The French James Bond Club have announced that the James Bond DVD series will be re-released in the United Kingdom later this year. The release date is November 4 and is aimed to coincide with the forthcoming release of Die Another Day.
The box set will come packaged in a special collection case.
1991 brought the release of John Gardner’s tenth James Bond novel entitled The Man From Barbarossa. It was one that would prove to be the most controversial Bond novels among fans since The Spy Who Loved Me. Both are what are often referred to as an “experimental” book in that they completely break away from the established, standard Bond formula, The Man From Barbarossa, even more so than Fleming’s experimental novel, to try to do something completely new. This article will explore these experimental elements of The Man From Barbarossa and how it makes for such a unique outing, not only for Gardner’s tenure, but the James Bond series as a whole.
Just from the opening of this story, one senses that this will be a new change of tact. It’s not every Bond novel that begins describing the horrors that Russian Jews faced at the Nazi death camps during the Second World War and the acts of an SS officer. This dark and gloomy prelude continues into the present where we witness the mysterious kidnapping of an elderly man in his New Jersey home. The following excerpt sums up the entire novel fairly well:
Nobody could possibly have foreseen that the abduction of an old man in New Jersey would be the prelude to a drama played out on the world’s stage. Or that it was the first step in a plot, so ingenious and skillful that the stability of nations would rock wildly to its adroit tune. One missing old man, and the fate of the free world would be at stake.
-The Man From Barbarossa, Chapter 1
The key word in the above text is “drama”. The Man From Barbarossa is a drama, not a spy thriller or an action adventure story that everyone expects from Bond, but a more realistic story focusing on character and story development and less so on action. The only real bit of action does not come until the climax, in which Bond and his allies prevent the transport of missiles. Much of the story is compromised with (a. Briefing scenes, either with M, or Boris Stepakov of the KGB, discussing the mission and the possible intents of the villains, The Scales of Justice, and what they might hope on accomplishing with their scheme of launching a mock trial for a war criminal, or (b. court scenes after Bond, with a KGB and Mossad agent, posing as a camera crew, are taken out to the Lost Horizon where the trial is taking place. It is here where elements of a legal thriller mix into the plotline.
Speaking of the story, it is important to note that it is also, aside from the John Grisham elements, much more political than most other Bond stories are. Here, the villain, General Yevgeny Yuskovich, is motivated purely by political reasons. He has no wishes to get rich but to overthrow the Russian government, using the mock trial to embarrass them, and to become head of the Soviet Empire, making Russia powerful again, as well as offering assistance to Iraq during the Gulf War to cripple the American forces, oh, and not to mention detonating a nuclear weapon over Washington D.C.. The result of these political and legal thriller elements is a complex storyline, tying in with the end of the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, and World War II. The story also incorporates realistic espionage, and in some ways can be looked as what someone like Bond would be doing in the real world. M’s description of the Yuskovich and the events that transpired:
The man had a faith. He had served a system in which he had absolute belief. He saw it slipping away and he already had great power.
-The Man From Barbarossa, Chapter 21
So far we have complicated combination of a legal and political thriller, which is less action orientated and thrives on Gardner’s intricately complex plotting. Doesn’t sound quite like a Bond novel, does it? Which is precisely the main problem with it and part why this experiment isn’t usually too well received among Bond fans. If Bond were to be replaced with any other character, focusing mainly on, say, Mossad agent Pete Natkowitz, the story would still work just as good, maybe if not better. This is also attributed to the little focus and development of Bond’s character in the novel.
There are two other elements of the story contributing to its uniqueness, which, as they are also the most interesting, are worth mentioning. The first is that Bond is not taking his orders from M here. This time he is sent to Russia to work under Boris Stepakov and the KGB’s command. This is a most original change of pace and fits in nicely. The reason is that the KGB has asked for the British’s assistance in the matter with the Scales of Justice and M can’t resist the opportunity of having an agent so highly placed at Moscow Center.
The second element is probably Gardner at his fanciest and comes near the end of the book. Bond is supposedly killed during the course of a gunfight, resulting in a different sort of scene with M, and the book suddenly focusing on General Yuskovich and other officers in the Red Army. This is very similar to what Raymond Benson will later do in Doubleshot and is probably the novel’s highlight and classic Bond. In my opinion, its one of Gardner’s best Bond moments.
Many readers often complain that the novel just doesn’t seem like Bond, much in the same as the film Licence To Kill is compared to other Bond movies. Fans generally dislike both, but there remain a few who consider it the best of the Bond movies and of Gardner’s run. Still The Man From Barbarossa contains just as many Bond elements as any other good 007 story: a diabolical villain with a plot to destroy the Western world, beautiful women, the friendly, likeable ally, and a criminal organization, all of which are carried out with the usual amount of class. It’s just that all these elements are used in different ways here. Either way, whether you like it or dislike it, The Man From Barbarossa remains one of John Gardner’s most outspoken Bond novels and, for better or worse, memorable.
In brief news, Sideshow Toy have confirmed that two 12" figures they've currently annoucned for On Her Majesty's Secret Service are now available for pre-order from their website.
The two figures are of George Lazenby as James Bond and Telly Savalas as Blofeld. There is no word yet if a Diana Rigg as Tracy will be released.
British newspaper Sunday Mirror is reporting about Madonna's Cameo being rewritten by – her husband.
Here's the entire article:
SHE'S renowned for her diva demands and getting her own way, so why does it not surprise me Madonna is rumoured to be making life difficult for James Bond film bosses?
Ever the perfectionist, the 43-year-old star has demanded the script is changed for her cameo role in Die Another Day.
But it's proving a major headache for the production crew as she's insisted her husband Guy Ritchie rewrites it.
A source said: "It's a major hassle, especially as we're on a tight schedule and can't afford to overrun on anything.
"Some of the production staff are doing their nut. But at the end of the day, it is Madonna and she's a major coup for us. Whatever she says goes." Madonna, who also sings the film's theme tune, is due to start shooting scenes opposite 007 Pierce Brosnan and co-star Halle Berry today at London's Pinewood Studios.
The source added: "It should be interesting as all Madonna's scenes must be shot on Sunday, including her speaking parts, because of her theatre commitments." It is believed Madonna only agreed to sing the title theme tune if she was given a part in the film which is due out in November.
Because of the dramatic script change, it's not clear what scenes she's in but expectations include a lesbian kiss with Halle Berry and high energy sword-fighting.
The fighting scenes shouldn't be too gruelling though as mother-of-two Madonna is extremely supple from yoga and pilates. And the lesbian clinch won't be a problem either as she's had a number of her own experiences with the same sex.
Madonna went through a lipstick lesbian phase years ago when she French-kissed model Naomi Campbell for her raunchy book Sex and allegedly had a fling with American comedienne Sandra Bernhard.
And in her current play Up For Grabs, which is on at London's Wyndham Theatre, she snogs co-star Megan Dodds.
I saw the show on Thursday night and thought her performance was brilliant, as did Dame Shirley Bassey who was watching in the wings.
Unfortunately the same can't be said for Naked Chef Jamie Oliver and his wife Jules who last month left during the interval.
It's no wonder Madonna prefers rival chef Marco Pierre White.
Well, the lesbian kiss has been denied so far and it was thought that Halle Berry scheduled working on "Die Another Day" already. So is this article true? Who knows.
Anyway, if you want to discuss Primadonna, please do it in this thread of the Die Another Day Forums. And thanks to Forum User 'solitaire' for letting us know.
An ad in Variety announces that MOONRAKER is the next James Bond film (and not "For Your Eyes Only", as promised at the end of TSWLM).
The early Moonraker logo and artwork appear on this unspecified teaser.
The Eon/Moonraker letterhead gives us a first look at the new logo.
The stunning Advance A poster is one of my all time favorite Bond posters.
An Advance B poster takes it a step further…
I’ve heard this called an international advance sheet.
The US one sheet promises a mega-Bond experience indeed (and the return of Jaws!)
A second style one sheet is introduced during the film's record breaking run.
Yet a third style US one-sheet, the very rare “Review Sheet”, pitches the critical success of Moonraker.
The Thai poster uses some unique original art.
Interestingly enough, the unused Moonraker logo and art appears on the U.S. novelization.
Moonraker comes to T.V…
All that wonderful art to choose from, and this is what we get when Moonraker comes to DVD.
Finally, artist Jeff Marshall produced this excellent special edition Moonraker poster;
'level007' has let us know that the French James Bond Club has reported that all of the James Bond DVDs will be released on October 23 this year. There is no word yet on when the DVDs will return to moratorium.
The DVD collection will include all Bond movies excluding Never Say Never Again and Casino Royale.
The French release differs from the United States release where only 7 DVD's will be avaible for one year at a time, meaning fans could have to wait three years in order to complete a collection.
'Rich' sends in this funny story about a screening of the trailer for the new-spy-Bond-ripoff XXX;
A funny incident occurred today as I viewing the trailer for XXX in a theatre. XXX stars Vin Diesel as a secret agent into extreme sports. Needless to say there are comparisons to Bond with the most obvious one below.
The last bit of dialogue in the trailer is a line taken almost word-for-word from THUNDERBALL. As Diesel takes off his shirt before bedding a girl, he lisps, “The things I do for my country!” Immediately after that line, some
guy in the theatre yells, “RIP-OFF!” to which most everyone laughs.I was glad I wasn’t the only one to notice this ripped-off line from THUNDERBALL. In that film, Connery says, “The things I do for England” before bedding a Bond babe.
After finding out XXX was ripping off Bond and claiming to be better than, I personally swore not to see the film on the big screen. Not the most interesting piece of trivia but there you go!
Thanks to Rich for sending that story in!
Update:
I have to thank everyone who wrote in with this correction to the article. Bond's like "The things I do for England" came from the film You Only Live Twice, and not Thunderball.
However, the line was to appear in Thunderball and can be seen in the films trailer. The line can also be seen in Octopussy's trailer when Bond is in bed with Magda.
Thanks to these people for writing in to let me know; 'Donovan', 'Dip' and Ryan!
James Bond has done it again. According to The Gaurdian Wedndesday nights screening on The Man With The Golden Gun attracted 6.9 million viewers, which gives it a 32% share of the available audience.
BBC1, Bond's only competition, only managed a 25% share of the audience which equated to 5.1 million viewers.
According to Ananova, Miss Moneypenny actress Samantha Bond is to play as Lady MacBeth opposite Sean Bean, who played Alec Trevellyan in "GoldenEye", in the West End in November.
Macbeth will open in Milton Keynes on October 16, then moves to Richmond Theatre for a week.
It runs at London's Albery Theatre from November 14 until February 1.
LICENCE TO KILL
The (Tragic) Evolution of an Ad Campaign
The first piece of promo art for Bond 16. The provocative title (the first non-Fleming title) suggested "License Revoked" would be a very special Bond movie indeed.
Every effort was made to come up with a fresh new ad campaign that told the audience LICENSE REVOKED would be a different kind of Bond movie. Some of the results;
It looked like this poster by Bob Peak — of TSWLM and Star Trek fame — would be the teaser;
But then "License Revoked" campaign is junked in favor of a teaser poster reminiscent of The Living Daylights. Nice poster, but the title change to 'Licence To Kill' suggested trouble ahead…
Trouble indeed. MGM/UA implodes and the Bond marketing campaign is handed off to the guys at Kinko’s. The result, this abominable one-sheet.
International distributor UIP goes their own way and creates their own campaign — which is not really much of an improvement.
But then there's this variant poster used in the UIP campaign that I think is pretty sharp.
Outside of the UK Bond is dressed in a tux in the UIP campaign. It's an improvement, I think.
What was supposed to be a very special, groundbreaking Bond film looks like the most generic of the batch when it reaches DVD. And isn’t that a pic from TLD?
It started off as a promising campaign and it's quite obvious how it ended.