Bond movies still being relevent...

GoldenEye85 · March 2013

Did anyone else get the sense that Skyfall both in terms of the story and the movie itself was trying to prove that these films are still relevent after all these years and that there is still a need for them to make new ones?

I ask because in the years that it didn't seem like Skyfall was going to happen at all because of the MGM issues, that there seemed to be some chatter in various places online and other forums and such that maybe the Bond franchise has been dried up. Also the whole part of the story when M is trying to prove that her section is still relevent because the "enemies" aren't merely after extortion, or world domination for SPECTRE or Soviet Russia any more, but the man in a casual police uniform is behind the several instances that normal military or police are not trained to deal with.

I think Skyfall proves that the James Bond franchise, how ever you view it, which ever actor you like the best, still DOES prove it's relevence, and it does it with the different ways that the real world has changed.

What are your thoughts on this?

Firemass · March 2013

The smashing box office success proved James Bond is still relevant.

LastRatStanding · March 2013

Skyfall was more than just the highest grossing Bond film. It was in general the highest grossing British movie of all time! It's more relevant now than it has been in years! Here's to the next 50! -{

Thunderpussy · March 2013

I thought Skyfall was a Great Modern Thriller, Mixing the old Traditional elements.
with the New aspects of the reboot ( Keeping the good points of CR and dropping
The bad Ones from QOS )

If anything I regard It as a New Reboot, This is a Modern Bond Film, action with
a story and yes it is Relevent to todays audiences.
I'm really Happy with this Direction for the Bonds. -{

Blackleiter · March 2013

I second that!

Thunderpussy wrote:

I thought Skyfall was a Great Modern Thriller, Mixing the old Traditional elements.
with the New aspects of the reboot ( Keeping the good points of CR and dropping
The bad Ones from QOS )
If anything I regard It as a New Reboot, This is a Modern Bond Film, action with
a story and yes it is Relevent to todays audiences.
I'm really Happy with this Direction for the Bonds. -{

Napoleon Plural · March 2013

Dunno, I think it only works if you buy into the whole generic thing. It's too knowing. Someone coming new to a Bond film (unlikely I admit) probably wouldn't quite get it or see why they should empathise with Bond.

It's big on emotional subtext rather than any political insight, or satirical humour.

Thunderpussy · March 2013

I definitely Feel that the last Three Bonds have had More "Meat on the Bone"
Story and Character wise than Most since the 60's. I can Even forgive the
Producers and Crew for QOS, Because I can see they were trying to do
something with Bond's character.

Kent007 · March 2013

I think it's a film full of metaphor and symbolism about Bond being relevant still. The use of Tennyson, the painting of the ship etc. are all meant to show how Bond and MI6 are still relevant, just like the films are

chrisisall · March 2013

Firemass wrote:

The smashing box office success proved James Bond is still relevant.

That's a bottom line one cannot ignore.

raptors_887 · March 2013

I thnk the Bond films were starting to turn irrelevent after DAD. Like myself for example, I skipped watching Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace all together because I thought it was just going to be the same crap like the end of the Brosnan era. Little did I know Daniel Craig has totally given new life to the series. If Casino Royale turned out to be another flop I don't even think you would have QoS or Skyfall right now.

CmdrAtticus · March 2013

Skyfall wasn't only about the Bond series being relevant, it was about human beings still being relevant in a world were more security and intel is being done with computers (look at the use of drones, cameras, satellites, cell phones, etc). They just used this as a nice touch to show how agents like Bond were still needed, no matter how high tech society gets. As Bond proves, most tech is dumb - it only does what it's programmed to do and when there's a situation that crops up it's not programmed to handle, it's useless, whereas a human can adapt to the crisis and change gears to handle the situation.

chrisisall · March 2013

That was the best thing about the movie for me.

Blackleiter · March 2013

That sums it up quite nicely! -{

CmdrAtticus wrote:

Skyfall wasn't only about the Bond series being relevant, it was about human beings still being relevant in a world were more security and intel is being done with computers (look at the use of drones, cameras, satellites, cell phones, etc). They just used this as a nice touch to show how agents like Bond were still needed, no matter how high tech society gets. As Bond proves, most tech is dumb - it only does what it's programmed to do and when there's an situation that crops up it's not programmed to handle, it's useless, whereas a human can adapt to the crisis and change gears to handle the situation.

Silhouette Man · March 2013

Yes, James Bond changes accordingly to the times that he is in and as such the films remain highly relevant. The proof for this is in the way that Skyfall struck a chord with movie audiences worldwide, making it the most successful James Bond film ever in the franchise's history.

Moore Than · March 2013

Silhouette Man wrote:

Yes, James Bond changes accordingly to the times that he is in and as such the films remain highly relevant. The proof for this is in the way that Skyfall struck a chord with movie audiences worldwide, making it the most successful James Bond film ever in the franchise's history.

I wonder how much of that related to the 50th anniversary and the Olympics stunt with the Queen? Made it more of an event/must see film. I am sure Skyfall would have been a big success otherwise, but would it have made over a billion dollars at the box office to become the most successful James Bond film of all? I doubt it somehow.

chrisisall · March 2013

Moore Than wrote:

but would it have made over a billion dollars at the box office to become the most successful James Bond film of all? I doubt it somehow.

The message of the movie is INCREDIBLY relevent to today's world & its people though, that humans matter more than hardware or software... that's the real power of SF IMO.

CmdrAtticus · March 2013

Yes, and it's obvious how they stressed it throughout the film - for example, Bond only get's the special Walther and the radio. Both may be old tech (the palm grip id has been around for quite a while), but it's all thats needed. It harks back to the good old days of a trick briefcase and you noticed they used the old Aston on purpose so he could use the machine guns at Skyfall. Yes they
could have shown them in a new Aston, but they just threw that in for nostalgia of course. These things are a far cry from invisible cars and lasers in the wheels and jet packs, etc, but they work, and they work only because a human makes them work. I'd love to see a moment in a future film where Bond gets something from Q that doesn't work and he gets out of the situation anyway using his cunning. It would be nice to even see him use his
watch as a knuckle duster.

Bond movies still being relevent...

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