From superhuman to Human

Osmir, I suggest you DO read the novels, because then you'd see that the screenwriters were being anything BUT disrespectful to Fleming.  His Bond endures some form of torture in almost every one of the novels--the torture scene with Le Chiffre in the film is changed only in that Le Chiffre uses a piece of rope instead of a carpet beater, as he does in the Fleming version--he falls in love, he endures emotional wounds, and he makes mistakes.  Fleming wrote about a human being who occasionally does extraordinary things, not a superhero who always saves the day--and never breaks a sweat doing it!

Besides, it's the same writers as the last few films...

Why not read a few of the Ian Fleming novels the movies you've seen and liked were based upon?But please,no  novelizations of 007 movies by other authors.

The first 4 Sean Connery movies (Dr No,From Russia With Love,Goldfinger and Thunderball),are each remarkably faithful to the books they're based on--in fact,much more so than the new Casino Royale movie is to it's source material.On Her Majesty's Secret Service is another close adaptation of a Ian Fleming novel,too.Why not give them a try?You might actually like them!

Of course the Fleming books and the EON movies are obviously separate entities--and that's what makes them interesting.And when the filmmakers closely adapt a Fleming story,I find that a reason to celebrate.

If the only 007 you enjoy is the nearly superhuman version Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan usually played(and Sean Connery played in You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever )that's okay,but you're really missing out on some excellent stories.:)

And NO--not all of the 007 novels involve torture,but the literaryJames Bond isn't a perfect man.In fact,Bond generally makes  a few mistakes, but he still finds a means to overcome his adversaries.I think that's what makes him much more interesting and heroic than if he was an invulnerable superhero, knew everything about everything,had an endless number of gadgets,just walked through a mission, and never got a hair out of place.The James Bond of the novels isn't a videogame hero either--he has considerably more depth than that.

If you like seeing movies pitting James Bond against Blofeld and SPECTRE, then you might enjoy  Ian Fleming's "Blofeld Trilogy":

1)Thunderball,

2)OHMSS

and

3)You Only Live Twice

(to be read in this order only--because this is the way Fleming intended.It's one long adventure).

Be aware that aside from some character names and its location,the You Only Live Twice movie bears absolutely no resemblance to the book---and the book's much better.:)

Last edited by Willie Garvin (16th Aug 2008 05:17)

It seems to me that Craig's Bond does have a conscience (except for sleeping with married women) the literary interpretation most assuredly did.

Bond is tortured in The World Is Not Enough too. I've read some of the books and it does happen sometimes but not always. It isn't the main feature except in Casino Royale book and film.