Lifted from the headlines - Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies

Silhouette Man

I've been thinking a lot recently about Elliot Carver as the villain of the piece in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). It's interesting to note that the plot was inspired by media moguls like William Randolph Hearst, Robert Maxwell (same suicide cover off yacht used by M to explain Carver's death) and Rupert Murdoch (of phone-hacking 2011 scandal fame). It is a fact that Hearst did say to his journalists "You provide the pictures, I'll provide the war". He is credited with partly instigating the 1898 Spanish-American War through his media empire as the world's foremost media mogul at the time. Benson's novelisation has lots of juicy detail on Carver's background and on Lord Roverman, his father who was also a media mogul.

What are our thoughts on the role of the real-world presentation of media moguls in Tomorrow Never Dies, on how the plot of the film is literally lifted out of the newspaper headlines and News 24 culture of the late 1990s? Is it a satire or grimly close to reality - Fox News, Sky News right-wing commentary etc., The Sun, The Times etc. Political worldview through The Sun - famous politcal headlines like 'Up Yours, Delors', 'It was The Sun wot won it' (John Major's shock election win in 1992 after backing from The Sun) and 'Brown's Lost It' (2009) - meaning The Sun's support of New Labour).

Is starting a war for increased TV/satelllite/radio/newspapers and magazines really credible or does it smack of a parody/satire/a step too far. I remember reading in an early magazine piece on Tomorrow Never Diesthat Carver had seen how the ratings of his media empire had vastly increased during the 1991 Gulf War (this probably comes from Benson's novelisation) and he associated war/conflict with increased audience/ratings. Even Bond questions the sense of starting a war between Britain and China (presumably World War III) for ratings - shades of Karl Stromberg in TSWLM creating his own underwater world - merely (as he puts it) accelerating the process of the decadence and decline of civilisation and of Ernst Stavro Blofeld in YOLT - both of which are massive influences on this film, mind.

So, what are your thoughts on Elliot Carver, Tomorrow Never Dies and media moguls in the world of James Bond. I think it works well, but it could easily have been preposterous if it had went the other way.

See this interesting 1998 article by Fraser Engerman over on HMSS for more details:

http://www.hmss.com/films/carver/

It seems that the bugging/phone-hacking/celebrity privacy scandal of Summer 2011 has added a new topicality to this (almost) 15 year old film. As a final note, I think that Tomorrow Never Lies would have been a much better title, but it was apparently missread by a staff member in a fax at EON and was never fixed...shame.

Also, I have read on the site that Harmsway was originally meant to have been the villain's name and the handover of Hong Kong back to Red China was originally meant to have been the plot - any further details on this - books or articles where one can find out more on this? This is all new to me. Would love to know more about the fascinating early draft of Tomorrow Never Dies if any members here would care to throw their hats into the ring.

Silhouette Man

Any interest on my thesis here? - I think the subject matter would make for an interesting article.

I see some links between TMFB and TND - with plots lifted from the day's headlines. But then I'm a Gardnerist.

Napoleon Plural

Note the sideswipe by Seb Faulks in Devil May Care, where the villain (set in 1969) suggests that one way to undermine the Uk would be to set up as a media magnate to buy up newspapers and TV and pump tripe onto the public - a thinly veiled attack on Murdoch that seems less hysterical in the wake of the Leveson inquiry.

I don't think Carver worked in TND, they were never going to attack the press and bite the hand that feeds them. Cristos in The Truman Show was more credible as a character, he talked less, as powerful folk tend to do.

Funnily enough I made a comment about a more relevent worry would be about who controls satellites in a letter to Starburst after GE, but I can't recall the context now, as there is a satellite in GE anyway.

Silhouette Man

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Note the sideswipe by Seb Faulks in Devil May Care, where the villain (set in 1969) suggests that one way to undermine the Uk would be to set up as a media magnate to buy up newspapers and TV and pump tripe onto the public - a thinly veiled attack on Murdoch that seems less hysterical in the wake of the Leveson inquiry.

I don't think Carver worked in TND, they were never going to attack the press and bite the hand that feeds them. Cristos in The Truman Show was more credible as a character, he talked less, as powerful folk tend to do.

Funnily enough I made a comment about a more relevent worry would be about who controls satellites in a letter to Starburst after GE, but I can't recall the context now, as there is a satellite in GE anyway.

Thanks, Mr Plural, could you post your Starburst GE piece, please?

Missed DMC ref - will have to hunt that down. Could it be a knowing ref to Carver and TND too, do you think?

Yes, TND etc. is becoming more relevant, especially as the Leveson judicial inquiry has just been published today. I look forward to reading it!

Just like SF references the lost data files (of Brown's 2007-10 government) and high-profile hacking cases (Gary MacKinnon, anyone?).

Silhouette Man

Does the Leveson Inquiry into Press Standards here in the UK lend one to see TND and the CMGN in a more than credibl;e light?

I know that it does me!

Colonel Shatner

Elliot Carver is an underrated bad guy: many people assume he wanted to start WWIII to sell more papers and cable subscriptions when in actual fact he was backing a military coup in the PRC's government and would get rewarded with exclusive media rights in a country with a billion people (and with the world's most rapidly expanding economy). :v

I don't mind people deeming GoldenEye the best Brosnan instalment (and it had a kick ass video game spin-off) but how the hell did TND get 55% on Rotten Tomatoes?

walther p99

Silhouette Man wrote:

Any interest on my thesis here? - I think the subject matter would make for an interesting article.

I see some links between TMFB and TND - with plots lifted from the day's headlines. But then I'm a Gardnerist.

What i love about Elliot Carver and the Media-driven plot of TND's is that it seems each year it becomes more and more relevant with the ever rising power of the media. the majority of its plot is even more potent today then it was in 1997.

Silhouette Man

walther p99 wrote:

Silhouette Man wrote:

Any interest on my thesis here? - I think the subject matter would make for an interesting article.

I see some links between TMFB and TND - with plots lifted from the day's headlines. But then I'm a Gardnerist.

What i love about Elliot Carver and the Media-driven plot of TND's is that it seems each year it becomes more and more relevant with the ever rising power of the media. the majority of its plot is even more potent today then it was in 1997.

Agreed - just see the Leveson Enquiry into Phone hacking etc.

chrisisall

TND is REALITY couched in a single symbolic maniac. Our world is drenched in disinformation (particularly here in the States), and Elliot Carver was merely a stand-in for an assorted array of elected/appointed public officials & private media mouthpieces. TND may be one of the most politically aware Bond movies ever made (along with QOS).

Silhouette Man

chrisisall wrote:

TND is REALITY couched in a single symbolic maniac. Our world is drenched in disinformation (particularly here in the States), and Elliot Carver was merely a stand-in for an assorted array of elected/appointed public officials & private media mouthpieces. TND may be one of the most politically aware Bond movies ever made (along with QOS).

Agreed - TND is the TMFB of the continuation novels - James Bond (almost) meets Reality.

Silhouette Man

Any further interest on this one?

Its topicality as a subject matter cries out for a really great James Bond article to be written on it - which I, ahem, intend to write soon... -{

walther p99

Silhouette Man wrote:

Any further interest on this one?

Its topicality as a subject matter cries out for a really great James Bond article to be written on it - which I, ahem, intend to write soon... -{

i would love to read it!

chrisisall

Silhouette Man wrote:

which I, ahem, intend to write soon... -{

I'd like to read it as well! :007)

Agent82

Some people dismiss TND, but I like the villain, love the realism of the media control element, and generally rank TND as Brosnan's best film (and I do love Goldeneye, too). I like fiction that has that "ripped from the headlines" element.

chrisisall

^ You post how I feel. )

Agent82

chrisisall wrote:

^ You post how I feel. )

It does seem to be a recurring theme. Great minds think alike - all along the Eastern Seaboard (well, technically I'm in Southwest, Georgia and you are in Western Mass, so there is not much "sea" in our seaboard is there?). -{

chrisisall

Agent82 wrote:

there is not much "sea" in our seaboard is there?). -{

I can drive 90 minutes & drink seawater *cough*, how about you?

Agent82

chrisisall wrote:

Agent82 wrote:

there is not much "sea" in our seaboard is there?). -{

I can drive 90 minutes & drink seawater *cough*, how about you?

About the same - I have to drive to the Florida panhandle to hit sea water. It is a rarity that it happens - and then I always feel miserable and my wife consistently gets sunburned. Bah!