When do you think the original James Bond movie series ended?
JohnMasterson
MinnesotaPosts: 326MI6 Agent
I used to believe it ended with Die Another Day because it was the movie that enjoyed referencing most of the Bond films of decades past, but after watching this guy on YouTube, who goes by the code-name of HaphazardStuff, I now realize that the James Bond movie series ended with Licence to Kill. Because it was the last Bond film that Cubby Broccoli had made while he was still alive, and six years later, after the long-winded court battle a lot of things had changed.
Maurice Binder, the man who had created the James Bond gun barrel sequence was now dead and buried. He died in April 1991. Only two years after the completion of Licence to Kill. Binder was replaced by Daniel Kleinman, who would go on to create title-sequences for all four of Pierce Brosnan's Bond outings. Cubby Broccoli, himself, was in ailing health, and because of that he had no choice but to take a backseat to his children (Michael G. Wilson & Barbara Broccoli) who ended up taking on the bulk of production duties and then in June 1996, Cubby Broccoli had kicked the bucket and his children took on the task of continuing his James Bond legacy.
Maurice Binder, the man who had created the James Bond gun barrel sequence was now dead and buried. He died in April 1991. Only two years after the completion of Licence to Kill. Binder was replaced by Daniel Kleinman, who would go on to create title-sequences for all four of Pierce Brosnan's Bond outings. Cubby Broccoli, himself, was in ailing health, and because of that he had no choice but to take a backseat to his children (Michael G. Wilson & Barbara Broccoli) who ended up taking on the bulk of production duties and then in June 1996, Cubby Broccoli had kicked the bucket and his children took on the task of continuing his James Bond legacy.
"Goodbye, my son. Our hopes and dreams travel with you." Jor-El ~ Man of Steel (2013)
Comments
1. GoldenEye 2. Goldfinger 3. Skyfall 4. OHMSS 5. TWINE
Yes, but those are kind of superficial things to grasp and hold onto. The fact of the matter is that, the James Bond movie series is kind of, sort of, Cubby Broccoli's baby because Cubby was really the one who got the ball rolling. Harry Saltzman owned half of the film rights but Saltzman wasn't a businessman so it was really Cubby Broccoli who was very instrumental in helping to cultivate the cinematic James Bond.....Barbara and Michael just happened to pick up the ball that Cubby had dropped when he was dying, and then they ran with it!
Some people lump Roger Moore's The Spy Who Loved Me into the original Bond series from the 60's even though that particular Moore film came from the 70's!
The series is taking an unusual turn at the moment, and I'm glad that people share my opinions on it, but it would be boring if they never did anything different after 20 movies. And I'm sure it'll come back to the original formula soon enough, possibly with the next actor.
JediM
I just think it's easy to say that the old way of producing James Bond films is over because both of the original producers have long since been dead and buried....They're nothing but skeletons nowadays.
Well, now...come to think of it, Blackleiter is right and you two are wrong. Because it can be argued that the original James Bond series did truly to come an end after 1969 because of a lack of consistency. You see, after Sean Connery walked away from the role, the first time out, an effort was made to try to convince everyone that George Lazenby was indeed playing the same character. They just didn't go far enough with this idea in the theatrical cut. But when Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan came onto the scene respectively, no effort was made to convince anybody that these guys were playing the same Bond from Doctor No. They just had a few references to OHMSS.
-Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
The reboot is a total reinvention of the character and so has no connection with the older series ( the homage to goldfinger in QOS, was stupid. And I hope they drop any kind of harking back for Skyfall ). I know many like the new direction, but I feel Craig's Bond is too serious and seems to have too much emotional baggage.
I would hope for the next outing they'd inject a little Humor, give Bond a break and drop some of his inner turmoil.
Obviously the "reboot" is one particularly stark breakpoint in the series, but as we all know deep-down, watching the Bond films is about suspending belief, whether that be to accept a different main character or accepting some supernormal plot device.
There's a great strength in keeping DN through OHMSS ... but (as has been discussed in another thread recently) is that due to DAF's relative unpopularity? Similarly the jump from Moore to Dalton seems another convenient breakpoint.
Another point to mention may be that only recently have the producers and writers actively encouraged the viewer to think of the Bond films as an ongoing story. Little is made of the inter film backstory at any point prior to QoS. It is inferred in DAF that Bond has been on leave (one assumes compassionate, but this is not mentioned), DAD makes a rather hamfisted attempt at revisiting previous film themes via the use of props, but otherwise it is the viewer who makes the assumptions (or perhaps based on knowing the novels, therefore clouding the issue slightly).
You could also say the films started to break with tradition with YOLT. This was the first WAY over the top Bond film AND the first film with an entirely new script, unrelated to the book in almost every way ( per Flemings request ). Then again you could argue that the cinematic James Bond didn't even become fleshed out UNTIL Goldfinger. Connery will forever be the cinematic James Bond, but he is not really like Flemings fictional Bond
The point being this is a silly conversation
And you mean Terence Young, not Stamp!
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I feel a bit like this with threads like this.
If the formula wouldn't gave been modified and adapted, the franchise would never have been that successful like it is.
So deal with it
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Well, if you want to really get technical about it Mister GGG, they couldn't get Terence Young to direct Goldfinger so they got Guy Hamilton and he wouldn't prove to be the last of the replacement directors because apparently directing multiple consecutive Bond films during an entire decade is like a chore unless you're John Glenn.
Are you familiar with the Star Trek movie series? It started with Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the most recent Star Trek film is simply called "Star Trek" (2009) but even though the J.J. Abrams movie is something of a reboot, it still has a connection to the original Star Trek film series because of the time travel storyline.
Now this is a far cry from the situation with the Jame Bond movie series but the cinematic Star Trek film franchise still has it's "breaking points" in the series similar to the breaking points in the Bond franchise.
Because you see, Star Trek started out as a series of film sequels to the original Star Trek television series with the original cast starring in mostly all of them (Star Trek: The Motion Picture-Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) with the exception being Star Trek Generations which only had some of the original cast. From then on, they only did Star Trek films featuring the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation...Which much like the Pierce Brosnan Bondian era was only four films long and it ended on something of a sour note. (Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek: Nemesis.)
And last but not least there is the aforementioned J.J. Abrams reboot. (Star Trek 2009)