Sam Mendes - good or bad?

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  • Posts: 1,631
    Well, for me there's nothing to get all that excited about this time. Walking out of the theater after Skyfall was probably the most disappointed I've been by a Bond film upon a first viewing.

    I'm expecting a similar result with Bond 24, even if I do allow for the slightest amount of cautious optimism to creep in at times, which means that Mendes will probably have an easier time pleasing me this time around, as he doesn't have very lofty expectations to surpass this time out.
  • Posts: 6,432
    Will remain open minded until his second Bond movie, not a fan of Skyfall though all concerned were restricted in some way to present a fiftieth anniversary movie and tick alot of boxes.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,161
    I have confidence. Just look at Campbell's work. IMO he delivered two very impressive Bond films with GE and CR, yet they're nothing alike. One hurled the old Bond formula into the 90s with thunder and lightening, the other stripped said formula to its bare essentials, cut those in half and then stripped what was left even more. Yet both films are in my top 5. Granted, Campbell had two different actors to introduce and over a decade to re-energize. Mendes will not be so lucky. But I give him credit. He may yet surprise both our SF fans and our SF critics in a positive way. ;-)
  • Posts: 11,425
    For me the best thing now is not to expect too much. I thought SF was going to blow me away but it was a big turkey as far as I was concerned. This time I'll be lowering the bar, considerably.
  • Posts: 12,526
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    I think Sam Mendes is indeed a clever guy. He'll know better than to deliver the same film twice.

    I tend to agree DD. If locations are to be confirmed he certainly is also spreading his wings travelwise too which i think is a good thing.
  • Posts: 4,622
    We can only hope that Mendes might deliver on the promise of the final scene and that Craig might be content to just settle into doing a regular Bond being Bond film.
    I enjoyed SF as a film on first viewing. It was watchable, but it wasn't anywhere near what I want from a Bond film. I remember saying to the girl (a stranger), who was sitting to my left, when it was over, "I miss Roger Moore," which I actually don't, but I sure enjoyed his Bond films a lot more. She gave me funny look and said she quite enjoyed the film. Not wanting to be curmudgeon, I muttered, "yes quite good" and ceased any further small talk.
  • Posts: 11,425
    Hope your wife/girlfriend wasn't sitting on your right.
  • Posts: 11,189
    timmer wrote: »
    We can only hope that Mendes might deliver on the promise of the final scene and that Craig might be content to just settle into doing a regular Bond being Bond film.
    I enjoyed SF as a film on first viewing. It was watchable, but it wasn't anywhere near what I want from a Bond film. I remember saying to the girl (a stranger), who was sitting to my left, when it was over, "I miss Roger Moore," which I actually don't, but I sure enjoyed his Bond films a lot more. She gave me funny look and said she quite enjoyed the film. Not wanting to be curmudgeon, I muttered, "yes quite good" and ceased any further small talk.

    Ha, I've heard Rog himself praise Skyfall. Sounded like he meant it too.
  • I'm not 100% with Mendes, best bond director will always be Martin Campbell imo.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    Well, I am firmly in the camp that loved Skyfall and still rate it very highly. A great Bond film that didn't disappoint me in any way except the soundatrack a bit. I expect Bond 24 to be different, and I'm happy that Mendes is helming it.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    Well, I am firmly in the camp that loved Skyfall and still rate it very highly. A great Bond film that didn't disappoint me in any way except the soundatrack a bit. I expect Bond 24 to be different, and I'm happy that Mendes is helming it.

    Me too. Sam Mendes? I say good.
  • ShardlakeShardlake Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 4,043
    I'm fine with Mendes, if he hadn't been returning I would still be excited for Bond 24 because unlike some I didn't find Skyfall a huge disappointment.

    It sounds like some felt walking out of the cinema in 2012 that I felt in 1995 after having just viewed Goldeneye, wondering what had happened to my James Bond.

    I just don't have this opinion that the previous entries were as great as some mention. I watched TLD at the weekend, it has it's moments but Dalton and John Barry's swansong are the best thing about it.

    Though it feels like a film that was retrofitted to Dalton while really written for Roger Moore. LTK isn't much better in that it's so uneven. Yes it was tailored to fit Dalton's Bond but it still needs to tick the boxes and the Q sequence and the need to still have gadgets makes nowhere as gritty as Dalton fans like to think it is.

    Casino Royale is what the Dalton era would have loved to have been, it's tone is bang on and SF carried on with that.

    All of Craig's films have been much more even and personally I'd rather watch CR & SF than both the Dalton entries, Tim was a great Bond but he wasn't serviced with great films. Dalton even said he was envious of what Craig was given.
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    i really like Sam Mendes, and i thought his direction on Skyfall was some of the best in the entire franchise.. I was disappointed to hear that Deakins would not be returning, but i trust Mendes will find someone more than capable to handle the job.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,713
    I'm a fan of Mendes, I really liked his gangster film with Hanks and his war movie 'jarhead', and of course SF. So I'm really interested in what he'll do for Bond 24 :)
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    Posts: 3,157
    He's a good director but has a terrible taste in music.
  • Posts: 12,526
    Walecs wrote: »
    He's a good director but has a terrible taste in music.

    It's like listening to the Beatles without earmuffs! ;)
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    Posts: 3,157
    RogueAgent wrote: »
    Walecs wrote: »
    He's a good director but has a terrible taste in music.

    It's like listening to the Beatles without earmuffs! ;)

    Post of the day. :)
  • I like Sam Mendes, I think he could improve when it comes to the fight scenes but I'm pretty happy he's returning.

    I don't like some of the cast and crew he's bought with him though (Thomas Newman and Naomi Harris).
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    As long as we get beautiful exotic locations and decent time spent there enough to garner a sense of atmosphere and better action set pieces and even better visceral fight scenes I'm good. Mendes needs to spend less time trying to be inconspicuously clever and just get on with things. Look at Martin Campbell, arguably one if the best Bond directors of all time but outside if Bobd he's nothing all that special, heck, I don't think he's as artistically gifted as Mendes but when it comes to Bond Martin knows how to direct one hell of a picture. Mendes needs to go all in and give us a the mother of all thrill rides with Bond 24.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,161
    Since Mendes isn't the type of guy who makes sequels, I bet Bond 24 will be unlike SF and that's a good thing. Not that I don't like SF, mind, but I'm always hoping for a unique and different film. I want the old-school Bond formula intact, but original spins and takes on it and clever surprises really can make my day. :-)
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited August 2014 Posts: 12,480
    Exactly. Mendes does not like to repeat himself.
    Therefore, I am hopeful that a lighter tone will be in Bond 24. I am sure he wants to make a very good film. He is coming off such a popular one, he wouldn't want to follow that with anything that could be called sloppy or a complete misfire.
  • RogueAgent wrote: »
    Walecs wrote: »
    He's a good director but has a terrible taste in music.

    It's like listening to the Beatles without earmuffs! ;)

    Hey, I resemble that remark!
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    The good news is, Mendes already stated that he's not interested in making Bond 24 a repeat of SF and I distinctly remember him saying that there were so many things he wishes GE could have changed and done differently for SF to make it better so I guess we'll see.
  • Posts: 7,653
    I have heard nothing bad about Bond 25, the best news from that movie is NO Mendes. ;;)
  • Posts: 12,526
    RogueAgent wrote: »
    Walecs wrote: »
    He's a good director but has a terrible taste in music.

    It's like listening to the Beatles without earmuffs! ;)

    Hey, I resemble that remark!

    It was too hard to not say it! ;)
  • M_BaljeM_Balje Amsterdam, Netherlands
    edited October 2014 Posts: 4,512
    This stay in draft for a long time, before Skyfall be made. 2011. So i deside to at it now and see how right or wrong i whas about Mendes. Also it because he Returns we wil see how it wil match with Bond 24.

    Good:

    He is English. Bond in the first place been Been English, so it be nice to have English directer. With a litle spot Mendes him self said Skyfall be his first movie in England in years.

    I have seen the Peter Morgan interview and i hope the social reality he is talking about is what i think Morgan with it. Suport with what i am a litle bit worried about that Sam Mendes like step a side from the tradional. I also not agree with everthing, for example the picture who showd Malone as asian girl possible be disliked by Morgan.


    Fan of FRWL, Diamonds Are Forever and LALD.
    Work earlier with the same production designer as QOS (highlight of QOS)
    Daniel Craig work earlier with him for Road to Perdition.
    Road to Perdition having some scene's who like simalar to the end of QOS (Who get inspyred by Silvia another movie with DC.) and mabey can give this same thrill as that scene or Inside Man intro. This made QOS very good, small hidden detais.
    Road to Perdition have a Bond scene. Daniel Craig in a Tux hold a gun on a Bond way, like Layer Cake.
    As Executive producer of The Kite Runner (Directed by Marc Forster) he have a litle connection with Marc Forster. What be good for some contune and the connections with QOS and CR.

    Worried:

    Casino Royale and Road to Perdition have a heavy violence scene's. Where CR have toilet scene with to loud music and a very violence stairs fight, Road to Perdition have a
    bloody toilet scene.
    Pro: David Arnold don't return and mabey we can expext now more the thrill of Octopussy/TLD. I expect a lot from India and Turkey.

    Step a side from the tradional, mabey make the movie more dificult then understand. Atleast that is what he did with American Beauty. It be a whyle a go i saw it. FRWL, Diamonds Are Forever and LALD also step a litle bit a side from other Bond movies. Whyle small hidden detais liked with QOS, it also not be should to much or to dificult. Bond movies in the first place also be entertainment.

    Don't know or the guy have humor. I feel he feels a bit dry like Daniel Craig.

    Iam afraid he crossing the line, i have seen it before creative directers cross the line or going over it but vergot respect. If he is creative directer who thinks about or he cross the line then this already be a step forward on those others. Before i said already DC sometimes feels as Steven Spielberg in acting.
  • I've taken to re-educating myself in all things Mendes ahead of Bond 24's filming start date and last night decided to re-watch Jarhead.

    I thought it was pretty great to be honest. For me it did a lot of things right: it's well directed, visually very arresting and the script is sharply written. I liked Mendes's two previous films but both 'American Beauty' and 'Road to Perdition' do have a slightly high-maintenance and ornate feel to them. Jarhead in comparison feels more relaxed and off-the-cuff, a style which suits the reportagè nature of the story.

    Thematically the film isn't quite as busy as Mendes's other pictures and instead the film is littered with a number of entertaining little vignettes occurring throughout it's episodic narrative. I was never bored and the film had me laughing along throughout. 'Jarhead' itself has a lot of interesting themes such as masculinity, frustration and of course turning up for a war that doesn't quite turn up for you. For me the film is ambitious and subversive with the marines all dressed up with nowhere to go. There is a Beckittian sense of longing in all the marines as they desire to all pull their triggers in a non-existent war, well at least for them. There is also a surreal-esque quality to the film that you would expect from a Sam Mendes movie which I really enjoyed and I only hope that the director gets to add more of these in Bond 24.

    Critics at the time seemed to turn against Jarhead as it didn't make a firm stance on America's reappearance in Iraq and many declared the film pointless. I disagree with this and actually think the film's lack of political stance is understandable as the film is told through the marines perspective and they are clearly less concerned with their reasons for being there and more interested in doing their jobs. For me the film is better looked at as a piece of entertainment and in 2005 this may have been frustrating for critics expecting an Oscar-winning director's harsh critique on American foreign policy but I think it has meant the film has aged well. The performances are also first-rate with Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx standing out.

    Furthermore, the cinematography, look and sound of the movie is astonishing. Just look at these amazing stills:

    tumblr_mits1vt71Y1s6munfo6_1280.jpg
    jarhead053.jpg
    jarhead234.jpg
    jarhead268.jpg
  • Posts: 11,425
    I've still not seen Jarhead. Will probably get round to in one day.

    I enjoyed American Beauty but thought Road to Perdition was pretentious and dull (warning signs of what was to come with SF, IMO). But I did enjoy his light little romcom, Away We Go. Seemed to sink without a trace, but I thought it was a nice little movie. Nicely handled humour as well - would love to see some really good vintage, sharp, Bondian humour in B24. SF didn't cut it for me on that front - I actually think the jokes were better in CR and QoS.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    The one thing I really remember about Jar head was the cinematography. It was sublime.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,713
    I agree, I also haven't seen the film in a while but I do remember the cinematography was amazing.
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