I could do without Q. It was one of the things I loved about the Craig films. This looks fun.
posted by Fizz at 6:30 AM on May 21, 2012

I can't believe that at 45 I still get as giddy about a new Bond trailer as I did when I first saw the one for Spy Who Loved Me in grade school. Daniel Craig is a great modern Bond and I'm psyched as Hell to see this.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 6:31 AM on May 21, 2012 [5 favorites]

Is this the teaser trailer for the trailer for the complete trailer for the film? Or the trailer for the poster of the DVD of the film?

I get confused these days.
posted by the_very_hungry_caterpillar at 6:31 AM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

I gave up on the Bond franchise, when the Bond franchise gave up on humor.
posted by fairmettle at 6:31 AM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

It's time for a dark-skinned Bond.

Idris Elba, where are you?
posted by Fizz at 6:33 AM on May 21, 2012 [42 favorites]

I think Daniel Craig is a great Bond, and I've really enjoyed the newer Bond films but, yeah, sheesh, what a bummer they are. The low points of the Bond series are indeed low, and I am glad that they excised the garbage but the lightness and humour was not ALL garbage. I was heartened, honestly, that the one real line old Jimmy says in this trailer is, more or less, a joke. It's wicked, and ruthless, but a joke.

I hate to do this, but how about an Avengers style Bond film, rather than another Dark Knight? I guess if the other option is the horrible, I don't know, Smurfs style that they had become in the low days I'll take the Dark Knight, but still.
posted by dirtdirt at 6:37 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Loved Casino but Quantum was a pretty lame follow up. You can't really tell anything from this trailer but I'm keeping my hopes up since Mendes is directing it.
posted by octothorpe at 6:38 AM on May 21, 2012 [4 favorites]

dirtdirt: "how about an Avengers style Bond film"

All of the Bonds in one film? I'd watch that.
posted by Plutor at 6:40 AM on May 21, 2012 [23 favorites]

"I gave up on the Bond franchise, when the Bond franchise gave up on humor."

"It's time for a dark-skinned Bond."

OH
MY
GOD

DONALD GLOVER

WOULD BE AMAZING
posted by Blasdelb at 6:41 AM on May 21, 2012 [19 favorites]

Burhanistan: It's time for a dark-skinned Bond.

Any particular reason other than to be different? Bond does change with the times to a certain degree, but you really couldn't square this with the background of the character. Why not make a new property that has, say, a Pakistani Briton doing something heroic and cool?

I hate to do this, but how about an Avengers style Bond film, rather than another Dark Knight?

That's what Die Another Day was, and it was utter garbage. Bond didn't have that much of a sense of humor in the early novels. He never really gets over Vesper, and to the extent that he lightens up, it's to disconnect. Really don't understand this fondness of Moore-era kitsch.
posted by spaltavian at 6:43 AM on May 21, 2012 [18 favorites]

Idris Elba, where are you?

In his Private Garden?
posted by davidjmcgee at 6:43 AM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

I really wasn't surprised that China plays a part in this..

can't wait
posted by ninjew at 6:44 AM on May 21, 2012

fairmettle: "I gave up on the Bond franchise, when the Bond franchise gave up on humor."

I get what you're saying and had a similar opinion for a while. The Timothy Dalton era caused me to abandon the franchise for what I thought would be forever. But Pierce Brosnan was such an excellent casting choice that I came back. I was quite sad when he was replaced by what I thought at the time was the charmless Daniel Craig. But Craig does have charm, but in an entirely different way. One that perfectly fits the feel of the new films and the sensibility of modern films. On one hand I'd love to see a new Bond film with the playful quirkiness of the Sean Connery era, but ultimately I don't want my James Bond to be a museum piece. I'm OK with Bond changing with the times.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 6:45 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

A Joss Weadon directed Bond flick would be interesting.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:47 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Will Smith.
posted by swift at 6:49 AM on May 21, 2012

Danny Pudi is James Bond.
posted by shakespeherian at 6:49 AM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

So excited! I wasn't expecting to like the Daniel Craig movies, but I LOVE them.
posted by Kimberly at 6:49 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Idris Elba would be a FANTASTIC Bond !!

Please, please someone make this happen.
posted by marsha56 at 6:49 AM on May 21, 2012

A Joss Weadon directed Bond flick would be interesting.

Except that he'd kill M in the third act.
posted by jquinby at 6:50 AM on May 21, 2012 [17 favorites]

I gave up on the Bond franchise, when the Bond franchise gave up on humor.

Interesting, for me those Bond movies were completely uninteresting for me. Casino Royale, on the other hand, was the first time I was completely hooked. The jokiness of the previous movies and the playboy vibe just never worked for me (Austin Powers on the other hand...).

This psychopathic, barely controllable monster feels more realistic to me.

Oh, and Quantum was awful (but to be fair Craig has spoken about it basically being written as it was shot). And since we are discussing possible Bonds, my vote was for an omnisexual Rupert Everett wherein the fucking was as destructive and manipulative as the rest of the things Bond does but also fairly distributed across the genders.
posted by Hypnotic Chick at 6:50 AM on May 21, 2012 [5 favorites]

I will see your James Earl Jones and raise you David Oyelowo

Roundup here of awesomesauce proto-Bonds of all ethnicities, please!
posted by nicebookrack at 6:54 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

I haven't watched the trailer, but Ben Whishaw as Q already has me hooked. I loved his part in The Hour.
posted by FarOutFreak at 6:54 AM on May 21, 2012

So far, I'm more-or-less enjoying Craig as Bond. His "deeply damaged psychopath" approach to the character, though, does grate on me somewhat.

I would utterly love a real cloak-n-dagger Bond movie, full of intrigue and sleuthing and stuff, and not so heavy on explosions and total mayhem and whatnot. I mean...Yeah, he's a killer. But, shouldn't a government killer be a bit more...secretive...in his actions?

FWIW, my fave Bond is still From Russia With Love, so you get an idea where I'm coming from on this.

And, yeah, Idris Elba would make a great Bond, as long as it didn't end up playing like Luther with a license to kill.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:55 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Good to know the trailer was "approved for appropriate audiences". How they know who the appropriate audience is, I have no idea, but... I guess they somehow know.

Gotta say, I like that guy's face. Some personality in that face. Is he famous?

Nice face.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:56 AM on May 21, 2012

a dark-skinned Bond.

Cast a black actor as Ian Fleming's quintessential British spy of the 1950s? Why not? They put Roger Moore into the role.
posted by three blind mice at 6:57 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

All utterly boring compared with the news that Ducan Jones of Moon fame is making an Ian Fleming biopic.
posted by Artw at 6:59 AM on May 21, 2012 [7 favorites]

I think Daniel Craig is a great Bond, and I've really enjoyed the newer Bond films but, yeah, sheesh, what a bummer they are. The low points of the Bond series are indeed low, and I am glad that they excised the garbage but the lightness and humour was not ALL garbage.

I kind of think that the Bonds as a series simply reflect the time. Not just that there's a recession and an impending ecological catastrophe due to climate change, but that we no longer feel unambiguously triumphant about the dirty work that our way of life requires.

In the early films (Connery) we could feel pretty good about ourselves standing up against the dour and joyless villains of the cold war, looking good doing so and stealing "their" women, and in the Moore era we could poke fun at our own image but remain confident that we were still on top. With Dalton the cracks start showing, he has lost something personally important and the system he works within won't take care of him. Brosnan is management's man, the consummate professional, almost an overcorrection against Dalton, but he ends up practically a cartoon rather than an actual character, because what the system demands is not a person but a set of traits. Next we get Craig, who forces us to own our own brutality. Craig is the violence inherent in the system, and we no longer get to have any illusions about the work that the system does at its rougher edges. Even though Craig's Bond seems okay, we end up deeply conflicted about the violent costs that he is visiting upon others and himself.

Yeah, they aren't fun, but maybe that's because the times are conflicted about how much fun we should really be having, if our job requires killing people (often brown, often with "funny" accents) in order to support the luxury of the West.

What I'm saying is that I think Craig is doing a great job and I will definitely go see Skyfall. Also, Idris Elba would be an amazing Bond and it will never happen.
posted by gauche at 7:00 AM on May 21, 2012 [38 favorites]

>>> All of the Bonds in one film? I'd watch that.

This.

I've wanted to see this for years. And it could still happen.

A film that establishes what we've all known for years: James Bond is an assumed name, a title, a role that is filled time and time again. Like the Dread Pirate Roberts, perhaps, only armed with a Walther PPK. A Bond only remains a Bond until the stress is too much or they're forced into retirement. The XXXX'd out Bond is given a new name, a new story, a new life. They're sent to somewhere quiet, perhaps even brainwashed to forget. (Heck, maybe they're given a number and sent to The Village ...)

And the plot just writes itself. Some force of ill will uncovers the truth about the Bonds, attacks the weakest of the retired (let's just say it's the Lazenby Bond, as he's mostly doing the 'Con circuit these days and would work best as a pre-credit cameo), and presents some kind of Massive Global Threat that derives its origin from pieces of plot device from all of the Bond films going back to Dr No.

The only way to stop him is to trace back through secrets held back by all of the other previous Bonds, so they're all reactivated. In reverse order. Each one in a different exotic or horribly mundane location. Craig is in prison undercover and incommunicado initially, Brosnan is posing as a restaurateur in Monaco, Dalton is conducting an orchestra in Calgary, Moore is bearded, wearing mirror shades and destroying wanna-bes in the World Series of Poker in Vegas ... and then we find Connery, polishing the bar at a pub in Edinburgh. He's the one that won't go without convincing, naturally.

And they're all tracked down by an MI6 operative, one of the two entrusted with the secret, but kept most of his days behind a desk. Highly trained, but untested.

Let's say that this guy is played by ... Idris Elba.

What you end up with is something like The Five Doctors, only with a massive budget, huge explosions, cracking dialogue and a badass film score.
posted by grabbingsand at 7:00 AM on May 21, 2012 [145 favorites]

grabbingsand, I would watch the hell out of that movie.
posted by rmd1023 at 7:03 AM on May 21, 2012

I gave up on the Bond franchise, when the Bond franchise gave up on humor.

OK, there aren't characters named "Vulva St. Claire" anymore, but did you watch Casino Royale? There's this great scene where Bond is recovering, and Vesper (the "bond girl") is having this heartfelt moment where she's pouring out her feelings for him.

Vesper: If the only thing left of you was your smile and your little finger, you'd still be more of a man than anyone I've ever known.
Bond: That's because you know what I can do with my little finger.

That's funny. That's humor.
posted by King Bee at 7:03 AM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

All of the Bonds in one film? I'd watch that.

Then you'll love this.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:04 AM on May 21, 2012 [4 favorites]

A film that establishes what we've all known for years: James Bond is an assumed name, a title, a role that is filled time and time again. Like the Dread Pirate Roberts, perhaps, only armed with a Walther PPK.

I have thought for years that it would be the casting coup of all time to get Connery to play a Bond villain, a retired MI6 agent who knows all the secrets. The more so because he swore he'd never do another Bond. Can we put him in this?
posted by gauche at 7:05 AM on May 21, 2012 [6 favorites]

A Bond only remains a Bond until the stress is too much or they're forced into retirement.

quarantine has a theory that Sean Connery's character in The Rock is actually the first 007, captured and disavowed.

It makes that movie more fun to watch.
posted by davidjmcgee at 7:07 AM on May 21, 2012 [10 favorites]

I like Bond movies, I like Craig as Bond, but the real scandal here is that Bond in Skyfall drinks Heineken.

HEINEKEN.
posted by specialagentwebb at 7:09 AM on May 21, 2012 [6 favorites]

>>> Alas, I think Connery is too feeble to do a feature role.

Perhaps.

But Jason Connery isn't.
posted by grabbingsand at 7:11 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Grabbingsand, I APPROVE OF YOUR PREMISE.

And if I can also get an M as badass as astolat's Queen of Spades, I will just sit here and fan myself as I expire from happiness.
posted by nicebookrack at 7:12 AM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

All of the Bonds in one film? I'd watch that.

As long as they don't make the mistake of also putting in all the villains.

Because then it'll play like 1960s TV Batman.
posted by chavenet at 7:12 AM on May 21, 2012

Heineken? Fuck that shit. Pabst Blue Ribbon!
posted by shakespeherian at 7:13 AM on May 21, 2012 [5 favorites]

"It's time for a dark-skinned Bond."

OH
MY
GOD

DONALD GLOVER

WOULD BE AMAZING

Spectacular, even.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:15 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

OK, there aren't characters named "Vulva St. Claire" anymore

Quantum had Fields. Strawberry Fields. But she did have the sense to be embarrassed about it.
posted by nicebookrack at 7:15 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Delores!
posted by fairmettle at 7:16 AM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

I've been loving the recent Bonds, but all of them are "everything is on the end of the line for Bond and MI6" He's barely been under their employ. Does the plot of this one directly tie in to the last two? I hope not. Not to say it couldn't be good that way, but I sort of want Bond to be episodic.... 90-120 minute episodes.
posted by Phantomx at 7:19 AM on May 21, 2012

Does the plot of this one directly tie in to the last two? I hope not.

I'd read reports that they were dropping the Quantum storyline for this one, but I couldn't find one that wasn't from a gossipy source, so I left that out.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 7:20 AM on May 21, 2012

Also: Idris Elba would be great, but I'm still pulling for Chiwetel Ejiofor. That would rule.
posted by davidjmcgee at 7:21 AM on May 21, 2012 [13 favorites]

All of the Bonds in one film? I'd watch that.

Um...maybe.
As long as they played it straight, and didn't end up with Connery leaping off skyscrapers into helicopters while fighting three bad guys and crazy crap like that. The guy's a bazillion years old and looks it. If they ever did an "All Bonds", Connery should be the old Yoda who you don't see until near the end when the other Bonds seek him out and he drops some knowledge on the whippersnappers and saves the day. Or something like that.

The only downside, for me, to an All Bonds would be having to watch Roger Moore again. His were the real nadir of Bond films, imho.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:21 AM on May 21, 2012

It's a shame Simon Pegg chose the Mission: Impossible movie, he'd be an excellent humorous foil for a Bond film.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:24 AM on May 21, 2012

Except that [Joss Whedon would] kill M in the third act.

No he wouldn't. If nothing else, he wouldn't be allowed to. He can't mess with the key elements of the canon. So he'd look around for something he could mess with.

What Whedon would do is take some minor character who's been in the background for the last several films. (I'm not sure who that is in the Craig films, but Charles Robinson from the Brosnan films would be ideal.)

And Whedon would subtly, without us quite realizing it at the time, make this character really central to the emotional core of the story, someone we like, someone we care about, someone Bond likes and cares about. And then he'd kill him.
posted by Naberius at 7:27 AM on May 21, 2012 [6 favorites]

I gave up on the Bond franchise, when the Bond franchise gave up on humor.

Humor is all well and good, but the humor of the Moore era is goofy at best and horribly racist at worst, so I'm pretty happy to be rid of it. That said, I will go to the mat for The Living Daylights so I might be a weirdo.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:28 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

I also distinctly remember CraigBond snarking while being mauled in the genitals. Which, y'know, takes chutzpah.
posted by nicebookrack at 7:28 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Inspector SpaceTime and little Jimmy Bond.
posted by blue_beetle at 7:36 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Examiner: Skyfall?
[pause]
Examiner: Skyfall?
Bond: Done.

Gordon Ramsay'll be jumping for joy over this dialogue. Ugh.
posted by wensink at 7:39 AM on May 21, 2012

I also distinctly remember CraigBond snarking while being mauled in the genitals. Which, y'know, takes chutzpah.

I was pretty suprised at how directly and how well they adapted the book. Of course, they tacked on a bunch of parkour crap at the begining and the end, but the core of the movie which follows the book is really good.
posted by Artw at 7:42 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Why not make a new property that has, say, a Pakistani Briton doing something heroic and cool?

Agent Vinod
posted by infini at 7:44 AM on May 21, 2012

Heck, maybe they're given a number and sent to The Village ...

Considering that Patrick Mcgoohan was approached about being the first Bond.. there is some symmetry there.
posted by edgeways at 7:48 AM on May 21, 2012

Quentin Tarantino and Tony Scott once expressed interest in making a Bond film in which Bond dies. Pierce Brosnan said, informally, that he would be fine with that. Nobody listened to them, though...
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:54 AM on May 21, 2012

My understanding is that the atrocious scriptwreck that is "A Quantum of Solace" was a direct result of the screenwriters' strike.

Or at least blamed on that, with Craig & the director having the manhood to shoulder the responsibility for what they wrote, lacking the professional guidance.

If that's true, Episode III of the Daniel Craig Bond Affair should be back up to par with E-I. I hope.
posted by IAmBroom at 7:56 AM on May 21, 2012

I actually didn't mind Quantum of Solace. It felt like a breathless 90 minute coda to Casino Royale, with the added bonus of having a despicable villain who dies in one of those "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy" sort of ways.
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:58 AM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

Will Smith as Bond, Chris Rock as Q, Louis CK as Moneypenny, and Sarah Silverman as M.
posted by zippy at 8:03 AM on May 21, 2012 [4 favorites]

Roundup here of awesomesauce proto-Bonds of all ethnicities, please!

Idris Elba
Peter Mensah, a god among men
Djimon Hounsou? He's pushing 50, though
Naveen Andrews, on the strength of Sayid Jarrah alone
Chiwetel Ejiofor
And of course Isaiah Mustafa, because of reasons
Gina Torres as the genderswapped Bond
posted by elizardbits at 8:08 AM on May 21, 2012 [6 favorites]

The Casino Royale remake is the only James Bond movie I know of that's a legitimately good movie, as opposed to just a good "James Bond movie" (which I have a certain taste for). As for Quantum of Solace...

My understanding is that the atrocious scriptwreck that is "A Quantum of Solace" was a direct result of the screenwriters' strike.

Or at least blamed on that, with Craig & the director having the manhood to shoulder the responsibility for what they wrote, lacking the professional guidance.

Yeah, there's an interview somewhere where Daniel Craig talks about exactly that.
posted by furiousthought at 8:16 AM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

dark-skinned Bond

I want to see a franchise starring this guy. It would have to be back-story unless they retconned him, though.
posted by michaelh at 8:16 AM on May 21, 2012

I watched the Sean Connery movies as kid on Sunday nights. Then I learned that they were based on books. Read most, but not all, of them. I fortunately read On Her Majesty's Secret Service before seeing the movie, and damn, if George Lazenby didn't fit the role of Bond (at least to my adolescent mind).

Daniel Craig, in Casino Royale, brought the whole thing back to what I picture Bond being: cool, cold, competent. Casino Royale is my favorite movie of them all.

I view the Bond movies as character studies, but that's only after reading the books. The action is like frosting.
posted by grefo at 8:22 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

This review by Ken Hite is an interesting take on New Bond.

Our new Bond is not a servant of Empire, but Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade, with a touch of Vindice -- motivated by personal hates and private codes, the one clean man in a dirty world. (With M as the "decent cop" figurehead for order.) He fights his own government, and the CIA, and business-government moguls, and resource robber barons: in a word, Chinatown. (It's even a water-theft story!) He barely cares about his newest Bond girl's body -- he's more interested in her life story. (This is decent of him, but it's hardly James Bond.) Giving Bond a personal quest may make for one or two interesting movies, but as the narrative for a continuing series, it's doomed to fail compared to the well-crafted and (more importantly) hermetically self-contained Bourne trilogy.

Broccoli Bond is entertaining, but I've always preferred Fleming Bond, which at least acknowledges that there are consequences to being the hard hand of state. Consequently, I'm happy that the new Bond is lower down on the George Smiley ? Austin Powers continuum.
posted by zamboni at 8:36 AM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

how about an Avengers style Bond film

They've already made it. It's called the Mission: Impossible franchise. And it blows.
posted by Saxon Kane at 8:48 AM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

I've said this before, but James Bond is not an inherited title: James Bond is a Time Lord, stranded on Earth until he can find his lost TARDIS. His womanizing secret agent playboy lifestyle is just a means to find the TARDIS, which has a broken chameleon circuit permanently disguising it as a vagina.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:03 AM on May 21, 2012 [8 favorites]

They've already made it. It's called the Mission: Impossible franchise. And it blows.

3 and 4 are actually good, tight action movies that need little set up, directed by J.J Abrams and Brad Bird, respectfully. Your tolerance for Tom Cruise's face may vary.
posted by The Whelk at 9:20 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

3 and 4 are actually good, tight action movies that need little set up, directed by J.J Abrams and Brad Bird, respectfully. Your tolerance for Tom Cruise's face may vary.

The cold open to the third film is, in my mind, pretty perfect. I think 4 had nice editing and was constructed well, but lacked flair after Abrams so solidly put his stamp on 3. (And I like 1 and 2, but they are not good movies.)
posted by beaucoupkevin at 9:42 AM on May 21, 2012

Blasdelb: DONALD GLOVER

WOULD BE AMAZING

item: James Earl Jones would be more amazing.

Going a different direction than grabbingsand's idea that James Bond is an assumed name, I'd love to see a TV series of James Bond, but in each episode, James Bond is a different actor. Maybe the storyline would continue from one episode to the next, bending with each different Bond, from slightly wacky to elusive super-spy to all-out badass, or maybe each episode would be independent from the rest, allowing each new Bond to live in a unique world. Toss off the high budgets and embrace a bit of camp, with walls that shake every time a door is opened or closed, and focus on the scripts and the actors.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:50 AM on May 21, 2012

Idris Elba, where are you?
In his Private Garden?

I want to go there.

And of course Isaiah Mustafa, because of reasons

As long as there's at least one scene where he's on a horse holding two tickets to that thing I love.

3 and 4 are actually good, tight action movies that need little set up, directed by J.J Abrams and Brad Bird, respectfully. Your tolerance for Tom Cruise's face may vary.

Yeah, 4 was pretty good actually except for the ridiculous amount of Tom Cruise running moments. It was almost like he was thumbing his nose at the audience.

Daniel Craig, in Casino Royale, brought the whole thing back to what I picture Bond being: cool, cold, competent. Casino Royale is my favorite movie of them all.

Daniel Craig is my favorite Bond of them all but Casino Royale would be my second favorite Bond film.
posted by fuse theorem at 9:52 AM on May 21, 2012

Daniel Craig has an odd effect on me. I have seen both his Bond films and look forward to the next one. All I remember of the two films is him is the Ursula Andress shot and the chair scene. I believe there was a fight on a crane in one of them? Are the films especially forgettable or an I just the worst lesbian ever?
posted by Iteki at 9:52 AM on May 21, 2012

Daniel Craig - nobody does it better
posted by Ber at 9:54 AM on May 21, 2012

King Bee: OK, there aren't characters named "Vulva St. Claire" anymore, but did you watch Casino Royale? There's this great scene where Bond is recovering, and Vesper (the "bond girl") is having this heartfelt moment where she's pouring out her feelings for him.

Vesper: If the only thing left of you was your smile and your little finger, you'd still be more of a man than anyone I've ever known.
Bond: That's because you know what I can do with my little finger.

That's funny. That's humor.

That's a whole lot better than Bond's last line in The World Is Not Enough, where he's with Dr. Christmas Jones.

Bond: I thought Christmas only came once a year.

Worst part: I was a teen-ager, watching the movie in the theater with my Dad, where even a half-hearted laugh would have been really awkward.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:55 AM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

Also, the Skyfall title has no (apparent) relationship to prior Ian Flemming Works, which might be for the best. Quantum of Solace was related in title only to a sad little story about an unfaithful wife, in which Bond is merely the audience to the story.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:02 AM on May 21, 2012

The cold opening to Casino Royale, where Bond "earns" his 00 status, is one of the best things the Bond movies ever did, and it's where I was sold on Craig as Bond. I can't reconcile this fact with the fact that the movie was written by Paul Haggis of Crash infamy, though.
posted by Rangeboy at 10:02 AM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

I generally enjoyed Casino Royale, but a big chunk of it was totally incomprehensible to me: the card game. I know doodly squat about poker and whenever people play it in movies I'm totally lost. I see someone's hand and I know what they're holding is supposed to be dramatic, but it's just random numbers and symbols to me. So, yeah. I could have done without that, but I suppose it's unavoidable. And I'm definitely in the minority.

All I remember from Quantum of Solace is me thinking that people really shouldn't put explosive hydrogen fuel cells in load bearing walls.
posted by brundlefly at 10:10 AM on May 21, 2012

Quantum of Solace as much as the movie (and name) gets ragged on; both do what they send out to do pretty well. QoS is less a stand alone story and more a coda to Casino Royale. (It's the shortest of the Bond films, after all.) Two horribly wounded people finding the smallest possible respite, preceded by 90 mins of barely contained rage and anguish.

It's not the greatest Bond movie, but if we only had to wait the standard two years rather than four, I don't think it would leave such a bad taste in everyone's mouths. I recently watched Casino Royale and QoS in the same month, and it really helped the latter.
posted by spaltavian at 10:15 AM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

I generally enjoyed Casino Royale, but a big chunk of it was totally incomprehensible to me: the card game.

Heh. The book was written in the 50s. They played Baccarat. You think Poker was confusing? At least people generally know what a full house is. They switched to Poker for the movie mainly so people would at least have *some* idea how the game worked, but it's also true that card games are seldom as dramatic as a movie needs to be - and certainly not in the time frame in which it needs to be dramatic.

Indeed a lot of the play was kind of silly, with people going all in all the time and the guy with all four of something getting beaten by the guy who also has a straight flush in the same hand - ridiculously unlikely events.

So don't worry too much about the workings of the game. It's really just there as a fake hook on which to hang suspense. You don't really need to know why you're supposed to feel keyed up. It just gives you an excuse to go there.
posted by Naberius at 10:24 AM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

It's time for a dark-skinned Bond.

We've already had a dark-skinned Felix Leiter. Twice.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:28 AM on May 21, 2012

Basically, as long as Judi Dench gets to stride around being terse and glowering at people, I'm in.

Actually, let's have an entire film from M's perspective. I want to see her drawing up her priorities based on intelligence and government input, handling/manipulating Bond and other agents to put them into play as somewhat blunt tools to achieve her specific aims, and just generally out-badassing every other player in the bizarre political games that must be her bread and butter. Dench is brilliant, and we already know that her M can be extremely smart, exceptionally cold and, on occasion, blisteringly rude; let's give her the chance to really play with that character amidst some drama and proper wheels-within-wheels intrigue.
posted by metaBugs at 10:30 AM on May 21, 2012 [9 favorites]

I know doodly squat about poker

Count yourself lucky... if you know anything about at all poker then that game is completely utterly ridiculous even compared to the norm of movie poker games were the ridiculous level is pretty hight to begin with.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 10:32 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Dench is brilliant, and we already know that her M can be extremely smart, exceptionally cold and, on occasion, blisteringly rude; let's give her the chance to really play with that character amidst some drama and proper wheels-within-wheels intrigue

They have indeed played with this on occasion. The best example is The World Is Not Enough which, however... not terribly good it may have been otherwise, did an excellent job of bringing Dench forward in the mix and taking advantage of her strengths.

Indeed they've been playing up M ever since they got Dench. Compare any of her films to what they used to do when Bernard Lee was M. After the pre-credits action sequence, you'd get an M scene, a Moneypenny scene, a Q scene - check, check, and check - and then we'd barely, if ever, see any of them again. (Exceptions obviously - sometimes Q would pop up in the field, and he got to be a full-blown, and rather adorable, sidekick in License to Kill. But M was almost never seen after that obligatory "ah 007, go here, do this" bit.)
posted by Naberius at 10:52 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

The best thing about that trailer is that it led met to this insane scene form a Bollywood Matrix remake.
posted by googly at 11:10 AM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

metaBugs: you have to have to HAVE TO check out The Sandbaggers. It's a British spy show from 1978-1980 with a protagonist that's much closer to M than Bond. (Not M exactly, more like the bureaucrat that runs the 00 missions for M (and in this case it's 'C,' not 'M'.))

It's fantastic, and shows how the bureaucracy and local- and world-level politics defines the approved actions of the special agents. There is very little "action" in the series -- indeed, they often poke fun of the James Bond idea of secret agents, literally name-checking James Bond -- but it's still as intense as any Bond flick.
posted by nushustu at 11:46 AM on May 21, 2012 [4 favorites]

I will always have a soft spot for The World is Not Enough just for Shirley Manson as an opera assassin robot (years before she did Sarah Connor/Terminator!)
posted by nicebookrack at 11:46 AM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

googly: the whole movie is full of awesome. Less matrix and more terminator, I think, although you do have something akin to the world full of agent smiths. Also, a bit of demon seed in there for good measure.
posted by rmd1023 at 11:53 AM on May 21, 2012

The best thing about that trailer is that it led met to this insane scene form a Bollywood Matrix remake.

YouTube has lied to you. That would be Enthiran. It's more of a Frankenstein pastiche, but with an android and really cheesy Tamil special effects. And, naturally, a couple of really random musical numbers, some of which look like the producers conceived of them by watching Janelle Monae videos while baked.

It had its US premiere at my college's film festival a while back. The core production team sat a row in front of me, so I was treated to them awkwardly shifting their weight about while the rest of the theater laughed pretty much non-stop for nearly three hours.

Oh, and it's potentially the highest grossing Indian film. Ever.
posted by fifthrider at 11:53 AM on May 21, 2012 [4 favorites]

I read it as Skymall and envisioned Bond using all kinds of overpriced crap to achieve his goals. Q, instead of walking him through the lab whilst all kinds of tests are being performed, just throws the catalog at him and slams the door to the facility, his footsteps echoing in the perfect silence of the lonely and empty lab.
posted by tmt at 12:05 PM on May 21, 2012 [11 favorites]

Count yourself lucky... if you know anything about at all poker then that game is completely utterly ridiculous even compared to the norm of movie poker games were the ridiculous level is pretty hight to begin with.

OMG, fearfulsymmetry, yes. If I see one more movie where the hero beats a "mere" royal-high 4-of-a-kind by drawing an inside royal flush, I'm gonna havta go all psycho on the Screenwriters Cliche Guild.

In fact, why the rest of the movie didn't revolve entirely on a thorough body-cavity search of Bond after that hand is beyond credulity. A meteorite suddenly killing his arch-nemesis would be more plausible.
posted by IAmBroom at 12:16 PM on May 21, 2012

>And since we are discussing possible Bonds, my vote was for an omnisexual Rupert Everett wherein the fucking was as destructive and manipulative

Minus the bisexuality, that was Pierce Brosnan's character in The Tailor of Panama.

>quarantine has a theory that Sean Connery's character in The Rock is actually the first 007, captured and disavowed.

I always assumed that this was meant to be taken as a given.
posted by darth_tedious at 12:18 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Yeah it always strikes me as weird that the movie idea of what makes someone a good poker player is his or her ability to always have a really good hand.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:25 PM on May 21, 2012 [4 favorites]

It's time for a dark-skinned Bond.

No, to be truly progressive we'll need a Bond whose skin color and sexuality changes every 5 minutes throughout the movie so we hit every possible permutation of skin color and sexuality and preferably sexual orientation.
posted by Chekhovian at 12:32 PM on May 21, 2012

YouTube has lied to you.

I stand corrected, and doubly intrigued.
posted by googly at 12:49 PM on May 21, 2012

Seconding Sandbaggers. Completely excellent.
posted by parki at 12:53 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

I think Idris Elba talked about the possibility about him being Bond some time ago, and was up for it but didn't want to be known as 'the black Bond' - he would just want to be another actor in the string of actors playing Bond. he would be so perfect though - he's so awesome I actually thought about watching Ghost Rider 2 for him.

3 and 4 are actually good, tight action movies that need little set up, directed by J.J Abrams and Brad Bird, respectfully. Your tolerance for Tom Cruise's face may vary.

Paula Patton, Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner help with his face in the fourth - also, it helped that the movie actually grew a sense of humour somehow because Tom Cruise smashing his face on the window frame of the Burj will never be not funny to me.

No, to be truly progressive we'll need a Bond whose skin color and sexuality changes every 5 minutes throughout the movie so we hit every possible permutation of skin color and sexuality and preferably sexual orientation.

Not sure if serious, and the skin colour thing would probably be cheesy along the lines of Mission Impossible masks, but I would pay good money to watch Daniel Craig gleefully sleep his way through an entire cast both male and female all in the name of England.
posted by zennish at 1:03 PM on May 21, 2012

and fail at closing small tag.
posted by zennish at 1:04 PM on May 21, 2012

I would also pay good money to see Danuel Craig sleeping his way through the entire Royal Shakespeare Company etc. For England, especially if he tag-teams with Lisbeth Salander* for the sexing and the kicking people in the face.

*either Noomi Rapace or Rooney Mara version acceptable, I was surprisingly pleased with them both
posted by nicebookrack at 1:14 PM on May 21, 2012

Will be excited to see this when it finally comes out. Quantuam was screwed over by the writer's strike, I thought, so I don't hold the low quality of that one against the prospects of this turning out good.

Also: The people up thread that were saying they wanted to see a more cloak-and-dagger-intrigue-less-explosions spy movie... I highly, highly recommend Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (both the old timey BBC version with Alec Guiness and the excellent new movie version directed by the guy who did Let The Right One In).
posted by sparkletone at 1:29 PM on May 21, 2012

Thirding Sandbaggers. Or, as it says on the DVD box: "AGGERS THE SANDBAGGERS THE" (which is why the show is termed "Aggers" among some friends).
posted by rmd1023 at 1:30 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

"I gave up on the Bond franchise, when the Bond franchise gave up on humor."

So, with Roger Moore.

Unless you consider dog reaction shots funny.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 1:31 PM on May 21, 2012

sparkletone is right. I finally got around to seeing Tinker, Tailor... the other night. Everyone I knew said it was damn near impossible to understand what was going on without first reading the book, but I found I had zero problems at all, because it felt like a big-budget episode of Sandbaggers.
posted by nushustu at 1:38 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

While the new Tinker, Tailor is very ably directed and very, very well-acted, it still doesn't hold a candle to the BBC version. See that one first.
posted by Rangeboy at 1:52 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

And for something Sandbaggers-esque in comic book form, check out the Queen and Country series by Greg Rucka. Highly influenced by the show, very good.
posted by jason_steakums at 1:52 PM on May 21, 2012 [4 favorites]

jason_steakums- I assume the reverse is true- I adored Queen and Country, so I should check out Sandbaggers?
posted by Hactar at 2:18 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Hactar, yes. I read the comics first, knew that they were influenced by the show, and then was surprised anyway at just how similar they are to the show. The main difference is that the protagonist of the show is D-Ops rather than one of the sandbaggers (minders from the comic.) If you love Q&C, you'll love the Sandbaggers.
posted by nushustu at 2:22 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

DUE TO THE FRAGILE NATURE OF THIS RECORDING SOME SETS MAY APPEAR TO BE CARDBOARD, EASTERN EUROPEAN EXTERIORS MAY APPEAR TO BE SHOT IN THE UK AND THE ONLY COLORS ARE GREY AND BEIGE. SMOKING IS MANDATORY, AND THE MOOD IS PERMENANTLY SET TO GRIM.

...or words to that effect appear at the start of every DVD. Nonetheless it is the greatest thing ever.
posted by Artw at 2:41 PM on May 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

You had me at "Ben Whishaw," because this film wasn't even on my radar until then.

I have no idea what kind of Q he'll make (and honestly, I am having a hard time picturing it), but I saw him in Trevor Nunn's "Hamlet" and was totally blown away. That was the first time I felt I really "got" the play, rather than understanding it on an intellectual level and appreciating it for its literary merits. And that largely had to do with Whishaw embodying the emotional wreck that is the young prince and making those soliloquy's seem fresh (I still vividly remember the snot and tears during one of them) and meaningful to a fellow young-twenty-something. I've seen other excellent productions since, but I always seem to compare back to Nunn and Whishaw and find those other versions lacking that gut-punch their version gave me.

However, James Bond isn't Shakespeare, so I should probably dial back my expectations.

And maybe see the other two Craig films.

(Is this where I admit I have terrible taste in Bond films and absolutely adore "Moonraker?" I grew up watching the Bond films (thanks, Dad), and due to my delight in all things campy, fell in love with Roger Moore and consider him my favorite Bond -- although I give credit to Connery, of course. And wish that Lazenby had agreed to more films, because I think he might have been truly great -- this being somewhat acutely felt at the moment, since recently my Bond-know-it-all father informed me that "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" might not have been the tragedy it [literally] was if he'd signed on for a longer stint. But anyway -- Craig. Yeah. I hear he's pretty good, too.)
posted by paisley sheep at 2:42 PM on May 21, 2012

Daniel Craig has said that he thinks Bond should sleep with men as well as with women, because that would be more truthful to an agent doing whatever needs doing to get vital information, high-security access, whatever.

I am down with this. Alas, I don't see this ever, ever happening.

As for (hypothetically) Joss Whedon not being allowed to kill M because he can't mess with the franchise, there are rumors that M will die in Skyfall. Not spoilers, just rumors. I'd hate to see Judi Dench go, but I'd love to see what would happen next.
posted by tzikeh at 2:42 PM on May 21, 2012

Not sure if serious

Oops, guess I should have used the sarcasm font. While I would be quite happy to toss out every member of congress and replace them with a randomly chosen but statistically representative sample of america today (and I think such a group would much better, it being hard to do much worse than those shitbirds)....

To demand that all our forms of entertainment must be so constructed is a fucking joke. Entertainment should be entertaining first, not political as its primary goal. That can come second, but to make the primary rubric is an awful idea.
posted by Chekhovian at 2:49 PM on May 21, 2012

I don't really think anyone was suggesting otherwise.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:56 PM on May 21, 2012

Well, it looks as if they've finally run out of original Ian Fleming titles. Might I suggest "The Hildebrand Rarity". I'm not sure, but I think that's all they have left.
posted by TDavis at 3:16 PM on May 21, 2012

And I'd go see a movie called "The Hildebrand Rarity" before I'd drop my money on something called "Skyfall". Sounds to me like a new Transformer flick.
posted by TDavis at 3:19 PM on May 21, 2012

Well, it looks as if they've finally run out of original Ian Fleming titles. Might I suggest 'The Hildebrand Rarity'. I'm not sure, but I think that's all they have left.

Looks like "Risico," "The Property of a Lady," and "007 in New York" (featuring Bond's scrambled eggs recipe!) are still available.
The plot of "The Property of a Lady" was used in the movie Octopussy.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:26 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

Property of a Lady is actually pretty awesome, but yeah, already used and not a great title.

I like to think the Harlem bits of Live and Let Die where Roger Moore goes all Shaft are based on 007 in New York. Probably not.
posted by Artw at 3:37 PM on May 21, 2012

Totally excited. Love Daniel Craig as Bond. Casino Royale is probably my favorite bond movie at this point. Quantum of Solace is not great but I still prefer it over the Dalton, Brosnan, or Moore movies. I have a soft spot for some of the Moore movies but that Bond isn't what I think of when I think about Bond the character. I think Dalton and Brosnan are both capable actors who got crap scripts.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 4:00 PM on May 21, 2012

Gonna watch the trailer, gonna get my hopes up, probably gonna be sad again. I love Bond, but I love it in that way that's dreadfully aware of all its weaknesses. Also, I'm going to be out of town opening weekend and will probably get spoiled, which bums me dreadfully.
posted by immlass at 4:20 PM on May 21, 2012

Attention MGM: this is a good trailer. You call it a "teaser" and you know what? That's enough. You make another trailer and you'll end up doing a shortened version of the movie, a dozen spoilers included. Don't. This trailer is solid. Besides, it's not like no one knows who the hell James Bond is.

This looks good, and I like Daniel Craig a lot. But I wasn't as on board with Casino Royale as everyone else was--thought it was very uneven. And I skipped on Quantum of Solace. Sam Mendes as an action director though? I find his films rather dull, but hopefully he had a good script to work with.
posted by zardoz at 5:14 PM on May 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

I'd hate to see Judi Dench go, but I'd love to see what would happen next.

Back after Quantum came out, I was talking over with various people ideas about what we thought they could do in the 3rd one to kind of tie off at least these three with Craig and stuff, regardless of whether there'd be any more with him as Bond.

My memory for the details is somewhat vague, but I remember both of the other two Craig-era Bond movies as having conversations between him and M about his isolation emotionally and other Powers That Be not being happy with him and blah blah blah. My idea for the third one to raise the stakes a bit was actually to have Bond find M dead and realize he's been framed for it. The opening action sequence would be him fleeing the scene, etc. His safety net is taken away and he has to go about getting it back.

It's a bit Bourne-y, perhaps, but then, I liked those movies.
posted by sparkletone at 6:44 PM on May 21, 2012

I like this generation of Bond because it just seems a lot more plausible than the other Bonds. The villains are more real, the world is just as bleak and absurd as ours, and Craig's fatalism with a sneer is just about perfect for someone whose job depends on his ability to forsake anything that he might hold dear. Because of that, I kind of liked Solace, where it's this damaged character from Casino coming to grips with just what he's done to get where he is. More than any of the other Bonds, Craig is able to be damaged, but terribly effective. Connery couldn't really be hurt in any way (not that character, at least), Moore was a buffoon, Dalton wasn't suave enough, and as much as Remington Steele should have been Bond instead, Brosnan was too suave, as if he was an upper class Brit slumming as a spy. Any time he seemed to be truly hurt, or seriously in doubt, it was difficult to believe.

Example: in Die Another Day, the first thing Brosnan does upon escape is get to Hong Kong and have a tailored suit made, and retreat into luxury, because it's what he was born into, most comfortable in, although he's supposed to be an orphan. Craig, on the other hand, playing the same scene, it would almost be like the orphan who's been shown that world of privilege clawing his way back into it. The martini he'd drink, the suit he'd order, it would be like a lion claiming his prey, refusing to share any of it.

So, yeah, I kind of like Craig.
posted by Ghidorah at 6:56 PM on May 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

If no one else has suggested him, might I suggest giving Bond another ethnicity and a little of the George Smiley treatment at the same time with Shaun Toub.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 7:08 PM on May 21, 2012

Joss Whedon would kill Moneypenny.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:29 PM on May 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

When Craig's over, they should finally have Clive Owen in the role he was born to play or else give it to Michael Fassbender. Apparently the character he played in Haywire was an accurate portrayal of the Bond that appeared in Fleming's books.
posted by feelinglistless at 2:41 PM on May 29, 2012

I want Clive Owen to age another couple of years first. I think he'd be an amazing Bond, but I would like to see him as a Bond who in the process of losing his faith. His scene in Bourne Identity ("Look at us. Look at what they make you give.") is so utterly heartbreaking. I'd love to see that in a Bond, and I think Owen is the only one who could do it.

It would bookend nicely with Craig. Craig is the new Bond, just getting into the swing of things, learning as he goes. He is (like all Bonds) incredibly damaged, as it's just not something a healthy person could or would do. Owen would be the Bond who'd somehow survived too long. He'd be so good at the job that, although there'd be worries about his longevity, and concerns about his relationships with his counterparts in the service of foreign countries, they just couldn't replace him. The first movie is just him being a complete bad-ass. He's more suave than anyone could hope to be. He's deadly, an unstoppable killing machine when it's required. Then something happens, towards the end. It's not the final straw, but maybe it's the one thing that causes cracks in the facade, that makes him start to doubt. In the second movie, he's still suave, but he's bored with it, or more likely, he hates it, but he knows he's got to keep up appearances. He's quicker to violence, to killing everyone in the room than he used to be. Concerns are raised, but the new group of potential Bonds aren't close to ready.

Wait, that's it! The plot of the second movie is that the potential Bond recruits are being killed off. Owen's Bond is near the end of his shelf life, he's morally bankrupt, he's got no more illusions, but his replacements are being butchered. Somehow, he manages to ferret it out, but in the end, it has to do with corruption, with someone in the government betraying MI-6, but they are so well connected that nothing, in the end, can be done.

In the third movie, not to do a complete Bourne, Owen's Bond wants out. He's desperate to leave. The martini's, the fast cars, the models, none of the things that he used to use to blot out the bodies, the pleas for mercy, the horrible crimes he committed, none of them work anymore. He's haggard, stubbly, melancholic. All he wants is to be done with the facade, but for King (who he knows to be a monster) and Country (which he knows to be corrupt) he must fight the good fight, simply because there is no one else to do it.

With any luck, it could end with Owen resigning, walking into a pub, and sitting down next to Timothy Dalton, or perhaps Pierce Brosnan.

Regardless of who the next Bond would be, the film would start with Owen being killed by the next Bond.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:25 PM on May 29, 2012 [1 favorite]