bond 'continuing to evolve' ... ?

Blunt Instrument wrote:

There's no denying his joy at the end of the seaplane action sequence in LTK, though.

The moment I'd cite as well. That it comes at the conclusion of my favorite action set-piece since the gypsy fight in FRWL -- and is the first time since Connery era that I actually felt a sense of suspense like 'how is he going to get out of this? -- is just icing on the cake.

I've probably rewatched the Wavekrest escape more than any other single action sequence in all of the films, and except for the 'silent sneak' boarding the plane and the lamentable process work as he dangles, I still wouldn't change a thing.

trevanian wrote:

I saw something online yesterday at Variety or THR where they put up like 30 or 40 possible Bonds for consideration, and that list was absolutely nutso. In addition to curly-haired guys who looked like children, they also included Delroy Lindo ... and Brosnan.

At this point I would take Brozzer ahead of about half the names I have seen touted as "potentials".
Perhaps even ahead of three quarters of the rumored pretenders.

I still cannot believe how much richer the field of candidates was 16 years ago.

In sports you get bad draft classes but this is like a bad draft decade.

I'm sure they'll be a couple good ones out there but my goodness they sure are hard to spot.

Somerset wrote:

I still cannot believe how much richer the field of candidates was 16 years ago.

100%

Come back Owen Clive or whatever your name is.

Also, in those days certain basic characteristics were beyond reproach. Don't recall much talk of "modernising" Bond's gender or race post-Brosnan.

The one I laughed the hardest at was Thomas Doherty. Who on earth looks at that face and says, "he'd make a great James Bond!".

Perhaps he could play the Ben Whishaw era Q's boytoy, but not much else.

In Insane Clown World, the only surprise would be Babs selecting an actor who even remotely resembles Fleming's Bond, which of course is the only Bond.

He looks like he'd struggle in a stiff breeze, never mind a punch-up/firefight.

Wilson said recently that they're looking for someone in their thirties, so that's something at least.

Looks like Tommy Wiseau's lovechild.

"Oh hi, Q."

Dalton simply plays the humor differently. I get tired of the masses/critics saying: "he's too serious, he's too Shakesperian" etc. He plays the humor realistically as the darkly rich gallows humor Bond the killer would have and the humor Fleming gave him.
In fact I'd argue he's very funny all over the place. It's there in the warmth he displays with Q and Penny, dishing it back to Saunders or Pam, playing the exasperation like Sean and Roger did at times but with intensity-but most of all in the asides and glances. The one liners he does in a distinct way. He plays most straightforward as the scene demands and then in other moments works the humor into the less obvious lines. In every way this adds to the realism of the scene being crafted.


Don't even get me started on Craig's approach. There's a reason why I call the character they made in this cycle an automation. There is no genuine emotion or resonance. It's as if it doesn't process in the disengaged character's brain.

I had a thought when seeing Skyfall opening day while the house traps were being setup and the climax began. I sat there thinking: "Holy crap, there hasn't been serious and suspenseful stakes for Bond in the manner of "will he make it out of this alive?" since the finale of LTK. That really was the last time a sequence had the gripping quality to it."

Fully agreed the candidate pool was far superior in the early/mid 00's. I have the same answer I did then. Regardless of age, Jason Issacs as the day is long. He has the experience, the gravitas, the range, the steeliness with the right elements of humor. To this day no other choice comes close unless there's a Ye Olde 007 riff with Dalton or Brozzer.

Agree with you there, Boot. Sick of people saying "Dalton paved the way for Craig" or some such, when I really don't find them that similar. Dalton played it with Fleming in mind. The literary Bond was no class clown, but nor was he a miserable Terminator.

Jason Isaacs was a huge missed opportunity.

Isaacs would have possibly given the darkest interpretation of the character.

Agreed about Isaacs. No question.

From that same generation, I've also been curious about how Iain Glen would've been.

Funnily enough it was Isaacs character parts, funnier or quirkier roles that convinced me he was the one. He had the darkness on display and down pat going back at least to the villain in The Patriot (in which he was the one truly great element in that missed opportunity of a film that too many people refence as some great Revolutionary War film instead of the barely disguised Shenandoah remake it is.)

I think he would have pulled off the darkness with ease but always have that internal charm, the sparkle in the eye that never fully goes out unless at the absolute brink of destruction which is so vital to anyone in the role...something that has been stripped out and forgotten now.

Iain Glen is an interesting suggestion. He has many of the right qualities and I absolutely love the fun he has with the villain role in the first Tomb Raider.

hegottheboot wrote:

Funnily enough it was Isaacs character parts, funnier or quirkier roles that convinced me he was the one. He had the darkness on display and down pat going back at least to the villain in The Patriot (in which he was the one truly great element in that missed opportunity of a film that too many people refence as some great Revolutionary War film instead of the barely disguised Shenandoah remake it is.)

I think he would have pulled off the darkness with ease but always have that internal charm, the sparkle in the eye that never fully goes out unless at the absolute brink of destruction which is so vital to anyone in the role...something that has been stripped out and forgotten now.

Iain Glen is an interesting suggestion. He has many of the right qualities and I absolutely love the fun he has with the villain role in the first Tomb Raider.

Iain is who I thought they meant when they said the candidate was from TOMB RAIDER. Boy, it was a crossbow bolt between the eyes when I saw they meant that ugly guy. I'm still feelin' it, though now it seems like somebody comes along every few years and gives it a fresh twist to hammer it in further.

I am personally not very fond of the way that James Bond seems meant to develop;
I mean, I am aware that some people consider some of his old traits "inappropriate", but there was also something about Sean Connery's original cold confidence that made him really appealing.
I have personally never had any problems with his so-called "sexist" moments - I mean, they are scenes in movies - and Sean Connery definitely set the bar at the top from the start, in my opinion.
I can definitely see why the Bond girls who acted together with him were into him;
I would have probably felt the same way if I met him back in those days, haha.

But regardless of whether Sean Connery's scenes are sexist or not, I don't think that anyone can deny that he made an excellent introduction during his scenes with Sylvia Trench in "Dr. No";
those scenes cannot even be accused of being sexist - he is a complete ladies' man in all of those scenes, in a way that would most certainly work in real life as well.