Lea Seydoux joins Bond 24

Would I be correct in saying that the only Bond Girl in the last quarter-century who hasn't been called "Bond's Equal" is Denise Richards?

I just don't see how they'd be able to spin that.

I think the Bond girls during the Craig era have been a vast improvement over the Brosnan era (perhaps not counting Goldeneye). Even Olga. It's probably not a coincidence that this coincidences with a return to the old tradition of casting European actresses.

If you mean Craig vs Brosnan, it's much of a muchness, I'd say.

Brosnan's big miss was Monica Bellucci, but Lea Seydoux is the first woman of the Craig era to interest me above the waist.

Salomé wrote:

I think the Bond girls during the Craig era have been a vast improvement over the Brosnan era (perhaps not counting Goldeneye). Even Olga. It's probably not a coincidence that this coincidences with a return to the old tradition of casting European actresses.

Agreed. I wasn't a fan of the Brosnan era putting a lot of emphasis on getting then popular American actresses.

Lea's attractive. I won't really know what I think until the movie comes out obviously.

Mendes seems to have a good grasp on Bond girls. Severine's screen time was cut painfully short but she made an impact. Hell she's one of my favorite Bond girls period. Time will tell.

In the mean time...

I do like the fact that the producers seem to be favouring French actresses these days. They've been some of the best. I'm thinking Marlowe, Green, Auger, Bouquet, Seydoux, Marceau, Clery.. Sultry, alluring and with a brain.

We need more Italians too. Paluzzi, Murino and Bianchi were masterclass

In my opinion, the American ones have been by far and away the worst. Pedestrian with absolutely no class - not suitable for Bond's refined universe. Examples include Berry, St. John, Richards, Chiles, Roberts, Hatcher. Yuck

bondjames wrote:

In my opinion, the American ones have been by far and away the worst. Pedestrian with absolutely no class - not suitable for Bond's refined universe. Examples include Berry, St. John, Richards, Chiles, Roberts, Hatcher. Yuck

I think this reflects the differences between 007 financier United Artists (UA) and owner Danjaq with UA gaining the upper-hand after the disaster of OHMSS, resulting in that most American and idiosyncratic Bond film, Diamonds are Forever. When Saltzman sold his 50% share to UA, the balance of power moved to Hollywood and that continued - and perhaps worsened - after UA's takeover by MGM. Things have got better after Sony's involvement with more of the production and casting decisions seemingly left to Eon.

bondjames wrote:

I do like the fact that the producers seem to be favouring French actresses these days. They've been some of the best. I'm thinking Marlowe, Green, Auger, Bouquet, Seydoux, Marceau, Clery.. Sultry, alluring and with a brain.

I don't think Green stands up to any of them. She wasn't much of a Bond girl. The best, so far, has been Marlohe.

Shame about Marceau, too. Shit film, shit character. Still looks good to me, however. Maybe she could play Seydoux's mom and Bond could have a go at both of 'em.

Control wrote:

The best, so far, has been Marlohe.

She was very lucky to get a good script. Came from nowhere and not seen since.

Control wrote:

Shame about Marceau, too. Shit film, shit character. Still looks good to me.

She was very unlucky to get a bad script. Too bad.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Control wrote:

The best, so far, has been Marlohe.

She was very lucky to get a good script. Came from nowhere and not seen since.

Too true. Not much of an actress. She'll probably go as far as Helga, to be honest.

But, because she had an interesting enough character and lines that fit her quality of acting, it worked well.

I'm sure her face worked well to sell the film on all levels. Even Heineken took advantage of it.

I had no idea about those changes at that time. This may indeed be the reason because there was certainly a change in approach that continued for quite some time.

It's almost like the producers woke up during the Craig era, but it could, as you suggest, be due to Sony's financial backing since Craig took over.

Agreed about Marceau (shit script and movie which she made the most of) and Marlohe (director really made the most of her - stunning to look at in her short scenes).

I just hope they keep it up - Bond 24 is looking promising so far, but they have to nail that British female lead we keep hearing about.

Erica Ambler wrote:

bondjames wrote:

In my opinion, the American ones have been by far and away the worst. Pedestrian with absolutely no class - not suitable for Bond's refined universe. Examples include Berry, St. John, Richards, Chiles, Roberts, Hatcher. Yuck

I think this reflects the differences between 007 financier United Artists (UA) and owner Danjaq with UA gaining the upper-hand after the disaster of OHMSS, resulting in that most American and idiosyncratic Bond film, Diamonds are Forever. When Saltzman sold his 50% share to UA, the balance of power moved to Hollywood and that continued - and perhaps worsened - after UA's takeover by MGM. Things have got better after Sony's involvement with more of the production and casting decisions seemingly left to Eon.

bondjames wrote:

In my opinion, the American ones have been by far and away the worst. Pedestrian with absolutely no class - not suitable for Bond's refined universe. Examples include Berry, St. John, Richards, Chiles, Roberts, Hatcher. Yuck

You forgot to include Barbara Bach.

I thought St. John was actually very good in DAF. The only weakness being her character's sudden shift to a bimbo in the oil rig section. I have no idea what happened there.

Control wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

Control wrote:

The best, so far, has been Marlohe.

She was very lucky to get a good script. Came from nowhere and not seen since.

Too true. Not much of an actress. She'll probably go as far as Helga, to be honest.

But, because she had an interesting enough character and lines that fit her quality of acting, it worked well.

I'm sure her face worked well to sell the film on all levels. Even Heineken took advantage of it.

Yeah, I'm not having a go at Marlohe. I liked her. What's she doing these days?

Makeshift Python wrote:

The only weakness being her character's sudden shift to a bimbo in the oil rig section. I have no idea what happened there.

I like Tiff (and Plenty) too. Wasn't the oil rig sequence a late addition to the script?

I think the oil rig was always a part of it, but it was supposed to be much more elaborate like OHMSS's climax. It was scripted to end with Bond chasing Blofeld's sub to a salt mine, where he'd ultimately kill him. I assume that was scrapped because a) they already had problems shooting the rig sequence, b) they were short on money, and c) EON ultimately decided that Blofeld should remain a recurring villain.

Would be interesting to read Mankiewicz script to see how that all originally played out.

Ah okay. Not much seems to have been written about DAF, it's not a fan favourite outside of this place.

I thought the oil rig was a stand-in for the mine sequence. Some last minute filming-permissions snafu or some such.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Control wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

Control wrote:

The best, so far, has been Marlohe.

She was very lucky to get a good script. Came from nowhere and not seen since.

Too true. Not much of an actress. She'll probably go as far as Helga, to be honest.

But, because she had an interesting enough character and lines that fit her quality of acting, it worked well.

I'm sure her face worked well to sell the film on all levels. Even Heineken took advantage of it.

Yeah, I'm not having a go at Marlohe. I liked her. What's she doing these days?

Looks like she's signed on to a Terrence Malick project, along with a bunch of A-listers.

Oh, and Val Kilmer.

CJB wrote:

Would I be correct in saying that the only Bond Girl in the last quarter-century who hasn't been called "Bond's Equal" is Denise Richards?

I just don't see how they'd be able to spin that.

I don't believe Fields was either.

If Lea has to do something original...don't just fuck up Bond like Vesper did, but return in Bond 25 to rub more salt in his wounds.

Being a consistent thorn in his side would make her far more equal than some of the other fluff.

PS Good to see some more members getting active in this thread. Even if it involves pulling on your own members, so to speak.

FieldsMan wrote:

CJB wrote:

Would I be correct in saying that the only Bond Girl in the last quarter-century who hasn't been called "Bond's Equal" is Denise Richards?

I just don't see how they'd be able to spin that.

I don't believe Fields was either.

To be fair, she wasn't the primary Bond girl. But maybe even those are now calling themselves Bond's equal?

@bitchcraft - Good to be back.

Xenia93 wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

CJB wrote:

Would I be correct in saying that the only Bond Girl in the last quarter-century who hasn't been called "Bond's Equal" is Denise Richards?

I just don't see how they'd be able to spin that.

I don't believe Fields was either.

To be fair, she wasn't the primary Bond girl. But maybe even those are now calling themselves Bond's equal?

@bitchcraft - Good to be back.

Neither is Lea's character I believe. Lead female character is British.

bitchcraft wrote:

If Lea has to do something original...don't just fuck up Bond like Vesper did, but return in Bond 25 to rub more salt in his wounds.

Being a consistent thorn in his side would make her far more equal than some of the other fluff.

PS Good to see some more members getting active in this thread. Even if it involves pulling on your own members, so to speak.

I always liked the idea presented in TMWTGG with Bond having more of an antagonistic relationship with Goodnight, which unfortunately got dropped quick after the first act. It would be fun to see something like that tried out again but better executed, having Bond and the girl become more fond of each other gradually through the film.

Also, Craig needs to shag at the end. Three straight films and they all end with him not having a girl in his arm. This has gone too far.

Makeshift Python wrote:

Also, Craig needs to shag at the end. Three straight films and they all end with him not having a girl in his arm. This has gone too far.

I think this almost definitely will happen if the featuring of a prominent henchman role is any indication. Most all fans want to see it. I know I would. Shit I'd applaud right in my theater seat.

Makeshift Python wrote:

I always liked the idea presented in TMWTGG with Bond having more of an antagonistic relationship with Goodnight, which unfortunately got dropped quick after the first act.

I think the problem there is the way TMWTGG is so disjointed. It feels like two films hastily sewn together with minimal effort spent on making it coherent. It starts out as a battle between Bond and Scaramanga, and then halfway through it switches focus to the 1974 energy crisis. There's a few plot threads from each half running through the other, but there's a definite tonal shift once Bond leaves Beirut and the film wanders aimlessly for about twenty minutes while it decides what kind of film it's going to be. The antagonistic relationship between Bond and Goodnight gets forgotten somewhere around here.

Well, of course. It was a rushed production with two scriptwriters who had very different viewpoints on the script (Mankiewicz being interested in the dynamic between Bond and Scaramanga, whereas Maibaum, being the dullard he was, wanted to play up the energy crisis because "it's topical").

More Lea...the following pics may not be viewed by flubbering idiots.