Rewatching "Casino Royale (2006)"

[Starkers]

Dismembered Picard wrote:

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Sorry, but the gadgets are cliche and plot crutches. They becomes more incredibly ludicrous as the franchise aged.

Well not neccesarily, Goldeneye doesn't feature them too heavily, but I agree DAD probably did go a tad too far. Having said that the way Bond used his mobile phone in CR was pretty much a plot crutch at every turn. The fact that he located Demitrious from a single text message was utterly ridiculous, similarly how exactly did he locate Mr White from just a mobile number? Do these international terrorirsts not just use single use disposable phones?

All too easy. And the fact that Dimetrious sent his text conviniently on the first CCTV tape Bond looked at...'bout as believable as an invisible car (which is actually theorectically possible)

[The Old Mixer]

^I could buy the invisible car as a plausible gadget if the invisibility effect just worked on the skin of the car. Having it work on the tires and windows with equal effectiveness just made it a magical Star Trek cloaking device.

I'm a fan of the books who recognizes and appreciates that the films have become their own animal. But in the series' 21-film history, there's no shortage of lighter and larger-than-life fare. If a grittier, more realistic approach is working now, let's go with it while it lasts.

[trevanian]

Gritty is welcome, as long as we're not describing Bond's complexion.

Of course if Craig keeps getting touched up more for every movie, I guess I'll have to abandon that complaint.

CR is a l-o-n-g mess, but QOS ought to remedy some of that, unless that second cutter they brought in makes a sliceNdice BourneHash of it. no FRWL or TLD or TLK, but at least I won't feel the need to yawn or lie down during it.

[doubleohfive]

The Borgified Corpse wrote:

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Since we're now less than a month away from Daniel Craig's 2nd 007 outing, "Quantum of Solace," I thought now would be a good time to revisit his debut in the James Bond reboot, "Casino Royale."

I find that my opinons on this movie haven't really changed at all from when I first saw the movie in theaters to today. I think the movie has some great action scenes, particularly the free running at the beginning.

Its called parkour. I was looking into it the other day after having bought the 3-Disc Casino Royale DVD.

But I also lament the movie's very serious tone. Somehow, that's just not James Bond to me. We already have tons of gritty, "realistic" action heroes out there. If I want that, I'll pop in the ol' "Die Hard" DVD.

That's because he wasn't James Bond for most of the movie. The whole point of the film was to show how he becomes the Bond we know. He's not that guy, really, till the last scene of the film when he calls Mr. White on the phone and shoots him in both his legs outsdie the manor.

What about you folks? After a couple years to digest it, what's your verdict on "Casino Royale"?

I still think its an excellent film and am still quite inspired by it; the production did exactly what they set out to do and they did it brilliantly, while still staying true to the core of what the character of James Bond is and should be.

[indranee]

so how many films has Craig signed for? anyone know?

[trevanian]

Same as Broz, three with an option for a fourth. It may even be pay or play, since there was some kind of renegotiation after CR hit.

[Kelso]

The humor in CR was totally inconsistent with the previous films in the franchise.

It was funny.

[I am not Spock]

CR was the best Bond movie in years, IMO

Like 'For Your Eyes Only' and 'Living Daylights' before it; CR took us back down to Earth after a ridiculous and fanciful Bond film. (Shut up! I liked Dalton. He gets trashed for taking pretty much the same approach that Craig did twenty years later!)

Craig is a great Bond, and I hope he is in at least as many as Brosnan was (Brosnan was a good Bond, too, but I feel that his movies didn't always live up to him).

[trevanian]

Kelso wrote:

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The humor in CR was totally inconsistent with the previous films in the franchise.

It was funny.

Clearly you haven't ever seen FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. One-liners that are funny AND well-delivered. Maibaum writing and Connery talking usually can't be beat.

[John Picard]

Stalkers wrote:

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Well not necessarily, Goldeneye doesn't feature them too heavily, but I agree DAD probably did go a tad too far. Having said that the way Bond used his mobile phone in CR was pretty much a plot crutch at every turn. The fact that he located Demitrious from a single text message was utterly ridiculous, similarly how exactly did he locate Mr White from just a mobile number? Do these international terrorists not just use single use disposable phones?

All too easy. And the fact that Dimetrious sent his text conveniently on the first CCTV tape Bond looked at...'bout as believable as an invisible car (which is actually theoretically possible)

True, but at least he didn't have a wristwatch with an electromagnet that could attract objects from 200' away.

[archeryguy1701]

I just saw CR for the first time a couple weeks back, and I enjoyed it. I thought the ending drug on a little long, but overall it was as very good experience and the only Bond film I really a fan thus far. I'm hoping to enjoy QoS as much.

[Barbados Slim]

I watched it about three weeks ago and it's still my favorite Bond film. I don't mind the length because it was a character driven Bond film. The killing affected him. We saw him grow into the cold-hearted Bond we know best. He was brutal and had to learn how to be suave. That, plus some great action scenes, plus the sheer elegence and globetrotting grandeur. That's what I love best about Bond films. This guy gets to travel the world and stay at the fanciest places and meet the most beautiful women. Also, I loved Vesper Lynd. I think Eva Green is a fantastic actress and it was great seeing a character with the prickly shell melt before our eyes. Her betrayal was expected and still heartbreaking. CR set up a believable romance between Bond and Vesper and set him off on his journey to become the Bond we all know and love, so although the early reviews of Quantum haven't been as good as CR, I'm still excited to see him hell-bent on continuing the emotional journey. Plus QoS hasn't gotten bad reviews, but mostly critics are saying that it's not as great as CR, which is hard to match.

I don't miss the gadgets mostly because we live in a gadget-filled world already. We have phones that can give us traffic updates, take photos, hold hours and hours of music and give us internet access. We can hang giant TVs on our walls like paintings. We drive cars that can talk us to the nearest four-star restaurant and can parallel park themselves. What's the next step? The only thing left to do is make the car invisible and we saw how ridiculous that looks. The 60s - 80s we were on the cusp of a technological renaissance so the gadgets looked cool. Now that we're here, the only way to make a gadget look futuristic is to make it break the bounds of credulity into science fiction. I for one don't want to see Bond get a watch that can literally turn back time.

I've always been a fan of more realisitic Bond films that have a touch of humor. My favorites are Goldfinger, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, The Living Daylights and Goldeneye. Casino Royale fits right in with them. But my biggest worry is that QoS goes too Bourne because that was cool because it was gritty. Bond needs to be grounded yet elegant. The fantasy comes from the elegent lifestyle he leads.

[Indysolo]

sidious618 wrote:

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I thought it was a pretty much perfect Bond film. It's also one of my all time favorite films. It continues to blow me the fuck away. Almost all of the Bond fans I know thought it was great. Very loyal to the books which made it a great movie after all of the campy and light films before it.

Yep!

It's a shockingly well made film. Everything clicks. It's a tight script. The action scenes are superb. The actors are all great. The music fits. The effects are seamless. The suspense is real. It is truly a modern masterpiece. It's playing the night before QoS opens at the Cinerama Dome here in LA and I'll be seeing it theatrically for the 10th time. It's that good.

Neil

[The Borgified Corpse]

Kirkman1987 wrote:

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My only criticism is that I honestly don't think the first hour is that good. It's alright, but nothing special. Once Vesper is introduced on the train however, the rest of the movie is near perfect.

Huh. Interesting. I have almost the exact opposite reaction. I thought the 1st hour was very fun & exciting. But once Vesper shows up, it slows to a crawl until the big finish in Venice. Vesper & the poker were both very dull.

I like some of the more down-to-earth James Bond pictures, like The Living Daylights, Goldeneye, and (to a lesser extent) For Your Eyes Only. But even those have a fun glib-ness to them that tells you not to take them too seriously. Casino Royale takes itself far more seriously than any action film ever should. I'm hoping that, now that we're past the origin story, we can get to more conventional, fun Bond stories with Quantum of Solace.

[trevanian]

The Borgified Corpse wrote:

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Huh. Interesting. I have almost the exact opposite reaction. I thought the 1st hour was very fun & exciting. But once Vesper shows up, it slows to a crawl until the big finish in Venice. Vesper & the poker were both very dull.

I like some of the more down-to-earth James Bond pictures, like The Living Daylights, Goldeneye, and (to a lesser extent) For Your Eyes Only. But even those have a fun glib-ness to them that tells you not to take them too seriously. Casino Royale takes itself far more seriously than any action film ever should. I'm hoping that, now that we're past the origin story, we can get to more conventional, fun Bond stories with Quantum of Solace.

I think you're going to have to wait for at least one more before that happens. They were going to 'mainstream' Dalton's third if he had one, just like they did with Moore, who didn't take off till #3, SPY WHO. QOS sounds like it takes itself pretty damned seriously.