Last Bond Movie You Watched? 2.0

QUANTUM OF SOLACE

This is only the third time I've ever seen the film. Once in the theater, once on dvd. I just bought it on blu-ray earlier in the week with a $20 Best Buy gift certificate I had.

I am now prepared to move QOS to the bottom of my movie list. For 23 years LICENSE REVOKED has been the film I considered the worst of the bunch. But I now see that QUANTURD OF SOLACE is the truly worst film of all time.

First off, 13 minutes into the film and I was ready to turn it off. Had this not been an alleged "Bond film" I would never have made it past the 19 or 20 minute mark. The action in the first 30 minutes is nearly incomprehensible. It's like Marc Forster gave a camera to Michael J. Fox and told him to shoot footage of all the action sequences. Everything that Forster crams into the first 30 minutes or less could have been drawn out a bit. He doesn't allow the camera to linger on one shot for more than one second; everything is in constant motion. That doesn't make the film feel like it's going any faster; it just makes it feel like it is beyond comprehension.

A lot of money was wasted on the film as well. The action at Toscano was self-indulgent; there was no need for the film to go there, but it did. It added nothing of value to the story, and instead the way Forster edits Bond and Greene's escape from the opera by mixing it up, in, with, and against footage of the play actually unfolding on the stage is nothing less than directorial wanking. It's clear Forster is so in love with himself that he considers it his duty to make the action scenes artistic and fancy, even if they cannot be followed. By the 30 minute mark of the movie the film had already gone through four different action sequences (PTS car chase, foot chase over rooftops and through Sienna, fight scene in Haiti hotel room, boat chase in Haiti harbor) and skipped from Sienna to London, to Haiti and then leaves for Austria. :roll:

The acting isn't bad, but Dominic Greene, while ably played by Almaric, won't go down as even being close to one of the more memorable villains. Quite the opposite, really. Same for Kurylenko. She's mildly attractive; certainly not one of the more pretty, glamorous Bond Girls, but she can act well and she handles the action scenes the same. The problem with both of those characters, though, is that they feel straight out of, well, any other action pic that isn't James Bond. People who complained that this film was a Jason Bourne retread weren't lying. It's not simply some of the action sequences that are Bourne-like; it's the quick cutaways and the breathless pacing of dialogue and characters scenes in between the action scenes that make it feel like something straight out of Bourne.

At least with lesser films like LICENSE REVOKED and THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN it still feels like a Bond movie (to varying degrees). Nothing about QUANTUM feels big and bold; it feels stripped down. It's too introspective, too political...it lays its biases right out there in the open for all to see. It's quite obvious who the true villains of the movie are meant to represent. And the theme of being able to trust Bond is tiresome and redundant. Been there, done that.

This movie, had the action sequences been allowed to breathe and develop, could have hit the 2 hour mark. Unfortunately, the movie is essentially over at the 1:36:00 mark with just a few minutes left to clean up a last minute detail. 90 minute action movies are supposed to be for straight-to-VHS films such as HARD TICKET TO HAWAII or ROBBERS OF THE SACRED MOUNTAIN (Google them) This movie had a ton of locations, lots of money spent, but all of it wasted.

This referring to LTK as Licence Revoked puts me in mind of Georgie's Licence to Bore.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Hehehe, your obsession with Dan's swimwear continues unabated. FWIW as regards the 'how many pairs' question, a screen-worn pair from CR were sold in a Bond charity auction on Oct 5th for £45,000 :o .

That price is insane. How could 6 year old snuggers be worth that much?!

Snuggers update: I was at the show again today. The swimwear exhibit is in the lobby btw and can be viewed for free. You don't have to fork over the $17.00 for the full exhibit. You can check out the swimwear, anytime you pop by for a screening or just to hang around. They have a nice bar at the TIFF too. It's very convenient as I live downtown, a short hop from this temporary Bond oasis.

The swimwear exhibit btw features the blue snuggers, plus Sean's less constrictive and far more sylish blue trunks from TB (replicas). Berry's orange bikini rig from DAD (the real thing!!!) Dalts scuba mask from LTK (the real thing!!) Andress' DN bikini (very authentic looking replica) and the anchor-rig from the boatchase in QoS (the real thing) I found myself mesmerized by the anchor today, as it conjured up images of Craig and Olga in the boat, battling Medrano's men.

Back to the snuggers. They are the real deal! These are genuine CR film-worn trunks. The real thing! :shock: The snuggers and I have now had several moments together. I feel like we are bonding. So just like the original GF DB5s and based on what Blunt says above, it does appear that there is more than one film-used pair of blue-snuggies. On display they do not look quite as tight, but you can see by the shape how they would naturally constrict. The Sean trunks do look much more comfortable. Still the mystery of whether or not these snuggies were also used in SF remains. It would behoove the show to get clear as to whether there is continuity between the CR and SF snuggies. I suspect not though, as the SF wardrobe people may have opted for a 2012 model. I would also like to know how many film-worn CR snuggies actually exist. Nevertheless, I may have to file a formal written request to Head Curator Lindy Hemming to clarify these matters definitively before the show leaves town. Serious Bond fans need to know.

I am making my peace with the snuggers though. Our moments together were somehow ordained I think. As much as these snuggies have haunted my Bond memories, I do recognize them as an iconic symbol of the nu-Bond era. I might even miss them when they are gone, and no longer accessible.

You'll only be free of them once you buy and wear a pair, tiff.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

The action at Toscano was self-indulgent; there was no need for the film to go there, but it did. It added nothing of value to the story, and instead the way Forster edits Bond and Greene's escape from the opera by mixing it up, in, with, and against footage of the play actually unfolding on the stage is nothing less than directorial wanking. It's clear Forster is so in love with himself that he considers it his duty to make the action scenes artistic and fancy, even if they cannot be followed.

I feel your pain Grav! You hit it. QoS is essentially a case of the Bond franchise being turned over to a pair of wackos (Forstwanker and Haggfish) who were given carte blanche to, well, wank all over the brand. We endure.

tiffanywint wrote:

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Hehehe, your obsession with Dan's swimwear continues unabated. FWIW as regards the 'how many pairs' question, a screen-worn pair from CR were sold in a Bond charity auction on Oct 5th for £45,000 :o .

That price is insane. How could 6 year old snuggers be worth that much?!

Snuggers update: I was at the show again today. The swimwear exhibit is in the lobby btw and can be viewed for free. You don't have to fork over the $17.00 for the full exhibit. You can check out the swimwear, anytime you pop by for a screening or just to hang around. They have a nice bar at the TIFF too. It's very convenient as I live downtown, a short hop from this temporary Bond oasis.

The swimwear exhibit btw features the blue snuggers, plus Sean's less constrictive and far more sylish blue trunks from TB (replicas). Berry's orange bikini rig from DAD (the real thing!!!) Dalts scuba mask from LTK (the real thing!!) Andress' DN bikini (very authentic looking replica) and the anchor-rig from the boatchase in QoS (the real thing) I found myself mesmerized by the anchor today, as it conjured up images of Craig and Olga in the boat, battling Medrano's men.

Back to the snuggers. They are the real deal! These are genuine CR film-worn trunks. The real thing! :shock: The snuggers and I have now had several moments together. I feel like we are bonding. So just like the original GF DB5s and based on what Blunt says above, it does appear that there is more than one film-used pair of blue-snuggies. On display they do not look quite as tight, but you can see by the shape how they would naturally constrict. The Sean trunks do look much more comfortable. Still the mystery of whether or not these snuggies were also used in SF remains. It would behoove the show to get clear as to whether there is continuity between the CR and SF snuggies. I suspect not though, as the SF wardrobe people may have opted for a 2012 model. I would also like to know how many film-worn CR snuggies actually exist. Nevertheless, I may have to file a formal written request to Head Curator Lindy Hemming to clarify these matters definitively before the show leaves town. Serious Bond fans need to know.

I am making my peace with the snuggers though. Our moments together were somehow ordained I think. As much as these snuggies have haunted my Bond memories, I do recognize them as an iconic symbol of the nu-Bond era. I might even miss them when they are gone, and no longer accessible.

You do make me chuckle, Tiff.

If I may be so bold ... I think you will actually enjoy Skyfall a great deal. Here's hoping, anyway. :)

Largo's Shark wrote:

You'll only be free of them once you buy and wear a pair, tiff.

I feel you are right. They have cast a spell on me. They have become a part of my life. They greet me, and will continue to do so for another 12 weeks, every time I visit the TIFF. Alas by next summer, I think I will have a replica pair in my wardroble, just in time for the summer swim season. Sigh.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

If I may be so bold ... I think you will actually enjoy Skyfall a great deal. Here's hoping, anyway. :)

I'm sure I will. By all accounts it is obviously very much worth watching. As a Bond-buff, I am drawn to the showings. In fact I have mapped out 3 screenings, which I hope to get to in the first few weeks, along with the TIFF screenings of the old films, but I am still looking forward to big-screen YOLT more.

Skyfall

I did not care for it.

Vesper wrote:

Skyfall

I did not care for it.

:affraid:

That makes you, Salome and Loomis so far I think, might have missed a couple others. Have to wait tll Wednesday for my shot....

I will post a full review later, but oddly I think it is probably most comparable to Die Another Day.

Thunderball on big screen with big sound too:

The ultimate Bond presentation. It was like visiting Bondmania. The theatre was packed. Helps that the showing was at the Tiff (Toronto International Film Festival facility), which attracts their year-round membership and general film cognescenti. I have to admit it's a very comfortable place to watch films in. It's understood that Tiff only shows films that matter in some way. For the next 12 weeks, all the Bond films matter, especially the older films which are getting more showings than the newer.

Guys of all ages sure love what Sean Connery did as Bond. His every quip, sardonic remark, telling expression, double entendre was cheered. The man is pure timeless icon. It was a pleasure to watch, this IMO, best-of-all-the-Bond films, with such an appreciative audience. If the women were cheering too, they were drowned out by the guys. Men were there with their kids too for this matinee showing. Like a 3rd generation, father/son right of passage. Their was even applause at the end, as Bond and Domino were lifted skyward and the closing credits rolled. The faithful had come to pay tribute.

I do think TB was Sean's finest performance as Bond. He was so very much at ease. I think this performance also attests to what a great actor Sir Sean really is. He combines a seemingly effortless performance with panache and authority. His performance is so very natural and convincing, one can forget he is acting. None of the other Bond actors pull off Bond with such a combination of lethal charm and danger. Good actors I think, make it look easy, because they make it look so natural.

I don't think Paluzzi is acting though, when Connery says to her, "I've become accustomed to your face" as they dance ever so tensely at the Kiss Kiss club. I think as a woman, she's genuinely reacting to the line and the brazen Connery charm, even with her character in such a tense situation and determined to kill Bond, or at least get him back under control. Her beaming, pleased expession is that natural. Her expression works fine. It reinforces the Bond mystique.

The big-screen wide-screen format really does show this biggest of all Bond films in a whole new light. It's like seeing the movie for the first time all over again. There is so much to pick-up in the background. For example the stray dog with it's left hind leg raised, as it urinates on the junkanoo parade route, is suddenly very visible. I can't imagine that shot was staged. The dog I'm sure was just there doing it's business.

And the shot of the stag statues, in the pts, foreshadows SF Manor, almost 50 years later.

tiffanywint wrote:

Thunderball on big screen with big sound too:

The ultimate Bond presentation. It was like visiting Bondmania. The theatre was packed. Helps that the showing was at the Tiff (Toronto International Film Festival facility), which attracts their year-round membership and general film cognescenti. I have to admit it's a very comfortable place to watch films in. It's understood that Tiff only shows films that matter in some way. For the next 12 weeks, all the Bond films matter, especially the older films which are getting more showings than the newer.

Guys of all ages sure love what Sean Connery did as Bond. His every quip, sardonic remark, telling expression, double entendre was cheered. The man is pure timeless icon. It was a pleasure to watch, this IMO, best-of-all-the-Bond films, with such an appreciative audience. If the women were cheering too, they were drowned out by the guys. Men were there with their kids too for this matinee showing. Like a 3rd generation, father/son right of passage. Their was even applause at the end, as Bond and Domino were lifted skyward and the closing credits rolled. The faithful had come to pay tribute.

I do think TB was Sean's finest performance as Bond. He was so very much at ease. I think this performance also attests to what a great actor Sir Sean really is. He combines a seemingly effortless performance with panache and authority. His performance is so very natural and convincing, one can forget he is acting. None of the other Bond actors pull off Bond with such a combination of lethal charm and danger. Good actors I think, make it look easy, because they make it look so natural.

I don't think Paluzzi is acting though, when Connery says to her, "I've become accustomed to your face" as they dance ever so tensely at the Kiss Kiss club. I think as a woman, she's genuinely reacting to the line and the brazen Connery charm, even with her character in such a tense situation and determined to kill Bond, or at least get him back under control. Her beaming, pleased expession is that natural. Her expression works fine. It reinforces the Bond mystique.

The big-screen wide-screen format really does show this biggest of all Bond films in a whole new light. It's like seeing the movie for the first time all over again. There is so much to pick-up in the background. For example the stray dog with it's left hind leg raised, as it urinates on the junkanoo parade route, is suddenly very visible. I can't imagine that shot was staged. The dog I'm sure was just there doing it's business.

And the shot of the stag statues, in the pts, foreshadows SF Manor, almost 50 years later.

Sounds like a great time! Hopefully I'll catch a couple in the coming months. Should make for a good date night... especially a film like OHMSS or TLD. How big are those theatres, tiff, compared to the typical cineplex ones?

DIE ANOTHER DAY :4*:

I had to purge the memories of QOS and get that bad taste out of my mouth by watching a real James Bond movie. Movies that used to have big ideas, big concepts, big entrances, willing women, villains with crude deformities or sexual perversions. With DAD we've got it all.

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

DIE ANOTHER DAY :4*:

I had to purge the memories of QOS and get that bad taste out of my mouth by watching a real James Bond movie. Movies that used to have big ideas, big concepts, big entrances, willing women, villains with crude deformities or sexual perversions. With DAD we've got it all.

Ewwww.....

I just watched Roger Moore with the crocs in L&LD...now THERE was some suspense...and real crocodiles too.

Mrs Aural Sects wrote:

Gravity's Silhouette wrote:

DIE ANOTHER DAY :4*:

I had to purge the memories of QOS and get that bad taste out of my mouth by watching a real James Bond movie. Movies that used to have big ideas, big concepts, big entrances, willing women, villains with crude deformities or sexual perversions. With DAD we've got it all.

Ewwww.....

I just watched Roger Moore with the crocs in L&LD...now THERE was some suspense...and real crocodiles too.

watched Bond23 tonight and it had fake Komodo dragons and cgi choppers and that did not bother me at all. The flippant remark after the execution of ******** really pissed me of, just like the rteatment of Mathis in QoB. What the heck are the folks of EON thinking making Bond an insensitive prick even towards people he was close with.

That said it does make Craigs Bond a lot less likable than ever before his reaction towards Mathis & ********* demise. In the case of the new case there is a time and place for him to correct his stance but even Mendes does not chose to do so.

Sadly enough we are stuck with DC for two more movies lets hope they make him more humane less of a thuggish terminator type.

But still Bond23 is an enjoyable 007 outing, will not figure in my top 10 but entertaining nonetheless. And the first one with DC that my missus actually liked. QoB she thinks is a ADHD causing movie and she is probably wrong but I agree on the sntiment behind it.

Licence to Kill

skipped the Bondapalooza ahead with a friend who had tired of DAF. Nonetheless LTK leaves a favourable impression as is the case nowadays. It defies the slings and arrows with impunity. Yes, it has faults but somehow the production problems resulting it being done Florida/Mexico way add to it.
Dalton remains my favourite Bond and excels in what there is and how. Personally, the film feels real. A real villain even if the action relating to him (tilting trucks etc) isn't. Simply, Bond's best mate has been savagely mauled, his wife horrifically seen off and he goes off to sort things out. Dalton said once Bond was the man who rode into town to do just that and so he does here. The action's good, Bouvier leaves a decent effect more so than previous viewings, there's Anthony Zerbe for the ride and at the top Davi. Brilliant towards the end as he grows obsessed with getting Bond no matter what even if it means the loss of his facility (if the Tracy family from Thunderbirds gave up the rescue business and went into the drugmaking) and trucks.
Lupe well, attractive but why like Marina in Stingray couldn't she be mute?
Musically it's so-so. Though the music for when Bond sits on the rock at the end somehow makes the action bittersweet. Bond considering perhaps all that has happened.
Great shame Dalton didn't come back and for the first time I considered, shame Bouvier didn't return.

9/10


Professor Joe Butcher's Bondtelefon-athon

1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. From Russia With Love
3. Licence to Kill (last rating, 9/10. Last position 4th)
4. Dr No
5. Skyfall
6. Thunderball
7. Goldfinger
8. You Only Live Twice

Quote :

shame Bouvier didn't return.

Nah, she's allowed one Bond film, and one Bond film only. She was nothing special in my opinion in terms of character and looks. As far as female agents go, Wai Lin and Camille top the list, Jinx, Pam and Goodhead at the bottom, and Anya, Kissy, Aki and Goodnight are in the middle somewhere.

Casino Royale

I'll try to not be long-winded. I mostly enjoy it. I think it's pretty well polished in terms of how it's shot and edited (digital manipulation aside). As a Bond adventure I think it largely works if you take it on it's own terms. I just don't care for some of the terms. Namely Bond reBourne as a bad boy cat burglar. And as the worst tail man in history. He can break into the flat of the head of British Intelligence, but he can't follow a guy in a crowded airport without being noticed? The anti-shoplifting guy at the grocery store I used to work for was much better at that than this supposedly elite government assassin. You'd think a highly-trained assassin would be good at things like evading security cameras. Ah, and Bond learns his lesson to look out for them. In the Bahamas, he stoops down and ties his shoe, and then looks DIRECTLY INTO THE SECURITY CAMERA. Now the hotel can have a nice, big picture to stick in their security office when they investigate the bizarre incident involing someone posing as a parking attendant and crashing a car.

There I go, being long-winded. But those things have always stuck in my craw. How can he be an assassin if he's no good at sneaking up on people? Why is he promoted to such a senstive postion if his boss doesn't even trust him?

The other thing is the role of Vesper. Just feels undercooked to me in terms of her function in the story and in the way the plot fits together. She should have been more mysterious perhaps. Maybe there should have been something odd about her to Bond. I'm not sure how to diagnose this. But her role could have been sharper, and to me it hurts the film after LeChiffre is dispatched. That's where the film starts to grind it's gears. And it's all wrapped up by M saying, "Well, you've learned your lesson." Surely one of the biggest WTF? lines in the franchise's history as far as I'm concerned.

And the whole thing should have been twenty minutes shorter.

I may seem to be hard on this film, but I expect more of it because it instantly has more promise seeing as it comes from a novel. But I like many things about it. It feels more in line with the pre-Brosnan films. And while the character of Vesper comes off to me as lacking a core, Eva Green makes things watchable.

My favorite element of the film remains Mads Mikkelson as LeChiffre. Splended, I think.

1. GOLDFINGER
2. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
3. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
4. DR. NO
5. THUNDERBALL
6. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
7. OCTOPUSSY
8. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
9. CASINO ROYALE
10. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
11. MOONRAKER
12. GOLDENEYE
13. A VIEW TO A KILL
14. LICENCE TO KILL
15. LIVE AND LET DIE
16. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
17. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
18. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN
19. DIE ANOTHER DAY
20. TOMORROW NEVER DIES
21. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

Say, is Quantum even mentioned in SKYFALL? Just asking. I've tried to find an answer, to no avail.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Say, is Quantum even mentioned in SKYFALL? Just asking. I've tried to find an answer, to no avail.

I have a feeling they aren't, but I would have liked a reference where Bond dismisses them as a possible threat because they disbanded awhile ago, like how Fleming notes SMERSH was deactivated by THUNDERBALL.

Vesper wrote:

I will post a full review later, but oddly I think it is probably most comparable to Die Another Day.

If you are talking about the final hour, that comparison makes sense.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Say, is Quantum even mentioned in SKYFALL? Just asking. I've tried to find an answer, to no avail.

Only as "my organization." The name "Quantum" was invented for QUANTUM OF SOLACE at some point after Paul Haggis had left the project.

Last Bond movies I watched were

Skyfall (brilliant, the best Bond movie so far)
Licence to Kill (not a great film all the way through but it was okay and I really liked Timothy Dalton and looking forward to seeing his other film)
From Russia with love (a bit slow to get going but had classic feel and suspenseful, really good later on in second half)
Dr No (a bit small for a Bond movie but if you remember it was the very first one it's still a good classic film)

Will be watching five more this week then won't have far to go till I've finally seen all of them. :cheers:

Harmsway wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Say, is Quantum even mentioned in SKYFALL? Just asking. I've tried to find an answer, to no avail.

Only as "my organization."

Which character's dialogue are you referring to here, Harms? Are you saying that it's implied that Silva may be a member of Quantum?