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SPECTRE - Grading & Discussion

Grade the movie...

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Commander Richard

Commander Richard

Yo! Man!
Premium Member
***SPOILERS AHEAD***





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"In SPECTRE, a cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE." - Sony Pictures

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The press screening is today, so reviews will be up after that. Or eventually.

The movie opens on October 26th in the UK.

Other Release Dates

If the 148-minute runtime is accurate, this will be the longest James Bond movie to date.
 
I've been avoiding pretty much all news for this movie. All I know is the cast and that it involves SPECTRE. Despite that, I may not be going in with a lot of surprises. More on that later.

I've got two weeks until I see it, meaning two weeks to finally break open those blu-rays I got 3 years ago so that I can watch the Craig films again.

16 reviews and a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.
 
Just got back from seeing it. I won't be grading just yet as usually I need to see a new Bond film a couple of times before I really know how I feel about it.

Initial feelings though? The first half was awesome but the second half felt messy. I'm not keen on them tying every other DC film into this and I thought Waltz was not as good as I'd have expected him to be.

It's weird, it doesn't have the plot holes Skyfall did but at the moment it doesn't feel as enjoyable.
 
Cross posting this from the other thread:

Watch the 'Spectre' Royal World Premiere Red Carpet Live

Daniel Craig, Monica Bellucci and Christoph Waltz, plus Prince William and Kate Middleton, will be in attendance at London's Royal Albert Hall.

When it comes to James Bond, especially the follow-up to the most successful James Bond film of all time, clearly the average world premiere just isn't enough.

Monday sees Spectre land in the U.K., 11 days before it bows in the U.S., with a "royal world premiere" at London's famed Royal Albert Hall and simultaneous wide release across the country.

The premiere, which will be attended by Prince William and Kate Middleton (presumably without their two distinctly underage children), is being arranged by the U.K.'s Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund, whose annual Royal Film Performances date back to 1946 (and have featured two 007 entries previously).

Director Sam Mendes, plus Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, David Bautista, Monica Bellucci and Ralph Fiennes, are also expected to attend, alongside producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who are vice patrons of the charity.

Watch the red-carpet live stream, starting at 10 a.m. PT, below.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMqcFvR0Rvw[/yt]
Click to expand...
 
Cracking bond movie, saw it last night, A+ from me, even with that god awful theme song at the start of it, which for me simply does not fit the movie at all, even the interesting opening titles can't do anything for this theme.
 
An interviewer ask Daniel Craig what he thought about Bond "succumbing to the charms of an older woman" (the still-exquisite miss Bellucci). Craig responded, "You mean, a woman his own age, don't you?"

:techman:
 
I voted A+ without hesitation. As far as I'm concerned, this is the best Bond movie ever. A perfect mix of the gritty style of the Craig movies and the classic style of the 60s. Brilliant set-pieces, great support from the rest of the cast, perfectly-suited sardonic humour and nods to Craig's previous 3 movies, which this film ties together perfectly.

I didn't think Skyfall, good as it was, quite lived up to the hype, but despite some lacklustre reviews for Spectre, I feel it exceeds expectations.

And even as someone who grew up on Connery and worships the great Scot, I really think that Craig is now the undisputed Bond champ, the best ever 007. If this is his swan song, he goes out in style but I really hope he returns.
 
Haggis and tatties said:
Cracking bond movie, saw it last night, A+ from me, even with that god awful theme song at the start of it, which for me simply does not fit the movie at all, even the interesting opening titles can't do anything for this theme.
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I'm sorry, but I disagree-the song's about being a government hit man, and it conveys it well enough for me (and I daresay for a lot of other people.) Too many others are too spoiled by the other songs like Goldfinger, Thunderball (which has grown on me, but is inferior to Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), You Only Live Twice, and a ton of others. There is nothing wrong with having a soft song as a theme for a movie about a hard man of action.

Here are the lyrics for the song:


I've been here before
But always hit the floor
I've spent a lifetime running
And I always get away
But with you I'm feeling something
That makes me want to stay

I'm prepared for this
I never shoot to miss
But I feel like a storm is coming
If I'm gonna make it through the day
Then there's no more use in running
This is something I gotta face

If I risk it all
Could you break my fall?

How do I live? How do I breathe?
When you're not here I'm suffocating
I want to feel love, run through my blood
Tell me is this where I give it all up?
For you I have to risk it all
Cause the writing's on the wall

A million shards of glass
That haunt me from my past
As the stars begin to gather
And the light begins to fade
When all hope begins to shatter
Know that I won't be afraid

If I risk it all
Could you break my fall?

How do I live? How do I breathe?
When you're not here I'm suffocating
I want to feel love, run through my blood
Tell me is this where I give it all up?
For you I have to risk it all
Cause the writing's on the wall

The writing's on the wall

How do I live? How do I breathe?
When you're not here I'm suffocating
I want to feel love, run through my blood
Tell me is this where I give it all up?
How do I live? How do I breathe?
When you're not here I'm suffocating
I want to feel love, run through my blood
Tell me is this where I give it all up?
For you I have to risk it all
Cause the writing's on the wall
 
Well I’ve given it a few days to let my thoughts settle and though I will likely reappraise my view after I watch it a few more times, here’s a more indepth critique.

First off the good: The Mexico City stuff is great, and makes for a fab pre-title sequence, although I am hoping the next Bond film can return to a slightly more low key PT sequence. In both his films Mendes has given us a big budget pre-title sequence that’s probably more impressive than some of the set pieces later on (more on that later).

The titles are great, and Sam Smith’s song sounds less terrible played over the top of them.

Daniel Craig is fantastic, but Ben Whishaw almost steals the show, Q is hilarious and the film is very funny. The bits in Rome and Austria are great. Monica Bellucci is just stunning, it’s a shame she doesn’t have more screen time. The car chase is good (even if the tension’s drained out of it a little by Bond having a phone conversation in the middle of it) and the Austria set piece is similarly very exciting. It’s good to see Mr White again, and nice to see various MI6 agents out in the field (although I don’t want them shoehorning people in every film now, sometimes less is more). It was also nice to see the return of one particular member of MI6 ;)

Now the not sure: Madeline Swann may grow on me, but she seemed curiously flat at times, and she does fall for 007 way too easily. I’m not sure there’s great chemistry between the two either. That said she is competent and does have agency so she isn’t just a simpering pretty girl.

Hinx. I was looking forward to seeing Dave Bautista in this. Bond hasn’t had a truly memorable henchman since Xenia (though Yao was quite good). I just think it’s a shame to hire someone who, for all his muscle, has proven he has quite good comic timing, and then make him mute. Not sure about his thumbnails either. That said his introduction is very good and he’s impressively indestructible ala Jaws.

Now the bad: This mainly comes down to the villains and this is the only bit I feel does need to be spoiler coded. Frankly I think Waltz was miscast. He’s a great actor but I think this role needed someone with a bit more oomph about them, he’s too subdued. You can argue Bardem went too far the other way but I like my Bond villains over the top and Silva beats Oberhauser by a mile IMO. It might not be so bad but the manufactured nature of the connection between him and 007 feels utterly false.
There’s also the issue of him being Blofeld. It’s a stupid reveal, much like Khan in Into Darkness, because it’s only there for the audience. The name has no relevance to Bond at this point. Throwing in a white cat and then giving him the scar treads perilously close to parody. My view might well shift but at the moment he feels like the weakest Blofeld. He lacks the creepy menace of Pleasance, the physicality of Savallas or even the camp playfulness of Gray—
also his plan’s a trifle vague and underplayed to say the least and never feels as threatening as it should in the post Snowden world.

I’m also not keen on Spectre being behind every other DC Bond film. I think it’s a tad too much retrofitting. I can accept that Quantum was perhaps a cover name for Spectre, and the events of CR and QoS do fit, but in my mind Silva was a separate threat (much like Goldfinger in the 60s). Also if Oberhauser has such a hard on for 007 why’s it taken so long to get around to trying to kill him?

The multiple finales are a trifle weak as well, especially in comparison to what we had earlier. It reminded me of Rogue Nation in that respect (and also Die Hard 3). I know the script was rewritten a lot and I wonder if much of it was in the latter half, the film does feel messier after Austria. Mendes was apparently still editing a few days before the premiere.

I think the film will grow on me, I was loving it up to a point and Waltz might improve with repeated viewings. It looks gorgeous and has a nicesoundtrack (even if Newman seems to be using a lot of his Skyfall cues). It’s funny and has great set pieces and Craig continues to be a great Bond. I’m being hard on it I know, but at the moment it isn’t as good as Skyfall and therefore not quite top five material.

Finally some hypothesising.
The end implies 007 has quit. If this is the last Daniel Craig film I imagine we’ll return to the soft reboot we always used to have between Bonds prior to DC and it won’t be mentioned, but if Craig does do a fifth I wonder if we won’t get Blofeld escaping and killing Swann in the pre-title sequence leading to the kind of revenge flick Diamonds Are Forever should have been?
 
I wondered much the same.

I actually wondered if near the very end, when Blofeld watched Bond walk away on the bridge, if they would kill her in the movie itself. Then, when Bond returned to HQ to retrieve the vintage Aston Martin, I was sure that they'd echo the end of OHMSS and have someone shoot the happy couple as they drove off.

I'm certain that they deliberately didn't kill Blofeld off and that he will be back to menace Bond and get his revenge in a pretty personal manner.
 
Captaindemotion said:
I wondered much the same.

I actually wondered if near the very end, when Blofeld watched Bond walk away on the bridge, if they would kill her in the movie itself. Then, when Bond returned to HQ to retrieve the vintage Aston Martin, I was sure that they'd echo the end of OHMSS and have someone shoot the happy couple as they drove off.

I'm certain that they deliberately didn't kill Blofeld off and that he will be back to menace Bond and get his revenge in a pretty personal manner.
Click to expand...

I had the exact same thoughts! I guess they probably figured the film was long enough (not that it feels that long really)
 
It was a solid outing that had more of the feel of a Connery era Bond movie, although I agree that the very end was more like Spooks in tone. I am really pleased to see SPECTRE return for the very first time and I rather liked the way they tied up the plot threads of the preceding Craig movies.

I was hoping that the movie would leave us at a point where we could step into Connery's Dr No (overlooking the time difference obviously) but the resolution doesn't quite get us there - plus Wishaw is clearly not Major Boothroyd. Maybe Sylvia Trent will appear in the next one and nudge us a bit closer ;P

The only things that didn't quite gel for me were the romance, which had none of the depth from Casino Royale, and the sloppy resolution. They just needed to tidy up some of the story flow to make it less childish e.g. a top spy agency really should be looking to debrief an asset that pretty much knows everything that's going on and not just let them wander off into the night.

Lots to love in it though - needed more Belluci though.
 
Ultima Thule said:
Very disappointing that our many English posters appear to have not seen this film. We could use some more opinions.
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I'm huge Bond fan, but more of the novels than the films. I rate Craig highly and Casino Royale might be my favourite Bond film, but I wasn't very impressed by Skyfall. I'll go and see Spectre but I shan't rush.

Maybe if I'd enjoyed Skyfall a little more I'd have been more interested, but Spectre's another Mendes movie isn't it ?
 
^Yes, it is.

I'd say he's probably the best director to have made a Bond film but if you didn't like it, you didn't like it.

I'm hoping they can land Christopher Nolan (whose cinematographer Mendes borrowed for Spectre, I believe) for the next film.
 
Captaindemotion said:
^Yes, it is.

I'd say he's probably the best director to have made a Bond film but if you didn't like it, you didn't like it.

I'm hoping they can land Christopher Nolan (whose cinematographer Mendes borrowed for Spectre, I believe) for the next film.
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Nooooooooo !!!!!!
 
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