Blofeld in FYEO, or is it not???

jonnybond78

I have in front of me: The Essential Bond (The Authorized Guide to the world of 007) by Lee Pfeiffer and Dave Worral.

Ive allways asumed that in the pre titles sequence, the villain in the weelchair is Blofeld. However in the book he is described as; "a bald villain confined to a wheelchair" who "delivers his lines unconvincingly".

Surely the penny must have dropped with the authors, that the fact that the villain stroking his cat is practically trademark Blofeld. And to be a bit deeper- he is wheelchair bound, due to what Bond did to him at the end of DAF??
Am i totally wrong here or are the Authors, who i asume are JB fans missing a trick??

Ps, apologies if this issue has been raised before, but im new to this site!

Denzil2222

Well yet again eon ruined bond by having that stupid silly scene at the start of for your eyes only.

Barbel

For legal reasons (to do with a man called Kevin McClory, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_McClory and http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/010A5261AE3A08E788256AB4006DD2D5/$file/0055781.pdf among many others) Eon weren't able to use the character of Blofeld after about 1976.

The audience are certainly meant to assume the character is Blofeld, but the filmmakers weren't able to say so.

There is a LOT more to this subject- have a dig around the various forums for more info!

jonnybond78

Ah yeah,

i know about some of the legal issues with Kevin McClory.

My apologies to the authors lol

Napoleon Plural

I think they make a joke in the book don't they? Something like, 'But it certainly isn't meant to be Blofeld. Oh no..."

jonnybond78

Really??? i dont remember seing that. I'll have to have read it again now lol

DangerMouse

I would like to have seen how Blofield managed to survive the last attempt on his life, especially considering he's now bound to a wheelchair which makes me wonder how he managed to make it back to England from an oil rig.

Gassy Man

If I recall, he's also wearing a neck brace -- if so, I don't think we're supposed to believe this is Blofeld from Diamonds are Forever but Blofeld from On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and he gets the proper offing he did not in the 1971 film. The further tipoff is Bond is at Tracy's grave before he is picked up by the helicopter.

Andy007

Yeh we all know it's Blofeld. I think it's a great scene & one of the best pre-credits sequence.
It adds a lot to Moore's tenure in so much that it gives a link to his Bond & Blofeld whereas Blofeld had previously associated with Connery/Lazenby only. Also the grave-yard scene again links Moore's Bond to the same character as Lazenby before. And finally we get to see Bond dispose of Blofeld once and for all! It was inconclusive after DAF.
On a side note i've often wondered if the vicar who approaches Bond was in on it. Nothing directly suggests this, we are meant to assume he passed on the message about the pick-up. But as Bond leaves in the helicopter, he gives a stern stare as he crosses himself. Bond looks at him with slight unease. Always thought this was a bit odd but kind of adds to the tension about to occur. It's unlikely he was though.

Gassy Man

Andy007 wrote:

Yeh we all know it's Blofeld. I think it's a great scene & one of the best pre-credits sequence.
It adds a lot to Moore's tenure in so much that it gives a link to his Bond & Blofeld whereas Blofeld had previously associated with Connery/Lazenby only. Also the grave-yard scene again links Moore's Bond to the same character as Lazenby before. And finally we get to see Bond dispose of Blofeld once and for all! It was inconclusive after DAF.
On a side note i've often wondered if the vicar who approaches Bond was in on it. Nothing directly suggests this, we are meant to assume he passed on the message about the pick-up. But as Bond leaves in the helicopter, he gives a stern stare as he crosses himself. Bond looks at him with slight unease. Always thought this was a bit odd but kind of adds to the tension about to occur. It's unlikely he was though.

When I first saw the film I assumed he was in on it . . . his whole personality changed when he saw Bond off.

BTW, I watched the sequence again and I'm not sure there's anything in it that strictly says it takes place in 1981, contemporary with the film. The helicopter may be a later model than the one in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," but it doesn't look all that different. For all we know, that sequence may have been meant to have taken place many years before the film proper . . . . .

Andy007

It's an interesting point but unlikely. A film would normally say if dated back. Like Goldeneye opening states 9 years back. - I think what's likely is that it was meant to be 10-year anniversary of Tracy's death- with Bond visiting the grave. This would only be 2 years before 1981.

Andy007

In this sense the scene works well as Moore is an older Bond and is convincingly 10 years older than Lazenby's Bond in OHMSS. Moore was actually 53 in this, but could pass for 50 or late 40's comfortably. Bond is meant to be about 38-40 in most films. I think it's scenes like this which give credibility to Moore being Bond. I think it backs up that he is meant to be an older Bond, and with Moore not being so tough & physically menacing - it works well for him.

Wint and Kidd far-out

Yeah. I always took it for granted that it was meant to be Blofeld making one final attempt to dispose of Bond. And he was finally killed down the industrial smokestack. Even if the furnace wasn't switched on at the time surely the fall alone would have been enough to do him in?

Incidentally I've read somewhere in a film review for DAF that there is no reason at all for Wint and Kidd to try to kill Bond one more time in the epilogue of the movie and they pay for their action with their lives. However in the context of FYEO's pre-title sequence I always assumed that they had been under orders from Blofeld himself while he was laid up in a hospital bed recovering from the injuries sustained in the bathsub which rendered him wheelchair bound.

Napoleon Plural

Oddly, Wint and Kidd must be one of the few henchmen who we never actually see meet their master to take orders at any point. Generally this owes much to the pipeline story, where in the smuggling op, those who are one part of the chain never meet those further along it, but it is a bit bizarre. I mean Blofeld never even mentions the names Wint and Kidd I believe. Just as well mind - with Gray camping it up, the three of them in the same room would be a right raving affair.

Maybe don't take the pts of FYEO too seriously - I think Cubby meant it as a sideswipe at McClory trying to get his TB remake off the ground, maligning his main character in the process. Because of this the comical pay-off left a bad taste in my mouth after the wholly exciting build up

Blood_Stone

It IS Blofeld. They just couldn't say it was. Besides, its a bald scarred man with a white Persian cat. I mean COME ON!

"Officially" its:

DAF is a sequel to YOTL.

FYEO is a sequel to OHMSS.