Personally, I think the editing 'problems' on QOS are massively overstated by people who are just looking for reasons to dislike it and those of a generally reactionary disposition when it comes to modern cinema; true, the whole first half-hour of the film feels rushed, as if they were determined to keep the film at well under two hours regardless but this doesn't effect the qulaity of the individual set-pieces, just that there's little pause for breath between them until the pacing settles down once we get to Bolivia. The opening stuff in Italy, Bond's fight with Slate and the entire climactic dessert hotel sequence are among the most effective action scenes in the entire series IMO and wipe the floor with Campbell's mostly pedestrian (not to say prescription) stuff in the previous film.
I wanted to like it very much (I tried to, more than I would have done had it not been a Bond film) and I have no problem with ‘Modern Cinema’ TM.
I do have a problem however with a director who does not seem to value the material he is working with and has simply decided to rush through it in the hope that people will be to confused to notice. It comes to something when behind the scenes documentary footage and production stills are more thrilling and impressive than the finished film.
In a way, I think, we all know, its rather senseless to ponder on about this film, but at the same time, it sorta remains so unsatisfying an experience, that one keeps on talking about it. Yes, the editing was on purpose to engage people, but ended as the exact opposite. If I don't see, what is going on, how can I get engaged?
Forster had all the money in the world, HE was the one who insisted of really going to all those countries and there are some beautiful shots in the featurettes, like the view on Panama etc, which didn't make the final cut. This is what I call unbelievable arrogance. Maybe for the first time, the money was NOT on the screen, as Babs insists on saying. He felt, he could afford to throw millions of dollars on the cutting floor. He should be hanged for that. He treated this as his personal playground, not doing, what he knew, he could do well, but playing around with stuff, he had no idea about (not his fault, but then, I treat this more careful) he had a vision of a film, playing like a bullet and brutally murdered a good film (maybe) for that.
Just remember the roof top chase, which DC did himself (as most other stuff) and still, he felt the need to cut off his face in one scene. So - the actor (DC) does his own stunts to not have cuts in important moments and still gets a film, that has no fluence in any scene - so it was all for nothing. Major bummer, I would think. Forster acted like an arrogant snob on this. despite the writers srike and a flawed script, he could have delivered a great action film with beautiful locations.
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I still have nightmares about DUD.
