New Bond Film - "Spectre" - October / November 2015

[prisonermonkeys]

That's a great summary

I would except them to be very different this time around. You might have noticed the ring engraved with the octopus in the trailer; a similar ring was a calling card of SPECTRE, but this one is far more subtle.

If you're a newcomer to the franchise, I would suggest checking out the following films first: From Russia With Love, Thunderball, For Your Eyes Only, The Living Daylights, GoldenEye and of course Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace (even though it's weak - it will have an impact on Spectre) and Skyfall. I will also add On Her Majesty's Secret Service to that list as it's a fan favourite, even though I find it a weak film and Lazenby a terrible Bond.

On the other hand, I would avoid You Only Live Twice, The Man With The Golden Gun, Moonraker, A View To A Kill and Die Another Day unless you find that you really enjoy the franchise, as they're particularly poor.

I would also recommend getting your hands on the original novels and short story collections if you can, because some of them are really quite different to (and better than) the films.

 

[Sanji Himura]

I would personally throw in The World is Not Enough as a recommendation, but only after you watch Skyfall.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

The World Is Not Enough is a personal favourite of mine, primarily because it was my first Bond film. But it does have a bad reputation among fans, largely because of Denise Richards and the melodrama between Bond and Elektra. I have actually seen one of the original drafts, which emphasised the mystery over the melodrama - rather than the other way around - and I have to admit that the fans as a whole might have a point. But that doesn't dampen my enthusiasm for it.

 

[sems4arsenal]

I've seen every Brosnan and Craig movie, will re watch Skyfall this week again.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Meanwhile, Michael G. Wilson has revealed that the Mexico City sequence is the biggest and most ambitious pre-titles that they have ever filmed - and given the likes of The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker and GoldenEye, that's a pretty bold claim to make.

 

[GTboyz]

Mild spoiler (i think) :

Spoiler

it seems to be a huge one.
This movie seems to go back to the old Bond movies with a perfect balance of the previous Craig movies.

Also, i think you people will find most of Bond's interaction with Q and all his creation filled with humor.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

EON have hired Chuck Aaron to work on the pre-title sequence.

For those of you don't know who Chuck Aaron is ...

Spoiler

... He is one of only three people in the world certified to perform loops and barrel rolls in a helicopter. And of those three, he is the only person certified to do it in the United States.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

If this is true, it's the single biggest spoiler that you will encounter:

Spoiler

So consider yourself warned.

Spoiler

Are you sure you want to know?

Spoiler

And I mean really, really sure?

Spoiler

Are you mad?

Spoiler

Well, you've come this far, so there's no turning back now.

Spoiler

You've got no-one to blame but yourself if you keep reading even if you don't want to know.

Spoiler

Just making sure.

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Franz Oberhauser is an alias of Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Blofeld was the son of two high-ranking Romanian diplomats (in the novels, he is half-Polish and half-Greek) who were captured and tortured to death. Blofeld himself was saved, emigrating to Austria where he was adopted by Hannes Oberhauser and given the name Franz for his own protection. At around the same time, the young James Bond became an orphan following his parents' deaths in a climbing accident. Hannes, a friend of Andrew Bond, volunteered to take James in until his aunt Charmain was able to assume the role of legal guardian.

Some time after Bond was taken into Charmain's care, Oberhauser murdered his adoptive father, starting down the path that would ultimately lead to his formimg SPECTRE.

Spoiler

That's all.

I'm annoyed that I found that one out.

 

[GTboyz]

If this is true, it's the single biggest spoiler that you will encounter:

Spoiler

So consider yourself warned.

Spoiler

Are you sure you want to know?

Spoiler

And I mean really, really sure?

Spoiler

Are you mad?

Spoiler

Well, you've come this far, so there's no turning back now.

Spoiler

You've got no-one to blame but yourself if you keep reading even if you don't want to know.

Spoiler

Just making sure.

Spoiler

Franz Oberhauser is an alias of Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Blofeld was the son of two high-ranking Romanian diplomats (in the novels, he is half-Polish and
half-Greek) who were captured and tortured to death. Blofeld himself was saved, emigrating to Austria where he was adopted by Hannes Oberhauser and given the name Franz for his own protection. At around the same time, the young James Bond became an orphan following his parents' deaths in a climbing accident. Hannes, a friend of Andrew Bond, volunteered to take James in until his aunt Charmain was able to assume the role of legal guardian.

Some time after Bond was taken into Charmain's care, Oberhauser murdered his adoptive father, starting down the path that would ultimately lead to his formimg SPECTRE.

Spoiler

That's all.

I'm annoyed that I found that one out.

That's alright, i already knew about that.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Filming has resumed in London following a break, which means that a new clapboard has been posted:

Spoiler

It's believed to be for a scene involving Denbigh, played by Andrew Scott.

WikiLeaks have also published all of the documents stolen from Sony by the "Guardians of Peace" prior to the release of The Interview, and the development of the script can clearly be seen:

Spoiler

The film was going to feature Blofeld running a diamond mind in sub-Saharan Africa, with Sony lobbying for Chewitiel Ejiofor to be cast. It was going to appropriate elements of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, particularly at the end, but it appears that Sony and EON hated John Logan's script and couldn't see the concept working with extensive rewrites from the likes of Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Another clapboard, probably the most obscure one yet:

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It appears to be some kind of underground dock, possibly under the ruins of the Vauxhall Cross building.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Photos from filming on the Thames this week:

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It appears to be taken from the finale, and seems to involve Bond pursuing the helicopter from a boat (which appears to be one of the boats from the clapboard above). It seems very reminiscent of a scene in Moonraker (the novel) where Bond chases Drax, but Drax is in a much more powerful car, so Bond has to work to keep up.

Filming as a whole should be finishing up soon - if Skyfall is anything to go by (it had a similar release date), Spectre should be going into post-production in June or July.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

Spoiler

... Bond chases Drax, but Drax is in a much more powerful car

Spoiler

I knew Dave Bautista was in the cast but I didn't know it was a crossover

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Spoiler

I knew Dave Bautista was in the cast but I didn't know it was a crossover

That never occurred to me. Bond fan that I am, I tend to think of the literary Drax by his actual name, van der Drache - but since the name has never been used in the films, I just called him Drax.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

I've seen you recommend the best Bond films to newcomers, but as someone who may read the books in the future (I'm currently reading GOT rather than JUST watching the show) are there certain Bond books you would recommend or avoid?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I've seen you recommend the best Bond films to newcomers, but as someone who may read the books in the future (I'm currently reading GOT rather than JUST watching the show) are there certain Bond books you would recommend or avoid?

I would recommend all of the original Ian Fleming ones (some of which are very different to the films), in order if you can:

1) Casino Royale
2) Live and Let Die
3) Moonraker
4) Diamonds Are Forever
5) From Russia With Love
6) Dr. No
7) For Your Eyes Only
8) Goldfinger
9) Thunderball
10) The Spy Who Loved Me
11) On Her Majesty's Secret Service
12) You Only Live Twice
13) The Man with the Golden Gun
14) Octopussy and the Living Daylights

You could probably miss #7 and #14, since they're short story compilations (but still good) and #10, since it was Fleming experimenting with a W. Somerset Maugham style that didn't really work; when he signed away the film rights, it was on the condition that The Spy Who Loved Me was never adapted into a film (but the title could be used).

As for the continuation novels, they're very hit-and-miss. I have largely avoided them, because nobody was really able to capture Fleming's incarnation of Bond.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

Better get reading (and only halfway through GOT book 3 now...), thank you!

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Better get reading (and only halfway through GOT book 3 now...), thank you!

Make sure you read TB, OHMSS and YOLT in order (TSWLM fits in between TB and OHMSS, but is unrelated) - they form the Blofeld trilogy, and if you miss the early stuff, YOLT won't make sense. Especially since it gets metaphysical.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Filming schedule update:

Spoiler

Filming will take place on Westminster Bridge this weekend. It's believed that Christoph Waltz will be involved, but he has been present for the Mexico City shoots, even though he is not involved in those scenes.

 

[Sanji Himura]

As for the continuation novels, they're very hit-and-miss. I have largely avoided them, because nobody was really able to capture Fleming's incarnation of Bond.

I did manage to read a few. I would read License Renewed by John Gardner and Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks (the James Bond 40th anniversary novel). However, I would avoid John Gardner's Icebreaker and Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver like the plague. I managed to obtain all four at my local library, but I had to return the latter two after a day because the plot was so bad.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Speculation on the current filming in London suggests that:

Spoiler

The final sequence might be a "Blofeld Begins", a kind of epilogue to the main story that shows how Blofeld got his scars. So it might be the case that EON are looking to Donald Pleasance as the definitive incarnation of Blofeld, which is odd because I thought they would go for Telly Savalas.

It also makes it hard for them to play up the way Blofeld reinvented his look several times in the novels. Waltz is great, but if they went in the direction of You Only Live Twice - which would actually be extremely difficult - I would love to see them cast a new actor in the role.

 

[Sanji Himura]

There might be a way to still pull that off:

Spoiler

...unless Waltz's character is a red herring all along and just simply a body double.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

There might be a way to still pull that off:

Spoiler

...unless Waltz's character is a red herring all along and just simply a body double.

Spoiler

That's a bit too similar to Batman Begins.

However, in the novels, SPECTRE members rotated through the numbers on a regular basis - so Blofeld wasn't always number 1. Part of it was for security, and part of it was to manage each individual operation. Waltz could be number 1 when the film takes place, which makes everyone assume that he is the leader.

I did manage to read a few. I would read License Renewed by John Gardner and Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks (the James Bond 40th anniversary novel). However, I would avoid John Gardner's Icebreaker and Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver like the plague. I managed to obtain all four at my local library, but I had to return the latter two after a day because the plot was so bad.

Consensus among fans is that John Gardner is generally stronger than Raymond Benson. As for the stand-alone authors, Kingsley Amis was the best, whilst Faulks, Deaver and Boyd were fairly poor.

Spoiler

To his credit, Deaver did have a neat little twist - the train derailment wasn't to dump the poison into the Danube (there was actually very, very little on-board), but to get samples of titanium alloys from some scrap metal aboard the train.

But I do agree that it was pretty lousy. All of the important stuff happened "off-camera" as it were, so the big revelations has no impact (it's a common issue with Deaver's work). First, Hydt wanted to stage an attack on the intelligence community. But then he was really trying to kill a professor of Balkan politics who was critical of Serbia protecting war criminals. But then that was just a cover to kill a cancer researcher on the verge of a medical breakthrough. But then all of that was a distraction to give somebody else the time to strategically distribute food aid in northern Africa and give the Sudanese government a pretext to invade and annex South Sudan. And all of these twists came out of nowhere with very little foreshadowing to set them up.

Anyway, back to Spectre, and here is a shot from filming in London, with Ralph Fiennes outside Rules, London's oldest restaurant:

 

[bremics]

Haha, seems funny to see all the hate for Die Another Day. It was my first Bond film and honestly loved it... Also introduced me to the Vanquish.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Haha, seems funny to see all the hate for Die Another Day.

Well, it's a terrible film.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Whitehall by day:

And by night:

 

[JKgo]

...Are they still filming? When is the release date again?

Feels like they are cutting it pretty close...will Mendez have enough time to do a proper post production thingymajiggy?

I can't wait to see this. Seen all the Bond movies, and I'd be a fool to miss this one....

 

[prisonermonkeys]

It releases in late October-early November. But don't worry - they still have plenty of time. Skyfall had similar shooting schedule.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

A second trailer could be released this month, but there has been no official confirmation.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Pardon the triple post, but here's our first shot of Christoph Waltz on location!

Spoiler

Note the motion-capture dots on his face - if he is indeed Ernst Stavro Blofeld, then they could be aiming for the Donald Plesance look with facial scar.

The car he is getting out of is a Rolls Royce - the scene appears to involve Oberhauser being driven to a waiting helicopter, possibly with Bond chasing in a boat.

Meanwhile, here's Lea Seydoux as Madeliene Swann: