Unfortunately disappointed with Skyfall

I love Bond and had been very eager to see Skyfall! I just got back from the theater and I don't understand why certain choices were made in the movie.

- I was under the impression that James Bond was an orphan... I may be wrong but I do believe this was discussed in a prior Bond film, unfortunately I can't recall which one.
- Isn't "James Bond" a cover? In fact, didn't the list they were trying to retrieve link agents codenames with their real names and faces?
- What actually happened to the agent list? Please don't tell me Silva didn't leave anyone behind to continue putting out 5 names per week.
- Why was the storyline in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace forgotten? At the end of Quantum of Solace Bond has a discussion with Dominic Greene before he throws him out of the vehicle in the desert. We are never privy to what actually was said but I have to assume that Greene explains what the Quantum project was, right? Is this storyline something we will never have a conclusion to?

GrantedRed wrote:

I love Bond and had been very eager to see Skyfall! I just got back from the theater and I don't understand why certain choices were made in the movie.

- I was under the impression that James Bond was an orphan... I may be wrong but I do believe this was discussed in a prior Bond film, unfortunately I can't recall which one.
- Isn't "James Bond" a cover? In fact, didn't the list they were trying to retrieve link agents codenames with their real names and faces?
- What actually happened to the agent list? Please don't tell me Silva didn't leave anyone behind to continue putting out 5 names per week.
- Why was the storyline in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace forgotten? At the end of Quantum of Solace Bond has a discussion with Dominic Greene before he throws him out of the vehicle in the desert. We are never privy to what actually was said but I have to assume that Greene explains what the Quantum project was, right? Is this storyline something we will never have a conclusion to?

1) Bonds parents died when he was a child.... thus making him an orphan.
2) No, James Bond isn't a cover.
3) They've done this before. DN/FRWL built up SPECTRE. DIdn't hear a word about them in Goldfinger, then they reappeared with Thunderball. It is possible Bond 24 might pick up the Quantum storyline. With that said, it has been done pretty poorly. I don't think most people would mind to just forget about Quantum.

Yeah, they made a big deal of him being an orphan in Skyfall. I don't understand your confusion. His parents died in a climbing accident in the alps when he was 11.

Maybe you should try watching it again. And I agree with Moore about the 'Quantum' business. That storyline is there if they need it, but if they come up with something better (like in SKYFALL), well then, they won't need it.

Moore wrote:

2) No, James Bond isn't a cover.
3) They've done this before. DN/FRWL built up SPECTRE. DIdn't hear a word about them in Goldfinger, then they reappeared with Thunderball. It is possible Bond 24 might pick up the Quantum storyline. With that said, it has been done pretty poorly. I don't think most people would mind to just forget about Quantum.

I can only hope that they come back to the Quantum plot later on like they did with Spectre, but what you pointed out does make sense. Although I don't see how all other agents use a codename but Bond decides to use his real name?

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

Yeah, they made a big deal of him being an orphan in Skyfall. I don't understand your confusion. His parents died in a climbing accident in the alps when he was 11.

I don't recall them explaining that, might have missed it. I was under the impression they died early on and Bond never really knew them. Was the alps explanation from the books?

Even though, I still hated that they made Bond manor with the old caretaker still living there... I think they should rebuild the house in the next movie with a 00 secret lair and Albert Finney can help Batma...I mean Bond with his next mission...

Does anyone remember what they said happened to the list they were after to begin with?

GrantedRed wrote:

Does anyone remember what they said happened to the list they were after to begin with?

I suppose it went to the grave with Silva and Patrice...

GrantedRed wrote:

Although I don't see how all other agents use a codename but Bond decides to use his real name?

Because Bond wasn't undercover. They were.

Yeah, the list was of undercover operatives in terror cells. Bond is an assassin/troubleshooter. Bond's backstory is from the novels, but is also explainedbin Casino Royale by Vesper and in GoldenEye by 006

All I can say is this:

Read the books.

Sharky's right. Once upon a time, maybe I'd be digging the idea of Bond and Kincade kickin' it in an underground HQ, but now I've read the novels, those are the kind of ideas I hope the series steers well clear from.

Kincaide came out of nowhere for me, of all the elements from Bond's childhood introduced. It really would have worked well for a Connery cameo but without that it seems very ancilliary. Wonder why they thought they could get him when he had already turned down Indy 4. Dude is retired, yo.

I was fine with Finney. A screen legend in his own right.

As I said in another thread, he's basically a Scots Hans Oberhauser.

I like that EON avoided having Bond provide exposition, as Bond has always been someone who was more interested in the future and brushed off the past "you know the story". Kincaide was their way of shedding some light in Bond's past.

Largo's Shark wrote:

I was fine with Finney. A screen legend in his own right.

As I said in another thread, he's basically a Scots Hans Oberhauser.

Very good point.

Bond's parents dying in the climbing accident is also mentioned by Trevalyan in the 'statue graveyard' scene in Goldeneye (its first ever mention in the series, I think that was).

I don't remember it being explicitly mentioned in SF, only that his parents died.