HMSS nominations for editing changes in 007 movies

What if you could go back and change something in a movie you’ve seen? That’s the notion behind this post — what could you change in a James Bond movie?

The ground rules are there’s only enough money to make editing changes. You don’t have the time or resources to reassemble the cast for reshoots (which is fairly rare in movies, anyway).

With that in mind, here are some nominations in no particular order:

1. Clip the line where Bond tells Quarrel in Dr. No to “fetch my shoes.” This had to cause some in the audience to wince even in 1962. In 2009? Arrggghhhh.

2. Cut the “pop goes the weasel” music effect from the car stunt in The Man With The Golden Gun where a car spins one complete revolution before landing on its wheels. John Barry was one of the great movie composers. But the sequence shows even great composers make mistakes. It trivializes the film’s best stunt.

3. Cut the “Tarzan yell” from Octopussy. Another example of a goofy idea that mars a mostly successful sequence, in this case Bond being hunted by the film’s villain.

4. Cut the Beach Boys song from A View To a Kill. The pre-credits sequence of the movie — Bond, on skis, dodging Soviet troops in Siberia — has its moments. But adding the song ruins the mood.

5. Alter the death of Kananga in Live And Let Die. The film’s main villain supposedly is killed by a gas capsule causing him to literally explode. The effect clearly is just a big balloon popping. Changing that might be the trickiest item on this list, but surely SOMETHING could be done in editing from available footage to improve it.

We’ll accept additional nominations from readers.