Commander James Bond RN?

Thundernuts

Forgive me if this has been discussed before, but on reboot, was it ever established what the 'New' James Bond's background was?

There was all sorts of rumours about him being former SAS (And therefore Army) as opposed to the Royal Navy Commander that we'd all grown to love.

I don't recall getting a definitive answer.

I know Vesper alludes to the fact that he could have been "A former SAS type" and if by such a comment she is encompassing the SBS, then our new Bond could have course, still been Commander Bond of the Royal Navy.

I suppose it matters little in the great scheme of things, but for me James Bond will always be Commander James Bond of Her Majesty's Royal Navy (And believe me, that's hard to say having spent ten years of my life in The British Army) but sometimes it's the little things in Bond films that I absolutely love.

As a result, I would like to see Daniel Craig don the dress uniform of a Royal Navy Commander at some point in Bond 22.

I'm not a geeky fanboy Eon, I'm a 35 year old man with a job and a family.

Just make sure that it happens, please..;)

emtiem

The official website has (or had, I'm not sure) a full CV of CraigBond's activities which did include a Royal Navy stint, and yes, he was in the SBS.

7289

Of all the actors who put on the RN uniform, only SC carried it off convincingly. Roger Moore didn't look too bad and PB looked silly.

I don't like a uniformed Bond. In the books he was a WW2 Vet, and while he wore his two rows of "lettuce" at the annual meeting of the "Twin Snakes Club" he never wore a uniform. Bond dreamed of wearing his CMG at his wedding, but that is as far as it went.

I just don't see DC wearing a uniform. The only way it would work for me, would be in a picture hanging on a wall.

emtiem

It's a fair point; Bond isn't actually in the Navy anymore, so I'm not sure that he should pop up in uniform unless he's undercover or something.

Number24

I would like to see Bond teaming up with SBS in a raid. It's been a while since we've seen a raid in a Bond film. In a scene like that Bond could be dressed in black "assaulter" garb, and I think DC would look more convincing as a commando than any of the other Bonds. Or perhaps the raid could take place during winter, with the commandos dressed in winter camouflage in the initial stages of the assault? That would give the scene a fresh and distinctive look.

7289

Sounds like the Alpine Assault from OHMSS!!

As to Bond working with "shock troops", I think Bond is best working by himself. For instance the FRWL Gypsy Camp and Lecktor Theft. He is also pretty solo in the Thunderball underwater battle.

Best recent example of this is in the CR'06 Cobra/Mongoose fight, in which Bond is working with "Carter" who messes things up, and Bond again ends up solo!

Thundernuts

emtiem wrote:

It's a fair point; Bond isn't actually in the Navy anymore, so I'm not sure that he should pop up in uniform unless he's undercover or something.

How do you know he's not in the Navy anymore? As someone ranking as a Commander he would have been a commissioned officer and therefore, until the day he died he would have always been in the Navy.

Having said that, if Craig's Bond's current background is SBS, he would have been far more likely to have come from the Royal Marines, which although technically part of the Navy, use Army ranks.

And cabbage-head dress uniforms are utterly minging.

No. A nice Navy Commander's uniform in a pre-title sequence, callously tossing some lilys onto Vespers grave would do me.....

7289

Given Bond's current assignment, it does not seem likely he would be recalled by the RN for uniformed duty.

Number24

7289 wrote:

Sounds like the Alpine Assault from OHMSS!!

As to Bond working with "shock troops", I think Bond is best working by himself. For instance the FRWL Gypsy Camp and Lecktor Theft. He is also pretty solo in the Thunderball underwater battle.

Best recent example of this is in the CR'06 Cobra/Mongoose fight, in which Bond is working with "Carter" who messes things up, and Bond again ends up solo!

Bond should be working solo allmost the entire time, I agree on that. But I imagine something like a more realistic spin on the vulcano assault in YOLT. Bond should have a special role in the attack. Being on the "inside" (perhaps undercover?) or having som task to perform while the commandos fight the baddies. You only thought about OHMSS because it's the only winter assault in all of the Bond films and one of the few in films in general. Here is one of many ways it could be done: Bond is semingly trapped by the villans in a japanese castle. It's winter.
http://www.city.himeji.hyogo.jp/english/himeji/img/castle_snow.gif
Henchman #1 is about to execute Bond with a shot to the head, but at the last secound he drops dead. An insisble sniper has dropped him.
http://www.snipercountry.com/photogallery/ScandinavianWinterSniper_1.jpg
Suddenly a whole company of winter camouflaged commandos rise from the snowy field, and the assault starts. Bond fights the villans closest to him hand to hand to get into cover. Bond goes into the castle to save the girl/kill the top villan/defuse the bomb while the villans and the commandos fight. The good guys can even be dressed in white and the bad guys in black!

taity

At the end of CR Bond is sailing a boat - now while sailing isnt a hobby limited to those in the Navy, it seems like an odd hobby to have for someone in the airforce.

Loeffelholz

I enjoy seeing Bond appear in uniform, and hope Craig will have a turn, regardless of how 'realistic' (or not) it is to do so. Nods (however fleeting) to his military background advance the development of the character, IMRO.

And though it's a small thing, I hope we get to hear him called 'Commander Bond' at some point---I persist in my dream that when Bond finally takes down the head of this nebulous 'organization' for which Le Chiffre worked, he'll lead a band of Special Ops professionals into battle B-)

Honey Rider

Loeffelholz wrote:

I persist in my dream that when Bond finally takes down the head of his nebulous 'organization' for which Le Chiffre worked, he'll lead a band of Special Ops professionals into battle B-)

That would be awesome. I loved the big endings of films like TB, YOLT and TSWLM.