Damon's Opinion of Bond Not Favourable

youknowmyname · January 2009

My mate sent this to me and then I found it on the Mi6 site. Can you believe him? It frustrates me sometimes why he has to say these things...I don't see Craig trash talking Bourne, only class from the Bond team as far as I see.

Anyways, sadness. Makes me not want to be such a Damon/Bourne fan.

http://www.mi6.co.uk/news/index.php?itemid=7306&t=mi6&s=news

On top of that, since there is a fourth book now do you think they will make a fourth film?

7289 · January 2009

Damon's a "putz". I wouldn't watch a Bourne movie - or any other flick with him in it if it was the only media available for the next 99 years!

Hardyboy · January 2009

I could swear Damon's said the exact same things before--especially the "they keep sticking to the same formula" crap. As if the Bourne movies don't follow the pattern of "go to a crowded location--have a chase--kill someone or do something else that will advance the plot and allow you to--go to a crowded location--have a chase. . ."

Loeffelholz · January 2009

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether some quotes are just recycled grist for the lazy journalist's mill, or fresh utterances of vapid miasma. In this case, it doesn't really matter 8-) Damon's made his opinion of James Bond---the character without whom there would be no Jason-Come-Lately^TM---very clear, but I would beg to differ on the arguable merits of that character versus 007...

I'm a fan of action films, adventure films, espionage films and thrillers, so I'm a fan of both of these franchises, but isn't it interesting that it's Bourne who continues to shoot spitballs at Bond, rather than the other way round? Perhaps I've missed something somewhere (and granted, I probably have ;% ), but I've yet to hear anyone from Eon step forward and slag Bourne. If anything, it's praise, and recognition of those films' merit---exemplified by their hiring of Bourne 2nd Unit man Dan Bradley.

It's ironic that Craig's Bond is so often lambasted for being a 'remorseless killing machine,' etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseaum, when in fact it's Jason Bourne who so ably fits that description. Other than self preservation and revenge, what is it that motivates him? For Damon, obviously it's better to kill simply because one has no sense of identity, or 'self'---and because he's been hard-wired and brainwashed to do so---than for reasons of duty to one's country, an embracing of the "mythical notion of St. George," to paraphrase Sir James Molony's most recent psychological evaluation of Our Hero...or professionalism and sublime panache :007)

Yes, I think they will grind out another Bourne or two...and I'll see them..but they'd better find a new way to motivate their man, or he's going to get very tired, very quickly. He's just not made of the same stuff B-)

Monza860 · January 2009

I've now lost respect for Damon, shame he made some good movies.

zig zag · January 2009

I read somewhere last week,that there will be a fourth bourne film,can't for the life of me think where this was tho.
With out bond there would be no bourne,mission impossible and all the other agent stuff out there.So shut yer GOB damon!!:(|)

Napoleon Plural · January 2009

It seems odd all this. I'd argue that Bourne is motivated mostly be people trying to kill him, it's a chase thriller akin (slightly) to The 39 Steps. That's fair enough, but I ran out of patience with it on the third film.

Loeffelholz · January 2009

Napoleon Plural wrote:

It seems odd all this. I'd argue that Bourne is motivated mostly be people trying to kill him

Yeah, that's the 'self preservation' bit I mentioned. A certain amount of that is to be expected in a spy thriller/action film, naturally---plus Bourne of course retaliating against the Evil Government Entity Who Wronged Him [yawn]. In order to keep Bourne interesting and relevant, however, I'd strongly recommend they come up with a new trick for their pony. Of course, he can't simply respond to some greater threat against his country, or civilization. That would be too...Bondian

|)

I enjoy the paradoxical nature of Damon's criticism: his gripes about 007 largely address the reason for the character's extraordinary longevity: a template that can be adapted to for different actors, tones and styles for changing times and audience tastes. Pretty cool B-)

I'm a big fan of the Trevanian novels "The Eiger Sanction" and "The Loo Saction"...in those, assassin Jonathan Hemlock is always blackmailed into coming out of retirement, but you can't do that forever---hence just the two books.

Napoleon Plural wrote:

...it's a chase thriller akin (slightly) to The 39 Steps. That's fair enough, but I ran out of patience with it on the third film.

Yup. It's a nifty premise for a rollicking trilogy of films, but...

youknowmyname · January 2009

Good thoughts boys. Especially Loeff, great insight into the fact that Damon is simply listing off some of the things that make the Bond character intriguing and the Bond franchise so respectful.

I too enjoy the Bourne movies (own all three and watch them regularly), but I do not think they are near the same par as Bond. They do not have the capability for Bond's longevity and I don't think are aces due to their premise per se (especially not in the third one), but due to their action grittiness and enjoyable acting. They will fizz out after four or five. Bond shall again live on. :007) Bourne is a flash in the pan, Bond a diamond in the rough.

I think it was Shirley Bassey who said 'diamonds are forever...they lustre on'

Willie Garvin · January 2009

I could care less about Matt Damon's opinion of James Bond.There's nothing fresh or unique about his comments.He's just parroting an argument I've seen and heard over the years--dating back to 1962 and the very beginning of the 007 film series(some literary critics were equally harsh with Fleming's novels).Comments such as Damon's almost always come from someone with little to no knowledge of the James Bond character in either the original Ian Fleming novels or the EON films.These are all very easy statements to make;and they will continue to exist as long as the movies are made and the novels remain on shelves in bookstores and libraries.Unfortunately,there will always be an audience for this viewpoint.This kind of attitude is very fashionable among certain groups of people who object to 007 in any form.And those folks usually haven't bothered to learn anything about 007--but despite their ignorance they know that he's a terrible character and a bad influence on people.

In all fairness,perhaps Matt Damon's opinion of 007 is exactly that--his personal opinion, and it was formed after having read some of Fleming's novels and having seen most of the movies.If that's the case,then it's just one man's opinion, and it's only as important as any of us choose to make it.Not everybody likes James Bond.

As for "originality" with Bourne?Well,the extensively revised version of the Jason Bourne character Damon's been playing, bears very little resemblance to the character Robert Ludlum created, and much more to the whims of various screenwriters.However, the name's the same and so are Ludlum's titles.Conversely,the Richard Chamberlain Bourne Identity miniseries is a considerably more faithful rendition of Ludlum's creation than any of the Bourne motion pictures.

This whole "Mine is better than yours because mine is more____"(fill in the blank to indicate some form of superiority),is all pretty stupid--as well as pointless--to me.

zaphod · January 2009

It's far more classy to operate like Craig and Eon have and not throw stones. I liked the first two Bourne movies (until they ran out of puff with the third) I also feel it's palpable and churlish to deny that they have had an influence on the Craig movies to date. That said the crucial difference (please forgive me as I have said this before) that nobody in their right mind would want to be Jason Bourne and live that hunted miserable life. With Bond it should be different as Bond is a figure that males at least deep down aspire to. He has a charisma that causes both characters and viewers to him.

Loeffelholz · January 2009

Damon would be better served, I think, by restricting his public utterances to those which have been carefully crafted for him by professional screenwriters.

JADE66 · January 2009

I've always thought Matt Damon to be nothing more than a foul mouthed pretty boy. I was singulary unimpressed by Good Will Hunting and by nearly every film he's made since; that Brothers Grimm fiasco, the Bourne films, Ocean's
11,12,13, etc.
His sour grapes reaction to Bond just goes further to prove what I've said all along:
Matt Damon is an overrated, over paid, under actor who makes Roger Moore look like Olivier.
Saving Private Ryan was his only good film and that's only because he was in so little of it.
All this might sound like a Bond fan's angry diatribe against a "rival" spy film franchise and perhaps to an extent, it is.
The fact remains that I have never been impressed
by Damon, an actor with no real range or even much personality.
Regardless of how I feel, or anyone else feels about this topic, one thing seems clear:
The simple fact is, in time, Matt Damon and the Bourne films, will be forgotten.
There will always be Bond.

Thunderbird 2 · January 2009

I don't know the actor, and I have not really got any inclination to see the Bourne films. (Esp if the editing inspired QofS's stunt splicing!!) If Mr Damon did make such comments, hes only shooting himself in the foot. Bond has been going fifty years. Its seen off xXx, (I ilked the first one!) and everyone will prob say the Bournes were "also rans" in the future.

Jealously is a terrible thing!

Ravenstone · February 2009

The Bourne films achieved closure with the last one, with Bourne finding out what an unpleasant piece of work he really was. The fourth story is apparently a 're-working' of another Ludlum story, with Bourne shoe-horned into it.

Cheap publicity gimmick much? 8-)

Obviously, Damon prefers an amnesiac character; a character so utterly unlikeable, even he tries to forget who he is.

Now, I like the Bourne films. I also like the Transporter films, and the first xXx was fun. Are they better than Bond? No, not really. They're all action films. I like action films. And most of them are pretty samey. Bond, however, is different, simply because it brings other elements together with the action.

Damon slagging off Bond just sounds like sour grapes, but quite what he's got to whine about, I'm not sure.

batester2005 · February 2009

i read it in 'the sun' newspaper. i couldnt believe it. i aint seen the bourne films and i wanted to. but if this c##t is the main actor i wont bother.

Walther PPK · February 2009

One thing is for sure, I am going to pass on the fourth Bourne movie.

I remember Vin Diesel said simalar things when XXX came out, and look what happened. That franchise is as dead as a door nail while Bond keeps on going.

By the way I personaly find the James Bond films to be more interesting then a series about some dummy who if he did not want to kill people should asked more questions rather than blindly jumping in with both feet.

obsessed27 · February 2009

That quote is sooo old. It must be a slow period of Bond news, so they are reprinting this. I think I may have seen Damon say this, and he was more describing the character than judging him. Anyway, I don't see the need to decide which one is better. We can be fans of both.

Mailfist · February 2009

I really like Matt Damon as an actor, and I love the Bourne movies but I wish he would stop dissing James Bond.

OK so Bond might be 'an imperialist and a misogynist who kills people and sips a martini and wisecracks about it' - thats one of the reasons why we love him.

On that basis of analysis Jason Bourne is an amnesiac paranoic who if it wasn't for the fact that he is very good at killing people would have no social skills whatsoever.

Maybe it is more to do with the fact that The Bourne Ultimatium (the most sucessfull of the franchise to date) took $442 million at the box office whereas CR took $594 million and QOS has taken $570 million to date.

At least Daniel Craig is showing the class befitting of Bond by refusing to get drawn into a slanging match with Damon.

obsessed27 · February 2009

Mailfist wrote:

OK so Bond might be 'an imperialist and a misogynist who kills people and sips a martini and wisecracks about it' - thats one of the reasons why we love him.

I think Pierce Brosnan is the one who had a great line about the 007 series: "Its strengths are also its weaknesses." Or was it the other way around?

)

obsessed27 · February 2009

BTW, Paul Greengrass has said the exact same things in describing James Bond. I think I heard him say those things in his audio commentary of The Bourne Supremacy...

Sweepy the Cat · April 2009

Damon is just one of a legion of far left wing, pretty boy, liberal nut jobs that talk the talk, but don't walk the walk. Other than Bond being more realistic and down-to-earth hasn't really copied Jason Bourne at all.