If Connery had done OHMSS instead of YOLT, of course, Lazenby in a more literal adaptation of YOLT would have been interesting.
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Wonder who they would’ve gotten to dub him while he’s in his “Japanese” disguise?
Back then, probably Mickey Rooney.
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Agreed with all of the points here @David_M and @plankattack and also I would add that if Connery had been cast there, Diana Rigg wouldn’t had been cast, for me she’s one of the brilliant gems in that film, so I couldn’t imagine any other actresses in that role, Tracy character was one of the most important aspects of that film, like Bond, she became the second major character, and an actress with a great caliber of acting could only make it work and convincing, and Diana Rigg nailed it.
I also liked Savalas, he brought physicality and menace to the role, something that I couldn’t imagine Pleasance doing, he worked in YOLT, but he wouldn’t likely to work here because people already knew his version of Blofeld as just a guy sitting in his chair and stroking his cat while ordering his henchmen, just like Stromberg (sans the cat), he’s been parodied many times, something that no one can’t do to Savalas, So I couldn’t imagine him being here too, agreed with Peter Hunt.
Same about FYEO, though I could really imagine Dalton being in that film, but I just liked Roger here, this was the film where he proved himself as a great actor, it fleshed out his Bond, for me, the problem wasn’t on Roger Moore, but more on the writing, those Bibi Dahl scenes, the Margaret Thatcher reference and the weak villain are one of the flaws of the film for me. But I have no problem with Roger Moore, he’s fine for me, agreed he’s portrayal in this film was so much better than Connery in NSNA, and I think NSNA was more written for a younger actor, I’ve heard Lazenby was considered for the part, in my opinion, he could have worked.
Moore also worked in Octopussy, something where I couldn’t imagine Dalton, but in A View To A Kill, I think Moore should had been out in that film.
In my dream timeline:
Lazenby would have ditched his agent, getting an advice from the producers instead and done Diamonds Are Forever and The Man With The Golden Gun (the martial arts and the atmosphere of the film would have worked with him).
Dalton would have done A View To A Kill up to his fourth film which is the Property of A Lady.
Then a Craig Bond film between Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, then another film between Skyfall and SPECTRE, between 2013-2014.
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re: the Blofeld thing, it’s unfortunate in a way that the actors kept changing all the time, but honestly keeping any of those guys on for multiple films would’ve resulted in very different films. I frankly can’t imagine either Pleasance, Savalas or Gray fitting into each other’s movies.
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NSNA was developed and financed only for and with Connery. Before he committed in those long years before NSNA was actually greenlit Lazenby might have come up as Plan B or rather F in conversations. But no studio would have wanted to do a rival Bond film with the least loved and only one-time Bond.
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Here are my biggest missed opportunities:
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Filming On Her Majesty’s Secret Service before You Only Live Twice. But having said that, I am one of those that have a harder time seeing Sean Connery doing OHMSS, and besides I like George Lazenby in the role anyway. So, for me, ideally, Connery’s fifth film would have been Diamonds Are Forever in 1967. Then go to Lazenby in 1969’s OHMSS and then film You Only Live Twice in 1971 with whoever actor you want for James Bond then. You could also then continue the Ian Fleming storyline by filming The Man With The Golden Gun in 1973 and then do Live And Let Die in 1974/5 which would still allow you piggyback on the popularity of the popular Kung Fu and blaxploitation films of the era. (Or if you didn’t continue the Fleming storyline, then keep the LALD and TMWTGG regular order.)
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Hard-up Harry Saltzman selling his share of EON Productions to Cubby Broccoli instead of United Artists, thereby saving the fans and EON a lot of headaches and frustration due to UA’s, then MGM’s, financial difficulties, which resulted in multiple prolonged periods of inactivity, uncertainty, and unstable production footing. Had Saltzman sold to Broccoli, then EON would have been in firm control of the series and not had to worry about propping up a dead weight for decades. They could have handpicked their studio(s) to work with and kept up a regular production schedule.
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Have Steven Spielberg direct (and John Williams compose the music for) Never Say Never Again. Spielberg always wanted to film a James Bond movie, but Cubby Broccoli never went for it. Well, what better way for Kevin McClory to “stick it” to Broccoli and EON than by hiring the wunderkind director to bring Sean Connery back to the big screen one last time in his legendary 007 role? Can you imagine the extra hype for NSNA, and how much better it could have been, had that happened? And just imagine the possibilities of what frequent Spielberg collaborator Williams would have done with a James Bond score and what type of alternative 007 theme he would have come up with. If only it could have happened.
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I’ll combine this next one. We should have gotten at least a third Timothy Dalton Bond film in 1991 (though I’d want an altered script of what we currently know of The Property Of A Lady). And we should have gotten a fifth Pierce Brosnan Bond film in 2004 (although not Casino Royale), preferably titled Risico.
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Additionally, it would have been nice had Bond gotten to drive the new Aston Martin DB7 in GoldenEye. A DB7 for 007. Has a nice ring to it.
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There should have been a Bond film in 2"007". I still can’t believe the producers missed out on a once in a millennia opportunity. EON made such a big deal during The Spy Who Loved Me about 7/7/77. But 007 arriving in theaters in 2007 is even more iconic and marketable. The year was made for Bond. And the Bond film that year would have been Casino Royale! A great new film for the Bond year. Oh what could have been! (Consequently, that would have pushed back Quantum Of Solace past the writers’ strike to 2009. Skyfall would have remained in 2012 for Bond’s 50th cinematic anniversary and SPECTRE in 2015. Ideally, No Time To Die would have come out in 2018, whereupon we now would be getting the new James Bond either later this year or next.)
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Concluding NTTD with Bond being captured by the enemy or an enemy organization. Then between films he gets brainwashed to set up the opening of Fleming’s TMWTGG. The next Bond film would then begin with Bond (in the guise of the new 007 actor) arriving in London and attempting an assassination of M in the PTS. That would have shocked mainstream audiences.
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For June 24…
Although (particularly during the 1980s) there may have been “coincidental” instances of the films seeming to totally-of-their-own-invention-honest come up with things that felt a bit similar to Gardner’s stuff, obviously there’s never been a straight-down-the-line adaptation of his plentiful material. Below some suggestions for “filmable Gardner” you might like to see, but obviously do raise others in the thread below.
Up to 7 choices but you don’t have to use them all.
Unfilmed Gardner
- Bond participating in some form of ritual or games eg Highland Games or that thing at the end of Brokenclaw
- People-eating pythons
- Ants. Everywhere.
- Bond in a SAAB.
- Snowplough attack.
- Torture by ice-dunking.
- Bond recruited by the enemy, seemingly in good faith.
- Bond spending an unexpected inheritance (the product-placers will love this)
- Vampire bat in the shower.
- Mad dog attack.
- Cod-religious suicide bombers.
- Death by application of many, many snakes.
- Harrier jet dogfight.
- Torture by the application of hungry wolves.
- Fiddleback sandwich.
- Deserted themepark shootout.
- Jetski chase.
- Something(s) else I will put in the thread below
0 voters
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Voted for COD religious bombers, that scene looks interesting, haven’t read any Gardner novel yet, but that scene really sounds interesting.
To be honest, since YOLT’s plot was involving or about space like rockets, I’d rather have a full and faithful adaptation of the Moonraker Novel, Connery’s farewell would have been fantastic, instead of using that title to cash in on Star Wars’ success.
Then Lazenby would have done the Fleming Trilogy of OHMSS -YOLT- TMWTGG.
Then yes, you’re right about the rest.
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My choices are:
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Torture by ice-dunking–bonus points for including a chainsaw to cut out the hole in the ice. (Icebreaker)
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Bond recruited by the enemy, seemingly in good faith–bonus points for including Erewhon tactical assault course exercise. (Role Of Honor)
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Villain puts out a contract for Bond’s head luring a bunch of assassins after him–bonus points for using a guillotine at some point. (Nobody Lives Forever)
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An unarmed Bond is the prey as part of the villain’s Most Dangerous Game scenario. (No Deals, Mr. Bond)
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Harrier jet dogfight with Bond vs. henchman–there hasn’t been enough aerial combat in Bond films. (Win, Lose Or Die)
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Fiddleback sandwich near death experience–suitably creepy. (Death Is Forever)
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Master of disguise villain/assassin. (Never Send Flowers)
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When I made my biggest missed opportunities list, I forgot I had earlier thought of another one:
Roger Moore’s James Bond doing a spacewalk in Moonraker. It’s in the novelization, you already have Bond in space, why not have him do a spacewalk? It would be suspenseful and exciting, particularly if done like in the novelization. This really was a missed opportunity. 
(The limit was seven opportunities and I already gave seven. But I really want to include this spacewalk, so if I have to drop one of the others, I guess I’d drop the last one with Bond being captured at the end of No Time To Die since I could use that scenario back in conjunction with my first example given.
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I love the creature stuff, being the spider sandwich, bat in the shower, killer ants, snakes and the like. The ice dunking would also make for a tense sequence.
I’ll add these:
A Grand Prix, with Bond’s car sabotaged by the villain
Competitive boxing against a heavy henchman
Taken to a fake safe house by villains pretending to be allies
Sneaking out of his cell to blow up a bedridden villain, then using a guillotine
Hang gliders descending to attack warships
Killing foes and dispatching the bodies via ambulance crews meant for him
There’s lots of good stuff in the continuation novels just waiting to be adapted.
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For June 25…
The look of Lamont; albeit perhaps not as showy as Ken Adam, Peter Lamont was Production Designer for more Bond films, and is possibly a little underacknowledged given that achievement and other earlier contributions to the look and feel of the Bond series. Best looking Lamont-designed Bond?
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- For Your Eyes Only
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- Octopussy
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- A View to a Kill
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- The Living Daylights
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- Licence to Kill
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- GoldenEye
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- The World is Not Enough
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- Die Another Day
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- Casino Royale
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[/poll]
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Indeed, Lamont is too often overlooked because he did not get the showy assignments, and when he did (DAD) he was not applauded because the film was regarded as fluff.
Set design is regarded like costume design: more obvious is rated as more work. The opposite is the case: the greatest work is when you did not even notice that a set was built.
It’s kinda like acting, actually.
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Actually selected GE, which I can imagine was a “unique challenge.” It had to feel new, but familiar - I’d imagine a greater challenge for design than being given a blank canvas. There are enough echoes of the series with the factory and the Cuban control room, yet the much heralded (at the time) “M is a woman, MI6 is new place etc” already feels at home (unlike say home base in QoS, which great-looking as it is doesn’t quite fit for me).
Yes, it’s obviously a collective effort, but by the end it feels like EON all the way through.
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A very difficult choice. Eyes Only is one of my favorite movies, but I can’t think of any realy great design, it’s a lot of location stuff, the same with AVTAK and Daylights. CR has the casino and the sinking house, but maybe that last one is more Chris Corbould, than Lamont?
LtK and TWINE have some good stuff, like the Sansez mansion, or the interior of the Scotisch MI6 castle, but at the end it’s Octopussy against GoldenEye and DAF and I choose Octopussy, because it has the most classic Bond stuff in it, like Khan’s Palace interior and the Octopussy island with the bedroom, incl. the Octopus like bed.
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For June 26…
Favourite Daniel Kleinman title sequence
- GoldenEye
- Tomorrow Never Dies
- The World is Not Enough
- Die Another Day
- Casino Royale
- Skyfall
- Spectre
- No Time To Die
0 voters
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Regarding the best looking Peter Lamont film, it comes down to three choices for me: Octopussy, GoldenEye, and Casino Royale. All have their moments, but I think jamesb007nd above said it best Octopussy “has the most classic Bond stuff in it” so that gets my vote.
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Daniel Kleinman has done some great stuff and is more than a worthy successor to Maurice Binder. His best four efforts to me are GoldenEye, The World Is Not Enough, Casino Royale, and Skyfall. But for me, his best comes down to GoldenEye and Casino Royale, and there’s just something about CR’s main titles with all it’s gambling, bullets, and fighting motifs combined with Chris Cornell’s powerful You Know Me Name theme song that is just absolute perfection. Hands down, it’s the best main titles sequence in the series. Very well done. 
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I voted Casino Royale for title sequence. It has a strong singular theme and plays with it in some inventive ways. It doesn’t try to cram in too many different styles. The brief Eva Green “peep-o!” is a bit weird, but not enough to knock this one off the top spot.
GoldenEye comes a close second. It took a well-loved Bond trope - the Maurice Binder sequence - and improved on it. As with CR, there are some memorable motifs yet it all fits together nicely (notwithstanding the cigar/gunshot from inside woman’s mouth - something about its execution doesn’t quite work for me).
Skyfall is third. Foreboding and works perfectly with the song.
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