Casino Royale - Best 007 movie in years [some spoilers]

[Insight]

This is my favorite part (rumored, hopefully it's true):

Spoiler

Bond orders a martini
Bartender: Shaken or stirred?
Bond: Do I look like I give a damn???

 

[Klaus]

This is my favorite part (rumored, hopefully it's true):

Spoiler

Bond orders a martini
Bartender: Shaken or stirred?
Bond: Do I look like I give a damn???

It is true.

 

[Mark CMG]

I am so glad to hear this is good. I look forward to seeing this new Bond.

 

[Felon]

Okay, new life to Bond, fresh breath of air? I question that, as the last four Bond movies had more people in watch and made a lot of money.

In what way, shape, or form do these box office totals indicate that Casino Royale doesn't provide Bond with a fresh change of pace? Popularity and quality are separate concepts.

 

[Plane Sailing]

The thing is, although they made money, the Brosnan Bond flicks just weren't very good. "Goldeneye" was good, and I thought "Tomorrow Never Dies" was excellent (I would probably rate those two equally, but Goldeneye really lost me with the Bond-jumps-into-falling-plane bit). But I thought "The World is not Enough" was pathetic, and "Die Another Day" was only marginally better.

It is interesting to see how peoples tastes differ!

I thought Goldeneye was OK with some silly bits (motorcycle chasing plane off cliff, for instance), but I thought Tomorrow never dies was ludicrous and rated it amongst the worst bond films ever (stealth ship, helicopter blades chopping up houses or something, unconvincing newspaper magnate wants to start a war).

Conversly I really liked "The world is not enough" - I liked the action set pieces in the nuclear silo and I particularly was pleased to see Bond actually putting his 00 rating to some use in the finale. I liked the general premise of the film too.

Die another day was back into la-la land, with the inconsistency of the orbital lasers power though.

(I'm not saying your views on the films are wrong, of course - just highlighting how different films can end up appealing to different people for different reasons!)

I'm looking forward to seeing what Daniel Craig can make of it, and I'm going to see it next week.

Cheers

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Many people love the old James Bond with silly gagets and all. I have no problems with darker more gritty spy movies, I just question the need to reinterpret Bond. If people really wanted more realistic spy movies then they would be more popular at the box office. Bond has 40 years of being a successfull franchise based on cool gagets and one liners mixed with suaveness. Sure sometimes the goofiness goes overboard but that doesn't mean that its heart needs to be ripped out in overcompensation.

 

[Hand of Evil]

In what way, shape, or form do these box office totals indicate that Casino Royale doesn't provide Bond with a fresh change of pace? Popularity and quality are separate concepts.

Life and health of the franchise, boxoffice take means franchise will continue to see light of day, failure at boxoffice can kill the franchise. When Goldeneye was released it was a concern that Bond was past it time and too damaged by the 80's with the Timothy Dalton's Bond, the last being Licence to Kill in 89, while not bad movies they just did not do well against the action movies of their time. Goldeneye and the other Brosnam's Bond movies brought the franchise new life in movie goers, sponsorship, and fan base and showed that people have a preconceived myth and picture of Bond. If that is not captured by Casino Royale and Craig the boxoffice will reflect that, they have to continue the legacy of the Brosnam Bond or surpass it or it is just a footnote.

 

[Klaus]

"Breath of fresh air" doesn't mean the previous ones weren't successful. But they were successful retreading the same territory and playing to the strengths of Brosnan (himself a breath of fresh air when Goldeneye came out).

Can't wait to see this one!

 

[Piratecat]

Wow - out of 92 reviews, 88 have been positive.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/casino_royale/

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

... are we to assume that "James Bond" is just the name assigned to the current 007, and that we're essentially in the same continuity...

Pft.

He’s a Time Lord and doesn’t know it 'cause he lost his memory – he just keeps regenerating.

Which movie had Hallie in it, walking up the beech in the bikini? I liked that one. And the one where the evil oil zillionaries, I liked that one to.