007 Countdown Part 9 - Skyfall

Hello everyone and welcome to Some Like It Scott's latest Countdown miniseries: the 007 Countdown. This time, in honor of the upcoming release of the 25th film in the franchise, NO TIME TO DIE, Scott, Scott, and Jay will be revisiting an abridged selection of 007 films to see how James Bond has evolved across decades, storylines, directors, and actors. Starting with the legendary performances of Sean Connery in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and GOLDFINGER and ending with the full retinue of Daniel Craig's performances across the last decade and a half, the countdown crew will give their thoughts on 10 different Bond films. Join us each week as we dissect a different Bond film!

 

On the ninth episode of the countdown, Scott, Scott, and Jay take a trip back to Bond's roots, in Daniel Craig's third outing as the famed secret agent in SKYFALL. SKYFALL picks up some time after the events of QUANTUM OF SOLACE, and finds Bond once again on a mission, this time in Istanbul to stop a mercenary who has stolen an MI6 hard drive with the names of all active British intelligence agents undercover around the globe. Bond's pursuit of the mercenary through the Turkish city culminates with a fistfight on top of a moving train that leaves 007 in free fall thanks to an errant bullet from fellow field operative, Eve (Naomie Harris), and the hard drive in the wrong hands. With Bond nowhere to be found, M (Judi Dench, one last time) and MI6 must pick up the pieces of the disastrous op, facing blowback at home from government oversight committees, and abroad when a shadowy figure taunts M for her sins, detonating a bomb at MI6 while she's not there, and threatens to decode the hard drive and start releasing the identities of undercover agents. As news of the terrorist attack reaches the far-flung shores where Bond has sought refuse since being shot in Istanbul, 007 decides to report for duty and is sent all the way to China to follow leads for the mysterious figure threatening fellow British agents. As always, the countdown crew give their thoughts on all of it, including whether SKYFALL has the ultimate Bond girl, whether the persistent theme of failure throughout the Craig Bond films continues to hold interest, and whether Sam Mendes's particularly style and flare translates well to the 007 franchise.