CASINO ROYALE: Daniel Craig's best?

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  • edited October 2020 Posts: 3,327


    I love this deleted scene and would have loved if it made its way into the final film...Perhaps change the music cue which is way too dramatic coming out of the torture scene. There's something so humbling about seeing the 'Indestructible James Bond' on a hospital bed and looking like he's a goner. He's a very humanistic element and would have undeniably played into the more 'real' tone of the film. Some brilliant acting on display from Craig as well - really showing the younger Bond's more impulsive behaviour (which mirrors his actions in shooting Mollaka and trying to stab Le Chiffre).

    God....Remember how well written a character Bond was in CR. I only hope NTTD goes back to these halcyon days.

    I do understand why the scene was deleted - in fact, it was 100% the right decision. You already have the shorter scene in the hospital (which is more than enough) and the shot of DC's eyes waking up is more captivating. Plus, the scene that follows with Mathis is basically the EXACT same scene as the one that preceded it. It would have been way too repetitive.

    But I just wish Campbell was indulgent enough to have included it nevertheless....

    Great scene, even though it was deleted. It shows Campbell really nailed Fleming throughout the film. Even in this deleted scene, Bond grabbing for the scissors and then falling and collapsing. Brilliant! Fleming would have been proud.

    CR will be seen as another classic that ranks alongside the likes of FRWL and OHMSS in years to come, and will stand the test of time. Hell, it does so already.

    It also shows how bad both Mendes films are when comparing them to scenes like this, when Bond became briefly Fleming's all-too-believable spy, no matter how outlandish the stunts were in CR.
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,135
    I'm not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but the embassy scene with the guards falling down the stairs like dominoes after Bond has knocked them from the top is a little Mooresque in style.
    It's just bad.
    Film is a top five entry, and could be a masterpiece. Depends how you classify a masterpiece I guess. I think CR is a damn fine Bond film and one I enjoy very much.

  • Benny wrote: »
    I'm not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but the embassy scene with the guards falling down the stairs like dominoes after Bond has knocked them from the top is a little Mooresque in style.
    It's just bad.
    Film is a top five entry, and could be a masterpiece. Depends how you classify a masterpiece I guess. I think CR is a damn fine Bond film and one I enjoy very much.

    Yes, I watched it again for the first time in a couple of years and I noticed little chessy bits like that. Campbell is a bit of a journeyman director. That whole embassy part is a bit naff. However, Casino Royale and Skyfall are still my favourite Bond films.
  • Posts: 1,917

    God....Remember how well written a character Bond was in CR. I only hope NTTD goes back to these halcyon days./quote]

    CR is one of the defining experiences in my Bond fandom. It was so fresh after years of just by-the-numbers adventures, not that those were all bad, but it showed the character could be presented as more than just a wisecracking, martini-swilling, gadget-wielding superman. There are consequences for his chosen profession that affect Bond and those around him.

    It's also why I don't find the broken-down Bond of SF as effective because Craig and the production team did the portrayal so well in CR that whatever followed that attempted that path would feel like a letdown.
  • Posts: 7,418
    Benny wrote: »
    I'm not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but the embassy scene with the guards falling down the stairs like dominoes after Bond has knocked them from the top is a little Mooresque in style.
    It's just bad.
    Film is a top five entry, and could be a masterpiece. Depends how you classify a masterpiece I guess. I think CR is a damn fine Bond film and one I enjoy very much.

    Yes, I watched it again for the first time in a couple of years and I noticed little chessy bits like that. Campbell is a bit of a journeyman director. That whole embassy part is a bit naff. However, Casino Royale and Skyfall are still my favourite Bond films.

    I like the urgency in the embassy sequence, and when the bullets are flying all around him, Craig is effortlessly cool!
  • edited October 2020 Posts: 1,469
    However, Casino Royale and Skyfall are still my favourite Bond films.
    Those are great choices! Perhaps a person could call CR a masterpiece; I refer to it as a classic. Probably the thing that grips me the most about it is the journey it depicts Bond taking in terms of his character arc, starting out as an OO, learning as he goes, his relationship with Vesper, losing her, and taking his mission as far as he can. How does one define a classic or a masterpiece? All I can volunteer, and maybe this it taking the easy way out, is that the other classics I rank higher than CR are FRWL, DN, OHMSS, and TB. I love many other more recent Bond films since those 60s films, but I don't know how many of them I'd call classics; a subject for another day. We'll see what NTTD is like. Then for the Bond film following that, for it to reach classic status, it needs a really good storyline and script, and I think for that EON should get new writers, partly for fresh blood.
  • Posts: 1,917
    I think the CR portrayal of Bond early in his 00 career worked out better than the Maibaum/Wilson proposal for the even younger Bond Begins story proposed for TLD. The very young, out-of-control Bond would've smacked of Tom Cruise's Maverick from Top Gun, following on the heels of that hit and very '80s. Cubby said people don't want to pay to watch Bond as an amateur and in this case he was probably right. Not so much in '06.

    I also can't picture the Robert Brown version of M barking at the rookie Bond. I'm guessing that wouldn't have been a total reboot. Plus we got the chance to see Dalton in action as Bond.
  • Martin Campbell has given a new interview via Zoom discussing Casino Royale. He says all the things you would expect him to say about it being a tougher, grittier and more 'real' take on Bond. Though, he does fall just short of calling Daniel Craig ugly.



    Also, I saw these deleted scenes from Casino Royale on Twitter



    What is Bond doing in this deleted scene in the tuxedo? I think it's a bit of a shame it didn't end up in the film? Looks like a quiet and intense moment before he goes back to the Casino after killing Obanno or it takes place before he goes to the Casino Royale and meets Le Chiffre.....Anyone know?
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    Probably the former. However, if it was intended to be seen before walking to the casino for the first time then it was a wise decision to delete it. Seeing him morosely drinking would have broken the flow between Bond checking himself in the tuxedo and walking to and at the casino with that swagger smile on his face.
  • Looking into Martin Campbell's comments a bit more, I found another email with Variety. Campbell says:
    https://variety.com/2020/film/features/james-bond-no-time-to-die-barbara-broccoli-michael-wilson-1203466601/

    Martin Campbell, the director of “GoldenEye” and “Casino Royale,” says finding the right man to play a fresh version of the legendary superspy involved whittling the final list down to eight candidates. Craig, just off a red-eye from the U.S. set of “The Invasion,” was subjected to a series of screen tests. In one, he read a tense tête-à-tête in an office from “Casino Royale,” while in another he re-created a seduction scene that Connery performed in “From Russia With Love.”

    “To be honest, it took me a little while to see it,” admits Campbell. “Daniel’s acting was terrific, but he wasn’t a pretty-boy. Barbara was adamantly in favor of him.” Campbell won’t say who else was considered, but one insider says Craig beat out the likes of Sam Worthington and Gerard Butler for the part. Despite the pushback, Broccoli knew she made the right call.


    I think Campbell had an image in his mind of Bond as the 'tall, dark and handsome' stranger. Hence why he swayed more to pretty-boy types like Brosnan and Cavill. Barbara also has some interesting comments about Daniel's casting.

    “He brought flesh and blood to the character,” she says. “Bond in the novel is a silhouette. Daniel has given him depth and an inner life. We were looking for a 21st-century hero, and that’s what he delivered. He bleeds; he cries; he’s very contemporary.”


    I think Barbara wanted someone more brooding and edgy. I think 'contemporary' is a good word, someone a bit of toughness. Daniel Craig was quite similar to Russell Crowe in this respect.

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  • Posts: 9,846
    Casino Royale is a perfect Bond film I love it.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    Risico007 wrote: »
    Casino Royale is a perfect Bond film I love it.

    Exactly.
  • It's taken 14 years, but Casino Royale has recently supplanted From Russia with Love as my all-time favourite Bond film. Even though it has some warts, it's the ultimate package of what I love most about the series yet resonated far more than the sum of its parts. I think its legacy and status as an iconic milestone in the series will only continue to grow with time.
  • Posts: 1,917
    Looking into Martin Campbell's comments a bit more, I found another email with Variety. Campbell says:
    https://variety.com/2020/film/features/james-bond-no-time-to-die-barbara-broccoli-michael-wilson-1203466601/

    “To be honest, it took me a little while to see it,” admits Campbell. “Daniel’s acting was terrific, but he wasn’t a pretty-boy. Barbara was adamantly in favor of him.” Campbell won’t say who else was considered, but one insider says Craig beat out the likes of Sam Worthington and Gerard Butler for the part. Despite the pushback, Broccoli knew she made the right call.[/i][/b]

    I think Campbell had an image in his mind of Bond as the 'tall, dark and handsome' stranger. Hence why he swayed more to pretty-boy types like Brosnan and Cavill. Barbara also has some interesting comments about Daniel's casting.

    I never like when somebody mentions "an insider." It wouldn't surprise me those two were considered, but Cavill has long been said by numerous people to have been the second choice. Butler wouldn't have been a good choice.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    I’d probably not be into Bond as I am today if Butler were chosen.
  • Posts: 7,507
    BT3366 wrote: »
    Looking into Martin Campbell's comments a bit more, I found another email with Variety. Campbell says:
    https://variety.com/2020/film/features/james-bond-no-time-to-die-barbara-broccoli-michael-wilson-1203466601/

    “To be honest, it took me a little while to see it,” admits Campbell. “Daniel’s acting was terrific, but he wasn’t a pretty-boy. Barbara was adamantly in favor of him.” Campbell won’t say who else was considered, but one insider says Craig beat out the likes of Sam Worthington and Gerard Butler for the part. Despite the pushback, Broccoli knew she made the right call.[/i][/b]

    I think Campbell had an image in his mind of Bond as the 'tall, dark and handsome' stranger. Hence why he swayed more to pretty-boy types like Brosnan and Cavill. Barbara also has some interesting comments about Daniel's casting.

    I never like when somebody mentions "an insider." It wouldn't surprise me those two were considered, but Cavill has long been said by numerous people to have been the second choice. Butler wouldn't have been a good choice.

    Neither would Worthington...
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    jobo wrote: »
    BT3366 wrote: »
    Looking into Martin Campbell's comments a bit more, I found another email with Variety. Campbell says:
    https://variety.com/2020/film/features/james-bond-no-time-to-die-barbara-broccoli-michael-wilson-1203466601/

    “To be honest, it took me a little while to see it,” admits Campbell. “Daniel’s acting was terrific, but he wasn’t a pretty-boy. Barbara was adamantly in favor of him.” Campbell won’t say who else was considered, but one insider says Craig beat out the likes of Sam Worthington and Gerard Butler for the part. Despite the pushback, Broccoli knew she made the right call.[/i][/b]

    I think Campbell had an image in his mind of Bond as the 'tall, dark and handsome' stranger. Hence why he swayed more to pretty-boy types like Brosnan and Cavill. Barbara also has some interesting comments about Daniel's casting.

    I never like when somebody mentions "an insider." It wouldn't surprise me those two were considered, but Cavill has long been said by numerous people to have been the second choice. Butler wouldn't have been a good choice.

    Neither would Worthington...

    Worthington is just plain bland. I’m unsure how he became a movie star.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    suavejmf wrote: »
    jobo wrote: »
    BT3366 wrote: »
    Looking into Martin Campbell's comments a bit more, I found another email with Variety. Campbell says:
    https://variety.com/2020/film/features/james-bond-no-time-to-die-barbara-broccoli-michael-wilson-1203466601/

    “To be honest, it took me a little while to see it,” admits Campbell. “Daniel’s acting was terrific, but he wasn’t a pretty-boy. Barbara was adamantly in favor of him.” Campbell won’t say who else was considered, but one insider says Craig beat out the likes of Sam Worthington and Gerard Butler for the part. Despite the pushback, Broccoli knew she made the right call.[/i][/b]

    I think Campbell had an image in his mind of Bond as the 'tall, dark and handsome' stranger. Hence why he swayed more to pretty-boy types like Brosnan and Cavill. Barbara also has some interesting comments about Daniel's casting.

    I never like when somebody mentions "an insider." It wouldn't surprise me those two were considered, but Cavill has long been said by numerous people to have been the second choice. Butler wouldn't have been a good choice.

    Neither would Worthington...

    Worthington is just plain bland. I’m unsure how he became a movie star.

    Is he a movie star? I haven't seen him in a movie since Avatar.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    Worthington had that one moment of him being in the sun in 2009 where he was in AVATAR and TERMINATOR SALVATION (which he only got because he was in AVATAR). After that, he’s kind of faded off, with the only big projects being those AVATAR sequels that have been delayed so much it makes NTTD’s delays look modest.
  • edited November 2020 Posts: 7,507
    I find it ironic that Craig was considered not pretty enough, yet Worthington and Butler were considered? I am not an expert in evaluating male prettiness, but none of them strike me as especially pretty, or even prettier than Craig...
  • Junglist_1985Junglist_1985 Los Angeles
    Posts: 1,032
    It's taken 14 years, but Casino Royale has recently supplanted From Russia with Love as my all-time favourite Bond film. Even though it has some warts, it's the ultimate package of what I love most about the series yet resonated far more than the sum of its parts. I think its legacy and status as an iconic milestone in the series will only continue to grow with time.

    Welcome to the club! :)
    I’m quite convinced that CR and FRWL being my #1 and #2 Bond films is a permanently locked feature of my Bond film rankings.
  • I remember being quite emotional when I left the cinema. It felt as if James Bond was well and truly back after the abomination that was Die Another Day. Craig gave such life to the character. Thank God Babs stuck to her guns and got her man.
  • Posts: 7,507
    It's taken 14 years, but Casino Royale has recently supplanted From Russia with Love as my all-time favourite Bond film. Even though it has some warts, it's the ultimate package of what I love most about the series yet resonated far more than the sum of its parts. I think its legacy and status as an iconic milestone in the series will only continue to grow with time.

    Welcome to the club! :)
    I’m quite convinced that CR and FRWL being my #1 and #2 Bond films is a permanently locked feature of my Bond film rankings.

    Agreed. Although I dream at night that NTTD will do something about that :D Don't expect it though...
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    It's taken 14 years, but Casino Royale has recently supplanted From Russia with Love as my all-time favourite Bond film. Even though it has some warts, it's the ultimate package of what I love most about the series yet resonated far more than the sum of its parts. I think its legacy and status as an iconic milestone in the series will only continue to grow with time.

    Welcome to the club! :)
    I’m quite convinced that CR and FRWL being my #1 and #2 Bond films is a permanently locked feature of my Bond film rankings.

    You clearly know what your talking about. Albeit FRWL is my number 1.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    I remember being quite emotional when I left the cinema. It felt as if James Bond was well and truly back after the abomination that was Die Another Day. Craig gave such life to the character. Thank God Babs stuck to her guns and got her man.

    Agreed. CR was the first Bond film I watched at the cinema and walked out thinking....that was perfect. Probably how viewers felt between 62 and 65.
  • Posts: 3,327
    suavejmf wrote: »
    I remember being quite emotional when I left the cinema. It felt as if James Bond was well and truly back after the abomination that was Die Another Day. Craig gave such life to the character. Thank God Babs stuck to her guns and got her man.

    Agreed. CR was the first Bond film I watched at the cinema and walked out thinking....that was perfect. Probably how viewers felt between 62 and 65.

    My first Bond film at the cinema was AVTAK, which was a massive disappointment.

    You can imagine my relief when I went to see the next 2 Dalton films. It felt great to be a Bond fan again.

    And then the dismal 90's brought with it the worst films in the franchise, and I never felt so depressed and angry watching DAD.

    Watching CR, I felt exactly like you did. Elated, optimistic, feeling I had my Bond back again. Story adapted from a Fleming novel, Craig bringing a hard edge that we last saw in LTK, Bond blooded and bruised, and a score by Arnold that felt like I was listening to John Barry.

    What was there not to like? CR is near perfect.
  • @jetsetwilly
    That's exactly how I felt about Die Another Day. Even back when I saw it at the cinema, I remember how shockingly awful the CGI was even for that year. Bond had built its reputation on jaw dropping, real life stunts. I felt really deflated about the series. For me, Casino Royale just completely erased the memory of it. I love Skyfall too. Not so much Quantum Of Solace and SPECTRE. I have a feeling No Time To Die is going to be very special when it's released in 2545.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    edited November 2020 Posts: 5,131
    suavejmf wrote: »
    I remember being quite emotional when I left the cinema. It felt as if James Bond was well and truly back after the abomination that was Die Another Day. Craig gave such life to the character. Thank God Babs stuck to her guns and got her man.

    Agreed. CR was the first Bond film I watched at the cinema and walked out thinking....that was perfect. Probably how viewers felt between 62 and 65.

    My first Bond film at the cinema was AVTAK, which was a massive disappointment.

    You can imagine my relief when I went to see the next 2 Dalton films. It felt great to be a Bond fan again.

    And then the dismal 90's brought with it the worst films in the franchise, and I never felt so depressed and angry watching DAD.

    Watching CR, I felt exactly like you did. Elated, optimistic, feeling I had my Bond back again. Story adapted from a Fleming novel, Craig bringing a hard edge that we last saw in LTK, Bond blooded and bruised, and a score by Arnold that felt like I was listening to John Barry.

    What was there not to like? CR is near perfect.

    I agree with every word of this! Bravo!!

    The Bond first film I watched at the cinema was GE, followed by all the other Brosnan entries. They were all just ok and I wasn’t wowed.

    But CR was the first Bond film I watched at the cinema and walked out thinking....that was perfect.
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247
    Craig+Campbell+Cornell=CASINO ROYALE. It's a C-themed Bond film with uniformity...maybe that's why it's so good. It's easily Craig's best Bond film. And since 2006, I Iisten to YKMN at least thrice daily :)>-
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    Craig+Campbell+Cornell=CASINO ROYALE. It's a C-themed Bond film with uniformity...maybe that's why it's so good. It's easily Craig's best Bond film. And since 2006, I Iisten to YKMN at least thrice daily :)>-

    Lol nice, I like that
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