Most Overrated "Recent" Bond Movie.

[The Borgified Corpse]

The more I think about it, the more I think Casino Royale is WAY overrated. It has some great action sequences at the beginning & the end but the middle with all the poker is just dull as dirt. It saps out all the fun that is supposed to be in a James Bond movie, even a more realistic one. (Even The Living Daylights, often cited as one of the most realistic 007 movies, isn't above a scene of them sledding down a hill in a cello case straight across the Austrian border. "We have nothing to declare!")

Goldeneye is slightly overrated but still a good movie. It's a solid first effort for Brosnan but he would go on to give much better performances in Tomorrow Never Dies & The World Is Not Enough (2 of my favorite Bond movies, BTW).

Die Another Day is actually really good for about the 1st hour or so. I like the opening sequence. I like Bond getting tortured by the North Koreans with Madonna music in the background. I like the swordfight. But once it gets to the ice hotel, it loses me. And I keep trying to figure out a reason why I'm able to forgive an underwater car (like in The Spy Who Loved Me) but not an invisible car. But I can't cite a rationale for it. That's just the way it is; the invisible car sucks!

 

[Jono]

I felt Casino Royale was the most overrated...haven't seen the new one yet so maybe I'll change my mind. After all the buzz and crap I heard before I even stepped into the theatre I had quite high expections but I found it fairly dull (I started to get bored about half way through that really long chase at the beginning of the movie) and Craig to be as engaging as a brick wall.

 

[ClayinCA]

There should be an option for "none." Actually (and I'm going to get slammed for this), I thought Die Another Day was underrated. Not that it was great, but it's far from being The Worst Thing Ever To Happen To James Bond, the way most people go on about it.

 

[I am not Spock]

I like Goldeneye, TND, and TWINE, so none of those are overrated, IMO.

DAD is usually cited as being total bat dung on this site, so one can hardly call it overrated. It was OK for the first hour, but fell to bits at the endgame.

CR was awesome, the best Bond in years. Haven't seen QOS yet.

 

[nx1701g]

I'm sorry to say but I find Casino Royale to be not only overrated but one of the worst films in the entire series.

 

[Broccoli]

In general, all the recent films have gotten the appropriate response from critics and fans.

 

[Starkers]

There should be an option for "none." Actually (and I'm going to get slammed for this), I thought Die Another Day was underrated. Not that it was great, but it's far from being The Worst Thing Ever To Happen To James Bond, the way most people go on about it.

I won't slam you for it, I enjoyed DAD for the most part, even though I hate Halle Berry I didn't think she was awful in the role (better Bond girl than Denise Richards that's for sure) I think it was definitely time for a change though, although I would have liked to see Brosnan do one more. CR could easily have been made as Bond's last mission rather than his first.

 

[Captain Craig]

Easy.
Casino Royal

It was at best a decent spy flick. It shamelessly was emulating Jason Bourne and shoud've just been called Bourne 4.

As one who loved Brosnan in the role and knows the main reason he wasn't allowed back was cause the "kids" took over after Cubby Broccoli died I admit Die Another Day was encroaching on Moonraker territory. However, DAD did great box office and Brosnan was loved in the role. He also wanted to tone down the schtick that DAD delivered. The Broccoli kids though decided they'd rather emulate the "latest hot thing" instead of do a Bond film.

I think it unfair or unjust to have QoS in the choices though as literally few but Englanders have had a chance to see it. Doesn't open State side for another week. I do have hopes it will be more Bond-esque though this time. Depite Daniel Craig not looking AT ALL like cinema Bond should.

 

[Starkers]

The Broccoli kids though decided they'd rather emulate the "latest hot thing" instead of do a Bond film.

In fairness, since the 70s Bond has always shifted to fit in with the times. The gritty naughties Bond is just the latest incarnation of that. This is why we got Moonraker after Star Wars, and Licence to Kill after the Lethal Weapon style American action films of the time.

That said I think they've become a little bit too enamoured by the Bourne films, I am biased though as the only bourne I enjoyed was the first one.

If it makes you feel any better I doubt this fad will last forever (no Bond fad does) and I reckon it won't be too long before the franchise becomes a bit more fun and fantastical again.

 

[TedShatner10]

I think they'll get balance right next time, in Bond 23, when they're going to expand on the Quantum syndicate introduced in Casino Royale, a evil cabal of businessmen that is similar to SPECTRE and wants to take over the world.

On Rotten Tomatoes Brosnan's second instalment, Tomorrow Never Dies, only got a 54% rating which is actually slightly lower than Die Another Day's 59% which makes TND hugely underrated and misunderstood. GoldenEye had an undeserved RT score of 81%.

Die Another Day got the score it deserved and is a mediocre Bond movie that goes too far with the gadgets and far fetched sets, but I still find it a watchable and run romp along the lines of Street Fighter.

 

[Captain Craig]

The Broccoli kids though decided they'd rather emulate the "latest hot thing" instead of do a Bond film.

In fairness, since the 70s Bond has always shifted to fit in with the times. The gritty naughties Bond is just the latest incarnation of that. This is why we got Moonraker after Star Wars, and Licence to Kill after the Lethal Weapon style American action films of the time.

That said I think they've become a little bit too enamoured by the Bourne films, I am biased though as the only bourne I enjoyed was the first one.

If it makes you feel any better I doubt this fad will last forever (no Bond fad does) and I reckon it won't be too long before the franchise becomes a bit more fun and fantastical again.

I get what your saying. The difference, as nuanced as it may seem, is that they incorporated a few "hot at the time" elements into Bond films. As opposed to nearly whole cloth changing it like they did with CR. Moonraker, License to Kill and any others still have the traditional Bond elements, looks and feel of a Bond film. CR feels like something else due to missing elements. The saving "feel" of CR really is Judi Dench. Had 'M' been someone else it would've felt that much more foreign and looked like just a good spy flick by some other name.

 

[Candlelight]

Casino Royale.

If I want to watch a card game for 2 hours I will watch ESPN.

 

[TedShatner10]

I'm really having a few lulz to some of the negative reactions to Quantum of Solace, showing just how fickle and dumbshit most Bond fans are (although cut back on the Bourne action scene gimmicks and get a more physically impressive henchman/villain for Bond to fight).

 

[suarezguy]

Didn't like Casino Royale (Vesper and Mathis were OK, Le Chiffre & Bond mediocre, the latter's development certainly overrated), but thought Tomorrow Never Dies was worse, weakest story (OK concept, bad execution) and action. Part of it probably has to do with seeing GE, TWINE and DAD younger, but I think those were more involving in many ways.

 

[TedShatner10]

Quite a backlash against Casino Royale, but I wouldn't be surprised that a stripped down movie that is somewhat atypical for a Bond movie (like Dr. No, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, or License to Kill) would not be to everyone's taste.

 

[Captain Craig]

^^^^
It deserves its 38% disapproval rating, or overrated tag.

It has a Superman Returns vibe to it. It was lauded, hailed and anticipated with much furor. However, upon reflection its proven to be "just a spy flick" and not really a "Bond movie". Even some once Returns fans see the chill of it now in hindsight. The one thing it has going in its favor is its box office was good and QoS internationally is doing well so its still playing well to the masses.
However, to Bond fans it(Royale) is less a Bond movie and more "just a spy" movie.

Personally I'm hoping QoS is a reversal or at least moves in the direction of feeling more Bond-esque this time around. I'd hate to have to wait for 2010 or 2011 to get a proper Bond movie again.

 

[MyCylon]

I'm surprised at how many people feel that CR was overrated. To me it was a true return to form for the franchise and most certainly a Bond movie through and through. The thing to remember, and maybe that's part of the issue, is that this is a modern Bond. Much as many of the Bond's that came before it, it's a child of its time. And because it's not desperately trying to be something that was cool or ok a few decades ok (e.g. what DAD was doing) I think it succeeds.

And as for the Bourne movies, well, they wouldn't be what they are without the Bond movies that preceded them IMHO. So I don't really see a problem if CR possibly took a few pages out of the Bourne book (in other words, it was also taking a few pages out of its own franchise's book...).

 

[bigdaddy]

Casino Royale by a mile! It wasn't the second coming! Not even close! It is an OK movie, but didn't feel like Jame Bond at all.

 

[Captain Craig]

I've yet to go to the QoS Discussion thread till I see the movie. I had hoped it would be better than the overrated Roayle but reviews like this keep popping up. Then I heard that BBC radio commentator just rake it over the coals.

I'm never prone to let critics tell me what to see. I will see it but hope I see it differently than they do. I so want a better Bond movie than I was last given.

 

[T'Baio]

I just rewatched Casino Royale the other night, and it's really not that great. I mean, they play cards for a half hour. It's an okay movie, but definitely not that great at all. And it really doesn't feel all that much like a Bond movie.

But then again, I like Roger Moore, so what do I know?