Saturday, December 6, 2014

"I thought I saw a SPECTRE on your shoulder."

The next James Bond has finally been announced a few days ago! The forth film starring Daniel Craig is to be called SPECTRE. Starring as the main baddie will be Christophe Waltz, whom, like Javier Bardem did before him, is sure to blow us all away in his performance. Joining the cast will of course be the regulars from the previous films: Naomi Harris as Miss Moneypenny; Rory Kinnear as Tanner; Ralph Fiennes as M and Ben Wishaw as Q. The new Bond Girls will be Monica Bellucci--who has been trying to be a Bond Girl as far back as 1997--and Lea Seydoux. This will be the first James Bond in a few years to start production exactly two years after the last one. Skyfall, came out four years after Quantum of Solace due to a legal issues with MGM. Director Sam Mendes will be returning to direct the film after Skyfall.

LETS TAKE A LITTLE TURN NOW DEALING WITH WHY THIS IS CALLED SPECTRE...

Now, for all of those Bond fans out there, you guys know the whole controversy with the name SPECTRE and Ernst Stavro Blofeld and the character. Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, wrote a screenplay by the name of Thunderball with Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham in around 1958. Now, a few years later, Ian Fleming decided to turn the screenplay into a novel and when he did, he published it without the permission of his two co-writers. In other words, he took the credit for himself. Now, this naturally upset McClory, who sued Fleming after what he did. McClory won the case, and what was originally to be the first James Bond film, became the forth James Bond film with McClory as producer. The aftermath of these events still allowed Kevin to make his own James Bond movie 10 years later. The only setback was that it had to be based off of Thunderball and nothing else. During those 10 years, the Bond producers were able to use the character and organization of Blofeld for the next three movies. By the end of Sean Connery's run as James Bond, SPECTRE and Blofeld were not to be seen again, as the rights to the character were still owned and controlled by Kevin McClory.

Finally, in 1983, McClory was able to make his rival 007 movie by the name of Never Say Never Again. The title was in recognition to Sean Connery swearing he would "never again" play James Bond after filming Diamonds Are Forever in 1971. Now, the film Never Say Never Again was not allowed to use any elements already established by Eon Productions/MGM. In other words, this film would not be able to have the opening gun barrel scene, the James Bond theme, or any other element. The fact that Sean Connery returned to the role that made him big was really the only selling factor that they had. And boy...did they take it! The film was a massive success.


1983 marked the return of Sean Connery as James Bond.


It would not be until 2013, that James Bond producers (MGM, Eon Productions, Danjaq L.L.C.) would be allowed to use SPECTRE or Blofeld again. But now that they now have the rights to the chracter, they are now able to use the character. In all honesty, I hope they modernize the chracter. You shouldn't have a villain from the 60s that was parodied in the 90s with those Austin Power movies. They should make him dark, contemporary and please...no bald head with a white cat. Maybe have a...I dunno....pet tiger? Haha!  He are all the actors that played Blofeld in the past.


 The Many Faces of Blofeld
Anthony Dawson played Blofeld in From Russia with Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965). Both appearances of the character did not have their face seen. The voice of the character was performed by Eric Pohlmann.


Donald Pleasence played Blofeld in You Only Live Twice (1967). This film features the first time his face is revealed.


Telly Savalas played our favorite Bond villian here in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Blofeld is bald, but what happened to the scar?
Blofeld in the form of Charles Grey in Diamonds Are Forever (1971). This would be his last appearance in the role until 1983.
Max von Sydow played Blofeld in Sean Connery's last outing as 007 in Never Say Never Again (1983). As you can see, there's the kitty and his portrayal of the role was back to the days of Blofeld in his first appearance.




 And there you have it folks! Here are all the Blofelds throughout the years. Oh, I almost forgot...Roger Moore had his brief ordeal with "bald man with cat" in For Your Eyes Only. Since it was past the 10 year mark and Eon Productions were unable to use the Blofeld character, this appearance was a final "f*ck you" to Kevin McClory telling the audience that the James Bond films would go forward with or without his character that he deprived for so long.


John Hollis played Bl--"man with white cat" villain in For Your Eyes Only (1981) alongside Roger Moore. Voiced by Robert Rietty. 

So, there you have it. All of the Blofelds in the series. Now that we have SPECTRE set to hit theaters next year, we can only guess if he will indeed be Christoph or not. We will just have to wait and see. 

                                                                               Blofeld 2015?


Daniel Craig (James Bond) and new baddy Christoph Waltz star in next year's SPECTRE. I highly doubt they will be this close in the film. Only the total opposite.

During an interview for the film, Daniel Craig said, "I think we've got a better script this time around." We will just have to wait and find out next year! SPECTRE, the forth film starring Daniel Craig, is set to hit movie screens next November next year! Are you excited?!!!


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