Something that I always feel the need to point out: Bond in the books is a British gent, Bond of the movies isn't and never has been. He's a member of the lower orders who passed. The villains are pretty much always onto him as not fitting, but he styles it out. Sean Connery being Scottish worked perfectly for this. Kingsman, not a bond movie but understanding the genre completely, makes the theme explicit.

Idris Elba is the only person I want to see as the next Bond.

100% agreed with this. He would be a superb choice.

Sure, as long as we can have a white Shaft.

Seriously though, Britishness (in the genetic sense) is a fundamental part of James Bond's character. He isn't just British by citizenship, he's emblematic of Britain.

There's no such thing as 'Britishness in the genetic sense'.

Idris Elbra is as British as they come.

I disagree.

Firstly, maybe in the 60s, the idea of a black person being "British" would be scoffed at; today, with 3 or 4 generations of genetics here() and black people representing Britain at many levels, I don't think it would be a problem for most.

Secondly, 007 has always been an outsider and not a member of the Establishment - that's part of why he does things differently to the other 00s (although another commenter says that's not part of the books, only the films - I've not read them so can't say).

() ignoring the fact that there have been significant African populations in cities such as Liverpool and Bristol since Elizabethan times

And North America is about revering and being one with nature, respecting and worshiping Wakan Tanka.

Things change, evolve and adapt, both for good and bad. Idris Elba would be great.

Not sure where to even start with this comment.

Peter Dinklage would be my favorite.

There's precedent, of a fashion: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200642

> where is [...] the spectacular but not unrealistic script, etc ?

It's much more realistic now, but that's part of the problem.

The Bond we remember is a remnant from the 60s (I know it's older), with that era of geopolitics, scifi (and sex-/racism), complete with razor frisbee hats, cyborgs, zero gravity laser battles, and a super villain dying through floating up to the ceiling and popping like a balloon.

I loved those movies too, and while I didn't like the direction at the time, GoldenEye was a perfect update to that genre (at the time). While I think Casino Royale was a great movie, it was not a great Bond movie.

I have yet to see the new one, but the first Kingsman movie is the best Bond movie since GoldenEye, by bringing the elements that make a Bond movie to modern filmmaking.

> zero gravity laser battles

Oddly when I first saw the movie version of Moonraker that scene shattered my suspension of disbelief.

Up until that film most Bond gadgets had been reasonably believeable as achievable by a sufficiently funded organisation. But suddenly secret fleets of Shuttles, space stations and laser-equipped Space Marines? Nope.

Someone who's never read the books, I see - and, by citing Roger Moore as "unrealistic" inhabits a reality where surviving re-entry in a disintegrating space station is a thing!

I agree. I enjoy the new ones, but they're missing exactly what you described. It's what made a James Bond movie unique.

I'd love to see the humor come back. I think nobody would be better suited to do that than Quentin Tarantino. The only movie that would get me more excited than a Tarantino directed bond movie (ideally set during the cold war) would be a Lynch directed Lord of the Rings.

Ugh, god. Not Tarantino. Not for a Bond movie. Jesus fucking christ. Anything but that.

I absolutely love more than 50% of Quentin Tarantino's movies, and place the truly great movies eye to eye with Stanley Kubrick movies.

But fuck no. Not James Bond. If that ever happened, Tarantino would transform himself into an even bigger douchebag and disappointment than Kevin Smith. It would be a modern pop culture tragedy.

You can see this today.

Kingsman is a Bond film as directed by Tarantino. It's about as awful as it seems.

I'd watch Kingsman 10 times before I'd watch Quantum of Solace again. And I didn't hate Quantum of Solace: Kingsman is just much more fun.

My bond dream team would be a screenplay/script by Charlie Higson and Mark Gatiss and directed by Edgar Wright.

Of course, Charlie Higson has form there as well

Perhaps Ian McShane: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0574534/