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SP isnt a tribute film as per DAD .
I'm not sure this counts as a problem for me. If you want to compile/partake of such a list, you're going to garner more and less obvious perceptions, both. I'd rather ponder a lot of scenes from which to choose my favorites than fret about others' takes. Or at least I'll fret along the lines of "Can you elaborate?" rather than "I'm more right than you."
That's a good summary @Birdleson .
What we are talking about are scenes, whose imagery, immediately conjures up past scenes from other films.
It's done by design. It's a Mendes thing. He did this in SF too.
The only other film that took this tack was DAD, but that was an Eon decision, to brazenly homage all of the previous films, for the 40th anniversary.
Mendes does it because he enjoys doing it. He finds it clever.
Personally, I like it, because he does it well. He has a deft touch with this sort of thing.
Good catch, re Craig and Connery both exiting their hotel rooms via the window, with parting words to the girl. I caught that one too. I just forgot about it. That's why it helps to have a group effort.
The chess board of White doesn't resonate though. The scene bears no resemblance to the FRWL chess scene.
But the the train scene in SP is jarring.
There is a scene early on, before the dining-car mayhem, where Craig is in the train corridor.
The scene causes me to immediately flash back to Connery in the train corridor, everytime I see the film
I haven't compared the SP scenes directly with the FRWL footage yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a very close match.
Good catch @ossyjack re Denbigh's death fall echoing Trevalyans death fall. The nod is there. The imagery and staging are similar by design.
I didn't catch that one , probably because GE isn't a film, that sticks in my mind.
It's a good Bond, but I kind of overdose on the first 16 films, especially the '60s & '70s lot.
GE aside, I'm wondering if Mendes wasn't purposely homaging all of the Spectre era films, in his new Spectre film.
He really gives both OHMSS and YOLT heavy setting-homage treatment, with the mountain- clinic and crater-base settings.Same for TB with the Spectre meeting and FRWL with the train setting.
Not coincidentally, FRWL, TB, YOLT & OHMSS are the big 4 Spectre films.
Spectre isn't actually mentioned at all in DAF.
I agree about some of the FRWL comparisons, @timmer. I don't think the references selected carry the same feeling in SP, which uses them differently. The chess imagery isn't even worth mentioning, as that's symbolism and that kind of imagery is used all the time in so many films to represent a game of wits between two characters. Because of this, one can't look at Kronsteen's opening gambit and Bond and White's meeting in SP (where no pieces are even touched), and say, "Yep, exactly the same!" That's an example of grasping for straws or over-shooting from my view, but the effort is appreciated.
But how about the biggie? A fight on a train as seen in SP can be different than the one in FRWL, and doesn't necessarily mean that it's a direct lift just because it's on a train, much like how every briefing in M's office is different despite the location being the same. The fight in FRWL is claustrophobic while the SP one is wide, and the dynamics of the hero and villain are also very different as Bond isn't facing an equal in the latter, but someone better. I also feel a greater sense of danger in SP, where I thought on first watch it was it for him, the dire mood is so pressing. And of course unlike FRWL the girl gets in on the action and, even more so, the action of the scene is more open as it dynamically carries across the train and through its many compartments until the end at the big door, leading to a unique send-off for Hinx. There's too much to differentiate how SP and FRWL use that setting for me to credibly call it a reference, so I would only say that Mendes and co. clearly looked at the FRWL fight and were shown how to convey a sense of danger in that location and used that style to give Dan a unique fight in the same surroundings. Again, SP is left conveying the feeling of the past, but not the content.
When it comes to SP and references it's far less interesting to me what scenes recall the movies, and more simply how the feeling of the film connects to the past. The vintage mood and style of the settings and clothing, with Morocco sending us to Casablanca and the operatic nature of the whole thing recalling the old days of wide and rich cinematography are great callbacks. The movie doesn't feel of its time in so many ways, and has an old-fashioned sensibility that brings together the influence of so many eras of film.
I particularly like how Bond is dressed in the film, connecting to the timeless fashion of the day. Dan and co. selected gray and blue suits in simple palettes to recall how Sinclair dressed Sean, and we can see Dan wearing those famous suits to the letter with a modern twist to great effect in the movie, which was a thrill for me as I love Bond's fashion history. Other bits of iconography, like the white dinner jacket, are not only Bond recalls, but also vintage styles of a bygone era, again of the Bogart and Casablanca variety. A film that takes its characters into the past, or that has their pasts wrestled up to the surface beautifully recalls the past of the very cinematic medium it was born out of, and presents a compelling mixture of vintage style and presentation for this viewer. One can call Mendes and co. a lot of things and disagree with their approaches, but what they set out to do they did expertly. It's why I could never credibly call the film lazy, as the attention to detail and craftsmanship is simply too big. And really, for how much it takes to make them, I don't think one could get away with calling any Bond films lazy because they invest so much of their creators during production. But if a Bond film was lazy, it certainly wouldn't be this one on the technical side alone that stands up to the best of the old guard.
Yes it seems Mendes is in heavy with the five actual Spectre films. I guess we should include DN with the big 4, making thus a big 5, as the film is ultimately revealed as a Spectre film.
DN does get none-too-subtle reference, in tandem with the YOLT overtures, at the crater lair.
DAF and FYEO, being Blofeld-only films (one moreso than the other obviously) with no Spectre reference get lesser nods.
As for GF, it's a Spectre era film, plus Mendes has a thing for the DB5 irrespective of Spectre.
Yes, the fighting outside a helicopter, with pilot and villain, in the pts no less, is a pretty brazen callback.
Mendes again homages LALD as bonus, as he did in SF, because as he's said, it's one of his favourite Bonds.
For QoS there's the spin on the girl killed by a resource and the tie tribute to TSWLM. Those are the most immediate to my mind. I like the spin on each, where in the former M is directly there and we get an even more serious lecture from her to Bond about duty and trust than with Lee and Connery and the tie kill is just a great way to have a baddie go down. The coldness of Craig helps it along, though Roger did great with it too.
Dan and Judi's dynamic and talents really sell the hotel scene, and it's some of the former's best work as the character for me as he becomes visibly flustered in the face of what he helped cause. Great stuff.
@Birdleson, TSWLM has it happening at a more interesting location and I like the little fight that leads to it. In QoS the guy is just a stray Bond picks up on his way out. A little tussle between them would've been interesting.