Skyfall (2012)

Judi Dench: M

Photos 

Quotes 

• [Bond stares at the porcelain bulldog statue on M's desk] 

  James Bond : The whole office goes up in smoke and that bloody thing survives.

  M : Your interior decorating tips have always been appreciated, 007.

• M : I fucked this up, didn't I?

  James Bond : No. You did your job.

• M : Is this where you grew up?

  James Bond : Mm.

  M : How old were you when they died?

  James Bond : You know the answer to that. You know the whole story.

  M : Orphans always make the best recruits.

• M : Chairman, Ministers, today I've repeatedly heard how irrelevant my department has become. "Why do we need agents, the 00 section? Isn't it all rather quaint?" Well, I suppose I see a different world than you do and the truth is that what I see frightens me. I'm frightened because our enemies are no longer known to us. They do not exist on a map. They're not nations, they're individuals. And look around you. Who do you fear? Can you see a face, a uniform, a flag? No! Our world is not more transparent now, it's more opaque! It's in the shadows. That's where we must do battle. So before you declare us irrelevant, ask yourselves, how safe do you feel? Just one more thing to say, my late husband was a great lover of poetry, and, em, I suppose some of it sunk in, despite my best intentions. And here today, I remember this, I think, from Tennyson: "We are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are. One equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will. To strive, to seek, to find, and *not* to yield."

• James Bond : I read your obituary of me.

  M : And?

  James Bond : Appalling.

  M : Yeah, I knew you'd hate it. I did call you "an exemplar of British fortitude".

  James Bond : That bit was all right.

• [M arrives at her home and prepares a drink when she suddenly hears the sound of glass clanging from behind her. She sees a silhouette of Bond near the window] 

  M : Where the hell have you been?

  James Bond : Enjoying death. 007 reporting for duty.

• James Bond : So this is it. We're both played out.

  M : Well, if you believe that, why did you come back?

  James Bond : Good question.

  M : Because we're under attack. And you know we need you.

  James Bond : Well, I'm here.

  M : You'll have to be debriefed and declared fit for active service. You can only return to duty when you've passed the tests, so take them seriously. And a shower might be in order.

  James Bond : I'll go home and change.

  M : Oh, we've sold your flat, put your things into storage. Standard procedure on the death of an unmarried employee with no next of kin. You should have called.

  James Bond : I'll find a hotel.

  M : Well, you're bloody well not sleeping here.

• [Bond opens a garage door to reveal his Aston Martin DB5] 

  M : Oh, and I suppose that's completely inconspicuous.

  James Bond : Get in.

• Raoul Silva : No remorse. Just as I had imagined.

  M : Regret is unprofessional.

  Raoul Silva : "Regret is unprofessional?" They kept me for five months in a room with no air. They tortured me and I protected your secrets. I protected you. But they made me suffer and suffer and suffer. You betrayed me. So, I had only one thing left. My cyanide capsule in my back left molar. You remember, right? So, I broke the tooth and bit into the capsule. It... burned all my insides, but I didn't die. Life clung to me like a disease. And then I understood why I had survived. I needed to look in your eyes one last time.

• [Bond and M drive off in the Aston Martin DB5] 

  M : It's not very comfortable, is it?

  James Bond : [Flips up the shift knob cap to reveal the ejector seat button underneath]  Are you gonna complain all the way?

  M : Oh, go on, then, eject me. See if I care.

  [Bond reconsiders the thought and closes the shift knob while driving] 

• M : I know I can't have this job forever, but I'll be damned if I'm going to leave the department in worse shape than I found it.

  Gareth Mallory : M, you've had a great run. You should leave with dignity.

  M : Oh, to hell with dignity. I'll leave when the job's done.

• Gareth Mallory : The opposition has taken the position that we're a bunch of antiquated bloody idiots fighting a war we don't understand and can't possibly win.

  M : Look, three of my agents are dead already, don't you involve me in politics now...

  Gareth Mallory : The Prime Minister has ordered an inquiry. You're expected to attend.

  M : Attend in stocks at midday? Who's old-fashioned now?

  Gareth Mallory : For Christ's sake, listen to yourself! We're a democracy, and we're responsible to the people we're supposed to defend! We can't keep fighting in the shadows, there are no more shadows!

  M : You don't get this, do you? Whoever's behind this, whoever's doing this, he knows us! He's one of us! He comes from the same place as Bond, a place you say doesn't exist: the shadows!

• James Bond : What was it you said? "Take the bloody shot."

  M : I made a judgment call.

  James Bond : You should have trusted me to finish the job.

  M : It was a possibility of losing you or the certainty of losing all those other agents. I made the only decision I could and you know it.

  James Bond : I think you lost your nerve.

  M : What are you expecting, a bloody apology? You know the rules of the game. You've been playing it long enough. We both have.

  James Bond : Maybe too long.

  M : Speak for yourself.

• M : 007, what the hell are you doing? Are you kidnapping me?

  James Bond : That would be one way of looking at it.

• James Bond : [after a scene with heavy shooting]  Are you hurt?

  M : Only my pride is hurt.

• M : [last line before opening credits]  Take the bloody shot!

  Eve : Agent down.

• M : I suppose... It's too late to make a run for it?

  James Bond : Well, I'm game if you are.

  M : I did get one thing right.

  [dies] 

• M : Mr. Silva, you're going to be transferred to Belmarsh Prison, where you will be remanded in custody, until the Crown Prosecution Service deem you fit to stand trial...

  Raoul Silva : Say my name. Say it! My real name. I know you remember it.

  M : Your name is on a memorial wall of the very building you attacked. I will have it struck off. Soon your past will be as nonexistent as your future. I'll never see you again.

• M : I suppose it's too late to make a run for it?

  James Bond : Well, I'm game if you are.

• [from trailer] 

  M : [Writing Bond's obituary]  What do you say about a man like that?

• M : 007, what took you so long?

• M : It's a beautiful old house.

  Kincade : She is - and like all great ladies, she still has her secret ways.

• M : 007, Gareth Mallory.

  Gareth Mallory : I hope I haven't missed anything. The PM does prattle on in a crisis. Bond.

  James Bond : Mallory.

• M : Find out who he works for and who has the list. Then, terminate him for Ronson.

  James Bond : With pleasure.

• M : 007, you are ready for this?

  James Bond : Yes, Mum.

• M : You know what's at stake here. We cannot afford to lose that list.

  James Bond : Yes, mum.

• M : [via Eve's earpiece]  What was that?

  Eve : VW Beetles... I think.

• M : This is where you grew up.

  James Bond : Mm.

• [first lines] 

  James Bond : [Speaking on a blue tooth device]  Ronson's down. He needs a medical evac.

  M : Where is it? Is it there?

  James Bond : Hard drives gone.

  M : You sure?

  James Bond : It's gone. Give me a minute.

  M : They must have it! Get after them!

  James Bond : I'm stabilizing Ronson.

  M : We don't have the time!

  James Bond : I have to stop the bleeding!

  M : Leave him!