Quantum of Solace - Grading & Discussion

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Agent Richard07, Oct 27, 2008.

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Grade the movie...

  1. Excellent

    22.3%
  2. Above Average

    41.7%
  3. Average

    23.0%
  4. Below Average

    8.6%
  5. Poor

    4.3%
  1. CaptJimboJones

    CaptJimboJones Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Just saw it. Loved it. No, not as good as the absolutely magnificant Casino Royale, but that movie IMO is probably among the very best in the entire franchise (I put it at No. 2, behind Goldfinger.) Better than all the Brosnan and Moore flicks, and better than several of the Connery films (Diamonds are Forever, etc).

    Craig once again is the only actor to really capture Ian Fleming's James Bond. It had no wisecracks, no quips, no hammy comedy, no sci-fi gadgets (for the most part), no invisible cars, no comic relief from Q branch. None of which was missed, IMO.

    What I love about the Craig films is that they take themselves seriously - something very few Bond films, even the great ones, ever did.

    And it's nice to read that the movie had the biggest box office opening in the history of the franchise - throws a little water on some of the earlier comments that predicted this would flop.
     
  2. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

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    ^ Yeah, $70.4 million domestic (North America) and another $251.6 million worldwide over the last few weeks for a total of $322 million so far. Not bad.
     
  3. Brolan

    Brolan Commodore Commodore

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    Opening weekend box-office reflects the expectations of another excellent movie like Casino Royale. Upcoming weeks will reflect the quality of the movie by itself.
     
  4. trevanian

    trevanian Rear Admiral

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    Oct 14, 2004
    Absolutely flabbergasted to find I loved it.

    Considering I hated CR and still think Craig's casting is the worst in the history of movies, it means Forster made one helluva good movie (even with some overcutting in some scenes, probably to mask visual effects, like Siena where Craig and the midground is always matted into backgrounds shot a year earlier.)

    Stylish and with content, it also put the characters into a landscape of peoples who seemed to live lives outside the movie, kind of like MARATHON MAN where you see all of the city in turmoil stuff. Very impressive movie, almost makes up for the STAR TREK trailer.
     
  5. Pro Populo

    Pro Populo Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I saw it today and enjoyed it overall. As Bond movies go, it's above average. Not as good as Casino Royale, however.

    I'll start with the negatives. First off, Marc Forster really can't direct action that well. A lot of people complain about the shakiness of the Bourne movies, but I never really had a problem with those because Paul Greengrass and his editors were still able to cut the scenes within the story in such a way as to make them coherent (Ultimatum even won an Oscar for its editing). But in QoS, there were some scenes that were simply incomprehensible. That's not to say that the movie didn't have its fair share of impressive action sequences -- it is a Bond movie after all. But in terms of making them work, it fell short.

    Second, the villain's scheme wasn't really played up as much as in other Bond films. I know the focus of the Craig movies has been more on Bond's character, and I like that and welcome it. However, I do kind of wish that they had depicted Greene as posing more of a threat. The scenes of the Bolivian peasants' wells running dry were kind of effective, but didn't quite cut it for me. I'm not saying that we need another megalomaniacal Max Zorin "let's flood the mine" scenario, but a bit more menace would have been welcome, I think.

    I really liked seeing Craig in the role again. I honestly think he's the best Bond since Connery, and is really defining the character for the 21st century. He's definitely the most physical Bond ever, and man, can that guy wear a suit. I want his wardrobe people. I also thought this movie had Judi Dench's finest performance as M since GoldenEye. And for the second movie in a row, I didn't miss Q or Moneypenny, though I wouldn't mind seeing that MI6 forensics guy take a more Q-like role in the future.

    Olga Kurylenko is one of the best-looking Bond girls in a while, and her acting was decent, if not great. Actually, fortunately there were no truly awful performances in the movie (though the somewhat douche-ish CIA guy with the mustache came close). Camille was no Vesper Lynd, but her own vengeance quest did recall Melina Havelock from For Your Eyes Only. Also, Gemma Arterton as Fields looked like a '60s-era Bond girl, and I liked the homage to Goldfinger.

    I'm a bit unclear on what the deal was with Yusuf, Vesper's Algerian boyfriend. Obviously he's working somehow with Quantum, so I suspect if their storyline continues in the future we may see more of him. They made a point that he was left alive, after all. I like how they're turning the Craig incarnation into a series in its own right, with an underlying SPECTRE-like nemesis that will presumably be brought down in some future film. I hope they can keep up the general intelligence level of the movies as well -- Craig is not Roger Moore, and they should not put him in a movie as if he was (like they did with Pierce Brosnan and Die Another Day).

    Overall, QoS definitely goes somewhere in the top half, and maybe the top third of the Bond films, and I'll eagerly await Bond 23.
     
  6. marillion

    marillion Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well, at least YOU got the Star Trek trailer.. We seemed to get trailers to every movie BUT the new Star Trek... Grrrrr...
     
  7. TGTheodore

    TGTheodore Writer Admiral

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    They were both working for Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum. It's all in the next Bond film: Clue to a Kill.

    --Ted
     
  8. trevanian

    trevanian Rear Admiral

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    mr color type 1 & 2 makes me think the whole reboot is a dig at Tarantino (RESERVOIR DOGS), since the bond producers ignored his brave and inspired offer to do CASINO ROYALE for them -- and do it the right way -- a few years ago. Clearly, Eon has managed to get away with murder for a long time (look at Kevin McClory's fate), and this is just more of the same.

    I'm just seriously pissed that Forster made such a good movie for them.
     
  9. DarthPipes

    DarthPipes Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Mar 3, 2006
    Tarantino is overrated.

    I think word of mouth will hurt Quantum of Solace.

    What I'd like to know is if the people who hold the SPECTRE rights are actually benefitting from doing so.
     
  10. TGTheodore

    TGTheodore Writer Admiral

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    You mean they'll actually have to give BACK some of the $300 million it's already made internationally in just the first twenty days?

    Wow. Tough business.

    --Ted
     
  11. trevanian

    trevanian Rear Admiral

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    Not saying QT isn't overrated, but he does good things sometimes, and Fleming's CR is a clear and present influence on his good works. He'd've done it right.

    Sadly, the Bond people have owned all the SPECTRE rights since the last nefarious bit of legal chicanery they employed with McClory several years back. They could use them anytime now, it isn't like the Moore era where they had to change the scripts to omit SPECTRE references, they're choosing not to use them.
     
  12. trevanian

    trevanian Rear Admiral

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    I hardly consider money to be the arbiter of quality, but I DO think this picture will be reevaluated in a more positive light when it hits dvd, and later on as well, as has been the case (to a lesser degree over a longer period fo time) with LICENCE TO KILL. I'm assuming everybody suckered by the CASINO ROYALE smoke&mirrors just can't figure out what a good movie is suppose to look and feel like (I was so surprised to like it I was stunned, given how much I think Craig is horribly miscast.)
     
  13. Good Will Riker

    Good Will Riker Admiral

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    ^^^

    Not me. Quantum of Solace belongs with the other sophomore EON James Bond productions that have gone wrong such as The Man with the Golden Gun and Tomorrow Never Dies.

    I own all of the previous 007 films (Including Never Say Never Again) on DVD, but I plan on skipping purchasing Quantum of Solace on Blu-ray and go straight to purchasing the 3rd Daniel Craig 007 film on Blu-ray in 2011.

    Nowadays, box-office is only half of the tell-tale sign with the other being DVD/Blu-ray sales to see if a film still has "legs" after its initial theatrical release.

    Compare the DVD and Blu-ray sales of Iron Man flying off of the store shelves while you still see crates full of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystall DVDs and Blu-rays still remaining on the store shelves.

    Like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Quantum of Solace will cater more to completists than casual moviegoers who saw the film in theatres. And, in all honesty, had Quantum of Solace not been an official EON canon James Bond film, this film would be forgotten in 5 years.

    What a mediocre action film! I actually rank Speed 2: Cruise Control, The Fast and the Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions above this film, and I thought those films were terrible!

    As bad as Die Another Day and Moonraker were, at least they were fun to watch. This wasn't.

    To think while thousands of quality films will be long forgotten throughout our lifetime, if we live to the age of 90 this poor action film will still be on the store shelves repackaged as part of the James Bond 007 collection for new audiences for decades to come.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2008
  14. SpeedRacer

    SpeedRacer Commander Red Shirt

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    I thought it was a pretty good movie, but I felt like I was watching Jason Bourne in a James Bond film.
     
  15. doubleohfive

    doubleohfive Fleet Admiral

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    You are entitled to your opinion, however melodramatic you choose to make it.

    However, having seen the film this evening, I can say with full confidence that while you are entitled to your opinion and I respect that, I also heartily disagree, from the perspective of a viewer, fan, writer, artist and critic. Wholly, qualitatively, and sincerely, I disagree with you.
     
  16. TedShatner10

    TedShatner10 Commodore Commodore

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    The Man Withe Golden Gun was mostly mediocre, but Christopher Lee elevates it, but I always thought Tomorrow Never Dies was Brosnan's best instalment anyway.
     
  17. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    Well I guess the somewhat negative reviews aren't really harming it.

     
  18. Indysolo

    Indysolo Commodore Commodore

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    There's an interesting theory about box office numbers. It has to do with how people perceived the previous film. For instance Matrix 2 had a huge opening because people enjoyed the original so much, while Matrix 3 struggled at the box office. I think the same could be said here. Casino Royale didn't open as well as Die Another Day because DAD isn't a good film and people really didn't respond to it. Now QoS has a huge opening. Could it be because audiences loved CR? Of course, this is just a theory. Maybe we'll find out when Bond 23 is released.

    Neil
     
  19. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    I'd actually say this is kind of a no-brainer.
     
  20. Indysolo

    Indysolo Commodore Commodore

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    Well of course, but if I didn't say it was a theory, people could say I was completely wrong. In this case, I'm covered.

    Neil