James bond 00why not a TVR
Discussion
They started off using british cars, and i think they should again. after this next bond film they should think about using a TVR for the one after (if they make one)
It would be good for TVR too, although it might take one of its qualities away (the fact that there fairly rare)
as long as they dont produce them with robots, then all is good!
It would be good for TVR too, although it might take one of its qualities away (the fact that there fairly rare)
as long as they dont produce them with robots, then all is good!
Ah, Jimmy Bond. Probably the most well-known fictitious (fictional?) character in the world (apart from the obvious ones: God, Mohammed, Yahweh, Jesus H....
but I find it exasperating to watch the newer films because I read the novels when I was young and I think they've lost the plot somewhat... so what follows is all IMHO, though I know a lot of Bond aficionados feel the same....
A lot of people prefer Sean Connery in the role of Bond; it was no coincidence that Connery was chosen, since at the time he actually looked a lot like Fleming's descrption of Bond. You have to bear in mind that when the books were written (early '50s), the War was only in the recent past and it was the ideal time to introduce a character like Bond, fashioned by his behind-the-lines experiences and reacting to scenarios that, for all anyone knew, actually were in the making. Alas Fleming's death limited the amount of scenarios that the film-makers could base their work on, so the movies have become progressively more far-fetched with the passage of time. One novel was written in the '80s with publisher's consent(called License Renewed if I recall, in which Bond drove a SAAB Turbo!!). The later films have tried to use titles with some connection to Fleming or Bond (e.g. Goldeneye, Fleming's house in Jamaica). Two or three films were expanded versions of short Bond stories that were made into a compilation (Octopussy, Living Daylights amd I think a third...) and several have been remakes of the Fleming-based originals (such as using cruise missiles to replace the Vulcan bombers stolen). Now they've run out of source material and are starting to clutch at straws (such as using Tim Dalton and Peirce Brosnan, two far-too-smooth and un-hard-cases.
Bond was written as a tool of the British Government; he was intended to go out and do all the dirty jobs like bumping people off (in Living Daylights he was supposed to shoot a sniper but chickened out 'cos it was a woman). As a result he was well-paid but on borrowed time, so used his money to buy the best he could get (Rolex watches etc.) but also smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish and gambled heavily, none of which is conveyed in the films. He's simply made out to be a smooth flash git. Fleming was actually trying to create an 'anti-hero', hence he tried to pick a bland name (instead of, say, Dan Dare, Buck Rogers or Dick Tracy), so for inspiration he looked along his bookshelves and found a book on the birds of Jamaica, by one J. Bond. Ironic really, the way it turned out.
One of Fleming's readers wrote to him and pointed out that Bond should be using a handgun with more stopping power than the old .25 Beretta he used in the first novel or two: Fleming did a bit of research, agreed and included Major Boothroyd as the 00-section Armourer in the next book, where Bond received his Walther PPK.
Fleming himself was a shy retiring type who, when the ambulance came to collect him after his final heart attack, apologised to the medics for causing them more work. He had also worked in Naval Intelligence and that's why Bond was a Commander in the RN.
Sorry about all that, I got carried away...
Right: thinking heads on...
Do you recall what the first car Bond supposedly drove was?
Asked this on another thread and then lost it: who was the first actor to play the part of Bond?
Ian
>> Edited by wedg1e on Monday 18th November 21:27
but I find it exasperating to watch the newer films because I read the novels when I was young and I think they've lost the plot somewhat... so what follows is all IMHO, though I know a lot of Bond aficionados feel the same.... A lot of people prefer Sean Connery in the role of Bond; it was no coincidence that Connery was chosen, since at the time he actually looked a lot like Fleming's descrption of Bond. You have to bear in mind that when the books were written (early '50s), the War was only in the recent past and it was the ideal time to introduce a character like Bond, fashioned by his behind-the-lines experiences and reacting to scenarios that, for all anyone knew, actually were in the making. Alas Fleming's death limited the amount of scenarios that the film-makers could base their work on, so the movies have become progressively more far-fetched with the passage of time. One novel was written in the '80s with publisher's consent(called License Renewed if I recall, in which Bond drove a SAAB Turbo!!). The later films have tried to use titles with some connection to Fleming or Bond (e.g. Goldeneye, Fleming's house in Jamaica). Two or three films were expanded versions of short Bond stories that were made into a compilation (Octopussy, Living Daylights amd I think a third...) and several have been remakes of the Fleming-based originals (such as using cruise missiles to replace the Vulcan bombers stolen). Now they've run out of source material and are starting to clutch at straws (such as using Tim Dalton and Peirce Brosnan, two far-too-smooth and un-hard-cases
. Bond was written as a tool of the British Government; he was intended to go out and do all the dirty jobs like bumping people off (in Living Daylights he was supposed to shoot a sniper but chickened out 'cos it was a woman). As a result he was well-paid but on borrowed time, so used his money to buy the best he could get (Rolex watches etc.) but also smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish and gambled heavily, none of which is conveyed in the films. He's simply made out to be a smooth flash git. Fleming was actually trying to create an 'anti-hero', hence he tried to pick a bland name (instead of, say, Dan Dare, Buck Rogers or Dick Tracy), so for inspiration he looked along his bookshelves and found a book on the birds of Jamaica, by one J. Bond. Ironic really, the way it turned out.
One of Fleming's readers wrote to him and pointed out that Bond should be using a handgun with more stopping power than the old .25 Beretta he used in the first novel or two: Fleming did a bit of research, agreed and included Major Boothroyd as the 00-section Armourer in the next book, where Bond received his Walther PPK.
Fleming himself was a shy retiring type who, when the ambulance came to collect him after his final heart attack, apologised to the medics for causing them more work. He had also worked in Naval Intelligence and that's why Bond was a Commander in the RN.
Sorry about all that, I got carried away...
Right: thinking heads on...
Do you recall what the first car Bond supposedly drove was?
Asked this on another thread and then lost it: who was the first actor to play the part of Bond?
Ian
>> Edited by wedg1e on Monday 18th November 21:27
Ch5 Bond cars said Bond drove a bentley, until it was thought he should be driving something a little more sportier, hence the DB5 in Goldfinger.
I seem to remember he drove a Sunbeam Alpine in Dr. No but dunno if it was officialy the first "bond car" as I can't remember it having any of the Q mods.
>> Edited by Byff on Monday 18th November 22:30
I seem to remember he drove a Sunbeam Alpine in Dr. No but dunno if it was officialy the first "bond car" as I can't remember it having any of the Q mods.
>> Edited by Byff on Monday 18th November 22:30
Well now, if there was a version of Casino Royale made for US TV in '54, it's the first I've heard! I don't think the book had been around all that long by then, and not sure it would have been a success in the States first.
The Casino Royale that most people recall was of course the spoof starring David Niven, and also featuring Roger Moore, doing his usual Bond/ Saint acting (i.e. wooden!
However that was a spoof: as I say apart from your US version AFAIK Casino Royale was never filmed in it's original form, with Vesper Lynd (probably the only Bond girl ever to have a sensible name!) and... the Bentley Continental special that Bond had bought from an insurance company as a write-off. As CR was the first book, I claim that's the first car he drove. If Ch. 5 mentioned it they were doing their research properly. I don't actually recall Fleming mentioning the Aston DB5, maybe it was just the film-makers who brought it in. But Bond did stuff the Bentley in CR (Le Chiffre uses a Stinger on him!), so maybe....
The Sunbeam Alpine wasn't in Dr. No, IIRR; it was in On Her Majesty's Secret Service with the only actor so far to only play Bond once. His previous claim to fame? Advertising bars of chocolate. Who was he, you Bondophiles?
The Alpine belonged to one of his birds, so you're right, it wasn't a Q-dept. car. The fact that it appeared in a Bond film should've done wonders for its sales figures, but it didn't! As an aside, I think another Alpine gets wrecked in the film Commando, after Arnie rips the seat out and manages to out-drive a 911 (yeah, right!).
So, to return to the first actor to play Bond: as I've never heard of this US film, I can't comment, but the name you give isn't the one I've always understood... but it wasn't Niven or Connery, for those who want to keep trying!
To get back onto a TVR vein, rumour had it that Colin Chapman bribed people to get the Esprit into Bond films; but then there are a lot of rumours about Colin Chapman! If you saw Top Gear last weekend, they had the cars used in the latest film: a lot of the gadgets and special effects were never anything more than mock-ups and props, but they've done quite a good job this time. The Esprit was an exception: in The Spy Who Loved Me, it really is a submarine! Well, OK, it was a negatively-bouyant shell with a diver inside and electric motors on the back... That stunt is only spoiled by the fact that as the Esprit dives off the pier, you can clearly see the ramp!
Incidentally, there were two versions of The Spy Who...: Fleming's original, written from a woman's point of view; and the screenplay from the film, turned into a novel. At least they added some tension in the novel by having the Esprit spring a leak while it's underwater; af course a TVR would have been a non-starter for that stunt!
Ian
By the way, this is all from memory, so I can only say E&OE...!
The Casino Royale that most people recall was of course the spoof starring David Niven, and also featuring Roger Moore, doing his usual Bond/ Saint acting (i.e. wooden!
However that was a spoof: as I say apart from your US version AFAIK Casino Royale was never filmed in it's original form, with Vesper Lynd (probably the only Bond girl ever to have a sensible name!) and... the Bentley Continental special that Bond had bought from an insurance company as a write-off. As CR was the first book, I claim that's the first car he drove. If Ch. 5 mentioned it they were doing their research properly. I don't actually recall Fleming mentioning the Aston DB5, maybe it was just the film-makers who brought it in. But Bond did stuff the Bentley in CR (Le Chiffre uses a Stinger on him!), so maybe.... The Sunbeam Alpine wasn't in Dr. No, IIRR; it was in On Her Majesty's Secret Service with the only actor so far to only play Bond once. His previous claim to fame? Advertising bars of chocolate. Who was he, you Bondophiles?
The Alpine belonged to one of his birds, so you're right, it wasn't a Q-dept. car. The fact that it appeared in a Bond film should've done wonders for its sales figures, but it didn't! As an aside, I think another Alpine gets wrecked in the film Commando, after Arnie rips the seat out and manages to out-drive a 911 (yeah, right!).
So, to return to the first actor to play Bond: as I've never heard of this US film, I can't comment, but the name you give isn't the one I've always understood... but it wasn't Niven or Connery, for those who want to keep trying!
To get back onto a TVR vein, rumour had it that Colin Chapman bribed people to get the Esprit into Bond films; but then there are a lot of rumours about Colin Chapman! If you saw Top Gear last weekend, they had the cars used in the latest film: a lot of the gadgets and special effects were never anything more than mock-ups and props, but they've done quite a good job this time. The Esprit was an exception: in The Spy Who Loved Me, it really is a submarine! Well, OK, it was a negatively-bouyant shell with a diver inside and electric motors on the back...
That stunt is only spoiled by the fact that as the Esprit dives off the pier, you can clearly see the ramp! Incidentally, there were two versions of The Spy Who...: Fleming's original, written from a woman's point of view; and the screenplay from the film, turned into a novel. At least they added some tension in the novel by having the Esprit spring a leak while it's underwater; af course a TVR would have been a non-starter for that stunt!
Ian
By the way, this is all from memory, so I can only say E&OE...!
[quote Sorry about all that, I got carried away...
Right: thinking heads on...
Do you recall what the first car Bond supposedly drove was?
Asked this on another thread and then lost it: who was the first actor to play the part of Bond?
Ian
>> Edited by wedg1e on Monday 18th November 21:27
Believe first car was a battleship grey Bentley
Right: thinking heads on...
Do you recall what the first car Bond supposedly drove was?
Asked this on another thread and then lost it: who was the first actor to play the part of Bond?
Ian
>> Edited by wedg1e on Monday 18th November 21:27
Believe first car was a battleship grey Bentley
[anorakmodeon]
I don't recall the Alpine in OHMSS with George Lazenby, the girl (Tracey?, daughter of the 'boss' of the mafia) had a Mustang Mach 1 in Switzerland, and drove in an ice race during the escape. The original book sequence has Bond in the Bentley and Tracey in a Lancia Flaminia.
[anorakmodeoff]
BTW I have driven The Esprit that did not get blown up in the film with two in (what was it called?) when it was featured at an open day at a Lotus dealer I worked for.
I don't recall the Alpine in OHMSS with George Lazenby, the girl (Tracey?, daughter of the 'boss' of the mafia) had a Mustang Mach 1 in Switzerland, and drove in an ice race during the escape. The original book sequence has Bond in the Bentley and Tracey in a Lancia Flaminia.
[anorakmodeoff]
BTW I have driven The Esprit that did not get blown up in the film with two in (what was it called?) when it was featured at an open day at a Lotus dealer I worked for.
Graham B said: The Cerbera Speed 12 recently for sale would have made an excellent 'baddies' car. Much more suitable than that green XK8.
Graham
Issues;
a) Ford paid serious wedge to feature their brands... Aston, Jag and Ford.
b) TVR would never stump up the money for the licence AND supply the 10 or so required cars...
c) They destroyed a few... so having a single car is a bit of a no no...
d) Shame, would rather see a TVR...
I stand corrected on the Alpine: long time since I saw a Bond film and even longer since I read the books!
Yes it was a Bentley; yes I was looking for Bob Holness (in fact I think the question appears in Trivial Pursuit as well!) who, as stated above, featured in the radio version of the book, several years before any of the films came out, and yes it was George Lazenby who only played Bond once.
Tracey was Comtesa Teresa di Vicenzo or something similar. At the end of the film they used Louis Armstrong's 'We have all the time in the world', later used by Guinness, and me at my last wedding! Doh...
The film with two Esprits in was the one after The Spy Who... hang on, it'll come to me... the one where the baddie puts his gun through the window, ignoring the 'Car Alarmed' sticker, and it blows up! Features the Citroen 2CV car chase down a mountain.... Sheena Easton sang the title song... For Your Eyes Only, that's it.
Back to Casino Royale: for those who've never read it, it's a man-to-man struggle between Bond and Le Chiffre to win shitloads of cash. Bond wins, LC tortures him (by clouting his nuts with a carpet beater!!! :screamin a French villa until he LC executed by SMERSH (the Russians are no longer our enemies, of course, so the new films have to find non-politically-aligned baddies!) and Bond is saved. IIRR doesn't Vesper Lynd kill herself with an overdose?
In the screenplay version of The Spy Who..., Bond is tortured by being electrocuted through the goolies... probably not good family viewing then!
Ian
Edited cos I'm an anorak too....
>> Edited by wedg1e on Tuesday 19th November 14:47
Yes it was a Bentley; yes I was looking for Bob Holness (in fact I think the question appears in Trivial Pursuit as well!) who, as stated above, featured in the radio version of the book, several years before any of the films came out, and yes it was George Lazenby who only played Bond once.
Tracey was Comtesa Teresa di Vicenzo or something similar. At the end of the film they used Louis Armstrong's 'We have all the time in the world', later used by Guinness, and me at my last wedding! Doh...
The film with two Esprits in was the one after The Spy Who... hang on, it'll come to me... the one where the baddie puts his gun through the window, ignoring the 'Car Alarmed' sticker, and it blows up! Features the Citroen 2CV car chase down a mountain.... Sheena Easton sang the title song... For Your Eyes Only, that's it.
Back to Casino Royale: for those who've never read it, it's a man-to-man struggle between Bond and Le Chiffre to win shitloads of cash. Bond wins, LC tortures him (by clouting his nuts with a carpet beater!!! :scream
in a French villa until he LC executed by SMERSH (the Russians are no longer our enemies, of course, so the new films have to find non-politically-aligned baddies!) and Bond is saved. IIRR doesn't Vesper Lynd kill herself with an overdose? In the screenplay version of The Spy Who..., Bond is tortured by being electrocuted through the goolies... probably not good family viewing then!
Ian
Edited cos I'm an anorak too....
>> Edited by wedg1e on Tuesday 19th November 14:47
the power of the internet:
http://00heaven.org/
It appears that the American version with Barry Nelson as Bond pre-dates Bob "I'll have a P please" Holness by 2 years (who was Bond in Moonraker on the Radio)...
www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A817797
confirms this.
http://00heaven.org/
It appears that the American version with Barry Nelson as Bond pre-dates Bob "I'll have a P please" Holness by 2 years (who was Bond in Moonraker on the Radio)...
www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A817797
confirms this.
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