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The test to this, IMHO, is how easy it is in your imagination to swap them in and out. So Craig holding Tracy's dead body? Laz in the shower comforting Vespa? Laz on the roof holding Vespa? Laz on the train exchanging banter with Vespa? A desperate Craig accepting help from Tracy on the ice rink? etc etc. They both had roles that dealt with love, vulnerability and death. All of the swaps work IMHO
its the first time I have really thought about it in this way. Interesting stuff.
I just thought he was catching his breath after being underwater 5 minutes.
Sounds far out.
What I probably like most about CR is that it has some unexpected charater developments (at least for those who haven't read the novel). Something which we have not seen in Bond 22-24.
That's how I see it...it's pretty obvious that's what it is.
Definitely...he is devasted and bloody knackered.
That's the long and the short of it ;-)
Of course it is, back in the day people thought it was the best Bond ever, some still do, because it was miles better than its predecessor. SF is another example of such mass praise.
CR, admittedly, has some of the best scenes in the franchise. In fact, the entire part from the train meeting until Le Chiffre's demise is pure Bond. Unsurprisingly that's the part they took from Fleming.
What comes before that, is a rather unnecessary, but in those days very fanciful, origin story and what follows is an equally unnecessary over-the-top climax that pisses all over Fleming's subtle, heart-breaking ending.
In the upper half of Bond films? Sure, can't argue with that.
Best Bond ever? Not in a million years is it close to FRWL or OHMSS, to name the obvious ones.
The entire section post Le Chiffre's death does absolutely nothing for me however, as I noted earlier, is one of the main reasons I don't view the film often and why it has been declining slowly down my rankings with time (the other reason is due to the asinine interconnectivity introduced during SP). It has a distinctly tacked on feeling.
Yes! OHMSS had the balls to end on a sombre note, no car chase and explosions needed. Casino Royale bottles it in this regard. They didn't have the strength of their convictions to follow through the story to it's end. It's similar to how LTK ends on a happy note after all the heartache and anguish.
I completely agree. Another case where we are too afraid to call a spade a spade.
"maybe we should call it a big tool"
DN is more cohesive and tightly written, but FRWL has more highs to go with its lows, and that's why I prefer it.
I wouldn't say the exact tone. The bits where they push that guy off the boat and throw away the tape at the end are a bit more breezy than the first hour and a half.
I feel that way about OHMSS and DR NO.
Compared to sequences from several other Bond films, these two are not much to be annoyed by.
I think the film is pretty much perfect - up to and including the torture scene.
After that the cracks start to show more. We get a soppy romance, awkward dialogue and an unnecessary action scene. Craig and Greene somehow hold it together...just...though.
Mostly however its a great film.
With the former, Bond doesn't just try to hold on as long as he can on the chance the cavalry will rescue him--he manipulates his torturer into losing control of the situation. His survival via Mr. White (aligning back with the novel) is much less important. Bond wins. Very smart by the filmmakers.
No less, there is Bond being confronted firsthand with Vesper's death. Communicating the content of the Fleming story wouldn't work here: he comes to her dead body, reads her suicide letter and becomes enraged. That wouldn't work on screen. Instead, what played out was a suicide for the ages: a character reaching the end of a road of cruel manipulation, and making a selfless sacrifice. Better he experiences the outright betrayal. Gives chase. Engages in battle. Resolves absolutely to save her and fails completely. A hard lesson for what he cannot have since joining the Service.
With the dialog between Bond and Vesper, it strikes me as disarming humor and heartfelt. It's what carries people through anxious moments, in the best of ways. That's my experience, anyway.
I do as well. I like the two action sequences that follow the train section. They're not overlong and don't wear out their welcome.
I love every frame of FRWL (even the waving goodbye).