The 'Pulp Fiction' aspect of James Bond

chrisisall

One thing I take away from reading the novels is the, heh heh, 'Devil may care' attitude he had when writing them. As if he wrote them to entertain himself mostly, and a larger audience secondarily. As the film versions were made, this small focus became a bit bigger, but even GF & TB had that indie feel to them. YOLT was a big change in that it felt like a BIG studio film. As much as I love it, I think it took bond away from the dirty gritty world of the lower budget 'Pulp Fiction' feel of it.
Similarly, TSWLM & MR, and OP turned Bond Movies into large events.
Movies like TLD, LTK & (to a smaller extent) GE brought back the 'budget' Bond that I believe worked for us so well.

Bottom line, I feel that large budgets hurt Bond movies. Bond was meant to be smallish, intense & a bit outside the norm.

Thoughts on this?

Firemass

chrisisall wrote:

Bond was meant to be smallish

hmm ! Interesting that someone would think that.

I can see your point thought. Personally, I enjoy the dynamic range of the Bond series and the fluctuating styles and budgets.

Thunderpussy

I don't think it was the big budget that, gave us some of the weaker
Films. I'd put it down to the idea that each Bond film had to be bigger
And more "out landish " than the last, along with having to have bigger
and sometimes "sillier" gadgets.
Usually these outlandish film are followed by better ? More down to earth
Movies. -{ as the film makers realise they've gone too far.
By the way I thought GoldenEye had a very healthy budget.

Napoleon Plural

I agree, chrisisall. For me, the film Pulp Fiction feels more like a Bond movie than most recent Bond films. The colour is satuated, the characters are larger than life and all are griping at each other, taking each other on a bit, even Jules and Vincent, who are friends. It has that macho slant, much like Connery who was always taking someone on, not just physically but psychologically.

P Fiction feels like an action film as there is always something going on but there is no action really in the form of car chases and fist fights even. That is like early Bond, they had everything to keep you on your toes: great music, wit, a change of scene, great characters esp villains and the sense that anything might happen within a realistic framework. Belatedly the Bonds became a franchise, a bit like the continuation novels.

AlphaOmegaSin

With that Logic, I suppose you can call the Bourne Films similar to Bond as well -{

superado

Chrisisall, when you mention "pulp fiction," you are refering to the general meaning of it, right, not the movie, "Pulp Fiction"? I agree that the charm of the books was how Fleming wrote primarily for his own pleasure and not trying to make anything grand or impressive about them. This is why the film series can never fully capture that charm, though as you said some have managed to at least capture the essence when the distraction of a grand production doesn't become a factor.

chrisisall

superado wrote:

Chrisisall, when you mention "pulp fiction," you are refering to the general meaning of it, right, not the movie,

Yes, you got what I was on about. Great post!

Silhouette Man

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

With that Logic, I suppose you can call the Bourne Films similar to Bond as well -{

Though now with the Craig era Bonds many say it is the other way around, AOS! )

AlphaOmegaSin

Especially those on CRAIGISNOTBOND 8-)

Silhouette Man

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

Especially those on CRAIGISNOTBOND 8-)

Yes, the bloody imbeciles! )

chrisisall

The subject of this thread is also why, I believe, that QOS is my favourite so far of Craig's movies. It has that slightly 'unfinished' feel to it that makes it seem like a lower budget (I know it wasn't, but a lot of dough was wasted) rushed production, and I like that.

Thunderpussy

So you like things that are un.............. )

Silhouette Man

chrisisall wrote:

The subject of this thread is also why, I believe, that QOS is my favourite so far of Craig's movies. It has that slightly 'unfinished' feel to it that makes it seem like a lower budget (I know it wasn't, but a lot of dough was wasted) rushed production, and I like that.

I like QoS too (don't shoot me, please!), and I get what you mean here. It of course was rushed what with the 2008 Writer's Strike hitting it hard and the script being polished/written by director Marc Forster and the star Daniel Craig neither of whom were of course professional screenwriters. They also ran out of time, hence the unfinished feel to QoS. I do hope that they continue the Quantum part of the storyline of QoS in Bond 24 though.

Thunderpussy

I've come round to thinking ( I thought I'd give it a go) )
I hated QOS ! and ignored the advise given to me by other
Much smarter members. -{ To go back and read the books !
I didn't do it for ages, kept thinking " they couldn't be right" .
Eventually, I did go back and re-read the books, this time
In order ( in fact I've just finished all the Fleming's and have
Started Col Sun). Now comes my big Epiphany, ) Those
Members knew what they were talking about, -{
From reading the books, I began to appreciate QOS. I could see
It is a visual representation of the excitement and pace of the novels.
They move along at a breakneck speed, with Bond as a blunt instrument.
Disliking what many parts of his job entails, but taking a pride in doing
It well.
Now that I understand that, I'm a happy camper again. ) Yes it probably
Would have helped, not to of had the writer's strike etc, but with every viewing
It climbs a little higher on my Bond film list. -{

chrisisall

Thunderpussy wrote:

with every viewing
It climbs a little higher on my Bond film list. -{

That's nice to see. -{

Hey- here's an antithetical subdivision to this thread:
Favourite BIG Budget Bonds....
I like the smaller ones best, but here are my fave big boys in the budget department:

YOLT
TND
QOS

always shaken

talking of Pulp fiction, the chapter "the slaughterer " in DR NO would, if turned into film ,would certainly be
worthy of any Tarantino film ,

superado

chrisisall wrote:

The subject of this thread is also why, I believe, that QOS is my favourite so far of Craig's movies. It has that slightly 'unfinished' feel to it that makes it seem like a lower budget (I know it wasn't, but a lot of dough was wasted) rushed production, and I like that.

Agreed, QoS resonates with me on so many level, one of them being the way how most people treat it like their ugly step-child. It was so un-Bond, so rough and tumble and thinking about this topic, so fantastical without being too stupendous in the YOLT/TSWLM scale, like the use of an old DC3 with Bond and girl base-jumping into a cavern, a nearly deserted solar hotel in the Bolivian wasteland, the high-powered cocktail party in that derelict building, the stealing of a tux at that weird opera, Bond's meeting with Leiter in that dive within a tenament...all vividly textured stuff you'd expect to read in a cheap pocket book from the grocery check-out counter.

BIG TAM

I too like the lower budget feel of QOS, even though it's obviously a large scale affair. It shares similar qualities with LTK. It feels taut & satisfies with every viewing - heck, I don't even mind the shaky camera stuff anymore! It has a unique feel that's difficult to describe. I anticipate it'll be re-appraised in years to come, much like OHMSS is now.