No Time to Die Opening Sequence

The opening sequence of “No Time to Die” (2021) is the longest so-called pre-title sequence in the entire Bond series. Before the credits roll, there has been 23 minutes and 45 seconds of action on screen. The previous record holder was “The World is Not Enough” (1999), starring Pierce Brosnan as 007. The opening sequence of “TWINE“‘ lasts 14 minutes and 5 seconds. The movie “No Time to Die” itself is also the longest in the Bond series: 2 hours and 43 minutes, beating the previous movie “SPECTRE” (2015) for 15 minutes (The running time of “SPECTRE“‘ is 2 hours and 28 minutes).

After the gun barrel scene, the opening sequence starts in Norway. It is a flashback sequence of Madeleine Swann‘s past. The role of adult Madeleine is played by Léa Seydoux, but in this flashback sequence Madeleine is a young girl, and she is played by Coline Defaud. James Bond himself is not in this sequence.

Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) has come to kill Madeleine’s father Mr. White (played by Jesper Christensen in earlier films, but he is only mentioned by name in “No Time to Die“). Mr. White is not home, but Safin kills Madeleine´s mother (Mathilde Bourbin) instead, “because this will hurt him more”. Madeleine manages to shoot Safin, but he does not die and starts to chase Madeleine on the frozen lake. At first he tries to kill Madeleine, but changes his mind and saves her life when she is drowning under the ice.

The opening sequence continues in Italy, when an adult Madeleine is swimming in the sea and Bond (Daniel Craig) watches her on the pier. Soon they’re in the car and drive to the city of Matera, where they spend a night at a hotel. The next morning Bond visit the grave of Vesper Lynd (Eva Green in “Casino Royale“, 2006), when a bomb explodes inside the grave and almost kills Bond. He survives, but people are trying to kill him and he has to escape. He learns that the man behind it all is Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), whose henchman tells Bond that “Blofeld sends his regards”. You know… Madeleine, she is a daughter of SPECTRE.” Bond picks Madeleine up and they leave with Bond’s Aston Martin DB5. After a chase they manage to escape and come to a train station, where Bond tells Madeleine that their relationship is over and puts her on the train. After that, the credits roll and Billie Eilish‘s song “No Time to Die” starts.

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