It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
But hopefully not working on a full house.
;)
PS--I've got SF at No. 2 and SP at No. 12, so I'd say I rate both of them fairly highly.
I'd take SP over CR-QOS-SF as well, that's a no-brainer.
And I'm glad I finally see someone on this forum that likes DAD!
Oh and DAD isn't the worst film of course. Swordfight is thrilling and there are quite a few good scenes. But it definitely suffers from Tamahori's direction.
In this regard, SF is streets ahead of by the numbers" SP. SF was fresher and more invigorating with a better a story (ignoring the obvious "convenience" plot devices and similarities to TDK). It also had superior cinematography/grading, editing/pacing, performances. SP suffered from a hackneyed script (a case of "too many cooks" + familiar tropes). Curious to see what a solo Jez Butterworth might bring however. I do enjoy SP's pre-title sequence (let's choose to ignore that pretentious opening quote), the opening shot is amazing - but it is mostly downhill after this. Some of the humour is nice - particular M/Q banter. Hinx had potential to be an excellent henchman - sadly not fully realised. I can't shake the feeling that Mendes/Craig/Waltz were all a bit bored or perhaps distracted. I also think the marketing of the film (in particular Waltz's blatant denial of playing "that" role and Daniel's comments around the time) didn't help much. Would love to see a real shake-up for Bond 25!
I especially like the second half (believe it or not). The car chase is especially awesome. Graves' Robocop suit might a little to outlandish, but as a whole I find DAD to be a very good blockbuster type of Bond Movie. And to me it's very clearly still a Bond MOVIE (in style), contrary to for instance SF.
I got blasted a couple of years back when I claimed that CR and QOS were not very Bondian, as others countered that they actually were in the style that Fleming described in his novels. Well, now that I've read the novels I still don't agree. Ok, CR's plot is similar to its source novel if you keep in mind that it was made 50 years afterwards. But the style/tone of these Movies (and SF)? is IMO not similar to Fleming at all, which of course DAD isn't either. However, DAD atleast feels like a slice of the cinematic Bond, something Craig's Three first Movies fails at IMO. This is one thing that SP excels at in comparision. And like the other Craig Bonds, it is also a very good Action Movie.
CR and QOS are probably closer to Fleming though than DAD... Bond spinning around in a gadget-laden invisible car being chased by a gadget-laden Jaguar through an ice palace that is collapsing from the laser of an outerspace satellite might be the complete antithesis of Fleming.
CR and QOS are probably closer to Fleming though than DAD... Bond spinning around in a gadget-laden invisible car being chased by a gadget-laden Jaguar through an ice palace that is collapsing from the laser of an outerspace satellite might be the complete antithesis of Fleming.[/quote]
I think neither is close to Fleming. DAD sure is far from "Flemingesque", but antithesis...no. Many of Fleming's novels have a distinct Over The Top Fantasy element to them, so in that regard it atleast isn't the antithesis.
And one complaint I've seen about DAD is that it has too many Bond elements (cinematic Bond, mind you), almost being parodic because of them. That should tell you something about the Movie. Good or bad, DAD (atleast to me) is clearly a Bond Movie.
Ok, then I agree with you, apart from CR being Bondian. Let's agree to disagree about that one. :)
Well you haven't been around when I tried to explain to people why DAD isn't the evil thing they make it out to be.
While I feel that CR somewhat feels like a Bond movie (but in many parts not), QOS simply isn't a Bond movie. Re-name the characters and nobody would even suspect it's Bond.
SF was a one-off. A 50th Anniversary wanna-be artsy melodrama that took itself way too seriously, which is absolutely not Bond at all, if you think of it.
Spectre is a triumph. Period. That's the way the Craig-era should have been since CR.
At least EON gave the Bond back that worked so well for 40 years.
On the other hand you can't blame them for doing SF, it worked and secured the longevity of the franchise.
Not every Bond movie can suit the tastes of everyone.
That's a very reasonable statement!
That sums it up perfectly for me as well. I was disappointed that it was again (after QOS) not a real Bond movie. Even if I could see that it technically is one of the best Bonds.
The cinematography, the sets, the atmosphere are just great. That's why it's not at the bottom of my list.
Well, a screeching fork on a blackboard is better than the abominable Another Way Too Die :))
Skyfall is a classic Bond song. Luckily.
Craig was just bad-ass in QOS which I liked, even if it wasn't Bondesque at all.
Just my opinion, but SP on the other hand isn't an excellent Bond film. It is a predictable one, with elements that are quite typical for the genre and done many times before and better, within the series itself and by competitors. A remixed greatest hits package with a few songs thrown in by the band to show they've not totally lost it, and like these sort of packages, the remixes are decidely subpar in comparison to the original. A tired affair. I very much agree with a poster a while back who suggested SP is Craig's DAD. A 'kitchen sink' Bond.
I get what you're saying. SF is an event movie, that's true.
SP isn't Craig's DAD though, it's Craig's GE or TSWLM, definitely.
To say the very least!
That would be me :)
I really think that SP might be remembered as Craig's bomb in the future, other than QoS (which might receive more favorable views in retrospect).
QOS already looks a bit better than in retrospect. One finds a newfound appreciation for the general chaos and frenetic nature of the action scenes as opposed to a boring car chase, a badly written escape sequence and a boring finale - all things in SP.
Maybe.
I think the Rome car chase is one of the better ones in series history. Beautifully shot, two wonderful automobiles, and I love that flamethrower.
It's brilliant, a masterpiece of cinematography, score, lighting, editing, humour and a ending that couldn't have been done better in the heyday of Brosnan or Moore.
People complaining it doesn't scream "danger" don't get the purpose of it.
Exactly. It's purpose is aesthetic, even artistic, more than it is a heart-palpitating engine of fear.