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Comments
Spectre or Quantum is a much harder question for me.
Personally I had no problem with the route they went with SF and think to me it's quite considerably better than SP but my biggest issue with SP apart from the theme is whole ESB childhood nonsense.
It appears because SP threw so much old Bond at the screen those that decried SF for doing what it did are happy to totally forgive the nonsense that Mendes & Logan unfortunately included here.
Some of you watch it and don't mind and on my first viewing I was just so pumped I just watched it in awe but my 2nd viewing I just don't buy that element and think both SF & CR are much better.
Also after seeing CR 3 times I was utterly blown away and could have seen it more and couldn't wait for the home release. A similar feeling with SF couldn't wait to see it on Blu ray after my 3 viewings at the cinema.
I've seen SP twice now and frankly I'm over it, I'll wait for the Blu ray where I'll no doubt enjoy it again but as far as catching it again, I'm frankly more excited about The Force Awakens and have a feeling that won't let me down the way SP has.
Basically it comes down to whether you prefer to watch a half baked psycho drama or a Bond movie.
SF by a nose over SP
But at this moment, I'd go
1) Spectre
2) Skyfall
Both had their fair share of baggage though, what with Skyfall being the 50th anniversary of Bond, and Spectre having just gotten the rights back to Spectre and Blofeld. Feels like we haven't had a Bond film for the sake of having a Bond film in awhile.
Skyfall
SPECTRE was, to me, the classic Bond film that we finally got in Craig's run as Bond. I couldn't help but smile throughout most of the film.
My ranking of Craig's run as Bond...
Caino Royale
SPECTRE
Skyfall
Quantum of Solace
So I'd say Skyfall is better, despite not liking the 3rd Act (Scotland mansion) very much.
Plus that Shanghai "Jellyfish" scene in Skyfall with that long shot fight is one of the best scenes ever filmed IMO.
1. CR
2. SF
3. SP
99?. QoS
Fair enough, but I really don't see it. I actually never got all the excitement about the SF visuals. I know Deakins is highly talented etc. but to me SF always felt quite studio bound and visually pedestrian. Plenty of other Bond films look better.
To me it's a combination of things in that scene. First when bond's in the car checking out his new gun, and he sees the guy shoot the security guard, you can almost see him switch into "it's on like donkey kong" mode. Then him going through the building and that amazing score that starts when he jumps onto the bottom of the elevator.
Then him going through the dark building with that amazing "Jellyfish" score with only the colorful light from the nearby buildings for anyone to see anything.
The cinematography there is just stunning to me, followed by that long shot fight.
The sound when the guy removes the circle of glass from the window was awesome too and so realistic.
1. CR
2. SF
3. SP
4. QOS
CR is the standout film here, SF and SP pretty much close together, and QOS bottom place, due to totally inept editing, that made the film virtually un-watchable at times.
Shanghai, the Silva intro, the Silva interrogation, the Q intro, The Severine Casino sequence & and the pretitles made SF for me. Exceptional work imho.
Heck yea. I neglected to mention when he's in the pool swimming, but even there, something about the use of color in the scene is just breathtaking.
The Silva entrance long shot was excellent too yes, as was the interrogation (despite some obvious TDK joker influence). I love the way bond just stands there the whole time like "damn these two got some serious issues to work out, and I thought I was the screwed up one!"
I agree with the points you have highlighted.
I also liked how the music score kicked in when Bond jumped onto the bottom of the elevator.
Can't find the words for it, but SF had something which SP didn't, maybe a 'heart' or 'soul'.
Yea it's quite difficult to put my finger on exactly what it is with SP. I almost want to say that SP felt a bit tired, or SF had a better flow to it, but those aren't exactly right.
Like you said, SF had SOMETHING that SP doesn't, just not entirely sure what it is yet heh.
Like GE (which I also have a very high regard for), SF is less about Bond and more about the supporting characters. Just like with GE, all of the supporting characters, and I mean every one of them, is very charismatic and holds the screen. Moreover, I find the interactions between the characters very interesting, just like with GE. That's why I can overlook SF's many plot holes. The character work is superb.
I personally do not really connect with the characters as much in SP. They are just there, reading their lines. It's difficult to explain, because they all act very well, but there is something about the interactions which seems surreal to me.....like the 'dead' (maybe Mendes was onto something with that post-GB title....what a clever chap he is).
Yes! Man GE is such a fantastic movie. I constantly flip between it and CR as my favorite. The characters in GE were absolutely fantastic. From Sean Bean who we knew would be amazing to more minor characters like Boris, like you said, every single one of them stole the show. The dialogue is also what makes it so good. Pretty much every line 006 has in the movie is amazing heh.
Plus introducing us to Judi Dench M, Famke Janssen, Robbie Coltrane and Joe Don Baker as a good guy! Goldeneye really is a master piece. Oddly enough, both it and CR are directed by Martin Campbell...
Not sure if anyone else noticed this, but C's death in SP seemed like a 006 cradle call back to me, the way he landed on the ground.
SP was an uncharted adventure. Of COURSE it would feel less fulfilling than SF did. It's a totally different kind of movie.
The problem with both of Mendes' efforts is that they do not tie all these great moments & ideas together very well. We are left with bits of genius that fail to cohere.
SP is the more entertaining Bond film for me, however, less bogged down by the faux melodrama that seems to be obligatory in blockbusters these days.
From Shanghai and then up to the departure from Silva's Island are without doubt the strongest part of the whole film. Taken on they're own, it's a very strong bit of movie making. If the rest of SF was up to that standard then I might be a fan!
Visually though I am not particualrly excited by anything in SF. May be I'm just biased ;)
Absolutely. Bond footage has never looked better. Perhaps it has never equaled this segment. And the Bond/Severine colloquy in the Floating Dragon is probably the greatest single Bond girl sequence of all time. It was pitch perfect perfection. I would also add that the Silva Island sequence nearly measures up to the Shanghai segment. SP, for all its occasional brilliance, never matches SK's oriental apogee.