Peter Morgan's "central idea" "the big hook" remains in Bond 23 script

Louis Armstrong wrote:

tiffanywint wrote:

Who knows, who cares.

You don't, and I care. :)

well I don't care because it doesn't matter

I recall Morgan said this idea was shocking. Probably shocking in how predictable it is.

One thing I am certain of is that Mendes will produce a good film that will lend itself to multiple viewings, even though I am sure he will also serve up lots to carp about.
I watched both QoS and NSNA to cap off my latest 23 film Bondathon which took several weeks to complete.
And although QoS is not what I want in a Bond film, it still works as a watchable 007 picture. I suspect Mendes will also offer up not what I want, but still something servicable.

QoS and NSNA are an interesing pair to view back to back, in that you have two very similar lead villains. In fact Almaric seems very much inspired by Brandauer's performance, although I doubt very much, he ever saw the film. More a coincidence as both are adept at playing a wormy slimely, almost effete Euro-villain.
Their exaggerated mannerisms are very similar. Craig shows similar disdain towards Almaric's Greene as Sean did towards Brandauer's Largo.
Both villains go psycho with an axe as well.
Damn, is Sean good in NSNA. He oozes Bond. I might watch NSNA again in another week or so. It looks real good in Hi-def and boasts a real bevy of Bond babes. Even 52 year old Sean has more going on with the girls than a much younger Craig.
Sean adds 4 more notches to the Bond belt in his final film, while Craig has managed only two conquests total in two films. Guy needs to pick up his game.

tiffanywint wrote:

One thing I am certain of is that Mendes will produce a good film that will lend itself to multiple viewings, even though I am sure he will also serve up lots to carp about.
I watched both QoS and NSNA to cap off my latest 23 film Bondathon which took several weeks to complete.
And although QoS is not what I want in a Bond film, it still works as a watchable 007 picture. I suspect Mendes will also offer up not what I want, but still something servicable.

QoS and NSNA are an interesing pair to view back to back, in that you have two very similar lead villains. In fact Almaric seems very much inspired by Brandauer's performance, although I doubt very much, he ever saw the film. More a coincidence as both are adept at playing a wormy slimely, almost effete Euro-villain.
Their exaggerated mannerisms are very similar. Craig shows similar disdain towards Almaric's Greene as Sean did towards Brandauer's Largo.
Both villains go psycho with an axe as well.
Damn, is Sean good in NSNA. He oozes Bond. I might watch NSNA again in another week or so. It looks real good in Hi-def and boasts a real bevy of Bond babes. Even 52 year old Sean has more going on with the girls than a much younger Craig.
Sean adds 4 more notches to the Bond belt in his final film, while Craig has managed only two conquests total in two films. Guy needs to pick up his game.

I'd never bothered counting Craig's conquests - but two is pretty poor, I must admit (it is just Solange and Vesper, right????). He's been a miserable sod, but that's no excuse! Need a couple of flings, a villainess in need of seduction and a romantic main interest or two to make up the numbers in 23 now.

Re the hook, it had better be good given how much the chap goes on about it.

Skudor wrote:

tiffanywint wrote:

One thing I am certain of is that Mendes will produce a good film that will lend itself to multiple viewings, even though I am sure he will also serve up lots to carp about.
I watched both QoS and NSNA to cap off my latest 23 film Bondathon which took several weeks to complete.
And although QoS is not what I want in a Bond film, it still works as a watchable 007 picture. I suspect Mendes will also offer up not what I want, but still something servicable.

QoS and NSNA are an interesing pair to view back to back, in that you have two very similar lead villains. In fact Almaric seems very much inspired by Brandauer's performance, although I doubt very much, he ever saw the film. More a coincidence as both are adept at playing a wormy slimely, almost effete Euro-villain.
Their exaggerated mannerisms are very similar. Craig shows similar disdain towards Almaric's Greene as Sean did towards Brandauer's Largo.
Both villains go psycho with an axe as well.
Damn, is Sean good in NSNA. He oozes Bond. I might watch NSNA again in another week or so. It looks real good in Hi-def and boasts a real bevy of Bond babes. Even 52 year old Sean has more going on with the girls than a much younger Craig.
Sean adds 4 more notches to the Bond belt in his final film, while Craig has managed only two conquests total in two films. Guy needs to pick up his game.

I'd never bothered counting Craig's conquests - but two is pretty poor, I must admit (it is just Solange and Vesper, right????). He's been a miserable sod, but that's no excuse! Need a couple of flings, a villainess in need of seduction and a romantic main interest or two to make up the numbers in 23 now.

Re the hook, it had better be good given how much the chap goes on about it.

Isn't it three, Solange, Vesper and Fields. (The latter with the, "I seem to have lost my stationary, will you help me look?" line)

Craig's two full "conquests" are Vesper and Fields.

He ran out on Solange leaving her all hot and bothered and with champagne for one. And of course he infamously had no interest whatsoever in Camille.



And the stationary line in QoS has got to be the lamest Bond pick-up ever. What they were they thinking? It's not even funny. It's not even cute. It's not sexy. It's simply not anything.

That line might be QoS's greatest crime,and that's saying a lot.

Agreed on the stationary line. First time I saw QOS I had no clue that was supposed to be a pickup line, and I can't imagine how Strawberry did either.

Ed Tom Kowalsky wrote:

Agreed on the stationary line. First time I saw QOS I had no clue that was supposed to be a pickup line, and I can't imagine how Strawberry did either.

Haggfish! :x

Clearly I need to rewatch both - although Fields is so forgettable that I can't really blame myself for that oversight.

Anyway, one per film just isn't good enough! Connery would have found the time, and Roger would have hooked up with a Russian spy stewardess on the flight to Miami (on top of that, obviously)!

Skudor wrote:

Clearly I need to rewatch both - although Fields is so forgettable that I can't really blame myself for that oversight.

:x

FieldsMan wrote:

Skudor wrote:

Clearly I need to rewatch both - although Fields is so forgettable that I can't really blame myself for that oversight.

:x

"Looks like you lost another one. Ha!"

Ed Tom Kowalsky wrote:

Agreed on the stationary line. First time I saw QOS I had no clue that was supposed to be a pickup line, and I can't imagine how Strawberry did either.

I always took it as a purposely silly, thinly-veiled excuse to get her further into the room and get her out of that restrictive trench coat (didn't she look like she'd be a streaker under that thing, anyway?). He even pauses to "think" of the reason he wants her to come into the other room.

It might be interesting if the PM is involved with Quantum. Since Guy Haines is suppost to be the PM's closest advisor, it wouldn't be too hard to go that route.

00Twelve wrote:

Ed Tom Kowalsky wrote:

Agreed on the stationary line. First time I saw QOS I had no clue that was supposed to be a pickup line, and I can't imagine how Strawberry did either.

I always took it as a purposely silly, thinly-veiled excuse to get her further into the room and get her out of that restrictive trench coat (didn't she look like she'd be a streaker under that thing, anyway?). He even pauses to "think" of the reason he wants her to come into the other room.

He should have thought about it a few more seconds. He might have come up with a better line.

:D

I've still got my idea for THE PROPERTY OF A LADY rattling in my brain, with the "big hook" being Bond's false defection to Quantum. It'd be Hitchcock's TORN CURTAIN meets Welles' THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI because Bond would be surrounded by a somewhat disfunctional collection of Quantum higher ups. Perhaps I should create a thread for it rather than crowd this one.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

I've still got my idea for THE PROPERTY OF A LADY rattling in my brain, with the "big hook" being Bond's false defection to Quantum. It'd be Hitchcock's TORN CURTAIN meets Welles' THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI because Bond would be surrounded by a somewhat disfunctional collection of Quantum higher ups. Perhaps I should create a thread for it rather than crowd this one.

What happened to all those stories you were going to post at MI6, Tux?

The White Tuxedo wrote:

I've still got my idea for THE PROPERTY OF A LADY rattling in my brain, with the "big hook" being Bond's false defection to Quantum. It'd be Hitchcock's TORN CURTAIN meets Welles' THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI because Bond would be surrounded by a somewhat disfunctional collection of Quantum higher ups. Perhaps I should create a thread for it rather than crowd this one.

Best idea ever! Just start like in TMWTGG novel, with Bond (not brainwashed), killing M :!: - cue the titles. :arrow: Then, after the titles, he would be contacted by Quantum in order to be recruited and led to the man on the top of the food chain. Of course M woulnd´t be dead, it would be a farse, one big charade to dismantle Quantum from the inside out. Awesome. And what a shocker as a pretitle, right?

So, was the hook ever elaborated or was it always just "M dies"?

No. Nothing more has been said on the subject, and Mendes has since said that Morgan's draft was scrapped when he left the project and Mendes came on-board.

I'm still very interested to know what it was.

Maybe it was the death of James Bond?

He didn't really seem to care for the franchise, or have many ideas on how to reinvigorate it - from the brief interview we got.

After seeing FROST/NIXON and THE QUEEN and following production of RUSH, I get the feeling that Morgan is very much into the fly-on-the-wall style of film. So I imagine that Bond would only really be a secondary character in Morgan's Bond film, perhaps following someone very much related to the plot, and watching how Bond intrudes upon their lives.

For instance, if Morgan had written CASINO ROYALE, then the film probably would have followed Vesper Lynd, and we would have seen everything from Vesper's prespective; likewise, if he had writetn QUANTUM OF SOLACE, it would have followed Camille (which would have been easier, since Camille survives). Very much like Fleming's original The Spy Who Loved Me.