A very interesting reading: Why James Bond Must Survive, No Matter What - Ultimate Action Movie Club
1 Like
Is the concept of it being a separate interpretation that hard?
Do people go “Didn’t Poirot already solve the murder on the orient express when he was David Suchet?”
8 Likes
„Stop getting Bond wrong“ seems to be a fitting description of that article‘s ideas.
1 Like
Silly article.
No, they say: “I thought Albert Finney already solved that case.”
2 Likes
There’s so much to rebut there due to context. But I’ll go with this:
“Unfortunately, the interpretation done in the No Time To Die script is much closer to that of killing yourself if you can’t get what you want.”
Hardly. He’s accepting reality and finishing the job. He’s been shot and they make a point of showing blood drip on the ground. The film telegraphed earlier with the death of Felix that gunshots like this are fatal with the “that’s a lot of blood” comment. The film says the virus must be stopped now. The buyers can’t be allowed to obtain it. Our logic doesn’t matter, it’s what the film says. Bond is moments from dying - opening the blast doors is his last gesture.
I see black and white thinking of ‘Bond can only be this way’ while ignoring the spirit of the character has still been retained even though the ending didn’t go the way the author liked.
6 Likes
I’d be happy if they did
I really enjoy these small moments:
The wind picking up as Bond stands in front of Vesper’s tomb
Kleinman’s Dr No style dots at the beginning of the title sequence
Bond stopping for a drink during the Cuba shootout
The heated interrogation of Obruchev on the boat - Craig at his best
Bond silently listening to the virus briefing
Bond being re-designated 007 while on the plane
Bond viewing the island from the glider, the place he would never leave
Zimmer’s retro refrain when the missiles are launched
The gun barrel recreation
Zimmer punctuating three kill shots during ‘Opening The Doors’
8 Likes
Finally picked up the Blu-Ray and had the courage to re-watch for the first time since theaters. My initial (very negative) assessment has completely changed. The film is beautiful and the ending moved me in a way that nothing has in a very long time. Perhaps on my first watch the emotional shock of the finale coupled with life circumstances made it difficult to process.
I’ve long shied away from declaring any one Bond as my “preferred”, but after this watch I can definitely say that Craig’s run is truly special. Despite its messiness at times, the five film arc is something that is unlikely to be repeated any time soon. For the first time, it left me satisfied with a Bond film in way that leaves me in no hurry to see the next.
13 Likes
It didn’t earn, or deserve the OHMSS references.
For starters we never get to see the absolute inner fear that M must be feeling when Heracles is let loose. Nor do we see the guilt at NTTD’s conclusion of having his best man killed over his mistake.
The story IS good. But you never feel the gravitas of the situation entirely. Maybe it’s just me but I felt there was a missed opportunity to make the film alittle more scarier. Inject a small bit of horror into the concept of Heracles. M helps develop it to send messages. Fine. I just think the bio weapon could have been used a bit differently.
And YES…the ending is horrible. Anthony Horrwitz was right to ask: Since when does the bad guy win? Safin ultimately defeats Bond. Spare me your defences of a ‘noble/heoric death’…
There wasn’t anything noble or heoric about it. Bond finishes the job, but he doesn’t win. Where’s the heorism? Where’s the nobility? Especially since Safin always had the upper hand on Bond from the very start?
Daniel Craig’s era started out great, but he ended his time like a complete chump. I see his films now and all I can see is a beta chud that makes really questionable creative decisions.
Im glad the producers are taking their time on the next step. They have all the time in the world.
4 Likes
7 Likes
He gave his life to save his family’s life. Nothing more of a win than that.
4 Likes
Bond wanted to live a life with his family but a split second changed everything. He didn’t want to be poisoned and shot, but he was. Bond didn’t cry or complain. He said “it’s alright”, came to terms with the predicament and did the next best thing he could.
Keep the blast doors shut and die anyway, or open the doors and have one last grand view? Bond took the latter option and I would too. We have the answer to how the character would react to such a moment, and it’s definitely not by being a chump. It’s by being strong and dignified.
As for M’s role in the plot, I think the simplicity of the closeup reactions and the music allowed the viewer to feel the moment and ponder it all themselves. I don’t think they needed much more than that, and lengthy dialogue wouldn’t fit. The focus right then and there is the historical enormity that ‘he’s really gone’. Q exhaling as the smartblood shows no heartbeat hit me the hardest. Especially given their relationship with one another.
8 Likes
When I heard the rumours that it was coming, I was prepared to hate it, but I think his death was possibly the most Bond moment of 60 years… handled with dignity, acceptance and true character.
6 Likes
And no pink tie.
4 Likes
He said dignity…
2 Likes
Credit to Sean Connery for making the most easily mocked thing in existence only questioned when you see it as a picture.
4 Likes
I think the implication is that Bond is so shot up he’s going to die anyway, but this way he gets to save a lot of lives in the process. Understandably that detail can be lost given that he manages to stand up from all those shots, go up a few flights of stairs, conduct a lengthy conversation and climb a ladder before a barrage of missiles finally does him in. On top of all the other things we’ve seen Craig’s Bond weather – including numerous close-quarters explosions immediately prior to this scene – it would be easy for viewers to assume Bond could have walked away from ANY injury, if he chose to. So there’s the perception that he let himself be killed, which I don’t think is what they were going for.
I have to confess that as it is, I still half expected him to show up at the end having somehow survived the explosion and watching Madeleine and the kid from somewhere in the shadows. Not because I can’t let go, but because by that point I figured he shared DNA with Jaws, or Wile E Coyote.
10 Likes
A lot of people really can’t stand that Bond died, that he lost. I don’t think this should happen again for a very long time. But for me, Bond’s death was the payoff that he is always at risk. For me, this quote from Forever and Day puts it well (even though Horowitz did not like Bond dying):
“It was very likely, Bond knew, that he too would die violently. It had to happen: the one mistake, the single moment when lowered his guard. The thought didn’t worry him. It could have happened already, while he was working for the secret service, or a dozen times during the war.”
The Bond I love is a man, not a super hero and in NTTD we saw that like all of us, death too comes to James Bond. But unlike me at least, he did not cower but faced his coming death with bravery and acceptance. James Bond is dead. Long live James Bond. And unlike us, he will return.
13 Likes
Well said. 
3 Likes