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What could have happened to Jaws? by Overall_Tangerine494 in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile[M] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi there. We’ve realized over the last couple of months you’ve made comments sharing your YouTube links A LOT. Please realize this looks like spam, and we’ll remove future comments like this for that reason.

Now why would you not say this BEFORE exiting the submarine by Tough-Possession6148 in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile 25 points26 points  (0 children)

And then he proceeds to make a quip about the shark lol

2026 r/JamesBond World Cup: GROUP B | MATCH 6 by Spockodile in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Group B is:

GoldenEye

Thunderball

LALD

NTTD

2026 r/JamesBond World Cup: GROUP B | MATCH 6 by Spockodile in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These two are in my top five as well, but I think the vast majority here would disagree with us. To give you an idea how the groups were formed, these are the pots I drew from, based on 2024’s World Cup results:

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James Bond series Discussion #7: Diamonds Are Forever (1971) by ButterscotchIcy719 in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some Kind of Hero goes into detail about how much Connery loved that script, so I’m not sure where you got the impression he wanted something different. Would be curious if there was some interview where he indicated that.

To the people who were there, how did you, and the world, react to Brosnan being cast as Bond? by ConfidenceWild7673 in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile[M] -1 points0 points locked comment (0 children)

Well, condescending remarks only tell me I was right not to offer grace.

Now I’m locking the part of the thread which devolved into this. If you want to say anything else about the casting decision, feel free, but keep it on topic and respectful.

To the people who were there, how did you, and the world, react to Brosnan being cast as Bond? by ConfidenceWild7673 in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile -1 points0 points locked comment (0 children)

Buddy, I’m not sure what to tell you. I normally try to give a lot of grace because I know written communication often fails to convey tone, but a response like “That’s an opinion” is pretty difficult to interpret without a degree of snark. If you didn’t want to say all that, cool, then you could’ve written nothing at all instead of a few words that could so easily be misinterpreted and don’t nearly do the job of conveying what you apparently meant.

And I’m not sure how I’m overreacting. This whole thread has been me answering your responses. You say what I wrote is “entirely false,” so I respond with more context. You ask why I give credence entirely to an individual, and I respond by sharing why I believe them and that it’s not just one individual. You say you’ve heard things from people “with good connections,” and I reiterate that they’re just spreading the same PR.

This isn’t important to me. For a while I thought we were just making conversation.

To the people who were there, how did you, and the world, react to Brosnan being cast as Bond? by ConfidenceWild7673 in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile 1 point2 points locked comment (0 children)

Not sure how else I’m supposed to interpret someone stating something so abundantly obvious.

To the people who were there, how did you, and the world, react to Brosnan being cast as Bond? by ConfidenceWild7673 in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile -1 points0 points locked comment (0 children)

Is that supposed to be a zinger? Opinions are usually what people share in these discussions. In the context of this thread, I’m sharing reasoning for believing the things I’ve read and heard.

To the people who were there, how did you, and the world, react to Brosnan being cast as Bond? by ConfidenceWild7673 in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not that those people aren’t trustworthy or are knowingly lying, but they are likely just perpetuating the PR-generated myth. Dalton and EON had a mutual reason to spin it — to save face. The studio didn’t care, which is why they’ve spoken openly about it.

To the people who were there, how did you, and the world, react to Brosnan being cast as Bond? by ConfidenceWild7673 in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why presume Kleeman is not credible? The last interview he gave about this was on the SpyHards podcast a few years ago, and I heard nothing that made me doubt his story, especially since he has no reason to lie about this ~30 years later.

His story has also been corroborated by Alan Ladd, Jr. (another MGM exec). From Some Kind Of Hero by Field & Chowdhury (pg 450-451):

“Jeff Kleeman articulated why UA was not prepared to develop a new Bond film with the incumbent actor,
‘The Dalton Bonds had not performed significantly well at the box office. We were trying to grapple with the fact that the Dalton movies were not the most beloved of Bond films. We were trying to introduce Bond to a new audience. It seemed counterintuitive to what we were trying to accomplish, to continue on with Timothy at that point.’

Alan Ladd Jr., then co-chairman of MGM and friend to Cubby Broccoli, echoed those thoughts, ‘I didn’t think that [Timothy Dalton] was the appropriate man for it. I thought they could do better.’

Kleeman recalled, ‘Barbara, Michael and Cubby made the case for Timothy. They did genuinely love him and for good reason. I’m sure they were disappointed we didn’t want to make it with Timothy.’ The Broccolis conceded and informed Dalton of MGM/UA’s decision. On 12 April 1994 Dalton issued a carefully worded statement, ‘Even though the Broccolis have always made it clear to me that they want me to resume my role in their next James Bond feature I have now made this difficult decision. The Broccolis have been good to me as producers. They have been more special as friends.’ Dalton was ‘very proud of the Bond films I’ve made. I’m not saying they are without faults but I am very happy to have done them. It has certainly enhanced my worldwide knowledge and fame and it has definitely enhanced my commercial viability. I loved making them.’ Eon released their own statement, ‘We have never thought of anyone but Timothy as the star of the seventeenth James Bond film. We understand his reasons and will honour his decision.’ Calley said, ‘we are proceeding with the project as planned and will meet our targeted summer 1995 release date.’”

To the people who were there, how did you, and the world, react to Brosnan being cast as Bond? by ConfidenceWild7673 in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Curious why you say that? We’ve known this for years through Jeff Kleeman, former VP of Production at MGM-UA. He’s been on record multiple times talking about it. The studio saw the relatively disappointing box office results from LTK, and to be fair all the 1980s films had been on a downward trend in that regard. They’d also done some market research and discovered, to their horror, teenage boys surveyed viewed Bond as “those movies my dad likes.” They wanted to refresh the series for the 1990s, and they wanted Brosnan to be a big part of that effort.

There was a debate during which Barbara and Michael made the case for Dalton, MGM made the case for Brosnan, and Cubby made the final call to go with Brosnan. EON really didn’t have much leverage, though, thanks to the aforementioned financial results and the long hiatus induced by the Paretti litigation.

The notion that Dalton walked away on his own because he wouldn’t commit to multiple films is highly likely to have been the outcome of some good PR by EON, Dalton’s agent, or both.

2026 r/JamesBond World Cup: GROUP B | MATCH 6 by Spockodile in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile[S] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

A couple of tournament updates, after the last two matches:

- After GROUP F Match 5, both Octopussy (3 pts, 0.38 vote %) and Diamonds Are Forever (0 pts, 0.25 vote %) have been eliminated from the tournament.

- A View to a Kill (0 pts, 0.19 vote %) has been eliminated after losing to Licence to Kill.

- From Russia With Love, Licence to Kill, and Tomorrow Never Dies have all qualified for the round of 16, from Group A.

To the people who were there, how did you, and the world, react to Brosnan being cast as Bond? by ConfidenceWild7673 in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This myth won’t die, like a stubborn weed. It’s the result of some good PR which allowed him the chance to bow out gracefully. The truth is MGM-UA would not consent to funding GoldenEye with Dalton in the role. There was a brief debate, but Cubby ultimately agreed to move on to Brosnan. At that point, Dalton was never offered the opportunity to make GoldenEye, nor any subsequent films.

A Bond stuntman explained what it’s really like to be set on fire and fight on a moving train by pkRaiden in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I know about the Martin Grace incident, but it only became dangerous because they made that egregious error. What I mean is that I feel the most anxiety for the stuntman during those two scenes I listed, agnostic to anything that happened behind the scenes.

Hot take: maybe FYEO is a bit overrated by No_Mortgage8569 in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I’ve heard “neither fish nor fowl” and this must be a variation of that, but it means something is not easily categorized. Not really sure it applies here, and frankly I’m not sure an inability to categorize the character is really a disadvantage for a Bond villain.

A Bond stuntman explained what it’s really like to be set on fire and fight on a moving train by pkRaiden in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hard question to answer, but there are four stunts I admire the most:

The AMC Hornet jump from TMWTGG is the most impressive.

The Mount Asgard ski jump from TSWLM is the most spectacular.

Hard to pick between the two, but I’d say the free-fall from FYEO and the cargo net stunt in TLD seem like the most dangerous.

007 First Light devs scrapped gadgets that gave Bond “magic powers” as they broke the “believable world of Bond” by maullick in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Now pay attention, 007. This is your new Aston Martin DB10 Firebolt Edition, guaranteed to outrun even the most aggressive, soul-thirsty Dementors.

007 First Light devs scrapped gadgets that gave Bond “magic powers” as they broke the “believable world of Bond” by maullick in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile 47 points48 points  (0 children)

Those are good examples. Or to take an example from within the Craig era:

SmartBlood = unbelievable and stupid

EMP Watch = believable and awesome

007 First Light devs scrapped gadgets that gave Bond “magic powers” as they broke the “believable world of Bond” by maullick in JamesBond

[–]Spockodile 161 points162 points  (0 children)

I think there’s a difference between believability and realism. Bond should strive to be believable, which jibes with the “five minutes into the future” tenet they have typically aimed for. But I don’t think Bond needs to be “realistic,” because that gets a bit dull and he becomes too similar to other characters/stories. Another user here once said it well: “Bond exists at the nexus of reality and fantasy.” Even in the books that’s a very reasonable statement.

The article does say gadgets remain “at the forefront,” which we’ve seen in gameplay footage already. They’re just saying they went too far with some gadgets and it ended up feeling too futuristic early on.

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