14 replies to this topic

[Tarl_Cabot]

I loved it!!

This movie just oozed cool... great atmosphere...it's a georgous looking film;like the old Bond films that made me want to travel. I loved just about everything.They nailed the book completely. Ok, maybe I'd like to see Bond have a few smokes....he looks like he's dying to have a ciggarette in some scenes...I'm sure I'll have alot to bitch about in a few months....There's too much to like to be negative. This is the Bond film I've been waiting for since '89.

So, is it 'too long?' as I've read in about 99% of the reviews? No. The Trailors however made the movie 3 hrs, which is too long. They gotta shorten them. 20 mintutes of stuff I can view on the web is just annoying.Anyway, the movie:

Daniel Craig: James Bond is a a serious, three dimensional character again. Craig puts more personality into the part than any actor has ever been able to.Great script! I'm not saying he's better than Connery(or Dalton) but he brought alot to the table and having the perfect height, hair color and facial features aren't what make Bond worth admiring.He's excellent.A total home run debut.

Eva Green: Best Bond girl since Tracy. It's hard to imagine Bond treating her like another disposable babe. Green is damn good.

Action: Very good. Realistic and Bond gets dirty and bloody. This guy isn't Superman anymore. Thank god. The fights are brutal and the film really brings the danger back to the world of 007. Awesome.

Le Shifre: Cool villian. The best in a long time. Mads will have geeks panting for autographs for decades.

Martin Cambell: WTF?? Who is this guy and what have they done with that mediocre dude that directed Goldeneye? Great job. Wow.

Plot/story: It's not a perfect film but it adapts CR well and makes me mental for Bond 22.Oh Man...that's gonna be a long two years!

I guess I have only one dissapointment and it isn't Judi Dench or the song. It's Mathis' character. I don't like how he was handled at the end.He deserved to ahve that conversation with Bond about quiting MI6 and "surround yourself with human beings James".

Anyway, I'll wrap this up with a rating: 9/10

Bernard Hill as M, a better song and a better use of Mathis and it would have been a 10/10. It's a hellova an improvement form the last film at least.I'm happy with it. I will see it again and buy the DVD, something I refused to do with Die another day.

Easily the best movie of 2006 and the best overall popcorn movie I've seen since The Bourne Supremacy.

Superb Mr. Bond, superb.

[Tarl_Cabot]

I'm gonna see it again tonight. I hope my rating doesn't drop!

[Broadsword]

I'm gonna see it again tonight. I hope my rating doesn't drop!

Let us know. I am intrigued over second viewiing reviews.

[Tarl_Cabot]

Yeah the first time is an assault on the senses...hard to be objective. I was enthralled however. It's a damn good Bond movie. There's not one cheesey or embarrasing moment in CR that the last four had, heck even LTK had a couple cringe moments-and I love LTK!

[The Dove]

Nice! Glad you loved the film, Tarl!! Unlike our NFL teams, Casino Royale is something the we both can agree on!! I loved the film as well and am eager to see it again, as it was a blur almost the first time. I hope to see it for the second time in a day or so..

[Tarl_Cabot]

Casino Royale was like a shot of good tequila...!otro por favor!

[Tarl_Cabot]

I saw it again last night. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie in a theater twice in 24 hrs! And as I get older I don't do repeat viewings like I used to...Casino Royale holds up really well-the best Bond films never get tiresome. The second time things feel slower(in a good 'second year NFL QB sort of way' where I can absorb things better and the plot makes more sense). I loved this movie. It's a movie first, then a James Bond movie and that's totally cool for me. The dialogue feels like an old black and white classic hollywoood movie. Bond actually has a conversation!

CR provided everything I've been craving for years from a Bond film:

# 1: A spy story(!).

# 2: Plausible action with a hieghtend sense of violence which is faithful to Fleming's world of James Bond.

#3: No campiness, eye rolling jokes,gadgets with predicable life saving utility to be drawn upon in act 3...etc.

Casino Royale is exactly what the Dr. orderd. Well done Eon!

What took you people so dang long??

[MarcAngeDraco]

Casino Royale holds up really well-the best Bond films never get tiresome. The second time things feel slower(in a good 'second year NFL QB sort of way' where I can absorb things better and the plot makes more sense). I loved this movie.

I totally agree with you Tarl. The first time I see a new Bond film, it's rather overwhelming trying to absorb everything.

I've seen CR twice now, and am still anxious to see it again (That's a very good sign that CR will end up very high on my list of favorite Bond films!).

[Mister Asterix]

[mra]Nice review, Tarl.

I disagree with you on Mathis, I thought that was a brilliant twist. Mathis is still that same character that Fleming gave us. [spoiler]And no one said Mathis was guilty. The twist is that Bond thinks he is and doesn

[Tarl_Cabot]

Fair enough. Maybe I wanted him to be another paternal european friend like Kalam Bay or Columbo.

Spoiler

Also, why does Mathis have to betray Bond by informing Le Chifre that Bond knows his tell?

Isn't a good poker player able to give out false information? A world class player in such a high stakes game would use his opponent's assumptions against him right? Anyway, The movie is excellent and these are minor quibbles...

[Mister Asterix]

Fair enough. Maybe I wanted him to be another paternal european friend like Kalam Bay or Columbo.

Spoiler

Also, why does Mathis have to betray Bond by informing Le Chifre that Bond knows his tell?

Isn't a good poker player able to give out false information? A world class player in such a high stakes game would use his opponent's assumptions against him right? Anyway, The movie is excellent and these are minor quibbles...

[mra]But that

[yolt13]

I've seen it three times now, and I've walked out of the theater each time floating on cloud nine. Best Bond film since FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, and best performance by a Bond actor since that same film. I've even tried to view it with the cynicism and skepticism of these "overrated" folks, looking for flaws that maybe I missed during my first viewing. Have yet to see anything about the film that would change my mind about how wonderful it is, and many of the criticisms that have been leveled at it seem even more ridiculous after a third screening.

Too long? I suppose, if you think dropping all of that character development and the growth of the Bond-Vesper romance wouldn't undermine the power of the ending. Third act is too slow? See above. Craig's Bond is too cold and without charm? Putting aside how spot-on his characterization of Fleming's 007 is, one would have to ignore the great verbal interplay between Bond and Vesper and the incredible tender moments (the shower scene, the end of the Venice sequence) and the moments of vulnerability (the defibrillator scene, the moments after Le Chiffre's "bluff") to argue that Craig's Bond is a heartless machine, and I suspect those who feel that way must have made many trips to the bathroom and the concession stand during the film. Not enough gadgets and 007 trappings? Only those who came in with no understanding of the novel or the basic premise of the film (or with a predisposition to dislike it bordering on determination) would level such a silly complaint.

Respecting someone else's opinion doesn't necessarily mean not telling them they are wrong. The naysayers are mistaken. CASINO ROYALE rocks!

[Tarl_Cabot]

[quote name='Mister Asterix' post='654237' date='22 November 2006 - 10:04']
[quote name='Tarl_Cabot' post='654222' date='22 November 2006 - 09:52']
Fair enough. Maybe I wanted him to be another paternal european friend like Kalam Bay or Columbo.

Spoiler

Also, why does Mathis have to betray Bond by informing Le Chifre that Bond knows his tell?

Isn't a good poker player able to give out false information? A world class player in such a high stakes game would use his opponent's assumptions against him right? Anyway, The movie is excellent and these are minor quibbles...
[/quote]

[mra]But that

[Dr. Noah]

Mathis is under suspicion by Bond to give M and 007 the most important exchange of the film.

"You don't trust any one, do you?"

"You've learned your lesson, then."

Cold and Fleming-esque.

F'ing brilliant.

[Onyx2626]

Greetings Tarl_Cabot

I know, it's been awhile.

Your review was just right. I have to give a perfect 10, though. Like FRW..."the L word".

This film was everything TWINE tried to be. And I like Micheal Apted as a director. (Coal Miner's Daughter was nominated for quite a few Oscars you know)

Let me put it this way: You get the impression that Craig's Bond will not be drinking any more Vespers when you walk out of this movie.

Dr. Noah, you said it, that part stood out for me too.