Are Bond Girls really important to the films?

EllCods7

I was having a discussion with my brother and we started talking about the significance of the Bond Girls. I believe that Bond girls play an important part in the Bond films, they are strong-willed, resourceful and of course glamorous. They are one of the many things that signify a Bond film. However, my brother said he thinks there could be a Bond film without a Bond girl!

Just wanted to find out other people's opinions. Could there really be a Bond film without a Bond girl?

Firemass

Skyfall had no Bond girl. (Unless you count M like some fans)

Matt S

Firemass wrote:

Skyfall had no Bond girl. (Unless you count M like some fans)

Skyfall had Sévérine.

Chriscoop

Matt S wrote:

Firemass wrote:

Skyfall had no Bond girl. (Unless you count M like some fans)

Skyfall had Sévérine.

And moneypenny, who was considered a bond girl until we learnt her full identity.
I also remember the rumblings that in qos bond only sleeps with one girl.

Matt S

Chriscoop wrote:

Matt S wrote:

Firemass wrote:

Skyfall had no Bond girl. (Unless you count M like some fans)

Skyfall had Sévérine.

And moneypenny, who was considered a bond girl until we learnt her full identity.

Not really. It's never a romantic relationship. It almost is, but it never goes beyond what Bond and Moneypenny did before. Not every female character has to be a Bond girl or femme fatale.

Chriscoop

The close shave scene etc eludes to her being a bond girl for me, and like I said once her full name is revealed it stops there. Does a female actress in a bond film have to have sex with bond to be labelled a bond girl?

Matt S

Chriscoop wrote:

Does a female actress in a bond film have to have sex with bond to be labelled a bond girl?

IMHO, yes. For instance, Camille is not a Bond girl. She's an ally who happens to be female.

Chriscoop

I don't consider camille a bond girl as bond makes absolutely no romantic or sexual overtures to her at all, where as with moneypenny in sf if she let him then things would have gone that way.

caractacus potts

some characters are so essential there would be no plot without them
eg Tatiana in From Russia or Tracy in OHMSS
even in some of the later film like Anya in The Spy or Elektra in The World Is Not Enough

some are mere eye candy who add nothing to the plot
eg Goodnight in Golden Gun

some were more crucial to the plot as Fleming imagined them but the filmmakers reduced them to more decorative purpose
eg Honey Rider Kissy Suzuki and Tiffany Case

also in several later films the Bondgirl is responsible for exposition, spelling out the technobabble of the villains plot: Holly Goodhead, Stacy Sutton, even the muchmocked Christmas Jones

its true the Craig films have largely dispensed with the convention of the BondGirl as we always knew her
by which I mean: I expect there to be a girl in the liferaft with Bond in the final scene, not just some female characters along the way
and its always better when said character is essential to the plot
we could say at least that the various Craig-girls who don't ever end up in the liferaft at the end are all necessary to advance the plot

Firemass

Matt S wrote:

Firemass wrote:

Skyfall had no Bond girl. (Unless you count M like some fans)

Skyfall had Sévérine.

Yeah, but that would be like if the only Bond girl in Moonraker was Corinne.

Revolver66

I love the Bond girls but honestly I think that you could easily make a Bond film without one. Casino Royale proved that you can have a Bond film without Q, gadgets and a Moneypenny, you could do just the same without a Bond girl. I am talking in terms of a one off film though. I think the Bond girls are a great part of the series and I would miss that element should they cease to be

welshboy78

Possible but pretty dull! )

Of course it would never happen simply due to marketing and promotion etc

Higgins

ok, let's keep that pc rubbish aside:

Main focus group for the 007 movies are heterosexual young men!

And they are interested in chicks!

Thinking that a Bond movie would be similar successful without a young attractive female role is just wishful thinking!

Now that I gave the definite reply, we can close this thread, thank you! {[]

Mcmadness

The bond girl aspect of the series is probably the part I least care about when it comes to these movies. I often just find myself skipping over those parts since its often them sticking to formula even at the detriment to individual films.

Mr_Osato

I think the Bond girls are a required 'tool' to re-establish Bond's sophistication, class and especially charm. It's what makes the character of Bond stand out in comparisson to other action heroes like Jason Bourne and Ethan Hunt for example.

zaphod99

Mr_Osato wrote:

I think the Bond girls are a required 'tool' to re-establish Bond's sophistication, class and especially charm. It's what makes the character of Bond stand out in comparisson to other action heroes like Jason Bourne and Ethan Hunt for example.

You make a very good point about the relationships setting Bond films apart. One of the weaknesses of recent times is the lack of charisma and chemistry, for me it's almost entirely absent and is sorely missed. Some discern it in the Bond Vesper relationship and I can see it on the Train, but for me it's mostly absent. QoS is interesting as the dynamic is unusual and I think there is an unrealised sense of chemistry there which suits the film.