Bond 22 is LALD...?
Mister Biswas
TokyoPosts: 78MI6 Agent
Please don't read if you have not read LALD the novel. SPOILERS AHEAD.
I have put a version of this post in the Bond 22 thread, but I thought that this would get more notice as its own thread. Anyway, what are your thoughts?
I personally think it is a great idea. Bond 22 would adhere closely to the book rather than act as a straight remake of the earlier film. But, like they did with CR, the EON team would expand the story where necessary, adding elements while not tampering with the overall storyline.
Positives:
- the story is great: the Leiter-Bond relationship could get great treatment here. Since the book includes the infamous shark scene, there would be some great stuff for Craig as an actor to work with. I could imagine seeing Bond in the first half of the film on some kind of assignment, with Leiter helping to save teh day somehow. Leiter and Bond then get a lead to Mr. Big in America, which would be teh second half of the film and where the novel LALD would play a large part. Once Leiter is attacked, Bond goes crazy. In Craig's hands, this would be brilliant. Plus, the chemistry between Craig and Jeffrey Wright is amazing and the producers would be remiss if they did not use it to their advantage in the next film.
- the plot to LALD the novel is gritty. Bond gets his finger broken in one scene, and there is of course the keel hauling. Also, there is a train bomb, which is an eerie reminder of terrorism and which would be a great way for the filmmakers to update the book in the post 9-11 world.
- After mr. Big DIES, there is a great scene in the book where Bond cries for the first time since he was a child. Again, Craig is a great actor, so I could see him working this scene for all it's worth.
How to update it:
- Since the characters (Tee-Hee, Mr. Big, Miami, the Robber, etc) would not translate well in a modern story, perhaps change them. As Mr. Big in the novel is a former SMERSH agent, the movie's "Mr. Big" character would be a former operative of the mysterious "organization" that Mr. White works for. Maybe "Mr. Big" is called LeGrand. Or maybe he is this French Albanian who was Vesper's boyfriend. Since the organization threatened to kill him, he left the organization with their money and is in hiding and involved with his own criminal plans. Bond and Leiter then are assigned to go after him but not to kill him. They need him alive to give the government more information.
- Continuing this idea, if "Mr. Big" is Vesper's boyfriend, then there would be an interesting dynamic when Bond takes the Solitare character away. Mr. Big would feel burned not once but twice by Bond, and this would provide character motivation.
- Mr. Big: his name should be changed, but have his hq be somewhere in America. Perhaps he is still working for the organization. Perhaps he is on his own.
- Solitare: She could be another girlfriend of Mr. Big's, just as Vesper once was.
- the Gold Coins: This plot device sounds a bit antiquated, so perhaps update this to be the following: an airplane with a cargo of (something valuable--diamonds, or something) is downed by a terrorist attack. Mr. Big uses the bounty to fund his operations. THe trail is how Bond and Leiter find him.
- Introduce a Blofeld/No. 1 character: Blofeld does not have to be an old man with a cat. he can be instead a relatively youngish man with physical prowess. He has a set of values (which is why Mr. White says when he kills Le Chiffre in CR: Money is not as important as knowing who to trust) (and which is revealed in an early chapter of Thunderball). Blofeld would be the main baddie that Bond would thwart in Bond 23.
- title: finally, should the title be LALD? Or should it be a new title? Personally, I would love LALD, but I understand the confusion this might cause. So, I recommend the name Quantum of Solace or Risico.
I have put a version of this post in the Bond 22 thread, but I thought that this would get more notice as its own thread. Anyway, what are your thoughts?
I personally think it is a great idea. Bond 22 would adhere closely to the book rather than act as a straight remake of the earlier film. But, like they did with CR, the EON team would expand the story where necessary, adding elements while not tampering with the overall storyline.
Positives:
- the story is great: the Leiter-Bond relationship could get great treatment here. Since the book includes the infamous shark scene, there would be some great stuff for Craig as an actor to work with. I could imagine seeing Bond in the first half of the film on some kind of assignment, with Leiter helping to save teh day somehow. Leiter and Bond then get a lead to Mr. Big in America, which would be teh second half of the film and where the novel LALD would play a large part. Once Leiter is attacked, Bond goes crazy. In Craig's hands, this would be brilliant. Plus, the chemistry between Craig and Jeffrey Wright is amazing and the producers would be remiss if they did not use it to their advantage in the next film.
- the plot to LALD the novel is gritty. Bond gets his finger broken in one scene, and there is of course the keel hauling. Also, there is a train bomb, which is an eerie reminder of terrorism and which would be a great way for the filmmakers to update the book in the post 9-11 world.
- After mr. Big DIES, there is a great scene in the book where Bond cries for the first time since he was a child. Again, Craig is a great actor, so I could see him working this scene for all it's worth.
How to update it:
- Since the characters (Tee-Hee, Mr. Big, Miami, the Robber, etc) would not translate well in a modern story, perhaps change them. As Mr. Big in the novel is a former SMERSH agent, the movie's "Mr. Big" character would be a former operative of the mysterious "organization" that Mr. White works for. Maybe "Mr. Big" is called LeGrand. Or maybe he is this French Albanian who was Vesper's boyfriend. Since the organization threatened to kill him, he left the organization with their money and is in hiding and involved with his own criminal plans. Bond and Leiter then are assigned to go after him but not to kill him. They need him alive to give the government more information.
- Continuing this idea, if "Mr. Big" is Vesper's boyfriend, then there would be an interesting dynamic when Bond takes the Solitare character away. Mr. Big would feel burned not once but twice by Bond, and this would provide character motivation.
- Mr. Big: his name should be changed, but have his hq be somewhere in America. Perhaps he is still working for the organization. Perhaps he is on his own.
- Solitare: She could be another girlfriend of Mr. Big's, just as Vesper once was.
- the Gold Coins: This plot device sounds a bit antiquated, so perhaps update this to be the following: an airplane with a cargo of (something valuable--diamonds, or something) is downed by a terrorist attack. Mr. Big uses the bounty to fund his operations. THe trail is how Bond and Leiter find him.
- Introduce a Blofeld/No. 1 character: Blofeld does not have to be an old man with a cat. he can be instead a relatively youngish man with physical prowess. He has a set of values (which is why Mr. White says when he kills Le Chiffre in CR: Money is not as important as knowing who to trust) (and which is revealed in an early chapter of Thunderball). Blofeld would be the main baddie that Bond would thwart in Bond 23.
- title: finally, should the title be LALD? Or should it be a new title? Personally, I would love LALD, but I understand the confusion this might cause. So, I recommend the name Quantum of Solace or Risico.
Comments
As for the novel, it would be pretty interesting seeing Bond go back to the States and a long train crossing.
There are three versions of Casino Royale now... we know which is which. If someone wants to see Goldfinger, they can easily differenciate between the Connery or classic version and the updated version...
I'm all for it!
And I do really hope that they don't use the original movies' titles again because that... woudl just cause too much confusion. There's plenty Fleming plots that were unused in the scren-treatments in the 70s, 80s to be used, and I hope they're coming back to that but for titles... there's plenty of Bondian sound chapter titles (by Fleming) if you want to use them.
Maybe the shark attack should be changed for the film. Maybe it can be revealed in flashback. Or maybe it should be a different kind of attack (maybe a terrorist attack?_).
As for a title - thats easy, The Undertaker's wind.
Although, 2 movies in a row with focus on gambling wouldn't be a great idea...
That is a great idea! Though I agree with you about overdoing the gambling. Maybe the scene at Blades would be changed to something non gambling. This would also allow for the filmmakers to use the character Gala Brand. The whole missile defense can also be changed to something more up to the times. Somekind of hi-tech anti-terrorism defense system, or something.
It would have to be called something else. I don't like the idea of doing remakes of novels which have already been made, but the Moonraker movie had almost no elements of the novel so it shouldn't be a problem.
I hated the original Moonraker movie. The excess of childish humour made it more like a Matt Helm movie than a James Bond film.
And for the record, that's a great novel....