SKYFALL: Is this the best Bond film?

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  • ResurrectionResurrection Kolkata, India
    edited June 2020 Posts: 2,541
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    TripAces wrote: »
    jobo wrote: »
    Yes, they are the classic arguments from those who like to bash Skyfall:

    Skyfall is "serius", so unike with other Bond films anything slightly OTT cannot be tolerated. Skyfall is so "pretentious" so therefore, unlike other Bond films, it deserves to be nitpicked to death.

    Needless to say I think neither are true and I am quite tired of reading it. To me it seems to speak of some deep resentment of the fact that the producers and Mendes deared to seek a personal spin on the story and that so many of the general public, who are not normally into Bond, deared to like it.

    I think it also stems from the fact that an Oscar-winning director of more intimate films, an American composer, and an Oscar-winning villain (though not unheard of) infiltrated the series. There was a certain sub-section of the fanbase that went to the theater looking to hate it. And what truly galls them, now, is that the film was a huge critical and financial success. It won Oscars. It won Newman a Grammy. It got Bardem several best supporting actor noms. It led to Craig winning a Brittania Entertainer of the Year award. And to top it all off, the film won the BAFTA for Best British film.

    Haters will continue to hate. But none of that changes what's in the books.

    Sure, there is no denying it was a critical success.

    Still though, it's not like it won the Palme d'Or.

    Considering it took 92 editions of the Oscars for a foreign movie to finally win Best Picture, I'm not taking anything Oscar-related too seriously.

    It's not just Oscar, SF won many prestigious awards, hardly any critics called it a bad film unlike QOS/SP.
  • Posts: 1,917
    TripAces wrote: »
    jobo wrote: »
    Yes, they are the classic arguments from those who like to bash Skyfall:

    Skyfall is "serius", so unike with other Bond films anything slightly OTT cannot be tolerated. Skyfall is so "pretentious" so therefore, unlike other Bond films, it deserves to be nitpicked to death.

    Needless to say I think neither are true and I am quite tired of reading it. To me it seems to speak of some deep resentment of the fact that the producers and Mendes deared to seek a personal spin on the story and that so many of the general public, who are not normally into Bond, deared to like it.

    I think it also stems from the fact that an Oscar-winning director of more intimate films, an American composer, and an Oscar-winning villain (though not unheard of) infiltrated the series. There was a certain sub-section of the fanbase that went to the theater looking to hate it. And what truly galls them, now, is that the film was a huge critical and financial success. It won Oscars. It won Newman a Grammy. It got Bardem several best supporting actor noms. It led to Craig winning a Brittania Entertainer of the Year award. And to top it all off, the film won the BAFTA for Best British film.

    Haters will continue to hate. But none of that changes what's in the books.

    Rather sweeping statements about those who disagree on certain aspects of SF opposed to its defenders. I went into SF with high expectations as I do all new Bond films and knowing it had great acclaim likely set them even higher. I was thrilled to have Sam Mendes, whose previous work I'd admired, on board. To say I went in looking to hate is completely false and presumptive.

    I came away with impressions it was probably the best directed and best photographed film of the series and featured the best villain in years. But ultimately I was underwhelmed by the film as a whole. The action was some of the least satisfying; too much Dench M; very reminiscent of TWINE and The Dark Knight among the main factors in my impressions.

    I'd hardly call a fall from hundreds of feet off a bridge "slightly OTT." Crashing a motorcycle through a window at a bazaar is slightly OTT. So fall from a great height actually is a big issue in that context. Jaws is the only character who can get away with that. And some of the explanations above of how it's possible to survive such a fall, which I don't dispute, are similar to those who like to also argue the flying-into-the-plane in the GE teaser is possible. Maybe, but it doesn't mean I buy into it any more.

    I like QoS but am equally outraged by the late-opening parachute that saves Bond and Camille being just as unbelievable as neither come out with so much as a limp. I just think the SF scene could've had a better outcome. Having Bond shot was shock enough and could've sufficed. They could've just and collapse on the train roof and then disappear, leaving it up to the viewer what happened to him or get him to the water in another way. Instead, they went the GE route with having to gone further flying into the plane/falling from a great height.

    Awards are fine, I don't use them as a measuring stick and am glad when the series gets recognized after years of being dismissed. But when Thomas Newman gets honored and John Barry's superior scores that actually stand out in the memory never did it does cause me to pause. And if you value that so much do you also consider Sam Smith's Oscar for SP's title song just as valid as SF? They're both Oscar winners. I remember not being thrilled that Christoph Waltz was cast in SP, not because he's not talented but the guy specializes in playing shady guys and villains, that's too obvious.

    I just find that with the films held in the highest regard it's more interesting to discuss what some of us find less satisfying when it's well argued than pointing out the obvious in saying CGI parasurfing is atrocious and that Brofeld was a horrible idea. SF may have hallmarks of being great, but that doesn't make it untouchable.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    To be honest, no Bond film is untouchable.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    To be honest, no Bond film is untouchable.

    Of course. But this isn't SKYFALL: Is this a perfect film?
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    “Best”, not “perfect”.

    I think FRWL is the best film, but I wouldn’t call it perfect or untouchable.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    edited June 2020 Posts: 7,547
    “Best”, not “perfect”.

    I think FRWL is the best film, but I wouldn’t call it perfect or untouchable.

    Exactly my point. And FRWL is a completely fair choice for best Bond film. I'd be tempted to choose CR myself. Skyfall does have my favourite scene ever in a Bond film, though, the Dead Island.
  • Posts: 1,394
    Theres a crazy guy whos after escaping MI6 custody and coming to kill everybody at the enquiry.How about locking down the building and protecting everyone there as well as M?

    M: '' Nah im going to recite some poetry ''.

    M dies at the end of the movie.Everyone cheers.
  • ResurrectionResurrection Kolkata, India
    Posts: 2,541
    FRWL is indeed best. CR came 2nd or 3rd for me.
  • Posts: 1,394
    Everybody knows that TSWLM is the greatest and will never be topped.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,383
    “Best”, not “perfect”.

    I think FRWL is the best film, but I wouldn’t call it perfect or untouchable.

    Yeah I think there are perfect films, but much as I like Bond films I don't think there are any of those which fall into that category.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    AstonLotus wrote: »
    Everybody knows that TSWLM is the greatest and will never be topped.

    MR immediately topped it.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    edited June 2020 Posts: 4,585
    If a movie is your fave, then it's your fave. There is no debating the matter, from that standpoint. So, the question that heads this thread is unfair. Given there are 24 official Bond films to choose from, that means there are 23 other films, aside from SF, from which to partake and find wonderful. Which film is best is purely subjective, of course.

    Only a handful of Bond fans will say SF is the best. Likewise, only a handful would say it's GF. Or FRWL. Or CR.

    While I am on board with SF being the best of the series, I can see serious validity in DN, FRWL, GF, TB, YOLT, OHMSS, LALD, TSWLM, and CR receiving heavy consideration.

    Back in 2016, @Gustav_Graves did an extensive poll. The results are pretty much in line with what I would expect (LALD being as low as it is being the only true shocker for me):

    ulwawkg.jpg


    https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/16631/bond-polls-2016-the-top-10-james-bond-007-film-ranking-contest-results-winner-on-page-60/p60

  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,207
    Skyfall has some major plot holes and lapses in logic; with that said, it is one of my favorites and is immensely re-watchable.
    I think a script polish, to close the plot holes, by someone like Christopher McQuarrie, could have resulted in the perfect Bond film.

  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    What plot holes?
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    What plot holes?

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  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
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  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,207
    What plot holes?

    Silva knows exactly where and when he and Bond are going to be in order to set off an explosion at the precise moment that a train is passing so that it crashes down on Bond?

    Bond and M go alone to Skyfall knowing that Silva and his minions will follow? Surely bringing reinforcements would have been prudent.
    There’s more but, I’ll have to rewatch it and make notes.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    Those aren’t even plot holes.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    @Talos7, I always figured, with the train, he had the explosion and train on standby for when Bond is in that room (he planned to be kept in isolation, and he planned his escape route, both ahead of time, ostensibly). Remember, he clicks his radio to activate it, it doesn't just happen. If he's such a techno wiz, he reasonably could set up a radio to activate an explosion and power the train forward.

    M specifically tells Bond she doesn't want to bring anyone else, because she doesn't want anyone else to die because of her. "Just us."

    I think Tanner not getting M out of parliament, knowing Silva is on the loose and after her, is illogical and bordering on a plot hole, but it's not quite there. Something really has to take me out of the film for it to be a hole IMO.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    UnimportantMixedAntelopegroundsquirrel-size_restricted.gif

    :)) Someone should make a thread called Skyfall and Plotholes: A Study, begin with the definition of a plot hole, and then go down the list of all the things people claim are plot holes in the film, and try to defend against them.

    I'm not saying there aren't any, but I don't think it's as riddled with them as people think.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,207
    Plot hole, lapse in logic, whatever someone wants to call it, the final quarter of the film is not as tight as it could be.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    UnimportantMixedAntelopegroundsquirrel-size_restricted.gif

    :)) Someone should make a thread called Skyfall and Plotholes: A Study, begin with the definition of a plot hole, and then go down the list of all the things people claim are plot holes in the film, and try to defend against them.

    I'm not saying there aren't any, but I don't think it's as riddled with them as people think.

    Perhaps... Skyfail and Plotholes: A Study? That’s how clever and original these declarations of plot holes seem to be. ;)
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,207
    Semantics....
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    At least the DB5 hasn’t been brought up...

    Oops!
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,207
    At least the DB5 hasn’t been brought up...

    Oops!
    The steering wheel is on the wrong side 😉
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    talos7 wrote: »
    Semantics....

    If they take you out of the story and prevent you from being engaged, that does suck for sure.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,183
    talos7 wrote: »
    At least the DB5 hasn’t been brought up...

    Oops!
    The steering wheel is on the wrong side 😉

    Because it’s not the same car from CR. ;)
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    talos7 wrote: »
    At least the DB5 hasn’t been brought up...

    Oops!
    The steering wheel is on the wrong side 😉

    Because it’s not the same car from CR. ;)

    It’s the car from Goldfinger, his father brought it with him to Scotland when he retired from MI6.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,207
    talos7 wrote: »
    At least the DB5 hasn’t been brought up...

    Oops!
    The steering wheel is on the wrong side 😉

    Because it’s not the same car from CR. ;)

    There you go, a lapse in logic; it absolutely should be the car from CR 😏
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    edited June 2020 Posts: 8,183
    It was provided by Q, likely a vehicle retired after the 60s. Besides, the one in CR didn’t have the gadgets.
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