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Skyfall improving like a fine wine
Must say after an initial sense of anticlimax having seen it at the pictures, Skyfall is quickly rising up my list of best Bonds after watching on DVD.
There are so many classic scenes, characters and the slower, more mature pace of the film helps the non traditional formula.
There are a few plot holes that could have been solved with one line if dialogue, namely the whereabouts of the hard drive, bonds responsibility for M's death, and Silvas bomb underground, but overall it's getting better and better.
Like OHMSS
There are so many classic scenes, characters and the slower, more mature pace of the film helps the non traditional formula.
There are a few plot holes that could have been solved with one line if dialogue, namely the whereabouts of the hard drive, bonds responsibility for M's death, and Silvas bomb underground, but overall it's getting better and better.
Like OHMSS
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Comments
Well, second time round you're watching less intently so the plot holes don't matter or you feel less cheated.
And in terms of bumps or highlights, well, SF has a great many. From a storyboard pov it would work well, in terms - oh this happens, then this - you can imagine it holding up well in the pre-production stage. Just, the nitty gritty of the narrative doesn't hold up imo.
I'm always amazed by Deakins cinematography (IMO the shot of them driving through the moor's in the Aston accompanied by Newman's score is one of the finest moments in the history of the Bond films).
The scene in the church at the end is incredible. Craig really is superb as he's cradling a dying M and you really feel he's lost someone he loved.
It still doesn't fit with what I would call a 'bond' movie but nevertheless it is a great stand-alone Bond.
The introductions of Q an Monneypenny were IMO ridiculous but I like the idea of Fiennes as M.
SF still wouldnt make my top 10, CR is still a better Bond, but yes it is 'improving like a fine wine'
Nice analogy
=D>
SF: starts grim. Bond leaves a fellow agent to die. Okay. But then it gets silly (Bond jumping onto a moving train by crashing the bike into the wall so he gets catapulted over... yeah, right). So I can't go with it, it seems in bad taste.
When I first saw it I thought "wow that was fantastic! Top 5 for sure!" But then I had the chance to think about the movie more and I noticed some plot holes, which were more obvious to me when I saw it the 2nd and 3rd times.
Still top 10, just not as good as I first thought. But then I do that quite a bit, I get over excited about a Bond film just because it's the new one. The only Bond films I've seen at the cinema that I really didn't like from the start are DAD and QOS.
What? In movies where they kill off a main character they think that's ALL you'll walk away remembering?? The tone of SF was way too serious for its content IMO.
I could see Fleming's Bond doing that. Fleming would just write a long bit of text about how Bond quickly worked the Physics out and prepared himself to be thrown forward.
Completely agree. Like I've said before, the plot wouldn't be such a huge deal to me if SF didn't take itself so seriously. If it was just a popcorn blockbuster I'd go along with it, but it wants to be this adult Bond thriller that's taken seriously, so when I take it seriously and examine the story it falls apart a bit.
Really? Such OTT stunts are a staple and expected in almost every Bond film and even then, that stunt is one of the tamer stunts in the series.
But Craig's Bond is indestructible.
You find CR to be a falling star now?
Still laughing as i write this !!!
I disagree. Firstly, the first 4? Have you forgotten the ridiculous jetpack scene in TB ;-) Also, to be fair, they don't largely make Bond movies like they used to (the first 4) but they're trying, God bless 'em.
I don't see SF pitching itself as a different genre. Like the other Craig Bond movies, all it's doing is taking the movies in a more serious direction but that doesn't mean the omission of OTT or silly stunts. As I recall, even with the stunt, Bond just about managed to land on the train. Had he pulled up and jumped off, he would have lost the train completely. However, I agree with you that it may have been better had he pulled up, got off and jumped from the bridge but it's clearly more dramatic, OTT and spectacular with the way they did it.
Yes, it feels overly long now especially the last half. The pacing also feels exhausting: the film opens strong with the PTS to set the tone, followed by the Parkour Chase, but then follows with the airport action sequence. We get all this heavy duty action all early on in the film, then the movie slows down to the card game and then moves into the romance, but then it's still not over, we still have the sinking house. It's tiring for me to watch. I've also been one not convinced of Craig and Green's chemistry. Le Chiffre does not do much for me as a villain, just gives a few good villainous stares in the card game. The Sony product placement though, really gets worse with time as does the 'look' of the Poker game, especially with the dealer and his poker vest. I stand firm in my belief that they should have stuck with baccarat as was written, rather than going with the Poker championship trend. To me it looks like a couple of average joes at a Vegas table. DC has a confidence at times, but still mumbles a lot of his lines, and appears really akward in the dinner scene with Vesper. Those are just a few thoughts off the top of my head. In SF, DC seems to really own the role, the pacing was smooth, there was a nice balance of action and dialogue and the product placement was done more tastefully.
Hate to piss on your chips boys but the windscreen had already been smashed off along with the roof. I take your point though.
In theory it's a good stunt - the train is getting away from Bond so he has to launch himself - but is utterly nonsensical as from his position on the bridge I have serious doubts as to whether he could see the back of the train to judge he was going to miss it. A simple shot of Bond on the other side of the bridge realising the last carriage had gone might have solved this but IMO the it was poorly communicated to the audience.
As for JBFan626s criticisms of CR, although I don't really agree with a lot of them, I can see his point. I've seen SF 5 times now and every time it just whistles by whereas CR does have the odd lull here and there.
Good to see other people agreeing with me that CR drags at times.
Don't put words in my mouth young lady!!
A lull is not the same as dragging. It is a pause in the action to let the story breath. See QOS for the reason these pauses are good - just relentless and barely a sniff of any story.
But I think where CR is 'nicely paced' (although rather unbalanced in its action heavy first half) and QOS is just too fast SF nails it perfectly.
I've still only seen it once on opening night. I'm watching all them in order to work into Skyfall. I was trying to time it so I finished the say I got Skyfall in the mail. Needless to say I botched that idea.
I don't like CGI in Bond but the effects do work well and the ending in Scotland is quite spectacular but a poor overall climax with Silva, M and Bond at the chapel. I could view it another 50 times, but it won't get better. I just see it as a good Bond adventure and definite improvement on what came directly before and Kleinman gives his best work yet, and even the theme song is good, although no fan of the singer
It was a good enough and fitting release for the 50th year anniversary
Bond and M stare off into uncertainty into the Scottish myst solemny.
Then Bond stares off into the unknown future accepting M's death. It's a Sam Mendes kind of thing where the audience is part of the afterthough processing, kinda like the Yusef apartment acene from QOS.
My sentiments exactly.
Funny enough, I was bored by QoS first time around, but the more I think about and watch it, the more I like it.
The first time I saw CR I though the same thing, about how excellent and gritty it started off, only to quickly devolve into a crazily unbelievable parkour chase. But I like it now.