What is your attitude to B23?

"Bring it on!!! Even less-than-great Bond is still the hi-lite of the cinema year!"

I don't know about that. In terms of Hollywood blockbusters, I'm looking more forward to The Dark Knight Rises (love the Nolan Bat flicks) what with post Cubby Eon's lousy track record.

On the 25th of this month I achieved my goal of going one year without watching a single Bond film. Now, I'm going to watch them all in reverse chronological order this time. I'll probably do the same with the Rocky films.

Bounine wrote:

Louis Armstrong wrote:

Bounine wrote:

It's not like OHMSS is lacking action either. I certainly think it has enough to satisfy today's audiences.

I think getting rid of David Arnold would go a long way towards making the new films feel less like generic American action flicks.

Yes, that's a very good point but there's no denying the fact that these films also have way too much action now. Bond was always about alot more than this.

That's true actually. One thing that was great about CR was the stuntwork being good again. The parkour was the most iconic Bond action piece in a long while. The Miami sequence fared a little worse, featuring impressive stuntwork but seeming almost like an excerpt from an episode of 24 because of its aesthetics. The sinking house was a unique concept, but added nothing to the story (unlike the other two major pieces) and could've used a good storyboarding. It seems as though the big pieces in CR just got worse as they went. At least the mano-a-mano bits were finally Young/Hunt quality again.

I don't mind big action, so long as it serves the story and is enjoyable on its own terms. Unfortunately with QoS, they went back to the Brosnan-film standard of inserting action just for the sake of it. There are a few things CR got right that hadn't been right in a long time, for example, when was the last time we saw Bond having dinner or spending a good amount of time gambling? Those are some aspects of CR that I think EON would do well to carry forth (rather than what they thought made CR popular: blood, dirt and chase scenes). It's too bad that those elements only featured because adapting the novel called for them. No recent EON-commissioned script seems all that concerned with relaxation or luxury. I do think the one thing CR proved for the series was that Bond films demand Fleming - always creative, with just the right balance of glamour, romance & sex, with thrilling stories and bizarre, sadistic villains. EON would do well to write more scenes of espionage, too; QoS, with its emphasis on action, strangely had more of this and featured one of the best stretches of intrigue this side of The Living Daylights in the Tosca meeting. Watching CR recently, it only felt like a spy film to me once - when Bond follows Vesper. One glimpse of espionage over 2.5 hrs of Bond isn't enough. I hope Mendes won't stuff Bond 23 with action because he thinks it's expected and will choose instead to make a slow-burner. One can always dream.

Bounine wrote:

"Bring it on!!! Even less-than-great Bond is still the hi-lite of the cinema year!"

I don't know about that. In terms of Hollywood blockbusters, I'm looking more forward to The Dark Knight Rises (love the Nolan Bat flicks) what with post Cubby Eon's lousy track record.

On the 25th of this month I achieved my goal of going one year without watching a single Bond film. Now, I'm going to watch them all in reverse chronological order this time. I'll probably do the same with the Rocky films.

Sure there are lots of other great genre movies out there and I do see most of them ONCE on big screen and buy the blu-ray if they lend to repeat viewing but Bond has a special place.
Bond I watch repeatedly for the rest of my life and several times on inital big screen release (5 should be enough for B23).
Bond is in a category all of its own. Nothing else even remotely compares.
I obsessively watch Bond movies ( all 23 of them). This will never stop. I've been a Bond obsessive since I was 12 years old. There are only two other films that I watch somewhat repeatedly, those being Planet of the Apes (1968) and The Godfather (1972). I will watch these two movies, each maybe once every 18 months to two years minimum. The Bond films though are in constant rotation with roughly two month breaks now and again.

Good luck with the Bondathon. You are due after a long hiatus.

I'm not very excited. I hated the reboot and Craig as Bond. QOS was interesting to see if they would continue the reboot or do a more traditional Bond: but it they continued the reboot and made a shocking movie.

Then there was a break and I thought Craig would be replaced/walk away and the series would be rebooted again and go back to the traditional style. But Craig is back after FOUR years in a movie directed by Sam Mendes. :pale:

Cpt Sir Dominic Flandry wrote:

Hello all. I'm a big Bond fan and - as some people may be aware - aa big fan of Daniel Craig.

I take it this means you're a fan of Craig in everything other than Bond, then? Or maybe just a typo.

Louis Armstrong wrote:

Bounine wrote:

Louis Armstrong wrote:

Bounine wrote:

It's not like OHMSS is lacking action either. I certainly think it has enough to satisfy today's audiences.

I think getting rid of David Arnold would go a long way towards making the new films feel less like generic American action flicks.

Yes, that's a very good point but there's no denying the fact that these films also have way too much action now. Bond was always about alot more than this.

That's true actually. One thing that was great about CR was the stuntwork being good again. The parkour was the most iconic Bond action piece in a long while. The Miami sequence fared a little worse, featuring impressive stuntwork but seeming almost like an excerpt from an episode of 24 because of its aesthetics. The sinking house was a unique concept, but added nothing to the story (unlike the other two major pieces) and could've used a good storyboarding. It seems as though the big pieces in CR just got worse as they went. At least the mano-a-mano bits were finally Young/Hunt quality again.

I don't mind big action, so long as it serves the story and is enjoyable on its own terms. Unfortunately with QoS, they went back to the Brosnan-film standard of inserting action just for the sake of it. There are a few things CR got right that hadn't been right in a long time, for example, when was the last time we saw Bond having dinner or spending a good amount of time gambling? Those are some aspects of CR that I think EON would do well to carry forth (rather than what they thought made CR popular: blood, dirt and chase scenes). It's too bad that those elements only featured because adapting the novel called for them. No recent EON-commissioned script seems all that concerned with relaxation or luxury. I do think the one thing CR proved for the series was that Bond films demand Fleming - always creative, with just the right balance of glamour, romance & sex, with thrilling stories and bizarre, sadistic villains. EON would do well to write more scenes of espionage, too; QoS, with its emphasis on action, strangely had more of this and featured one of the best stretches of intrigue this side of The Living Daylights in the Tosca meeting. Watching CR recently, it only felt like a spy film to me once - when Bond follows Vesper. One glimpse of espionage over 2.5 hrs of Bond isn't enough. I hope Mendes won't stuff Bond 23 with action because he thinks it's expected and will choose instead to make a slow-burner. One can always dream.

Excellent post, Louis!

And I agree wholeheartedly, tiffy--there's just nothing like Bond. Everything else, I can take or leave.

Yes, well said. CR is the only film I like since the Dalton era but it's certainly not without its faults. If nothing else, I'm interested to see if post Cubby Eon can one day actually make a good Bond film that isn't based on a full length Fleming novel like Casino Royale (2006).

"Those are some aspects of CR that I think EON would do well to carry forth (rather than what they thought made CR popular: blood, dirt and chase scenes)."

Do you think they really, truely believe this? Are they that blind? It certainly seems so. Michael G. Wilson's mind seems like it's on very little else.

In terms of Arnold, I wish they'd get rid of him. We need someone with more talent. Someone who can create something unique but also incorporate those traditional Bond elements, implementing them in that of a subtle manner. I don't think Arnold is a true artist. He doesn't feel the films he creates music for as intensely as other composers. Moreover, he tends to just throw in music where it shouldn't be and lacklustre music at that. There are some scenes that would benefit largely from silence. They don't require music. Such scenes would tickle our senses a generous amount more. Having said this, if we just get another film like the last five, excluding CR, then I don't really care if Arnold is involved or not which he will be. Despite the positive comments the moviemakers and actors have made about Bond 23, I won't believe any of it until I see it.

"The Bond films though are in constant rotation with roughly two month breaks now and again."

That used to be the same with me but it had finally got to the point where I wasn't even listening to them having seen them so often. Plus, I'm still yet to own them on DVD. I move around alot and am heading abroad again next year. Once my domicile has changed again I will purchase them. I can't decide whether I should get them on blue ray or not though.

Bounine wrote:

Once my domicile has changed again I will purchase them. I can't decide whether I should get them on blue ray or not though.

Get them on blu-ray. blu-rays are all in the bargain bin now. And even the 9 remaining blu-ray titles that are likely to be released next year coincident with B23 won't take long to find their way to the bargain bin, simply because we Bond fans long ago collected the whole set on dvd, so there is no need to jump all over a new format especially when the ultimate edition dvd's look so good.

Blu-ray players are real cheap and they have the added feature of upscaling your dvd's so that dvd's look way better played on a blu-ray machine too.

You probably know all this anyway. Bond blu-ray though is a real bargain compared to new release blu-ray which is an over-priced rip-off.

I've yet to buy any Bond film on blu-ray besides the 2008 Collector's Edition of Casino Royale which is probably the best Bond title in the format from what I've seen. Never got QOS, the features pale in comparison to CR's. I'm sure a more proper release (perhaps Collector's Edition?) will come out to coincide with B23.

Eventually I'll get the Connery films, OHMSS and maybe Dalton's duo. One thing I was very happy about when renting the blu-ray titles was that the DTS soundtrack was restored to the original sound mixes instead of the horribly botched ones we got with the 2006 UE DVDs. It was a joy to hear THUNDERBALL's sound mix remastered without any significant (read annoying) tinkering.

All of the Bond films will be (re-)released next year on Blu-Ray in a collector's set, as well as the DVDs. Depending on the cover art, I may get them all on Blu-Ray.

"All of the Bond films will be (re-)released next year on Blu-Ray in a collector's set, as well as the DVDs. Depending on the cover art, I may get them all on Blu-Ray."

Will the CR in this box set be the latest version with the deleted scenes in the special features section? The cover art hasn't been much to write home about lately.

"Blu-ray players are real cheap and they have the added feature of upscaling your dvd's so that dvd's look way better played on a blu-ray machine too."

In terms of Blue Ray, I need to get a new laptop and I was hoping to get one that plays Blue Ray just incase I felt like watching a Bond movie on holiday ;) (the Bond films are the only DVD's I would buy on Blue Ray). The problem is that laptops with Blue Ray or atleast the Sony ones are a fair bit more expenisve. Well, I could afford one but I don't believe in paying too much for a laptop on general principle. Does anyone know what the price of the least expenisve Sony or/and Dell laptop is that plays Blue Ray? I probably haven't done as much research as I could have. I like the Sony laptops because alot of them have the numbers at the side of the keyboard aswell just like PC keyboards. I'm keen on getting one of these.

Bounine wrote:

Will the CR in this box set be the latest version with the deleted scenes in the special features section? The cover art hasn't been much to write home about lately.

I couldn't tell you. All I know is that MGM are going to re-release films on Blu-Ray on anniversary years (Much like they did with Gone With The Wind for the 75th anniversary), including a new Bond box set on blu-ray. Not sure about special features or cover art as yet.

Bounine wrote:

In terms of Blue Ray, I need to get a new laptop and I was hoping to get one that plays Blue Ray just incase I felt like watching a Bond movie on holiday ;) (the Bond films are the only DVD's I would buy on Blue Ray). The problem is that laptops with Blue Ray or atleast the Sony ones are a fair bit more expenisve. Well, I could afford one but I don't believe in paying too much for a laptop on general principle. Does anyone know what the price of the least expenisve Sony or/and Dell laptop is that plays Blue Ray? I probably haven't done as much research as I could have. I like the Sony laptops because alot of them have the numbers at the side of the keyboard aswell just like PC keyboards. I'm keen on getting one of these.

I use a Vaio and so far am finding it a lot more convenient than the HP I used to have. To watch TV, Bluray movies, and stuff I download, I just connect the laptop to the TV with an HDMI cable. I got mine last year for $850-900 (CDN) on sale. I don't think the prices have changed that much.

Thanks for the advice.

Out of curisosity, does anyone know what has happened to CBn? Is there site down at the moment? If so, is it permanent or temporary?

Bounine wrote:

does anyone know what has happened to CBn? Is there site down at the moment? If so, is it permanent

Well, if we'd destroyed MI6 Community, the world may not have heard about it for years. ;)

That Mi6 community frustrates me a bit. It seems to take so long to process posts, atleast for me anyway. One doesn't receive topic reply notifications either.

General Gogol, can you hook up a blue ray DVD player to a laptop then watch a Blue Ray movie on the laptop?

Lazenby. wrote:

Bounine wrote:

does anyone know what has happened to CBn? Is there site down at the moment? If so, is it permanent

Well, if we'd destroyed MI6 Community, the world may not have heard about it for years. ;)

As has been said, Craig/Brosnan are told to say all these wonderful things about each movie. It happens everytime and each movie since the Dalton era, excluding CR, has turned out to be pretty much a disaster. I won't believe any of it until I see it. For me though a classic Bond film isn't a very light hearted film (atleast no less dark than FRWL, TLD, OHMSS and CR). I loved the tone of QOS and its level of humour. The dialogue was superior to CR too. CR is a much better film overall though as QOS is merely a non-stop action romp.