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Very easily: "Those shots have no substance". Happy to help. :)

Lol, Okay. Let me rephrase that.

Rich: why are those shots all mood and no substance? What is it about them? I'd like it you could elaborate on your opinion a bit.

Taken on their own, they are all fine shots, but a film is not just made up of fine shots, or good scores, or exemplary performances. It's more than that; there has to be a synergy, and I did not find that with "Skyfall".

There has to be a "connection" between the last shot, and the next shot. For me, that connection, was not established.

"Skyfall" is a good film; it's just not a good Bond film.

As for all this "offering insightful glimpses into Bond's payche" - bullshit. The man is a psychopath; a cold killing machine, that is devoid of any redeeming features, whatever so ever. The only "virtue" that Bond has, is that he is on "our side" (whatever that means).

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The man is a psychopath; a cold killing machine, that is devoid of any redeeming features, whatever so ever.

Well that's bullshit in itself. From Fleming through to the EON series, Bond has always had a heart and a soul. He's a profoundly sentimental and romantic man, despite his hard exterior. Seems like you're describing Red Grant, not Bond.

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To me Bond is just another action franchise, like Die-Hard and Lethal Weapon. There's good ones and there's shit ones, but I don't think about it too much. There's nothing prestigious about it or anything like that.

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The man is a psychopath; a cold killing machine, that is devoid of any redeeming features, whatever so ever.

Well that's bullshit in itself. From Fleming through to the EON series, Bond has always had a heart and a soul. He's a profoundly sentimental and romantic man, despite his hard exterior. Seems like you're describing Red Grant, not Bond.

This.

Bond lifted his mask. 'I feel like the bomb-aimer at Nagasaki.' 'Fish are cold-blooded. They don't feel anything.' 'How do you know? I've heard them scream when they're hurt.' Barbey said indifferently: 'They won't be able to scream with this stuff. It strangles them. What's eating you? They're only fish.' 'I know, I know.' Fidele Barbey had spent his life killing animals and fish. While he, Bond, had sometimes not hesitated to kill men. What was he fussing about? He hadn't minded killing the sting-ray. Yes, but that was an enemy fish. These down here were friendly people. People? The pathetic fallacy!

The cold heartless killing machine can't even kill a fish.

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I disagree with Richard.

And yet, his behaviour kind of fits the definition.

Karol

Tell that to Vesper, Tracy, Renee, or Felix. Bond is not a devoid of emotions man, and at times can get downright teary eyed and sincere. Hell, the whole point of Skyfall was that he wanted his humanity back, but when someone he cared for (M) was endangered, he came back to protect her.

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The best single defining moment of Bond's character in Fleming's novels. There is no argument here.

And yet why should he have expected anything else? A kiss. The contact of two frightened bodies clinging together in the midst of danger. There had been nothing more. And there had been the engagement ring to tell him. Why had he automatically assumed that it had only been worn to keep Drax at bay? Why had he imagined that she shared his desires, his plans? And now what? wondered Bond. He shrugged his shoulders to shift the pain of failure - the pain of failure that is so much greater than the pleasure of success. An exit line. He must get out of these two young lives and take his cold heart elsewhere. There must be no regrets. No false sentiment. He must play the role which she expected of him. The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette.

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I disagree with Richard.

And yet, his behaviour kind of fits the definition.

Karol

Tell that to Vesper, Tracy, Renee, or Felix. Bond is not a devoid of emotions man, and at times can get downright teary eyed and sincere. Hell, the whole point of Skyfall was that he wanted his humanity back, but when someone he cared for (M) was endangered, he came back to protect her.

The problems is, no matter what they do with all those films, Bond never seemed really appealing as a character to me. I watched films for their chutzpah and showmanship and few key ingredients, not for character.

Karol

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Obviously I'm looking forward to this and the news about production. Deakins won't be back, so I'm very curious who Mendes will recruit. I'm hoping Thomas Newman will return as well, as I think he really did a great job of transitioning Bond into the 21st century in a way that David Arnold never quite accomplished.

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I just think most of his work sounds generic and he doesn't know how to propely use that 60s John Barry sound. His music also doesn't feel like a logical progression of where Bond music had been going prior. John Barry himself had moved on away from what he did in the 60s. Even the progression seen in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE to ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE shows that his music was evolving, but Arnold insisted on bringing back that early 60s sound and at inappropriate moments. I'm thinking of bits like when the new airline in CR is leaving the hangar during the Miami Airport sequence, and Anrold scores that bit with blaring horns. It comes off awkward, much like the way he overused the Bond theme in the Brosnan films. TOMORROW NEVER DIES for example used the Bond theme more or less fifteen times, and for unremarkable moments like Bond simply driving to the government house. That kind of use of the Bond theme not only makes the film feel more like a paorody but that it also marginalizes the theme as if it wasn't something special. He doesn't use the theme as much in CR, which was refreshing, but nothing new is being brought to the table, which he promised back when CR started pre-production that it would introduce "a new sound". I suppose that "new sound" is simply ommitting the Bond theme, because for the most part it sounds like what we've already gotten in the Brosnan films.

But to give Arnold credit, he actually put out some good stuff in QUANTUM OF SOLACE. I have to assume this is due to Marc Forster actually involving himself more in the scoring process bringing something out of Arnold that we would have never heard earlier. Arnold still falls into the same generic trap at times like with "The Palio", but then he does something interesting like taking the Vesper theme from CR and actually improving it in "What Keeps You Awake" and "I Never Left". They not only work nice, but that they actually compliment the scenes they cover.

As much good as he did in QOS, I was relieved that somebody else was going get a crack at Bond. Arnold had done five Bond scores in a span of a decade, I think it's time to just let him go for good. At least he'll always have John Singleton and Michael Apted to fall back on.

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Maybe it's common for people who grew up on Barry's Bond scores to not like Arnold's. But I heard Arnold's before I ever heard a Barry score, let alone saw any of those old movies. I like Arnold's Tomorrow Never Dies the best, feel like he kinda his way with TWINE and DAD, then I liked CR too, but in a totally different way than TND.

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..............but Arnold insisted on bringing back that early 60s sound and at inappropriate moments. I'm thinking of bits like when the new airline in CR is leaving the hangar during the Miami Airport sequence, and Anrold scores that bit with blaring horns. It comes off awkward, much like the way he overused the Bond theme in the Brosnan films. TOMORROW NEVER DIES for example used the Bond theme more or less fifteen times, and for unremarkable moments like Bond simply driving to the government house. That kind of use of the Bond theme not only makes the film feel more like a paorody but that it also marginalizes the theme as if it wasn't something special.

A serious question as I don't know enough behind the scenes info regarding the score but is it common knowledge that it was Arnold who insisted on that sound returning and the overuse of the Bond theme or are the producers, directors to blame?

I do kind of agree with the second part though, it reminds me of the 'Raiders March' in last Crusade which almost always makes it feel like a parody to me.

Maybe it's common for people who grew up on Barry's Bond scores to not like Arnold's.

Not common at all really, just depends on the individual.

I've grown up with Bond since the mid/late 70s and Barry is my second favourite composer after Williams but I love most of Arnold's work for the franchise.

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TND was admittedly Arnold love song to John Barry bond music. But it really sounds much much more like Arnold then it ever sounded like Barry. And I happen to love the way he uses the Bond theme.

It has more of a 60's vibe then the film probably justifies, but it does bring the theme back to it's roots. I've always preferred it in a Big Band setting rather then the more traditionally orchestral setting of the later Barry films, feels a bit stodgy.

TWINE takes that 60's vibe and combines it with 90's techno. Which is something I think is rather brilliant. It's like a XTC version of The Living Daylights, with some fabulous action writing ranging from loud and brutal (Caviar Factory) to a bit more classy and refined (Pipeline).

DAD sort of continues with that idea, but it's hampered by a film which is turned up to 11. I enjoy the score, but it's so loud and in your face for most of the time.

Casino Royale does break some new ground, though it's still very much Arnold in Bond mode. Just like John Barry doing Bond always sounded as John Barry doing Bond. It has some fantastic action highlights. (African Rundown, Miami International) An excellent substitute theme for the Bond theme and solid romantic stuff. The music for a bunch of guys playing cards is the weak part.

While QoS might not reach the highpoints of Casino Royale, it also doesn't have the low points, it's far more even all the way though. There's some very distinctive low, guttural snarly brass writing in this score, and Vesper's theme now sounds like a painful memory. Some solid themes too.

A serious question as I don't know enough behind the scenes info regarding the score but is it common knowledge that it was Arnold who insisted on that sound returning and the overuse of the Bond theme or are the producers, directors to blame?

Remember that Eric Serra's score was almost universally hated. In many ways TND overcompensates for Goldeneye.

The score for TND always felt like a natural progression from the also very brassy License To Kill for me.

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Remember that Eric Serra's score was almost universally hated. In many ways TOD overcompensates for Goldeneye.

The score for TOD always felt like a natural progression from the also very brassy License To Kill for me.

Oh it is cut from a similar cloth but I don't think on a personal level Arnold reacted against that (Goldeneye), apparently being a fan of the score.

The producers on the other hand ....well who knows, we know what they can be like!

Temple of Doom?

No, Last Crusade.

Temple of Doom is perfect.

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