material? What do you think of my attempt in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service?

CRAIG: It’s one of the best movies, because it had a love story. And what is life without love? Fleming was very ambiguous about Bond. He hated him sometimes, I think. Barbara [Broccoli, Bond producer] said today that Fleming called him “a shadow”. I kind of lifted from Fleming Bond’s ambiguity, conflict and passions. You could take 1952 passions or you could just transpose them to modern passions. And that’s what I did. There’s no point taking 1952 passions because they don’t exist any more – thankfully, a lot of them. So I thought: he’s a passionate man. He loves, he cares, he’s honourable, he’s incorruptible, and I love that he’s a complex character.

That doesn't sound like Lazenby's voice, tbh. The work of his manager, I'd say. Smart man, capitalising on NTTD's release.

trevanian wrote:

I get that Craig is trying to put a good spin on things, but by going there with the 'love' thing, he shortchanges OHMSS a lot, because if you didn't have a great Bond adventure story at the heart of it, the love story wouldn't be as strong. The last time I saw it,which was just a couple months back, I found that except for when he swings punches like a girl (esp beach), I didn't have problems with Lazenby at all, which was quite a reversal from how I've been hung up on his 'miss' of a performance for decades. He's not playing James Bond IMO, but I find everything else pretty credible.

Interesting post. A bit to unpack here.

First off, I'd say Craig had a stern talking to from the PR department after the wrist slashing incident. The love story angle screams of him trying to convince us there's something from SP worth salvaging so that we go and see his final chapter. It's economics, not some enlightened opinion of what makes a good Bond film.

Like Connery and Brosnan, I find Lazenby to be quite effortless in the role. My mind always goes straight to that stride into the casino. Dramatically speaking, he's never pushing to convince us except the odd line or two. But when it counts - the proposal and final scenes - he does very well. And his physical prowess speaks for itself.

somerset wrote:

That kind of talk from him always struck me as being self-deprecating rather than serious.

Quite. A bit like the Brosnan haters holding onto the interview where Brosnan suggests he never got Bond right. Cate Blanchett said she hated her Blue Jasmine performance-- you know, the one she won her second Oscar for.

Somerset wrote:

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Not sure if Fleming HATED Bond per se, but there was the likes of that time he referred to him as 'a cardboard booby'.

That kind of talk from him always struck me as being self-deprecating rather than serious.

Agreed. England's upper crust--including his own wife--constantly mocked him for his James Bond literature. Self deprecation was likely more of a preemptive defense than a genuine personal belief.

It's me being positive that this era is over and finished and I'm relieved mostly.

hegottheboot wrote:

It's me being positive that this era is over and finished and I'm relieved mostly.

You're confident about what comes next? I fear the worst.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

hegottheboot wrote:

It's me being positive that this era is over and finished and I'm relieved mostly.

You're confident about what comes next? I fear the worst.

I have to feel the worst is over, because I don't think I could invest myself in going to war over what next gets screwed up. I mean, the Moore era was largely Hell for me, but I KNEW it was going to get a little better once Dalton came on (tho I was thinking it would be MooreOfTheSame with Brosnan, at least when he was prematurely announced.)

The combination of how Craig looked wrong to me, coupled with the total wrong direction they went with his films and how I think they radically misinterpreted Bond for the last 15 years ... well, I'd say it and the Trek Reboot made for the movie equivalent of the Trump presidency, just Hell in all directions.

Having said that, I do have to grudgingly admit that TREK has gotten even worse after Abrams' involvement with the DISCOVERY series ... but then again, I also just plain gave up on new TREK as a result (though I will tune in to see if STRANGE NEW WORLDS turns out any better, because Anson Mount is very good, even if trapped by a writer's room that probably couldn't figure out a threat could be averted by simply putting the pin back in the hand grenade.)

If they figure out a way of making Bonds less palatable than they have been this century, I imagine I can give that up too. Still have FRWL and those other Eon gems, they're not going away.

trevanian wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

hegottheboot wrote:

It's me being positive that this era is over and finished and I'm relieved mostly.

You're confident about what comes next? I fear the worst.

I have to feel the worst is over, because I don't think I could invest myself in going to war over what next gets screwed up. I mean, the Moore era was largely Hell for me, but I KNEW it was going to get a little better once Dalton came on (tho I was thinking it would be MooreOfTheSame with Brosnan, at least when he was prematurely announced.)

The combination of how Craig looked wrong to me, coupled with the total wrong direction they went with his films and how I think they radically misinterpreted Bond for the last 15 years ... well, I'd say it and the Trek Reboot made for the movie equivalent of the Trump presidency, just Hell in all directions.

Having said that, I do have to grudgingly admit that TREK has gotten even worse after Abrams' involvement with the DISCOVERY series ... but then again, I also just plain gave up on new TREK as a result (though I will tune in to see if STRANGE NEW WORLDS turns out any better, because Anson Mount is very good, even if trapped by a writer's room that probably couldn't figure out a threat could be averted by simply putting the pin back in the hand grenade.)

If they figure out a way of making Bonds less palatable than they have been this century, I imagine I can give that up too. Still have FRWL and those other Eon gems, they're not going away.

I'm far less concerned with the choice of an actor per se than I am with the distinct possibility--or probability--that Babs will turn Bond into some Leftist freak who could easily pass for a Biden cabinet member. If it's a choice between that or just ending the series with NTtD, respecting Fleming's creation, and letting Bond rest in peace, then give me the latter. Twenty-five films is plenty. Bond had a good run.

Hadn't really considered that possibility, but since RHYTHM SECTION didn't seem to register for anybody, I guess doing something radically different with Bond is an option for her. But turning him from a blunt weapon into a blunted weapon would be about as bad as anything else I might dream up as a worst-case scenario.

Trevanian's an interesting name, incidentally. The nom de plume of the author of my favorite novel--The Summer of Katya--is Trevanian. He also wrote a brilliant thriller called Shibumi.

I don't think I've ever met anybody who even read KATYA. I was totally sold on Trevanian after reading THE MAIN late in my teens, then gobbled up the Hemlock books and SHIBUMI, though the latter wasn't an instant hit for me like it was for so many others. Connery was being talked up back then for the film version, though mainly I kept imagining John Rhys-Davies as Le Cagot.

KATYA seemed at first like it would be a slog because of the deliberate old-fashioned aspect to how the story is told, but my God, in the end I don't think I've ever read something that so screamed out for a very careful film adaptation as that. When I turned 30, about 7 years after KATYA came out, I was on the verge of giving up zero-budget filmmaking as being too expensive, and spent a few months trying to find out about the film rights on KATYA, to see if there was any way to negotiate an option, since everybody was telling me that my strength was more in the screenwriting end of things. Turns out it had been snatched up prepublication, but I don't recall ever finding out who the rights holder was.

Considered it again about 15 years later, thinking maybe Keira Knightley could play Katya, but I got hung up trying to figure out about the brother.

Unlike the other Trevanian books, which I read in a very regular rotation, I tend to save KATYA up and read it every 10 or 12 years. In that way it's kind of like NO BUGLES NO DRUMS, my favorite VietNam novel, which somehow also never got made into a movie, even though you could probably create a good screenplay just by using a hiliter marker on the paperback. KATYA also has about as righteous a last line as any book ever, made me feel good about my matching views, which have not changed in the slightest over nearly 4 decades.

EDIT ADDON: I hit on the username because I got tired of using Kmart, which was kind of a contraction of my own name, and something I'd gotten used to writing decades earlier when I needed to sign my name a lot at work. I got in trouble there too, because Kmart actually acquired WaldenBooks and somebody there didn't like me signing that way either. Anyway, too many forums had people making cracks about Kmart's fiscal woes, so I got an okay from nearly all of the forums I frequented to switch to Trevanian (figured it was a little more obscure and lofty sounding than 'big Harlan Ellison fan) ... it didn't take at the ilmfan site, so I'm still kmart there, but I think only about four people ever visit, so no big deal.

Thanks for the Katya rec there, fellas. Putting it on the list.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Agreed. England's upper crust--including his own wife--constantly mocked him for his James Bond literature. Self deprecation was likely more of a preemptive defense than a genuine personal belief.

Yes. That story of him coming home to find his wife's clique sitting in a circle and reading aloud and laughing at excerpts from Live and Let Die always chilled my coffee. He seems to have fought back enough against those more critical attacks in the press to the extent that the only conclusion is that he did take pride in and think very much of Bond.

He should have played William Tell with her like Burroughs

Anytime somebody mention Burroughs and the gun, it makes me sad and mad because it reminds me of reading that Steve McQueen did that same thing with his dog, after training it to sit up with an apple on its head and not flinch when he fired.

Somerset wrote:

Thanks for the Katya rec there, fellas. Putting it on the list.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Agreed. England's upper crust--including his own wife--constantly mocked him for his James Bond literature. Self deprecation was likely more of a preemptive defense than a genuine personal belief.

Yes. That story of him coming home to find his wife's clique sitting in a circle and reading aloud and laughing at excerpts from Live and Let Die always chilled my coffee. He seems to have fought back enough against those more critical attacks in the press to the extent that the only conclusion is that he did take pride in and think very much of Bond.

And Fleming has been vindicated. He is now generally recognized as a truly great writer, a genius even, rather than some lowbrow hack merely attempting to titillate the masses.

Sarai wrote:

He should have played William Tell with her like Burroughs

No kidding. What a bitch.

trevanian wrote:

Anytime somebody mention Burroughs and the gun, it makes me sad and mad because it reminds me of reading that Steve McQueen did that same thing with his dog, after training it to sit up with an apple on its head and not flinch when he fired.

Terrible. What a lowlife.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

And Fleming has been vindicated. He is now generally recognized as a truly great writer, a genius even, rather than some lowbrow hack merely attempting to titillate the masses.

Indeed. Few writers tickle your very senses the way Fleming does.

As an aside, the inevitable has happened thanks to the lockdown-induced delay on NTTD being released in Fortress Australis while the rest of the world moves on, and I've accidentally come across a spoiler for the Big 'Un. However, I don't know the exact circumstances of the Big 'Un so hopefully that, at least, remains fresh to me when I finally get to see the movie in 3.5 weeks. I shall say no more!

Worse thing about the world we live in, it's virtually impossible to escape spoilers. I found one just by watching an OHMSS trailer vid on youtube.

I saw NTtD after having read all the spoilers. It is still, IMHO, very much worth viewing. Not going to lie--I cried like a baby.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

I saw NTtD after having read all the spoilers. It is still, IMHO, very much worth viewing. Not going to lie--I cried like a baby.

I cry when Sean Connery dies in UNTOUCHABLES, when Bronson dies in MAG7 (hit by magic bullets that don't even deliver squib hits or tear his clothing), and I even cry during one passage near the end of Clancy's CLEAR & PRESENT DANGER novel, when Ryan guarantees a man who is bleeding out that all of the guy's kids are going to get to go to college (I actually misted up again just writing that.)

I have justified this excess to myself by invoking that thing about Bond (maybe it is in the Pearson book), like all hard men, was easily tipped into sentiment. So I guess I can be a bastard anytime, but put me in a situation with unreal people and I'm suddenly a blubberer.

Hilly wrote:

Worse thing about the world we live in, it's virtually impossible to escape spoilers. I found one just by watching an OHMSS trailer vid on youtube.

Frustrating. In addition to seeing the spoiler on Twatter, I came across what looked like fan art of the Big 'Un scene on the 'Gram. Reason #97658 to stay off soshul meeja.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

I saw NTtD after having read all the spoilers. It is still, IMHO, very much worth viewing. Not going to lie--I cried like a baby.

Not the first person to admit that. Must say I'm very intrigued now.

To paraphrase Spock re: V'ger:

"I do not weep for Bond - I weep for the franchise."

Perilagu Khan wrote:

I saw NTtD after having read all the spoilers. It is still, IMHO, very much worth viewing. Not going to lie--I cried like a baby.

Oh good. You know just today I was going to log on and tell you to just go see the movie already you cheap bastard but I couldn't think of a more polite way of saying it. That and I didn't want my user account suspension mentioned in the blades section so it all worked out.
I hope you write a bit of a detailed review of why you liked it and what clicked for you as I remember us discussing Spectre and I thought at the time we felt the same about it. You mentioned that Spectre felt cold, sterile detached or something like that and I felt the same about it. The difference here obviously I feel the same about the newest film as well and it just seemed like Spectre 2.
so either I was wrong about your thoughts on SP or you liked NTTD much better?

either way glad you enjoyed it and who knows I did hate LTK for quite some time so maybe I can dig this one at some point too