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An older Bond?

thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
edited September 2013 in Actors Posts: 12,837
I was reading the Batman vs Superman thread and someone posted an article where it talked about how Ben Affleck was going to play it more seasoned, older and world weary. So I thought could the same approach work with Bond?

Obviously we've had an older Bond with Moore (and even Brosnan and Dalton were in their 40s), but I mean one that acts like it. Give him a few grey hairs and make him seem very experienced. Don't make him moody, give him one liners, etc, but when he's not in action make him seem a bit world weary and tired of it all.

This could also make him more vulnerable in the fight scenes, don't make him weak, just have him struggling a bit sometimes if he's up against a younger bloke and have him rely more on his wits to get out of tough situations. It would be a cool contrast to Craig, who beats the crap out of people with ease.

So what does everyone think. Could this work? Would it be a fresh, different approach to take after Craig (who began as a young rookie after all), or is it a bad idea?
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Comments

  • PerdoggPerdogg
    Posts: 686
    I have nothing against Elba, but I do not want Bond to be black. Sorry. I think Henry Cavill should be the next Bond, if there is one.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    I like the idea a lot, but starting a run of Bond movies with an older fellow severely limits his potential number of films. Still, I'd love to see if for two, maybe three flicks!
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    edited September 2013 Posts: 12,837
    chrisisall wrote:
    I like the idea a lot, but starting a run of Bond movies with an older fellow severely limits his potential number of films.

    That's the only real issue, but they could still get a nice trilogy of movies out of him.
  • ShorelineShoreline
    Posts: 251
    I've always loved this idea for a basis of a Bond movie, not that I think it will ever happen.

    I loved the John Pearson book "James Bond the Authorised Biography".

    A weary 62 year old Bond would really reinvent things.
    To an extent, Thunderball sort of touched on it, and the idea has so much potential. Sky fall touched on it too I suppose, but really, you need an older actor.....Dalton, Brosnan anyone??!!
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    Sir Timothy, you've been reactivated.

    Wouldn't that ROCK?!?!
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited September 2013 Posts: 17,809
    Shoreline wrote:
    I've always loved this idea for a basis of a Bond movie, not that I think it will ever happen.

    I loved the John Pearson book "James Bond the Authorised Biography".

    A weary 62 year old Bond would really reinvent things.
    To an extent, Thunderball sort of touched on it, and the idea has so much potential. Sky fall touched on it too I suppose, but really, you need an older actor.....Dalton, Brosnan anyone??!!

    How do you mean with Thunderball? Do you mean the fitness farm?
  • SoundofthesinnersSoundofthesinners
    Posts: 3,236
    I considered this a few times myself, and while it's a cool idea, it would mess around with the timeline (not that there really is one) and the audience's perception, to an extent. Bond has always been a relatively young guy, in theory at least (looking at you, A View to a Kill). Suddenly aging him 10 or 20 years and then making him young again would mess with the audience's perception, I'd think.

    Also, a less extreme version of this idea has been explored in For Your Eyes Only and (please don't hurt me) Never Say Never Again. There are also some fan trailers for returning Connery and Dalton (and maybe Brosnan, but I'm not sure) movies, which do look pretty cool.
  • ShorelineShoreline
    Posts: 251
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Shoreline wrote:
    I've always loved this idea for a basis of a Bond movie, not that I think it will ever happen.

    I loved the John Pearson book "James Bond the Authorised Biography".

    A weary 62 year old Bond would really reinvent things.
    To an extent, Thunderball sort of touched on it, and the idea has so much potential. Sky fall touched on it too I suppose, but really, you need an older actor.....Dalton, Brosnan anyone??!!

    How do you mean with Thunderball? Do you mean the fitness farm?

    Yes, the idea of Bond being burnt out, with the toll of his job catching up on him.

    I'd really live to see a Bond that is 60 plus, burnt, a little lonely, living somewhere in the Med, enjoying his daily scuba diving, and good wine, just escaping his nightmares..... with an old adversary catching up on him, and him relying on MI 6 instead of them relying on him for once.
    Except, Bond is Bond, and takes care of business just as he always does ...!
    I would LOVE this film!
  • JBFan626JBFan626
    Posts: 1,497
    Bond has always been an older character to me. He’s been a commander and an experienced double-00, and he also has impeccable taste in the finer things in life, due to his many worldly travels. That’s the allure of the character: that he IS experienced, so he always knows what he’s doing or at least carries the confidence to do so. Craig’s Bond in CR was the only film I can think of to take the rookie Bond approach. The only other close example would be, Lazenby, who was young in the role, and his performance carried a bit more of a younger, greener Bond – but his age is never explicitly mentioned, and furthermore it is suggested that he is in fact following up on Connery’s previous run.

    But aside from those two examples, Connery always looked about 10 years older than his actual age, Moore was 43 in LALD, Dalton was 41 in TLD, Pierce was 42 in GE…and heck even Dan was 38 in CR despite being rookie Bond. So to me I always pictured Bond to be somewhere close to 40. So an older take would be nothing new to me. I would have actually liked to see a true origin story – lets see Commander Bond being recruited to mi6 and see how that plays out.

  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 14,834
    Soundofthesinners wrote:
    I considered this a few times myself, and while it's a cool idea, it would mess around with the timeline (not that there really is one) and the audience's perception, to an extent. Bond has always been a relatively young guy, in theory at least (looking at you, A View to a Kill). Suddenly aging him 10 or 20 years and then making him young again would mess with the audience's perception, I'd think.

    Also, a less extreme version of this idea has been explored in For Your Eyes Only and (please don't hurt me) Never Say Never Again. There are also some fan trailers for returning Connery and Dalton (and maybe Brosnan, but I'm not sure) movies, which do look pretty cool.

    This. And I think there isn't much left to explore of the idea. NSNA did it poorly, FYEO did it very well, OP too to a lesser extend.

    And while I am a huge fan of Idris Elba as an actor, I can't see him as Bond. As Buonaparte Ignace Gallia, however, that is another story.
  • saunderssaunders Living in a world of avarice and deceit
    Posts: 987
    I'd rather like to see Craig complete the character arc of going from rookie in CR right through to maybe his 6th film where his Bond is on the verge of retirement (or maybe even death!), before then returning the series to the old formula of having the character in his late thirties/early forties in the prime of his 00 career with the regular changing of lead actor.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited September 2013 Posts: 12,459
    It would be interesting ... and I for one would enjoy it if well done. But I don't see it happening. Let's see, we could have young Bond (from the Higson books), regular in his prime Bond (current series of films), and older heading for retirement, world weary Bond. I could enjoy all 3 takes on this character, but I don't see this feasibly happening.

    For me, I'd love Idris Elba as an older Bond. Timothy back in the saddle would rock, too, of course. Sean Bean just did a very decent job in the film CleanSkin. I'd like very much for Elba to also have a go at being a British spy in a film that is not too close to a Bond film. CleanSkin was a pretty good film and different enough from Bond to be interesting in its own way.

    But back to the original thought of an older, genuinely more aged Bond. It would be like an alternative Bond world from what we know and love, and I cannot see that getting a green light while the current Bond series is ongoing (and which of course I hope continues for decades).

    As @Saunders just mentioned, the producers could possibly be brave enough to stick with Craig until the true retirement age for Bond, making his run the whole gamut from new 007 to retirement, really world weary by that time. I could get into that, but I think the general public really want Bond in his prime always and would not appreciate it the way more serious fans could. Craig could definitely act it. (and it would have to steer clear from being along the likes of R.E.D.)
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    Geriatric Bond kind if defeats the purpose of the whole fantasy thing. I think with Bond, Fleming and the producers struck the perfect balance by making Bond around middle aged in the first place. He's not a 30 year old boy nor is he some pipe-smoking codger. That being said, Connery and Kazenby were relatively young when they debuted but they were clearly playing a role older than their actual age at the time.
    As for a black Bond; speaking as a 28 year old black man myself I am opposed to the idea simply because its pointless and unnecessary. Bond is a white man and white he should remain because quite frankly that's how I prefer it.

    If I want to see old dudes as spies, I'll watch tinker tailor but please, Bind is all about keeping certain traditions and bringing the wow factor.
  • RogueAgentRogueAgent
    Posts: 12,506
    Although it could be interesting? I think I would rather them stick to the policy they have always stuck too.
  • Perilagu_KhanPerilagu_Khan
    Posts: 2,483
    Heh. As soon as I saw the title of the thread and the OP, I knew the arriere pensee was going to be Elba as Bond.
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    edited September 2013 Posts: 12,837
    Perilagu_Khan wrote:
    Heh. As soon as I saw the title of the thread and the OP, I knew the arriere pensee was going to be Elba as Bond.

    Anything to say about the actual idea?
    doubleoego wrote:
    As for a black Bond
    Perdogg wrote:
    but I do not want Bond to be black.

    That's a debate for another thread. In fact I'm going to edit my post and get rid of that bit so we can stay on topic.
  • ShorelineShoreline
    Posts: 251
    I actually think a film with an old Bond would really be something.
    After all, is there only so many times you can reinvent the wheel, so to speak?
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,331
    I'd like to see an Old Bond called back into the game after a pretty happy retirement. But I'd want it to end like Fleming's FRWL, as in do we know if he lived or died?
  • SoundofthesinnersSoundofthesinners
    Posts: 3,236
    Murdock wrote:
    I'd like to see an Old Bond called back into the game after a pretty happy retirement. But I'd want it to end like Fleming's FRWL, as in do we know if he lived or died?

    Bond should always win. I'd hate to watch all the Bond movies knowing he might die in the end. It'd be like Casino Royale or On Her Majesty's Secret Service on steroids.
  • ShorelineShoreline
    Posts: 251
    I suppose that one of the problems of making a film like this, is that it would probably exclude a large chunk of the market, ie the younger paying public?
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,331
    Soundofthesinners wrote:
    Murdock wrote:
    I'd like to see an Old Bond called back into the game after a pretty happy retirement. But I'd want it to end like Fleming's FRWL, as in do we know if he lived or died?

    Bond should always win. I'd hate to watch all the Bond movies knowing he might die in the end. It'd be like Casino Royale or On Her Majesty's Secret Service on steroids.

    Oh He would win. My idea is something like the lines of Tomorrow Never Dies. He takes out all the bad guys and villains and it looks like he escapes the danger of the villain's base but MI6 doesn't know where he is, then the final shot is on a beach and you only see his silhouette with the ending guitar line of the Bond theme ring.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    With a Bond girl on his arm. Nice ending for this special 00, @Murdock. ;)
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,331
    4EverBonded wrote:
    With a Bond girl on his arm. Nice ending for this special 00, @Murdock. ;)
    Thank you @4EverBonded. :)
  • PerdoggPerdogg
    edited September 2013 Posts: 686
    Since Bond is a commander, he should be around his late 30s early 40s, perfect for Henry Cavill in 2018 or 2020.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    4EverBonded wrote:
    With a Bond girl on his arm. Nice ending for this special 00, @Murdock. ;)

    Quite. =D>
  • SirHenryLeeChaChingSirHenryLeeChaChing
    edited September 2013 Posts: 3,494
    NSNA was all the "older Bond" I ever care to see in my lifetime. Bad idea as far as I am concerned.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    SirHenryLeeChaChing wrote:
    NSNA was all the "older Bond" I ever care to see in my lifetime. Bad idea as far as I am concerned.

    I agree with this.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    SirHenryLeeChaChing wrote:
    NSNA was all the "older Bond" I ever care to see in my lifetime. Bad idea as far as I am concerned.
    I have a DC comic book I got when I was about six, a what-if where an aged Superman had outlived all life on Earth, and he'd been floating in space deciding what to do with his last bit of power.
    He split the planet, re-heated the core with his heat vision, sucked the polluted air into his lungs an breathed back the clean portion only, and then got animals from other worlds to populate it.
    I was in awe.
    All that to say that seeing a one or two off concerning Bond's older age might not be bad.

    Then of course back to womanising, drinking & neutralising new world threats!
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    Posts: 13,350
    I agree, that even though this idea could be interesting to explore again, Bond being ageless is part of the charm.
  • The_ReaperThe_Reaper
    Posts: 1,092
    Shoreline wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Shoreline wrote:
    I've always loved this idea for a basis of a Bond movie, not that I think it will ever happen.

    I loved the John Pearson book "James Bond the Authorised Biography".

    A weary 62 year old Bond would really reinvent things.
    To an extent, Thunderball sort of touched on it, and the idea has so much potential. Sky fall touched on it too I suppose, but really, you need an older actor.....Dalton, Brosnan anyone??!!

    How do you mean with Thunderball? Do you mean the fitness farm?

    Yes, the idea of Bond being burnt out, with the toll of his job catching up on him.

    I'd really live to see a Bond that is 60 plus, burnt, a little lonely, living somewhere in the Med, enjoying his daily scuba diving, and good wine, just escaping his nightmares..... with an old adversary catching up on him, and him relying on MI 6 instead of them relying on him for once.
    Except, Bond is Bond, and takes care of business just as he always does ...!
    I would LOVE this film!

    Fantastic idea! Let's write it.

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