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Comments
That is one change of heart.
I too found the plot a little difficult to get the first time due to incredible fast pace. Especially when Bond goes to Haiti and meets Camille for the first time in the little Ford - then stops her trying to kill him after she sees her photo in the folder - then beats up the guy following them on the bike. The first time I saw it in the theatre, I remember thinking, what the heck is going on?
CR was so much of an old school Bond (in terms of its pacing) that QoS just caught everyone off guard as the immediate follow-up (so short vs. so long, so fast vs. slower, less dialogue vs more dialogue, fast edits vs sweeping slower edits etc. etc.).
The differences were so obvious that I'm sure this is what they were going for. That makes it all the more impressive (in terms of the risk they took with this film).
- David Arnold's best score. I read somewhere that Forster made him score from the script instead of scenes of the film and I think that helped Arnold develop a more atmospheric and thematic soundtrack overall.
- The cinematography, when it isn't in close up, extreme close up, or being edited to within an inch of its life, is gorgeous. One of the best looking Bond films (which is really surprising since the film takes place in numerous locations that are aesthetically unpleasant)
- Giancarlo Giannini, Gemma Arterton, and Daniel Craig. I personally think Craig regresses in the role, but it's of no fault of his own, he gives it 110% even with a (very) weak script. Gemma Arterton is one of the most memorable Bond girls in the series, quite a feat when considering her screen time. Fantastic performance. And Giancarlo Giannini has been written about a lot but I"ll just reiterate how excellent he is in his two films. They should not have killed him off.
- Bond v Slate: It's surprising this fight actually works, but it does. It features the same editing that plagues the rest of the film's action but the difference lies in the concreteness of the shots and the small scale aspect of the fight scene.
That's about it.
Pieces but also some fine atmospheric sequences too.
-Forster uses water as a strong metaphor throughout. It starts with the very opening shot, right over Lake Garda. The chase scene between Bond and Mitchell includes splashes of water; Bond has a boat chase in Haiti; the Bregenz opera house features a "floating stage" right on the water; Bond travels by boat to get to Mathis; and then--in the film's denouement, it SNOWS.
-As mentioned before, Forster's editing and camera angles for the action sequences are good--perhaps TOO cutting edge and artsy. But I sure did love the intercutting of the Tosca scene and the shootout, and the woman's "gasp" in the middle of it. It's terrific film making.
-The score. Two standout tracks: A Night at the Opera and the second part of Camille's Story. The latter is a terrific use of flamenco in one of the more surreal scenes in the bond series: Bond and Camille walking through the desert and catching...a school bus!? I'm reminded of Michael Douglas's similar fate in David Fincher's The Game.
many have mentioned the writer's strike as having an effect on the script, and so the film deserves to be put into that context. Regardless, the one misstep, script or not, is the missed opportunity in the plane, when Bond looks to appear to confide in Camille. But then WHAM....here comes the plane chase. It was too quick, way too quick.
I don't think QoS is as bad as it's biggest detractors say but it's nowhere near as good as it's biggest fans say imo.
People have said that appreciation for it will grow like it did with OHMSS and (to a lesser extent) LTK but I'm not sure that's true, simply because I don't think QoS is anywhere near as good as those.
To me it's a rushed pretentious film with bad editing and a shit theme song and a bunch of pointless irritating characters that tries to cram way too much into it's short runtime and as a result none of these elements really reach their full potential because they're not given enough attention. It's really inchorenent and messy because it tries to do so much, there's a lot going on and not enough time to do it all well, especially since half the run time is taken up by crap badly edited action (which is mostly just chase scene after fucking chase scene). Oh, and the title is awful as well imo. And the gunbarrel is the worst of the series. And the title sequence is crap.
But this is an appreciation thread so I'll end this post on a positive note.
-Daniel Craig is brilliant as Bond.
-The script has some funny lines.
-While he's not on the same level as Silva or even Le Chiffre, I've come to appreciate Greene, he's a nice hateable villain, a really slimy nasty piece of work.
-The opening of the film with the roar of the Aston Martin cut with the gorgeous panning shot of the lake, is fantastic.
-The score is really good. It's memorable but unintrusive and it sounds Bondanian without coming across as a pastiche like say, TND. I really hope Arnold returns at some point.
-The car chase is pretty good, really intense, although the editing does drag it down.
-The cinematography is gorgeous and the whole film is really nice to look at. It's really colourful and stylish.
-Mathis.
-Gemma and Olga are fit and Olga gives a pretty good performance.
-While most of the action is below par, I think the fist fights are, for the most part, very well done. The hotel room fight is great, short but brutal.
Let's not get carried away now.
;)
I liked the old lady! I'd love to taste her homemade tagliatelle with tomato sauce, possibly with some wild boar in it and a glass of Brunello di Montalcino. Yum! I am not sure she belonged in that particular scene though... ;)
=D>
It feels like a very old-school Bond moment (like when Roger Moore nicks the car in A View to a Kill and it's owner says in a very Monty Python-esque French accent: "My car! Oh, my car!")
And for that I love it.
Yes but he was unfair on so many points. Like the old woman bit, which didn't take anything away from the movie or detract from the quality of the chase (which I was not a fan on to begin with). What he said about Greene was mostly wrong too, especially when he complained about the introduction of the character. Was it any different than Goldfinger's, or Kristatos's? Villain walks in, or character walks in on villain.
Goldfinger's intro I'd argue was quite memorable anyway as he was exposed as a cheat.
This is my feeling completely.
At least in FYEO Bond and Kristatos interact fairly early on.
And Greene was introduced as a sociopath.
I actually don't mind that. No and Bond got to interact very late in the movie, and before the final showdown it was basically one conversation. Then that was it. QOS has flaws regarding the villain(s), I think it can be sum up by not making the movie about a committee of villains the way FRWL was (and to a lesser extend TLD and FYEO), nevertheless Greene is introduced fairly early on and is depicted as a snake from very early on. Slippery, devious and sometimes quick to destructive outbursts of anger.
So far.