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Title Track: SP
Title Credits: CR
Main Villain: CR
Main Bond Girl: CR
Henchman: CR
Overall Plot: CR
Dialogue: CR
Score: CR
Settings: CR
Action: CR
Humour: CR
Cinematography: CR
Benign Bizarre: CR
Suspense: CR
Minor Characters: CR
Glamour: CR
Bond Performance: CR
CR 17-1 SP
Title Track: CR
Title Credits: CR (this was close)
Main Villain: CR
Main Bond Girl: CR
Henchman: CR (Mollaka alone is better than Hinx, IMO)
Overall Plot: CR
Dialogue: CR
Score: CR
Settings: CR
Action: CR
Humour: CR
Cinematography: CR
Benign Bizarre: SP
Suspense: CR
Minor Characters: CR
Glamour: CR
Bond Performance: CR
CR - 17
SP - 1
I can definitely agree on the intro. It perhaps should have been an instrumental.
Title Track: Casino Royale - Perhaps my favorite song of all the Bond themes. On top of the wonderful arrangement and booming performance, the lyrics are very appropriate.
Title Credits: Casino Royale - These are my favorite title credits, with beautiful artistic direction and suitable symbolism throughout. Daniel Craig coming out of the shadows at the end is a perfect crescendo to begin his Bond career.
Main Villain: Casino Royale - I always thought the critics were wrong who said Craig's Bond hadn't faced a worthy adversary until Silva. Mads has become a prolific villain and his rendition of Le Chiffre is exquisite. One of the most three-dimensional Bond villain of all-time that you feel the struggle with despite him not having an industrial laser or shark pool.
Main Bond Girl: Casino Royale - Top 3 Bond girl in the franchise. Eva Green is gorgeous and witty and seduces the audience along with Bond.
Henchman: Casino Royale - I'm going with Casino Royale on this one because the henchman are giving background and we are able to see their movements. It's a much more pervasive depiction than we get in Spectre, where Hinx basically shows up 3 times. I can only imagine how amazing Hinx would be if he got that amount of exposure.
Plot: Casino Royale - The best since FRWL and GF. Taking history into account and the brilliant modification to the original story, this treatment is so down to Earth it may very well explain some of the events that happen in the background of some of our great tragedies.
Dialogue: Casino Royale - Bond shows a human side previously untapped (ok, OHMSS). Aside from the more grandiose Bond's like GF and TB, this one is right at the top.
Score: Casino Royale - David Arnold's most impactful work on Bond to date. He weaves the theme song through the score in a very thoughtful way. For the first time he has the confidence in his work to repeat the same cues and themes throughout the film.
Settings: Casino Royale - Bond in the Bahamas. Right at home. Montenegro doesn't seem so bad either.
Action: Casino Royale - Does any film have Casino Royale beat in terms of pulse-pounding action? Maybe Quantum, but I find Casino Royale to fit in with the narrative so much better. Certainly, in terms of large set-piece action scenes, there are better in the franchise. However, neither Casino or Spectre really incorporate that as an element.
Humor: Casino Royale - The humor in Casino Royale is very real, where the lines fit the personalities of the characters and delivered at the proper moments. Spectre's humor is more deliberate and occasionally comes across as being forced, if not disingenuous at times.
Cinematography: Casino Royale - Both are shot tremendously well, but the scope of Casino Royale has a greater impact due to natural lighting.
Benign Bizarre: Casino Royale - Using photoshop as evidence for an arrest? It made a great line anyway! I think your odds are improving, Mr. Bond.
Suspense: Casino Royale - While experiencing a crescendo two-thirds of the way in, it manages to reset sufficiently enough to build up to the final moment of the film.
Minor Characters: Casino Royale - Perhaps the most well-rounded and fully realized group of supporting cast members with excellent performances from Dench, Wright, Giannini, Christensen. Most significantly is M, who undergoes a major shift in character and tone from the past to become a more nurturing presence to the young 007.
Glamor: Casino Royale - Almost the whole of Casino Royale is glamorous, with even the most mundane moments eliciting a sense of grandeur.
Bond Performance: Casino Royale - One of the most definitive performances up against one of the most generic performances. Craig made believable the coarseness and vulnerabilities of Bond while managing to establish a character that was arrogant and self-assured.
Casino Royale: 18
Spectre: 0
Title Track: CR (Rout)
Title Credits: CR (Blowout)
Main Villain: CR (Easy...should have been the other way though).
Main Bond Girl: CR (Vesper beats repeat Vesper)
Henchman: SP (Hinx, if CR wanted to focus on a henchman, it could have).
Overall Plot: CR (Hah!)
Dialogue: CR (This is pointless).
Score: CR (Moving on.)
Settings: Draw (Good settings in both movies).
Action: CR (Almost went SP, forgot about PTS, Hotel fight).
Humour: SP (Depends on it entirely).
Cinematography: CR
Benign Bizarre: CR (Bleeding eye wins this alone...scrotum chair seals it).
Suspense: CR (Massive win for CR)
Minor Characters: CR (Another huge CR win)
Glamour: CR (All glamour vs. virtually none).
Bond Performance: CR (Craig's best vs. worst)
CR - 15
SP - 2
Draw - 1
Title Track: CR (Words can't even do it justice.)
Title Credits: CR (Fresh and inventive vs. strange and tired.)
Main Villain: CR (By leaps and bounds.)
Main Bond Girl: CR (I actually like Madeleine, but c'mon.)
Henchman: CR (I happen to enjoy Obanno, thank you very much.)
Overall Plot: CR (Mmm-hmmm.)
Dialogue: CR (There are dinner jackets and dinner jackets...)
Score: CR (Surely you jest.)
Settings: CR (I'm trying hard to find a win for SP but it's a daunting task.)
Action: CR (Yes, this one too.)
Humor: CR (There is humor and Spectre...)
Cinematography: CR (It's hopeless.)
Benign Bizarre: CR (The closest category yet. When in doubt, choose Fleming.)
Suspense: CR (No miraculous recovery here.)
Minor Characters: CR (Mr. White cancels out Mr. White, which leaves CR's all star cast.)
Glamour: CR (But of course.)
Bond Performance: CR (Fresh and inventive vs. strange and tired, rinse and repeat.)
CR - 18
SP - 0
My second goose egg of the series.
Title Track: CR
Title Credits: CR
Main Villain: CR
Main Bond Girl: CR
Henchman: SP
Overall Plot: CR
Dialogue: CR
Score: CR
Settings: CR
Action: CR
Humor: SP
Cinematography: CR
Benign Bizarre: CR
Suspense: CR
Minor Characters: CR
Glamour: CR
Bond Performance: SP
Title Track: CR
Title Credits: CR
Main Villain: CR
Main Bond Girl: CR
Henchman: SP (by default)
Overall Plot: CR
Dialogue: CR
Score: CR
Settings: CR
Action: CR
Humour: CR
Cinematography: CR
Benign Bizarre: SP
Suspense: CR
Minor Characters: CR
Glamour: CR
Bond Performance: CR
CR - 16
SP - 2
The only thing that could be considered better is that it's more stylistically light, more in the line of a comic book hero that Bond had come to portray in past eras.
It's interesting to think of how his progression went as an actor/character. He started off being the most raw and genuinely human portrayal of Bond, and then he became a hardened machine, to the washed up cynic with a sense of sarcasm and irony, and lastly to someone who was content with himself enough to pursue his own ends.
From a broad picture it's easy to appreciate the evolution of his work. Individually, I think each one plays up to tone of each film. That's where I think the first three work, though, I especially care for the first and third. Spectre is a curious case since I think his performance itself is quite fine, but it doesn't meld with the surroundings of the film. It's a hard one to grade for that purpose since the film tries to be serious and introspective, but also casual and loose. Unfortunately for it, it probably draws the most comparisons from OHMSS. While I am not a fan of George Lazenby's performance (as I've commented in many discussions), it stands in line with the heart of the film throughout.
Perhaps the most confounding thing is the way his character walked away from her, saved her, and left his post to be with her all in the span of about 20 minutes. If I was handling the narrative, I would have either had him leave her and have him choose his job over her to a kind of melancholy ending (that could be revisited in a sequel should his life be in mortal danger), or a shorter film in which he chooses to be with her and Blofeld is left on the loose (perhaps with a final scene where Blofeld is at a top level Spectre meeting and we catch a glimpse of the scar through the shadows).
Should that count against Craig's performance? Generally, we tend to leave the script outside of the performance (see: DAD). Since he is listed as a producer, though, I think it should be tagged along since it would have been in his ability to alter it in some way.
Title Track: SP (Very surprised I am doing this, but SP is more Bondian and I've enjoyed it since I first heard it. Didn't think I'd prefer it to YNMN; however, comparing in my mind makes me realize I prefer WOTW)
Title Credits: CR (Kleinman's best work, a new take on a long standing tradition)
Main Villain: CR (Le Chiffre easily)
Main Bond Girl: CR (Vesper easily)
Henchman: SP (CR has a collection of minor henchmen with little backstory. Only Dimitrios is fleshed out at all, but does not have as much intrigue as Hinx)
Overall Plot: CR (CR easily)
Dialogue: CR (Some of the best work by Purvis and Wade, Haggis was on point here as well. One of the best scripts of the series.)
Score: CR (Easily. Arnold's incorporation of YNMN is fantastic and the score overall is quite memorable)
Settings: CR (Both with good locales, CR gets more out of them though, with the Bahamas being the standout locale)
Action: CR (With ease, though SP is not bad)
Humor: CR (More clever in its humor IMO)
Cinematography: CR (This is a very close one. I'll go with CR because the action scenes tend to have more widescreen landscape views that add to the spectacle)
Benign Bizarre: SP
Suspense: CR (With relative ease)
Minor Characters: CR (CR has a lack of Q and MP which puts at a disadvantage, but SP is missing Dench and Leiter. Both have Mr. White, but Mathis and the other poker players give CR the slight advantage)
Glamour: CR (There are dinner jackets and then there are dinner jackets)
Bond Performance: CR (Nails it from the onset. Craig is good in SP, but he is more dynamic in CR)
Score: 14-4
SP is in the teens for me in my ranking, with CR always landing in my top 3. So not a bad result for SP to steal 4 categories.
Fair points.
Title Track: CR
Title Credits: CR
Main Villain: SP
Main Bond Girl: CR
Henchman: SP
Overall Plot: SP
Dialogue: CR
Score: CR
Settings: CR
Action: CR
Humor: SP
Cinematography: CR
Benign Bizarre: SP
Suspense: CR
Minor Characters: CR (thanks to Mr. Mendel alone)
Glamour: SP
Bond Performance: CR
CR wins 12-6
Title Track: CR
Title Credits: CR
Main Villain: CR
Main Bond Girl: CR
Henchman: SP
Overall Plot: CR
Dialogue: SP
Score: SP
Settings: SP
Action: CR
Humor: SP
Cinematography: SP
Benign Bizarre: SP
Suspense: CR
Minor Characters: CR
Glamour: SP
Bond Performance: CR
CR:9
SP: 9
So a draw between them. CR has the better narrative and some key bond elements, but Spectre draws level with a better score, better dialogue, humour and glamour (not that CR is short in any of these departments either).
If I had to pick one... go for CR.
Title Track: CR (one of the best. Perfect for this iternation of Bond)
Title Credits: CR (retro baby!)
Main Villain: CR
Main Bond Girl: CR
Henchman: SP
Plot: CR
Dialogue: CR
Score: CR (love Arnold's instrumental of the title track)
Settings: SP
Action: CR
Humour: CR (the "Stephanie Broadchest" is a highlight)
Cinematography: CR
Benign Bizarre: CR
Suspense: CR
Minor Characters:CR
Glamour: CR
Bond Performance:CR
SP: 2
CR: 16
18
Ouch. But fair.
I don't know what you mean...
Pts: CR
Title Track: CR
Title Credits: CR
Main Villain: CR
Main Bond Girl: CR
Henchman: SP
Overall Plot: CR
Dialogue: CR
Score: CR
Settings: CR
Action: CR
Humor: SP
Cinematography: CR
Benign Bizarre: SP
Suspense: CR
Minor Characters: CR
Glamour: CR
Bond Performance: CR
CR:15
SP: 3
Title Track: SP
Title Credits: CR
Main Villain: CR
Main Bond Girl: CR
Henchman: SP
Overall Plot: CR
Dialogue: CR
Score: CR
Settings: CR
Action: CR
Humor: CR
Cinematography: CR
Benign Bizarre: SP
Suspense: CR
Minor Characters: CR
Glamour: CR
Bond Performance: CR
Casino Royale 14
Spectre 4
Silly me. I could have sworn...I am seeing a doctor!
Long hours, high stress. Relationships with doctors rarely go well.
PTS: SP
Title Track: QoS (I think it's a bit underrated, in any event it's better than SP)
Title Credits: QoS
Main Villain: QoS
Main Bond Girl: SP (Camille is good but not quite a proper Bond girl, given that their relationship isn't consummated)
Henchman: SP (come, now)
Overall Plot: QoS (overly complicated is better than non-existent)
Dialogue: SP (thanks to QoS's slapdash script, which features some bizarre twists and turns in conversation)
Score: QoS
Settings: SP
Action: QoS (it's got plenty of it!)
Humor: SP (it's got plenty of it!)
Cinematography: SP (shakycam and pretentious nonsense doom QoS)
Benign Bizarre: SP
Suspense: QoS
Minor Characters: QoS (Felix and Mathis and Fields are tough to beat)
Glamour: SP (QoS is the least glamorous Bond)
Bond Performance: QoS (Craig puts the movie on his back)
Craig's two off-color Bonds fight to a tie! Not entirely surprising given that they're right next two year other, and I went back and forth on a number of these categories. Let's see your scores, shall we?
PTS: SP it's close because that car chase is incredible but so are those helicopter stunts
Title Track: SP quite like writings on the wall
Title Credits: QoS desert looks cool and theirs too many octopi in SPECTRE
Main Villain: QoS Greene is creepy
Main Bond Girl: SP Swann isn't good but neither is Camille
Henchman: SP hinx is the best henchman since golden eye
Overall Plot: QoS plot is one of the best in the series and is nice and complex
Dialogue: SP i dont know
Score: QoS best score too bad theirs not enough bond theme
Settings: QOS taking bond to Latin America this was a very close one they both had similar locations but I feel quantum utilized them better and not just for one set peice and then you move one but rather for the story
Action: QoS very action heavy
Humor: SP no humour in qos Except for that awesome line I don't have any friends
Cinematography: SP best looking bond film
Benign Bizarre: SP don't know what this category is
Suspense: QoS tight action scenes are more gripping
Minor Characters: QoS medrano
Glamour: QOS very arty and stylized
Bond Performance: QoS bond was bored in SPECTRE
Total
QOS 10
Sp 8
Very close in this ranking but in my personal opinion qos is far better. Better story, action, it's more fun and exciting. SPECTRE doesn't really know what it wants and just mienders and feels like a parody. That train fight is amazing though.