"The name's" or "My name is.."?

positivelyshocking · October 2006

Ok there are going to be some really cutting replies to this I am sure about how terribly sad and anal I am about good old 007.....but!

Ever since Mr Brosnan took over there seems to be a perception that 007 should introduce himself as follows "The name's Bond...James Bond" whereas my recollection of Connery, Lazenby and Moore was that they rather pointedly said "My name is Bond...James Bond" and this minor difference has irritated me ever since. I feel that Bond is a little less self aware than to say "The name" instead of "My name" and he seems less smug and more formal.

Imagine my consternation then when I see that one of David Arnold's pieces for Casino Royale is called "The name's Bond.. James Bond"!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhhhhhhhh!

(signed the pedantic git known as Positively Shocking!)

Asp9mm · October 2006

Maybe it's a statement, rather than being a direct line from the film.

positivelyshocking · October 2006

Good point Benskelly,

I think I have been conditioned by years of awful Sean Connery impersonators who (and I think we can all agree here) do that line with Connery's latter year "Lishp"! Which to my memory only started around NSNA.

I do remember Connery in DAF, Lazenby, Roger Moore in LALD, TMWTGG,MR & FYEO all say "my name".

Right that's it....I'm off for a quiet lie down where I can return to sanity.....maybe!!!!

Gassy Man · October 2006

There's never been absolute consistency about this anyway. Connery actually says, "Bond . . . James Bond" in reply to Trench's "Mr. . . " Dalton utters the same at the beginning of "The Living Daylights." No one is obligated to say it like Brosnan, any more than he was obligated to say it like Dalton or Connery or any other Bond.

Dan Same · October 2006

Regardless of how he says it, I hope that Craig relaxes and doesn't say it using such a formal manner. It's a great line, but it won't save him if his performance generally sucks.*

*No anti-Craig sentiment intended.

Loeffelholz · October 2006

Dan Same wrote:

Regardless of how he says it, I hope that Craig relaxes and doesn't say it using such a formal manner. It's a great line, but it won't save him if his performance generally sucks.*

*No anti-Craig sentiment intended.

I think the way this line is delivered in CR---and when it is delivered---will make all the difference...

:007)

Dan Same · October 2006

Loeffelholz wrote:

I think the way this line is delivered in CR---and when it is delivered---will make all the difference...

:007)

Hopefully. I have to say, and this pains me since I really don't like to say anything bad about him, but I felt that the way Brosnan delivered the line, particularly in TWINE (which incidentally I consider to be his best performance) was IMO far too self-aware and deliberate. I hope that Craig looks more towards the Connery DN/GF/TB school of delivering this line rather than the Brosnan/TWINE school. Because, as much as I hate to say it, I think the delivery of this line was a weakness of Brosnans.

Loeffelholz · October 2006

Dan Same wrote:

Loeffelholz wrote:

I think the way this line is delivered in CR---and when it is delivered---will make all the difference...

:007)

Hopefully. I have to say, and this pains me since I really don't like to say anything bad about him, but I felt that the way Brosnan delivered the line, particularly in TWINE (which incidentally I consider to be his best performance) was IMO far too self-aware and deliberate. I hope that Craig looks more towards the Connery DN/GF/TB school of delivering this line rather than the Brosnan/TWINE school. Because, as much as I hate to say it, I think the delivery of this line was a weakness of Brosnans.

I agree...

[watches for snipers] {:)

That was just his thing, though, and IMRO it was a component of his overall style. He was very popular---I enjoyed him as well---so who's to say what's right and what's wrong?

In CR, it's going to be a unique situation, because

...It only happens at the end of the film, just as we hear the Bond Theme for the first time...

and the temptation will definitely be there to make it a bit of an announcement, but perhaps Bond will have earned a bit of self-awareness by that point, by virtue of what's happened to him...nevertheless, I hope the delivery is restrained, but memorable---a tough note to hit, I'll grant you...

I'm dying to see how it plays out.

positivelyshocking · October 2006

Aaah that's better...I've had my lie down now.

Of course you chaps are absolutely right about this, we just need to hope he does it well in CR. I do agree with Dan Same about TWINE however, don't get me wrong I am not a Brosnan basher generally. He certainly made a great 007 during most of his films and I always feel that he looks the part.

Moonraker 5 · October 2006

benskelly wrote:

Is it when he shows up to meet Elektra for the first time?

Yup. "M told me she was sending someone. Mr..?"

i expect u2 die · October 2006

benskelly wrote:

I'm not just saying this because I liked Brosnan's performances - especially TWINE - but I honestly can't remember him saying THE line in that movie. Is it when he shows up to meet Elektra for the first time? Maybe so. In any case it didn't strike me as too arch or false. Maybe I just liked his style too much.

I can think of nothing worse than "The name's Band"....*lift shoots upwards*..."James Band", from the nuclear facility sequence.

Moonraker 5 · October 2006

i expect u2 die wrote:

I can think of nothing worse than "The name's Band"....*lift shoots upwards"..."James Band", from the nuclear facility sequence.

Is TWINE the only film he says it twice??

Edit: Just remembered he uses it twice in FYEO as well, so that'll be a no!

emtiem · October 2006

benskelly wrote:

I do think you could make that argument about the very first time he said it in GE. But then the pressure is on, isn't it? It's such a weighted moment. And I never liked the way Dalton just threw it away... Or I didn't BELIEVE him.

True- and Roger's Live and Let Die one was just as weighted. Can't blame them for overcooking it. I actually quite like Tim's delivery; he is, after all, just supposed to be a bloke saying his name.

emtiem · October 2006

I found that quite fun too. It's the eternal confusion I have between liking the playing-it-straight Bond (Tim's mumbled 'bomdjmzbond') and silly OTT fun Bond (Pierce's glitzy, fireworks laden, up-in-lights 'Bond <BOOM!WHOOSH> JAMES BOND! Yeah!Woo!' [yeahwoo added for effect]). I just can never decide which way of doing it I like best!

Loeffelholz · October 2006

emtiem wrote:

I found that quite fun too. It's the eternal confusion I have between liking the playing-it-straight Bond (Tim's mumbled 'bomdjmzbond') and silly OTT fun Bond (Pierce's glitzy, fireworks laden, up-in-lights 'Bond <BOOM!WHOOSH> JAMES BOND! Yeah!Woo!' [yeahwoo added for effect]). I just can never decide which way of doing it I like best!

) Love it {[]

In CR, I believe the fireworks and 'yeahwoo' will be plentiful when 'the line' occurs---in the audience :007)

As long as it's delivered with calm restraint---and a certain deadly self-assurance---it will be HUGE... -{

Dan Same · October 2006

benskelly wrote:

I'm not just saying this because I liked Brosnan's performances - especially TWINE - but I honestly can't remember him saying THE line in that movie. Is it when he shows up to meet Elektra for the first time? Maybe so. In any case it didn't strike me as too arch or false. Maybe I just liked his style too much.

Don't get me wrong, I adore Brosnan and I especially loved his performance in TWINE. I just have a problem with the way he delivered the line. I don't dislike the way he he delivered the line, but considering that Brosnan is my second favourite Bond, his delivery of the line does disappoint me, since IMO Connery and Moore (my third favourite Bond) delivered the line in a far superior manner.

benskelly wrote:

I do think you could make that argument about the very first time he said it in GE. But then the pressure is on, isn't it? It's such a weighted moment. And I never liked the way Dalton just threw it away... Or I didn't BELIEVE him.

I never liked the way Dalton delivered the line. However I am less disappointed with Dalton's delivery, since as I prefer Brosnan, my expectations and hopes regarding every aspect of Brosnan's performance are higher than with Dalton. Although, of the two, I prefer Brosnan's delivery. Dalton was IMO far too casual.

Dan Same · October 2006

To be honest, I don't mind the way any of the actors delivered the line. Yes, I have my preferences, but it still brings a smile to my lips everytime I hear the line. :007)

Although, diplomacy aside, I think there should be a middle ground between Dalton's far too casual delivery and Brosnan's (in TWINE) far too deliberate delivery. I would suggest that the middle ground was provided by Connery.

Never has the line been delivered better IMO than in the first four films (particularly DN and GF.)

*If I were to rank the Bonds in terms of delivery, for me it would be Connery, Moore, Brosnan, Dalton, Lazenby. I think that Connery and Moore were both superb in their delivery of the line, Brosnan was pretty good in some of his films but less so in others (I still think it's a weakness of his although it has never been a major concern of mine), and Dalton and Lazenby were both pretty disappointing. I would rank Dalton over Lazenby simply because I don't remember Lazenby's delivery of the line.

"The name's" or "My name is.."?

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