178 replies to this topic

[Moonraker]

Even though I loved Quantum Of Solace, the pts could have been handled better in my opinion. I feel that just by having the gunnbarrel at the begining would have helped ease us into the action a little bit better without just throwing us into the middle of a carchase with no explaination why. Other than that, more Gemma Arteron!!!! I didn't start to really like her until her last (live) scene.

[the villain's architect]

1. Gun barrel back to where it belongs.
2. Slow down the editing speed, so us mid-30ies can understand what's going on. Or block the front half of the theatres
3. Kleinman back for the TS (man, was that nonprofessional!).
4. Give David Arnold control over the title song.
5. Let Mathis live and make him the new Q (not as a gadget master, but as Bond's pal who always comes up with an inventive idea in certain situations – remember CR)

The rest made a great Bond movie. For me, that is.

[avl]

I'd have Matthis explain to Bond what a quantum of solace is so that we can put an end to everyone complaining how they don't understand the title

Edited by avl, 15 November 2008 - 11:55 AM.

[sorking]

(1) cut out the silly mimicry of the Bourne movies (the sloppy editing, the excessive violence, the almost complete lack of humor);

Ignoring the first two - are you serious about the lack of humour thing? I mean, I know we're short on bad puns and hover-gondolas, but there's an entire thread devoted to the jokes in QoS - and the audiences I've seen it with laughed a lot. The dry, smart wit seemed to go down very well.

[pgram]

Many interesting ideas there. Only one comment for some of them, though: we 're supposed to be the audience, and therefore interested in the final product, not how it is achieved. All this talk about hiring this editor, firing this floor manager and so on, makes me wonder whether we are missing the point. I blame the extras on DVDs for turning the audiences from, well, audiences, to wannabe experts on all things technical about films.

Now, to the changes (only minor ones here, the big objections i had about the film are in my review, and to write here: i 'd change the whole story, or the way it is directed, i think, is not the point of the thread):

I 'd like the gunbarrel at the beginning. Playing with the standards is fine, but only if done scarcely. They did it in CR, end of the story. Back to normal. (This goes for Bond's emotional evolution, we had to see it in CR, we, eventually got the Bond theme, signalling the emergence of the hero of the previous films, end of the story. True, it's a film about revenge and solace, but done too much. No matter what a missed opportunity DAF was, to avenge Tracy's death, no scene in CR or especially QoS matces the brilliantly subtle last sequence of OHMSS, or the shocking image of the bullet hole in the windscreen and dead Tracy. And forgive me, but, even though i thought DC was excellent in both films, the approach i prefer is Peter Hunt's Bond doesn't cry, from OHMSS. True, CR and QoS are no Brosnan films, but i miss subtlety a bit too much -come to think about it, in everything, not just Bond films).

Song was awful on all accounts. They shouldn't have even listened to it after finding out the title was 'Another way to die'. I didn't particularly love the TS, but it was OK, i like changes in stylistic elements of the films. Maybe they should change creating team in every film.

The cuts between the palio and the rooftop chase were embarassing. I know what they wanted to do, and I approve, but it wasn't done well. Even the voiceovers were wrong, they were neither a compliment or a contrapunto to the scene. (Same goes for the Tosca scene: nice idea of superimposing story and stage performance, poorly executed. Get rid of slow motion, this is no Theo Angelopoulos film).

I 'd get rid of the aeroplane scene. Give this time to some story unravelling and location feeling. I 'd find a reason for the boat scene, it seems pointless and not exotic enough and i 'd give it a differend ending: I still don't get why Bond gave camille away, he could have learned things from her. It's not like she 's just a girl in the street he wants to save, it's his only lead at the moment, and he still doesn't know almost anything about her.

I 'd have Bond mix more with the locals. I liked the bus scene, but i 'd have more of it. Maybe Bond discussing, even liasing with the locals. This way, he could find the water, without the moronic flight sequence, and, since they wanted to make a socıalıst film, even learn more about the people's suffering (plus, this way, he might realise how unimportant his vendetta was, compared to what these people are going through). Add more local colour to the film.

Find a decent physical challenge for Bond in the final sequence. Get rid of elvis who 's completely redundant.

More Fields would be nice. Apart from being there to make the film lighter, she has the important role of being the first sex Bond has after Vesper. And, please, no more references to previous films. If the end of Fields hadn't leaked in advance, and I had to find out during the film, it 'd have ruined it completely for me. Not, just awful, DAD awful!

Upgrade Yusef as well. It was interesting to find out about him, and it was a nice twist that he wasn't actually captured by Quantum, but rather an agent of theirs. Considering his job was to charm agents, they could have made him more like a gigolo.

Imagine this: Bond tails Yusef, finds out he hits on women to infiltrate their organisations and they even compete for one (say, Fields, that's a way to upgrade her as well). She seems to fall for Yusef for the best part of the film, which outrages Bond even more. Of course, at the end, things are settled. Haven't put too much thought on this, but something along these lines.

Edited by pgram, 18 November 2008 - 11:57 AM.

[Satorious]

What would I change? Loads. This film didn't stack up as well with me on a second viewing, the flaws became more apparent.

Let's begin with the obvious changes:

1. MK12 go, there work was sub-par at best.
2. Title song goes, dreadful stuff
3. More script between the action. Flesh out some of the plot, motives, characters - eg. Elvis.
4. Ditch that rapid editing style.
5. Re-film all the action scenes to be less reliant on shaky-cam and have classier movement in the action shots.
6. Either give Fields something decent to do, or remove her totally.
7. Gun-barrel at the start, iris opening on the sweeping mountain shot. Maintain a quieter ending.
8. Cut down or remove an action scene, most probably the boat chase part - which still makes little sense.
9. Try and add extra suspense and tension.

[MiJennings]

It's so easy for me to say "everything" but for Bond 23 we just need 007 back! And I'm talking about Daniel Craig's Bond in "Casino Royale". Bond may be a "blunt instrument" but he's not a unfeeling, inhuman killing machine, which is what he was in "Quantum". Bond lost his humanity in this film and he never got it back in the end. Bond can be fallable, human but he can't be inhuman. You can't relate to or care about the James Bond from "Quantum". In the end, it's a Bond film in name only. Guess to answer the question, we just need our James Bond back!

So, for specifics...

1) Less style in film-making and more substance. Bond films don't need quick editing or fancy camera tricks. The Bond character drives the film not the director!

2) Gunbarrel back in the opening...and reshot! Daniel Craig's walk looked more like John Cleese than Pierce Brosnan.

3) A REAL pre-credits sequence.

4) BRING BACK DANIEL KLIENMAN!!! "Quantum" easily had the worst sequence in the franchise's history, down to the font used for the credits!

5) How about a instrumental Bond theme next time? The music in "Another Way To Die" is classic Bond but the lyrics are ear-shattering terrible!

6) A return to tradition. The Bond formula doesn't need to be recycled every time like in the past, just improved upon like in "Casino" with a occasional nod to the past...not like the blatant rip-off of "Goldfinger" in "Quantum".

7) BRING BACK MONEYPENNY AND Q!!!!

8) Give James Bond a heart!

9) Give M a brain!

10) Give us James Bond back!

[Shot Your Bolt]

The story is probably one of the lightest in the series, you can definitely tell where the Writers Strike's impact fell. Dominic is just creepy and odd, not really evil. "Yeah, buts suppose to be realistic wat do you want Blofeld back lulz" No, I have no problem with non-crazy villains. Kristos in For Your Eyes Only was fine with me. I just never got a feel for who Dominic was. Hell I don't even know why he wanted the water.

I would not have dumped Mathis like that(pun not intended). "Business is business, its very efficient, *insert more excuses*, etc". At the end of the day, James Bond puts his friend's dead body in a dumpster. Thats just a bit too much.

NO MORE CRAZY EDITING. Thats my biggest complaint. Thats my biggest complaint. What happen to the masteful storytelling through the action scenes like in Raiders of the Lost Ark's Wing Fight? Indy and Marion get to the Wing, a giant man steps out and smiles taking his jacket off and walking over in a fighting position, Marion knocks out the pilot casuing the wing to move, Indy is trying his hardest to beat a superior opponent, Marion kills a bunch of Nazis and starts a fire that will slowly blow up everything, etc(I don't have to explain Raiders of the ****ing Lost Ark, you've all seen the damn film).

Now its all about quick, flashy cuts that interrupt the flow of the scene and give your eyes a workout. It sucks.

[quantumofsolace]

Since the film is so short it isn't supposed to have any "fat".

Says you. Even some of the Bond movies close to QUANTUM's running time, GOLDFINGER and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, have really unnecessary, brief pre-title sequences just there to entertain. If there's one place in a Bond where you can just have a bit of fun, it's in the pre-title sequence, even if you're trying to do a tightly-paced thriller with the rest of it.

You should watch FRWL again. The chap who tries to kill fake-Bond actually comes back later and tries the same thing with the real Bond. Of all the PTS, FRWL is as far from "really unnecessary" as you can get

The FRWL pre-title sequence is one of the most important and best in the series. The fight on the train would be a lot less exciting without the set up of his obvious ability over Bond.
As for QOS, I'd change the title sequence. Daniel Kleinman was much better at this. What we got was dated, dull and cheap.

[Donovan Mayne-Nicholls]

I'd have Matthis explain to Bond what a quantum of solace is so that we can put an end to everyone complaining how they don't understand the title

Apparently it was written into the film after the title was chosen upon but Herr Forster, artist that he is, felt it unnecessary to spell it out for audiences. After all, people who thought the film had no flaws were also glad it did away with that annoying plot exposition Bonds ususally suffer from. In the end, they could have called Dalton's second film QOS for all the difference it made.

1. Gun barrel back to where it belongs.
2. Slow down the editing speed, so us mid-30ies can understand what's going on. Or block the front half of the theatres
3. Kleinman back for the TS (man, was that nonprofessional!).
4. Give David Arnold control over the title song.
5. Let Mathis live and make him the new Q (not as a gadget master, but as Bond's pal who always comes up with an inventive idea in certain situations – remember CR)

The rest made a great Bond movie. For me, that is.

The beauty of having the GB at the beginning is that it gives you the high that a Bond has just started. It was better in CR because even though it wasn't at the start of the film, it appeared just when you thought you weren't going to get it and it laed straight to the titles like DN.
I find it insulting that after TWINE they haven't given DA every single song to write.

[ComplimentsOfSharky]

9) Not silenced the action during the Tosca sequence.

On first viewing, this sequence disappointed me the most.

I wouldn't have minded the action silenced but overall it was just entirely too hard to follow with it being silenced...with shaky camera...with the fast cuts...

In my mind that was just the best example of Forster not being a good director but not necessarily being a very good action director.

[Double-0-7]

The one thing i would change is definitely the editing. It was way to jumpy.

Agreed, that was my main problem with Quantum of Solace! From what I could discern, there was a beautifully filmed movie hiding somewhere in all those brief flashes we get to see in the action sequences. I know they worked very hard getting the car chase footage on film, yet it gets so chopped up it is hard to see anything.

The editing may have been done that way to add to the excitement, but it really just looked like a cheap way to add tension to me.

As the movie progressed they seemed to move away from that trick for the most part, and I think the movie improved dramatically.

[ComplimentsOfSharky]

The one thing i would change is definitely the editing. It was way to jumpy.

Agreed, that was my main problem with Quantum of Solace! From what I could discern, there was a beautifully filmed movie hiding somewhere in all those brief flashes we get to see in the action sequences. I know they worked very hard getting the car chase footage on film, yet it gets so chopped up it is hard to see anything.

Personally I thought the crazy editing really worked on the car chase. I think I almost broke my girlfriend's hand off because it was so intense.

Now I found the camera confusing on the early parts of the Palio chase especially. It was easier to discern what's happening when it's vehicles as opposed to two men in suits from behind.

[Professor Dent]

The editing in the Tosca scene just stands out for me. We have this really great moment where Bond & the bad guy lock eyes after Bond just screwed his meeting, a chase through the restaurant ensues, & we see brief glimpses of the chase cut with the opera. Some of the Bond scenes were so short it was like they were registering in my brain a second or two after I saw it on the screen. Then, the real sounds fade out & are replaced by the stage audio. While it may have increased the tension, it was one of those scenes that pulled me out of the movie & made me step back & just try to follow the action.

[Craig is 007]

I wouldn't have changed anything. The film is perfect.

[eddychaput]

As disappointing as it may be that QOS is plagued by a 'light' story, fans have to realize that the producers took the gamble of finishing off a script before the writers strike last year. The choice facing them was, I believe, a) Give some more to the fans while it's still hot but risk delivering a less meaty screenplay, or wait the writers strike out, start planning the film with what they had as a script at the time but but not go into production for, say, another half year or so.

They chose the former and we got QOS as a result. Not a bad film by any means, but one that lacks a certain weight to it.

[Captain Grimes]

(1) cut out the silly mimicry of the Bourne movies (the sloppy editing, the excessive violence, the almost complete lack of humor);

Ignoring the first two - are you serious about the lack of humour thing? I mean, I know we're short on bad puns and hover-gondolas, but there's an entire thread devoted to the jokes in QoS - and the audiences I've seen it with laughed a lot. The dry, smart wit seemed to go down very well.

No, you're right: there were a few dry one-liners, mostly from M, that were much appreciated. And I'm certainly not asking for double-taking pigeons. But the overall tone of the movie struck me as very bleak and grim and (while not joke-free) essentially humorless. Just like the Bourne movies.

For contrast, look at Casino Royale. It's a weighty movie, it's got a hard edge, it's not particularly over-the-top or silly; but it's also fun. Tonally, it has almost as many bright spots as dark spots. (You could say the same for Licence to Kill.)

QoS, on the other hand, had a smidgen of bone-dry wit, but the rest of it was pretty bleak and lifeless, in my opinion.

[zencat]

The work of MK12 was sub par in my opinion. Kleinman was missed.

Arnold, David Arnold. I just don't think his pastichey style of Bond score works in the Craig movies.

[jaguar007]

The one thing i would change is definitely the editing. It was way to jumpy.

Agreed, that was my main problem with Quantum of Solace! From what I could discern, there was a beautifully filmed movie hiding somewhere in all those brief flashes we get to see in the action sequences. I know they worked very hard getting the car chase footage on film, yet it gets so chopped up it is hard to see anything.

The editing may have been done that way to add to the excitement, but it really just looked like a cheap way to add tension to me.

As the movie progressed they seemed to move away from that trick for the most part, and I think the movie improved dramatically.

I think the editing of the fast actions scenes will play far better on the smaller screen of a TV than it did on a big screen. The scenes will be more watchable over time on DVD.

[Double-0-7]

The one thing i would change is definitely the editing. It was way to jumpy.

Agreed, that was my main problem with Quantum of Solace! From what I could discern, there was a beautifully filmed movie hiding somewhere in all those brief flashes we get to see in the action sequences. I know they worked very hard getting the car chase footage on film, yet it gets so chopped up it is hard to see anything.

The editing may have been done that way to add to the excitement, but it really just looked like a cheap way to add tension to me.

As the movie progressed they seemed to move away from that trick for the most part, and I think the movie improved dramatically.

I think the editing of the fast actions scenes will play far better on the smaller screen of a TV than it did on a big screen. The scenes will be more watchable over time on DVD.

That very well could be. The Bourne movies are quite enjoyable on DVD, but the last one was nearly puke-inducing on the big screen.

[SecretAgent007]

Move the gun barrel to the beginning. I still don't feel being at the end of the film, that it says he is now really, really Bond. The final scene in CR did that just fine. Kleinman for the titles. Get rid of the shakey camera and the hyper-fast editing. Develop the story a little better. Greene's plan was only half developed. I thought the film had way too much action and not enough story.

[Tarl_Cabot]

I'd certainly have moved the Bond/Yusef scene to somewhere other than Jason Bourne's old stamping ground of Moscow. Putting it in, say, Bombay, Shanghai or Tokyo (or Islamabad, Seoul or Taipei - and there are, of course, plenty of other choices) would have given 007 the chance to visit new territory (or at least territory he hadn't been to in a while, and more importantly a location that was not used so strikingly in THE BOURNE SUPREMACY), and would still have given Forster some cool-looking Chinese characters or "foreign" writing styles to play with.

Yep. That was a head scratcher...It's still July and it's snowing in Moscow? At least the absence of snow would have made it less Bourne-ish. *sigh* I would have chosen a middle east country since this guy is an Algerian....and do a Living Daylights homage instead of copying 'Supremacy.

I would have put the gun barrel at the begining per tradition but that's not a huge deal breaker for me.

[Bond Pacific]

Thing only thing I would have changed is the song itself. QOS is by far the most exciting and intense Bond film I've seen in a long time.

[Emma]

The title song needs to go. I would also spruce up the script and fix the dialogue. It's fine for Bond to be pissed. But he behaved like an utter a/hole for most of the film. He's supposed to be angry about Vesper's death, but he spends most of the film bad mouthing her and acting like a petulant child. It was really unbecomming. At the end I would have had Bond thrash Vesper's ex to within an inch of his life. I would not have had Camille go running back to Greene and asking him 'why he tried to have her killed'. P-Galore or Wei Lin would have merely kicked his skinny behind. And call me an old prude, but profanity does not belong in James Bond films. They have gone 40 years without it and it adds nothing to the films. And I would have lengthened some scenes near the beggining.

Edited by Emma, 16 November 2008 - 05:45 PM.

[Fiona Volpe lover]

What would I change? Considering I've never disliked a 007 film as much as this one this could take hours! Specifically, though, to try and improve it I would

1/ Have gun barrel at beginning
2/ Have a decent title song [anything would have been better, even another one by Madonna]
3/ Retain Daniel Kleinman to do the graphics instead of the amateurish crap we have
4/ Have all the action edited so that you can actually see it
5/ Remove the boat chase
6/ Have some more scenes in the first third linking the action
7/ Remove those stupid titles telling you where Bond now is-we've already been told in the dialogue
8/ Lengthen the fight between Bond and the thug in the room, it's so short it has no impact
9/ Remove some of the M scenes or at least re-stage them so she's not with Bond constantly, get rid of her idiotic habit of following Bond everywhere so she's an easy target
10/ Allow Bond to show just a little bit of remorse over Eva's death, doesn't have to be alot!
11/ Replace that awful CG plane chasing Bond with a model one
12/ Have another action sequence in the second half,this film is so frontloaded and removing the earlier boat chase as I previously said would make the film be paced alot better
13/Have Field's death happen earlier-as it is in the film, it has no impact becasue she's been pretty much forgotten
14/Either remove Felix or give him something to do
15/Have at least some connection between Bond and the so-called 'Bond girl', she looks pretty but might as well have been a man
16/Make more of the climax then a bit of fighting in a burning building
17/Get rid of David Arnold or atleast suggests he writes some decent tunes or even motifs
18/Get a director who knows that he's doing in this type of film

Well that'll do for starters.....

Edited by Fiona Volpe lover, 16 November 2008 - 05:59 PM.

[Pierce - Daniel]

A little more 'solace' over Vesper.
Would have included the actual Quantum of Solace story, just as a little annecnode.
No CGI
Longer runtime - becasue I'm greedy.
More Amalric, becasue I thought he was great.
Not to kill off Greene, he should have survived for Bond 23.

[69' DBS]

1) Gunbarrel back at the beginning where it belongs
2) Severely tone down the jump cuts in the DBS sequence
3) Include the Sienna scenes as part of the pre-title sequence and linger more slowly on the Palio
4) Tone down the jump cuts in the fight sequence with Mitchel
5) More character development of Greene and his henchman Elvis
6) More banter / set up with Fields
7) Let Mathis live...and have HIM be the one who explains to Bond what a Quantum of Solace is...ala the short story
8} Totally different style for the air chase
9) Have Mr. White re-appear at the end

[0012]

At first, I could only think "Quantum of Solace is a perfect movie, but one that was chopped up by a hacksaw/meatcleaver/Octupussy villain chaincutter. But there are other problems as well. The gunbarrel at the end highlighted the fact that this movie LESSENS the impact of Casino Royale. What was great about that movie was the emotional impact at the end: This is Bond. Oh, wait. He's still developing. He's Bond. Oh, he's getting revenge. No Bond yet. Wait till the end. Ok Now he's Bond. For God sakes, is he going to have to take down QUANTUM before he becomes who he is!?!?! But seriously, the editing of the movie is shameful. And I'm not talking about the action sequences (although that boat scene is pretty awful). The whole movie feels like the guts are stripped out of it. And if there's one thing I love in a Bond movie (unlike most others), it's guts. Big, fat guts. Bond guts. I don't agree with people who say this movie has no humour or jokes. It has lots of it. It just socks you in the stomach everytime you laugh. Let's breathe a little.

Oh, and the song sucked. Amy Winehouse, where's your renegade Bond track?

[Mr. Blofeld]

Out of all the suggestions, the only one I would do is Mathis explaining what a Quantum of Solace is on the plane ride to Bolivia.

[tdalton]

1. Better editing

2. Cut the dogfight/free-fall sequence (but find a way to keep the dialogue between Bond and Camille while they're sitting in the canyon trying to escape).

3. Find another title song.