You think Taken is garbage? I have to say as father of a teenage daughter I found it very satisfying…
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Should be printed in bold letters, framed, and put on every Bond fan’s wall. Mandatory to look at and pause half a minute before logging in to CBn or any other fan site.
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I think it should replace “Bond at its best” on this website.
Indeed, it’s how I’ve always referred to them.
If Bond is, at its core, solely about escapism, then I think one could make a reasonable argument that the Craig era has, for the most part, been something of a failure then. I think the argument could be made that Casino Royale fits into that category, but I wouldn’t put Quantum of Solace or Skyfall in that category. Quantum gets down pretty deep into politics (at least by Bond standards) and faces down a lot of the issues in the world at the time (unseen enemies who don’t fight under the banner of a nation, oil politics, dwindling natural resources, etc.). People going into Quantum to escape the ills of the world in 2006 weren’t getting a huge amount of relief from them.
Skyfall, for my money, doesn’t fare much better in this department either. It delves into some heavy themes, including dabbling in the human trafficking discussion we’re currently batting around here, and is rather heavy-handed in its dourness. Add to that the fact that Bond outright fails the mission, while having little to no fun along the way, I’m having trouble seeing where this, the pinnacle of all-things Bond to most people, is escapist.
Spectre, on the other hand, is probably the most escapist Bond film we’ve had since Brosnan, and is hardly a shining advertisement for that kind of Bond filmmaking.
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By that argument The Man With The Golden Gun, OHMSS, Diamonds Are Forever, The World Is Not Enough and You Only Live Twice arn’t escapism.
And Quantum was ‘08.
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What makes Bond escapism is that you can throw all these real-world issues into any film without having to dwell too deeply on them. They can be a part of Bond’s world, be elements of his mission, but nobody needs to concern themselves with any of the realistic aspects. It’s Bond’s journey that entertains, not the deeper driving forces behind it. When you watch Casino Royale for instance, are you really troubling yourself over the prospect of funding terrorism? Or is it the glitz, glamour and intrigue of the settings and characters and their interactions that really fascinate?
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I don’t think Bond fails in SKYFALL. He stops Silva. M‘s death is collateral damage, just as the fate of all the agents she sends out on their missions.
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Which is why SPECTRE is the best Craig film. The dual threats posed by a) an increasing surveillance society and b) the deepening connection between government and the private sector (criminal and otherwise) are credible, can be conveyed in filmic shorthand, and will resonate for much of the audience. If viewers are interested in more information they can turn to works such as “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power” by Shoshana Zuboff or my forthcoming “The Solex Agitator: From Drawing Board to World Domination in Easy Fourteen Stages.”
We’ll have to agree to disagree on this. As far as I’m concerned, not only is Spectre Craig’s weakest effort, it’s the worst film in the franchise.
I know. And I think your explanation about the ending being Bond’s dream as he was tortured was brilliant, and I am sure it will enhance my next viewing of the film.
Oh? More info, please!
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I’m looking that up now. Will definitely check out yours, just give deets.
How do I find this post re: the ending being a dream? I’d love to read it.
Which is why my favorite Daniel Craig Bond films are Casino Royale and SPECTRE. And his Bond character seems to be enjoying himself more in those films than in Quantum Of Solace and Skyfall. SPECTRE may have its issues, but it brought the fun back to 007, which really hadn’t been seen in nearly 10 years!!!
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The announced release date seems to have been for the US. In the U.K. it’ll open a lilttle earlier on the 3rd April…
https://www.launchingfilms.com/release-schedule?filmSearch=bond+25
The question is, considering the all the missteps thus far should it be opening 2 days before the 3rd 
But seriously, sort of, according to a fan who claims to have grilled Wishaw after seeing him the V&A museum, London, the wiery thesp is indeed signed up for Bond 25.
Really great news, if true. His performance have been a highlight of the reboot imo and his acting chops making him a great foil to Craig. He’s given the writers scope to make far more of his scenes than the usual tropes.
Wishaw’s intro scene in The National Gallary is one of my favourite Bond scenes. The dialogue crackles with a wit not realised had a lessor actor filled Qs shoes.
The one I’m curious about is Rory Kinnear as Tanner. The man is a fantastic actor.
escapism implies an idea of fantasy unrelated to the real world and that has in my opinion never really been the case - there is always an element of the real world inspiring the larger than life story in one way or another be that geopolitical/military tensions, weapon threats, new technology, sexual politics, race relations, corruption etc etc… Its a little disingenuous to write off everything in 007 as pure fantasy. Just because they are fun, blockbuster movies doesn’t mean they have no basis in our reality - 007 films and Fleming/Gardner etc… have always taken a real world story or element of it, set “slightly in the future” and taken to super spy extremes (gadgets, explosions, villainous schemes). It is timeless in that regard as it rarely takes the real world 1-1, but it certainly deals with reality in its own way - it is escapist in its approach and presentation but the stories are most definitely rooted in reality before being taken the 007 level.
Off the top of my head, TMWTGG uses energy stability as the basis and puts it into a story about dueling spies, OHMSS deals with emerging bio terrorism threats, The World Is Not Enough certainly revolves around oil and nuclear disarmament etc etc…
It remains to be seen if we get a new MI6 crew with a new Bond, but in any case, Wishaw has been perfectly cast as Q. He’s taken something that so strongly belonged to Desmond (and still does) but managed to make it his own.
It doesn’t. It refers to mood and intention. Bond films are escapism because they take ideas and topics from the real word but only use them to tell basically an adventure story about an invincible guy who always wins in the end.