film with least screen time for M

crawfordboon

I got thinking earlier that LTK must be the record holder amongst the Bonds for the short amount of time that M has onscreen. I wonder why they didn't give him a little more to do, especially given his brief meeting with Bond in Florida was very effective dramatically, even if it didn't make any sense:

- why is MI6 holding meetings at Hemmingway House?
- why do all the MI6 guards carry guns when M stops them shooting, saying "too many people"
- if there are too many people around, what is the point of having a machine-gun toting guard on top of a lighthouse?

But i digress. I think maybe the "on the run" theme had a bit to do with M's absence, though proably too was the fact it was filmed in Mexico, not Pinewood.

MikeyRichards

I assume the lack of M was to create the sense of Bond's distance from MI6... although Q getting his greatest amount of screen time yet kind of detracts from that a bit.

As for the 'too many people' line, I've always thought it was just M making a lame excuse so that they wouldn't shoot one of his top agents, who he's still very fond of despite his recent actions.

Sir Hillary Bray

As one who really dislikes the over-involvement of M in the plot and when he/she travels to far-flung locations, I actually don't mind him coming to Key West in LTK. Of all the crises the Double-0 section could have, one of its agents being insubordinate and going "off the reservation" would seem to be really serious, so I can believe M would try to intervene in person. Especially with an agent like Bond, with whom M has shared so much history.

As for the "film with the least screen time for M", that's clearly FYEO.

Prince Kamal Khan

Sir Hillary Bray wrote:

As one who really dislikes the over-involvement of M in the plot and when he/she travels to far-flung locations, I actually don't mind him coming to Key West in LTK. Of all the crises the Double-0 section could have, one of its agents being insubordinate and going "off the reservation" would seem to be really serious, so I can believe M would try to intervene in person. Especially with an agent like Bond, with whom M has shared so much history.

I agree with you about LTK. It was good for M to go there but things got out of hand in the Bond soap opera known as TWINE. However, I would like for a film version of Colonel Sun with M getting kidnapped for political and not "personal" reasons.

Moore Not Less

Prince Kamal Khan wrote:

However, I would like for a film version of Colonel Sun with M getting kidnapped for political and not "personal" reasons.

This idea appeals to me. It needn't necessarily be M getting kidnapped, it could just as easily be Q. It would appear to be the kind of scenario that would readily fit Daniel Craig's Bond.

Dan Same

Prince Kamal Khan wrote:

I agree with you about LTK. It was good for M to go there but things got out of hand in the Bond soap opera known as TWINE. However, I would like for a film version of Colonel Sun with M getting kidnapped for political and not "personal" reasons.

I love TWINE but I agree with you that things truly got out of hand regarding the kidnapping of M. There was really no reason to do it. It didn't advance the plot (we could have learned about Electra's hatred for M in a much more creative way) and I suspect the only reason it happened was that Dench had won an Oscar the previous year.

Willie Garvin

Not to sound unduly brusque but I don't think M should ever have a lot of screentime regardless of the actor or actress playing the part, or even the number of awards he or she might have received during their careers.These films are about James Bond--not his commanding officer.