James Bond

Mhm, that's the character that became Q. He's simply called the "Armorer" in the corresponding scene in the film, then Boothroyd in FRWL, and then Q from then on.

Yep, Major Geoffrey Boothroyd is his full name. The scene Tam refers to is in Dr No, both book and film. In the former, it was part of a handwave to have Bond still be alive, since FRTL ends with the implication that Bond is dead due to Fleming not wanting to write the books anymore. The films flipped the order of the stories of course.

So am I the only one who likes how popular Oddjob is, due to the circumstances under which he was created? In the book he was, for lack of a better term, a racist caricature. He's clearly intended as a disgusting, monstrous person in the book, frequently compared to a wild animal, which the narrative associates with his race/nationality. He was clearly a character not intended to have fans, and the fact that he has them, and many at that, seems like the fans are basically telling Fleming's racism to kiss it.

Sorry if that made no sense.

Why did Ian Fleming hate Korean people so much?

Korean War, I'd imagine.

edited 11th Apr '15 4:06:41 PM by HamburgerTime

I wasn't aware he'd served in that conflict and if he had I can't imagine why it would give him a worse impression than WWII had given him of Germans.

He wasn't in it, but he hated them Commies and that's who was fighting in that war. It was ongoing when he wrote the book; Fleming himself was already long out of the service.

Note that Fleming portrays the capitalist Japanese way better than either the Chinese or the Koreans.

edited 11th Apr '15 4:18:54 PM by HamburgerTime

Something to bear in mind is that Korea was as much of a backwater as backwaters could be until all of a sudden there was a war there. 99% of the British population probably didn't even know it existed before the war, and their only impression of it was what soldiers fighting the Communists had, and most of them were pretty unenthusiastic about the whole thing. That's likely where the negative perception of Korea came from - and also why it didn't last very long, since once the Korean War was over everyone forgot about Korea.

So.

I had an opinion question I'd like to put to the Bond thread. What did you all think of Bond's execution of Elektra? This is apparently a very controversial topic among fans. Some think he did right, others think he was too harsh, given he definitely seemed to have more of a kinship with her than most of his other love interests, and others even think he was too lenient, and that offering her a chance to turn face at all was stupid.

Asking because... I have no clue myself what I should think!

Given the fact Vauxhall Cross has yet to be rebuilt, would Spectre take place a week after Skyfall?

It could be a week or a month. Or more, if they discuss the possibility of building it in a new place (though this last bit is still unlikely).

Considering her actions, while it may have been a bit harsh, he had to do drastic things to not compromise the mission or himself.

I'll admit I've always been pretty fascinated by Elektra. She's a sympathetic Bond Big Bad, which is really, really rare, and as a love interest Bond, dare I say it, actually seems to put some effort into the relationship (Dr. Jones notsomuch). I do sometimes wonder if he could've just shot the walkie-talkie out of her hand, it's not like he could miss.

edited 25th Apr '15 3:25:49 PM by HamburgerTime

Tracy Bond kicks ass. And without being explicitly hyped up as James's "equal," at that. Eat that, Jinx.

Big Ben in Spectre.

Edit: Statham thinks he could be a good Bond.

edited 2nd Jun '15 10:54:20 AM by LordofLore

It seems that Daniel Craig was about to make out with Monica Bellucci...

Lucky bastard!

edited 10th Jun '15 7:19:26 AM by Quag15

One of the night views is of Castel Sant'Angelo btw.

Indeed. Been there, it always looks kinda awesome.

So you think SPECTRE will finally kill of Mr. White? I get the impression that a lot of the fandom's kinda sick of him. I can see him being Eviler than Thou'd by SPECTRE in a very "We have the rights to the real Nebulous Evil Organization again, we don't need you anymore" kinda way. Thoughts?

The trailer pretty much spelled that out, I think. Mr. White being outgunned by SPECTRE and just appearing as a shadow of his former self.

So here's something I've always sort of wondered: how significant is the Bond series's female fanbase? I know both GoldenEye and Skyfall attracted Yaoi Fangirls to varying degrees, and that most of the actresses who have played roles in the franchise seem to remember it fondly, but at the same time I can see the series being very off-putting to women. Even the installments that aren't consciously sexist have a distinct male power fantasy about them.

At the very least I'd be surprised if the Connery films have a large female following, what with his interpretation's "lay 'em and leave 'em" attitude and seduction techniques of Questionable Consent at times.

You are judging the films by contemporary standards. Which is a bit off considering that the Connery Bond films had quite a large female following. All my aunts, when they weren't squeeing over the Beatles and Elvis were big Connery fans, and my family was far from unique in the level of adoration for him among the female side of the species.

I'm judging them by contemporary standards because I'm wondering about contemporary fan bases.

Well a large amount of people who watched the films then are still around...

I think that every Bond actor has its fair share of female fans. Considering how cross-generational Bond can be, I wouldn't be surprised if there are both young and old fans of any of the specific 6.

Now, I would like to know what is the newer fans' reaction to the Connery films.

edited 18th Jun '15 6:59:26 PM by Quag15