SKYFALL: Your 3 Favourite Scenes

No 'end credits' answers…

Rewatched this with some friends and family earlier. Thought now would be a good time to do my three favourite scenes in the lead up to SP. It's difficult to narrow down to just three scenes, but will try:

1. Tennyson
Brilliant. The music, the tension, the drama, the performances - one of the most powerful scenes in the franchise. Deeply moving… And then the ensuing shootout feels like an old fashioned good vs bad gun battle with comrades. This, for me, is an example of something that I wasn't expecting in a Bond film, but felt so right when watching it. I'm hoping for a surprise like this in SP - obviously not Fiennes reciting poetry in such a fashion, but something that I'm not expecting and just, well, works.

2. "Waste of good scotch"
Dark and weird - something that could have been lifted straight from Fleming. We know Severine's history too which makes it all the more tragic. It's a great spin on the classic villain duel, but it's not out of place. Silva knows that Bond's not what he once was, which makes it so much more compelling. It's not just Bond's pride that's on the line, it's a life and death situation. And the musical touch is a stroke of genius. Of course, when the camera pans up to reveal the choppers, and the Bond theme that accompanies it helps ease the pain of what we just witnessed.

3. Drinks with Severine
Severine is such a great Bond girl, and the exploration into her tragic back story could almost bleed from Fleming's pages. The actors are on form, the cinematography is gorgeous and Newman provides a good cue. It was this scene that secured a spot for Severine in my top 10 Bond girls.

Pre-title.

Severine's demise and lead up to it.

M's demise.

1. "Waste of good scotch"
As Fieldsman said this is both dark and weird and one of the things that makes this film so close to Fleming's spirit.

2. Tennyson
Again as Fieldsman put it this is one powerful and deeply moving scene. The ensuing shootout is well shot and it's also nice to see the future M in action.

3. The rat speech
It could have come across as a corny movie villain speech but Javier Bardem really brought the creep factor to this film as Silva giving you a feeling you really are watching an unhinged lunatic.

Skyfall is such a rich film it's hard to pick just three favourite scenes, but I'll go with:

1.The word association game at MI6 headquarters.

2.Séverine standing in the shattered office window, her mane blowing in the wind.

3.The Chimera’s approach to Hashima Island, Bond and Séverine held captive on the bow.

Tennyson.

First time I saw Skyfall it packed a wallop. Had been going along with the film feeling more into it (refreshing after the disaster I felt QOS was) and the Tennyson moment sealed it really.

Severine and Bond in the shower.
(though I'd agree with above about her standing in the window, wind blown about or on the Chimera) Here, it's a liberation of sorts. Of sorts as what happens next or that she's not really free but it's tender.

M's passing.
Quick one liner (after M's curt: "What kept you?") and then Judi Dench finally leaving but on a better note than any other director in the Craig films could've done. Imagine if she had been mortally wounded during Gustav Graves' laser attack in DAD (Madsen would've lit a cigarette still. "Bitch is toast") or QOS.

Honourable mentions to the DB5 reveal (both times in the cinema earning a massive cheer and 'cor's' from some quarters), the DB5's destruction (Craig's face and the Bond theme), any moment with Finney and the final scene at M's office. Bond was back.

Erica Ambler wrote:

2.Séverine standing in the shattered office window, her mane blowing in the wind.

I love this shot, too, along with Newman's theme for Severine. Great introduction to the Bond girl. Very mysterious and sexy. I also liked how 007 vanished after she got a glimpse of him.

My other two would be:

2. "There's a storm coming": I enjoyed the scene where Bond and M got out of the vehicle and looked on at The Highlands. Bond's simple line said quite a bit about what we were in for, along with what the two characters were facing. Quiet, simple and effective.

3. "Waste of good scotch": This was a great scene because it showed us that Bond was capable of swallowing his emotions and focusing on the mission. Totally unlike Craig's Bond in the previous films. Then, the scene was concluded with a shoot out and Silva's capture. Tense, exciting scene.


All in all, a fantastic film. Perhaps the most re-watchable Bond film of all.

Tennyson, the Chimera approaching the island, and the DB5 reveal. Honourable mentions go to Macau and Silva wasting scotch.

I think I'll have to pop it in before I see SPECTRE, if I get the chance. The most visually striking film of the series without doubt.

Quote :

Control wrote

2. "There's a storm coming": I enjoyed the scene where Bond and M got out of the vehicle and looked on at The Highlands. Bond's simple line said quite a bit about what we were in for, along with what the two characters were facing. Quiet, simple and effective.

That shot of the Glen, the road stretching ahead and the brooding music sells that moment you mention, Brown.

Sort of wish I could go back and re-visit the film for that very first time in the cinema.

Control wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

2.Séverine standing in the shattered office window, her mane blowing in the wind.

I love this shot, too, along with Newman's theme for Severine. Great introduction to the Bond girl. Very mysterious and sexy. I also liked how 007 vanished after she got a glimpse of him.

My other two would be:

2. "There's a storm coming": I enjoyed the scene where Bond and M got out of the vehicle and looked on at The Highlands. Bond's simple line said quite a bit about what we were in for, along with what the two characters were facing. Quiet, simple and effective.

Agreed about Severine's introduction. Very effective.

I like the 'there's a storm coming scene' mostly for Dench's performance and the beautiful cinematography - the colour palette is gorgeous. I think Craig is actually the weakest link in that scene. It's well written, but Craig doesn't quite sell it, particularly the "you know the whoooollle stor-y" line.

Oh yeah, that line was horrendous. He sounds like a fucking kid. "Da whooole stoooowy" *sucks thumb and poops in nappy.*

PTS
Shanghai skyscraper
Moors/frozen lake

Just the silhouette fight in the skyscraper.

Not anything that precedes it (ruined by music score when it should have only been wind sounds after hole is cut in glass by sniper) or follows.

I hate SF as much as I do CR (and I don't choose that word lightly), feel they did immense damage to the Bond character and to the series while creating a false expectation about what these films are supposed to deliver.

Finished watching GF this afternoon and the immense contrast between that and this was so clear ... it is like the Craig films are mired in just the shock / dark moments, like they live their lives entirely in the mood and moment of the Masterson death, without any of the zeal or fun (and with precious little of the spectacle) that makes up most of a traditional Bond film. And even the technical execution is so uninformed at times. There was a recent link here to a John Barry interview where he discusses collaborating with the sound guy on GF ... I don't think anything of the sort happens this century with Bond, or if it does, then one side must be doing all the winning of arguments, because I don't hear or feel the expert balance being applied.

As much as I found CR to be wholly wrongheaded at pretty much all times, I do think SF is the bigger culprit, because it seems to have totally overwritten Fleming, even while paying limited lip service to some passages. W/O SF, we wouldn't have had to endure what they did to SPECTRE and Blofeld in the followups, which is dramatically disgraceful.