The Controversies of SPECTRE: 2015's James Bond Adventure [Episode 219]

Don't be shy, send me a message! Thomas Felix Creighton discusses some of the common controversies surrounding the 2015 James Bond movie ‘SPECTRE’ – assuming that you will be moderately familiar with this 007 film; after all, why else would you listen to a podcast about a movie more than a decade old!? Common talking points in academia, professional media, and fan communities are investigated here, including but not limited to: Should Bond’s foster family be important for the franchise? Was it worth retconning all the Daniel Craig films to be connected? Is this Craig’s best performance, as the “suave sophisticated secret agent”? Is Ian Fleming’s literary 007 actually a ‘blunt instrument’, or is this overdone? Did SPECTRE give us Craig’s worst performance in a chat show? Does this film ‘lack the magic’ of the other 007 films?   This podcast draws on the below books for discussion: “Ian Fleming: The Complete Man” (2024) by Nicholas Shakespeare “Ian Fleming” (2013) by Andrew Lycett “When the Snow Melts: The Autobiography of Cubby Broccoli” (1999) by Albert R. Broccoli with Donald Zec “When Harry Met Cubby: The Story of the James Bond Producers” (2009) by Robert Sellers “The Battle for Bond” (2008) by Robert Sellers and Len Deighton “Some Kind of Hero: The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films” (2015) by Matthew Field and Ajay Chowdhury “Bond On Bond: Reflections On 50 Years Of James Bond Movies” (Second Edition, 2015) by Sir Roger Moore “From Blofeld to Moneypenny: Gender in James Bond” (2020) by Steven Gerrard   Reference is also made to the video games ‘Bloodstone’ and ‘Goldeneye: Reloaded’ - both are voiced by Daniel Craig and both can be considered part of his 007’s story arc. Regarding podcasts, ‘James Bond and Friends’ has an episode on the SPECTRE script leaks, which is highly recommended by Thomas… as is the Youtube channel ‘Drawing with Waffles’ for art!   Academic works reference (open access) from the International Journal of James Bond Studies: "The Oldest Bond Girl Ever": Discourses of Female Ageing and the Older Woman of the Bond Franchise by Claire Hines https://jamesbondstudies.ac.uk/articles/10.24877/jbs.132   "Play it Again, James: Seriality in the Craig Bond Films" by Anette Pankratz and Svenja Böhm https://jamesbondstudies.ac.uk/articles/10.24877/jbs.53   A thoroughly English movie franchise’: Spectre, the James Bond films, and Genre by James Chapman https://jamesbondstudies.ac.uk/articles/10.24877/jbs.5 Support the show https://www.albionneverdies.com/