48 replies to this topic

[Germanlady]

'Solace' offers thinking person's 007
Marc Forster brings indie touch to latest Bond
By ANNE THOMPSON
More Articles:
Hollywood's A-list losing star power
Films up in the air after studios split
No 'Action!' for Hollywood vets
What to expect from DreamWorks 2.0
Amazon's Kindle gets fired up
Big directors turn to foreign investors
Call it Smart Bond. Or Minimalist Bond.

"Quantum of Solace" is glitzy, glam and packed with eye-popping, violent action, but Bond 22 is also arty, tasteful and elegant. The film's most ambitious set-piece, a lyrical homage to Alfred Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much," unfolds around the floating stage of a Bregenz Festival Opera House performance of "Tosca."

A far cry from "Moonraker," "Quantum" is both a James Bond movie and a Marc Forster movie.

The German-born, Swiss-raised director of such Oscar bait as "Finding Neverland" and "Monster's Ball" might seem an odd choice to helm a Bond film. e's a clear-eyed brainy European who has never directed an action film in his life, and admits to only catching up with such '60s Bond classics as "Dr. No," "Goldfinger" and "From Russia With Love" as part of his film education. He was never a fan of the franchise.

While many directors would die to get a crack at Bond, Forster resisted when Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson approached him. Sony chairman Amy Pascal, who had worked with Forster on the offbeat Will Ferrell comedy "Stranger Than Fiction," had to coax him to even meet with them. But when Forster mentioned the picture to his frequent working partners, editor Matt Chesse and cinematographer Roberto Schaefer, they went nuts. "Bond is film history!" they cried.

Forster is a director with a strong personal style who is versatile, humanistic and able to adapt to various genres and budget levels. But this $200-million follow-up to 2006's reboot "Casino Royale," which scored $595 million worldwide with new Bond Daniel Craig, posed a serious leap from Forster's last picture, "The Kite Runner," a $17-million lit adaptation shot on constantly changing locations in Pakistan and China.Broccoli and Wilson told the director they wanted to take the Bond franchise "a step further," Forster says. They agreed to let him hire his usual creative team, and he eventually came around to the idea of Bond -- partly because he recognized that Steven Soderbergh gets to play in the indie sandbox because he delivers an "Ocean's" installment every few years.

The producers -- up against a ticking clock -- also were willing to meet most of Forster's demands. When he took on the pic in June 2007, he was faced with a firm Nov. 14, 2008 release date and a looming writers strike. The production and post-production schedule were so tight that reshoots weren't even an option.

Forster's first demand: Hire Paul Haggis, who had contributed to "Casino Royale," to retool Neal Purvis and Robert Wade's screenplay. Forster told Haggis to focus most on honing the plot, dialogue and characters. "I'm all for 'unclarity' and arty," Forster says. "But in a movie like this, I thought it was important to stay clear to the last frame."

Says Haggis: "It was a very brave move on Michael and Barbara's part. I don't think they wanted to make a safe bet. (Forster) put his own stamp on it, brought ideas he wanted to see, like the environmental theme. We wanted to explore who Bond was, and tried to treat him as a human being."

While Haggis dug into the revenge-driven actioner hinged on the death of Bond's beloved Vesper Lynd, Forster scoured the globe for locations. Exotic physical settings inspired many of the action sequences. While the production was based, as always, at London's Pinewood Studios, Forster filmed in more overseas locations than any prior Bond film, from Panama and Mexico to Italy and Chile, which subbed for the Bolivian water-starved desert. When the company filmed the colorful horse races in Sienna, Italy, Forster wasn't sure how he'd use them until he discovered the city's underground Roman tunnels and cisterns. Then he visualized how to intercut the brutal car-chase opener with the horse race, as a battered Bond screeches into Sienna to an underground safe house, pops up through a manhole in the midst of race crowds and chases his quarry across clay tile rooftops -- which was expensive to film in Sienna, requiring huge cranes -- and fights his way up scaffolding to a dramatic shattering fall through a glass cathedral dome.

As before, Craig's Bond is muscular, dangerous, fearless and rebellious against Judi Dench's powerful but maternal M. But in this case, he's grieving and vengeful as he chases down the man who killed his beloved Lynd. Forster also constructed a series of interlocking parallel sequences. New second-unit director Dan Bradley ("The Bourne Supremacy," "Bourne Ultimatum") shot the opening Aston Martin vs. Alfa Romeo car chase and handled all the car and airplane stunts, while Forster took care of the rest. All the set pieces were related, in keeping with Forster's environmental theme, to the four elements: water, air, fire and earth.

Forster got away with a lot on this Bond. While product placement is front and center with Ford cars and Bond's Omega watch, the helmer felt no pressure to foreground anything else. His take on the venerable spy begs the question of how far audiences are willing to go with a Bond film that dispenses with some of the familiar cheese they expect to see.

For example, Forster moved the standard Bond-with-gun opener to the end, while the opening montage is backed by a Bond song by Jack White and Alicia Keyes. Composer David Arnold'sscore pulls back on the use of the classic Bond theme. Bond sips six martinis instead of the usual one, and they aren't specifically "shaken, not stirred." There is no "Bond, James Bond" flourish. And Bond villain Dominic Greene, played by "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" star Mathieu Amalric, is bone-chilling without relying on any of the usual tics. Amalric wanted to add a nasty scar, but Forster wouldn't let him. "You don't need a crutch," he said. "We have seen that."

Some moviegoers may miss these iconic moments. On the other hand, this may be just the kind of modernization that the series requires to stay vital.

[Jackanaples]

Very interesting review.

[quantumofsolace]

'Solace' offers thinking person's 007
Marc Forster brings indie touch to latest Bond
By ANNE THOMPSON
More Articles:
Hollywood's A-list losing star power
Films up in the air after studios split
No 'Action!' for Hollywood vets
What to expect from DreamWorks 2.0
Amazon's Kindle gets fired up
Big directors turn to foreign investors
Call it Smart Bond. Or Minimalist Bond.

"Quantum of Solace" is glitzy, glam and packed with eye-popping, violent action, but Bond 22 is also arty, tasteful and elegant. The film's most ambitious set-piece, a lyrical homage to Alfred Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much," unfolds around the floating stage of a Bregenz Festival Opera House performance of "Tosca."

A far cry from "Moonraker," "Quantum" is both a James Bond movie and a Marc Forster movie.

The German-born, Swiss-raised director of such Oscar bait as "Finding Neverland" and "Monster's Ball" might seem an odd choice to helm a Bond film. e's a clear-eyed brainy European who has never directed an action film in his life, and admits to only catching up with such '60s Bond classics as "Dr. No," "Goldfinger" and "From Russia With Love" as part of his film education. He was never a fan of the franchise.

While many directors would die to get a crack at Bond, Forster resisted when Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson approached him. Sony chairman Amy Pascal, who had worked with Forster on the offbeat Will Ferrell comedy "Stranger Than Fiction," had to coax him to even meet with them. But when Forster mentioned the picture to his frequent working partners, editor Matt Chesse and cinematographer Roberto Schaefer, they went nuts. "Bond is film history!" they cried.

Forster is a director with a strong personal style who is versatile, humanistic and able to adapt to various genres and budget levels. But this $200-million follow-up to 2006's reboot "Casino Royale," which scored $595 million worldwide with new Bond Daniel Craig, posed a serious leap from Forster's last picture, "The Kite Runner," a $17-million lit adaptation shot on constantly changing locations in Pakistan and China.Broccoli and Wilson told the director they wanted to take the Bond franchise "a step further," Forster says. They agreed to let him hire his usual creative team, and he eventually came around to the idea of Bond -- partly because he recognized that Steven Soderbergh gets to play in the indie sandbox because he delivers an "Ocean's" installment every few years.

The producers -- up against a ticking clock -- also were willing to meet most of Forster's demands. When he took on the pic in June 2007, he was faced with a firm Nov. 14, 2008 release date and a looming writers strike. The production and post-production schedule were so tight that reshoots weren't even an option.

Forster's first demand: Hire Paul Haggis, who had contributed to "Casino Royale," to retool Neal Purvis and Robert Wade's screenplay. Forster told Haggis to focus most on honing the plot, dialogue and characters. "I'm all for 'unclarity' and arty," Forster says. "But in a movie like this, I thought it was important to stay clear to the last frame."

Says Haggis: "It was a very brave move on Michael and Barbara's part. I don't think they wanted to make a safe bet. (Forster) put his own stamp on it, brought ideas he wanted to see, like the environmental theme. We wanted to explore who Bond was, and tried to treat him as a human being."

While Haggis dug into the revenge-driven actioner hinged on the death of Bond's beloved Vesper Lynd, Forster scoured the globe for locations. Exotic physical settings inspired many of the action sequences. While the production was based, as always, at London's Pinewood Studios, Forster filmed in more overseas locations than any prior Bond film, from Panama and Mexico to Italy and Chile, which subbed for the Bolivian water-starved desert. When the company filmed the colorful horse races in Sienna, Italy, Forster wasn't sure how he'd use them until he discovered the city's underground Roman tunnels and cisterns. Then he visualized how to intercut the brutal car-chase opener with the horse race, as a battered Bond screeches into Sienna to an underground safe house, pops up through a manhole in the midst of race crowds and chases his quarry across clay tile rooftops -- which was expensive to film in Sienna, requiring huge cranes -- and fights his way up scaffolding to a dramatic shattering fall through a glass cathedral dome.

As before, Craig's Bond is muscular, dangerous, fearless and rebellious against Judi Dench's powerful but maternal M. But in this case, he's grieving and vengeful as he chases down the man who killed his beloved Lynd. Forster also constructed a series of interlocking parallel sequences. New second-unit director Dan Bradley ("The Bourne Supremacy," "Bourne Ultimatum") shot the opening Aston Martin vs. Alfa Romeo car chase and handled all the car and airplane stunts, while Forster took care of the rest. All the set pieces were related, in keeping with Forster's environmental theme, to the four elements: water, air, fire and earth.

Forster got away with a lot on this Bond. While product placement is front and center with Ford cars and Bond's Omega watch, the helmer felt no pressure to foreground anything else. His take on the venerable spy begs the question of how far audiences are willing to go with a Bond film that dispenses with some of the familiar cheese they expect to see.

For example, Forster moved the standard Bond-with-gun opener to the end, while the opening montage is backed by a Bond song by Jack White and Alicia Keyes. Composer David Arnold'sscore pulls back on the use of the classic Bond theme. Bond sips six martinis instead of the usual one, and they aren't specifically "shaken, not stirred." There is no "Bond, James Bond" flourish. And Bond villain Dominic Greene, played by "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" star Mathieu Amalric, is bone-chilling without relying on any of the usual tics. Amalric wanted to add a nasty scar, but Forster wouldn't let him. "You don't need a crutch," he said. "We have seen that."

Some moviegoers may miss these iconic moments. On the other hand, this may be just the kind of modernization that the series requires to stay vital.

Thanks for the review. Can you give a link?

[JimmyBond]

'Solace' offers thinking person's 007
Marc Forster brings indie touch to latest Bond
By ANNE THOMPSON
More Articles:
Hollywood's A-list losing star power
Films up in the air after studios split
No 'Action!' for Hollywood vets
What to expect from DreamWorks 2.0
Amazon's Kindle gets fired up
Big directors turn to foreign investors
Call it Smart Bond. Or Minimalist Bond.

"Quantum of Solace" is glitzy, glam and packed with eye-popping, violent action, but Bond 22 is also arty, tasteful and elegant. The film's most ambitious set-piece, a lyrical homage to Alfred Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much," unfolds around the floating stage of a Bregenz Festival Opera House performance of "Tosca."

A far cry from "Moonraker," "Quantum" is both a James Bond movie and a Marc Forster movie.

The German-born, Swiss-raised director of such Oscar bait as "Finding Neverland" and "Monster's Ball" might seem an odd choice to helm a Bond film. e's a clear-eyed brainy European who has never directed an action film in his life, and admits to only catching up with such '60s Bond classics as "Dr. No," "Goldfinger" and "From Russia With Love" as part of his film education. He was never a fan of the franchise.

While many directors would die to get a crack at Bond, Forster resisted when Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson approached him. Sony chairman Amy Pascal, who had worked with Forster on the offbeat Will Ferrell comedy "Stranger Than Fiction," had to coax him to even meet with them. But when Forster mentioned the picture to his frequent working partners, editor Matt Chesse and cinematographer Roberto Schaefer, they went nuts. "Bond is film history!" they cried.

Forster is a director with a strong personal style who is versatile, humanistic and able to adapt to various genres and budget levels. But this $200-million follow-up to 2006's reboot "Casino Royale," which scored $595 million worldwide with new Bond Daniel Craig, posed a serious leap from Forster's last picture, "The Kite Runner," a $17-million lit adaptation shot on constantly changing locations in Pakistan and China.Broccoli and Wilson told the director they wanted to take the Bond franchise "a step further," Forster says. They agreed to let him hire his usual creative team, and he eventually came around to the idea of Bond -- partly because he recognized that Steven Soderbergh gets to play in the indie sandbox because he delivers an "Ocean's" installment every few years.

The producers -- up against a ticking clock -- also were willing to meet most of Forster's demands. When he took on the pic in June 2007, he was faced with a firm Nov. 14, 2008 release date and a looming writers strike. The production and post-production schedule were so tight that reshoots weren't even an option.

Forster's first demand: Hire Paul Haggis, who had contributed to "Casino Royale," to retool Neal Purvis and Robert Wade's screenplay. Forster told Haggis to focus most on honing the plot, dialogue and characters. "I'm all for 'unclarity' and arty," Forster says. "But in a movie like this, I thought it was important to stay clear to the last frame."

Says Haggis: "It was a very brave move on Michael and Barbara's part. I don't think they wanted to make a safe bet. (Forster) put his own stamp on it, brought ideas he wanted to see, like the environmental theme. We wanted to explore who Bond was, and tried to treat him as a human being."

While Haggis dug into the revenge-driven actioner hinged on the death of Bond's beloved Vesper Lynd, Forster scoured the globe for locations. Exotic physical settings inspired many of the action sequences. While the production was based, as always, at London's Pinewood Studios, Forster filmed in more overseas locations than any prior Bond film, from Panama and Mexico to Italy and Chile, which subbed for the Bolivian water-starved desert. When the company filmed the colorful horse races in Sienna, Italy, Forster wasn't sure how he'd use them until he discovered the city's underground Roman tunnels and cisterns. Then he visualized how to intercut the brutal car-chase opener with the horse race, as a battered Bond screeches into Sienna to an underground safe house, pops up through a manhole in the midst of race crowds and chases his quarry across clay tile rooftops -- which was expensive to film in Sienna, requiring huge cranes -- and fights his way up scaffolding to a dramatic shattering fall through a glass cathedral dome.

As before, Craig's Bond is muscular, dangerous, fearless and rebellious against Judi Dench's powerful but maternal M. But in this case, he's grieving and vengeful as he chases down the man who killed his beloved Lynd. Forster also constructed a series of interlocking parallel sequences. New second-unit director Dan Bradley ("The Bourne Supremacy," "Bourne Ultimatum") shot the opening Aston Martin vs. Alfa Romeo car chase and handled all the car and airplane stunts, while Forster took care of the rest. All the set pieces were related, in keeping with Forster's environmental theme, to the four elements: water, air, fire and earth.

Forster got away with a lot on this Bond. While product placement is front and center with Ford cars and Bond's Omega watch, the helmer felt no pressure to foreground anything else. His take on the venerable spy begs the question of how far audiences are willing to go with a Bond film that dispenses with some of the familiar cheese they expect to see.

For example, Forster moved the standard Bond-with-gun opener to the end, while the opening montage is backed by a Bond song by Jack White and Alicia Keyes. Composer David Arnold'sscore pulls back on the use of the classic Bond theme. Bond sips six martinis instead of the usual one, and they aren't specifically "shaken, not stirred." There is no "Bond, James Bond" flourish. And Bond villain Dominic Greene, played by "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" star Mathieu Amalric, is bone-chilling without relying on any of the usual tics. Amalric wanted to add a nasty scar, but Forster wouldn't let him. "You don't need a crutch," he said. "We have seen that."

Some moviegoers may miss these iconic moments. On the other hand, this may be just the kind of modernization that the series requires to stay vital.

Thanks for the review. Can you give a link?

You quoted the entire review just to post a two second reply? What's wrong with you?


Oh...

[Jim]

Some moviegoers may miss these iconic moments. On the other hand, this may be just the kind of modernization that the series requires to stay vital.

Seems to sum up the last week around here. Consider this the new name of this website, even if it's a bit long.

[dee-bee-five]

Some moviegoers may miss these iconic moments. On the other hand, this may be just the kind of modernization that the series requires to stay vital.

Seems to sum up the last week around here.

Yes. It appears those who hanker after an ongoing series of cosy, Bank Holiday romps are going to be disappointed. The rest of us might just be delighted.

[sharpshooter]

Yes, indeed. This once stale, predictable franchise has been given a shot to the system. I'll be delighted with this film for that reason alone. My only real concern is the series going backwards with the same old after this one.

[Captain Tightpants]

I'll second that. I think Bond might need another entry or two like this before it can start laying the "traditional" elements back on. They're really just gravy, which might be good for some, but not when the meat is stringy.

[Germanlady]

http://www.variety.c...7...d=2508&cs=1

[sharpshooter]

I'll second that. I think Bond might need another entry or two like this before it can start laying the "traditional" elements back on.

Agreed. There are less realistic, dark Bond films about. I think it is time to increase that, with a bit of experimental flair added to it.

[HellIsHere]

VARIETY is the most prestigious entertainment trade paper in Hollywood. So I guess this is excellent news.

[kneelbeforezod]

Very interesting article... though for the record that's not the actual Variety review. I imagine that will come out slightly nearer the US release date.

[Pierce - Daniel]

It's not a review, just an article with an interview with Forster. We are yet to get the Vareity review, there hardly going to interview Marc and tell him his film is rubbish, they have alot more tact and alot more to loose.

[kneelbeforezod]

It's not a review, just an article with an interview with Forster. We are yet to get the Vareity review, there hardly going to interview Marc and tell him his film is rubbish, they have alot more tact and alot more to loose.

Yeah, although Anne Thompson wasn't just being tactful, she genuinely enjoyed the film, as she wrote in her blog.

[ACE]

'Solace' offers thinking person's 007
Marc Forster brings indie touch to latest Bond
By ANNE THOMPSON
More Articles:
Hollywood's A-list losing star power
Films up in the air after studios split
No 'Action!' for Hollywood vets
What to expect from DreamWorks 2.0
Amazon's Kindle gets fired up
Big directors turn to foreign investors
Call it Smart Bond. Or Minimalist Bond.

"Quantum of Solace" is glitzy, glam and packed with eye-popping, violent action, but Bond 22 is also arty, tasteful and elegant. The film's most ambitious set-piece, a lyrical homage to Alfred Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much," unfolds around the floating stage of a Bregenz Festival Opera House performance of "Tosca."

A far cry from "Moonraker," "Quantum" is both a James Bond movie and a Marc Forster movie.

The German-born, Swiss-raised director of such Oscar bait as "Finding Neverland" and "Monster's Ball" might seem an odd choice to helm a Bond film. e's a clear-eyed brainy European who has never directed an action film in his life, and admits to only catching up with such '60s Bond classics as "Dr. No," "Goldfinger" and "From Russia With Love" as part of his film education. He was never a fan of the franchise.

While many directors would die to get a crack at Bond, Forster resisted when Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson approached him. Sony chairman Amy Pascal, who had worked with Forster on the offbeat Will Ferrell comedy "Stranger Than Fiction," had to coax him to even meet with them. But when Forster mentioned the picture to his frequent working partners, editor Matt Chesse and cinematographer Roberto Schaefer, they went nuts. "Bond is film history!" they cried.

Forster is a director with a strong personal style who is versatile, humanistic and able to adapt to various genres and budget levels. But this $200-million follow-up to 2006's reboot "Casino Royale," which scored $595 million worldwide with new Bond Daniel Craig, posed a serious leap from Forster's last picture, "The Kite Runner," a $17-million lit adaptation shot on constantly changing locations in Pakistan and China.Broccoli and Wilson told the director they wanted to take the Bond franchise "a step further," Forster says. They agreed to let him hire his usual creative team, and he eventually came around to the idea of Bond -- partly because he recognized that Steven Soderbergh gets to play in the indie sandbox because he delivers an "Ocean's" installment every few years.

The producers -- up against a ticking clock -- also were willing to meet most of Forster's demands. When he took on the pic in June 2007, he was faced with a firm Nov. 14, 2008 release date and a looming writers strike. The production and post-production schedule were so tight that reshoots weren't even an option.

Forster's first demand: Hire Paul Haggis, who had contributed to "Casino Royale," to retool Neal Purvis and Robert Wade's screenplay. Forster told Haggis to focus most on honing the plot, dialogue and characters. "I'm all for 'unclarity' and arty," Forster says. "But in a movie like this, I thought it was important to stay clear to the last frame."

Says Haggis: "It was a very brave move on Michael and Barbara's part. I don't think they wanted to make a safe bet. (Forster) put his own stamp on it, brought ideas he wanted to see, like the environmental theme. We wanted to explore who Bond was, and tried to treat him as a human being."

While Haggis dug into the revenge-driven actioner hinged on the death of Bond's beloved Vesper Lynd, Forster scoured the globe for locations. Exotic physical settings inspired many of the action sequences. While the production was based, as always, at London's Pinewood Studios, Forster filmed in more overseas locations than any prior Bond film, from Panama and Mexico to Italy and Chile, which subbed for the Bolivian water-starved desert. When the company filmed the colorful horse races in Sienna, Italy, Forster wasn't sure how he'd use them until he discovered the city's underground Roman tunnels and cisterns. Then he visualized how to intercut the brutal car-chase opener with the horse race, as a battered Bond screeches into Sienna to an underground safe house, pops up through a manhole in the midst of race crowds and chases his quarry across clay tile rooftops -- which was expensive to film in Sienna, requiring huge cranes -- and fights his way up scaffolding to a dramatic shattering fall through a glass cathedral dome.

As before, Craig's Bond is muscular, dangerous, fearless and rebellious against Judi Dench's powerful but maternal M. But in this case, he's grieving and vengeful as he chases down the man who killed his beloved Lynd. Forster also constructed a series of interlocking parallel sequences. New second-unit director Dan Bradley ("The Bourne Supremacy," "Bourne Ultimatum") shot the opening Aston Martin vs. Alfa Romeo car chase and handled all the car and airplane stunts, while Forster took care of the rest. All the set pieces were related, in keeping with Forster's environmental theme, to the four elements: water, air, fire and earth.

Forster got away with a lot on this Bond. While product placement is front and center with Ford cars and Bond's Omega watch, the helmer felt no pressure to foreground anything else. His take on the venerable spy begs the question of how far audiences are willing to go with a Bond film that dispenses with some of the familiar cheese they expect to see.

For example, Forster moved the standard Bond-with-gun opener to the end, while the opening montage is backed by a Bond song by Jack White and Alicia Keyes. Composer David Arnold'sscore pulls back on the use of the classic Bond theme. Bond sips six martinis instead of the usual one, and they aren't specifically "shaken, not stirred." There is no "Bond, James Bond" flourish. And Bond villain Dominic Greene, played by "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" star Mathieu Amalric, is bone-chilling without relying on any of the usual tics. Amalric wanted to add a nasty scar, but Forster wouldn't let him. "You don't need a crutch," he said. "We have seen that."

Some moviegoers may miss these iconic moments. On the other hand, this may be just the kind of modernization that the series requires to stay vital.

This is a perfect assessment and piece by which to calibrate one's expectations.

[Simon]

My only real concern is the series going backwards with the same old after this one.

Yes, it's never too soon to get one's concerns in for B23 and 24.

[ACE]

My only real concern is the series going backwards with the same old after this one.

Yes, it's never too soon to get one's concerns in for B23 and 24.

LOL

[HildebrandRarity]

http://www.variety.c...7...d=2508&cs=1

I take it this will go in as fresh in Rottentomatoes to take the score to 95 percent?



Q0S will be the Best James Bond Film Evah™.

[ACE]

http://www.variety.c...7...d=2508&cs=1

I take it this will go in as fresh in Rottentomatoes to take the score to 95 percent?



Q0S will be the Best James Bond Film Evah™.

HildebrandRarity, I've heard about road-to-Damascian changes but this is a trifle, er, unexpected. Love the rather positive Bond mojo - dig it. Remember, to paraphrase that great eastern philosopher, Charlie Chan, when it comes to Bond, mind is like parachute: function best when open.

[stamper]

Er really guys, keeps your expectations low if you don't want to be as disappointed as I am. This article is not about the same film I saw (nor the one Lee Pfeiffer saw, and even less the one Graham Rhye saw).

Really, you want to enjoy the next Bond movie : go in the cinema not expecting something as great as Casino Royale, and you probably will enjoy yourself.

[HildebrandRarity]

Er really guys, keeps your expectations low if you don't want to be as disappointed as I am. This article is not about the same film I saw (nor the one Lee Pfeiffer saw, and even less the one Graham Rhye saw).

I'm sorry stamper but some of us don't necessarily share your view or Lee Pfeiffer's view.

As an example, you think Bond getting shot by Mr White would make a great ending. Well...I don't. I think it would be horrible and gimicky ending. I'd see the movie once and not the five or six or seven times I see it at the theatre.

Also, Lee seems like he's getting old and has had too many martinis which have made his brain cells pop too much. He can't keep up with the plot and pacing.

Some of us think Casino Royale was overly long and could have been better edited. There's room for improvement because Casino Royale is not a perfect movie. It's not a 10. It's a 9.25...so there's room in my mind for Quantum to go a quarter notch better.

[ACE]

I agree with stamper. Fannish expectations will not be met by QOS. This does not seek to deliver those. This film is way more ambitious and will work directly against the fan in you.

[00Twelve]

Well, this was refreshing. Good to see at least one reviewer not towing the "What does the title mean?!?" line. This one, God forbid, gets it.

[HildebrandRarity]

I agree with stamper. Fannish expectations will not be met by QOS. This does not seek to deliver those. This film is way more ambitious and will work directly against the fan in you.

What if i'm interested in seeing the focus primarily being on Craig As Bond, ball-breaking action and outstanding locations and atmosphere? And what if I don't want Casino Royale 2 or Die Another Day 2?

Why do you assume what "fans" want? I'm a fan...and I love Moonraker just as much as I love Dr No.

[Invincible1958]

I agree with stamper. Fannish expectations will not be met by QOS. This does not seek to deliver those.

It's up to what kind of fan one is.
I'm a big fan. But I'm open to everything new. I love to experience new things. Especially in an old movie-franchise as 007 is.
All I want is a movie with a unique atmosphere that entertains me. And to make that clear: a movie like "There Will Be Blood" does entertain me. A movie like "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" does entertain me. I don't need 007-clichees to like a 007-movie.

[ACE]

I agree with stamper. Fannish expectations will not be met by QOS. This does not seek to deliver those. This film is way more ambitious and will work directly against the fan in you.

What if i'm interested in seeing the focus primarily being on Craig As Bond, ball-breaking action and outstanding locations and atmosphere? And what if I don't want Casino Royale 2 or Die Another Day 2?

You may be in for a rolicking treat.

Look, we'll all make our own minds up. I'm not saying that those that prefer QOS less are saying so just because they are too fannish (if there is such a thing, I must be guilty). Lee Pfeiffer is an excellent writer and his magazine, Cinema Retro http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php is a must for fans of classic cinema. But his, mine, Joe Blogg's opinion is no less or more important than an another, if the other actually likes the film. I do like Die Another Day, I do like Moonraker, I do like Man With The Golden Gun. I prefer less AVTAK, Thunderbore, TWINE. I loved Crash, In The Valley of Elah, The Kite Runner, Stranger Than Fiction, Finding Neverland. I love Bourne and Jack Ryan. I love Graham Greene and All The President's Men. All these inform my opinion of the film.

I can't wait for others to see the film. I have posted a review here. I wanna hear what other people say and think.

[Taylor]

Er really guys, keeps your expectations low if you don't want to be as disappointed as I am. This article is not about the same film I saw (nor the one Lee Pfeiffer saw, and even less the one Graham Rhye saw).

Really, you want to enjoy the next Bond movie : go in the cinema not expecting something as great as Casino Royale, and you probably will enjoy yourself.

Stamper, do you know if Graham Rhye has posted his review of Quantum yet? I'd love to see it if it's out there somewhere. Thanks!

[HildebrandRarity]

I agree with stamper. Fannish expectations will not be met by QOS. This does not seek to deliver those. This film is way more ambitious and will work directly against the fan in you.

What if i'm interested in seeing the focus primarily being on Craig As Bond, ball-breaking action and outstanding locations and atmosphere? And what if I don't want Casino Royale 2 or Die Another Day 2?

You may be in for a rolicking treat.

...then Eon will get a significant chunk of my movie-going dollars for 2008.

[ACE]

It's just apartment house rules
For apartment house fools,
One man's ceiling is another man's floor.
Paul Simon

[HildebrandRarity]

It's just apartment house rules
For apartment house fools,
One man's ceiling is another man's floor.
Paul Simon

Touche'. I can tell you that after watching the magnificent Moonraker in the summer of 1979, For Your Eyes Only was a major let down two summers later...talking parrot saving the world and all.

Let me say this:

If in 10 years, Quantum will ensure that I don't go off for a tea break - something which Casino Royale affords me to do - then Eon, in my mind, will have trumped Bond 21 with Bond 22.

Horses for courses.