Rate the Craig Era

With one year to go until Bond 25 is released, I thought it might be good to see what we think of Craig's era from different aspects. I'll start - feel free to add/alter to my options.

Also added a poll just in case there are closeted SP lovers here.  


Film
Skyfall
*dark void*
Quantum of Solace
SPECTRE
Casino Royale

Only Skyfall is a good film here. QOS edges out SP for it's good sense of opting for brevity and being less offensive than SP, and also because it's excused for not having a fleshed out script. For that SP's is unforgivable, in light of all the ignored notes from studio execs (as per leaks). CR is a train wreck.

Girl
Severine
Camille
*dark void*
Vesper/Madeleine

Severine is a top notch character; the tragic 'bird with a wing down'. Sexy, enigmatic and impactful for smaller than usual role. Vesper should have amounted to so much more than a woman who appeared to enjoy psychology at school. Terribly developed relationship with Bond, just like Madeleine's. Awful dialogue too. I guess in theory, Vesper's character is more interesting but that's only because I know the novel, and much of her character is changed for the film. Camille seems a sexier version of Melina, which I like.

Villain
Silva
Greene
Le Chiffre
*dark void*
Waltzenhausfeld

Silva is a classic villain. Not sure if he'd be top 10 for me, but close to. Striking appearance, larger than life persona, terrific backstory. Greene I only really enjoy because of Almaric's performance - which is something I've only come to realise as of late. He was wasted in QOS. Maybe he can come back in a future film, a la Joe Don Baker? Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre is rather vanilla, which is bizarre (not in the benign way) since he personally tortures Bond more than perhaps any other villain. We all know what's wrong with Waltz's villain. Similarly, he was terribly wasted in the role.

Henchman/Secondary Villains
Hinx
Medrano
Mr White
Patrice

There's many faceless men in QOS too, but why mention them? Hinx wins by default. Finally a physical threat to Craig's Hulk Bond. He should have come back after the train sequence for a final showdown at the lair, but obviously good sense didn't prevail in that film. I'm not sure why he was trying to kill Bond when Brofeld wanted to meet Bond face to face. His nail-gimmick was also underused. I always really liked Medrano. Physically imposing and I liked the use of military villains in Bond films. Mr White is decent. Christensen gives more to the character than it deserves. He should win this category just for his derogatory comments regarding Craig's first two movies! Patrice is a good lead but not much else. Cool gun.

Secondary+ Bond girls
Fields
Ocean Club Receptionist
Solange
Lucia
Tonia

Tonia is almost non-existent but proves Craig-Bond isn't asexual. Lucia and Daniel Craig seem more awkward together than Craig and Madeleine. Not big on how Solange was used in CR, but great rack while she's riding. Ocean Club Receptionist somehow manages to look attracted to Craig. Good actress. Fields wins.

Score
QOS
SF
SP
CR

Arnold gives QOS a distinct sound which I really appreciate. Plenty of high quality tracks such as Night At The Opera, Inside Man, Bond in Haiti, Talamone and No Interest in Dominic Greene. I like that either No Good About Goodbye or the Green/Camille motif is weaved throughout. SF and SP have only a few standout tracks but SF edges out for being the first to do what is essentially rehashed in the 2015 film. Over the two films, Tennyson, Shanghai Drive, Bond arrives at the casino, Donna Lucia, Backfire, the Bond theme in the SP PTS are the highlights. CR similar has even fewer tracks to write home about. Solange tickles, City of Lovers is the better of the Vesper theme renditions, Blunt Instrument is good, too. QOS aside, the Craig era has really lost it's sense of vibrancy and have become more clinical, generic sounds. Miami International is hilariously sterile, and Newman's action theme fails to get the blood pumping - why it was brought back for a second film is a mystery.

Theme song
Skyfall
You Know My Name
*dark void*
Another Way to Die/Writing's on the Wall

Titles:
SF
CR
SP
QOS

Toss up between SF and CR really for top spot but the inclusion of girls edge out CR. Both dynamic pieces by Kleinman, even if his Brosnan era efforts are more to my liking. SP I only really love for the Octopus inclusion as well as the ink-haired women whose dancing marries well with the orchestral bridge of the title track. QOS's is ok I suppose, just a little bland - probably more so than even the worst of Binder's.

Might add to later.

Who the shit are Tonia and Lucia?

Film: SF > CR > the entire cosmos > QOS > SP

Villain: Le Chiffre > Silva > Bug Eyed Frenchman  > Brojobfeld

Girl: Severine > all the other birds

Henchman: I dunno, maybe the guy with the machete in CR  - Obama was it?

Score: CR (sue me) > SF > QOS >SP

Theme Song: You Know My Name > A Dell Computer Cwumbles > Ayabadadabadabdabanutherwaytodie > Harpie Peeling Paint Off The Wall

Titles: CR > SF > QOS > going to the source and just watching some hentai > SP

Tonia is the Greek bird from SF, when Bond is "dead". Lucia is the corpse Bond fucked in Rome. Married to Sciarra.

Film
Skyfall (Very Good)
Quantum of Solace (Shaky)
Spectre (Fan Fiction)
Casino Royale (Razzie-tastic)

Girl
Severine (Gorgeous)
Camille (Lovely)
Vesper (Poorly Written)
Madeleine (... who are you again?)

Villain
Silva (Javier-tastic)
Greene (Decent)
Le Chiffre (Not the worst thing about CR)
Hans Oberunder Blofeld (Charles Gray is vindicated)

Henchman/Secondary Villains
Hinx (Underused)
Medrano (He's there at least)
Mr. White (He could have been a contender)
Rest of Forgettable Henchmen/Villains (You at least should have got a Wilhelm scream)

Secondary Bond Girls
Strawberry Fields (The real Bond girl of the Craig era)
Everyone else (You ain't Strawberry so I don't care)

Score
Quantum of Solace (David Arnold still good)
Casino Royale (It's still David Arnold)
Skyfall (Can't say I remember a single thing from it)
Spectre (Or this one either)

Theme Song
You Know My Name (Great)
Skyfall (Great)
Another Way to Die (The videogame version of QOS had a better theme)
Writing's On the Wall (Who's strangling the cat?)

Titles
CR (Best part of the movie)
SF (Great)
SP (Tentacle Porn)
QOS (It's there I guess)

Anyone would think you're my puppet account!

I'll come back to this after I've had a brandy.

Quickly because this reopens the mortal wound that is this period:

As Bond films they are the worst kind of failure in that they are soulless exercises that do not have any connection to either the legacy of what proceeded them or the source materials.

But what makes it even more excruciating is that they are failures as films or engaging narratives. While CR '06 is the film I hate more than any other it is impossible to say that SPECTRE is better. CR '06 does have spurts of impudence and narrative that made many consider it "fresh" or "exciting" however misguided they may have been. But it least it had that whereas SPECTRE has absolutely nothing. It does not move, it does not tell a story, it does not flow, it does not generate excitement or interest and is a failure of a motion picture as great as I have ever seen. I was absolutely gobsmacked at just how appallingly bad it was-and I writhed in agony throughout Skyfall.

So just as standalone films it is obvious that CR '06 and SF are the most balanced and polished but are still fundamentally flawed boring nightmares. As messy as it is, I find myself trying to find things to like in QoS even though it itself is criminally bad.


I will defend what others may consider bad till the end. I've defended DAD's title song for years and still do. I will admit when I am wrong, and instead of writing "reviews" construct deeply researched analysis pieces. But the Craig era to me is like waiting in the trenches for the next bombshell to drop.

SPECTRE makes the double taking Moonraker pigeon look like the worlds greatest living actor. It makes Goodnight's bum stupidly hitting the console look like divine inspiration.

FieldsMan wrote:

With one year to go until Bond 25 is released, I thought it might be good to see what we think of Craig's era from different aspects. I'll start - feel free to add/alter to my options.

Also added a poll just in case there are closeted SP lovers here.  


Film
Skyfall
*dark void*
Quantum of Solace
SPECTRE
Casino Royale

Only Skyfall is a good film here. QOS edges out SP for it's good sense of opting for brevity and being less offensive than SP, and also because it's excused for not having a fleshed out script. For that SP's is unforgivable, in light of all the ignored notes from studio execs (as per leaks). CR is a train wreck.

Girl
Severine
Camille
*dark void*
Vesper/Madeleine

Severine is a top notch character; the tragic 'bird with a wing down'. Sexy, enigmatic and impactful for smaller than usual role. Vesper should have amounted to so much more than a woman who appeared to enjoy psychology at school. Terribly developed relationship with Bond, just like Madeleine's. Awful dialogue too. I guess in theory, Vesper's character is more interesting but that's only because I know the novel, and much of her character is changed for the film. Camille seems a sexier version of Melina, which I like.

Villain
Silva
Greene
Le Chiffre
*dark void*
Waltzenhausfeld

Silva is a classic villain. Not sure if he'd be top 10 for me, but close to. Striking appearance, larger than life persona, terrific backstory. Greene I only really enjoy because of Almaric's performance - which is something I've only come to realise as of late. He was wasted in QOS. Maybe he can come back in a future film, a la Joe Don Baker? Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre is rather vanilla, which is bizarre (not in the benign way) since he personally tortures Bond more than perhaps any other villain. We all know what's wrong with Waltz's villain. Similarly, he was terribly wasted in the role.

Henchman/Secondary Villains
Hinx
Medrano
Mr White
Patrice

There's many faceless men in QOS too, but why mention them? Hinx wins by default. Finally a physical threat to Craig's Hulk Bond. He should have come back after the train sequence for a final showdown at the lair, but obviously good sense didn't prevail in that film. I'm not sure why he was trying to kill Bond when Brofeld wanted to meet Bond face to face. His nail-gimmick was also underused. I always really liked Medrano. Physically imposing and I liked the use of military villains in Bond films. Mr White is decent. Christensen gives more to the character than it deserves. He should win this category just for his derogatory comments regarding Craig's first two movies! Patrice is a good lead but not much else. Cool gun.

Secondary+ Bond girls
Fields
Ocean Club Receptionist
Solange
Lucia
Tonia

Tonia is almost non-existent but proves Craig-Bond isn't asexual. Lucia and Daniel Craig seem more awkward together than Craig and Madeleine. Not big on how Solange was used in CR, but great rack while she's riding. Ocean Club Receptionist somehow manages to look attracted to Craig. Good actress. Fields wins.

Score
QOS
SF
SP
CR

Arnold gives QOS a distinct sound which I really appreciate. Plenty of high quality tracks such as Night At The Opera, Inside Man, Bond in Haiti, Talamone and No Interest in Dominic Greene. I like that either No Good About Goodbye or the Green/Camille motif is weaved throughout. SF and SP have only a few standout tracks but SF edges out for being the first to do what is essentially rehashed in the 2015 film. Over the two films, Tennyson, Shanghai Drive, Bond arrives at the casino, Donna Lucia, Backfire, the Bond theme in the SP PTS are the highlights. CR similar has even fewer tracks to write home about. Solange tickles, City of Lovers is the better of the Vesper theme renditions, Blunt Instrument is good, too. QOS aside, the Craig era has really lost it's sense of vibrancy and have become more clinical, generic sounds. Miami International is hilariously sterile, and Newman's action theme fails to get the blood pumping - why it was brought back for a second film is a mystery.

Theme song
Skyfall
You Know My Name
*dark void*
Another Way to Die/Writing's on the Wall

Titles:
SF
CR
SP
QOS

Toss up between SF and CR really for top spot but the inclusion of girls edge out CR. Both dynamic pieces by Kleinman, even if his Brosnan era efforts are more to my liking. SP I only really love for the Octopus inclusion as well as the ink-haired women whose dancing marries well with the orchestral bridge of the title track. QOS's is ok I suppose, just a little bland - probably more so than even the worst of Binder's.

Might add to later.

Production Design
Skyfall
Quantum of Solace
Spectre
Casino Royale

It really was a toss up between SF and QOS for top spot, however I remember that clinical MI6 "update" so it got relegated to second spot. I always really liked the Perla de las Dunas interior as well as the set for the Greene Planet party. Cracker hotel room too. But back to SF, Bond's childhood home is beautifully designed. I really dig the floating casino and Silva's abandoned island. Great return to classic Bond visual flair. Similarly, SP did offer a return to form in terms of set design, but I despise Bond's apartment and the destroyed MI6 interior. It might have jumped up to second spot had we seen more of Blofeld's lair. CR's casino set was good. Everything else seems like it could be from another movie.

Cinematography/Colour Grade
SF
QOS/SP
CR

It's Roger Deakins - not much else needs to be said. It's really a toss up between QOS/SP next. I really hate the piss-stained glow to the Mexican/Moroccan scenes and the snow scenes aren't as welcoming as they have been in the past. But I really like the movement of the camera in SP. QOS it's the complete opposite. I love the colour and vibrancy but the shakiness grates. SF has both the colour and the competent camerawork. CR looks like generic American blockbuster, and not an intimate Euro spy thriller that the novel suggests it should be. I do like the tracking into the alarm at the embassy and the shots around Venice, but you'd be really bad at your job if you made Italy look bad.

Score
Quantum of Solace
Skyfall
Spectre
Casino Royale

So many great tracks in QOS (Inside Man, Bond in Haiti, Dominic and Camille, No Interest in Dominic Greene, Talamone, Field Trip, etc., but a special mention to Night At The Opera). Skyfall wins out of the two Newman efforts due to his laziness on his second film. Shanghai Drive, Modigliani, Komodo Dragon, Severine and Tennyson are gorgeous tracks. Not as found as his action cues, and those that he reused in Spectre. Of that film, I only really like his PTS Bond theme rendition, Donna Lucia and Vauxhall Bridge. Oh and that brief moment when Bond and Hinx drive passed Vatican City. Much like the majority of Spectre, Casino's score is forgettable and clinical. Solange has a nice bit of intrigue - an element missing from Vesper's Theme, which is too sanitised to capture the true complexity and tragic nature of her character (but then, the script missed this also). Aston Montenegro is good. So is Blunt Instrument - it's nice when You Know My Name is intertwined into the score. I quite like City of Lovers, but the best part of that track isn't in the film!

Edit: Just realised I already did the score.

Production Design: SF > QOS > CR > SP

Skyfall shines here, particularly neon-lit Shanghai, Macau's floating casino, and Silva's island.

QOS has a couple nice sets, such as the Austrian opera house.

CR doesn't have all that much in this space, though the Bahamas sets and casino are alright.

Agree with you, Fields, regarding the dreadful looking apartment and MI6 interior. On the former, we're really meant to believe a guy who is anal about his coffee, his alcohol, his meals, his clothes, and even his shaving equipment is really going to be living in a furniture-less drug den? Also, regarding MI6, how are they going to reconcile the fact that the building is literally standing there in real life London?

Cinematography: SF > SP > CR > QOS

Skyfall 'nuff said. Best looking film in the series.

I'll give SP points for trying. Continuous tracking shot in the PTS and Bond paddling past snowy mountains are a highlight.

CR had some nice shots particularly with the chase through the construction site and the crane punch-up.

QOS, shaky camera etc.

CJB wrote:

Also, regarding MI6, how are they going to reconcile the fact that the building is literally standing there in real life London?
.

I have wondered about this. Since the old MI6 office is back, it would be odd to return to the modern one again. Shame because I quite like the design of it (inside and out) and it's an iconic fixture of London architecture. Its inclusion added both a realism and fantasy to the films: that it's the real MI6 building and we are treated to the secretive world beyond the well guarded walls which we aren't privy to.

It would hilarious if we get some kind of "they built it back up to its former glory" line (probably from Tanner). It would be better if the events of SP are completely ignored.

Well, if Q can rebuild the DB5 ...

Bumping this for some of our newer members. And if older members like BI or MP want to have a crack.

Well, briefly ... Skyfall is bloody brilliant, SPECTRE has missteps but I still think it's Craig's second best, CR has a strong first half but its pacing issues are apparent come the second and QOS ... well, it's the best they could do under the circumstances.

Law, I still need to return to this. Next year when I hit the films in the run up to B25. Or next week when I'm in a fruity enough mood.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Well, briefly ... Skyfall is bloody brilliant, SPECTRE has missteps but I still think it's Craig's second best, CR has a strong first half but its pacing issues are apparent come the second and QOS ... well, it's the best they could do under the circumstances.  

I'd say if CR has a stronger half it would be the second half.

Film
SKYFALL
CASINO ROYALE
SPECTRE
QUANTUM OF SOLACE

Girl
Vesper
Madeleine
Camille

Villain
Silva
Le Chiffre
Blofeld
Greene

Henchman/Secondary Villains
Hinx
Mr. White
Medrano
Patrice

Secondary Bond Girls
Severine
Lucia
Strawberry Fields
Solonge

Score
SF - Newman
SP - Newman
QOS - Arnold
CR - Arnold

Theme Song
Skyfall
You Know My Name
The Writing's on the Wall
Another Way to Die (easily my least favorite of the series)

Titles
CR
SF
SP
QOS

hegottheboot wrote:

CR '06 does have spurts of impudence and narrative that made many consider it "fresh" or "exciting" however misguided they may have been.

When you can't understand why anyone has a different opinion from you on CR, you write them off as "misguided".

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Well, briefly ... Skyfall is bloody brilliant, SPECTRE has missteps but I still think it's Craig's second best, CR has a strong first half but its pacing issues are apparent come the second and QOS ... well, it's the best they could do under the circumstances.  

I'd say if CR has a stronger half it would be the second half.

Mmm. It's just that when we get to the poker game, a feeling that the film has 'slowed down' is discernible and the attempts to jazz things up with the likes of the poisoning attempt and the stairwell fight still don't quite dispel it. And then after Bond's pursuit of Vesper, the Aston crash and the torture things slow down again with his recuperating at the clinic and drifting off on holiday with Vesper.

The sinking house action in Venice is maligned in some quarters, but to me it's a welcome adrenaline shot. I'm not saying that the Bonds should be wall-to-wall action at a breakneck pace, but there's a happy medium.

Ha you know me- I won't be one to defend the choices made for Eon's CR, but at least there's something in the second half that feels like it's from a Bond film, with it being obviously based on Fleming's novel, and with less contrived character stuff we see in the first half. Still, best 2 things in the movie comes from the first half: the titles sequence and Solange's riding the horse.

Makeshift Python wrote:

hegottheboot wrote:

CR '06 does have spurts of impudence and narrative that made many consider it "fresh" or "exciting" however misguided they may have been.

When you can't understand why anyone has a different opinion from you on CR, you write them off as "misguided".

Can't speak for HGTB, but I'd say by doing as such, he's being rather diplomatic.

This discussion led to me sticking the CR Blu on yesterday afternoon ... yeah, I still feel the same as I did above. Too much 'meandering' in the second half, 15 minutes or so could be excised IMO.

Personally would prefer those 15 minutes (or preferably more) deducted from the 1st half and used for developing the Bond/Vesper relationship in the second. The emotional crux of the Casino Royale story should be Vesper's betrayal, not Bond "becoming Bond" which is what the first half tries to set up.

To rank the films, I'd as Bond movies:

1. Spectre
2. Quantum of Solace
3. Casino Royale
4. Skyfall

As films in general:

1. Casino Royale
2. Spectre
3. Skyfall
4. Quantum

1. SF--Overall, my second favorite Bond film. Bond's interchange with Severine in the casino is as good as any sequence in all of Bond, if not the best.

2. CR--Overall, my fourth favorite Bond film. The only major liability is some very treacly dialogue between Bond and Vesper during and after Bond's convalescence. The poker game was masterfully done.

3. SP--Overall, my twelfth rated Bond film. Visually, a pretty impressive film, but, much as with TND, it is clear the screenwriters were very short on ideas. TND tried to solve the problem with constant explosions and gunplay; SP tried to solve it by recycling old Bond tropes and ideas.

4. QoS--Overall, my fifteenth rated Bond film. The grimmest, bleakest and most overtly Leftist Bond film is redeemed somewhat by the stuff in Bregenz, Amalric's surprisingly good turn as Dominic Green, and a terrific concluding sequence.

Seems we got some SP love in the house, going by the last two posts. Must say, I'm surprised at your love for CR, PK, being the Fleming aficionado you are.

Glad there's also a bit of love for Amalric's performance. I agree. After Silva, Craig's best Bond villain.

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Must say, I'm surprised at your love for CR, PK, being the Fleming aficionado you are.

Is it? CR is generally regarded pretty highly among Bond circles. Being a fan of Fleming and enjoying the 2006 film are not mutually exclusive. I don't rank it as highly as Khan, but it's certainly creeping about in my top 10.