853 replies to this topic

[SecretAgentFan]

http://thelondonrevi...d-2012-release/

That reviewer really does not know what he´s talking about. At no point SKYFALL is like DIE HARD. And that he can´t pick up on the tension with Fiennes in the office scenes...

[quantumofsolace]

http://www.mirror.co...-return-1401736

[quantumofsolace]

http://www.frostmaga...ll-film-review/

Edited by quantumofsolace, 11 December 2012 - 03:09 PM.

[quantumofsolace]

http://www.moshblog....s-bond-skyfall/

[Turn]

 

http://thelondonrevi...d-2012-release/

That reviewer really does not know what he´s talking about. At no point SKYFALL is like DIE HARD. And that he can´t pick up on the tension with Fiennes in the office scenes...

 

Well, it made a change from the usual Bourne comparisons.

 

Seriously, was this just like a review from some forum or something? I hope this wasn't from some type of publication where somebody gets paid for reviews because I've seen high schoolers with better reviewing skills. The Moore era is long gone, deal with it.

[quantumofsolace]

scotsman

film review 2012

dec 20 2012

 

James Bond went “back in time” in the magnificent Skyfall, driving M to Scotland in an Aston Martin DB5 for a date with destiny that brought him full circle to his cinematic origins. Coming towards the end of what is now the most commercially and critically successful Bond film of all time, it was the culmination of an audacious feat of blockbuster filmmaking, with director Sam Mendes holding his nerve during the character’s 50th anniversary year to deliver a film that celebrated 007’s heritage, interrogated his relevance, and reset the template for what a Bond film could do. Even Daniel Craig seemed to be having fun – and no wonder. In the future, his Bond will stand alongside Sean Connery’s as the one to top.

[glidrose]

Raymond Benson has seen SF three times and he really likes it. He calls it a real crowd-pleaser this time. He says it pushes a lot of buttons in a lot of people, it just hits all the right marks. He also says it's certainly the best Bond film they could have made in the year 2012. Even his wife really liked this one. He says she went wow this is really good.

[quantumofsolace]

spiked

review of the year 2012

dec 21 2012

 

James Bond turned 50 this year. After the faux arthouse depths of 2008’s Quantum of Solace, the old chap wasn’t looking too good on it. But awash with one-liners, oozing machismo and complete with a fittingly daft-looking villain (a bleach-blond Javier Bardem), Skyfall marked 007’s filmic rebirth. Gritty but camp, silly but stern – this was Bond for the twenty-first century. What’s more, it saw long-serving supporting player Dame Judi Dench finally take centre stage, proving a sassy and needful foil to our hero’s (Daniel Craig’s) misogyny.

[quantumofsolace]

den of geek dec 26 2012

 

Daniel Craig's third outing as James Bond made a huge impression on the UK box office this year. It surpassed Avatar as the highest-grossing film of all time in just 40 days, and by the time you're reading this, it will likely have become the first film ever to make over £100 million in UK cinemas. Aside from being the first 007 adventure to hit the screen since 2008's underpowered Quantum Of Solace, the film opened to rave reviews, and was more than good enough to crack our top ten films of the year.

It also happened to fall in the same year as the 50th anniversary of Dr. No, and so it's as much a celebration of the Bond series as a whole as it is a development of Craig's portrayal. Indeed, the most impressive thing about the film is that director Sam Mendes reaches back to the past with one hand, and points the way forward with the other, and yet travels equal distance in either direction.

In correlation with what some have called "the new seriousness" in movies, popularised by both the Bourne series and Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, Skyfall really puts Bond through his paces. At the very beginning, M misplaces her trust in 007 by giving an order that leads to Bond being shot, and he responds to this betrayal by retiring on some tropical island, drinking heavily and sleeping around. There are some coincidental echoes of Bruce Wayne's condition at the beginning of The Dark Knight Rises, but this film only loses out by being second out of the gate: it doesn't set the tone for what actually turns out to be a more fun Bond movie than we've seen in a while.

Instead, it sets up Judi Dench's M as a more fallible figure, which gives way to a superbly nuanced villain too. To this writer, Skyfall has the second best villain in the whole series, after From Russia With Love's Red Grant. Like Grant, Silva is equal and opposite to Bond, but they're actually both defined by their relationship with M. Oedipal overtones abound, but this is a brilliant way of capitalising on the dynamic between Craig and Dench, so firmly established over the course of Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solace. Javier Bardem's performance is as strange and frightening as you could hope for, and his screen presence is suffocatingly awesome.

There's a stellar supporting cast too, with Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris and Ralph Fiennes creating new interpretations of old friends, and a scene-stealing turn from Albert Finney as the irascible gamekeeper at the eponymous estate. The Scottish Highlands may be the least exotic location that the series has ever chosen for a big finale, but in a film that is all about exploring the place of Bond, and by extension, the place of Great Britain in the modern world, the explosive climax feels totally natural in this story.

From Adele's brassy theme song to Roger Deakins' gorgeous  cinematography, Skyfall brings everything together for a stonking 50th anniversary celebration, and it helps that some of the more unusual callbacks to the past (how does the Bond of this continuity have access to that car?) are not only forgivable but hugely enjoyable in spite of any confusion. "Sometimes, the old ways are the best" is a central conceit of the film, and its embedded throughout, from the dialogue to the iconography in its very bones.

However Quantum Of Solace may be remembered in years to come, Skyfall is not just the 50th anniversary James Bond film, but the James Bond film that we all expected and anticipated after Casino Royale. After a couple of films' worth of that new seriousness, Mendes has finally got the series to the point where it's comfortable in its more nostalgic function. And when the film's final, fan-pleasing scene arrives, he proves that it's better late than never.

[quantumofsolace]

metro 27 dec 2012

 

Director Sam Mendes performs what essentially is mouth-to-mouth on the flagging James Bond franchise and delivers a shot of adrenalin to the arm.

Reinvigorating the 50-year-old 007 film series, the film-maker delivers what has been hailed as the best Bond movie ever as our favourite womanising spy tries to uncover a plot against his boss M.

With fantastic action set-pieces, a deliciously sinister performance from Javier Bardem as baddie Raoul Silva and an ending which provides an emotional wallop, Skyfall deserves its crown as king of the UK box office this year.

[S K Y F A L L]

Skyfall is the first Bond film that I followed the production of so closely and because of that there wasn't as much to surprise me with when it finally came out.

The pre title sequence was well done and maybe even better then CR`s or QOS’s the only thing I would change is some of the dialog, which I felt is sometimes too over dramatic.

 

I was hoping that Adele would do something more like Shirley Bassey, it just seemed too soft and forgettable IMO and I really hated the back vocal. The title sequence designs were great and only a few times did I think they could have had a better transition between shots.

 

It felt like I was just waiting for the Shanghai scenes to come and am glad it did not drag on, I felt it flowed really well until the casino. The Shanghai scenes are some of the best in the film if not the best IMO and all the shots look great but it seemed under-utilized along with Severine and Silva. There is pretty much no dialog in Shanghai what so ever which tells you how little time they spent there.

 

I didn’t care much for the casino scene, I was bored throughout it but the Komodo dragon bit was a great idea and it had an alright throwback to LALD.

The London scenes with Q were well done and I like them better then when he is introduced at the art gallery.

 

Interesting when Q realizes that Silva's suit case computer is how they got into the system, he starts responding; "S***, S***, S***" all because that is the one word you can say as much as you want without changing the ratings. I imagine they one got one F bomb and which M used but you also don't show much blood in the film even when Patrice snipes the man in Severines room or when you do see blood on M for that matter you don't see how see gets it. 

 

Silva’s face was one of the biggest surprise along with the DB5 machine guns. I felt the Scotland scenes was the second strongest scenes after Shanghai,

I thought that Eve felt shoehorned in, it’s probably just me though but I wonder if that whole scene of Eve shaving Bond was just done so that the line she says at the end pays off. 

[quantumofsolace]

411mania dec 28 2012

 

When you have a franchise that's hitting its 50th anniversary, you need to spice it up. The James Bond films have done that numerous times but for the long-awaited 23rd movie, it achieved a feat most thought impossible: Nostalgia for the past combined with a bold look for the future. The idea of Daniel Craig's Bond shaken after a near-death experience and forced to rebuild himself was wonderfully done but what got you was that for the first time, a Craig movie felt like a real classic Bond film. Javier Bardem was brilliant as the twisted villain with a complex plot, the introduction of the new Q was fun with nods to how ridiculous the gadgets could get in the past and the part where Bond breaks out the old Aston Martin brought cheers in my theater. With a brutal finale that brought things full circle in so many ways, Skyfall was not only the best Bond movie in years but made fans, old and new, more than eager to see 007 return and why he is still the greatest cinema spy hero of all time. And like the wines he often favors, he just gets better with age while appreciating its tone.

 

[quantumofsolace]

necn dec 27 2012

 

What a way to celebrate 007's 50th anniversary with arguably the best Bond film ever. "Skyfall" had it all - Daniel Craig giving Sean Connery a serious run for the title of "Best James Bond ever", and Javier Bardem was sensational as the sneering cyber terrorist Raoul Silva, making him one of the Bond series' best villains. And while we're on the subject of best - how about Adele's slinky smooth title track?

[quantumofsolace]

screengeek 28 dec 2012

 

The return to form of James Bond just gets everything right, from the performances of Daniel Craig and Judi Dench – not to mention Javier Bardem’s menacing villain Silva, Sam Mendes’ spot-on action direction and Roger Deakins’ typically handsome cinematography. Skyfall brought Bond into the modern era and actively challenged the character to adapt, whilst still paying enough service to fans to ensure almost unanimous critical applause. Perhaps it doesn’t quite pip Casino Royale to the best Bond of the modern era title, but it is certainly a close-run race.

[quantumofsolace]

coventry telegraph film review of the year dec 28 2012

 

In first place is Skyfall, released to commemorate the 50th anniversary of James Bond in cinemas.

For a 22nd sequel to be on target to become the first movie to gross £100 million in the UK makes the achievement all the more special, a real feather in the cap for director Sam Mendes who let the actors act and prevented the stunt men from getting too carried away.

Even Adele’s title song was a modern classic and the traditional James Bond theme was used judiciously, too.

 

Edited by quantumofsolace, 30 December 2012 - 12:51 AM.

[quantumofsolace]

derry journal 31 dec 2012  At the Movies - Top 10 films of 2012

 

Bardem’s Bond baddy, Silva, is perhaps the best ever and decision to focus on the origins of Bond is inspired. The finale is beautifully shot and it’s a great combination of traditional mixed with modern.

Edited by quantumofsolace, 31 December 2012 - 11:57 PM.

[Turn]

American magazine Entertainment Weekly placed Skyfall in its top 10, number 8 overall. First was Zero Dark Thirty. I believe the magazine also placed CR in its top 10 back in 2006.

 

I just glanced through it at a bookstore, didn't see what the comments were.

[quantumofsolace]

Flickering Myth's Top Ten Movies of 2012 Monday, 31 December 2012

 

It's fitting that in its 50th anniversary, the James Bond movie franchise produced one of the best instalments in the series, and one of the finest films of the year, as Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes teamed up with Daniel Craig's 007 for the super spy's 23rd official adventure, Skyfall. Backed by acting heavyweights such as Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem, Skyfall received near-universal acclaim from critics and moviegoers alike and has gone on to become the third-biggest release of 2012, not to mention the highest-grossing UK release of all-time. While the Bourne series faltered with the Bourne-less The Bourne Legacy, Skyfall put Bond back on top in a big way.

Edited by quantumofsolace, 31 December 2012 - 11:54 PM.

[quantumofsolace]

impact magazine 3 jan 2013

Impact’s Top 10 Films of 2012

 

 

 

1 Skyfall

 

James Bond himself would hesitate if given the mammoth task faced by Sam Mendes. An underwhelming predecessor left the franchise on uneven ground and, as history has shown, even the most critically acclaimed filmmakers can’t escape studio interference. With an all-star cast and crew of Hollywood talent, expectations were high.

Skyfall superseded all expectations.

Where Skyfall excels is its characters. Bond has never been more vulnerable and the stakes never so personal; Daniel Craig adds further complexity to his already tormented portrayal; Judi Dench flourishes in her role as M, providing a gratifying human element to Bond’s otherwise dour higher-up; whilst Javier Bardem successfully straddles the line between theatrical and menacing as antagonist Raoul Silva.

Mendes recognized the talent of the crew behind him, allowing each department to achieve some of their best work to date. Mention must be given to Thomas Newman’s engaging score, making use of memorable cues and motifs from past entries, and to cinematographer Roger Deakins who provides an outstanding array of images and some breathtaking establishing shots which should guarantee an Oscar nomination.

Skyfall really is a triumph, succeeding as a riveting action flick, but more crucially an important and satisfying entry in the James Bond franchise.

[byline]

High praise for Skyfall and Judi Dench in this column by Jan Wong:

 

 

But now older, even old, women are suddenly getting terrific roles. The trend hit home over Christmas when I went to see Skyfall. I’d gone only because my 22-year-old son chose it. In truth, I had stopped being a James Bond fan ages ago, probably about the time I started university, became a feminist and noticed that Pussy Galore and the other Bond babes were solely decorative.

Watching Skyfall, I was prepared for the same old same old — cleavage and cars. Instead, I was transfixed by Dame Judi Dench playing M, Bond’s boss. Yes, Bond was taking orders from a woman, a real woman. Instead of temptress manes cascading over naked shoulders, Dench’s white hair was cropped short. She wore a trench coat, not a bikini.

M was smart, acerbic and tough, but also deeply human. And when bad guy Javier Bardem tried to scare her, she merely sniffed at his over-the-top theatrics. Her close-up shots showed every soft, powdery wrinkle. She looked gorgeous. We should all have our own lighting crew.

 

[Iceskater101]

Skyfall was generally well liked by critics. I mean I haven't read that many reviews from critics about how bad it is.

[Mallory]

The hype will bring the film down in the coming years. Soon they will say Quantum of Solace was better.

[The Shark]

Sebastian Faulks ridicules 'distasteful' Bond film 'Skyfall'
Skyfall, the latest 007 blockbuster which was hailed by the critics as possibly the best James Bond film ever, has been ridiculed by the author of a recent Bond novel.



The film, which was released in October, has taken more than a billion dollars at the box office and received rave reviews, including from The Daily Telegraph and the celebrated critic Philip French, who said it might be the best Bond film yet and marked the moment that its star Daniel Craig emerged from the shadow of Sean Connery.

Their claims were derided on Friday, however, by the award-winning writer Sebastian Faulks, author of the 2008 Bond novel Devil May Care, which was commissioned by the estate of 007's creator Ian Fleming in 2008 to mark the centenary of his birth.

His Bond became an instant best-seller and was praised by critics as one of the best of 33 sequels written since Fleming's death.

On Friday he criticised Skyfall's reviewers' and said he found the film distasteful in parts and marred by bad acting.

"I found the last film pretty distasteful. One [of the Bond girls] couldn't act and the other had been previously exploited as a sex worker. And Bond walks into the shower and makes love to her. Casino Royale was much better," he told an audience at India's Jaipur Literature Festival.

He disliked the aggressive promotion and merchandising for the film and said critics had shown a "fantastic degree of collusion" with the film's publicists to avoid spoiling its main shock - the death of M, played by Dame Judi Dench.

"The critics said it was one of the greatest Bond films, which is clearly not true. Albert Finney can't do a Scottish accent," he said.

While he was disappointed to see Dame Judi leave the role, and praised Ralph Fiennes' performance as her successor, he said both Skyfall and Quantum of Solace had made a error by attempting to portray the spy as a more human character with a richer inner life.

"The films' attempts to show a deeper and sensitive side to James Bond have not been successful because that's not how he works. He doesn't have much of an inner life and when you try to give him one the whole thing stalls," he said.

He had also tried to introduce a sense of introspection in 007 to break up the unrelenting action sequences, but he quickly abandoned it. "I thought I would invest him with some serious thoughts. It didn't work. It was unconvincing. It made him look not thoughtful but slightly gay," he added.

The author said a greater interest in books would have indicated a deeper character, but in the whole Bond canon he is only seen reading once - and his literary choice is a guide to modern golf.

Bond's charm is in the balance between his essentially cold character and the fact that he pits it against dark forces to protect Britain, he said.

Only Casino Royale successfully hinted at an agent with a hinterland when it shows Bond fall down in the shower, "shocked and appalled by what he had done. It suggested he had a softer, human side," Faulks said.

Fleming's Bond conveyed a character "so alone and in constant jeopardy", under-equipped in soft shoes and nothing but a "ladies' gun" to defend himself.

Mr Faulks' fellow panelist, Ian Fleming's biographer Andrew Lycett, disagreed with his criticism of Skyfall. "It gathered together all the ingredients of a Bond novel and I wasn't bored, I quite enjoyed it," he said.

http://www.telegraph...lm-Skyfall.html

[007jamesbond]

whatever  Sebastian Faulks Devil May care was terrible...........waiting to see for Jeffery Deaver think of Skyfall..... 

[tdalton]

I agree with Faulks to a point.  I agree with him regarding the Bond girls, although moreso with his assessment of Moneypenny than with Severine.  I didn't mind the Severine character herself, which Faulks seems to, but what they ended up doing with the character I think ended up being rather shallow and, ultimately, pointless in the grand scheme of the plot.  Her presence, as Faulks alludes to, simply makes Bond look, needlessly, like a jerk.  That in and of itself is not a bad thing, as Bond is that from time to time, but it was so unnecessary that it ended up being off-putting.

[The Shark]

Her presence, as Faulks alludes to, simply makes Bond look, needlessly, like a jerk

 

Compared to Moore's Bond treatment of Anders in TMWTGG, Craig's Bond here is a saint. Severine's presence is to show how ruthless Silva is, and on that level it works. The only thing that I think could have been improved is the transition to from her death to the celebratory mood as the helicopters arrive.

[tdalton]

 

Her presence, as Faulks alludes to, simply makes Bond look, needlessly, like a jerk

 

Compared to Moore's Bond treatment of Anders in TMWTGG, Craig's Bond here is a saint. Severine's presence is to show how ruthless Silva is, and on that level it works. The only thing that I think could have been improved is the transition to from her death to the celebratory mood as the helicopters arrive.

 

 

And I'm fairly certain that Bond's actions in TMWTGG have received their fair amount of condemnation over the years as well.  Just because there's a precedence for such a character doesn't mean that it should be repeated.

 

If her presence is simply to show how ruthless Silva is, then I think it completely fails in that respect.  They hype up Silva as this horrific monster before he actually appears, and then once he does, he completely undermines all of the buildup.  That's not to say that Silva is a good man.  He's a very bad person, but they go out of their way to make him sound like he's the worst of the worst, to say that he's worse than the Draxes, the Blofelds, the Strombergs, the Trevelyans, etc. before him, when he's, at the very best, comparable to such villains rather than being head and shoulders above them in terms of how awful a person he is. 

 

The Severine character was either an attempt at shock value or an attempt to make it seem like they were touching on an important global issue.  It accomplished neither and her inclusion in the film is just a slight step above being completely unnecessary.

[Hockey Mask]

Sebastian Faulks is giving Bond advice?  That's rich.

[Turn]

Faulks is incorrect in saying Bond only read once in the canon. Besides the golf book, he is said to be reading an Eric Ambler spy thriller (in FRWL, maybe) and I believe it said one of his favorite books was Scarne (or something) on Cards. It's also noted the types of newspapers he reads. I don't find this makes him a deeper character.

 

As for the Skyfall girls topic, I found it incredibly refreshing it didn't all come down to Bond dragging one of the girls along the whole film, ending in the common clinch as the credits roll.

[Major Tallon]

Faulks is incorrect in saying Bond only read once in the canon. Besides the golf book, he is said to be reading an Eric Ambler spy thriller (in FRWL, maybe) and I believe it said one of his favorite books was Scarne (or something) on Cards. It's also noted the types of newspapers he reads. I don't find this makes him a deeper character.

 

As for the Skyfall girls topic, I found it incredibly refreshing it didn't all come down to Bond dragging one of the girls along the whole film, ending in the common clinch as the credits roll.

He also told M that he enjoys the Nero Wolf novels by Rex Stout.