SPECTRE Media Reviews Thread

Word is out, and the initial buzz seems be very positive at this point.

http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/spectre-first-review-perhaps-even-better-than-skyfall-a3096316.html

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/21/spectre-review-james-bond-is-back-stylish-camp-and-sexily-pro-snowden?CMP=twt_a-film_b-gdnfilm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/james-bond-spectre/review/

http://www.timeout.com/london/film/spectre

Was just about to come and post something similar. I haven't read all the reviews in their entirety to avoid spoilers, but most have been glowingly positive so far. Only one or two that haven't rated as highly as 4 or 5 stars….

On IMDB, a poster wrote out a line or two to summarise what each review wrote about. One of the less favourable ones said that they've expanded on the James Bond back story too much. This is a little concerning, but with the majority of reviews extremely positive right now, I'm pretty pumped again!

I'm not reading the reviews (only read the Guardian), but it's pretty reassuring so far. Looking back at the SKYFALL review thread, this is playing out nearly identical with the glowing reviews. Let's see how it plays out further.

MI6 tweeted out a spoiler about the gunbarrel as part of their "spoiler-free" thoughts:

Spoiler:

Jack Wade wrote:

MI6 tweeted out a spoiler about the gunbarrel as part of their "spoiler-free" thoughts:

Charming. I'm sure if a Mi6 member complained about this, James Page would tell them to fuck off or benny would delete the post.

And Luds would remind you that you can now upload your own avatar!



http://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/spectre-review-1201622685/

...

Ever since I saw that Newman was returning I've had extremely low expectations for the music, with high expectations for most everything else. That said, with the Bond films, music plays a pretty big role.

Not paying much mind to his other comments, given the overwhelmingly positive reviews that have been pouring in tonight, but I'll put stock in his Newman comments, given that I wasn't big on his Skyfall score to begin with.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Worryingly, the usually reliable blogger The Incredible Suit (Neil Alcock) tweeted that it's worse than QoS.

"This is official, you can't argue with it: Casino Royale > Skyfall > Quantum Of Solace > Spectre"

"It's a perfectly serviceable Brosnan-era Bond film, and is by no means terrible, but I expected much more from this team. So much more."

"And I am beyond furious with Thomas Newman, whose score is unacceptably lazy. John Barry would be ashamed."

"Sorry to bang on but I can't stress how much of Spectre was ruined for me by the score. Roughly half of it lifted from Skyfall. BAD THOMAS."

https://twitter.com/IncredibleSuit

Well he does place CR above SF, so maybe his tastes in Bond isn't all that.

Xenia93 wrote:

Ever since I saw that Newman was returning I've had extremely low expectations for the music, with high expectations for most everything else. That said, with the Bond films, music plays a pretty big role.

Exactly… Time will tell...

I found Newman's work on SKYFALL to be pretty average, if not largely forgettable. From the two tracks I heard in the other thread, it seems like his work on SPECTRE is more of the same. It really is a shame how far the music in this series has fallen in the last 20 years, especially given that this same series is responsible for some of the most iconic film music ever.

Anyway...I'm glad that the reviews are mostly positive. I truly am excited to see it. Although, I did read a review from Yahoo (I think?) that mentioned something along the lines of SPECTRE only aiming to meet the expectations and cliches of older Bond movies about SPECTRE/Blofeld, and not attempting to exceed or reinvent them. That was a bit disappointing to hear, although not totally unexpected. It also sounds as if this film makes a lot of the same mistakes made by CASINO and SKYFALL (I won't name them). One can only hope that after this one, EON closes the book on Purvis and Wade...for good, this time. It's been 15 years and 6 films with these guys, it's time to move on.

Well the BBC site is quoting other reviews in a positive way

BBC LINK

Ironically, for myself, it is the two negative ones they list that give me most hope....

Quote :

Other industry papers were less effusive, though, with the Hollywood Reporter saying it "ultimately feels like a lesser film than Skyfall, falling back on cliche and convention."

Screen International, meanwhile, said the film "falls back on the formula to deliver a slightly flat, old-fashioned 007 by the numbers".

As to Neil Alcock, as far as I am concerned anyone who places Casino Royale above Skyfall (or highly in any sense) is probably seeking just more generic Americanised action rather than anything of the style, wit, imagination and raw fun that makes Bond unique. F em!

So this really is a much more traditional kind of Bond film, at least as far as the Craig films have gone.

I feel like I've read too much about the film, but then I realize that I have no idea what the big scheme by the villain is supposed to be, so I suppose there's much to discover for myself on this film. Despite a few likening it to QOS, I'm not seeing the kind of outrage that "stealing water" set off among fandom. SPECTRE, however messy it's supposed to be, could not possibly be as much of a clusterfuck as QOS. That would be too incredible.

lachesis wrote:

Well the BBC site is quoting other reviews in a positive way

BBC LINK

Ironically, for myself, it is the two negative ones they list that give me most hope....

Quote :

Other industry papers were less effusive, though, with the Hollywood Reporter saying it "ultimately feels like a lesser film than Skyfall, falling back on cliche and convention."

Screen International, meanwhile, said the film "falls back on the formula to deliver a slightly flat, old-fashioned 007 by the numbers".

As to Neil Alcock, as far as I am concerned anyone who places Casino Royale above Skyfall (or highly in any sense) is probably seeking just more generic Americanised action rather than anything of the style, wit, imagination and raw fun that makes Bond unique. F em!

I found those negative reviews comforting as well (and I enjoyed the positives also).

I'm feeling some reassurance as the reviews are mostly positive.

Admittedly, the Smith song was a mistake ... but the positivity doesn't really surprise me, I somehow doubted the 'ball would be dropped' to any great extent.

Largo's Shark wrote:

"And I am beyond furious with Thomas Newman, whose score is unacceptably lazy. John Barry would be ashamed."

"Sorry to bang on but I can't stress how much of Spectre was ruined for me by the score. Roughly half of it lifted from Skyfall. BAD THOMAS."

He's full of shit and needs to re-listen to the score.

I feel a lot of fans are exaggerating about the reprising of certain cues from SF. Maybe just having any of those SF feels too much for some. As long as Newman still makes more new material like "Donna Lucia" and "Snow Plane", I'm fine with a portion of the score reprising certain cues, especially since Newman reworks them. Instead of being a total copy of "The Moors", Newman amps up "Westminster Bridge", with THUNDERBALL style muted trumpets.

There's plenty of original music on this album. To say that half of it is ripped off from SKYFALL is absolutely ridiculous and just not true.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Admittedly, the Smith song was a mistake ... but the positivity doesn't really surprise me, I somehow doubted the 'ball would be dropped' to any great extent.  

Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon has politely shat upon Smith's pussy song....and deservedly so. The song is an utter FAILURE on this side of the Atlantic...although my favourite local station spins it every mid-morning.

Now if Daniel Craig would only think before he opens his fucking mouth and lets his opinions be known. Is that too bloody hard to ask? Worst ambassador in the past 25 years. None of the other cast members are doing as much damage as he is.

Honestly think those comments were sarcastic dry humour on Craig's part, but not reported that way for the sake of a clickbait headline. On last night's Graham Norton Show, he said he'd NEVER do a film just for the money.

Why don't you shut the hell up instead of dissing Craig, he doesn't own you nothing and can do whatever he please. Your comments are out of place, you should respect what he is, by all accounts, and all great going guy and excellent Bond actor.

Stamper wrote:

Why don't you shut the hell up instead of dissing Craig, he doesn't own you nothing and can do whatever he please. Your comments are out of place, you should respect what he is, by all accounts, and all great going guy and excellent Bond actor.

Her comments are on a forum dedicated to James Bond. If they're "out of place" here, where exactly would they be in place?

Instead of Bitchcraft shutting the hell up, why don't you do us a favor and shut your fooking pie hole? It's YOUR comments that are out of place; you should respect Bitchcraft for who she is, by all accounts, a great going gal and an excellent forum contributor.

Stamper wrote:

Why don't you shut the hell up instead of dissing Craig, he doesn't own you nothing and can do whatever he please. Your comments are out of place, you should respect what he is, by all accounts, and all great going guy and excellent Bond actor.

Who is this idiot?

You're on my ignore list from now on, pungent retard.