Mythology Gag / Spectre

A number of references to the pre-Craig era of Bond appear.

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• The Films:
  • In general:
    • The film begins with the classic Bond Gun Barrel opening.
    • Oberhauser is introduced in a similar manner to the original Spectre Number 1, with his face heavily obscured. This is because he's this timeline's version of Number 1, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
    • The gunshot hole seen in the film's poster is shaped like Spectre's octopus insignia in the earlier James Bond films.
    • The film concludes with Bond Riding into the Sunset with the Bond Girl. Standard procedure for Bond films but noticeably absent from the Craig era so far—in four films, this is the first time it's happened.
  • Dr. No:
    • Bond and the Bond Girl are given luxe accommodations and properly sized clothing in the villain's lair.
    • Oberhauser at one point wears a darker version of Dr. No's (and Blofeld's) Nehru jacket.
    • Oberhauser's lair contains a number of real-life stolen paintings, just like Dr. No's.
    • Bond calls the villain out on their insanity.
  • From Russia with Love:
    • A familiar white cat is seen in Oberhauser's base.
    • A Rolls Royce Silver Wraith is used to transport Bond to a location like in this film.
    • The chess board between Bond and Mr. White might refer to the chess tournament.
    • Bond kills The Dragon of Spectre with a length of cord. In FRWL it was Red Grant's garrote wire, and here it's some rope.
    • A boat chase which has Bond being pursued by Spectre, with the Bond girl driving at one point.
    • Bond rides on a train styled after the Orient Express and engages in a brawl with Spectre's Dragon devoid of any music...
  • Goldfinger:
    • ...while wearing a white tuxedo, as he did in Goldfinger's pre-title sequence. Also, the film's opening in Mexico recalls the same sequence in terms of geographical location.
    • Mr. Hinx, Obenhauser's henchman, has a personality and an overall appearance similar to Oddjob.
    • Bond drives a "fully loaded" Aston Martin including an ejector seat.
    • The 1948 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith that arrives to pick up Bond and Swann in Morocco is visually similar to the 1937 Rolls Royce Phantom III model used by Goldfinger.
    • Bond sees a henchman (Hinx) rushing to attack him by seeing the man's reflection in an object.
    • Scenes from the movie play out during the opening credits.
  • Thunderball:
    • The funeral service bears resemblance to the one at the start of this film.
    • Snippets of the theme are heard throughout one of the trailers.
    • During the climax, Blofeld is blind in one eye, like Emilio Largo.
    • The Spectre board meeting runs a little bit deadly for one of the participants. The meeting in general bears much resemblance to to the one from this film—the operatives discussing the death of one of their own and the plots being carried out worldwide, the leader's face hidden in shadow.
    • Sam Smith is the first British male soloist^* at least born male; Smith publicly identifies as non-binary to sing a Bond theme song since Tom Jones.
  • You Only Live Twice:
    • Oberhauser at one point wears a darker version of Blofeld's (and Dr. No's) Nehru jacket.
    • Oberhauser gets the trademark scar Donald Pleasence's version of the character had, thanks to an exploding watch.
    • Spectre's new Morocco compound is based in a geological crater like its facility in YOLT.
  • On Her Majesty's Secret Service:
    • Another alpine chase—Bond crashing his plane through a mountain barn is similar to the car chase Tracy and Bond were in to escape Blofeld's men at the base of Piz Gloria.
    • Bond infiltrates a mountaintop health clinic that's only accessible by cable car—the establishing shots are virtually identical.
    • A father tied to a criminal organization asks Bond to protect his daughter (who can also defend herself), and Bond ends up falling in love with her.
    • The movie ends with Bond and his love interest driving off in a car, although she isn't shot at the end. According to some sources, this Riding into the Sunset ending was supposed to be the original ending for OHMSS, with its outcome being on the pre-credits sequence of Diamonds Are Forever. However, when George Lazenby announced he was leaving the franchise, the ending was changed to fit the source novel.
    • Like Thunderball, some elements of this movie's theme song have been heard in the trailer.
    • One of the love interests is a grieving, death-focused widow with criminal ties.
    • Spectre features footage of past Bond films in its opening credits, like On Her Majesty's Secret Service did.
  • Diamonds Are Forever:
    • A henchman gets his dinner jacket set on fire but this time Hinx manages to take it off in time before the flames consume him.
    • Bond's "conversation" with a rodent.
    • Bond's casual rooftop walk on his way to shooting Sciarra evokes the casual outdoor elevator ride to meeting Willard Whyte (or, rather, Blofeld masquerading as Whyte).
  • Live and Let Die:
    • In the teaser poster, Daniel Craig is dressed in a black turtleneck similar to the one Roger Moore wore during the film's climax. Alternately, he's dressed similarly to Red Grant during From Russia with Love's pre-title sequence.
    • Moneypenny visits Bond at his apartment (which also refers to Skyfall, where it was mentioned)^note Word of God is that the scene was to be even more similar—Bond clad in his bathrobe and Moneypenny interrupting a rendezvous .
    • The skeleton and top hat costume that Bond dons in Mexico is inspired by one of Baron Samedi's outfits.
    • Bond fighting with Hinx then bedding Madeleine echoes the ending of Live And Let Die, where he fought with Tee Hee (whose death is similar to Hinx's), then joined Solitaire in bed.
    • The "Day Of The Dead" resembles the jazz funeral procession in New Orleans.
  • The Man with the Golden Gun:
    • Once again, Bond is in a vehicle that is doing a barrel roll. Only this time, it's in a nearly out of control helicopter. Thankfully, there's no slide whistle to be heard.
    • At one point, Blofeld's trap for Bond in London looks very much like a Darker and Edgier version of Scaramanga's funhouse.
    • The Bond Gun Barrel opening has Bond wearing a business suit rather than a tuxedo for the first time since this film.
  • The Spy Who Loved Me:
    • Bond ventures to Austria, where TSWLM opened.
    • A train fight with The Dragon concluded with him being thrown off the train capped off by some celebratory sex.
    • Bond kills a man in the opening sequence... and later seduces the man's bereaved lover.
    • The wordless, menacing, indefatigable Hinx is very reminiscent of Jaws, even having a metal prosthetic.
    • An aircraft flies alongside a road, pursuing a car, and the controllers of both exchange nasty looks and gunfire (though this time the good guy's in the plane while the bad guy's driving).
    • Bond has to rescue the imprisoned Bond Girl with only a few minutes before an explosion.
    • Bond's car from Q Branch ends up in a body of water. This time, of course, the car does not survive.
  • Moonraker:
    • The Day of the Dead parade scene appears to have similar composition to the Rio De Janeiro Carnival.
    • Bond uses an exploding watch to escape the Big Bad.
  • For Your Eyes Only
    • Like FYEO, the film opens with an extended helicopter sequence over a city.
    • Q being stalked by henchmen while on a ski lift, saved only by the presence of unsuspecting bystanders is virtually identical to Bond's sequence in FYEO.
    • The helicopter sequence over London involving Blofeld; while Spectre as a whole hasn't been referenced since Diamonds Are Forever in 1971, an unidentified Blofeld appeared in the teaser for For Your Eyes Only and finally suffered the Disney Villain Death in it.
  • Octopussy:
    • Rather than be killed by Spectre, Mr. White kills himself with the gun Bond handed him. This is similar to Bond's backstory with Octopussy's father who went rogue.
    • The pre-title sequence is set in Latin America (an unidentified country in Octopussy, and Mexico City, Mexico, here) and involves an aircraft.
  • A View to a Kill:
    • The helicopter used in the pre-titles sequence is the same model as the one used in the other film's pre-titles sequence.
    • Bond wears a white dinner jacket for the first time since this film.
    • The finale where Blofeld is arrested by M takes place on a bridge.
  • The Living Daylights:
    • A portion of the film is set in Austria, another in Tangiers.
    • One of Bond's outfits while in Morocco is an updated-for-2015-tailoring version of his outfit in Tangier.
    • Madeleine Swann is the first blonde primary Bond Girl since Kara Milovy. ^note Incidentally, both sport bob haircuts. And no, Miranda Frost of Die Another Day does not count. Jinx was the main girl, not her.
    • Bond casually parachuting in front of a bystander is similar to the ending of TLD's opening sequence.
    • Like in this film, the antagonist of Spectre is detained by the authorities.
  • Licence to Kill:
    • Bond sneaking onto the roof in a Latin American country across from a target while on "vacation" borrows heavily from Bond's plan to kill Franz Sánchez—the sequence even features the same hotel used in the earlier film.
    • As does the scene of Bond climbing into an aircraft and disposing of the pilot, which is very similar to the scene where Bond escaped from Sanchez's yacht.
    • Q spends a decent portion of the film in the field, helping Bond.
    • Bond going rogue after being suspended.
    • Bond going up against a villain named Franz that's not so different from him.
    • Oberhauser owns a pet reptile just like Sanchez.
  • GoldenEye:
    • Sam Smith's theme song is named "Writing's on the Wall", which was the joke Bond made with Q about the exploding pen.
    • Bond has to race to disarm or escape the blast radius of a bomb that has a timer of three minutes.
    • Mr. White's condition in the frozen Austrian Alps mirrors Zukovsky suffering in Siberian cold after both were kneecapped by Bond.
    • The detonator (timer) for the explosives is very similar to the one that bond uses to destroy the Soviet facility (after jumping off the dam).
    • In both films, Bond expresses surprise at Moneypenny having male company for the evening, and is rebuked with the fact that this is actually the sort of thing ordinary people do routinely.
    • The Big Bad discusses Bond's past as an orphan, being revealing how much he resents him for growing up well despite losing his parents at a young age.
    • Bond concludes the opening sequence by just barely managing to pull a plummeting aircraft out of a dive.
    • Bond sees a henchman coming to attack him by seeing his reflection in an object.
    • The villain's face is scarred due to an explosion set by Bond.
  • Tomorrow Never Dies:
    • Bond's seduction of Lucia Sciarra parallels his night with Paris Carver, down to the yellow lighted room and her black underwear. Interestingly, both women were played by famous actresses who ended up as Advertised Extra. Brosnan wanted Monica Bellucci for the role of Paris before Teri Hatcher got the role.
    • Bond and the Bond Girl try to escape the Big Bad by taking a risky plunge from a building.
  • The World Is Not Enough:
    • The Vauxhall Cross building blows up and Bond is in pursuit on a speedboat motoring down the Thames, albeit briefly, which recalls the Cold Open of this film.
    • The marina beneath the MI6 building where Bond steals Q's fishing boat is briefly seen in the finale of this film.
    • The Big Bad commits Patricide and honours the mother's side of the family.
    • Bond is tied to a chair and tortured by the villain.
    • When Oberhauser/Blofeld reveals that he's holding Madeleine prisoner in the doomed building, Bond first asks "Where is she?", which is what he asked a random henchman about the imprisoned Christmas. When Blofeld warns him that he has only three minutes to save her, Bond then snarls, "You're bluffing", precisely what he said when Renard threatened Elektra.
  • Die Another Day
    • The car chase in Rome, with Bond in an Aston Martin being chased by The Dragon in a prototype Jaguar, calls back to the chase with Zao in Iceland. Both chases also have a staircase used as a makeshift road at some point.
    • A employee of British intelligence is working as an asset of the Big Bad willingly.
• The Books:
  • Goldfinger:
    • In the opening of the book, Bond mused about having been in Mexico City and having killed there a man in a white suit with his bare hands. He does exactly that in at the beginning of the film.
  • You Only Live Twice:
    • Oberhauser/Blofeld threatens Bond with a brain penetration injury that will remove his ability to recognise faces. At the end of the original novel of YOLT, Bond is amnesiac thanks to injuries he received.
  • Octopussy and The Living Daylights:
    • Oberhauser is the surname of James Bond's murdered ski instructor and father figure from the short story "Octopussy".
    • Bond heads off to meet a fugitive who helped cause the death of someone dear to him and whom later kills themselves.
  • For Your Eyes Only:
    • The name on the door of the safe house is taken from The Hildebrand Rarity, one of the short stories in that book.
  • Colonel Sun:
    • Oberhauser inserts needles into Bond to torture him.

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