12 replies to this topic

[DaveBond21]

Skyfall has finally made it to Australia and it opened on 22nd November, and I saw it yesterday.

I've been avoiding this site for the last 4 weeks so it's great to be back - hello everyone!

So, as with QOS, I am going to first ask, what has the general feedback been like here? Is everyone still excited and what have the main problems been with the film?

Spoilers ahead

For me, there are some classic Bond moments in this movie - I love the PTS, and Bond's island hideaway is fantastic. Love the scenes in Shanghai and Macau - indeed the scenes in the casino are some of the best in any Bond movie - including the fantastic dragon fight.

The lines are great, fantastic to see a new M, Q and Moneypenny, and the Aston Martin.

My issue is the last hour. If I was a skeptic I would say the last hour of the film is Bond basically trying to save two old people (and actually failing in one case). It's all very melodramatic and not very Bondian. In fact it looks like a cross between a generic action movie like Taken and a fantasy film - Bond's parents' grave? I was waiting for his dad's ghost to appear.

The final scene makes up for it but there is an awful lot of time spent at Skyfall that we could have done without.

So it's a great Bond movie, better than QOS, but not as good as CR and probably sits somewhere in the middle. The first half is excellent.

By the way, with Judi Dench no longer in the films, I hope we see less of M.

[sharpshooter]

Good to see you back on the forums, DaveBond.

I'm off to see the movie in 4 hours. I'll be able to engage your review, and everything else, after that point.

[jamie00007]

Saw it at an advance screening on Monday. Couldn't disagree with you more about the last hour which IMO is one of the finest hours of filmmaking in the entire series.

[A Kristatos]

Skyfall has finally made it to Australia and it opened on 22nd November, and I saw it yesterday.

I've been avoiding this site for the last 4 weeks so it's great to be back - hello everyone!

So, as with QOS, I am going to first ask, what has the general feedback been like here? Is everyone still excited and what have the main problems been with the film?

Spoilers ahead

For me, there are some classic Bond moments in this movie - I love the PTS, and Bond's island hideaway is fantastic. Love the scenes in Shanghai and Macau - indeed the scenes in the casino are some of the best in any Bond movie - including the fantastic dragon fight.

The lines are great, fantastic to see a new M, Q and Moneypenny, and the Aston Martin.

My issue is the last hour. If I was a skeptic I would say the last hour of the film is Bond basically trying to save two old people (and actually failing in one case). It's all very melodramatic and not very Bondian. In fact it looks like a cross between a generic action movie like Taken and a fantasy film - Bond's parents' grave? I was waiting for his dad's ghost to appear.

The final scene makes up for it but there is an awful lot of time spent at Skyfall that we could have done without.

So it's a great Bond movie, better than QOS, but not as good as CR and probably sits somewhere in the middle. The first half is excellent.

By the way, with Judi Dench no longer in the films, I hope we see less of M.

Glad you liked the movie Dave!

Yeah, I avoided the Skyfall forums for over a year so I wouldn't be spoiled! And it was definitely worth it!

I'm not sure I viewed the last hour as Bond trying to save two older people, but it definitely was a different kind of climax than most Bond films. Finishing at Bond's birthplace while destroying his own home instead of destroying the villian's lair, with a lot more at stake. And had Kinkade died, I don't know if Bond would have had the same emotional reaction than he did with M dying. I guess my only question regarding the last hour was why they had to improvise in coming up with the weapons they used to defend themselves. But I can probably answer my own question by saying that this utilized Bond's wits rather than him being dependent on fancy gadgets, a theme that was established early in the film with the "old fashioned" gadgets Q provided Bond with.

So no major problems for me with the movie, and so far the few here who did not like the film probably liked the more action centered Bond films of the Brosnan and Moore eras. Just my opinion, but everyone has their preferences, and there's nothing wrong with that.

[DaveBond21]

The final hour was well-made, and beautifully photographed but I found it quite generic and Batman/Harry Potter like - lots of shadows, fire, gravestones.

However, at least it was something different, and we do need all our Bond films to be different. To me it suffered the fate that all Bond movies have, in that they get bogged down at the end. The first hour is as good as anything we've had in the franchise.

Has there been much discussion about the fact that Bond decided to take M to Scotland to save her life and so he took her to Scotland and she ended up dead?

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[PrinceKamalKhan]

So it's a great Bond movie, better than QOS, but not as good as CR and probably sits somewhere in the middle. The first half is excellent.

My reaction was somewhat similar. A good but not great Bond film. A massive improvement over QOS though not nearly as good as CR. Provides enough entertainment to qualify as a mid-range Bond entry. I do think it ran a little overlong. I'd give it *** out of ****.

By the way, with Judi Dench no longer in the films, I hope we see less of M.

Totally agree with you DB21. I think we only have to fear if Ralph Fiennes wins an Academy Award in the next few years. Then, they'll start saying "we've got to expand his part!!!!"

[MkB]

Has there been much discussion about the fact that Bond decided to take M to Scotland to save her life and so he took her to Scotland and she ended up dead?

Oh yes!

Basically the reaction to Skyfall has been tremendously positive on the forum (and elsewhere, if one considers Box Office figures). Yet some fans have been disappointed, or without disliking the film have been discussing some controversial points. Here is what I believe were the most discussed points:

• the plot holes: SF's plot is full of absurdities - but hey, it's a Bond film after all! There's a thread listing them, it's already 4 pages long.
• Severine's untimely death without enough screentime, and more importantly Bond's flippant remark about a "waste of good whysky"
• CraigBond using the Goldfinger Aston Martin (as opposed to CraigBond's DB5 from CR): this one has been giving headaches to the fans trying to fit SF in a global Bond chronology
• the action: it's a controversial issue too, but some of us also think that the action in SF disappoints
• the third act in Scotland: some love it, some hate it.
• M's prominence in the film - being the main Bond girl
• Moneypenny's character: the shift from field agent to secretary seems odd to some of us, or at least oddly explained
• the general tone of the film, gloomy and not exactly escapist, and more precisely the idea that Bond is old, maybe too old to play this "young man's game"

The more consensual things would be IMO:

• Silva: one of, if not THE best Villain in the franchise
• the performance given by each and every cast member
• the cinematography

[sharpshooter]

Couldn't disagree with you more about the last hour which IMO is one of the finest hours of filmmaking in the entire series.

I agree. I liked the second half, and didn't get the 'didn't feel like a Bond movie' tag. They held a certain degree of charm and genuine suspense. Given it was the 50th anniversary, I found touching upon the character's roots suitable.

[DaveBond21]

Has there been much discussion about the fact that Bond decided to take M to Scotland to save her life and so he took her to Scotland and she ended up dead?

Oh yes!

Basically the reaction to Skyfall has been tremendously positive on the forum (and elsewhere, if one considers Box Office figures). Yet some fans have been disappointed, or without disliking the film have been discussing some controversial points. Here is what I believe were the most discussed points:

• the plot holes: SF's plot is full of absurdities - but hey, it's a Bond film after all! There's a thread listing them, it's already 4 pages long.
• Severine's untimely death without enough screentime, and more importantly Bond's flippant remark about a "waste of good whysky"
• CraigBond using the Goldfinger Aston Martin (as opposed to CraigBond's DB5 from CR): this one has been giving headaches to the fans trying to fit SF in a global Bond chronology
• the action: it's a controversial issue too, but some of us also think that the action in SF disappoints
• the third act in Scotland: some love it, some hate it.
• M's prominence in the film - being the main Bond girl
• Moneypenny's character: the shift from field agent to secretary seems odd to some of us, or at least oddly explained
• the general tone of the film, gloomy and not exactly escapist, and more precisely the idea that Bond is old, maybe too old to play this "young man's game"

The more consensual things would be IMO:

• Silva: one of, if not THE best Villain in the franchise
• the performance given by each and every cast member
• the cinematography

Thank God for MKB and PrinceKamalKhan, the voices of reason, and also always great to hear from sharpshooter, one of the best people on this site. The cinematography was great. But even such a fan of visuals as myself going back to the photography on old classics, has a problem with the fact that there is such a gloomy tone at the end of the movie.

By the way, I love James Bond jumping onto the back of a Tube train. Classic Bond, and I love the reaction of the public.


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[thecasinoroyale]

So glad you finally get to see 'Skyfall'! Hope you enjoyed it....I'm sure you did!

And everyone else yet to see, I know our forum fellow fan indy_chic is based in Australia too, so let us know your review!

[sharpshooter]

Thank God for MKB and PrinceKamalKhan, the voices of reason, and also always great to hear from sharpshooter, one of the best people on this site.

Very kind words, thank you.

By the way, I love James Bond jumping onto the back of a Tube train. Classic Bond, and I love the reaction of the public.

Yeah, that was good. My audience got a good laugh from the couple's reaction.

And everyone else yet to see, I know our forum fellow fan indy_chic is based in Australia too, so let us know your review!

I thought the movie was fantastic. I'll need to see it again, but I think I prefer it to Casino Royale, in any case they're both solid films. I'm working on a review now.

[DaveBond21]

Have you posted a review?

It's great to be back on this site, after avoiding it for the best part of a year in order to stay spolier-free.

By the way, is there a thread about the excellent Top Gear special :50 years of Bond cars" - we finally saw that here last night.

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[PPK_19]

Glad you liked it for the most part DaveBond21!

But i have to disagree with you saying the last hour wasn't up to scratch compared to CR. CR is a fantastic film right up until Le Chiffre gets a bullet in the head. From then on the pacing suffers, the fight in the sinking house is a bit 'meh'.

I think Skyfall has a far superior third act to CR in that respect. Bond and Kincade trade some excellent banter and Silva's attack on Skyfall lodge is photographed beautifully. That shot of Bond running across the field to M, with an orange-coloured mist in the background before delivering a flying kick to a goons head on the way is just....amazing.

A link to my review is here, if you want to read it. I've seen it 3 times