Bond bridging the gap in Skyfall, and many more.
By eileenleyva
@eileenleyva (27560)
Philippines
November 12, 2012 9:45pm CST
Before Jason Bourne, James Bond was my favorite spy. Dashing, exciting, licensed to kill. That's what Double OHHH meant to me when I watched the espionage saga of this most hailed British Secret Service. Aside from the auto and the gadgets, the women, the madmen, the skills, and the wonderful far away places (including space), 007 ushered my juvenile mind to a personal ism: character is just about what defines a man. James Bond, his ways might not exactly be my ways, but he has this will to serve in the call of duty, a sense of selflessness and sacrifice for a country he had sworn to give his life for. Lucky England!
All the years of moonraking, loving a spy, viewing for a kill, etecetra, my Bond boils down to just the sky falling?
SKYFALL. What is this? Another British terminology coined for the rest of the world to decipher?
So my sleuthing mind went to work as I admired Daniel Craig, the current James Bond. essay the most challenging role action flicks has ever created. His predecessors were tough acts to follow: Connery, Moore, Brosnan.
The plot was set today: the British Secret Service, MI6, had been infiltrated, the identities of the secret agents had been compromised, and the unit is under attack not by a megalomaniac madman, but by a silver shadow. No, that is not the silver lining that makes the clouds grey. Mr Silver, the shadow behind the hacking of the MI6 and the subsequent killings of the agents, turned out to be an agent, too, the one given up by M, in exchange for six agents. He survived the hydrogen cyanide inflicted on him, but swore to avenge his fate on M.
Skyfall, that is the projection visualized when the clouds are darkened, MI6 is about to fall, and James Bond, shot and presumed dead in the beginning of the story, had resurrected as the silver lining.
Metaphors are all over the movie, not just the title, and am sure the stag that guards the Bond manor is a symbol of agility that is Bond. The lights and shadows also stand to show contrast, as is the fire and ice of the burning mansion and the thin ice water.
Then there is Q, the imperceptible genius behind 007's toys. He is not an old man anymore rattling about detonator pens and arsenal car manuals, he is now a bushy haired nerd like kid reading monitors and tinkering pads as if he learned the alphabet the day he was born.
Moneypenny, M's secretary with whom Bond had an everlasting platonic love affair, had also taken a new persona in Eve, a dark-skinned gal who wanted field work, but yielded to Bond's advice, she is better off in a desk job.
In a way, Skyfall might be some form of retribution for M, for what does it benefit one organization when one of its own languishes in some forsaken den? In another way, Skyfall is a redemption for Bond, for in his effort to save M and the entire Secret Service, he brought himself back to the place he had hated, and dealt with the emotions of his past.
James Bond movies end to our satisfaction, our spy is victorious. But lest I be a complete spoiler for those who have not seen the latest Bond adventure, I won't describe the tragic end. But this flick is better watched on the silver screen, so go see it now.
And one more thing, before the closing credits of the film though, there is a note that says James Bond will return, as he always had, for the past fifty years. Of course he will, that's why Mallory is the new M.
Curious now? Go watch it.
3 people like this
6 responses
@rafiholmes (2896)
• Malaysia
14 Nov 12
SKYFALL..according to Ian fleming's original book..is the village where James Bond grew up and trained..and groomed by MI6 secretly in Scotland to become a secret agent..he is an orphan.
ive seen Skyfall..is a good film 8/10
2 people like this
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
14 Nov 12
That's the name of the deserted, God-forsaken childhood home of Bond? No wonder he was forever looking at the skies.
I was going to ask why he was commanded to bring the formidable opponent to Skyfall. I got it though, he knows his home more than anyone.
Thanks for the info. Wow, you still read Fleming.
@rafiholmes (2896)
• Malaysia
14 Nov 12
yes..bringing the fight back home to his backyard.. ..mm hence the word "Scotland yard"
no..i read them long time ago.. SKYFALL..QUANTUM OF SOLACE..are newly written for the movies not by fleming..
1 person likes this
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
14 Nov 12
I have wondered where that jail name came from!
Fleming, good reading, but a bit too difficult for me, I admit. Never got to the rest of the Bond books.
@anne25penn (3305)
• Philippines
13 Nov 12
I haven't watched Skyfall yet, and I heard that it is good. I'd probably get to watch it next week (if it's still in the theaters). Jason Bourne is a different person and no one can compare to Bond. It's like comparing Harry Potter to Twilight. But of all the actors who portrayed Bond, my favorite has always been Pierce Brosnan. I find him so elegant in a suit that has been unmatched so far with the new and older Bond actors.
From your synopsis, the story looks great because they have (finally) given the small characters more attention. In older Bond movies, Q and M would just have like less than five minutes total in the movie. Sometimes, you won't even get the gist what they were there for in the first place if you don't watch Bond movies.
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
14 Nov 12
My children grew up with Harry Potter, but vampires are not allowed in our world. Sorry, I can't compare.
The two JB characters are super spies, the best perhaps in their units. While we grew up with James Bond in the movies, Jason Bourne made himself knowb in a television series first, till someone thought it great for the big screen. The Bourne series though deal with the the lives and mental condition of the characters, not much for the espionage that Bourne was trained for. The story ends actually after the third installment of the trilogy. With Bond, there coulc be as many films as there are conceived adversaries. Curious though this Skyfall touches on Bond's past, as Bourne was forever in search of his past.
You'd enjoy the movie, I hope you get to watch it.
@cefaz_21 (2596)
• Philippines
13 Nov 12
I was never a fan of James Bond but my husband is, last week I give in to his request and joined him in this movie. I was not disappointed and I surprisingly enjoyed all the runnings and driving specially the motorbike chase :)
So yes, go see it guys and I'm sure you'll enjoy it too!
1 person likes this
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
22 Nov 12
Very good point, this is not an espionage movie at all, this is M and Bond and the whole MI6 coming full circle. I'd like to think that the story was written to give an exclamation mark to this spy series, as originally written by Ian Fleming. There must be a period to every story. As it is, the resurrection of the major character plus the introduction of young characters assuming the beloved roles we've come to love through the decades, the producers, I suppose, are not ready to frame Double Oh's license yet.
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
7 Dec 12
Liam Neeson may have been a contender to be a Bond Actor,whose career has taken him into similar action Hero territory..I went to see his "Taken 2" Movie the week before Skyfall premiered here,to see him in an over the rooftops chase on foot that looked a lot like the same Turkish location Bond was motorbikin' over the very next week! a bit of Deja Q?
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
14 Nov 12
Hiya eileen,
No have not seen the new James Bond Film yet as there are no Cinemas near to us at all not even in the nearest big Town they are all closing down big time which is a shame as I always loved to go and see James Bond on the Cinema Screen first after that on the Television or what have you.
I am nursing a little dog who is very sick so will leave it at that for now. But I never tire or watching James Bond ever as I think it has something everyone likes about it.
I miss the other "Q" he got killed in a Car accident he was some guy for his age too I can tell you liked him a lot.xxx
1 person likes this
@marguicha (222984)
• Chile
21 Nov 12
Hi lovinangelsinstead! In what part of Spain do you live? It`s a shame that Cinemas are disappearing there. Where I live, many big Cinemas have been remodeled into several small Cinemas where they have different movies.
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
16 Nov 12
Hi, lovingangel, I do wish you'd get real opportunity to relax and watch a movie. But please do take care of that sick canine, I love dogs, too.
Didn't know the old Q had a tragic accident. I like him a lot also, and forever I was on the lookout for him whenever a new Bond flick comes to town. May he rest in peace.
Have a good day, angel.
1 person likes this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
16 Nov 12
Hiya eileen,
I would have to go almost to the other side of Spain as the Cinemas are closing down rapidly and most of them for good.
Alas I cannot name one single Cinema from here to goodness knows where that is still open and thriving.
Yes "Q" was an adventurous person and his car overturned somewhere in Scotland so I believe.
As someone else says I really liked Pierce Brosnan not everyone´s choice but now I quite like Daniel Craig. I would have to watch him a couple of times more to get to see if he grows on me a bit more. He is okay but I still keep seeing Pierce in his place.
Pierce would have played the part of Napoleon Solo really well to I think although I much prefer Robert Vaughn classy to say the least.
Owners have not got back to me yet about the little dog. I was a bit annoyed about them leaving her with me while she was in such a bad state as I was really worried about her too but luckily they came back earlier than they should have done and took her back again.
She is a tough little thing though lots of fight in her I could see that.xxx
1 person likes this
@garson (884)
• United States
26 Nov 12
I hope this 'Skyfall' lift up what James Bond movies are supposed to be. The last one 'Quantum of Solace' was a disappointment for me. It was entertaining, but it was not as suspenseful or thrilling as A View To A Kill for example. It seemed like the elements of violence was toned down a little bit.
1 person likes this