Was SPECTRE a disappointment?

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  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,795
    Birdleson wrote: »
    SP was the most disappointed I have ever felt coming out of a new Bond film. MR was almost as bad an experience (based on my expectations vs the reality of what was presented), but I do admire it quite a bit more than SP. In both instances you have the same team carrying on from the previous dynamic entry (TSWLM, SF), learning the wrong lessons, and falling woefully short.
    There it is again. The SF adoration. The 'Let's kill a character to make it deep' crap again.
    At some point in future Craig's last three will be viewed as the nonsense they are. And I'm all about enjoying nonsense, but I kind of expect one to admit it. I enjoy SP, but it's not a very good movie. Neither are SF or NTTD.
    I has spoken.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited March 2022 Posts: 12,480
    Back on the forum now. So yes, for me Spectre was disappointing but not so I hated the movie. I enjoyed it in the theater, and realized shortly into it that this was the one for the fans who wanted all the regular formulaic boxes ticked, without angst or deep probing into Bond's psyche (even with Blofeld in it); and indeed Craig played Bond very confidently throughout. I was happy with Monica being in a Bond film at last, but I wanted more of her. I liked Madeline just fine. Lea is lovely and I was happy to have her paired with Daniel. And I still think the opening was fun. Afterwards, it just was not interesting enough or fun enough for me to want to revisit it. Which did surprise me a bit. Anyway, I still don't own the DVD, but I will some day (after major relocation).

    I remain a firm, huge fan of Skyfall and NTTD - as well as (along with majority of fans here, I believe) CR. I also liked Quantum more when I saw it again. I always liked parts of it; just not the editing, pace, flow, some of the camera work. I did not feel as let down by QOS as I did from Spectre. Spectre had some good things going for it in obvious ways, especially at first glance - but it lacked in heart. Really missing for me (Bond and the whole story) was passion or conviction. Just the way I've felt about it, even on repeat viewing before I saw NTTD (I watched it on Amazon Prime). Not saying anybody else's take on any Bond film is "wrong". But that's where I stand.

    So yes, Skyfall and NTTD provided me with a stellar Bond experience. Both stories and films so beautifully done and memorable; great Bond moments. I think both will stay in my top 10. I never had any real quibbles with the storytelling in either. Spectre, on the other hand, now feels like a rehearsal to set up NTTD. A glamourous romp, a run-through, a warm up; some Bondian soda pop ... a mere pause to refresh, when the next course up would be genuine Champagne.

    I'm thirsty now; back later. ;)
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,795
    Only three things actually bothered me about SPECTRE first time- Hinx disappeared & then didn't show up again for a final confrontation, the complex blew up a little too quickly & easily, and of course the Bro-feld thing. But after SF it was like a fine wine after a skunked beer. NTTD had a marvelous energy that was missing from the Mendes movies. And of course, Paloma.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    SP felt like a real Bond film to me after I had struggled with SF to get the proper 007 vibes off that film. But I know it's quite the other way around for many other folks.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,795
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    SP felt like a real Bond film to me after I had struggled with SF to get the proper 007 vibes off that film. But I know it's quite the other way around for many other folks.

    Our sub-club is very small, yes.
  • Posts: 328
    SP was monumentally mediocre and arguably the worst of the 25 Bond films.
  • slide_99slide_99 USA
    Posts: 693
    I mildly enjoyed Spectre when I first saw it. I thought it was an improvement over Skyfall in that it actually felt like a Bond movie and not a Dark Knight cash-in, but it still wasn't what I wanted from the series overall.

    Then I rewatched SP and it plummeted in my rankings. The good parts stayed good but the bad parts seemed worse. Right now I rank it dead last of the Bonds I've seen (apart from CR67 and NTTD).
  • Jordo007Jordo007 Merseyside
    Posts: 2,641
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    SP felt like a real Bond film to me after I had struggled with SF to get the proper 007 vibes off that film. But I know it's quite the other way around for many other folks.

    Spectre definitely had a fantastic Bondian vibe, the whole board meeting scene was incredible. Spectre has its faults, but no doubt it feels like a Bond film
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    I bet for decades SKYFALL is gonna be that film a subset of fans brand overrated by the general populous, like how some Bond fans regarded GOLDFINGER overrated.

    Meanwhile, QOS will continue to be dismissed as the black sheep of Craig’s run. And rightfully so. ;)
  • quantumspectrequantumspectre argentina
    Posts: 61
    chrisisall wrote: »
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    SP felt like a real Bond film to me after I had struggled with SF to get the proper 007 vibes off that film. But I know it's quite the other way around for many other folks.

    Our sub-club is very small, yes.

    I still think spectre is great.like, i remember in 2015 watching the movie in the teather at night and the budweiser commercial before, then the gunbarrel and...i was expecting a dark movie after skyfall, but this for me was great.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited April 2022 Posts: 3,152
    Spectre...lacked in heart.

    I like SP, despite its faults, but yes, I've often suspected that Mendes's heart wasn't really in it.

  • It does feel like much of Spectre was the result of creatively settling. Whereas the streets of London and the tube were populated with extras for authenticity in Skyfall, the streets of Rome in Spectre were unrealistically empty, apart from one man who enjoys opera, presumably to simplify the shoot. While the writers proposed parkour on skis for Spectre's big mid-film action sequence, Craig's knee injury forced an alternative and rather than coming up with something equally thrilling they put Bond in a biplane and confusingly had him deliberately fly through trees and crash himself to the ground. Waltz and Mendes had opposing ideas on Blofeld and rather than coming to an agreement they seemingly met halfway and delivered something less than ideal. Much of it does have an air of "the bare minimum," whether or not that was really the case.
  • Posts: 2,163
    Spectre should’ve been Mission Impossible Rogue Nation.

    Both had broadly the same plot and ideas, but RN executed them far more successfully.

    Spectre will probably be the biggest missed opportunity in the whole series. The potential is there. The execution just isnt.
  • Posts: 2,163
    Venutius wrote: »
    Spectre...lacked in heart.

    I like SP, despite its faults, but yes, I've often suspected that Mendes's heart wasn't really in it.

    I think it was in the sony leaks that Mendes tried to quit, but the contract was pretty watertight. I cant source that though, going on memory from the time.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    Mallory wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    Spectre...lacked in heart.

    I like SP, despite its faults, but yes, I've often suspected that Mendes's heart wasn't really in it.

    I think it was in the sony leaks that Mendes tried to quit, but the contract was pretty watertight. I cant source that though, going on memory from the time.

    I think that was when the deadline was approaching and Mendes didn’t want to commit to a script he wasn’t happy with. I think he did the best he could with what he had to work with, but it’s clear the script needed more work than time would allow.

    And looking at some of the previous drafts, I think we really lucked out. There’s one where on the bridge Bond grabs Blofeld by the throat and holds him up in the air until he dies. It’s truly abysmal.

  • edited June 2022 Posts: 2,163
    @MakeshiftPython

    I get that’s the reason given by Mendes but to me it doesnt stand up to scrutiny given he was announced officially as returning in June 2013, and whole year and a half before shooting started in Dec 2014.

    My belief is that they were too complacent after the success of SF and believed that the script would come together easily and when it didnt, everyone sh*t the bed and they had to bring back Purvis and Wade to do a quick salvage job.

    Mendes complaining they didnt have enough time to finish the script is a bit rich. They did, it was squandered.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    Given the final product, he’s not wrong.
  • edited June 2022 Posts: 784
    Skyfall was trash. QoS is gold.

    Brosnan would have been great in Spectre. Mendes’ vision didn’t let Daniel play to his strengths, and it all became forced.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    Skyfall was trash. QoS is gold.

    Lol

    Nope.
  • edited June 2022 Posts: 784
    Skyfall was trash. QoS is gold.

    Lol

    Nope.

    I suppose slow people like slow films
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    Skyfall was trash. QoS is gold.

    Lol

    Nope.

    I suppose slow people like slow films

    "Slow" is not necessarily a bad thing. Slower paced films usually allow a story to breathe, give actors ample time to shine, allow the viewer to absorb many details, and build tension with patience but big rewards at the end. Even then, "slow" is subjective. Films that cut like crazy and whose photographer cannot hold a shot for much longer than half a second aren't necessarily "fast". All depends on how the story is allowed to develop and how much we care about what is going on. I've sat through incredibly fast-paced, short movies that bored me to death from start to finish, while one of the least "fast-moving" films ever made -- 2001: A Space Odyssey -- can hold my attention all the way through.
  • Skyfall lacked the depth to make up for the slow pace. It didn’t explore the themes it built questions around. Brooding melancholy is too prevalent of a cop out in art cinema.
  • Agent_Zero_OneAgent_Zero_One Ireland
    edited June 2022 Posts: 554
    Skyfall was trash. QoS is gold.

    Lol

    Nope.

    I suppose slow people like slow films
    I've usually no issue with slower paced films if they don't hit the point of boring me, and SF didn't and doesn't.

    RE: Craig in Spectre, I think his performance in the PTS is first class. It really felt like after 3 films of 'Becoming Bond' in various different ways, this was it, 007 at his peak. As for the rest of the film, I still like it but it does clash with the tone and the arc they're going for a bit. It clearly isn't the kind of plot where Bond is supposed to be like that. The knee injury very likely played a part in this, though.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    edited June 2022 Posts: 8,183
    Skyfall was trash. QoS is gold.

    Lol

    Nope.

    I suppose slow people like slow films

    Patience is a virtue.
  • Skyfall was trash. QoS is gold.

    Lol

    Nope.

    I suppose slow people like slow films

    Patience is a virtue.

    So is my butthole
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    maxresdefault.jpg
    “Showing a bit more cheek than usual.”
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    Skyfall was trash. QoS is gold.

    Lol

    Nope.

    I suppose slow people like slow films

    Patience is a virtue.

    So is my butthole

    Right, @ByRoyalDecree, this is not that kind of forum. Please refrain from ever making comments like this again. If you can think of nothing better to respond to @MakeshiftPython with, it's best to say nothing at all.
  • Posts: 2,161
    Allow me to add that the “slow” comment is also unacceptable.
  • Posts: 1,985
    From the introductory post: I have no real problem with the half-brother angle---

    For me the half-brother angle is the second biggest and dumbest mistake of the Craig series after Bond's death. It makes no sense. It added nothing. It felt like a desperate attempt to create a shock that ended up coming across as silly. I realize it doesn't make sense to attempt any sort of continuity, but I am trying to imagine Dr. No saying to Connery's Bond, "I work for SPECTRE, a criminal organization headed by your half-brother." It would have been as ridiculous then as it was over fifty year later.
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