113 replies to this topic

[Richard]

I also would always go and see a Bond film. Just so long as they keep him British and true to his roots. Otherwise its not Bond is it!

Well said!
My feeling exactly.
This is why I objected to Casino Royale. The character of James Bond is not true to his roots. Ian Fleming's Bond is an upper class gentleman and a Naval commander, with a Scot father and a Swiss mother, who was educated at Eton. This new Bond in Casino Royale is a lower class commoner and an orphan who was "put through Harvard by the grace of someone else's charity." He is stripped of his cultural upbringing to make him inferior to the women characters so they could teach him responsibility. This kind of political correctness has taken all the fun out of the recent Bond movies.

Which Actor Would Stop You From Seeing A Bond Movie?

The answer is ... Judi Dench.
A relentless nag who hates men.
I'm sick of her one-note performances and listening to her male-bashing.
She's been slinging the same schtick in 6 films now.
She's beginning to sound more and more like Mommie Dearest.

Richard

Edited by Richard, 11 February 2009 - 03:57 AM.

[jaguar007]

[Ian Fleming's Bond is an upper class gentleman and a Naval commander, with a Scot father and a Swiss mother, who was educated at Eton.

Except that Fleming's Bond was not really an upper class gentelman. He was an upper middle class civil servant who was from time to time placed in upper class situations.

[Darth Prefect]

Daniel Craig continues to make me hold off on watching the films. I didn't see Casino Royale for over a year, and I haven't seen Quantum of Solace yet. (I'm in the middle of watching all the Bonds in order, so I'll see it soon.)

If he's in the next one, it will guarantee I will wait a good while before seeing it.

Nothing and no one could actually make me *never* watch a Bond film. I realized this after watching James Brolin's screen tests for Octopussy and realizing that, although I didn't think he would have made a good Bond, I would have watched it anyway.

[Bryce (003)]

Carrot Top.

Unless he dies a gruesome death in the first minute.

[Vauxhall]

Daniel Craig continues to make me hold off on watching the films. I didn't see Casino Royale for over a year, and I haven't seen Quantum of Solace yet. (I'm in the middle of watching all the Bonds in order, so I'll see it soon.)

I assume you had an issue with his appearance prior to watching them then. Putting that to one side, what did you make of his performance in CASINO ROYALE?

[Craig is 007]

No actor could stop me from seeing a Bond film. But if P. Diddy played James Bond in a new film it wouldn't make me very happy.

[Darth Prefect]

Daniel Craig continues to make me hold off on watching the films. I didn't see Casino Royale for over a year, and I haven't seen Quantum of Solace yet. (I'm in the middle of watching all the Bonds in order, so I'll see it soon.)

I assume you had an issue with his appearance prior to watching them then. Putting that to one side, what did you make of his performance in CASINO ROYALE?

I had issues with Casino Royale beyond just Craig's appearance, but this isn't the place to go into all that.

I suppose I would say he did an allright job with his acting (certainly better than in the only two places I had previously seen him - 'Young Indiana Jones' and 'Tomb Raider'), but he just didn't seem like Bond to me. Too brutish, too thug-like for my tastes. He lacks the range I feel that a good Bond needs. It's difficult to buy his appeal to women, since outside of his physique, there is little about him that would likely attract. You know that stuff in From Russia with Love (the book) where Bond describes the madness he sees behind Grant's eyes? That's what I see in Craig. While I could see this being a valid portrayal of an older, more worn-down Bond (say circa Man with the Golden Gun), for a young, fresh to the double-oh section Bond, it seems out of place. What it comes down to is that regardless of the quality of the filmmaking (and, as I said, I have issues with the film itself), I just don't *like* this Bond. At least not so far.

[Darth Prefect]

Reading around, I was reminded that I had also seen Craig in 'Road to Perdition'. His appearance there was so bland, I had forgotten it completely.

[jaguar007]

Reading around, I was reminded that I had also seen Craig in 'Road to Perdition'. His appearance there was so bland, I had forgotten it completely.

His performance was anything but bland in that movie (and as far as you can get from his Bond performance). For a relative unknown at that time, acting opposite such pros as Paul Newman and Tom Hanks, his performance was clearly the most memorable in the movie. Maybe you are thinking that Craig played the Jude Law character - his performance was rather bland and unmemorable.

[Darth Prefect]

Maybe you are thinking that Craig played the Jude Law character - his performance was rather bland and unmemorable.

You may be right. "Bland" might not be the word that I want. (I'd have to re-watch the movie to decide on a better one - something I'm unwilling to do.) But for me he was certainly unmemorable...given that I didn't remember him.

Jude Law I remembered. Didn't like him in it, but I remembered him.

[Jim]

Reading around, I was reminded that I had also seen Craig in 'Road to Perdition'. His appearance there was so bland, I had forgotten it completely.

You appear to have remembered it as bland, though.

[Darth Prefect]

Reading around, I was reminded that I had also seen Craig in 'Road to Perdition'. His appearance there was so bland, I had forgotten it completely.

You appear to have remembered it as bland, though.

No, I was *reminded* of it and the first word that came to mind was bland. I will agree that it may not be an accurate word. But I *had* completely forgotten him in that film, unlike 'Tomb Raider' and 'Young Indy', where I remembered him quite clearly.

[jaguar007]

Reading around, I was reminded that I had also seen Craig in 'Road to Perdition'. His appearance there was so bland, I had forgotten it completely.

You appear to have remembered it as bland, though.

No, I was *reminded* of it and the first word that came to mind was bland. I will agree that it may not be an accurate word. But I *had* completely forgotten him in that film, unlike 'Tomb Raider' and 'Young Indy', where I remembered him quite clearly.

Craig played Paul Newman's son in the film, the rather crazy one. I can't understand how anyone who saw that movie could consider Craig's performance in that movie bland. Is it just that you saw the movie before Craig was cast as Bond and you didn't know who Daniel Craig was at that time?

It has been a long time since I have seen that movie and there is much I don't remember about it, but Craig's performance is not one of the things I forgot.

[Darth Prefect]

Is it just that you saw the movie before Craig was cast as Bond and you didn't know who Daniel Craig was at that time?

Okay, to settle this once and for all, let's forget I ever used the word "bland". Okay? Good.

Now, I've checked my archives and here's what I said in my review of Road to Perdition back in 2006:

Daniel Craig (the new James Bond just keeps popping up, doesn’t he?) is also in over his head. His manic performance never settles in and he never seems to know what he’s trying to do with the role.

You can certainly disagree, but that was my opinion and by the time I came to my first post, I had completely forgotten he was in the film. It made that little of an impression on me and I'm sorry if that bothers some people, but there you are.

With that, I am bowing gracefully out of this thread, as I think it's run off the rails, for which I am sorry as it was not my intention.

As I am making my way through all of the Bond films, I will be re-watching Casino Royale shortly. Who knows, I may change my mind. It happens. When I am done, I will be sure to post a link to my massive twenty-four film, one TV episode review and people can rip me to shreds at that time if they wish.

[jaguar007]

Sorry you feel that your are being "run off the rails". I saw Road to Perdition right after it came out on DVD (long before Craig was cast as Bond). When I heard Craig was being considered for Bond and he was in that movie, I was not sure who he was in the movie. One I heard he was the actor who played Newman's son - I clearly remembered him in the movie, but had trouble seeing him as James Bond. It was not until I saw Layer Cake that I thought he might make a decent James Bond, but it was not until I saw CR that I was immediently sold.

[MI6member]

Puff Daddy (considering he has been trying so hard to be the next Bond) or really any black actor... The character was never written to be black. It wouldn't work and wouldn't be the same.

[danslittlefinger]

Anybody from Corrie St.

[Martini]

I guess even a cameo of Bin Laden himself wouldn´t stop me from seeing a Bond movie.

Though I wouldn´t like to see John Travolta, Vin Diesel, Adam Sandler, Chuck Norris, Ben Affleck, ...

Edited by Martini, 17 February 2009 - 07:11 PM.

[007karl007]

Daniel Radcliffe or david tennant lol

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

MATT DAMON
lol

[danslittlefinger]

Jackie Chan, Antonia Banderas, the ginger headed guy from CSI Miami (Caruso something or another)

Edited by danslittlefinger, 17 February 2009 - 06:35 PM.

[Safari Suit]

David Caruso, often put forth as the worst actor working. Don't know much about him myself, but I liked his (mute) appearance in Hudson Hawk.

Clive Owen

[Richard]

If it weren't for Daniel Craig's performances, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace would be seen as the garbage they are. Sure the series needed a reboot, but not this reboot. These films are total crap. Quantum of Solace less so; there is a visual and emotional aesthetic at work and an intelligent director. But Craig is the only thing worthwhile about either film. His Bond in the second film is a very different character, more composed, more reserved and dignified. In the first film he is a slovenly mess, but that's what Babs wanted.

Richard

[AgentBentley]

Any big Hollywood comedian would also turn me off:
Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams.