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I'll be joining you tomorrow when I make sense of my scribbled notes.
This is my first post on this thread and I hope that my thoughts are welcomed here, since the majority of you have participated from the very start. Anyway, it just so happens that I watched CR (2006) on Thursday to mark Craig's birthday and I figured -since this is my favourite Bond film of all time- that I might as well join in with the fun! Here are my initial thoughts upon revisiting the film:
The PTS is already such a shift in tone to any other Bond film, with black and white footage and surprisingly inventive framing of the shots (well done Martin/Meheux). You then get a flawless introduction to Bond's 'new' persona as he coldly stares down Dryden and talks about his first kill. I love the graininess in those bathroom fight shots, which makes you assume how messy/difficult is was for Bond to actually finish the kill. Afterwards we get one of my favourite lines from Craig; "Yes, considerably."
Throughout the film we get some amazing action set-pieces. From the parkour chase with Mollaka, miami airport, stairwell-fight, to the debatable finale in Venice. Imho from a filming standpoint, all action scenes are excellent in their execution. You have a fit Daniel Craig ready to literally go through walls, you have excellent locations and stunning visuals AND THEN there's Arnold's blasting score which boosts the action. I understand that most people hate the finale but it's still one hell of a scene because of the emotional drama that supports it. You really feel what Craig is going through and when Vesper's head lifelessly drops to the side as Craig watches, you also feel his pain and anger.
Which leads me to the acting. I'm certain that even the people who aren't big fans of this film would still praise the magnificent acting from both the main cast and the supporting cast. Mads Mikkelson does a stellar performance (torture scene) and you actually feel empathy towards his motives after he loses the money to Bond. Then there is Eva Green who is so great that I could write a book about her- so I'll stop there. Finally, I think that Wright also deserves a nod for his nuanced yet bold Felix Leiter performance. He's actually my favourite Felix ever since watching QoS.
To wrap this up, Casino Royale (2006) is a well written and visually stunning film (those crane shots!), which pleases the general movie-goers as much as James Bond fans, which is an amazing feat because most people don't appreciate Bond films as separate entities.
I remember watching Casino Royale with the missus back when it was released in 2006. My first ever thoughts on the movie were that it was very good, but that it wasn't like the Bond movies of before, and I wasn't sure if liked that. The wife thought it was great and better than those silly movies we'd seen before. Fair enough. Over the years my appreciation has got stronger and the viewing I've had today was too notch. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.
This is a whole new way for Bond to go. Bond gets a reboot. I love how we go back to the very beginning, no Double O status for Bond etc. It's a far cry from the days of Moore, Brosnan etc but does have more of a feel of the Connery Bond, with something added. It is excellent.
So, ranking as follows. I find it interesting that the current top two of my ranking (which is likely to finish the top two also), are the movies that see Bond fall in love with his leading lady. I must be a sucker for that sort of thing.
New Ranking
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Casino Royale
The Spy Who Loved Me
Goldfinger
From Russia With Love
Octopussy
Goldeneye
Licence To Kill
Dr No
The Living Daylights
Live And Let Die
A View To A Kill
For Your Eyes Only
Moonraker
Tomorrow Never Dies
Thunderball
You Only Live Twice
The Man With The Golden Gun
The World Is Not Enough
Diamonds Are Forever
Die Another Day
Previous Ranking
1. The Spy Who Loved Me
2. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
3. Casino Royale
4. From Russia With Love
5. Skyfall
6. Goldfinger
7. Octopussy
8. Spectre
9. Dr No
10. The Living Daylights
11. Goldeneye
12. Live And Let Die
13. Licence To Kill
14. A View To A Kill
15. For Your Eyes Only
16. Moonraker
17. Thunderball
18. Quantum Of Solace
19. Diamonds Are Forever
20. Tomorrow Never Dies
21. You Only Live Twice
22. The Man With The Golden Gun
23. Die Another Day
24. The World Is Not Enough
I love those two because they damn the formula and go out of their way to make fun of it. Some say CR isn't a true Bond film, and they're fools. CR is closer to what Bond used to be before GF and on gradually morphed the brilliant beginning with DN and FRWL and turned him into a superman. Watching Dan fight and bleed, to actually fail sometimes, is like watching Sean's Bond get captured by Dr. No or miss the trap SPECTRE is planting for him in FRWL. Starting with CR, Bond felt like a man again who needed his wits and iron will to survive more than gadgets that could get him out of everything. In short, a very Youngian return to the Bond of old.
People seem to forget that the series started with two very grounded and deep entries that really studied who Bond was, and not Goldfinger that moved away from that approach in major ways. There's wasn't any crazy gadgets, no unrelenting streams of one-liners or Bond girls who felt like they were only there to be gawked at. The reason I love CR so much is because it reminds me of how much I love early Connery, and how much of that vintage spirit is ingrained in the last few films. It's a long time coming, but we're here.
Yes.
I don't want to get ahead of things here...the shaky-cam work takes me out of QoS more than often enough and Skyfall & Spectre have their own pluses & minuses. You want to talk bad CGI? We're back at DAD. Full stop. Nothing more need be said. Casino Royale, though, is brilliant nearly all the way through.
Yeah DAD is on its own level
At first i was like, who is Kratt? Then i searched him up, "oh that guy". As you said, the only thing that comes to mind is him cutting Bond's torture chair and throwing it like a boss.
Keep it up Birdleson!
The one over riding attribute of Sean Connery as James Bond was the fact he looked utterly relaxed in his own skin. There was no burden of a previous actor playing the role of Bond, and no expectation that this was a make or break role for him. So he had a relaxed swagger, he could walk in and out of casinos and gypsy camps alike with not a ounce of awkwardness in his stride or attitude.
A true man of the world.
The problem with some of the actors who followed was the dark, impenetrable shadow of Connery looming over them.
That is not the case with Daniel Craig in Casino Royale. Whilst still fully understanding the nuances of screen acting (as Connery did) he has updated the character for the 21st Century, giving Bond a few subtle blemishes of character. The swagger though is still there as well as the impish sense of fun (he wins the Aston Martin from the magnificently awful Dimitrios, then picks up the latter's wife and drives her to his hotel - the one they are already at).
Bond's ego is mentioned on several occasions as is Bond's need to keep his relationships simple.
"You like married women don't you James?"
"It keeps things simple"
Whereas most men would find sleeping with married women to be dangerous and complex Bond sees it as 'simple'. In other words he can avoid getting too close. Enter Vesper.
Bond likes to think of himself as an amateur psychologist and reader of body language, but he gets as good as he gives when Vesper sets about him.
It's a clever, multi-layered performance by Daniel Craig.
Eva Green is a beautiful woman. She is perfectly cast as Vesper even though her 'prickly' character (nailed by Bond on the train) would be off putting to most men.
She crumbles in the end as does Bond, but their awkward, suggestive conversation at the clinic is just a straight talking, single entendre version of the double- entendre laden conversation Bond has with Jinx in Die Another Day.
"That's because you know what I can do with my little finger".
Ugh!
But Vesper's about turn, losing her 'prickly demeanour' is too sudden.
Caterina Murino is Solange, and she is, like Green, a throw back to the 60s when the women had curves and looked astonishing in those clinging dresses.
Mads Mikkelson is Le Chiffre. The gross character from the book is now svelte and attractive, but definitely dangerous and - importantly - flawed. He and Craig act across the table from one another through their eyes, and the director makes use of many close ups of their faces to create tension and momentum.
Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis, is a reminder of Kerim Bey in From Russia With Love. His reaction to seeing Vesper is similar to Kerim's reaction on seeing Tatiana for the first time ("Chaaarming! Chaaarming!)
Jeffrey Wright debuts as Leiter and I forgot how little he has to do in this film. A couple of brief dialogue scenes, otherwise he sits around looking magnificently moody. The fact I remember him as being more prominent is testimony to Wright's screen presence.
Judi Dench is back as M and as ever fails to put a foot wrong.
I am fascinated by Valenka played by Ivana Milicevic. Here is Le Chiffre's mistress who flounces around, hardly ever speaks a word, but when the camera passes her it often hovers in close up on her face. It's as if she is going to be more important to the outcome than she is. On one occasion it's important (she has poisoned Bond's drink) but apart from that she is almost a red herring.
And finally, how to properly pay homage to the past. Instead of the jet pack from Thunderball as per Die Another Daylet's have a couple of minor players from the 60s and place them subtly into the film. And so we have Diane Hartford (who dances with Bond at the Kiss Kiss club in Thunderball and storms off when his 'wife' Fiona appears) in the Ocean Club poker scene, and Tsai Chin (Ling in the pre title scene of You Only Live Twice) who mysteriously follows all of the action at the casino Royale.
Good to have you back ladies.
Great cast. Great cast.
Damned if I can remember. I know I alluded to his baldness once or twice...
It's also by far the most complex Bond plot ever, and my head is hurting trying to think about when Vesper turned on Bond, then fell in love, then got told by Quantum to get the money, etc. There's a lot hidden from us in this film, and you never really know the full story at any time, even by the end. That can be a plus, and a minus, if you value no loose ends or mysteries. It makes sense that nothing is resolved, though, as for Bond his trauma never is.
Of course it's amazing, still my favorite film. I don't think that'll ever change, and it's just one of those near perfect films that only come around once in a long while. There's FRWL, there's OHMSS and then there's CR. Everything else fills in between those.
JAMES BOND:
Brosnan is terrific in this, and it's possible that it's his strongest appearance in the role. He does a great deal of playing the role around the bad guys, but he also shows a more damaged, vulnerable side after he's imprisoned in North Korea. It's great getting to see him fight to prove himself once more throughout the film, and while it may not be his greatest outing, I would've always enjoyed getting one last film from him. He could've pulled it off, had the script and director been well enough, too.
BOND GIRLS:
Jacinta 'Jinx' Johnson: Say what you will about the character, but damn, if she doesn't look good coming out of the water when she makes her appearance. She gets some bad dialogue, and I've definitely seen her do a lot more impressive acting than what we get in this, so I can't tell if it's a lack of interest mixed with the script or what, but the character should've been a lot better than what we were given, especially if she's the main Bond girl of the film. Shame.
Miranda Frost: Beautiful, cunning, and obviously not all she appears to be, I'd say she might be my favorite throughout, and I probably could've done with having her as the main (and good) Bond girl, while casting someone else in this role. I suppose in hindsight, it does seem rather obvious that she's the traitor, being both an MI6 agent and someone working alongside Graves (whom she has to thank for her Sydney win).
Peaceful Fountains of Desire: A tiny appearance, but she's beautiful, and the Brosnan era always did very well at adding in Bond girls of a much smaller role, for miscellaneous reasons. I've always loved that they did that, as I feel like sometimes some of the Craig era is a bit lacking in minor, yet memorable characters.
Verity: Bad dialogue. Bad acting. Could've done with the character if the writing was slightly better and it was played by literally anyone other than Madonna. Horrid cameo idea.
BOND ALLIES:
Raoul: One of my favorite Bond allies of the era, he's useful, friendly, and makes for some great quieter moments in the film. I'm also a fan of the scene where they inspect the diamonds 007 nabs off Zao, and smoke cigars together.
Charles Robinson: Always happy to have him around, of course, and I like him in his final role in this, although I wouldn't have minded him appearing in a few more scenes. Also, aside from it being VR, I love getting to watch him work in action with Bond during the MI6 shootout, even though he's nothing but cannon fodder in M's office.
Mr. Chang: He's another good addition to the movie. I enjoy that he welcomes Bond with open arms as an old friend, giving him what he obviously needs, while subsequently playing the defensive, ensuring that Bond isn't there for any particularly sinister reasons. The confusion is resolved, and he sets Bond up on his trip to Cuba. Always love a good Bond ally.
M/MP/Q:
M: I've always been a fan of Dench as M, and while this isn't against her as an actress, this does seem to be a big turning point of where M seemed to not have much trust for Bond, and he's always attempting to prove himself while simultaneously completing his mission and stopping the bad guys. It's gotten very stale already; I miss the days of Bond being up against almost everyone BUT M, with him/her secretly giving 007 the okay to continue the mission, whatever it takes. Still, I'm glad she does make another appearance in this, and things do get better once Bond is "re-hired," of sorts.
MP: She was starting to show her age a bit more in this, so I suppose it's no shock that she didn't make a return when they cleaned house and kicked things off once again with CR, but at least it isn't the worst MP appearance. However, I could do without the VR sequence of her and Bond hooking up, as I needn't see it or even have it insinuated.
Q: I suppose this can be considered Cleese's only appearance in the role, since he's technically R in TWINE, and I quite like having him around in this, actually. He fit in very well, and I suppose I've just always enjoyed having an older Q, which makes it harder for me to warm to the Q of late.
VILLAIN/HENCHMEN:
Colonel Moon/Gustav Graves: As I've mentioned elsewhere, I love Will Yun Lee in the role of Colonel Moon, and wish the Gustav Graves storyline could've been sidelined, featuring Moon and his father as the villains. Even still, I enjoy the time we're given with him in the PTS, and he's wonderfully sinister and explosive throughout.
Gustav Graves, while not as good, has his moments, but overall, he's probably one of the weaker villains for me, I'd say. He does play well as the anti-Bond, portraying him in every way aside from being the good guy. It's a shame we didn't get a better final fight between the two, as the electro-suit and some dialogue does tend to damage a good bit of the finale for me.
Zao: I've always liked Zao - some seem to take issue with the diamonds still embedded in his face, but is that really a concern in a film that involves electro-suits and codename hints and CGI tsunami surfing?
He doesn't seem to make a big appearance until Cuba, which is another great fight scene between the two, and another strong moment in the film. I love their pursuit throughout the clinic (shame the sequence is marred by the "finale" of Jinx's impossible-to-survive CG dive, but oh well. He gets even more to work with in Iceland, and he makes for a great addition to Graves' team throughout, lending to a wonderful ice chase sequence, all wrapped up with a brutal chandelier death.
Vlad: I find him comparable to Elvis in QoS: always helpful, and you do tend to pity him and feel a bit sad for him when he meets his end, all because he's treated like garbage throughout a majority of the film. I think his mom was Jacoba Brink, eerie how similar they look.
Mr. Kil: His "I'm Mr. Kil" seems immediately villainous and rather shoehorned in, as he takes a background appearance for a while, rumbling around on the sideline before he goes toe-to-toe with Bond. I think if the fight was in a different locale/a bit more heavy hitting, and didn't involve the countless lasers flying about, I might've enjoyed him more.
General Moon: He's really only seen as a bad guy, in my eyes, during the capture/imprisonment sequences, even though he seems pretty fair and kind to Bond himself; then again, I guess this is the moment where Bond is getting set free, so there was really no way for him to hurt James any longer. I would've liked it more had Colonel Moon been the villain the entire time, so we got some more screentime with the General. Instead, he's sidelined until the finale, where he finally meets his "new" son, and dies by his hand.
Dr. Alvarez: Another tiny appearance, and he may not even be considered a henchman, but he's a bad guy in someone's eyes, and the way he gloats about his work makes him nasty enough for me to enjoy seeing him take a couple bullets from Jinx.
STORY/ACTION:
The plot might not be the most realistic, and it tends to straddle a fun-yet-cheesy line throughout a majority of the plot, but it does pave the way for some original action sequences and rather good moments, so I'll take what I can get. Now, the action:
PTS: I love it, and find that it's probably one of the strongest bits of the film, as is a good portion of the post-PTS sequences (Bond's imprisonment, release, recovery, etc.) The film opens with a bit of incredible score by Arnold, as we get a practical, well done surfing sequence, that I'm always a fan of. Great way to begin the movie.
The infiltration into North Korea itself is great, as is the impersonation of a bitter Mr. Van Bierk. I find the scenes inside Moon's compound to be incredibly tense, with the score assisting with the atmosphere, as well. I've mentioned it previously, but a great little moment is the look on Moon's face as he's told by Zao that Bond is a British agent, and he weighs what to do next. Of course, Bond always has a Plan B up his sleeve, and uses the cover of the C4 explosion to steal a hovercraft and flee after Moon.
The hovercraft chase itself is great, love watching Bond use the mines and weapons to his advantage. Once 007 finally hops aboard Moon's hovercraft, the fighting here is excellent, and feels a lot more brutal than the likes of TND and TWINE at certain moments. I'm also a big fan of the shot of Bond diving out of the way of the flamethrower blast, green screen or not.
However, after one-upping Moon and sending him to his expected death, Bond is captured, and we get a very great imprisonment scene to enjoy. The way Bond jerks once he hears the door to his cell rattle immediately after the title sequence is a great touch.
Cuba: After a bit of investigative digging, Bond finally comes across Zao, and we're given a pretty damn good fight scene. A fine, tinier moment: Bond turning the machine off, just to grab the revolver as it falls and aim it right toward Zao, who escapes just in time. The entire pursuit thereafter - Zao running from Bond, but is in turn now running from Jinx, who Bond incidentally ends up chasing after while running toward the helicopter - is very exciting, and as I stated elsewhere, it's just a shame that it all concludes on that horrible dive into the water. Kills a lot of the momentum.
Swords at Blades: Another great action scene for me - we're roughly halfway through, and the film has yet to disappoint on that front. Graves does seem to be in much better shape than an older Bond during this sequence, but it's still a pretty even-keel fight, and I like the usage of miscellaneous weapons/chairs/etc. as the fight gets heavier and more brutal, obviously being taken past being a simple bet, with both men showing their true feelings about one another - even if Bond has no clue who he is just yet.
VR Sequence: Great stuff. Bond is a crackshot in this, taking everyone down with brutal efficiency, as quickly as possible. Tiny moment I enjoy: the shot of him reloading the PPK. Not sure why, suppose it's just something we don't get to see too often. I also enjoy his reasoning for why he had to put a round in M to save the day. I'll also never forget seeing this for the first time in theaters, 11 years old, worried that MP and Robinson had actually died.
Laser Fight: As I mentioned earlier, this would've been a lot better without the incessant whining of Jinx and all the lasers; they're a bit too goofy for my tastes. Mr. Kil could've put a serious beating to Bond, forcing him to utilize some quick thinking to finally one up him (which I suppose he does), but it would've been preferrable without a laser through the head. I get the GF homage they were going for though, particularly with the laser going off a mere second or two before slicing through Jinx.
The Ice Palace Finale: I'm going to consider this starting with Bond fleeing Graves' diamond mine, and ending with James rescuing Jinx.
I think Bond's escape is great, using Q's ring to take out the glass and flee, escaping just seconds before the goons with SMG's catch up to him - but of course, the rule of thumb for henchmen is that their aim is horrendous, so Bond makes quick work of Jinx's pulley/rope work, and flees down the side of the mine before escaping in the landjet.
The thought of 007 escaping from a space laser like that is awesome, and I think it would've been much better if the CGI was done today instead of 2002, but having said that, this is nowhere near as bad as what comes next: CGI tsunami surfing. I was forced to find one compliment about the scene, so - the score is pretty damn good here. Everything else; the green screen and computer work and the entire stunt itself and implausibility of it all is absolutely ridiculous. I love Bond parachuting away and somehow landing nowhere near any sort of water whatsoever.
Thankfully, it doesn't all end on a bad note. I'm a very big fan of the chase scene between Bond vs. Zao that follows him returning to the ice palace. This is how I want to see a chase between two sports cars; the gadgets make for a fun and brutal touch, and the chase itself is fast, dangerous, and hard-hitting. Watching Zao gun it after 007 in the ice palace is rich, too, with some well-timed active camouflage restoration saving him at the last second. The actual killing of Zao is excellent, too, even if the chandelier really doesn't land on him at all.
Finale: Something I really picked up on this time around is how great the action consistently manages to be throughout, with my only two big complaints being the CGI tsunami scene, and certain aspects of the finale. The action itself is good, and having it all set around a massive space laser destroying a mine field, all within a plane that is slowly falling to the ground, makes it all the more exciting. The fighting between Bond and Graves is marred by the electro-suit that is way too over-the-top for me, and the fighting between Jinx and Frost isn't helped with the occasional odd slo-mo and bad dialogue. However, having both duo's go toe-to-toe simultaneously is cool, and they both end in some pretty brutal ways. Could've done without the "Time to face gravity" line, as well. I do enjoy the last second escape in the helicopter, no matter how ludicrous, along with the sports cars landing in the water, as they must've been built out of a bank vault to survive that fall in mint condition.
MI6Community Bondathon: (May change at any time.)
This one was fun as always, and regardless of the ranking, will likely always be a fun one every time I fire it up. It's very entertaining in its better moments, and gets a bit too much flak sometimes, I feel.
1.) GE
2.) DN
3.) OHMSS
4.) LALD
5.) TSWLM
6.) GF
7.) YOLT
8.) FYEO
9.) FRWL
10.) OP
11.) LTK
12.) TB
13.) AVTAK
14.) DAF
15.) TWINE
16.) TLD
17.) TMWTGG
18.) DAD
19.) MR
20.) TND
I love the cast of supporting villains in CR. They all have memorable features and some good gimmicks (e.g. Mollaka's facial scarring or Gettler's black lens). All very well cast, and I like that they get some development in the film.
QoS was a letdown in this regard - all basically anonymous goons, like Slate or Mitchell or that Special Branch guy. Patrice in SF was a little better due to more screen time, but even then there's nothing memorable about him.
Good call on Bernie Casey. It might be because NSNA was my first Bond film, but he was always my favourite Leiter.
Casino Royale - Bond Elements
It feels like everything that has gone before has been tossed out of the window. The film even starts in black and white to signify a fresh start.
It's a taut, violent PTS showing Bond getting his two kills to receive his 00 status. Craig kills his first man in a explosion of uncontrolled rage, and his second (Drydon) as coolly as a veteran. It's a jarring sequence which ends in a satisfyingly fresh gun barrel.
As M hilariously puts it Bond "celebrates by shooting up an embassy"
Bond does some real globe hopping here, he starts off in Prague, moves to Madagascar where this ecologically diverse country is only seen as a gambling den and building site. Hopefully it draws attention to how the island is being exploited and bled dry of it's fantastic natural life.
Then London, the Bahamas, Miami, Montenegro, Lake Como, Venice.
The film is beautifully photographed. The colours burst out of the screen, and the film incorporates all of the locations without feeling forced or deliberately shoe horned in as it did on occasions in earlier films such as Moonraker. Arguably the most impressive use of locations in the whole series.
No real gadgets, apart from a defibrillator which is used in a superb scene where Vesper saves Bond's life.
The action sequences mainly comprise three enormous set pieces.
The free running with Mollaka is a triumph of planning and choreography. The actors throw themselves into it and the whole thing leaves one breathless.
The Miami airport scenes are staggering in scale, well directed and exciting.
The climax in Vienna is probably a drop in overall quality.
Otherwise we have the stairwell fight and the car flip which is exceptional.
The film tells the story without the need for an action sequence every few minutes and when they come they tend to explode out of the screen.
The humour is more subtle than previously.
The interruption to the card game as each player orders the same drink as Bond, only for Leiter to 'hold the fruit'.
The sly, satisfied look of the croupier in the Ocean club when Bond wins Dimitrios's car.
Of course there is the great moment Bond creates a distraction with the Land Rover at the Ocean Club.
There are also two entertaining running gags.
Firstly M's exasperation at Bond seeming to know everything about her, including passwords, her address, her name etc.
"How the hell does he know these things?" is a great line.
Secondly whenever there is a card game going on we get a distraction from a beautiful woman. Firstly on Le Chiffre's boat his opponent is distracted by Valenka. Then we have Solange at the Ocean Club and finally Vesper swishing by at Casino Royale distracting Bond (when the idea is to distract anyone but Bond).
Le Chiffre of course is only the tip of the tentacle (Eh Sir Rog eh?) There are many layers to the villainous outfit as we soon find out. The desperation of Le Chiffre, the sad duplicity of Vesper, the villainy in the background, the torture of Bond - it all comes from Ian Fleming's story, but the film is expanded to incorporate a first act showing why Le Chiffre gets to the point where he needs to win the money back. Far from simply bumping him off MI6 want to bring him in for questioning and thus Bond finds himself in the game. The fact Bond trades Le Chiffre off to the Americans for a $5 million stake would not surely be lost on M.
The Bond elements are there, but it's frustrating that this reboot seems to dismiss the original franchise with cheap digs ("Do I look like I give a damn?" was funny in 2006 but now seems unnecessarily dismissive of the franchise history).
As late as Skyfall we were still getting a mixture of loving nods to the past, whilst at the same time seeing cruelly dismissive jokes such as the business about exploding pens.
Finally we see Bond in his first tailored dinner jacket. It's a great scene and Craig never had and never would look as good as he did at that moment.
It's like how Dalton's films flipped the script on the "Bond...James Bond" line. While the previous actors said the line to look cool, the only times Dalton's Bond uttered it he ran right through it dismissively (as in the TLD pre-title) and overall didn't make a big deal about introducing himself in an ostentatious way in the entire era. He felt like a man who didn't realize his name was an iconic one when he said it out loud, and that made him feel real. It was anti-formula in approach, but was solid and a fresh way to do it.
I feel the same with how the Craig era has flipped the script. It knows and respects its history, but it's also not afraid to accept when things are silly and need freshening up. And even still, CR is the first film in a decades long film series to actually get the martini right, down to every ingredient from the original book. Say that CR pisses on Bond formula all you want, but from DN to DAD Bond never ordered a true original Fleming martini like CR did, nor did any other films make it a pivotal part of the plot where Bond sips one that is poisoned and makes his love for a woman know by christening the drink after her.
I'm not so convinced about the importance of Fleming's actual ingredients. Fleming is extremely important when it comes to grounding the films and getting those fundamentals right. Important to the point Barbara B has often sited her father's lesson number 1. If you don't know what to do next go back to Fleming.
But, it's equally important to accept that the films have a life of their own and if anyone dismisses some of them because they lose total sight of Fleming's Bond (for example many Fleming aficionados will not accept Moore's films at all) then they are limiting their own enjoyment of the series. And that isn't aimed at you Brady, I assure you.
So, far from me saying CR pisses on the formula, I simply mean that that one line in CR is a little joke at the expense of the film series it owes it's very existence to.
But I get your argument.
I think that's well within their right, though. The Moore films go so far from Fleming or even what Sean did to become near parody, and by the end of things AVTAK can be embarrassing to watch. The 70s and early 80s took a lot away from the series and got complacent, and I think the movies shouldn't get off the hook for it. If the Craig films can be taken to task for losing the formula, films that have no self-control over any formula should be too.
CR is what Bond used to be, powerful stories that were artistically assembled and clever (DN, FRWL, TB), and makes a conscious decision to avoid aping the sad image the character became for nearly two decades starting in the 70s. It was those movies that diluted and insulted the Bond series, and that one little line in CR is barely a pinch of pain in comparison.
Hindsight is ok, but the series is great because it went in different directions. We can analyse what was wrong with any decade but the Bonds are not about some moody artistic representation of the spy genre ( if anyone wants that then go watch The Spy Who Came In From The Cold), they are about entertainment for the masses.
And what was popular in the 70s was the colourful, OTT, globe hopping nonsense about mad men wanting to destroy the world. Once that ran it's course they moved on.
There's no point us talking about not letting the 70s and 80s off the hook, because you can't change it. We are here now watching CR because of LALD, MR and OP making shed loads of money. Had they kept remaking FRWL the series wouldn't have survived the 60s.
I think my point in all this has been lost.
I contend that it's silly to get all cut up over a line in a script that plays light with the franchise, especially when the film in question is about 97% better than the rest in major areas, and matches the best of the films in the areas it doesn't win with ease. I then contended that past films were far more damaging and insulting just being what they were than CR ever could be.
Of course the other films have their place and we are forced into accepting some of them (at least I often am), but I give CR the permission to get digs in because it actually respects what Bond started as. The Moore films partly worked for their day, despite not being rousing successes, but the same can be said for the Craig films and their more grounded tone to fit our current expectations. And yet people still run these newer movies into the ground, which makes me think people don't want to look at things fairly. Let's be easy on the Moore films, but Craig's? Hell no.
I judge the movies on their worthiness and effectiveness in doing Bond good, and the low point of the series is very clear to me and (thankfully) a prevalent number of others.
There's no point bothering with more arguing though, as this is Casino Royale's time, and damned if it doesn't deserve a month, if not a week.
I'm going to write up my CR analysis probably tomorrow, as I'll have a lot of love and blind fandom to throw its way. I saw it for the first time last night in almost a year, I'd say, and I was blown away throughout, feeling the same sort of intrigue and joy as I did when I first caught it in theaters over a decade ago. Found myself enjoying the one part that drags in the movie (the Miami sequence) a bit more than I typically do, as well, whereas a lot of people feel that the film drags during the finale in Venice, and I've always loved that.