International Law

Jack Lechner explains why Quantum of Solace - the title of the next Bond movie - is a bad movie title:

It?s official: The next James Bond film will be called Quantum of Solace. This announcement has already caused much head-scratching throughout the world ? or at least the part of the world that cares about James Bond, which is a significant fraction of same. Apparently, Quantum of Solace is the title of a short story by Bond creator Ian Fleming, and after 21 movies, the Bond producers have used every other Fleming title except for his non-fiction books Thrilling Cities and The Diamond Smugglers. Either of which, by the way, would be a better title for a James Bond movie than Quantum of Solace.

I used to work for the director Alan Parker, who once told me that ?A good title is the title of a successful movie.? His point was that if the movie works, it carries the title along with it. Of course, he made this point while explaining why he wouldn?t change the title of his film Come See The Paradise, despite the fact that it had only a vague connection to the story. Did the title keep the movie from connecting with its audience? Sir Alan may still disagree, but I think it did.

What makes a title bad?  It?s usually one of these factors:

1) It?s incomprehensible until you see the movie ? but not intriguing enough to make you want to see it ...

2) It sends a misleading signal about tone or content ...

3) It's just boring ...

4)  It?s Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever ...

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