Replay! Is it time to remake a Bond film?

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  • Posts: 15,101
    CrabKey wrote: »
    After watching YOLT again last night, I am convinced more than ever that the time to make new versions of some of the Bond films is at hand. As much as I love the early Bond films and SC is still my favorite Bond, I can no longer dismiss the artistic and technical abuses as part of the charm of the original films. I have always been of the opinion there was a laziness on the part of the producers to overlook some of the problems in story telling and editing and continuity. What a mess this film is. From Henderson's 'stirred' line to flipping frames, a Blofeld plot dumber than anything cooked up by Dr. Evil, Bond miraculously having a Ninja outfit and accessories under his clothes, Blofeld's space cameras capturing the progress of his rocket. The list is endless. Some of these things bothered me the first time I saw the film. With repeated viewings, this film does not get better.

    At this point, only hardcore Bond fans would be upset. I don't think the majority of film goers would be the least bit bothered. Fleming's material is far superior to the original stories concocted by screenwriters. TB has been done twice. CR is in its third iteration.
    Sandwiched between YOLT and DAF, though not perfect, OHMSS is a miracle.

    YOLT and DAF could maybe be adapted more faithfully from the source material. But remade? Heck no.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    Never.
  • sunsanvilsunsanvil Somewhere in Canada....somewhere.
    edited April 2015 Posts: 260
    "Is it time to remake a Bond film?"

    No, no, no, no, and NO.

    Hollywood is rife with such crap as it is.

    The franchise distinguishes itself by having made almost 25 movies which, while sharing characters, themes, and yes even 'formula', have so far managed to avoid blatant recycling. To even entertain the thought of doing otherwise is to abase the whole thing down to the lowest of pulp.
  • Posts: 1,548
    Remake OHMSS and any Moore film but Connery era needs to be left alone.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    No Bond film needs remade. Adapting unused Fleming elements is okay, but No recycling previously used characters or villains. I don't want to see Bond actor 7 become an awful rehash.
  • Posts: 12,526
    NEVER EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Posts: 342
    Would would people think about filming the book The Spy Who Loved Me? Might be too thin for a full film, but could be take up a portion of a film. Perhaps could be used to introduce a new actor to Bond
  • Posts: 15,101
    Troy wrote: »
    Would would people think about filming the book The Spy Who Loved Me? Might be too thin for a full film, but could be take up a portion of a film. Perhaps could be used to introduce a new actor to Bond

    That would need its own thread. TSWLM is a unique Bond novel, because it is not a Bond novel, it is a Bond girl novel where Bond plays a secondary role.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    Troy wrote: »
    Would would people think about filming the book The Spy Who Loved Me? Might be too thin for a full film, but could be take up a portion of a film. Perhaps could be used to introduce a new actor to Bond

    Very good idea. Keep Horror and Slugsey too.

  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,195
    With shows like Mad Men and Game of Thrones, television has shown that high quality productions are possible. I could see a, faithful to the books, limited series done on a channel like HBO, BBC or AMC. If that were to be attempted I would like them to be period pieces.
  • Posts: 4,603
    Again, we are into semantics, are we talking about remaking the movies? or taking the original books and making a new film based on those. IMHO, there is enough flexibility between the book and a film script that you could make a new film based on one of the original books and it would be different enough from the equivelent film.
    I know it wont happen a movie losely based on LALD fighting the drug lords of South America, much grittier, darker than the Moore movie but still based on the same book. Of course RM fans wold be up in arms as the direct comparason could show up the original IMHO, interesting to discuss but, like so many of these threads, I dont think it will happen.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,195
    Yes, so in a nutshell, remake movies? No. Faithfully adapt Fleming's novels? Yes.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    edited April 2015 Posts: 5,131
    talos7 wrote: »
    Yes, so in a nutshell, remake movies? No. Faithfully adapt Fleming's novels? Yes.

    I would agree with this with the following caveat....they have to be Fleming 'period pieces'. And nothing omitted for the sake of being PC.....film the book.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,195
    suavejmf wrote: »
    talos7 wrote: »
    Yes, so in a nutshell, remake movies? No. Faithfully adapt Fleming's novels? Yes.

    I would agree with this with the following caveat....they have to be Fleming 'period pieces'. And nothing omitted for the sake of being PC.....film the book.

    A big YES to that.

  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Remake them as Musicals, with big dance numbers ! :D
  • Posts: 1,971
    As an original Bond fan, I no longer worship at the sacred shrine of Bond. It wouldn't bother me in the least if the producers announced You Only Live Twice as the next film. The whole series has gone off in so many different directions. Clearly there is no chronology and no continuity, which went right out the window with OHMSS. The idea that Bond and Blofeld hadn't met before was just plain crazy. Blofeld played by three different actors in three successive films. A new YOLT wouldn't change the original film. We'd still have Connery. Each set of adventures with a new Bond seems to have its own chronology and history unrelated to the films of previous actors. In the course of Sherlock Holmes films, The Hound of Baskerville has been done twenty times, albeit not with the same producing family. Bond would survive quite nicely. At the rate of making Bond films, it would stretch well into the next thirty years if every Fleming book were filmed anew in the order in which they were written.

    It's worth recalling Dr. No was released in 1962. I liken a new generation of Bond films making new versions of the classics to Ford's decision to return to the classic style of the original Mustang after so many years of making something that never quite had the feel of the original.

  • edited April 2015 Posts: 533
    I don't need a remake of OHMSS or any other Bond film. What I want to see is an adaptation of a John Gardner or Raymond Benson novel.

    Fleming's material is far superior to the original stories concocted by screenwriters.

    I don't agree. In fact, I believe most of the screenwriters had improved on Fleming's material. In fact, a good deal of the original stories created by screenwriters were better than Fleming's material. Aside from a few novels, most of his work wasn't that hot to me. I thought he was strong on setting and characterization, but a little weak on narrative.
  • edited April 2015 Posts: 15,101
    DRush76 wrote: »
    I don't need a remake of OHMSS or any other Bond film. What I want to see is an adaptation of a John Gardner or Raymond Benson novel.

    Fleming's material is far superior to the original stories concocted by screenwriters.

    I don't agree. In fact, I believe most of the screenwriters had improved on Fleming's material. In fact, a good deal of the original stories created by screenwriters were better than Fleming's material. Aside from a few novels, most of his work wasn't that hot to me. I thought he was strong on setting and characterization, but a little weak on narrative.

    You want an adaptation of John Gardner or Raymond Benson novels, but you think the original stories are so-so? Which ones have been so much improved? Or improved at all. YOLT, DAF, TMWTGG, TSWLM and MR are all but a pale shadow of the source material. Even GF, which improved on some aspects of the novel's plot has Bond rather inactive for the last third of the movie.

    I'd say they should keep well away from the fanfics, her, I mean the continuators and go back to Fleming. Was he the greatest plotter? No, but that is beside the point. His novels had characters and character. And brilliant atmosphere. Heck, they had soul.
  • Posts: 1,971
    DRush76 said: I believe most of the screenwriters had improved on Fleming's material. In fact, a good deal of the original stories created by screenwriters were better than Fleming's material.

    The best Fleming Bond films are those that remained truest to the novels. Very few films remain completely faithful to the novels they were based on. But the further afield they stray, the less satisfactory they are. As Ludovico points out, the writers did not improve YOLT, DAF, TMWTGG, TSWLM and MR. With the exception of TSWLM, the aforementioned Fleming novels would have been much better remaining true to Fleming's plot. We expect certain elements will be updated due to stories being filmed 20-30 years after the books were written, but blatant changes have not served the stories well.











  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    Posts: 3,157
    CrabKey wrote: »
    With the exception of TSWLM, the aforementioned Fleming novels would have been much better remaining true to Fleming's plot.

    With all due respect, I disagree. I really enjoyed Fleming's TSWLM, and even though it is not a Bond novel - since Bond himself does a brief and not so relevant appeareance in the last third of the book, I found the novel's third act much stronger than Moore's third outing. Moore was great, but most of the movie is too campy, the villain is unmemorable and his scheme ridicolous.
  • Posts: 11,189
    DrGorner wrote: »
    Remake them as Musicals, with big dance numbers ! :D

    Hmm...I wonder who could do the singing honours?


  • Posts: 154
    I'd prefer the filmmakers NOT remake the old films. But if I had to pick one, I'd choose MOONRAKER. Do it seriously this time. It wasn't space that killed that film, it was childish humor. Disney is more highbrow than some of the jokes in MR. I always wondered why the Gardiner and Benson titles haven't been used (adjusting the plots, accordingly like they did with Fleming).
  • Posts: 7,653
    writer5150 wrote: »
    I'd prefer the filmmakers NOT remake the old films. But if I had to pick one, I'd choose MOONRAKER. Do it seriously this time. It wasn't space that killed that film, it was childish humor. Disney is more highbrow than some of the jokes in MR. I always wondered why the Gardiner and Benson titles haven't been used (adjusting the plots, accordingly like they did with Fleming).

    we had YOLT, MR & DAD how many times can we redo one novel. The novel was dated so they updated it quite well with MR & DAD, while the book works as a movie it would be redundant.

  • Posts: 154
    The parallels between YOLT and TSWLM films also occurred to me, SaintMark.
  • Posts: 15,101
    writer5150 wrote: »
    I'd prefer the filmmakers NOT remake the old films. But if I had to pick one, I'd choose MOONRAKER. Do it seriously this time. It wasn't space that killed that film, it was childish humor. Disney is more highbrow than some of the jokes in MR. I always wondered why the Gardiner and Benson titles haven't been used (adjusting the plots, accordingly like they did with Fleming).

    But then it would be an adaptation from the same source, not a remake. And MR is maybe the most adapted novel of Fleming.
  • No official James Bond film should ever be remade regardless of the film's quality. It wouldn't be fair to the actors and actresses who took part in the original film. Additionally, a remake of any particular movie would lessen the significance of the original film.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,582
    talos7 wrote: »
    With shows like Mad Men and Game of Thrones, television has shown that high quality productions are possible. I could see a, faithful to the books, limited series done on a channel like HBO, BBC or AMC. If that were to be attempted I would like them to be period pieces.

    I agree. With CR, EON could have easily made it a period piece and then leave Bond there. Time could stand still. You could do the next fifty years of Bond films set in a non-descript 50s/60s. No need to re-boot, just reload.
  • edited April 2015 Posts: 6,432
    I have a hunch that a remake is no it far away, or rather a reimagining.
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