Casino Royale - New Bond, New Girl, New Villain

Originally Posted by Megalith

All that matters.

All that matters is you getting banned from yet another forum.

KEEP UP THE WORK, SOLDIER!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Bumping this thread because it becomes more relevant in the coming weeks.

I'm very interested to see where this movie goes - as it's both the 21st Bond movie but also a prequel (as it involves Commander Bond's assignment to earn a 00 agent status)

From what I've seen Craig looks great in the part - very much like the Timothy Dalton type Bond (though his 007 movies were fairly subpar), where he's angrier and more aggressive. Much more like the agent Ian Flemming wrote about instead of the stupid pun-driven Bonds in View To A Kill or Die Another Day.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by highlush

he does not have the bond look or style AT ALL.

As opposed to the heavy comedic efforts of View To A Kill or Die Another Day? If anything, Daniel Craig is *more* like Bond than some of the other actors - certainly Roger Moore.

Really depends on where you're coming from, though. Sean Connery is the quintisential movie Bond but Timothy Dalton is still the most like the character in the novels. Brosnan, while a touch wooden at times, seems to understand that Bond is "bigger than life" and kinda runs with it. George Lazenby isn't bad either - On Her Majesty's Secret Service is probably the best movie in the series - but with only one outing, you don't have much to go on.

Craig is very, very similar to Dalton's acting. I'm very interested to see what he gives - the trailers make Bond look more weary and earthy than previous installments which should give the series a nice level of believability its been lacking.

In other news, I have a copy of David Arnold's score already. He said early on that it was most like On Her Majesty's Secret Service as it lacks use of the Bond theme. He's only half correct - the final track ("The Name's Bond...James Bond") is a suite of the famous theme - and theres a couple hints at it through out the score where Arnold plays the ostinato without the melody (think of John Ottman's Superman Returns, where you usually hear just the "climbing" bars without the theme following).

The score is more introverted and dramatic than any Bond score in years, similar to The Living Daylights but with a better handling of the synth. Yes, the score has synth but used in a way similar to Tomorrow Never Dies (ambiance instead of instrument).

"Miami International" is probably the best cue on the disc - running just short of thirteen straight minutes and culminating in some bitch'n fight music.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by El Ray Fernando

I just heard the new Bond theme and I must say it is somewhat mediocre; I just don't like it that much. Cornell is a solid artist and he can produce something better than that.

Agreed. I like Cornell too and I love Bond music - but the song its pretty bland. It also lacks a more orchestral backing. The lyrics for the song are perfect but what good is that if the music sucks?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Tama8-chan

WHOA WHOA WHAAAT?!
WHERE?!?!

Here, on my MP3 player. I get stuff in advance, either through album promotions or because I know people on the INTARWEB who are the best at what they do.

If you want, theres a review of the album here - http://www.musiconfilm.net/get_review.php?id=140

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

Yes, it is a rebooting of the series.

Thats not as big of a deal as they make it out to be. They've rebooted the series three times prior (On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The Living Daylights and Goldeneye) though you might count a fourth one (Never Say Never Again) that really didn't go anywhere.

They reboot the series and it keeps on falling back on the crappy, pun-heavy Roger Moore approach. We will end up with another TWINE at some point, it's going to happen.

However this movie is pretty goddamned great. It gets a lot of things right (lack of gadgets, beating the crap out of people, pacing) but it's also missing obvious Bond staples, like a megalomaniac. Yes, I realize they were shooting for a more "realistic" Bond, but they've done that before and had larger-than-life villians.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

but the fact that this is also a 'reboot' means they don't need to worry about the timeline continuity issue that was raised.

James Bond has only rarely had any sense of continuity. Aside from the awful LETS HAVE OLD GADGETS scene in Die Another Day and George Lazenby breaking the fourth wall in OHMSS, it isn't like theres this constant thread.

(Wait, forgot about Bond's wife dying. They've mentioned that once or twice)

There was an author who attempted to make the name "James Bond" an operative word, which would mean that each actor was in fact playing a different person using the same code name. That was thrown out pretty quickly.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Vivace119

You currently have pierce brosnan as your avatar, yet he also went for the ''pun-heavy'' approach you appear to dislike.

All Bond movies have puns in them - its a matter of delivery. Though, yes, DAD was intolerable.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by MetheGelfling

I thought the Cornell song was a bit bland.

It takes time but it grows on you. Sadly, the orchestral heavy version from the movie isn't what the released single is like at all.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by orion_mk3

I still think that the decision to take the series out of continuity--to "reboot it" as it were, is awful, essentially pissing on 20 films and 40 years of cinema.

That arguement doesn't make any sense. Goldeneye, Living Daylights, OHMSS or Live And Let Die were all reboots that did the exact same thing this one did - but they didn't piss all over the series like you claim. Does Kevin McClory's lawsuit piss all over the Bond franchise in the same way?

Bond movies have never had a discernable continuity. They're not suppose to really, aside from generic things like Q not liking Bond or Diana Rigg's character being dead.

The problem is that it was time to ditch Brosnan - just like they did to Moore and Dalton - and it happend around a time where "Rebooting" has become popular.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by orion_mk3

but they were fully in continuity with the previous films

There is no real discernable continuity. You're talking about one character who obviously spans several decades in time, from the height and then past the Cold War.

That alone speaks volumes of the lack or simply flexible continuity.

Originally Posted by orion_mk3

For example, in OHMSS, Lazenby's Bond is shown going over gadgets he collected in previous adventures

He also says "This didn't happen to the other bloke" in the very beginning of the movie. Breaking the imaginary fourth wall alone should destroy whatever credibility continuity should have by acknowledging Connery.

Originally Posted by orion_mk3

There are more examples, of course. "Casino Royale," like the other Bond transitions, features a new take on the character. I'm fine with that and I like Craig's Bond. I just wish it didn't start the series' continuity over from scratch.

You made some good points with "For Your Eyes Only" and "Living Daylights" - but one could argue that the stupid gadget scene in DAD is only there for fan reference and not as to say HEY THIS JETPACK WAS FROM THIS MOVIE AND THIS BOOTKNIFE WAS FROM THAT MOVIE. It's not specific - it's what you call a "homage".

In the end, theres no evidence that they started any type of continuity in the first place, let alone over again. Why is M still played by Judi Dench? Why is Felix Lieter in here - let alone played by a black man?

Bond does have a certain number of things that make up a Bond movie - Q, nice cars, women with their tits hanging out - but because some of those things are missing doesn't mean anything. Q was in 16 out of 17 Bond movies - because he wasn't seen in that one movie, does that mean it's not a Bond movie?

How ya doing, buddy?

Never mind. Ill keep my comments to myself.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?