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Comments
Aren't you watching it at the moment..?!!
Lovely shot that follows in behind Bond goes over his head and looks down at that drop as Patrice hangs on for his life! All in one take.
I've come to realise this, too.
CR is a better written film, overall, and we have Fleming to thank for that. He gave us the foundation. But CR also suffers from a few missteps that knock it down a notch for me: 1. Two chase scenes (the Mollaka foot chase and the Carlos airport sequence) just go on and on. The Miami runway scene is especially exhausting. 2. The awful Ford commercial in the Bahamas (you know what I'm talking about). 3. A poor (and rather laughable) job of using Prague to double as Miami.
I love both SF and CR, have them as 1-2 in my overall rankings at the moment. But SF gets the slight edge.
I find the PTS in SF very weak. However, it really improves from the point Bond appears in M's flat and then up until the choppers appear over the island. That sequence is quite well done and I remember thinking it wa going pretty well when I was watching it the first time. Then, for me, it just falls apart from the moment it moves back to London onwards.
SF will always be highly overrated IMO as long as it is regarded as a classic.
Ooops: This was supposed to read, "...some of the best characterization in any Bond film: Q, Moneypenny, Mallory, Severine, Silva."
In any case, I agree about the PTS. The film dips somewhat in London, too, but I really like the Scotland scenes.
SF though opens brilliantly, ok not having the GB is not ideal and Mendes excuse is wearing a little thin but that opening PTS will be one of the iconic moments. I've given Sam plenty flak for SP but his Russian doll approach with the PTS is a stroke of genius and I find the PTS utterly thrilling.
VW product placement granted but Bond didn't all of a sudden start this with the Craig era they've been doing it for decades, it's not like the Craig era kicked all this off.
CR overall is a better film and Craig has more to get his teeth into and to prove which is why from a dramatic and character point of view will most likely be his best work in the series, despite him not actually being Bond full on till the closing moment with that superb sign off but it has its issues.
I can't see anything wrong with Molloka chase, that is the crowning achievement of the Craig era when it comes to action, no action sequence in Craig's time matches it from the moment he's spotted him and starts the pursuit to the point he shoots him and blows up the building as a diversion to get away.
The gulf between this sequence and the generic 90's action guff we got with Pierce is vast but that Miami sequence is not good at all.
It works as way to progress the plot but couldn't they have delivered something better than warmed over version of one of the most thrilling sequences committed to celluloid? I am of course referring to the Raiders truck chase.
The dialogue while at times some of the best of the series is cringeworthy on occasion, Omega plugging and of course my little finger so no it's not perfect but as a whole it's an incredibly strong film and the Venice sequence that seems to be so devisive is still the best climax of the Craig era and I'd argue one of the best of the series.
CR was the first time since OHMSS when we got an actual adaptation of a Fleming novel that bore a resemblance, rather than just taking the title then fashioning a story around like so many of the entries did with the exception of some of the earlier films notably OHMSS.
I think that is why some judge it quite severely because we are messing with the holy grail for some of Fleming's writing. Anyone expecting a straight adaptation and ending the film with Vesper commiting suicide off camera was off their rocker.
The venice sequence was something I'd never seen done before, it was like the parkour chase at the beginning something where it felt Bond was doing something unique and it's great the film is bookended like this.
Yes some of the filling in between is questionable but the PTS is my favourite of the series full stop.
Getting back to SF yes the it has holes but everything up to Silva being bought to London is going fine for me, Silva yes can't help but echo the Joker in his scheme and getaway and Mendes is clearly influenced by Nolan but for me it's not a problem.
The dumb dialogue of Q claiming Silva had planned this does the film a disservice but when you compare to some the crimes in it's follow up to me it's mild at least this doesn't shat all over the series present and before it's just a chink in the plot in comparrison.
Though Mendes, Craig, cast and crew carry it all off with such confidence, some hate the Tennison moment but it still puts hairs on the back of my neck. I really wish though Arnold had scored this, I think it might have been his finest moment coming off the back of his extremely promising QOS score.
Also the Straw Dog/Home Alone climax in Scotland for me is thrilling and moving, no DC cracking that deep water joke should have been dropped but the way Silva is dispatched and the look on his face is entirely in keeping with his character. Logan comes in for plenty flak but the pay off Silva's rat speech in his iconic intro, I love it.
It's contemporary but all so echoes back to the great memorable moments from the series, like a riff on Goldfinger's Lazer table and Connery hitting it out the park along with Frobe (despite being dubbed).
The way we return to it and Craig's last words "last rat standing" just sums up their relationship perfectly.
No a joke before Craig's and Dench's final moment was ill advised but both do such fine work here that it can almost be forgiven.
CR is a Bond fans film but SF was a Bond film for everyone and this I think maybe the rub with some. Yes it was released on the 50th and we had the London Olympics with DC involved but if it had been SPECTRE I certainly don't think that film would have struck the cord that SF did.
Adele's theme had its role to play, the global smash it was, although Newman's score has it's moments, something more celebratory would have made all the difference. So with some asides and an acknowledgement that it isn't perfect or a masterpeice by any stretch of the imagination, it did the anniversary proud.
Then add in the gunbarrel where it belongs and kick things off a little differently. Or, remove the musical cue that accompanies his introduction in SF, and just have the gunbarrel pan to the hallway as he begins walking down.
IMHO SF works as a great movie. Obvioulsy, fans can have their own opinions but there is tremendous goodwill for SF amongst jo public and that is not a fluke.
The familiarity comes from the panache in the film making, the incredible visuals, the organic humour, and the supreme confidence of the cast/characterizations. Not from the tropes, of which there are surprisingly few (although some rather offensive, like the DB5). In this instance, dumping Arnold also works in its favour, because Newman's score is sufficiently different from what has come before to also seem fresh (at least to my ears).
I recall thinking to myself after the first viewing:
'now that was a unique Bond film, and somehow despite this I can't wait to get back and watch it again on IMAX'.
Again, for me SF was very much Bondian (love the cinematography and style of the film), I was just offering a random idea.