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And for what it’s worth, it’s true that Bond is bigger than any actor. It’s why we’re getting a new film even after the ending of NTTD.
I know there’s speculation that this weird angle to take for the ticking time bomb was because it was a last minute ADR addition to raise the stakes, and it could’ve been. But last time I watched it, I wondered if there was more to the Russia angle that got cut because they bottled it? Boyle’s baddy was Russian, and we still had Valdo in the finished film, and Q said they were Russian ships. Maybe at some point it was more overt, or at least more strongly implied, that Heracles was being sold to the Russians (which is pretty high stakes to be fair, imagine if Putin got his hands on a weapon like that).
I’m pretty sure that is when he said it, isn’t it? When they were recasting for the first time. Good point about getting Moore to stay too, and of course, they threw money at Connery to come back for Diamonds.
Recasting a part like Bond is always a risk, and when they’ve got a proven money maker, it’s only natural that they’ll try and keep him. It’s always been the case (apart from poor Pierce, still wish he got the fifth he deserved), and I don’t think that contradicts Bond being bigger than the actor who plays him either.
Oh yeah, I don’t believe it contradicts it either. I just think you can see a flip side where even though Bond is bigger than a single actor, each Bond is also significant in their own way. So I don’t see Bond’s death in NTTD contradicting any of that either.
Unfortunately for those who despise the film, especially the ending, it was a bold move killing Bond— and, as thelivingroyale has pointed out, if it wasn’t, we wouldn’t still be talking about it (and others wouldn’t be seething…).
Once again, no one has to like, or agree, with this ending. But it was a bold decision.
Look at the dialogue between Bond and M at the manor in SF, so reflective that it helped build-up the tension. So I would really like to hear your opinion @peter
Warts and all, this film hit me so hard in my heart and gut, that it’s been my favourite of the Bond films since its release. I think it’s a beautiful film. A film that may even be from the perspective of Bond himself in his last dying minutes (I always found the way Fukunaga shot it was dream-like). I’m also a father of three, and seeing my ultimate fictional hero making the ultimate sacrifice, was, almost, more than I could take— but in the best possible way.
Do I see faults in the film? Of course I do, but I also see faults in Citizen Kane, Godfather, Raging Bull, Jaws, Casablanca… No film is perfect. Not one.
What matters to me more than perfection (as perfection in anything isn’t real), is the messaging. And to me, the message of No Time To Die was a man, a good man, who gave his life for the people he loved most. And seeing that this man was James Bond, played by one of my favourite actors, truly took my heart.
I say that with the utmost honesty.
The heart loves, what it loves, in spite of, and despite of, any flaws.
Wow! What a soulful post @peter I respect your opinion on it. I would have been surprised if someone as intelligent as yourself didn't notice the flaws.
I went into my first screening of NTTD with an open mind. I had a feeling they may try and end Craig’s tenure this way (I’m not sure if I actually believed they’d go through with it). And when it happened, I was so moved, so blown away, I truly was rattled (my nervous system was wrecked, I actually bawled (not cried, but bawled), and had to stay in my seat for a very long while after the film ended).
I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and I saw it several times in the cinema. Each time with a more powerful reaction.
To date, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched the film.
But each time I take in a viewing, it just hits that soft spot. Every.Single.Time.
It has dug its way into my soul, and made a home there.
Well said as always @peter. I know this thread is about what we’d change but it’s nice to see a bit more positivity too.
The plane scene never bothered me like it seems to others because, while it was funny, Bond himself wasn’t really joking around in it. The humour came from Q being his usual awkward self, and Nomi’s “that doesn’t sound like you”, and I don’t think either really jar with what they’re preparing for. Nomi’s whole dynamic with Bond is snarky put downs. I think you could read it as reassuring him in a way, reminding him she’s got his back.
And I thought they’d already got across the gravity of the situation with the bit in the Aston with Nomi anyway, so I was pretty happy with a traditional Q scene. It felt right imo. It’s his last battle, the bit where he has to get into gear and be James Bond one last time to save his family. And he wouldn’t be the James Bond we love without Q branch backing him. Reminded me of LTK (my favourite so that’s always nice) in that way, Q being there for him even in a situation far removed from the usual sort of mission.
Yeah. We all react to things differently. I can totally understand your feelings towards the film @peter Also, I always like to be liberal when it comes to opinions :)
I can see what you mean, but the scene with Nomi in the Aston, despite being as short as it was, already felt to me like a nice equivalent to that SF scene. Not saying that scene made Saffin feel like an onimous threat (he’s one of the problems I do have with the film) in the way SF did with Silva, but I thought it did an equally good job of getting across what’s at stake before the mission really kicks off.
Ok. Yeah. Albeit I just feel Dench's M death hits me more than Bond's death, because SF sprinkled the jokes sparingly and effectively. Also, Newman's Mother also elevates the scene with Craig's & Dench's subtle, but incredible acting in that scene.
Newman never really did it for me but I do think Bond’s death music could have been better. It’s a nicely emotional track, I really liked it at first, and I still really like the bit at the start that echoes the Billie Eilish theme as Bond and us realise he’s not getting out of this one. But the strings that kick in as he dies didn’t feel distinctly Bond, and his death is a big Bond moment.
I think a small hit of the Bond theme would have fit better. Not the standard guitar lick obviously. But a slow, solemn brass/strings rendition quietly stirring as he looks up and the missiles fall could have worked imo.
Much agreed! A soulful version of the Bond theme was needed. Not sure David Arnold would have missed that sort of moment :)
1) PTS ending with Bond and Madeleine arriving in Matera and strolling through the city. After the PTS it picks up the next morning. Then the car chase.
2) Bond moves on after Madeleine and doesn't have a child. Blofeld doesn't die. Neither does Felix. Bond's death is surrounded with more suspense and not as definitive, He doesn't sacrifice himself for anyone, but is still poisoned.
3) Learning that he can't have a serious relationship with any women and trust them, he then becomes Bond, meaning casual acquaintances with women, He flirts more with Paloma who he ends up kissing in Cuba.
4) Nomi is more of an adversary. After Cuba and London, the Norway scenes are more fun and games than the orginal scenes at the cabin with Madeleine and his daughter. A chase between Nomi and Bond to get from point A to B to get some clues, with the bad guys intervening leading to a setpiece. Bond finds the clues that lead him to the villain's lair, where we first meet Safin (much like how we first meet Dr.No in the first Bond movie).
5) Blofeld escapes near the end.
2. After the PTS, the Matera scenes with Bond and Madeleine strolling around, then the set up of Madeleine, but instead of Blofeld, make it Safin that would blackmail Madeleine, then they would separate.
3. No callbacks from the previous films, make an original theme song for Bond and Madeleine, no OHMSS callbacks.
4. No Valdo Obruchev, make Primo Safin's men.
5. The Jamaica sequence would still be the same as in the original film, I would still keep Nomi and Logan Ash.
6. Keep the SPECTRE party in Cuba and the whole fight scenes (still the same as in the original film), I would cut the scene after Bond and Paloma departed, make Primo to be the one who would spread the nanobots, have Bond kill Primo in this sequence, then when Primo died, Bond would find out Madeleine's whereabouts from Safin's message to Primo himself, no Felix Leiter in this sequence, so that means, he's not going to die.
7. Bond would be back in duty, gets a call from M, telling that Blofeld had died (off screen), this where Bond would start to doubt anything and believe what Blofeld had told him earlier, M told Bond how Blofeld died, as the Belmarsh prison was now deemed incapable of handling prisoners after many of those inside the jail had died, not just Blofeld, Msent Bond to investigate the case.
8. Bond and Nomi would meet Madeleine in her Clinic, no child thing, Madeleine would ignore Bond and tell him to go away, but Bond showed her Safin's message to Primo where her location was in the message, Madeleine decided to help Bond again, and she would tell him about Safin, his backstory and his plot, it would be revealed that Safin was Mr. White's son, Madeleine's half brother (in father's side), a Scientist, now when Safin knew of Mr. White's killing, he'd vowed revenge against SPECTRE and Blofeld, and his plan was to replace his father as the leader of Quantum, and was also planning to revive the organization, and Madeleine would reveal that he's also the one who came in to her house, killed her mother and whom Madeleine had shot (as her backstory in the train scene in SPECTRE).
9. Have Madeleine got kidnapped by Logan Ash as he's revealed to be a CIA traitor, car chase, Logan Ash would give Madeleine to Safin for an experiment, Nomi would shot Logan Ash dead, but it's too late, Safin has Madeleine.
10. Same finale, Bond and Nomi would infiltrate Safin's lair, confrontation, Nomi would find Madeleine, and Bond and Safin would go in a fight, Bond would admit to Safin that Mr. White killed himself and he's there, this would anger Safin and the fight between the two would get more intense, and Bond would kill Safin, as Nomi found Madeleine, but she's distancing herself from her, because Safin had injected her a virus, turning her into his test subject.
11. INTERPOL and other International Authorities arrived, Nomi persuaded Bond to leave the island, as the personnel of International Organizations had arrived, they would rescue those people who were also being treated as test subjects, and Madeleine.
12. Bond went back to the service, while Madeleine was isolated from the world as she's treated in a facility, as Bond went back to Venice and visited Vesper's grave and whispered his apologize to her, as he went to a bar, ordered his Vodka Martini, shaken not stirred.