The things we want to return to the Bond movies.

BennyBenny In the shadowsAdministrator, Moderator
in Bond 26 & Beyond Posts: 14,811
Now I've looked around, and also did a search and couldn't find a similar topic. If there is one, this can be closed and merged.
We have a thread for the things we never want to see in a Bond film again, but what about the things that we do like. The things that are left out, or overlooked.
For instance, I would like to see Bond and the villain face off in a game of some sort. Classic examples being golf in Goldfinger, backgammon in Octopussy and poker in Casino Royale. Even the skeet shooting in Thunderball. All of the above are some of the highlights of those respective films for me. It brings a certain something to the film I find.
Another thing I'd be happy to see would be when the villain wined and dined Bond, often letting their ego run riot explaining the finer details of their diabolical scheme, and how they're going to kill Bond in the process.
Maybe a return of the station heads of the British secret service. (And not have them be traitors). Let's go back to Station T - Turkey, Station V - Vienna or Station C - Canada. But hopefully open up other unseen locations that Bond hasn't travelled to, but be aided by an ally when he is there.
And finally I'd like to see a return of Felix Leiter. Beef up his role slightly so as he has more to do than an extended cameo, but not over shadow Bond.

I'm sure there are elements, characters, locations or anything at all that you'd like to see return to the series.
How about the great "OO7" theme not heard since Moonraker. Sadly.
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Comments

  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    Great idea for a thread, and excellent suggestions so far.

    In no order, I'd like to see more of the following:

    1. Bond being a smart aleck and showing off his knowledge about something to M in the office (either relating to the assignment, or his taste in the finer elements of life, or showing up Q)

    2. Bond and M enjoying a glass over a meal and discussing a case like the early Connery scenes

    3. Showcasing some real life technology or technological location that teaches something about science. As an example, the centrifuge G tester in MR (which I'm presently watching as I type this). They don't do this enough any more. I loved the early scenes in Angels and Demons at CERN (where the antimatter is stolen) and felt that location and scene would have been perfect for a Bond film.

    4. More filming of a suspense scene at a famous landmark (e,g Fort Knox in GF, or the Pyramids in TSWLM), at sporting events specific to a culture (e.g. Sumo in YOLT or Thai kick boxing in TMWTGG), or in other interesting locations (belly dancing change quaters in TMWTGG).

    5. More of Bond using his smarts to intimidate and put the villain off balance (like the OP backgammon or GF card game as already mentioned, or even like how Bond played Milton Krest against Sanchez in LTK)

    6. Bond in space (kidding.. I'm watching MR right now after all).
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,328
    1. Bond being the trendsetter as @Birdleson pointed out.

    2. New cars. As much as I love Aston Martin, I'm sick of seeing them in Bond movies. Both old and new Models. I'd be happy to see a Lotus again.

    3. Bombastic, Bold and Memorable music with a full use of the Bond theme nicely utilized. Since the end of Pierce's run it's been put on heavy restraint and I'm sick of it. I want to hear Bond music, not amateur hour ambiance and Zimmer influences and the 007 Theme as @Benny pointed out.

    4. Fantastical Villain lairs. While Blofeld's Crater Information station was pretty cool, I wish we could have gotten to see more of it.

    5. Bond on a mission for Queen and Country, not himself. The whole Bond on personal non sanctioned missions, Like Aston Martin has worn out it's welcome.

  • Posts: 1,631
    1. A return to Bond actually being on a mission rather than some kind of personal vendetta or being out to deal with some kind of ghost from his or someone else's past. The fact that it's been about three decades since we've gotten a film that didn't deal with something like this is ridiculous.

    2. The return of decent music to the franchise. Is it really that difficult to get a quality title track and a decent score these days? Judging from EON's track record, it must be.

    3. Bring back the Blofeld who was just a criminal mastermind at the helm of SPECTRE. Having the films be full of both Bond and his villains having parental issues has gotten old quickly.
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    Posts: 2,252
    Great suggestions so far.

    First and foremost I would like a decent score. SF/SP score killed those movies for me
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,686
    The main thing I'd like return to the franchise is a straight-forward mission. If we have to be precise, the last time that has happened was AVTAK in 1985, 33 years ago by the time Bond 25 is released.
  • BMW_with_missilesBMW_with_missiles All the usual refinements.
    Posts: 3,000
    All of the above. Especially intimidating villains with his intelligence, straight-forward missions, smart remarks, and the showcasing of technology. I would also like to add the return of gadgets. "Showcasing of tech" kind of includes this, but not entirely as some of the best Bond gadgets have been more nifty, clever things rather than "high tech." Spectre had this, but I fear it's lackluster reception might cause EON to reset fully to the Daniel Craig formula as it stood before SP.
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    Posts: 1,984
    All of what has been mentioned is good, but out of all those, I think the most important change is to have Bond actually performing missions related to some criminal mastermind who is threatening the world, not MI6. It's tiring to watch Bond clean up MI6 errors time and time again.
  • Posts: 14,799
    I'd love to see again a big battle between the villain's army and the good guys. Also I'd like to see Villiers returning as station agent.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    1. Following on from what Murdock said re Aston above; no Bond car for at least 10 years. In the first 27 years we had the DB5 in GF and TB, the DBS in OHMSS, the Lotus in TSWLM (and briefly FYEO) and the Volante in TLD. And that was it. Since then we have had a car in every film and a gadget car in 4 out of the last 7.

    Bond does not need a car in every film. Lets have some more inventive chases were Bond just nicks whatever vehicle is to hand like the 2CV or the tank.

    2. Some jaw dropping, iconic stunts. Give us something that thrills and we can see has a real bloke putting himself at risk.

    3. Just stop pissing about with all these different designs and go back to the Brosnan era GB.

    4. Some fun deaths like the 'he had lots of guts' guy or people falling into piranha tanks.

    5. Get a composer who will co write the theme song and properly integrate it into the soundtrack.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    -I want the return of the John Glen scream as a minor villain falls from a great height. Love it.

    -I'd like to see a little more sexual tension and wit between Bond and his girls. More early CR with Vesper than SP with Swan. That's trademark Bond at his best, and difficult to duplicate in other more pedestrian franchises. Bring a little class to the verbal sparring & dialogue please.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    The 007 Theme needs to return. ASAP.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    -I want to see a scene of Bond arriving by plane in a new setting (preferably exotic or fancy) with a classy outfit & superior score in the background. Last seen in CR when Craig lands in the bahamas. Notably done before with Connery in the early films, Moore in LALD & Brosnan in GE. Once again, this is trademark Bond imho. It would also be nice if the villains try to find a way to take him out then and there and he bests them (again classic stuff).
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited February 2016 Posts: 15,686
    A 10 minutes sequence at the start of the film after the Opening Titles with the Moneypenny, M and Q scenes. No drama, no anger, no personal stuff/psycho-babble, just Bond flirting with MP, a M briefing with the thick red door and padded office with the Minister of Defense and Bond displaying his vast knowledge on certain subject, and the a short Q scene in the Q section with bumbling assistants in lab coats testing new devices in the background.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    I realize I want to see that machine hand gun that Patrice used in the SF pretitles again. I watched the film recently and that thing was off the charts cool. Given the retconn, I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to bring it back with another henchman as it could be a trademark Spectre assassin tool.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    The 007 Theme needs to return. ASAP.

    Forget that - He's Dangerous needs to return!
  • Posts: 14,799
    A 10 minutes sequence at the start of the film after the Opening Titles with the Moneypenny, M and Q scenes. No drama, no anger, no personal stuff/psycho-babble, just Bond flirting with MP, a M briefing with the thick red door and padded office with the Minister of Defense and Bond displaying his vast knowledge on certain subject, and the a short Q scene in the Q section with bumbling assistants in lab coats testing new devices in the background.

    That is one thing that actually irritates me in some Bond movies, when Bond is a know-it-all and simply knows so darn too much about too many things. I'd be glad to see less of this. That Bond knows his wine, what makes a good meal and about sauce béarnaise, fine. That he knows about diamonds, gold, every single alcohol on the planet, that is a stretch.
  • edited February 2016 Posts: 1,817
    I agree, we definitely need another film without the angst of Craig's era.

    As for other things... I think there are two things we desperately need, both of them in the villain department. Villains have fallen by the wayside in recent films and we need to go back to our routes for those.

    Dr. No and YOLT Blofeld (not liked around here, which IMO is ridiculous) are two of my favourite villains (006 is my absolute). Both villains only appear in the closing twenty or so minutes of their respective films but they manage to inject such a lasting presence and menace in those minutes. What made them good (apart from the long buildup to them) was that they never gave a f*ck about Bond. Never so much as flashed a smile at him. With almost all of the other villains, they put on a fake 'happy pretext'. None of that! Dr. No, YOLT Blofeld, and perhaps Le Chiffre never put on a 'pretext'. It was no mercy and always business with these guys.

    We also need a henchman wherein the meeting with Bond is teased for a long period of time. Like Red Grant. I'd say that it was not the inherent characteristics of Grant that made him memorable. It was how he was executed and played out. There is so much suspense leading up to his fight. The writers who are developing a henchman need to think not just about the fight with the henchman but also everything leading up to it. Necros is played with to a vaguely similar vein and he is also one of the better henchmen IMO.

    TL;DR - we need another villain conceived in the personality of Dr. No and we need a henchman who is executed in a similar way to but not necessarily like Red Grant.
  • Posts: 12,506
    A 2 year gap would be unrealistic now sadly?
  • A solid, tough Bond from CR, QoS and SF and away from the camp elements in SP.
  • Posts: 14,799
    RogueAgent wrote: »
    A 2 year gap would be unrealistic now sadly?

    Sadly.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,368
    I want a well-written villain with his own plan and agenda who knows nothing of Bond: no ties, nothing personal, no revenge angles, no traitors, no bullshit 'twists' that you can see coming a mile away, nothing. Just a grand adventure for Bond to go on, riddled with gorgeous locales, beautiful women, and a well-written and tighter script. Also, let's have Bond (and I've said this way too much before, but it still stands) throw on a solid black military-esque uniform and infiltrate a base again, why don't we? Where did that Bond go? I know a staple of the series is Bond looking good, Bond dressing up, but does Bond have to be in an overly-tight suit for everything he does? That seems to be the case lately, so give us a PTS on the level of GF, LTK, or GE, or at least a big scene that mirrors the way these were done.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    I want a return to bespoke suits (none of this tight fitting metro nonsense) with Turnback and Asser cocktail or turnback cuffs, as worn by Connery and Moore in their earliest adventures. That is a Bond staple imho.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,368
    The tightness of Craig's attire stands out like crazy after he lands on the couch during the SP PTS. Wearing a suit that tight underneath the hot Mexican sun while you chase around a hitman cannot be comfortable or easy to work with.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Bump.

    Yes! When did we last have that?
  • Posts: 14,799
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I want a well-written villain with his own plan and agenda who knows nothing of Bond: no ties, nothing personal, no revenge angles, no traitors, no bullshit 'twists' that you can see coming a mile away, nothing. Just a grand adventure for Bond to go on, riddled with gorgeous locales, beautiful women, and a well-written and tighter script. Also, let's have Bond (and I've said this way too much before, but it still stands) throw on a solid black military-esque uniform and infiltrate a base again, why don't we? Where did that Bond go? I know a staple of the series is Bond looking good, Bond dressing up, but does Bond have to be in an overly-tight suit for everything he does? That seems to be the case lately, so give us a PTS on the level of GF, LTK, or GE, or at least a big scene that mirrors the way these were done.

    Well, in Craig's movies he wears these uniforms (albeit not always black) far more often than in the movies before him.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,368
    I'm buzzing through all of the Craig scenes in my head, from CR to SP, and I honestly cannot think of a single instance of him donning some form of garb like that while he is infiltrating a villain's headquarters/base of operations/etc.
  • M_BaljeM_Balje Amsterdam, Netherlands
    edited February 2016 Posts: 4,415
    With Spectre ''Bond get the girl'' return, but i stil see some people whant to trow that a way with a return Of Swann. Whyle i think there should focus on the return of Olga Kurylenko, Jeffrey Wright and Monica Bullici. Finish the things there start with CR, QOS, Skyfall and new ''problems'' there created with Spectre.

    As already happend with QOS i think there whant to preper people more with Spectre. But from other side there also whant to make it bit of a more trational Bond movie. Overall a very bad visible plot. Spectre trailers lie again. There should go full in with terrible truth. There hinting ''Casino Royale time is up'' and ''writing on the wall''.
    Le Chiffre: The only question remains: will you yield, in time?



  • Benny wrote:
    Now I've looked around, and also did a search and couldn't find a similar topic. If there is one, this can be closed and merged.
    We have a thread for the things we never want to see in a Bond film again, but what about the things that we do like. The things that are left out, or overlooked.
    For instance, I would like to see Bond and the villain face off in a game of some sort. Classic examples being golf in Goldfinger, backgammon in Octopussy and poker in Casino Royale. Even the skeet shooting in Thunderball. All of the above are some of the highlights of those respective films for me. It brings a certain something to the film I find.
    Another thing I'd be happy to see would be when the villain wined and dined Bond, often letting their ego run riot explaining the finer details of their diabolical scheme, and how they're going to kill Bond in the process.
    Maybe a return of the station heads of the British secret service. (And not have them be traitors). Let's go back to Station T - Turkey, Station V - Vienna or Station C - Canada. But hopefully open up other unseen locations that Bond hasn't travelled to, but be aided by an ally when he is there.
    And finally I'd like to see a return of Felix Leiter. Beef up his role slightly so as he has more to do than an extended cameo, but not over shadow Bond.

    I'm sure there are elements, characters, locations or anything at all that you'd like to see return to the series.
    How about the great "OO7" theme not heard since Moonraker. Sadly.


    Yo quiero que vuelva algo similar a "vive y deja morir"
  • How about a general sense of espionage... that's been missing for a while... since, like, TLD
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    edited February 2016 Posts: 16,328
    Bond sneaking around a villain's place of business wearing black sneaking clothes ala Goldfinger/Thunderball/Moonraker/GoldenEye.
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