Rate Skyfall (out of ten)

FieldsMan wrote:

Keep TWINE in there :)

TWINE is my favourite Broz film. I'm not sure why. I do like the supporting cast. The Bond girls are both exotic (Marceau) and cheese (Richards), plus action-femme fatale (Cigar-girl). It's scenic, somewhat romanticized and with some top-action pieces; the Thames boat-chase and the battle with the parahawks. Renard is intriguing. So is Zukovsky. Bond has some very ruthless moments. The assault on the caviar-factory is a tad OTT, but that's OK, I have a healthy tolerance for the escapist Bond moments.

Broz puts away his machine-gun for this film too, which is a nice change of pace. Love the title song. Garbage is one of my favourite '90s alt-rock acts. There's enough going on that I can relax and enjoy this film. Marceau's presence gives the film a little extra heft I think. She's a real presence. I'm not going to rave about it, but I do have a soft-spot for it.

btw, I think SF is growing on me. You just have to take it for what it is and stop fretting that's its not LALD. I thought this movie was maybe a little too clever for its own good. I find the M dilemma somewhat contrived and forced but yadda yadda, I do have to admit the movie is quite well done. It actually is a smart little thriller. It ooozes subtext and thematic threads. I really do like the recuring motif of the "old ways are often best". Father Barron in the you-tube review really picks up on this theme. Then there is the patriotic angle that Khanners develops in his essay and the symbolism of the Churchillian bulldog.The humour works well. First time around I thought there was too much, but second viewing it seems more natural and less of an attempt to be clever. Its got people talking. I do hope it wins the Oscar for Best Picture. It's still not what I want in a Bond-film but as an alternative take its damn good, and at least it sets up for a return to a possibly more conventional narrative in the next film.

I'm definitely going to be book a couple more showings, sit back and savour this little quasi-masterpiece for what it is. The Severine character haunts me.Marlohe nails the pathos. She's really good. Silva is utterly deranged but oddly sympathetic, although not so much, that I'm not happy to finally see a knife in his back. Again the old ways come through. A simple knife, as opposed to a piece of high-tech weaponry, ultimately puts down this computing genius.

The death of M, I didn't find terribly interesting. I would have been just as happy to see her hobbled out of the chapel and gracefully retired to her pension. But it's a movie. If they want to milk her death for dramatic effect, fine. We wouldn't have got the bull-dog figurine bequeathment otherwise. She might have hung on to it. The black-box hand-off is a powerful moment. Who knew when we first saw that spoiler-shot several months ago. Craig just looked like he was freezing his ass off standing on a roof.

That's good to know, Tiff. :) I actually really like Christmas Jones. Elektra is in my top 3 Bond girls at the moment, but Christmas has this sassiness that's up there with the best of them. And who cares if a smoking hot babe is playing a nuclear physicist! It's the Bond-o-sphere. And her character is written so much better than the likes of Pam, Jinx, Holly, etc.

FieldsMan wrote:

That's good to know, Tiff. :) I actually really like Christmas Jones. Elektra is in my top 3 Bond girls at the moment, but Christmas has this sassiness that's up there with the best of them. And who cares if a smoking hot babe is playing a nuclear physicist! It's the Bond-o-sphere. And her character is written so much better than the likes of Pam, Jinx, Holly, etc.

I have no issues with Richards in hot pants playing a nuclear physicist. Agreed, its the Bond-o-sphere. She's got a great swish-walk and the " or do you just want a glimmer too" is one of the series best Bond-girl sass moments. I'm not going to say her character's terribly well written but I do like the performance, what she does with the part.

After a second viewing I've settled on a 10. It's a stone-cold classic. OHMSS remains my fav, but SF could possibly check in at #2 and certainly no lower than #9. I'm gratified.

I give SKYFALL a 9/10.

Excellent film, and I only had a few minor problems with it.

I'll write up one of my standard, half-assed reviews soon.

Control wrote:

I'll write up one of my standard, half-assed reviews soon.

Why? You've already written one:

Control wrote:

I give SKYFALL a 9/10.

Excellent film, and I only had a few minor problems with it.

8.5/10 from me.

I'm giving it a 9 for now.

I've now seen SKYFALL three times, and I'm done until it hits Blu-ray in March.

My reactions to the film have been all over the map. I basically loathed it the first time I saw it, yet after a second viewing I thought it was practically a masterpiece. Third time round I'm somewhere in the middle of those two extremes: SKYFALL is far from a dead loss, indeed there are many wonderful things about it.... but it isn't exactly a work of breathtaking brilliance either. And CASINO ROYALE remains by far the best of the Craig outings.

So SKYFALL currently stands as a 7/10 for me.

Loomis wrote:

My reactions to the film have been all over the map. I basically loathed it the first time I saw it, yet after a second viewing I thought it was practically a masterpiece. Third time round I'm somewhere in the middle of those two extremes.

Ha. I had these exact reactions over the course of my first viewing. Early on, the pretitle scene and the early stuff, I was loathing it, realy loathing. The middle Macau, the abandoned island, Bond and Silva, I was thinking "this is practically a masterpiece". By the end, somewhere in the middle.

Lots of awesome parts to it, and awesomely done, but not start-to-finish awesome.

Also 7/10

Oke i deside to give the movie 7/10, but i vote for Quite Good.

free_mo wrote:

Loomis wrote:

My reactions to the film have been all over the map. I basically loathed it the first time I saw it, yet after a second viewing I thought it was practically a masterpiece. Third time round I'm somewhere in the middle of those two extremes.

Ha. I had these exact reactions over the course of my first viewing. Early on, the pretitle scene and the early stuff, I was loathing it, realy loathing. The middle Macau, the abandoned island, Bond and Silva, I was thinking "this is practically a masterpiece". By the end, somewhere in the middle.

Lots of awesome parts to it, and awesomely done, but not start-to-finish awesome.

Also 7/10

I had a similar reaction as well. After a somewhat shaky start right after the title sequence (I thought the PTS was OK, but better than what immediately followed), I was loving the Shanghai and Macau sequences. Then it just began to fall off the rails a bit.

Gave the film a 6/10, which I think is pretty generous.

I liked it better the second time I saw it - then the spoilers that I'd failed to avoid didn't matter any more, and I got a better sense of the pacing, and got to anticipate the scenes I enjoyed the most.

Still, it has not dethroned any of my current top ten (TB, OHMSS, DAF, LALD, TMWTGG, TSWLM. OP, TLD, DAD & CR). Yes the cinematography is impressive, but the gaping hole in the logic of driving all the way to Scotland and making a last stand with almost no defenses is one I find impossible to overlook. I have no sympathy for Silva - he, like Zorin, Trevelyan and Max Largo, was a big child who needed to be put down at the first opportunity. I suspect that in B24 we'll find out that he was an occasional Quantum asset, since he didn't seem to have an agenda of his own apart from waiting 15 years to get his revenge on M.

So, middle-of-the-pack for me, as I think the film has been over-hyped and over-rated from the start. I'm not saying it isn't a good film, but I suspected that there was no way it could live up to all the 'best Bond ever' promotion, and I still think I was right about that.

Loved the reveal that the Aston was still fully-equipped, though - and the return to the old Univex office. Bodes well for B24.

7/10

Quote :

since he didn't seem to have an agenda of his own apart from waiting 15 years to get his revenge on M.

He chooses his own operations. He goes through a small list during his introduction to Bond.

FieldsMan wrote:

Quote :

since he didn't seem to have an agenda of his own apart from waiting 15 years to get his revenge on M.

He chooses his own operations. He goes through a small list during his introduction to Bond.

And given the backstory about the art buyer that was cut, I'd say he was offering his services to the highest bidder as a way of raising capital.

Besides, Bond points out that Silva's plan would have taken years to put into action. And he would have had to have moved very carefully so as to stay off the radar of the world's intelligence services.

95% fantastic, but the 5% that's wrong is a rather crucial 5% for me

If it wasn't for the way the character of M is developed, I would make in a contender for a top 5 spot
Instead it's only a contender for a top 10 spot

But still very enjoyable

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

FieldsMan wrote:

Quote :

since he didn't seem to have an agenda of his own apart from waiting 15 years to get his revenge on M.

He chooses his own operations. He goes through a small list during his introduction to Bond.

And given the backstory about the art buyer that was cut, I'd say he was offering his services to the highest bidder as a way of raising capital.

Besides, Bond points out that Silva's plan would have taken years to put into action. And he would have had to have moved very carefully so as to stay off the radar of the world's intelligence services.

"I can't wait for MI6 to put all their deep-cover agents' identities onto one hard drive, so that I can steal it and start my campaign against M."
(Raoul Silva, 2011)

There's evidently some backstory to that which was either cut out or never written. If it had been in the film, it probably would have been in the scene were Mallory tries to convince M to retire with her dignity intact. All it would have taken is two lines about how MI6 found someone was trying to uncover their agents' identities, but there were never any leads to follow. So they did the one thing they knew would flush that someone out and baited a trap with the identities of all their agents, the idea being to stage Ronson's betrayal and offer up the list for sale. When Patrice came to collect it, he grew suspicious, shot Ronson and took off with the hard drive.

AMC Hornet wrote:

the gaping hole in the logic of driving all the way to Scotland and making a last stand with almost no defenses is one I find impossible to overlook.

AMC Hornet wrote:

"I can't wait for MI6 to put all their deep-cover agents' identities onto one hard drive, so that I can steal it and start my campaign against M."
(Raoul Silva, 2011)

Those are two of the most idiotic logical plot faults in any Bond film.

And there is much more I don't like about the film.

Scotland is probably the most remote part of the UK. You wouldn't want to stage a last ditch battle in London now, would you? As to the minimal defenses, two points. First, if MI6 whistled in the RAF and Royal Navy, it just might have spooked Silva. Second, Bond expected his father's hunting arsenal to be in Skyfall. Alas, it was purchased by a collector from Idaho, "or some such place."

And ultimately M agreed to do it like this because she didn't want anyone else involved in this conflict, and she believed Bond was capable of handling this, once again reinforcing the one man army aspect of Bond.

As much as I was looking forward to seeing Bond with cohorts and stuntmen on trampolines, it would have taken a lot away from this sort of climax. Best to save that for Bond 24.

Python wrote:

And ultimately M agreed to do it like this because she didn't want anyone else involved in this conflict, and she believed Bond was capable of handling this, once again reinforcing the one man army aspect of Bond.

I think there's also an element of surrender as far as M goes. She knows she may be going to her death, but she'd rather risk that fate than see any more casualties.

Bond was also expecting to find an arsenal at Skyfall Lodge.

Harmsway wrote:

Python wrote:

And ultimately M agreed to do it like this because she didn't want anyone else involved in this conflict, and she believed Bond was capable of handling this, once again reinforcing the one man army aspect of Bond.

I think there's also an element of surrender as far as M goes. She knows she may be going to her death, but she'd rather risk that fate than see any more casualties.

AMC Hornet wrote:

I liked it better the second time I saw it - then the spoilers that I'd failed to avoid didn't matter any more, and I got a better sense of the pacing, and got to anticipate the scenes I enjoyed the most.
Still, it has not dethroned any of my current top ten. Yes the cinematography is impressive, but the gaping hole in the logic of driving all the way to Scotland and making a last stand with almost no defenses is one I find impossible to overlook.

I have a theory!
Maybe the reason M agrees to go with Bond to Scotland is out of guilt and remorse about her previous amoral "crimes"?
Silva has been taking out his revenge on MI6 as a way of hurting her, destroying the organisation she has devoted her life to
Then initially he wants to kill her in a very public situation, to further damage MI6 reputation and credibility
By going to Scotland that is all taken away from Silva
MI6 is no longer directly in the firing line
By then she may have become resigned to her fate, or possibly even feel it would be best for all concerned if he did kill her
Or, at least, if Silva is going to kill her, that it should happen somewhere away from the public eye, where there may be some opportunity for MI6 to spin the outcome, because no one will be there to capture it on their phone camera and put it on U Tube

Seve wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

Python wrote:

And ultimately M agreed to do it like this because she didn't want anyone else involved in this conflict, and she believed Bond was capable of handling this, once again reinforcing the one man army aspect of Bond.

I think there's also an element of surrender as far as M goes. She knows she may be going to her death, but she'd rather risk that fate than see any more casualties.

AMC Hornet wrote:

I liked it better the second time I saw it - then the spoilers that I'd failed to avoid didn't matter any more, and I got a better sense of the pacing, and got to anticipate the scenes I enjoyed the most.
Still, it has not dethroned any of my current top ten. Yes the cinematography is impressive, but the gaping hole in the logic of driving all the way to Scotland and making a last stand with almost no defenses is one I find impossible to overlook.

I have a theory!
Maybe the reason M agrees to go with Bond to Scotland is out of guilt and remorse about her previous amoral "crimes"?

I think you're hit the nail on the head. Isn't there a line that corroborates with that?

"Too many people are dying because of me."