Lee Tamahori's Updated James Bond's Codes and Conventions for the 21st Century

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In the cinematic trailers for “Die Another Day” the director, Lee Tamahori, has used a variety of codes and conventions that convey the typical Bond genre, whilst also updating it for the 21st century. I will be discussing these codes and conventions and how they represent this genre that has become a cult in the last 40 years.

The props that appear in the trailers give the audience an indication of what the character’s personalities and film genre. All of the trailers share props showing that James Bond has cutting edge technology; objects such as computers and gadgets give the impression that he is advanced and well prepared. In the first trailer, he is seen tackling the waves on a surfboard; this image of extreme sports appeals more to a younger audience. Traditionally in a Bond movie, the silhouettes of naked women appear at the beginning, however the first trailer sees a change in this as the modernisation of “Die Another Day” transforms them into dancing in 3D. These naked props signify that James Bond is a sexual character.

The ithyphallic image of the ice gun in the first and last trailer symbolises that Bond is a cold hearted killer and the fire that blasts out represents passion, sex and danger. The loyal fans of James Bond will know that he is a cool and refined character; small objects that crop up in the trailers show this such as the cigar in his hand and the champagne glasses that add to the ice palace scene. The cigar also indicates that he is in Cuba – a tropical location.

Whilst he is there he comes across Jinx who is carrying a knife in a pouch on her bikini belt – this shows that she is feisty and can defend herself. In all 3 trailers there is a clip of Jinx pointing a gun; this shows that she is gutsy...

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...he third trailer is for an American audience. Because the Americans aren’t as loyal to the James Bond brand, it tricks them at the start by making “Die Another Day” seem as though it is a Vietnam war film which will grab their interest. Typical things aren’t used because they wouldn’t mean anything and also some of the codes and conventions are broken. At first, Bond is made out to be a real victim whereas the other trailers didn’t show this footage; as it continues he looks more like an action star which appeals more to an American audience. It is giving the film a fresh start; the words at the beginning – betrayed, captured and abandoned aren’t what we would normally expect to see in a Bond trailer; they’re quite harsh. It is a lot milder compared to the second trailer because the American audience aren’t very interested in all the sexual innuendos.

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