Small scene showcase: Blofeld's escape from the Oil Rig and the Weather Balloon pursuit

 "Camera follows up the rope to top: BOND - hanging onto base of balloon, hunched up several yards out in the water. CAMERA PULLS BACK to include BLOFELD. He smiles, pulls out a gun.".

- Tom Mankiewicz's 1st draft for DAF (24th Feb 1971) *

"Mary Poppins, I presume?" That's one piece of dialogue from Tom Mankiewicz's original draft for Diamonds Are Forever you won't find me using in this re-edit/animation project.

Certainly though, much of the "lost climax" to DAF that I am busy reconstructing will take inspiration from the broad strokes of Mankiewicz's ideas. But with key changes to make it more suitable for an OHMSS sequel's grittier tone.

The original

The whole situation with the weather balloon pursuit that I have concocted is a little more ambitious than what Mankiewicz wrote. In his version, Bond tails Blofeld into a hidden passageway from the Oil Rig's control room.

The passageway has a hatch that Bond can't enter, but he sees Blofeld through the hatch's window getting into his mini-submarine with water rising around it. Bond then goes up some stairs to a platform which has a weather balloon attached.

He quickly unties it, jumps into the water behind the submarine, then attaches the rope of the balloon to the back of the craft.

The script then does not describe much of the journey of Blofeld's submarine to the salt mine and simply cuts to him arriving at the Mexican coast and then spotting Bond hanging in mid-air behind him (see the above quote).

The "Re-Imagined" scene

The final print of Diamonds Are Forever, of course contains the sequence with the crane which Bond hi-jacks to ram Blofeld's Bathosub into the control room. This is of course will be removed in Diamonds Reimagined.

Whilst I could've written a scene similar to what Mankiewicz envisioned for Blofeld's escape, I instead decide to modify the crane sequence into a scene that now has the weather balloon/Bathosub pursuit.

I always felt the weather balloon idea would've worked amazingly as a real stunt (if it were even possible to do), so why not expand on the idea a little and present more of it in the scene?

For this I wrote the new scene to be something like this:

One of the Oil Rig's legs has already been detonated via limpet mines. This has left parts of the Oil Rig covered in smoke.

Blofeld emerges from a secret passageway under an oil derrick tower. He catches the eye of the crane operator, who is hiding from the withdrawing Unione Corse men.

One Helicopter is still on the Oil Rig. Bond, Felix and Marc Ange Draco are supposed to get on it but they suddenly hear the crane moving behind them.

They look over and barely see through the smoke that the crane is lowering Blofeld in his Bathosub towards the ocean.

Bond gives chase, with Draco giving him his blessing to kill Blofeld once and for all. Bond then climbs up onto the crane and tries to reach the winch at the top.

The crane operator tries to shake him off, but Bond manages to hold on for dear life and attach to the cables an inflatable Q branch weather balloon (with a rope) he takes out of his pocket.

Blofeld gets angry when the crane operator ignores his orders and keeps pulling him out of then onto the water (he doesn't know this is to shake Bond off the crane!). He switches on the engines of the submarine and eventually this snaps the cable/rope connected to the crane.

Bond jumps off the crane, and allows the travelling Bathosub to pull him along as the weather balloon keeps him up in the air. As in Mankiewicz's draft, the submarine heads to the Mexican coast.

A shot of the Bathosub travelling underwater, Blofeld not realising Bond is right above him...

And so that's the new weather balloon sequence I've devised! A somewhat complex scene to construct technically, but I think it will look fun and Bondian on the screen once the project is finished.

I like to think of it as the calm before the storm. The storm that is, being Bond and Blofeld's climatic confrontation at the Mexican salt mine, which will be the next major sequence I will tackle...

- The Retro Captain

* Credit to this fabulous website for details on Tom Mankiewicz's original DAF draft:

https://www.commander007.net/2016/diamants-eternels-scripts-originaux/

Putting the "edit" into "fan-edit" #2 - The Deleted Scenes of DAF

Some Bond fans may have checked out the deleted scenes for Diamonds Are Forever on the Ultimate Edition DVD or Blu-Ray special features, and wondered what might have been if any of them had stayed in the final print.

Because Diamonds Reimagined is of course partly a re-edit of the original film, I did script the project around including a few of the deleted scenes to improve or add to the story. But which ones did I decide were eligible for inclusion? Let's go through them one by one...

Most of the deleted scenes can be viewed online from this YouTube video:

Scene 1: Sammy Davis Jr's cameo

One of the more unusual deleted scenes of the lot, this cameo from Sammy Davis Jr was not liked by Director Guy Hamilton due to Sammy's performance and its irrelevance to the overall plot.

Whilst I can see where he's coming from in that regard, I personally don't mind the scene because Sammy's reaction to Bond highlights the idea that James Bond is considerably more classy than Las Vegas in the 1970s. Not only that, but I think it adds a little authenticity to the film's world since Sammy Davis Jr was a famous performer in Las Vegas casinos.

So it is eligible for inclusion? Maybe so, but I'll go into more detail why with this next scene...

Scene 2: The death of Shady Tree (Extended version)

This scene is fairly morbid for the way in which Wint and Kidd dispatch of Shady Tree, and perhaps it might not have gotten past the censors' if the editors decided to keep it in.

Whilst I do like that the film makes Tree's death a bit of a surprise for Bond to discover, as a fan of Wint and Kidd I just have the urge to give them this little bit of extra screentime. 

Also, since the aim of this project is to make DAF a little more serious in tone so that it works as an OHMSS sequel (some of the humour will remain though), something grim like this I feel would help to sell that tone.

I might indeed include this scene in the re-edit, though one consideration I have made is whether I want to release a slightly longer Director's Cut in addition to the main re-edit. But that's something for me to sort out in the future, so for now let's say yes to the scene's inclusion.

Scene 3: Dinner with Plenty

Credit to Thunderballs.org for this production still of the deleted scene.

This scene from what I can tell was filmed at The Dome of the Sea restaurant, which was part of the Dunes Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. 

Guy Hamilton once explained in an interview with On The Tracks Of 007 creator Martijn Mulder (which can be accessed here for those interested; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS7PsvXL9MA) that the idea of the scene was that it was sort of a "getting to know you" date.

However, because of how small Plenty O'Toole's role is in the story, Hamilton felt the scene was pointless. The audience most likely already figures that she will go to Bond's Hotel Room with the intention of sleeping with him, so why include this scene anyhow?

When re-writing Diamonds Are Forever's plot, I thought along similar lines and didn't include it. What I have included however, is a similar scene in a setting that I have named 'The Atlantic Dining Palace'.

This animated scene of course, has Bond dining with Tiffany Case rather than Plenty. Exactly why I've done this becomes clear when we consider the other Plenty O'Toole deleted scene..

UPDATE: I have since changed my mind on this deleted scene, and have planned to include it in the final edit. This has meant I have had to change the setting of the animated scene mentioned above. More about this will be included in a future post.

Scene 4: Plenty returns!

This is one of the most infamous of the film's deleted scenes, and perhaps because it's one that a good deal of fans feel deserved to kept!

Without this scene, the reveal of Plenty O'Toole's death sort of comes out of nowhere as it's not entirely explained what she was doing at Tiffany's home where Wint and Kidd drowned her in the pool.

Despite that, you may be surprised to learn that I will NOT be including this scene in Diamonds Reimagined. 

Why? Because in the process of re-writing the screenplay, I have changed Plenty's role in the story a good deal to have her not get thrown out of the window by the gangsters from the Slumber Inc mortuary.

So there's no need for this scene in my re-edit whatsoever. Nevertheless, I'm afraid to say that Plenty is still a sacrificial lamb in the re-written story. Though the circumstances of her death are a little different, and you'll have to find out why once the project is finished..

Scene 5: Alternate take of Ford Mustang on two-wheels stunt

I don't think there's any doubt about it, this scene definitely deserves inclusion in Diamonds Reimagined. In fact, I've already edited it into the Las Vegas car chase as well as a couple of alternate takes/angles of other shots from the chase that you can find in the film's special features.

My edit of that moment combines both the unused and used take of the Mustang coming out from the alleyway, with a shot to bridge the gap between them. Why the editors and Guy Hamilton didn't think of something like this, I will never know..

Scene 6: Bond and Tiffany in the Bridal Suite (Extended version)

This is a scene I've not seen a lot of support for keeping in the film, perhaps because it's a little excessive in some places. And not to mention the awkward and unflattering shot of Connery at the end..

It certainly has its problems, and doesn't really advance the plot. Tiffany already knows by now that Bond is not Peter Franks, so in that sense why include it?

Well here's why I have decided to keep it; in my screenplay I've connected it to a new scene where Bond and Tiffany have an introspective discussion about each other. 

This is a way of exploring Bond's grief over the death of Tracy, and how Tiffany may feel sympathy for him. The Fleming novel gives Tiffany a darker backstory of having been gang raped as a teenager, which accounts for her cold demeanour towards Bond at the start of the book.

I thought this may be a good fit for an OHMSS sequel where Bond is similarly troubled by his past, and can find solace in the fact that Tiffany has been through difficult times as well.

I also want to state that I'm a fan of Sean Connery and Jill St John's chemistry in the original film. They clearly got along very well behind the scenes and their dynamic stands as one of the stronger parts of Diamonds Are Forever.

So like with the extended death of Shady Tree scene giving Wint and Kidd more screentime, I honestly would love to see Bond and Tiffany do a little more together in the re-edit.

That being said, I have made some edits to the deleted scene. Not only has the awkward shot of Connery at the end been removed, but I've taken out the part where Tiffany informs Bond that she knows he's not Peter Franks. I think that justifies its inclusion a little more.

Scene 7: Unused footage of Frogmen swimming towards Oil Rig

Not exactly a full deleted scene as it was never completed (see my post on the "Lost Climax" to DAF; https://diamondsareforeverre-imaginedproject.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-lost-climax-planning-re-creation-of.html), but it's unused footage anyway.

I've actually already included this in the re-edit, where it forms part of the modified Oil Rig climax. The idea behind this is that Bond told Willard Whyte that he was going to go aboard Blofeld's Oil Rig to distract him before a US Marines helicopter attack force arrives.

However, when Felix arrives on the Oil Rig to join the battle he informs Bond and Marc Ange Draco that Whyte has also got re-inforcements on the way. And those of course are the Frogmen!

And so those are all the deleted scenes from the original film, and as you can tell I've had to give the screenplay a lot of thought when deciding what to keep for the re-edit.

Story structure and pacing are all important when it comes to film-making. So I'm doing my best to ensure that remains the case with Diamonds Reimagined, even if the final film may end up being a similar length to On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

- The Retro Captain

Big Scene development post 5: Oil Rig sequences almost complete...

 Woah, it's been quite a while since the last post, hasn't it? Truth be told, although I've not updated this blog since May there has been an immense amount of progress made since then. 

What else was I doing in the meantime? 

I've been interacting with the Bond community on Twitter, re-watching various Bond films to put myself in the right frame of mind and made key alterations to the script to tighten dialogue and action up.

And yes, I did hear that No Time To Die might finally come out. So I'm quite excited for that too! But anyway, there's a lot of ground to cover in this post about what I've completed for the project, so here goes...

1. The Oil Rig battle sequence is finished!

Yes, the first major set-piece of the finale is done. It took me roughly 3 and a half months, but the end result I think is decently satisfying. 

 This is your You Only Live Twice/On Her Majesty's Secret Service style battle with a good guy army (in this case Draco's Unione Corse are back!) against a bad guy army (SPECTRE henchmen).

It's required careful methods of filming to hide certain parts of the sets which don't contain characters when they should. 

But sometimes you need large numbers of characters on set at once, so you have to plan in advance to know which have been killed and must by lying dead. Or which ones you can place wherever you want to be doing things in the background.

I studied the style in which Bond Directors like Guy Hamilton, Lewis Gilbert and naturally Peter Hunt would've shot these battle sequences. Which I hope adds a degree of authenticity to the finished scene. And I have every respect for those Directors because it must've been really tough to handle such a large amount of extras on set!

The editing was actually tougher than I originally anticipated. So much had to be reordered, cut and sometimes even re-shot to make it work. The key was to build tension to the final countdown, so that your audience doesn't lose sight of the stakes involved. After all, the battle musn't just become a mindless set of shooting and explosions.

2. Minor re-shoots performed on the Motorbike Chase + editing decisions made for the sequence

The escape from Whyte Tectronics + Motorbike chase scene as I originally animated and edited it totalled to about 9 minutes. And I wasn't totally impressed by some of the effects I had produced for stunts such as the Motorbike driving off a cliff.

That's because some of it was done with lots of chroma-key (greenscreen/redscreen..). And having learnt some new tricks that allowed me to move Helicopters diagonally in the Oil Rig scenes, I knew I could do better.

So these shots are among the improved ones I animated during the re-shoots, and they show the Motorbike actually moving up and down on the desert terrain. And I'm much more satisfied with these than the lacklustre original shots.

As I was working on these replacement shots, I also came to the conclusion that the sequence itself was far too long. Whatever you do with an action sequence (especially in Bond films) I don't think it should be too excessive.

That's the reason why I've made the tough decision to cut out 2/3 of the Motorbike chase, which contains a part on a desert road and a part with a dune buggy, for timing reasons. I feel this is for the best, especially since I'm keeping the Las Vegas car chase with the Ford Mustang which will come after the Motorbike chase.

3. The last scene to be set on the Oil Rig is currently being animated

The climax to Diamonds Reimagined is set to be quite big in itself, and it will take a while before I can do the Salt Mine chase + final fight between Bond and Blofeld. In the meantime, I'm working on a short sequence of Blofeld attempting to escape the Oil Rig while Bond pursues.

One key part of this has been finished, and it's a series of shots of the Oil Rig exploding. Yes, in proper classic Bond style I have to include a part where the villain's base is totally destroyed. 

So like John Stears or Derek Meddings would've done, I had to build a smaller scale Oil Rig model (albeit virtually, since this is an animated scene) with several pieces that could "breakaway" and look as if they're falling into the ocean.

Naturally, there had to be several smoke and splash effects to sell the destruction of the Oil Rig. One of the legs of the Rig had already been destroyed by limpet mines earlier in the story, and the rest detonate almost simultaneously as timed by Felix Leiter and the CIA. Then of course it begins sinking...

As of now, I'm getting close to finishing off everything on this damn Oil Rig set. Bond is climbing up the crane to attach a special Q Branch weather balloon to Blofeld's Bathosub, whilst the Crane Operator tries to shake him off.

 So that's everything I can update you on now. The filming of the finale is in full swing, and hopefully by the end of this year I may have finished most of it. Once that's done, it's off to more re-shoots of earlier scenes.

So till then!

- The RetroCaptain