Swearing In A James Bond Movie
Legend007
Posts: 1MI6 Agent
Let me first say that I am not against swearing in movies. I love hearing it in the action/comedy movies. But, after reading "The Facts of Death" by Raymond Benson and seeing the few "f" words, I feel that it's just not James Bond to hear him or any other character say "f**k you" or anything along those lines. Does anyone agree with me?
Comments
Bond (to Scaramanga): "There's a useful four letter word, and you're full of it!"
Moore's delivery is great, it's quite menacing and insulting at the same time. Just imagine if it had been
Bond (to Scaramanga): "You're full of sh*t!"
Doesn't quite have the same effect does it?
But then again, I think the gritty nature of the plot of LTK had to have some sort of language in it, and by today's standards, it's very tame. Any more than this, though, I think is inappropriate for a Bond picture. And I sincerely hope that I never have to cringe from hearing the f-word in any future Bond movie...
-{ Td
As for the movies, the bad words have been kept to a minimum; but remember that Bond himself never says anything worse than "damn" or "bitch." The s-words come courtesy of the little old lady from Live and Let Die, Stacey in A View to a Kill, and the villains and Pam Bouvier from Licence to Kill. Those uses, to my mind, are acceptable; the first two--and Pam's--are for comic effect, and the last ones show the crudeness of the baddies. To my mind, Bond's onscreen language should never descend to the gutter level, and I hope the s-word stays rare in the films and that the f-word never appears. . .if anything, the relatively clean language of the Bond keep them unique in the action genre.
Absolutely agree. I think a buddy of mine put it best as we were discussing TND right after we saw it on opening night:
"Bond's too cool to cuss."
"Hong Kong narcotics you b**a**s**t**a**r**d." by Chang in LTK?
Girl: He used to be full of ****...
Bond: Now ****'s full of him....
I know Bond doesnt normally swear, but I thought this exhange would be funny
but words like the f word should never make their way into a bond film
For instance, in The Living Daylights, Bond says to General Koskov "We English have a saying too Yuri and you are full of it".
There are also of course the numerous sexual innuendos in many of the female characters - Pussy Galore and Onatopp etc. I suppose the most contraversial name must be Chu Mi in TMWTGG.
Swearing isn't really a part of Bond's charming, sophisticated nature. If Bond smoking a cigar in DAD was contraversial enough, image the press reaction if he said the "F" word?
On the swearing thread, I thought the use of the b-word in DAD was a little excessive. Not its numerous occurences (as I can only count one), but Berry's use of it in the death of Frost. Onatopp of course used it about three times in Goldeneye, but never in such a manner. I thought it just resembled something more appropriate to movies like xXx and the forthcoming Extreme Ops.
-{ Td
'I speak Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, a little Arabic and French hence understood all the references in the native language in Octopussy as that is my mother tongue.
There are scenes where Gobinda played by Kabir Bedi says to his henchmen in Hindi (of Bond) 'Chase that bast..d, 'see that that bast.rd does not get away'
Now why didn't they subtitle those into English !!!!'
I think that it should be kept to a minimum in the movies, and it seems as though they have done a pretty good job in keeping it that way.
As for what Jinx called Miranda, I felt that it was used well in the context that it was, and is fine for the movie. In fact, when I saw the movie and she said that line, the whole cinema began to laugh.
Kissy Suzuki never dies in YOLT. You must be thinking of Aki, the one who was poisoned. Bond and Aki were never married, but Bond and Kissy were. They end up floating on a raft and being picked up by a British submarine.
I consider his performance in TAILOR to be Brosnan's best Bond performance by far, it's just a pity it wasn't in a Bond movie.
Bond swears on occasion in the Fleming novels, as has been noted in previous posts, and it is entirely natural for him to do so, either as an expression of rage or pain. The idea that his breeding or some matter of class puts him 'above' swearing seems utterly absurd, given that this is a guy who apparently didn't even make it too far through school (if the obit in Fleming's YOLT is any indication.)
Swearing is an absolutely legitimate means of expression, and using swearing to effect in drama (literature or screen) is a legitimate effect, and in the world of Bond (by that I am referring mostly to the books and to the non-Roger flicks), it makes sense, because it ADDS integrity, in the form of credibility. Honestly, I had heard Mother****** about ten thousand times by the time I got out of the sixth grade, and I grew up in a *good* neighborhood in the middle of California.
I could understand this discussion taking place if this was a MARY POPPINS or SOUND OF MUSIC forum, but in a Bond forum? I'm utterly amazed by some of these comments, and have to conclude that you folks are protesting a bit much, suggesting somebody somewhere must be full of it -- let me emphasize that -- full of ****.
Major Garland Briggs, in TWIN PEAKS
As long as he washed his hands before...and after, that's okay, right?
from Goldeneye.
"In London Aprils a spring month." Bond
"And what are you the weather man?" Wade
or...
"In London Aprils a spring month."
"And what are you the f*#^en weather man."
Swearing should be kept to a minimum in the Bond movies and I never want to here anybody, especially Bond say f*ck.
"Jack Wade CIA."
"James Bond, stiff-assed Brit."
There you go, those are good reasons against swearing in the Bond films. Swearing just irks us at a different level, just as I personally get offended when I hear swearing in public even though it's not directed to me. It disturbs our sensibilities, and what shred of decency that we strive to preserve.
However, I maintain opposing the view that Bond doesn't swear because of class or status, though these are factors that may curtail the AMOUNT or DEGREE of swearing. He won't throw around the "f" word so casually as Quentin Tarrantino, because he does not immerse himself daily in that kind of low-life environment. But I do think that he will occasionally use the "f" word in extreme fits of frustration and anger, just as some including myself, pointed out with proof from the Fleming novels. The movies just have a higher standard, due to the fact that they've been promoted from the begining as being fit for the whole family to watch (which I have reservations about).
Also, there's discussion about what is considered swearing. For many, s---, b---- and a-- are swear words, and rightly so. A swear word is a swear word (whatever would warrant a slap from mum), but I think that s--- and f--- merely differs in degree. Do I think that Bond swears? Yes, but in relatively conservative degrees.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Xenia did not actually use that word, but was saying something else, just in Russian. When it came out, it sounded like that word, but with closed-caption on, it doesn't say it. It shows some word in Russian. I'll have to double-check, though.