News on NO TIME TO DIE (no spoilers)

Didn’t say I thought that was speculative - said I thought knowing that directors were happy to have P&W do the rewrites was speculative. Just saying :slight_smile:

This is a very fair point and of course mine and my tv colleagues poor opinion of the show certainly do not nessisarily mirror the general public; those who make tv usually view things far differently, particularly for those in documentary the standards of realism and authentic dialogue are higher, and arguably unfairly so when applied to scripted melodrama.

My main issue with it was summed up by this part of the Guardian newspaper review:

…It’s marred by dialogue that is sometimes inaudible (as with Happy Valley, Taboo and 10 Rillington Place, I’m using subtitles) and, when audible, often hackneyed thriller speak.

The latter being equally true of their bond scripts imho. But I’m not suggesting that Guardian snippet is proof of a widespread dislike - rotten tomatoes rate it highly after all - just a reflection of my critique.

I sympathise with this predicament - suffered it myself - but once is bad luck, several times as you say rings alarm bells for me. Look, sure they could be that unlucky, but I’m opting to bet it’s that the quality of writing generally isn’t selling the product to everyone. Unfortunately I know all too well how hard it is to get a film made, but with bond script credits to your name it must be that much more possible if the scripts are good enough.

Of course I’m speculating a lot, but it’s all speculation unless anyone here can say otherwise.

Finally, SAF, you’re quite right, this is an old argument that only really pops up in times of slow news. I wrote that up before my first coffee of the day and should’ve known better :slight_smile:

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I enjoyed The Anerican - nice twist on the assassin sub genre. Most Wanted Man not so much; more bluster, like the vacuous Jason Bourne (the last one).

He’s decent enough choice to pick up the pieces of Bond 25 (if picking up pieces rather than starting fresh-ish is the plan).

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I thought The American was a superb film and enjoyed every minute of it: however I’m not convinced it makes the director a good fit for Bond, or at least what I see as Bond. I suppose therein lies the problem for the producers: Bond has been so many different things to so many people over such a long period of time that there will always be a sizeable group of fans/critics/general filmgoers who don’t see the latest offering as ‘real’ Bond. I thought Spectre nailed it by and large (especially if we ignore the unfortunate family connection) but clearly many here disagreed with me. My point being, albeit in a long and rambling way, I think the producers are doing a good job of keeping Bond as Bond and I trust their judgement over Boyle, even though there will always be aspects that I wish were done differently.

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Assuming it wasn’t Boyles judgement over them (if you meant the reasons for his departure)
:slight_smile:

Nor I, ideally! Just meant in this damage control scenario of Bond 25 I can imagine a worse.

18 posts were split to a new topic: Silva’s Great Guess-My-Kink Discussion

I want this to happen.

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Mod note: I’ve created a new thread for the Silva discussion.

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Oh Lord Jesus yessssssss! Bring him back bring him back!!!

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I thought he was a bit of a nothing character in SPECTRE, but then again I also think the ‘silent henchman’ is a an overplayed trope. Bautista’s done good work in other things though so by all means bring him back if you can actually make better use of the character. If nothing else have him use his metal thumbnails against Bond!

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Exactly! The thumbnails really have the potential to become iconic, but as yet they remain underused

I suppose they come in handy when peeling oranges. That can get tricky sometimes…

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Hopefully we’ll get that deleted scene on a special edition disc.

The nails reminded me of Renard’s tolerance to pain. Set up well, then never truly utilised again. However I thought jinx was great thanks to Butista being a real talent (fantastic in the Marvel films) and for that reason I’d love to see him return.

Guess work here: the fact that he says they pushed for him suggests perhaps that he wasn’t in Hodges script and producers tried to have him put in no doubt due to the character’s popularity (well, he’s popular with me!)

Bond should never be about need, rather always about over the top!!! Give me ludicrous metal thumbnails over Stamper/Renard blandness every time!!!

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He should use his thumbnails to pry open doors, cut into metal, etc. They were very underused in the film.

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I’m not against Hinx coming back, I guess if people are willing to suspend disbelief a bit. He presents a physical threat to Craig Bond, much like Bane to Batman. Strengthening pre-existing characters makes them something greater. They did it with Mr White already with three appearances, and Jaws with two.

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I get the feeling Bautista has chosen to stir up PR for himself with everything he has.

No problem with that, I liked his work on screen so far.

But I doubt that a return of Hinx was ever in the cards, and now even less so. It´s like all the contenders saying they want to be Bond.

Also, should they really decide to bring back Hinx it would mean BOND 25 is tied to Spectre/Blofeld again.

I agree, by the way: Hinx as a character was totally underused in SPECTRE. I don’t get at all why he wasn’t brought back for the third act. At least getting a last Bond/Hinx-fight would have enlivened the whole last sequence.

Should they indeed bring back Hinx, the “Shatterhand” rumors will prove true, and well get a YOLT-like finish for the Craig era.

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My feeling about it, and of course im guessing - I may be well off the mark - is that the film originally ended with the destruction of Blofelds desert lair (with only the audience seeing Blofelds escape). That would put Hinx’s ‘death’ nearer the end of the movie, giving has character a more balanced arc in the narrative.

Also I think his death was always meant to be a red herring with his return planned for a sequel should Spectre’s story prove popular enough for it to be continued. When a major character dies it’s almost always on camera; if we don’t see them die then it’s probably because they’re destined for a return.

I’d also guess that at least one of the 2 scripts for B25 is indeed YOLT (with an OHMSS) PTS. They could play on the bond tradition of a henchman still alive and needing to be despatched by Bond in an epilogue (eg Rosa Klebb, or Tee Hee in LALD), by having the ‘surprise’ return of Hinx at the start of B25; probably to be truly killed this time by bond, but this diverting his attention from Bunt’s murder of Swann. The last hurrah from Hinx and introduction of Bunt all in one scene, before hitting the opening credits.

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Imho thryve marketed it poorly. Its a very darkly humouress take on spies. Takes a few episodes to get going.

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Although this is rather news on Daniel Craig’s current production - all the best to his new arrival and his family:

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