Synopsis:

This version has a much shorter pre-tite sequence (with a 'bloody' gun barrel), and in the end, Bond isn't poisoned and doesn't die.

Intentions:

I thought the pre-title sequence to be way too long, and I was very impressed by the alternate ending conjured up by @variantfanedits. By shortening the pre-title scenes the movie starts to feel more like a traditional Bond film. A happy end is perfectly in line with that, so I decided to borrow @variantfanedits idea, though I cut it a bit different, with other music.

Change List:

- Replaced gun barrel sequence with the one from 'Spectre' (as the original one doesn't feature blood) - Skipped Madeleine's flashback (and moved it to (1), see below) - Switched the shot of Madeleine resurfacing and the wide shot of the beach (with Bond walking to the shore). Removed Madeleine from that shot (which is now the first shot of the movie) - Skipped the dialogue in the car (and moved it to (4), see below) - Various (micro)cuts during the rest of the pre-title sequence up until the point when Bond discovers the Spectre note in the cemetery (see clip below) - Deleted all exterior shots when the Aston Martin is being shot at (and also a few interior shots), thus creating a more harrowing experience and further shortening the pre-title sequence. - Main titles now clock in at 14 minutes - Deleted shot of Safin playing with Madeleine‘s hair just before their meeting - Inserted very short flashes of Madeleine's flashback when a grown-up Madeleine meets Safin again and opens his box. - (1) Inserted madeleine's complete flashback after Safin says 'They still need me', starting from the first shot of young Madeleine (deleted the preceding shots of the flashback) - Microtrim in flashback when young Madeleine is cleaning the floor - Scene with Safin resumes after the flashback - A few small trims during the scene in Q’s apartment - Deleted scene of Safin showing Madeleine the flask holding the poison and talking about Mathilde being Bond’s daughter (this will only be revealed during the first encounter between Bond and Safin). The scene resumes when Safin shows his garden to Madeleine and Mathilde. - Skipped the shot of Bond when he enters the water in the plane with Nomi (and moved it to (3), see below) - Skipped the shot of Bond running through a corridor before he finds Mathilde's doll (and moved it to (2), see below) - Deleted Safin stabbing Bond with the flask during their fight - Deleted the shot of the blood drops in the water - Deleted Safin's monologue after the fight - Several (micro)cuts make Bond shoot Safin right away - Cut Bond's dialogue with Q up until the point when Q says 'The missiles have already launched.' This way, we don't see too much of Bond having difficulty with walking. - Replaced background music with the first half of the track 'Square Escape' from the soundtrack album, starting after Bond pulls the lever. - Replaced sound effects where necessary until the end of the movie - Deleted all shots of Bond climbing up, talking to Madeleine and dying - Deleted shots of crying Madeleine - Deleted shots of M and Moneypenny - Repeated the shot of the factory where the roof is closing and reversed it - Repeated the top shot of the centre of Safin's garden opening and the shot of the water streaming down into the factory - Inserted shots of Nomi and Madeleine looking up at the rockets - (2) Inserted the shot of Bond running - Inserted the shots of the rockets nearing the island with Mathilde looking on - Repeated the shot of Bond climbing out of the plane and reversed it. Removed Nomi from the shot. - Inserted shot from exploding rockets - Repeated the shot of the plane entering the harbor and reversed it. Removed Nomi from the shot. - Inserted shot from exploding rockets falling down (up until the point when Bond comes into view) - (3) Inserted excerpt of shot of Bond in the plane in the water (slowed down a bit) - Inserted first half of the wide shot of missiles hitting the island. - (3) Inserted remainder of shot of Bond in the plane - Start of track 'Shouldn't we get to know each other first' (from 00:50:23 on) from the soundtrack album - Repeated the shot of the controls of the plane and reversed it. - Repeated the shot of the plane subtracting it's wings and reversed it. - Inserted second half of the wide shot of missiles hitting the island. - Inserted shot of Q releasing his breath - Repeated second half of the wide shot of the missiles hitting the island, and fade to black - Deleted scene at M's office - (4) Replaced the car scene featuring Madeleine and Mathilde with the car scene featuring Bond and Madeleine from the original pre-title sequence. The sound of this clip already starts (with a fade-in) at the beginning of the preceding clip (showing the blue car driving through the mountains). - Inserted shot of Mathilde smiling to her mother in the car. Zoomed in a bit so it can't be seen that she's in the front seat. - Start of track 'Matera' (from 39:04 to 1:04:21) from the soundtrack album during Mathilde's smile. This track segues into the Amstrong song during the end credits.

Additional Notes:

I was always guided by the look and feel of the classic (pre-Craig) Bond films. To shorten the pre-title sequence I moved Madeleine's flashback to a point halfway through the movie, and made a lot of (micro) cuts in the remainder of the scenes that precede the main titles. As for scenes with Safin: he doesn't get a chance to poison Bond in this version, so I removed all references to the (creation of) the poison in the flask. And for the alternate ending I accepted the fact that I couldn't fix some continuity problems that arose when re-using clips. But these errors didn't really bother me - I hope that goes for most of the viewers as well.

Other Sources:

- The gun barrel sequence from Spectre - The soundtrack album of 'No Time To Die' by Hans Zimmer.

Special Thanks:

Inspirational and respectful thanks to @variantfanedits, the alternate ending being his idea.