Elliot Carver
Encyclopedia
Elliot Carver is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond
film Tomorrow Never Dies
. In the film, he is portrayed by Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce
. Screenwriter Bruce Feirstein
modelled the character on Robert Maxwell
, but many viewers analysed Carver as a satirical take on Rupert Murdoch
. Carver's character also had basis in American newspaper magnate and leading newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst
, whom Carver quotes towards the climax.
. Officially an orphan, he is the illegitimate son of a German woman who died in childbirth and Lord Roverman, a press tycoon. A Chinese family takes the boy for a one-time fee of 50 pounds. Thirty years later, Carver confronts and blackmail
s Roverman into suicide
and takes over his media empire. This expanded background is found in the official novelisation of Tomorrow Never Dies, and it is also shown in a deleted extended scene in the Tomorrow Never Dies Ultimate collectors edition DVD.
In the novelisation, Elliot Carver went to college in Hong Kong and received a degree in the communication arts. He was hired as a meteorologist at a Hong Kong Television Station; a few years later, he became the anchorman of the station. He often sexually harassed
his female coworkers, to the point that one of them fled Hong Kong to get away from him.
Carver is a billionaire international media mogul of the German-based mass media company, the Carver Media Group. He frequently uses his influence to gain an advantage for his firm or wreak havoc on opponents. Moreover, CMG doesn't merely report the news – it creates it; CMGN is the first to report on scandals and disasters because it CAUSES them to happen. A scene of Carver's daily teleconference with the various heads of his divisions demonstrates this: News of the Day – "floods in Pakistan, riots in Paris and a plane crash in California"; Software – all current releases of software are loaded with bugs that will force consumers to upgrade for years, etc. To boost his viewership, he instructs his head of television to call the President of the United States and threaten to release scandalous photos of him with a cheerleader in a Chicago
hotel room if he doesn't sign a bill lowering cable rates. This shows that the CMGN are a very corrupt media company. Then, Carver adds to release the photos anyway after the bill has been signed. During the CMG Satellite Network Inaugural Party, Carver denies a rumour to his guests that after British beef baron Sir Angus Black lost £10,000 in a game of poker to him and refused to pay up, he exacted revenge by releasing stories on Mad Cow Disease. He further claimed there was even less truth to the rumour the French pay him 100 million francs to keep the stories running for another year.
In the film, he attempts to start a war between the British and Chinese, hoping to wipe out the existing Chinese leadership in Beijing so his cohort could take over. Beyond the massive publicity such a war would produce, a friendlier political atmosphere would allow his television network, the Carver Media Group Network, to secure exclusive broadcasting rights in China for the next century, something that the existing Chinese politicians have refused.
Elliott Carver first appears in the movie at the headquarters of his media empire in Hamburg, Germany, overseeing the sinking of the British warship HMS Devonshire
in the South China Sea
at the hands of his torpedo-like "SEA-VAC" drill. He then has his men steal a cruise missile from the sunken ship, which they have made impossible to be tracked by the British Government. He is later seen at the launch party for his new satellite network, where he gets unusually aggressive with his wife, Paris
(Teri Hatcher
). He develops an instant suspicion of James Bond (Pierce Brosnan
) when the secret agent
questions him regarding the sunken ship. He has his henchmen capture and attempt to interrogate Bond, but he escapes and cuts off power to Carver's live international broadcast.
When learning it was Bond who caused him and his network international embarrassment, Carver tells Paris to get information from him as to why he was at the party and what he knows. Carver believed that Bond is merely a former acquaintance; when he discovers that they are ex-lovers and that his wife was less than honest with him about her past relationship with 007, he has Paris killed by his henchman, assassin Dr. Kaufman (Vincent Schiavelli
), who is skilled in the art of chakra
torture. This establishes for Bond a personal motivation to complete his mission, although many Bond movies include the "sacrificial lamb
" to spur the British secret agent along the way.
Carver runs his operations on a stealth boat that can move undetected by radar. Bond and Chinese People's External Security Force agent Wai Lin
(Michelle Yeoh
) infiltrate his boat and learn he's going to fire the missile at Beijing so as to wipe out the existing Chinese government and replace them with a government who will grant him his desired broadcasting rights.
Carver is ultimately killed by Bond at the film's climax. After Bond and Wai Lin have taken out most of his army, Carver attacks Bond and points his gun at him and delivers a rant about his master plan, which Bond uses to his advantage by secretly activating Carver's SEA-VAC drill. Carver quizzically looks around and is subsequently disarmed by Bond, who then pushes him into the path of the gigantic drill, informing Carver that he forgot that a crucial rule of the media is to give the people what they want. Carver screams in fright as the drill steadily approaches, and Bond stands by watching as the drill tears Carver to shreds.
M later releases a news story stating that Carver has drowned while onboard his luxury yacht in the South China Sea, while the authorities believed he committed suicide.
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies is the eighteenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Bruce Feirstein wrote the screenplay, and it was directed by Roger Spottiswoode. It follows Bond as he tries to stop a media mogul from engineering...
. In the film, he is portrayed by Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
. Screenwriter Bruce Feirstein
Bruce Feirstein
Bruce Feirstein is an American screenwriter and humorist, best known for his contributions to the James Bond series and his best-selling humor books, including Real Men Don't Eat Quiche and Nice Guys Sleep Alone. Real Men Don't Eat Quiche was on the New York Times best seller list for 53...
modelled the character on Robert Maxwell
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
, but many viewers analysed Carver as a satirical take on Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
. Carver's character also had basis in American newspaper magnate and leading newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
, whom Carver quotes towards the climax.
Biography
Elliot Carver was born in Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. Officially an orphan, he is the illegitimate son of a German woman who died in childbirth and Lord Roverman, a press tycoon. A Chinese family takes the boy for a one-time fee of 50 pounds. Thirty years later, Carver confronts and blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
s Roverman into suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
and takes over his media empire. This expanded background is found in the official novelisation of Tomorrow Never Dies, and it is also shown in a deleted extended scene in the Tomorrow Never Dies Ultimate collectors edition DVD.
In the novelisation, Elliot Carver went to college in Hong Kong and received a degree in the communication arts. He was hired as a meteorologist at a Hong Kong Television Station; a few years later, he became the anchorman of the station. He often sexually harassed
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
his female coworkers, to the point that one of them fled Hong Kong to get away from him.
Carver is a billionaire international media mogul of the German-based mass media company, the Carver Media Group. He frequently uses his influence to gain an advantage for his firm or wreak havoc on opponents. Moreover, CMG doesn't merely report the news – it creates it; CMGN is the first to report on scandals and disasters because it CAUSES them to happen. A scene of Carver's daily teleconference with the various heads of his divisions demonstrates this: News of the Day – "floods in Pakistan, riots in Paris and a plane crash in California"; Software – all current releases of software are loaded with bugs that will force consumers to upgrade for years, etc. To boost his viewership, he instructs his head of television to call the President of the United States and threaten to release scandalous photos of him with a cheerleader in a Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
hotel room if he doesn't sign a bill lowering cable rates. This shows that the CMGN are a very corrupt media company. Then, Carver adds to release the photos anyway after the bill has been signed. During the CMG Satellite Network Inaugural Party, Carver denies a rumour to his guests that after British beef baron Sir Angus Black lost £10,000 in a game of poker to him and refused to pay up, he exacted revenge by releasing stories on Mad Cow Disease. He further claimed there was even less truth to the rumour the French pay him 100 million francs to keep the stories running for another year.
In the film, he attempts to start a war between the British and Chinese, hoping to wipe out the existing Chinese leadership in Beijing so his cohort could take over. Beyond the massive publicity such a war would produce, a friendlier political atmosphere would allow his television network, the Carver Media Group Network, to secure exclusive broadcasting rights in China for the next century, something that the existing Chinese politicians have refused.
Elliott Carver first appears in the movie at the headquarters of his media empire in Hamburg, Germany, overseeing the sinking of the British warship HMS Devonshire
HMS Devonshire
Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Devonshire, originally in honour of William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, and later after the county of Devonshire ....
in the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
at the hands of his torpedo-like "SEA-VAC" drill. He then has his men steal a cruise missile from the sunken ship, which they have made impossible to be tracked by the British Government. He is later seen at the launch party for his new satellite network, where he gets unusually aggressive with his wife, Paris
Paris Carver
Paris Carver is a fictional character who appeared in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies . She was portrayed by Teri Hatcher....
(Teri Hatcher
Teri Hatcher
Teri Lynn Hatcher is an American actress, writer, and presenter. She is known for her television roles as Susan Mayer on the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and Lois Lane on the ABC comedy-drama series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman...
). He develops an instant suspicion of James Bond (Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
) when the secret agent
Secret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...
questions him regarding the sunken ship. He has his henchmen capture and attempt to interrogate Bond, but he escapes and cuts off power to Carver's live international broadcast.
When learning it was Bond who caused him and his network international embarrassment, Carver tells Paris to get information from him as to why he was at the party and what he knows. Carver believed that Bond is merely a former acquaintance; when he discovers that they are ex-lovers and that his wife was less than honest with him about her past relationship with 007, he has Paris killed by his henchman, assassin Dr. Kaufman (Vincent Schiavelli
Vincent Schiavelli
Vincent Andrew Schiavelli was an American character actor noted for his work on stage, screen, and television often described as "the man with the sad eyes." He was notable for his numerous and often critically acclaimed cameo appearances.-Early life:Schiavelli was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a...
), who is skilled in the art of chakra
Chakra
Chakra is a concept originating in Hindu texts, featured in tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word for "wheel" or "turning" .Chakra is a concept referring to wheel-like vortices...
torture. This establishes for Bond a personal motivation to complete his mission, although many Bond movies include the "sacrificial lamb
Sacrificial lamb
A sacrificial lamb is a metaphorical reference to a person or animal sacrificed for the common good. The term is derived from the traditions of Abrahamic religion where a lamb is a highly valued possession, but is offered to God as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of Sin.-In politics:In politics, a...
" to spur the British secret agent along the way.
Carver runs his operations on a stealth boat that can move undetected by radar. Bond and Chinese People's External Security Force agent Wai Lin
Wai Lin
Colonel Wai Lin is a fictional character in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, portrayed by Michelle Yeoh.-Biography:Wai Lin , a spy for the Chinese People's External Security Force, is a formidable opponent, a fierce warrior with incredible skill in martial arts...
(Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng is a Hong Kong-based Malaysian Chinese actress, well known for performing her own stunts in the action films that brought her to fame in the early 1990s....
) infiltrate his boat and learn he's going to fire the missile at Beijing so as to wipe out the existing Chinese government and replace them with a government who will grant him his desired broadcasting rights.
Carver is ultimately killed by Bond at the film's climax. After Bond and Wai Lin have taken out most of his army, Carver attacks Bond and points his gun at him and delivers a rant about his master plan, which Bond uses to his advantage by secretly activating Carver's SEA-VAC drill. Carver quizzically looks around and is subsequently disarmed by Bond, who then pushes him into the path of the gigantic drill, informing Carver that he forgot that a crucial rule of the media is to give the people what they want. Carver screams in fright as the drill steadily approaches, and Bond stands by watching as the drill tears Carver to shreds.
M later releases a news story stating that Carver has drowned while onboard his luxury yacht in the South China Sea, while the authorities believed he committed suicide.
See also
- William Randolph HearstWilliam Randolph HearstWilliam Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
, American newspaper magnate / leading newspaper publisher who was the apparent inspiration for: - Charles Foster KaneCharles Foster KaneCharles Foster Kane is a fictional character and the subject of Orson Welles' 1941 film Citizen Kane. Welles played Kane , with Buddy Swan playing Kane as a child...
, Orson Welles' lead role and character in his 1941 film, Citizen KaneCitizen KaneCitizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
. - Robert MaxwellRobert MaxwellIan Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
, another reputedly corrupt media mogul reported missing from his luxury yacht and presumed a suicide. - Rupert MurdochRupert MurdochKeith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
, CEO of NewscorpNews CorporationNews Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
.