Tux's Bond 23: THE PROPERTY OF A LADY

Ok, friends. I'm gonna try to reassemble some of what I'd cooked up in a thread back on oldMI6, before it was replaced with PAINFACEBOOK.

THE PROPERTY OF A LADY

The general idea is that it's been roughly three years since the events of CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE. Bond has been on the trail of Quantum, but it's mostly run cold. He's done other missions, but finding and defeating Quantum holds a special appeal for him.

In the PTS he's found a lead in Vladivostok, Russia. The action sequence would center around the Zolotoy Rog Bay, a bustling place with ships and cranes and stuff for Bond to have fun with. He's chasing a boat leaving the bay. The sequence would include Gymkhana driving through tight confines in some small car or something, and would end with a jump from a crane onto the boat and the subsequent mayhem.

The rest of the film concerns Bond's false defection, but the idea isn't really developed much beyond that. Problems that face further development include making Quantum tentatively accept Bond without looking like total fools, and I'm not sure on their grand scheme yet.

Settings I had in mind include Frankfurt, Germany because I want a very modern European city with skyscrapers and a lot of very cutting edge technology. Vladivostok has an old Soviet naval feel with grime. And a nice Asian influence too. And Frankfurt would be a stark contrast.

I'm also thinking of Copenhagen and Porto, Portgual. Valencia, Spain is possible. I'm not sure.

Characters.

Aside from Bond, the main characters would be Diana Vale and Victoria Westbridge. Vale I see as Mrs. Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz. I'd hope not to repeat Elektra King, though Bond would feel no love for her whatsoever. Westbridge I see as in the vein of an Olivia Wilde, but English. Very high class. I see her as being part of Quantum's scheme, but she has no knowledge of Quantum itself. She's being brainwashed to do something a la the girls in OHMSS.

Then you have Quantum peeps. Jesper Christensen said he won't come back, which is a pity, as I'd have Mr. White be a major player in this film. Really a main character. He'd be around A LOT as Bond's biggest skeptic and the guy in touch with the unseen leader of Quantum, revealed to be Blofeld near the end. Bond would kill Mr. White when he tries to make one of his famous escapes. Mr. White would open a door and literally run right into Bond. BOND: "Looking for an exit?" *bang* I think this would be after White kills Vale himself. Bond never seems to kill baddies now, but he'd carry the bullet for Mr. White.

The other three Quantum peeps would be Le Foug, Krassni, and Gururani. Le Foug is very wealthy and very eccentric. A bit like Glenn Anders in THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI. Krassni would be a Red Grant type. Eastern European, but with a resemblence to Craig. Sort of a doppelganger, and a physical threat for Bond to tackle later in the movie. Abjit Gururani is like an Indian Kronsteen.

Along with Vale and White, it would play out a little like THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI. Bond would be in the Welles position, but not talking so much. It'd be a real oddball group, and a bit surreal.



On the homefront, you'd have Dench as M, Kinnear as Tanner (though no longer M's secretary as seems implied in QOS), and Mary Goodnight, Bond's secretary and personal squeeze. Moneypenny is mentioned by name, but is never seen. I imagine a Sienna Miller type as Goodnight, and I see a scene with Bond and Goodnight before Bond leaves for Frankfurt.

After Bond and Goodnight have done the deed. Bond's over the sink in the bathroom, Goodnight is laying on his bed. They'd talked about how risky this mission is. Bond grows grimly reflective.

BOND: I won't waste my life trying to prolong it. (beat) I'll use the time I have.

Goodnight looks incredulous.

BOND: (smirks) What?

GOODNIGHT: Do you always get so philosophical after?

Bond moves to the bed and sits beside her. His face is close to hers.

BOND: Only before.

They both descend below the frame. CUT TO: Plane taking off and going up.

One thing that would be stressed in the film is luxury. There would be major snob appeal in this film.

Another character is Countess Angelique van der Zyl, who is just someone Bond fraks at some function attended by Bond and the Quantum gang. Just to up his score count after the rather sexless QOS.

Like the sound of quite a bit of that, Tux. I especially like the character names, none of that silly Molly Warmflash, Christmas Jones, Mr Kil, Strawberry Fields stuff which P&W seem intent on continuing to dump on us. And bringing back Blofeld actually has my approval, oddly enough, as if it were to happen then EON would hopefully have the sense not to deck him out in the grey "Dr Evil" suit, instead just stick him in a classy suit, keep the cat at a distance and present the character in a far more brutal and contemporary way than before. It would work if handled correctly. After all, the guy is Bond's Moriarty, General Zod, Darth Vader, Green Goblin, whatever, basically he's the biggest "Big Bad" the Bond series has, was handled badly last time out and he's been missing for 30 years. Don't know what the score is with McClory on that one though, so it might not be plain sailing. But I'd welcome him and SPECTRE back as long as it's done in a contemporary way and not wheeled out in a tired, Brosnan-era "Greatest Hits" style.

I'd also wind up the whole Quantum plot in the next film. I'd solve Mr White's Jesper Christensen absence by using the shot-but-unused White death scene from the aborted ending of QOS; I'd use that as the PTS of Bond 23, then move the timeline on a few years after the PTS, basically bringing us into the present. Then, I'd introduce a new Quantum villain with the shadow of Blofeld looming large throughout and culminating in Blofeld's introduction later on, which would lead to the mother of all MI6 vs Quantum battles, complete with a badass modern variation on the old coloured jumpsuits and a level of intense violence and prolonged mass combat never seen before in a Bond film, basically a Rambo-rivalling orgy of utter balls-to-the-wall carnage, topped off with the ultimate standoff between good and evil in the Garden Of Death, send this plot and possibly Craig off with a massive bang. Speaking of which, I'm all for Craig banging the babes big-time in Bond 23, but I wouldn't want a main female villain, not in the hands of the current writers. If there's a Bad Girl, just give her a Helga-esque bit part, have Bond shag her then later kill her, no rants about oil or anything. Then, season with some real stunts, a few heaped tablespoons of gratuitous sex, add a nice big dollop of Bill Conti disco sauce and we're sorted. Oh, and the death of M would be nice too, make her death a particularly unpleasant and humiliating one, the kind of horrible death this utter wretch of a character truly deserves.