4 replies to this topic

[DanMan]

A common complaint about Brosnan's entries in the Bond canon is that there was little to identify them as 007 adventures and they were too similar to the average 90's action flick. Die Another Day briefly touched upon this old tradition, but instead of sticking with the Fleming definition of the "element of the bizarre", the filmakers went with the Austin Powers version of this critical component of the Bond formula. Invisible Aston Martins, genetic swapping, Ice Palace's, and laser satellite's come to mind.

With Casino Royale, I think the filmmaker's got it right in terms of "bizarre" spectacle. Le Chiffre's tears of blood were a strange but realistic update of Fleming's character. The Cobra/Mongoose fight was a nice addition and it's the kind of thing you usually don't see in film as well as the controversial Bodyworld's Exhibit in Miami. Kudos also to the filmmakers for keeping in Bond's genital torture from the novel.

Hopefully the producers continue to put out hero in quirky and fantastic situations that normally aren't found in other films and if the same team behind CR returns for Bond 22 I don't think we have much to worry about.

[dodge]

The funny thing is this: until you pointed these things out as strange, or bizarre, I never thought about them. They were all done right, shot well, and so in tune with the story that I just accepted them. Now that I do think about them, they help explain why I sat there with that big happy smile on my face. Yeah, oh yeah, I was back in Bondland.

[DanMan]

Dodge, these touches seem to work best when they're realistic and not too OTT, but at the same time bizarre enough to give the film a unique "Bondian" feel.

[Turn]

I'd count the freerunning/parkour at the beginning of the film as almost an element of the bizarre. They can always count those things in the films without having to go too far overboard.

[Emma]

A common complaint about Brosnan's entries in the Bond canon is that there was little to identify them as 007 adventures and they were too similar to the average 90's action flick.

Well that's what they were weren't they 90's flicks? I mean except of course for DAD which was released in 2002. Three out of four of Brosnan's films were released in the 90's. I've heard the same charge made of the Dalton's films being a lot like the Die Hard films of the 1980's.

Die Another Day briefly touched upon this old tradition, but instead of sticking with the Fleming definition of the "element of the bizarre", the filmakers went with the Austin Powers version of this critical component of the Bond formula. Invisible Aston Martins, genetic swapping, Ice Palace's, and laser satellite's come to mind.

I think that this has less to do with the film makers deciding to stick with 'the Fleming definition of the "element of the bizarre". Than the fact that the film makers looked around and saw the kinds of movies that were being successful and decided to follow that. I love CR and consider it to be my all time favourite Bond film. And I tip my hat to Daniel Craig for his excellent performance. But I don't fool into thinking for a momment that this film is an act of creative genious on the part of EON. And more to do with the simple fact that they decided to ape or borrow heavily from Christopher Nolan's ideas for Batman.
Right down to the fact that the next Bond film will be a continuation from this film, just like 'Dark Knight' will be a direct continuation from Batman Begins.

I could also see strong elements of the Jason Bourne and Transporter films.

With Casino Royale, I think the filmmaker's got it right in terms of "bizarre" spectacle. Le Chiffre's tears of blood were a strange but realistic update of Fleming's character. The Cobra/Mongoose fight was a nice addition and it's the kind of thing you usually don't see in film as well as the controversial Bodyworld's Exhibit in Miami. Kudos also to the filmmakers for keeping in Bond's genital torture from the novel.

Hopefully the producers continue to put out hero in quirky and fantastic situations that normally aren't found in other films and if the same team behind CR returns for Bond 22 I don't think we have much to worry about.

The only thing I really found fantastical in CR was Sabastien (forget his last name) antics in the construction site. Pitting two animals against each other (ie. co.ck or pitbull fights)is not out of the ordinary. It's been shown on the news. And most big cities have had the Bodyworks exhibit. Nothing out of the ordinary to me.

Edited by Emma, 29 December 2006 - 02:54 AM.