No Time To Die Script - Alternative pitches/what would you change?

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  • Posts: 314
    I agree with Safin as a character is interesting.
    But his motivations beyond revenge aren't clear. I think Silva's motives were pretty clear before we even see him on the screen. The characters were hypothesizing his schemes, so we got an idea of who Skyfall's villain is and what he wants. If Silva decided he wants to take control of MI6 after killing M, it just doesn't work because it's absurd and even he would know it.

    If we just had more evidence in the film to give credence to his motivations suring the speech, then it would have made more sense. Either that or ditch that part entirely and make it all about revenge, and obsession with Swann. Give us more evidence for his twisted desire for her in a scene or two.
  • edited June 2022 Posts: 784
    I would have had a scene where Safins family is poisoned (with Blofeld and Mr White present) in the beginning. We had already been told about Lea’s mother being murdered in Spectre so there wasn’t as much of a need to put it on the screen. This way Safins revenge arc would have been relatable and a story of its own.

    Lea’s arc should have been more morally ambiguous. Her revenge plot was killing Blofeld. In NTTD she was coerced into it, I would rather have had her make an active choice to join forces with Safin, only to be redeemed when Bond comes back for her, and they go after Safin together.

    I agree Nomi was too much of a side character, she should have been tied into the plot better. They should have prolonged her tailing Bond, have him think she was a baddie, later to be revealed to have cleaned up after him, saving his ass several times. Develop into Bond’s moral compass because he is too personally involved. A scene where she almost threatens to kill Madeleine would have put Bond in an interestingly uncomfortable situation, where his loyalties would be tested, where he ends up shooting Nomi and going rogue.

    I also think the rogue CIA agent was too unclimactic and just plot point, and the henchman was incredibly generic.

    M, Mr. White, Felix and Blofeld were like GoT trying to kill of Barristan Selmy and Littlefinger for the effect. there wasn’t enough buildup. Leading up to Bond’s death, his became even more overshadowed. They should have all died like in a Tarantino film.

    Too many reveals thinking they were twists with little to no build up. (Nomi is a 00, Nanobots released, Spectre ambushed, Rogue CIA, Felix dies, Safin was the killer, Bionic Eye, Blofeld set madeleine up, Blofeld died etc.)

    Ever since Skyfall, too much of the films were set in Britain. They should haves stayed and explored the international locations more exhaustively.

    Films are better when they are multilayered and have more meat on the bone.
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,481
    One small thing I would have changed, have Bond being chased during the bike scene in Matera.

    The jump would have looked even more iconic had Bond seen no other alternative than to speed up the stairs and over the wall. Then you could have the people following not have the guts or skill to attempt it
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited June 2022 Posts: 2,895
    Yes, I like that. Show them baulking at it and shooting each other 'what the...?!' glances. They'll have been briefed on Bond, but to actually see it would give them an idea of the calibre of the man they're actually up against. Good one.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,368
    That would've been great to see. I think those Matera scenes pre-car chase could've done with a bit more action, or at least longer sequences (one of the few complaints I have with the action in the film - it's over too quick!).
  • MalloryMallory Do mosquitoes have friends?
    Posts: 2,032
    I get the impression a lot of the Matera chase as cut. Lots of trailer and bts footage that isnt in the film.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    Gettler wrote: »
    I agree with Safin as a character is interesting.
    But his motivations beyond revenge aren't clear. I think Silva's motives were pretty clear before we even see him on the screen. The characters were hypothesizing his schemes, so we got an idea of who Skyfall's villain is and what he wants. If Silva decided he wants to take control of MI6 after killing M, it just doesn't work because it's absurd and even he would know it.

    If we just had more evidence in the film to give credence to his motivations suring the speech, then it would have made more sense. Either that or ditch that part entirely and make it all about revenge, and obsession with Swann. Give us more evidence for his twisted desire for her in a scene or two.

    I quite like the idea of playing up his obsession for Madeline more, I think that would have worked.
    When you compare him with Silva (both villains out for revenge), Silva seems genuinely hurt and raging, especially towards the end of the film, whereas Safin is just doing all of this serene implacable Bond villain stuff; Bardem is selling it way better. I think it’s a direction choice but also certainly I’d say there’s a difference in the quality of the actors.
  • edited June 2022 Posts: 784
    Javier did the best with the material he was given out of the last three for sure.

    What I liked about Le Chiffre and Dominique Green (Quantum), is that they were more or less completely disinterested in Bond or his significant others, they were all focused on their mischevious plans, no vendettas, no emotional burdens, just stone cold villains.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 5,921
    mtm wrote: »
    Gettler wrote: »
    I agree with Safin as a character is interesting.
    But his motivations beyond revenge aren't clear. I think Silva's motives were pretty clear before we even see him on the screen. The characters were hypothesizing his schemes, so we got an idea of who Skyfall's villain is and what he wants. If Silva decided he wants to take control of MI6 after killing M, it just doesn't work because it's absurd and even he would know it.

    If we just had more evidence in the film to give credence to his motivations suring the speech, then it would have made more sense. Either that or ditch that part entirely and make it all about revenge, and obsession with Swann. Give us more evidence for his twisted desire for her in a scene or two.

    I quite like the idea of playing up his obsession for Madeline more, I think that would have worked.
    When you compare him with Silva (both villains out for revenge), Silva seems genuinely hurt and raging, especially towards the end of the film, whereas Safin is just doing all of this serene implacable Bond villain stuff; Bardem is selling it way better. I think it’s a direction choice but also certainly I’d say there’s a difference in the quality of the actors.

    Bardem is one of the best living actors and he just excels in the role.
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    edited June 2022 Posts: 2,481
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yes, I like that. Show them baulking at it and shooting each other 'what the...?!' glances. They'll have been briefed on Bond, but to actually see it would give them an idea of the calibre of the man they're actually up against. Good one.

    Yeah just something that elevated it even more. It's an iconic moment, that feels like it could be up there with the barrell roll or the dam jump

    Possibly it just needed more set up like Bond being chased or seeing no other way out. Such a brilliant stunt
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,368
    Jordo007 wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yes, I like that. Show them baulking at it and shooting each other 'what the...?!' glances. They'll have been briefed on Bond, but to actually see it would give them an idea of the calibre of the man they're actually up against. Good one.

    Yeah just something that elevated it even more. It's an iconic moment, that feels like it could be up there with the corkscrew or the dam jump

    Possibly it just needed more set up like Bond being chased or seeing no other way out. Such a brilliant stunt

    Agreed with that last bit. It feels like a good inclusion for marketing material but feels like such an aside after the bridge jump/fight with Primo, especially when it's just a new path Bond takes and isn't using the jump as an escape from danger.
  • Posts: 9,730
    I want to say a complete page one rewrite


    But instead

    Get rid of the daughter
    Bond hooking up with Paloma
    The title should of been Garden of Death
    Bond should of been more prevalent

    I will write more when I think about it
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 5,921
    The entire film is structured around Bond's daughter (the reason they brought Madeleine back in the first place), so that would be a page one rewrite.
  • M16_CartM16_Cart Craig fanboy?
    Posts: 538
    Removing the daughter plot and making him hook up would take away a huge part of what makes NTTD unique and would just make it a bog-standard 90's Bond movie.

    It's important each Bond movie has it's own identity and not to homogenize them all.
  • Posts: 1,545
    Jordo007 wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yes, I like that. Show them baulking at it and shooting each other 'what the...?!' glances. They'll have been briefed on Bond, but to actually see it would give them an idea of the calibre of the man they're actually up against. Good one.

    Yeah just something that elevated it even more. It's an iconic moment, that feels like it could be up there with the barrell roll or the dam jump

    Possibly it just needed more set up like Bond being chased or seeing no other way out. Such a brilliant stunt

    Yes ! Could have been a bit inspired by Steve McQueen's motorcycle jump in The Great Escape ! They don't just run right up and do it. There's a bit of deliberation...
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 2,895
    Bond cornered and then the motorcycle jump would've been great!
  • DCisaredDCisared Liverpool
    Posts: 1,329
    I think it is more impactful the fact he knows exactly what route he wants to take back to the hotel and Madeline. Makes Bond look even more a mad man the way he just commits to the jump straight away.
  • MalloryMallory Do mosquitoes have friends?
    Posts: 2,032
    DCisared wrote: »
    I think it is more impactful the fact he knows exactly what route he wants to take back to the hotel and Madeline. Makes Bond look even more a mad man the way he just commits to the jump straight away.

    Why they didnt give it a blast of the James Bond theme I’ll never know....
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,481
    One thing I wish would have meant more was the hidden arc in the Craig era.
    Bond's first kill, he kills Dryden, a man with a family, Bond dies, a man with a family.

    That should have meant more to the overall narrative
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 5,921
    But Dryden was corrupt.
  • TheSkyfallen06TheSkyfallen06 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
    Posts: 975
    This Might Be A Little Controversial, But I Would
    Have Karl Stromberg Back As Blofeld's Right Hand Man In S.P.E.C.T.R.E. And Then As The Main Villain Of No No Time To Die Instead Of Safin, Like, Instead Of Blofeld Controlling S.P.E.C.T.R.E. With A Bionicle Eye, He Gave The Leadership To Him.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 5,921
    I would tone down the camp in NTTD. There's too much of it, particularly in the Cuba sequence. Get rid of the Spectre logo everywhere, particularly on the Cuba ceiling but maybe also in the PTS escape room. Keep either the bionic eye or the nanobots but not both, so I guess keep the nanobots.
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,481
    echo wrote: »
    I would tone down the camp in NTTD. There's too much of it, particularly in the Cuba sequence. Get rid of the Spectre logo everywhere, particularly on the Cuba ceiling but maybe also in the PTS escape room. Keep either the bionic eye or the nanobots but not both, so I guess keep the nanobots.

    Yep completely agree. It doesn't feel like the same sinister shadowy organisation from the last film. Cuba would have been far more exciting, if it had been less camp
  • Posts: 2,742
    Jordo007 wrote: »
    echo wrote: »
    I would tone down the camp in NTTD. There's too much of it, particularly in the Cuba sequence. Get rid of the Spectre logo everywhere, particularly on the Cuba ceiling but maybe also in the PTS escape room. Keep either the bionic eye or the nanobots but not both, so I guess keep the nanobots.

    Yep completely agree. It doesn't feel like the same sinister shadowy organisation from the last film. Cuba would have been far more exciting, if it had been less camp

    See, I'm of the opinion that there should always be a good dose of camp in a Bond film, but only insofar as it contrasts with our hero and doesn't feel tonally inconsistent.

    The reason why I liked the Cuba party was because it was rather bizarre and otherworldly. It felt like Bond was slowly 'getting in too deep' if that makes sense, slowly infiltrating this dark, fantastical world of villains. I felt that was missing in SP with its stuffy boardroom meeting and inability to replicate the tension of the old school Bond film SPECTRE meetings. I especially got this when all the SPECTRE agents started dying from the nanobots (it honestly looked like something from a horror film, which I loved).

    I think where the sequence wasn't quite as strong were the more 'Brosnan-esque' elements. Stuff like Bond throwing a tray and hitting someone, downing a martini in that pseudo Moore way, the general sense of comedy during the fight with Bond. I think they should have kept the latter limited to Paloma, but otherwise have tried to retain that sense of darkness/tension when it came to Bond's scenes.
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,481
    I agree with you on that mate, the tray throwing and the exaggerated way Bond gets up after falling behind the bar with the henchman, felt more like something out of a Heineken advert to me.

    My frustration with the later Daniel era films, is the need to interject out of place humour. It worked for Sir Roger and Pierce because that was their style but with Daniel it feels hit and miss. It's as if Daniel said to the producers after Skyfall, I want to be a funnier Bond.
  • Posts: 2,742
    Jordo007 wrote: »
    I agree with you on that mate, the tray throwing and the exaggerated way Bond gets up after falling behind the bar with the henchman, felt more like something out of a Heineken advert to me.

    My frustration with the later Daniel era films, is the need to interject out of place humour. It worked for Sir Roger and Pierce because that was their style but with Daniel it feels hit and miss. It's as if Daniel said to the producers after Skyfall, I want to be a funnier Bond.

    I definitely understand that. I've always said that going forward I'd like the Bond films to evoke the novels more in the sense that the story should draw upon ideas that are fantastical or even outright camp (things like fighting a giant squid, having a shootout in the villain's cowboy ghost town, the villain requiring a bunch of gangsters to rob Fort Knox etc) but have it be taken seriously. So Bond should be the 'straight man' in that sense, slowly uncovering these strange villains and otherworldly scenarios. Ideally no eyebrow raising or moments of slapstick from Bond - ultimately he's just a man who finds himself in unusual situations. It might make the character more relatable going forward.

    I will say out of the Craig films SF and to a lesser extent NTTD came closer to having that balance, but obviously it wasn't done fully.
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    edited August 2022 Posts: 4,247
    The Cuba Sequence would have been something if it were more dangerous than playful. Bond can still look classic and debonair, but don't forget the danger and suspense. Even in Thunderball where Connery's Bond was relaxed, the suspense and danger were ever present. Sadly, the Cuba sequence in NTTD feels like comedy inserted into a film that bears the tragic mark. It was so wrong.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited August 2022 Posts: 3,382
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    The Cuba Sequence would have been something if it were more dangerous than playful. Bond can still look classic and debonair, but don't forget the danger and suspense. Even in Thunderball where Connery's Bond was relaxed, the suspense and danger were ever present. Sadly, the Cuba sequence in NTTD feels like comedy inserted into a film that bears the tragic mark. It was so wrong.

    Exactly, that's why I also call NTTD for its tone being inconsistent, like this is where Craig tried to play different Bonds, he tried to copy all of his predecessors, like culmination.

    I've just come to realize.....

    1. He tried to play Lazenby's Bond in the Matera scenes.
    2. He tried to play Connery's Bond in the Jamaica scenes.
    3. He tried to play Moore's Bond in the Cuba scenes (yes, the Cuba scene felt like it came from a Roger Moore era).
    4. He tried to play Brosnan's Bond in the London and Norway scenes.
    5. He tried to play Dalton's Bond in Safin's Island lair scenes.

    Like, he played the Previous five Bonds in this film.
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247
    MI6HQ wrote: »
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    The Cuba Sequence would have been something if it were more dangerous than playful. Bond can still look classic and debonair, but don't forget the danger and suspense. Even in Thunderball where Connery's Bond was relaxed, the suspense and danger were ever present. Sadly, the Cuba sequence in NTTD feels like comedy inserted into a film that bears the tragic mark. It was so wrong.

    Exactly, that's why I also call NTTD for its tone being inconsistent, like this is where Craig tried to play different Bonds, he tried to copy all of his predecessors, like culmination.

    I've just come to realize.....

    1. He tried to play Lazenby's Bond in the Matera scenes.
    2. He tried to play Connery's Bond in the Jamaica scenes.
    3. He tried to play Moore's Bond in the Cuba scenes (yes, the Cuba scene felt like it came from a Roger Moore era).
    4. He tried to play Brosnan's Bond in the London and Norway scenes.
    5. He tried to play Dalton's Bond in Safin's Island lair scenes.

    Like, he played the Previous five Bonds in this film.
    MI6HQ wrote: »
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    The Cuba Sequence would have been something if it were more dangerous than playful. Bond can still look classic and debonair, but don't forget the danger and suspense. Even in Thunderball where Connery's Bond was relaxed, the suspense and danger were ever present. Sadly, the Cuba sequence in NTTD feels like comedy inserted into a film that bears the tragic mark. It was so wrong.

    Exactly, that's why I also call NTTD for its tone being inconsistent, like this is where Craig tried to play different Bonds, he tried to copy all of his predecessors, like culmination.

    I've just come to realize.....

    1. He tried to play Lazenby's Bond in the Matera scenes.
    2. He tried to play Connery's Bond in the Jamaica scenes.
    3. He tried to play Moore's Bond in the Cuba scenes (yes, the Cuba scene felt like it came from a Roger Moore era).
    4. He tried to play Brosnan's Bond in the London and Norway scenes.
    5. He tried to play Dalton's Bond in Safin's Island l

    Like, he played the Previous five Bonds in this film.

    Yeah, Craig's performance was definitely mixed. Although, we're not certain if he deliberately copied his predecessors, even if it looked that way on screen. But I always enjoy Craig.
    Another thing is, one of the reasons I didn't feel Felix's death was the director's decision to take the leftover comedy of the Cuba party into the ship where Felix died.
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,481
    I wonder if it would have been better had Blofled revealed to Bond about Mathilde, rather than Safin in a throwaway bit of dialogue.

    Maybe you could have Blofeld, tell Bond about Madeline's secret, being she had his daughter. Then have Blofeld reveal to Bond he's sent Primo to kill them both, which would promote enough rage in Bond to throttle Blofeld to death

    Followed by Bond racing to Norway in his Vantage to protect Madeline and their daughter. Raising the urgency of that Norway sequence and also utilising The Atlantic Road more than they did.

    Rather than Bond be in the car with Madeline and Mathilde, you could have him in the V8 protecting them from the land rovers and get some more use out of the Vantage.

    Also that would be something new, in that Bond isn't the one being chased. It would have certainly made the Norway sequence more thrilling. As it was the Norway sequence was a bit of a let down in my opinion
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