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At least with the villains in CR and QoS they were actors I had no ideas of to base that off of. And with Bardem he wasn't doing a repeat of his No Country for Old Men villain, quite the opposite actually, making Silva the most fresh main villain in years.
I don't want to turn this into a GE discussion, but I've never valued the Bond-Trevelyan story the way some do. One of the things GE does that doesn't work for me is suddenly involve Bond with another 00 after 16 films of never having worked directly with one previously and have us buy into this relationship of them being close and all that.
In the rush to dismiss the memory of anything Dalton or LTK, people want to make that GE backstory fresh and exciting when at least Bond had a long history with Felix and felt the need to avenge him and his bride. On top of that we get Trevelyan's supposed vengeance story with his Cossack parents and all that and the lengths he went to to set it all up and it becomes even more far fetched.
So in this case I find Silva far more interesting in his backstory without having to do a retcon with Bond's past and his thirst for vengeance.
GE was a pseudo reboot of sorts and that's why they went this route. I didn't find it too difficult to believe, given we never saw Bond's backstory in the earlier films. Quite frankly it's still far easier to stomach than the infamous disgrace foisted upon us as a retcon with childhood brotherly hate in the last one.
Your comments about LTK got me thinking though. I wonder how much involvement Babs had in that film. I remember reading an interview on this site that LTK was supposed to establish a 'new kind of Bond' and arguably it was a 'film ahead' because the emotional quotient was dialed up first in that film, and we have been subjected to this sort of thing ever since in one way shape or form.
From the express, but looks like further confirmation that Waltz wont be returning.
It's quite amazing how badly EoN resurrected Blofeld, it's almost impossible to have done it worse.
Waltz is the only total miscast case I can think of. Not as a villain per se, if he just had been a villain named Franz Oberhauser it would have been ok, still a weak villain but ok.
But he is Blofeld?? And the way they introduced him in this "clever" plot twist....
I still wonder who was the genius behind the idea of the brothergate.
It could have worked splendidly if Waltz would have gotten some proper direction. You know, by the director.
Waltz wasnt the problem here, it was the choice of villian, I love almolst all elements of Bond with the exception of Blofeld, he was never an interesting character & I knew when he was announced the film would be divisive among the fans.
I would have liked to see Oberhauser & White interact. that would have been interesting.
Donald Pleasance may be iconic to some, but I never found him interesting in the slightest. He portrayed the character as if he were a former bullied kid seeking revenge from the world.
Charles Gray, even though I love his version of Blofeld due to extreme charisma, was again all the wrong choice for the character and merely made it as a leading megalomaniac helpless without his henchmen.
Telly Savalas, even though physically apprehensive and threatening, lacked that villainous intimidation Blofeld was supposed to have. He just didn't seem as Bond's nemesis for me you'd love to hate.
Christoph Waltz was a combination of Pleasance and Gray, with a little bit of Hans Lada thrown in. But, his character had very little room to breathe the viewer merely had any understanding of his character it didn't emotionally make sense why would he put Bond through all the misery he was supposed to have.
Just ignore the cinematic incarnations and make Blofeld a devil incarnate who can have Bond's arse handed to him all by himself both psychologically and physically. That's what Blofeld should be like in a contemporary setting adventure.
Would like to agree, but they tried and blew it beyond expectations. They must distance themselves from it, no blofeld or spectre for a few films.
As has been mentioned by others, Bardem's roles (and particularly his villains) have been quite different. He was physically menacing in No Country For Old Men and therefore could go in a different direction and ham it up for SF. Moreover, he is an imposing man. Waltz in contrast was already hammy in Basterds, and he lacks the physical presence (see photo above- there's a man who's actually a fair bit shorter than Craig!) to go in the other direction and be intimidating without the ham. Bond villains need a little bit of exaggerated menace.
That's not to excuse the writing, which was indeed abysmal and almost laughable.
I don't think the producers saw a future where everyone would own every film on little discs and play them over and over on TV sets. Bond films were bubble gum films to be enjoyed once and forgotten about. Changing the actor who played Blofeld was no big deal in the 60s as most people wouldn't remember the last film from two years ago anyway.
Waltz was part of the new alternative history. They are less likely now to recast the role.
We all know this personal connection failed on every level and that does reflect poorly on Waltz. If it had been a more conventional, Bond "romp", I think he could have worked fine.
https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/906031/James-Bond-25-Christoph-Waltz-Blofeld-Franz-Oberhauser-Spectre-Daniel-Craig-007
Maybe that's what puts Blofeld on MI6's map?