Written in 1999
May 5, 1999
Persuasion Draft #2
What makes James Bond (a.k.a. 007) James Bond? He always comes out on top, he works alone, he’s ruthless, he gets the girl, and he’s got the gadgets.
Bond never works with a sidekick. He can do anything, as long as he is alone. In the beginning of Goldeneye, he is on a mission with 006. 006 gets captured and not far into the movie he has betrayed Bond and is on a personal vendetta to kill him. Since Bond is working alone through the rest of the movie, he manages to track down 006 and save the world, along with himself.
James Bond has a license to kill, and he uses it. He does not kill anyone unnecessarily, but he also does not think twice about killing anyone if he thinks it’s time for them to die. He kills them whatever way is most spectacular, and gets them out of the way as quickly as possible. The directors of the movies were fairly discreet, they don’t show too much blood, but if someone needs to die, you will know they are dead.
James has one main girl per movie. The point of a Bond girl is to sit in the corner and look pretty, sighing, “Oh James!” every once in a while. She has one or two skills that James needs in the particular movie, and she keeps away from the bad guys just long enough to use them. In For Your Eyes Only the girl knows more about the terrain, so she gets James to where he needs to be. He does the rest of the work both before and after she has her moment, finding the bad guy, finding (and falling in love with) the girl, catching the bad guy in an improbable (but indispensable) car chase, saving the world, and saving the girl.
Double-oh-seven is supplied with all the latest technology by Q, the only character who has been played by the same actor in every Bond movie. He always has a car with all the extra features, most of which are used in the car chase. Sometimes the car floats, sometimes it flies, but it always goes faster than the speed limit. In addition to the car he has a host of other gadgets, several per movie: a stun-gas key chain (The Living Daylights), a camera ring (A View to a Kill), and artificial skin fingerprints (Diamonds are Forever). He uses them all, as they are magically suited exactly to his mission.
None of these things is true in the newest Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies. Bond works with a female sidekick who does about half of the fighting as well as much of the detective work. The only gadget 007 gets is the car, and that is used up in the chase.
Bond is a sexist male chauvinist. It’s part of his “charm.” In Tomorrow Never Dies he fights, however reluctantly, alongside a girl: Wai Lin. Their skills are matched: while they are evading their captors, Wai Lin kicks just as many guys in the gut as Bond does. Bond would not have escaped without her help. Later, when Bond would have used one of her hairpins, she beat him to it, and pulled out one of her earrings and picks the lock on their handcuffs. When she gets captured in the end she still manages to help Bond complete the mission by throwing him necessary explosives.
In Tomorrow Never Dies James Bond seems almost squeamish about killing people. He is not a ruthless, rugged killer as in the other movies. He kills quite a few people, but only two of them die spectacular deaths. A metal crunching torpedo eats one, and the other is burned alive by a missile taking off. It is easy to forget that he even killed anyone else, their deaths were masked by other dramas happening at the same time.
James does not dedicate himself to one girl for the duration of the movie. He has a total of three throughout, and he only saves one of them from the bad guys. First he has a Danish girl, who is peripheral. Then he has an affair with the bad guy’s wife, Parris to get information. Lastly he has Wai Lin. Wai Lin, the main girl, somehow manages to resist James until the very end of the movie, with a feminist pride that no other Bond girl has. She also participates in the mission more than any other Bond girl. She uses her skills continuously, and never once sighs, “Oh James!”
Double-oh-seven’s gadgets are all contained within his car in Tomorrow Never Dies. The cell phone that comes with the car has a few more features that your average cell phone: a fingerprint scanner, a universal key, and a shocking device, but they are all used in the same scene, the one just before the car chase. All the other fighting and detective work is done without gadgets or with pitch black army-issue weapons and equipment. Q presents the car to 007, but he just skims over the extra buttons on the cell phone, so we don’t really know what it is capable of until they are used.
Tomorrow Never Dies contains only one of the five main characteristics that define James Bond: he comes out on top. It is not a good example of a James Bond flick because it does not represent these defining attributes.
There you have it.
I think I cut down my list of "required elements" so I could support each one with specific points within the page limit of the essay.
Every Bond movie must have: James Bond winning, working alone, having one Bond girl (who has only one or two skills Bond doesn't), the gadgets, a car chase, either an underwater, space, or ski scene (or both), Q (preferably played by Desmond Llewellen), Moneypenny, M, and must have the surname Broccoli in the credits. I probably forgot a couple. Oh, the Walther PPK, an Astin Martin, and the Vodka Martini (usually).
Tomorrow Never Dies should not count as a Bond film, nor should The World is Not Enough. Casino Royale (Craig, 2006) is excused from some of these elements due to its status as a prequel.
Persuasion Draft #2
What makes James Bond (a.k.a. 007) James Bond? He always comes out on top, he works alone, he’s ruthless, he gets the girl, and he’s got the gadgets.
Bond never works with a sidekick. He can do anything, as long as he is alone. In the beginning of Goldeneye, he is on a mission with 006. 006 gets captured and not far into the movie he has betrayed Bond and is on a personal vendetta to kill him. Since Bond is working alone through the rest of the movie, he manages to track down 006 and save the world, along with himself.
James Bond has a license to kill, and he uses it. He does not kill anyone unnecessarily, but he also does not think twice about killing anyone if he thinks it’s time for them to die. He kills them whatever way is most spectacular, and gets them out of the way as quickly as possible. The directors of the movies were fairly discreet, they don’t show too much blood, but if someone needs to die, you will know they are dead.
James has one main girl per movie. The point of a Bond girl is to sit in the corner and look pretty, sighing, “Oh James!” every once in a while. She has one or two skills that James needs in the particular movie, and she keeps away from the bad guys just long enough to use them. In For Your Eyes Only the girl knows more about the terrain, so she gets James to where he needs to be. He does the rest of the work both before and after she has her moment, finding the bad guy, finding (and falling in love with) the girl, catching the bad guy in an improbable (but indispensable) car chase, saving the world, and saving the girl.
Double-oh-seven is supplied with all the latest technology by Q, the only character who has been played by the same actor in every Bond movie. He always has a car with all the extra features, most of which are used in the car chase. Sometimes the car floats, sometimes it flies, but it always goes faster than the speed limit. In addition to the car he has a host of other gadgets, several per movie: a stun-gas key chain (The Living Daylights), a camera ring (A View to a Kill), and artificial skin fingerprints (Diamonds are Forever). He uses them all, as they are magically suited exactly to his mission.
None of these things is true in the newest Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies. Bond works with a female sidekick who does about half of the fighting as well as much of the detective work. The only gadget 007 gets is the car, and that is used up in the chase.
Bond is a sexist male chauvinist. It’s part of his “charm.” In Tomorrow Never Dies he fights, however reluctantly, alongside a girl: Wai Lin. Their skills are matched: while they are evading their captors, Wai Lin kicks just as many guys in the gut as Bond does. Bond would not have escaped without her help. Later, when Bond would have used one of her hairpins, she beat him to it, and pulled out one of her earrings and picks the lock on their handcuffs. When she gets captured in the end she still manages to help Bond complete the mission by throwing him necessary explosives.
In Tomorrow Never Dies James Bond seems almost squeamish about killing people. He is not a ruthless, rugged killer as in the other movies. He kills quite a few people, but only two of them die spectacular deaths. A metal crunching torpedo eats one, and the other is burned alive by a missile taking off. It is easy to forget that he even killed anyone else, their deaths were masked by other dramas happening at the same time.
James does not dedicate himself to one girl for the duration of the movie. He has a total of three throughout, and he only saves one of them from the bad guys. First he has a Danish girl, who is peripheral. Then he has an affair with the bad guy’s wife, Parris to get information. Lastly he has Wai Lin. Wai Lin, the main girl, somehow manages to resist James until the very end of the movie, with a feminist pride that no other Bond girl has. She also participates in the mission more than any other Bond girl. She uses her skills continuously, and never once sighs, “Oh James!”
Double-oh-seven’s gadgets are all contained within his car in Tomorrow Never Dies. The cell phone that comes with the car has a few more features that your average cell phone: a fingerprint scanner, a universal key, and a shocking device, but they are all used in the same scene, the one just before the car chase. All the other fighting and detective work is done without gadgets or with pitch black army-issue weapons and equipment. Q presents the car to 007, but he just skims over the extra buttons on the cell phone, so we don’t really know what it is capable of until they are used.
Tomorrow Never Dies contains only one of the five main characteristics that define James Bond: he comes out on top. It is not a good example of a James Bond flick because it does not represent these defining attributes.
There you have it.
I think I cut down my list of "required elements" so I could support each one with specific points within the page limit of the essay.
Every Bond movie must have: James Bond winning, working alone, having one Bond girl (who has only one or two skills Bond doesn't), the gadgets, a car chase, either an underwater, space, or ski scene (or both), Q (preferably played by Desmond Llewellen), Moneypenny, M, and must have the surname Broccoli in the credits. I probably forgot a couple. Oh, the Walther PPK, an Astin Martin, and the Vodka Martini (usually).
Tomorrow Never Dies should not count as a Bond film, nor should The World is Not Enough. Casino Royale (Craig, 2006) is excused from some of these elements due to its status as a prequel.