Who dislikes SPECTRE but is getting the blu-ray/dvd anyway?

*raises legs*

It comes out Feb 9.

Getting the Best Buy steel book blu-ray. Now I can cuss the film and telly all I like. Fucking shit.

Yeah, I'll get it. Maybe it'll suck less the second time.*

*Blowjobs.

I will, but contrary to what I did with Skyfall, I won't get it on day one.

The Best Buy plasticbook arrived today. "Steel" my ass.

bitchcraft wrote:

*raises legs*

I only buy the Bond films that I can re-watch and enjoy sitting through. This isn't one of them. It's not worth wasting the shelf space.

I will be buying it and hope I can enjoy it more in the comfort of my own home. But not expecting much.

I'll buy it eventually. But I'm really in no rush. Maybe it will fare better on a second viewing, but I'm not counting on it.

I'll get it regardless. Maybe like QOS where I waited until it was quite cheap (I got that in the end for three quid).

I have blu-ray on order..cheap from Chinese based Amazon affiliate.
Saw movie 7 times in theatre.
As a Bond film, I don't much like it. It hasn't grown on me.
I have it ranked a solid #23 in my Bond rankings ahead of QoS.  I had it ranked as high as 20, but had to drop it.
Ultimately, it just rings as too dark a Bond film. Really drags I find from train fight forward.
I don't hate it, but I got to put 22 other films ahead of it.

tiffanywint wrote:

I have blu-ray on order..cheap from Chinese based Amazon affiliate.
Saw movie 7 times in theatre.
As a Bond film, I don't much like it. It hasn't grown on me.
I have it ranked a solid #23 in my Bond rankings ahead of QoS.  I had it ranked as high as 20, but had to drop it.
Ultimately, it just rings as too dark a Bond film. Really drags I find from train fight forward.
I don't hate it, but I got to put 22 other films ahead of it.

Hi Tiff, nice to see you back here.

bitchcraft wrote:

tiffanywint wrote:

I have blu-ray on order..cheap from Chinese based Amazon affiliate.
Saw movie 7 times in theatre.
As a Bond film, I don't much like it. It hasn't grown on me.
I have it ranked a solid #23 in my Bond rankings ahead of QoS.  I had it ranked as high as 20, but had to drop it.
Ultimately, it just rings as too dark a Bond film. Really drags I find from train fight forward.
I don't hate it, but I got to put 22 other films ahead of it.

Hi Tiff, nice to see you back here.

Thanks BC! Likewise! Whoahhh! Avatar jumps right out :)
Nice work!

tiffanywint wrote:

bitchcraft wrote:

tiffanywint wrote:

I have blu-ray on order..cheap from Chinese based Amazon affiliate.
Saw movie 7 times in theatre.
As a Bond film, I don't much like it. It hasn't grown on me.
I have it ranked a solid #23 in my Bond rankings ahead of QoS.  I had it ranked as high as 20, but had to drop it.
Ultimately, it just rings as too dark a Bond film. Really drags I find from train fight forward.
I don't hate it, but I got to put 22 other films ahead of it.

Hi Tiff, nice to see you back here.

Thanks BC! Likewise! Whoahhh! Avatar jumps right out :)
Nice work!

7 viewings in the cinema does come across as quite an endorsement though ^^.

Hey there Tiff!

I had a few quibbles and I do think Skyfall is better, but I still enjoyed the hell out of SPECTRE.

I had the exact opposite reaction to Spectre.  Thoroughly enjoyed it in the theater, bought the Blu-ray, and have been unable to sit through it upon several tries.  I must have been in a very forgiving mood when I saw the film in theaters, as I've never seen such a drop in my opinion of a film from the first viewing to the second.

While I don't rate SP all that highly, what do you find so unforgivable about it?

(Also, haven't seen you around here much, so welcome back!)

7 viewings in theatre can be put down to Bondfandom.That is a new first release record. Previous record would be 5x which was for QoS.
I just keep going back till the movie is gone, knowing big screen return viewings will be scarce, if available at all, down the road.
I am far more critical of both SF and QoS, however SP brings a tedium factor that it's two immediate predecessors don't.
SP drags in parts. It's actually kind of boring, especially everything post the crater lair destruction. All bleak and black after that it seems.
Basically SP's biggest handicap IMO, just like it's predecessor, is that it's a Sam Mendes film. It never had a chance, thanks to the director. Same with QoS. Forster. Arghhh. These drama directors do Bond, not only differently, but also duller, so I got to stack these movies at the bottom of my Bond pile.

Seven is dedication considering the running time. Occurs to me I've only ever seen a Bond film in the cinema more than once and that was Casino Royale and even then, twice. Good going Tiff though.

FieldsMan wrote:

While I don't rate SP all that highly, what do you find so unforgivable about it?

It's just all rather dull. Apart from the opening tracking shot, which is quite good, the rest of the PTS just lacks something. Part of the problem is that awful yellow filter they chose to use, which just sucks any vibrancy out of what should have been a beautifully colorful setting. From there it's just a mixture of dull action (featuring quite possibly the worst car chase in a long time) and some awful storytelling.

The review I posted elsewhere immediately after seeing the film pretty much stated that the biggest positive of the film was Lea Seydoux, and I still feel that way. Her character and performance in the film made me feel like the entire film was worthwhile upon a first viewing (I did go in with low expectations after it got ripped apart by critics and fans alike, as I didn't see the film until a week or so into December), even if I had some gripes. Problem with the film is that the parts of the film, save for a slight moment here or there, leading up to her introduction are so dull that it's hard to even make it to that point.

Hmm though Seydoux does well with what she's given (I particularly like her first scene), the character is all over the place, due to some dodgy writing.

FieldsMan wrote:

Hmm though Seydoux does well with what she's given (I particularly like her first scene), the character is all over the place, due to some dodgy writing.

There's no doubt that her character, as well as most of the others (except for Blofeld, who isn't given enough screen time for much of anything), is a bit all over the place thanks to poor writing. I simply found that the majority of the moments in Spectre that work for me involve her, and I thought that Seydoux's performance was very good, perhaps the biggest case of doing more with less in the franchise.

Both train scenes, the interview at the clinic, the torture sequence, and the scenes at L'Américain were the highlights of an otherwise dull bordering on terrible film, and her performances in those scenes managed to standout, especially when compared against Craig's far too laid-back approach to Bond in this one.

I think you have to have some pity for the poor actresses trying to deliver some sparks opposite a charisma vacuum like Craig. I think the reason I prefer Camille and Dench as his lead females is that in the former instance there is no real attempt to convince me of any deeper personal feelings and in the latter there is the precedence of history and the much, much better relationship with Brosnan to build upon.

I think he's done well enough in that department when the material has been up to par. I believed the Bond/Vesper romance, even if it was a bit truncated in favor of some Brosnan Era action in the first half of the film.

The material he had to work with in Spectre was abysmal, but I found I was at least able, on a first viewing, to believe the romance, but mainly because Seydoux was so good. Craig seemed to be on autopilot throughout Spectre with what I thought was easily his weakest performance as Bond to date.

dalton wrote:

I think he's done well enough in that department when the material has been up to par.  I believed the Bond/Vesper romance, even if it was a bit truncated in favor of some Brosnan Era action in the first half of the film.  

The material he had to work with in Spectre was abysmal, but I found I was at least able, on a first viewing, to believe the romance, but mainly because Seydoux was so good.  Craig seemed to be on autopilot throughout Spectre with what I thought was easily his weakest performance as Bond to date.  

Agreed that he was weak in SPECTRE, but that's also probably just a symptom of the overall troubled production. Craig doesn't seem in his element giving off lame-one-liners like "I was taking some overdue holiday". Craig works best when he's being serious; one of the rare times I laughed in SPECTRE was when Monica Bellucci tells Craig: "Can't you see I'm in mourning?" and he thinks about it then coldly says "No."

The film never really seems to commit to being a throwback to the "classic" Bond films. It borrows elements of LALD, the 60's films, and of course it rips off OHMSS beat for beat. It's like the film tries to have it both ways; it wants to coast off the nostalgia of the earlier Bond's, but never does anything to earn it. Do they even mention what SPECTRE stands for?

Every Blofeld that came before was better, and that includes NSNA. There's just no meat on the bone in this film. Waltz is totally wasted. Like a lot of other films out there these days, SPECTRE is too busy trying to set up BOND25 rather than make a great BOND-24.

So I think we've entered SUPERMAN RETURNS territory...where the creative choices in SPECTRE have boxed the series into a corner it can't get out of without totally rebooting again.

Yeah it's an identity crisis. They wanted to do a more traditional Bond film but they didn't commit to it because they were too ashamed to admit that they were making a Bond film. So the elements are there - sometimes they work, sometimes they don't - but it seems more like they're embarrassed to embrace what made James Bond so popular and endearing to begin with - the elements and a good story at its heart. And it's all the more ironic given the twist that was in a James Bond parody turning up in a James Bond film, after they said they can't introduce Blofeld back in the way that we know him - scar and white cat.

Fucking hell.

On another note, the next James Bond film needs to be just shy of a two-hour running time. Cut all the fluff out and give us a taut action-adventure.