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Comments
That's for sure.
It's most certainly about that. The film is Bond facing Greene and uncovering Quantum after White's capture, with a subplot of sorts being Bond grieving over Vesper in small moments throughout (stealing her photo from M's file, looking at her necklace, pretending to forget the name of the martini he named after her, etc.) leading up to his meeting with Yusef. It never takes over the film.
I'd say the film balances a lot of stuff very well. You've got the main plot, the stuff that carries over from CR, Bond's grieving over Vesper, Felix trying to stay afloat in a corrupt CIA and M trying to do the same in Britain, with all the necessary action and thrills in between.
Yes, that's right. Also, everything is so personal now. I have a feeling Brosnan or Moore would have left Lucia in bed and gone to the secret Spectre meeting. But, in the Craig era we need a scene where Bond explains to Lucia for Felix to get her out safely. Come to think of it, maybe he learned from Solange never to leave a girl alone and go on a mission because they will end up dead. If so, that's a nice callback.
Yes, once you take out the action scenes, and the emotional B plot, your left with about 25 minutes of actual story, which is a shame because I love the story and see it as a great missed opportunity. I love the opera scene, I love the scenes with Felix, I love Greene scheming with the general, M furiously trying to cover Bonds arse from the other side of the globe. I enjoy a lot, but it is only fleeting, crushed between scenes of dour naval-gazing and head smashing action.
Can't really argue with that.
Probably the greatest opportunity missed ever in the franchise. Still it is fantastic as it is and belongs in any Top 10 (imho)
Nowhere near FRWL.
Does that invitation extend to the rest of us?
I do love a Fritzl reference.
Although in the interests of fairness the cellar was fully lit with a telly and en suite facilities. Yes you got raped 5 times a day but let's not make out like it was a medieval dungeon. The bloke wasn't all bad.
I think they could've matched it (and still can) if they knew what they were doing. They're 60-70% there with the follow ups, so why not more effort in the writing and getting director that understands the material to make it all the way there. They repeated their success in the 60s, so why not now?
I think the biggest thing going for this movie is that Bond is a relatable human in this film. There's a bit of Bond's rogue spirit and lust for raw justice inside of us. Bond truly feels passionate in this film, and it's not something we've ever seen before. He's not neutral.
I think people miss the point that the movie really isn't supposed to be plot heavy. More of Bond's post traumatic journey through a seemingly normal mission.
Anyway I'm rambling on. Just had to get my dose of defending QoS lol.
'QOS is an exceptional movie'. Really?
I feel that the QOS reappraisal has started to go a bit far in certain quarters to the point where we've gone full circle and it needs a good slating again.
When I first saw it I was extremely disappointed however over the years it has grown on me and it certainly looks better on the small screen than it does on the big screen. It's far from the clunker it seemed on initial viewing.
Let's have a bit of perspective though. It sacrifices plot and story for far too many superfluous action sequences to the extent that the story has no time to breathe. Either cut the boat sequence entirely and trim down the plane sequence to fit some more story in or if you want to keep all the action then pad out the dramatic scenes and bring it up to the 120-130 mins mark.
The Mr White interrogation is the perfect example. This is one of the key scenes of the film yet it is sandwiched between one massive action sequence and another and is barely two minutes long. Why can't this scene be explored a bit more?
There's lots of fine moments in the film in terms of character but overall it does have a rather cobbled together feel. If they just slowed everything down a little the whole film would benefit immeasurably. I think Forster does a pretty competent job but his whole 'speeding bullet' schtick sounded crap during production and is even more misguided when you look at the finished film. Peter Hunt never needed to have things going at such a pace your eyes couldn't keep up.
QOS is a decent effort but let's not start kidding ourselves that it's great.
I don't find myself wishing much was different, however.
Trim down dreary Skyfall to a good 105 minutes and you have a decent flick that doesn't induce sleep.
There are those films that work at a long running time. LTK, SP, CR, OHMSS.
It's probably right around now you should start regretting saying people can be mean to you.
As for Skyfall being dreary, I don't see it. It's got sad moments, but it's not dreary. It's actually quite proud and hopeful of Bond and his role in Britain's security. The film is a celebration of people like Bond, and makes a case for their existence. I know you don't like giving it credit, but I just don't connect with your words.
It's interesting you're such a Dalton fan, as LTK is way more dreary and brutal than anything in Skyfall, far and away. If someone told me that rape would be openly implied (and viewed with eroticism by the baddie that committed it) in a Bond film, I'd have called them nuts. The beginning of the film is essentially Felix experiencing Bond's greatest personal tragedy from years before, which would be enough, but the violence, abuse, bloodiness and brutality throughout the film and its refusal to shy away from showing the dark world Bond exists in make for a dark, dark adventure.
I love LTK, just saying it's got Skyfall dead to rights (pun intended) in the dark department. In Skyfall Severine and M die, and while I'll give you the former, the latter moment is played more sweet between her and Bond, disarming that bleakness a bit.
I'd argue SP is even more bleak than SF too, and far and away has an uneasy, bleak tone that doesn't let up for a while, which I don't feel with SF. The tragic bombing in Mexico City and its implications on Bond, the bleakness of Lucia's position after Sciarra's death, the brutality of Hinx in the SPECTRE meeting, and all the moments of absolute sadism expressed by Blofeld and his drone-like agents throughout that make Silva and his boys look like amateurs in comparison all create a very gloomy and moody film.
You know, while I was writing this post, I started thinking of each Craig Bond film in terms of journeys you'd take by car down a road, and I think explaining them in this way makes for some interesting metaphors. Entertain me for a moment:
If Casino Royale is a journey by car, it's the film that sees you drive by a lot of fantastic locations and see some beautiful sights that make the familiar feel absolutely fresh to your eyes, and you drive past them at a speed that allows you to savor it all, taking the chance at certain moments to let your hair down and ignore the written law to speed and enjoy the ride more than you had in years. It's a journey you weren't sure about taking at the start, but by the end of it you're beyond happy you risked it and took to the road to experience it.
Quantum of Solace is a journey past equally beautiful territory, but instead of going at a leisurely pace, sometimes you hit the gas for the hell of it, and go 0 to 80 mph down the straight stretch, often letting the windows roll down to feel the whipping wind rush against your face as you race on. You may get a speeding ticket or two along this journey, but the fun you have being devil may care with the rules that your other peers almost slave over to follow reinvigorate you, and though your journey seems to end only seconds after it begins, it's one you're glad you took.
Skyfall is a journey back to your childhood home and place of origin. You drive on at a fast enough pace at the start to keep things lively and interesting, blocking out the signs of the familiar that you see at times, but as the journey goes on you see more and more of your past and slow down to ruminate on what places and people from your memories made you who you are in that moment. Once in a while you even see landmarks from your past that feel special to you and conjure up happy memories that make you pause in place to savor them for a moment before continuing on again. Your journey ends with you looking back at the town you passed and choosing to move on, saying goodbye to your past, but not forgetting it.
Spectre is a journey down a familiar stretch of road, but this time it's pitch black out and everything you see has a certain ominous quality to it. You take moments to race down the road just as much as you take pause, such that your stopping and slowing feels consistent and even. But even still, for the entire journey you feel like you're being watched, and the sound of your tires on the surface of the road gives you chills and bothers you more than they would before. While driving along you're confronted by strange memories of people from your past, but like ghosts they are there and then gone, so much so that you wonder what it all means. As you travel on you try to take some new roadways you hadn't been down before amongst all the familiar, but at the end of things exploring that new and strange scenery didn't give you the satisfaction you'd hoped for at the start, and so you divert onto the original road you were traveling at the beginning. After seeing a few more signs of the familiar you spot dawn arriving on the horizon, and, with a little bravery, you proceed by driving off in a direction you never have before, not really sure about where the end of your journey will see you heading next, though you're not unhappy about the change.
Surely SP is akin to driving off a cliff isn't it?
He obviously does not care about the money. If they don't make a move quick within the next year then he will slip away.. I really do see him doing one more film.
+1
BTW: Who decides on such things like the editing? Is this a decision made by the director ?
Yes... with the final edit of 99% of all films, the director has heavy involvement.. he'll be sitting next to the editor telling him "trim this" or "extend that scene", "i want music here, not there." ..etc.. Directors are control freaks (i should know).. they control the actors, the shot, the music and the edit - now, with music and edits - they may not be the ones doing them themselves, but they're heavily involved in the process.. a composer may have certain cues that he has come up with - but the director always has final say on what he likes, doesn't like, and how it's used in the film.... again, same with editing - the editor may offer suggestions on how to edit a scene, but it's the director's choice....... in a nutshell - it can be a collaborative process, but the director always always has final say.............................. unless there is some sort of power struggle between studio, producers, and the directors - in which, often times, a director could get let go, or walk off a project, and someone else comes in to finish it.
Then I still find Forster's decision to do it the way he did in QoS very strange. To me, it never has or had a "Wow-Effect" but instead it made and makes me angry I can't follow the action at all. Do you think it was "just" an attempt to look more energetic than Bourne ?! I don't get it - the Bourne movies are edited in quite fast but at least I could still follow what't going on ...
Just watched QoS the past evening and there are such excellent scenes in this movie (Mr. White and M, Mathis' death, the opera, Greene's party ...) I always get angry because I don't see a damn thing during the action. It's a shame those awesome locations are partially wasted due to this .. IMHO. Still I like QoS a lot better that SP - I tend to stop the latter one right after the L'americain scenes ...
.. even though it can be a shaky cam mess, i still love the look of QOS.. i love the opening car chase, the foot chase that follows, the entire Tosca scene, and even the ending action piece at the desert hotel, and Bond tracking down Yusef at the end... all excellent.
Fully agree on your (quoted) statement - the movie looks just fantastic and I think Craig also looks really fit in here - even more than in CR. Having a recut version of QoS which would bring down the editing to a level shown in CR (which is "dynamic" but not insane like in QoS) would be a very welcome thing.
Wonderful post.
The difference between SF and LTK is that SF is only dreary and dark while LTK mixes it perfectly with humour, wit and an actual plot that works, great dialogue and a believable villain.
And of course there is Dalton who would have made Fleming proud.
Yeah, LTK is a great Bond flick. I like SF but the former is the superior film. I'm not sure if I would go so far as to say Fleming would have been proud of Dalton. I love Dalton and I feel that Fleming would have been relatively pleased with him but he might have said that Dalton lacked a bit of charm and could have been more at ease with the humor. He was a bit stiff with these two aspects.