Dear god Quantum of Solace is so boring

[Broccoli]

One of the telling things (which we can see already in this thread) is how much of the movie people actually remember. All of the good Bond movies have memorable scenes/characters/moments that we still think about. I can't think of one instance in QoS where I could say 'I'll remember this for some time', except maybe the opening.

I dunno...I thought the Opera House sequence was classic Bond.

What Craig's films definetly need are better villains IMO. So far we've had two kind of second bananas that Bond didn't even finish off, but were killed by Quantum instead.

In CR's case, that's how it happened in the novel. If they changed that, we'd have people in here complaining about that.

But with QoS, I think Bond exactly knew what he was doing. Greene was going to be offed by Quantum and Bond knew that. It was almost as if Bond was saying "Well, since you are going to die anyway, I'm going to let you live your last few moments in fear of when that death will come." I actually kinda liked that.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Wow...that's really high. Especially since it is double that of CR. Has there been any other movie that has had a sequel with a doubled-sized budget?

The Numbers has the budget of Casino Royale pegged way too low at $102 million. Box Office Mojo has the budget at $150 million, and that's around what most media outlets estimated the budget to be. So $200-230 million for Quantum of Solace represents a substantial increase, but by no means a doubling.

 

[DarthPipes]

In the all Bond movies, that damn would have burst at the end in Suckatude.

Bond used to be a patriot too. Now he's just whining about his government and the Americans.

 

[Harvey]

Also, if action sequences took longer to shoot because of Forster's inexperience with such filming, that could easily contribute to cost increases, as well.

Certainly locations led to a larger budget, but on this count, are you sure? I was under the impression that most action was under the direction of the second unit, which had a very experienced director (who brought the oft-discussed style, but also the experience, of the Bourne franchise to the table).

 

[DWF]

Also, if action sequences took longer to shoot because of Forster's inexperience with such filming, that could easily contribute to cost increases, as well.

Certainly locations led to a larger budget, but on this count, are you sure? I was under the impression that most action was under the direction of the second unit, which had a very experienced director (who brought the oft-discussed style, but also the experience, of the Bourne franchise to the table).

It took four weeks to shoot that chase scene and they had two accidents with the Aston Martins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_of_Solace#Filming

 

[Alidar Jarok]

One of the telling things (which we can see already in this thread) is how much of the movie people actually remember. All of the good Bond movies have memorable scenes/characters/moments that we still think about. I can't think of one instance in QoS where I could say 'I'll remember this for some time', except maybe the opening.

Here's what I remember off the top of my head:

The "We have people everywhere" and it leading to them literally having people everywhere. The scene in the theater with Bond actually doing something smart. The scenes with Mathas and dealing with the south american junta (although, to be fair, I don't remember which country they were in).

Overall, the movie felt generic at parts, padded at other parts, and too short overall (how it can feel short and padded I don't know, that's not a good sign). But there are memorable scenes.

 

[KB24]

MAybe now that they can see what they did wrong with the reboot, they will do the next one right! Put all the bondisms back, please?

http://ithinkthereforeireview.blogspot.com/search/label/James Bond

 

[Trubinator]

Quantum felt like a boring Bourne rip-off with very little going for it. The plot sucked, the villain sucked, there was no sex, no classic Bond moments, no humor...

It really was a shame after Casino Royale, which I absolutely loved and own on DVD.

 

[Broccoli]

^I dunno about that...QoS did have some really good 007 moments such as the Opera scene, Bond's scene in the desert with Green (I love how he just leaves him there with the can of oil), and the sequence in the hotel with M after Bond is "arrested".

 

[mostly_nameless]

^I dunno about that...QoS did have some really good 007 moments such as the Opera scene, Bond's scene in the desert with Green (I love how he just leaves him there with the can of oil), and the sequence in the hotel with M after Bond is "arrested".

I think the opera scene was the only one where I really saw James Bond. It was a good Bond moment.

I was thinking at that point in the movie that Craig's Bond was about to transition from the thug who had the previous ugly fight to "The Bond" and had hopes for the rest of the movie. They died about 2 minutes later when the tired, "you killed a good guy"/"I'm too cool to explain I didn't" crap started.

Subsequently I thought the hotel scene just seemed to make M look like some kind of nutjob with a split personality. "You're arrested because you are dangerous and we can't trust you!" "No wait! You just PROVED you are dangerous and can't be trusted by attacking a bunch of our own men, so never mind. Go back to your own personal agenda and send a card when you can."

Still, the last scene left me with some hope that he had dropped his angry thugly ways and will become a smarter, smoother Bond in the next movie. (Even if it did seem like the last scene dropped in from an entirely different movie.)

 

[Cicero]

^I dunno about that...QoS did have some really good 007 moments such as the Opera scene, Bond's scene in the desert with Green (I love how he just leaves him there with the can of oil), and the sequence in the hotel with M after Bond is "arrested".

They died about 2 minutes later when the tired, "you killed a good guy"/"I'm too cool to explain I didn't" crap started.

I thought Bond felt responsible for the agent's death, though he didn't kill him directly - thus there wasn't much to explain.

As much as I didn't like Casino Royale, I really liked Quantum of Solace. Aside from the cartoonish American station chief (and cartoonishness was something I loved about the old Bond Movies - "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!") the movie was incredibly believable. I still think Brosnan was the best Bond (and that his last three movies were the most enjoyable in the series), but Quantum of Solace was one of the more memorable and enjoyable - and incredibly realistic without revelling in pretended verismilitude - of the Bond films.

Someone above suggested that Bond wasn't patriotic; I'd argue that he was. His line to M at the end of the movie to the effect that he never left pointed out rather nicely that he hadn't let anything but his duty control his actions - in fact he'd been driven by them despite, for a time, significant emotional cost. MI6 was less than patriotic for a time, but not Bond - and Bond didn't let even that stand in the way.

An aside - I think someone also suggested there wasn't sex in the movie. I've never been fond of that part of the Bond franchise (my younger sister complained loudly about the lack of nude women in the opening credits of Casino Royale, but that was one of the few changes in that movie I didn't mind); it was, regardless, present in Quantum of Solace. Bond and Strawberry Fields were sexually involved shortly after they arrived in their hotel room.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I saw it in the theatre and barely remember it. Did it have story of any kind? I think I might of fell asleep at one point. I liked Casino Royale but it had flaws. Quantum seemed to emulate all those flaws and not the good stuff!

 

[Captain Craig]

I'm pedicting that if reaction to the next Bond is down significantly, showing peoples disintrest in proto-Bond that they might rethink the direction. Especially if the story continues in this very non-Bond fashion.

We are Bond fans, we'd like a Bond movie. When I want to see Bourne I'll page Mr.Damon.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

If you don't like this interpretation, I don't see any way the series will be able to catch your attention. Don't worry, they'll do a new version of the character in ten or so years, perhaps less. And with Star Trek fueling a wave of nostalgia for the 1960s, it might be more to your liking.

You better fracking hope not, because if that happens, the Bond franchise is finished. That previous approach almost killed it dead like people say B&B killed Star Trek dead.

Bond is supposed to be a serious agent, not a leering, quiping goofball who's involved in shitty stunts and little else. The two movies have got him back on track, and yet people want back what killed it in the first place? Sorry, but if people want that, they've got the movies on DVD that they can see.

I'm predicting that if reaction to the next Bond is down significantly, showing people's disinterest in proto-Bond that they might rethink the direction. Especially if the story continues in this very non-Bond fashion.

We are Bond fans, we'd like a Bond movie. When I want to see Bourne I'll page Mr.Damon.

Excuse me, but if you've read the Bond novels, you'll see that what happens in the last two movies is what makes Bond Bond. Fleming didn't write in poppycock like cars with ejector seats (the only gadgets in the Mercedes
V-5 that Bond drives in the Goldfinger novel is a set of changeable colour headlights and a gray paint job so as not to stand out, a homing receiver that picks up a homing bug, reinforced bumpers aft and rear, and extra cargo space-nothing else!), gun and grenade pens, universal locks with exploding keychain fobs, and all the other stuff that we've seen in the movie series.

What we need are adaptations of the most recent Bond novels:
1981 Licence Renewed
1982 For Special Services
1983 Icebreaker
1984 Role of Honour
1986 Nobody Lives For Ever
1987 No Deals, Mr. Bond
1988 Scorpius
1989 Win, Lose Or Die
1990 Brokenclaw
1991 The Man from Barbarossa
1992 Death Is Forever
1993 Never Send Flowers
1994 SeaFire
1996 COLD
1997 Zero Minus Ten
1998 The Facts of Death
1999 High Time to Kill
2000 Doubleshot
2001 Never Dream of Dying
2002 The Man with the Red Tattoo

All of these are great stories, and in most cases are a heck of a lot better than the last two Brosnan Bonds; they also fit the style of the Craig Bonds quite well.

 

[Kelthaz]

^ When did the campy Bond ever kill the franchise? Even the much hated Die Another Day (although it got good reviews) made a fortune.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

^ When did the campy Bond ever kill the franchise? Even the much hated Die Another Day (although it got good reviews) made a fortune.

The fluffy stuff I mentioned above is what almost killed it. The Craig movies have got Bond back on a track of realism; the novels also mentioned above have that realism in spades (the Gardener ones in particular.)

 

[Kelthaz]

^ When did the campy Bond ever kill the franchise? Even the much hated Die Another Day (although it got good reviews) made a fortune.

The fluffy stuff I mentioned above is what almost killed it. The Craig movies have got Bond back on a track of realism; the novels also mentioned above have that realism in spades (the Gardener ones in particular.)

But the fluffy stuff never almost killed the franchise. People liked the fluffy stuff. Roger Moore is the campiest of the Bonds and he remains almost as popular as Connery. The only thing that came close to killing Bond was LtK and the end of the Cold War.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I'm pedicting that if reaction to the next Bond is down significantly, showing peoples disintrest in proto-Bond that they might rethink the direction. Especially if the story continues in this very non-Bond fashion.

I agree with this. I think many fans are interested in this "proto-Bond" as long as it leads to something more familiar. In a way CR suffered from the problem Smallville has had. It was so successful initially that TPTB are convinced that they can not progress the story without alienating the new fans. So that a supposed "early years" starting point now becomes the fixed premise. Over time what once was fresh becomes stale. Due to it not being allowed to naturally progress.

 

[Broccoli]

I think there is a desire from Craig and the other PTB to bring in more elements of the previous Bond movies, especially that the origin story is finished. There are ways to bring in those more fantastical elements that Bond movie fans are familar with which can merged with the harder edge of Craig's Bond. A look at the Dalton films proves a merging can be sucessfully done.

Besides, the film series always seems to know when they go too far and have to bring it back down again. Each film the inch more and more to the fantastic, then after a few, they scale it back down to Earth.

The only thing that came close to killing Bond was LtK and the end of the Cold War.

And even that wasn't so much the movie's fault. With the poor marketing campaign, the over-crowded summer movie season, and the overspending on Moonraker finally catching up to TPTB, the stars just didn't align right for LtK to be as successful as the other films in the series.

 

[payndz201]

Quantum Of Solace's problem (and to a lesser extent Casino Royale's) was that it was so afraid of being out-done by Jason Bourne it tried to be just like him.

James Bond shouldn't be afraid of anyone. 007 is supposed to set the standard, not follow it.

With the poor marketing campaign, the over-crowded summer movie season, and the overspending on Moonraker finally catching up to TPTB, the stars just didn't align right for LtK to be as successful as the other films in the series.

What did Moonraker have to do with the underperformance of Licence To Kill? The two movies were a decade (and four intervening films) apart!

If anything, LtK's problem was - as with QoS - that it was trying to be like something else. It was more Lethal Weapon than regular Bond, putting a serious ripped-from-the-headlines veneer (drugs) on what was ultimately a Big Dumb Action Movie - only without the quirky charm of Riggs and Murtaugh (and their R-rated intensity). It could be argued that it was more like Fleming's Bond, but it was very much out of step with the film series as it had developed.