James Bond 23 - 'Skyfall'

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  • MissDexterMissDexter Posts: 1,644
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    Absolutely awesome!
    Forget Casino Royale - This is the film that brings Bond back.

    Loved the subtext of old vs new, great nods to the past and wonderful promises of what's to come.

    Cannot wait to see it again.

    Long time time since I've seen the cinema bursting at the seams at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon.

    Highly recommended.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 76
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    jonny1973 wrote: »
    Loved the gay moment.

    Indeed. I'm not really getting though why people are finding it surprising. Again, there's a risk of spoilers here, but anyone paying attention to Craig's Bond outings (no pun intended) would realise this was not the first time he was propositioned by a gay baddie.....
  • big danbig dan Posts: 7,878
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    It's a great film. So glad I managed to avoid spoilers before I watched it, made even the smallest things even better for not knowing beforehand. So if you've not seen it, get off this thread!!:p
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,691
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    A VAST VAST VAST VAST improvement on the last outing.

    All the things that made the best Bond movies were there; the good stunt chase before the title sequence, a very good title sequence, humour, Q, etc.

    Long may this continue, and certainly Daniel Craigs best outing so far as Bond.
  • charmarrcharmarr Posts: 599
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    Michelle32 wrote: »
    A VAST VAST VAST VAST improvement on the last outing.

    All the things that made the best Bond movies were there; the good stunt chase before the title sequence, a very good title sequence, humour, Q, etc.

    Long may this continue, and certainly Daniel Craigs best outing so far as Bond.

    Bet you said that after watching the last Bond film.
    You will probebly say the same after the next one.
    BAAAA.........
  • MissDexterMissDexter Posts: 1,644
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    charmarr wrote: »
    Bet you said that after watching the last Bond film.
    You will probebly say the same after the next one.
    BAAAA.........

    I don't think anyone said it after the last one so your dull attempt at irony has fallen flat on its unfunny misspelled arse.
  • big danbig dan Posts: 7,878
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    charmarr wrote: »
    Bet you said that after watching the last Bond film.
    You will probebly say the same after the next one.
    BAAAA.........

    What a strange post. Maybe, shock horror, it is the poster's actual opinion.:eek: It's not exactly a shockingly uncommon opinion that Quantum Of Solace was a disappointing follow-up to Casino Royale, so I don't really understand your accusation here.
  • welwynrosewelwynrose Posts: 33,666
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    Just back from seeing it loved it - great nods to the past, good storyline plenty of action a well rounded film and IMO one of the top 5 bond films
  • Kayleigh2010Kayleigh2010 Posts: 1,242
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    I saw it today and really enjoyed it, not really a big bond fan more of a daniel craig fan lol thought it was a great film though, my bond fanatic boyfriend loved it
  • boddismboddism Posts: 16,436
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    jonny1973 wrote: »
    Surprisingly funny for a Bond film. Loved the gay moment.

    Also nice to see London for a change.

    LOVED the gay bit...Bond clearly likes sex... why not??

    Loved that London was in it so much
  • Get Den WattsGet Den Watts Posts: 6,039
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    Skyfall is clearly the best of Craig's film. QoS was dreadful and Casino Royale, in retrospect, is vastly overrated. It was good to see more of Bond's past. This is supposed to be a reboot but we hadn't seen anything about how and why Bond was the way he was up until Skyfall. A two-minute scene in a toilet doesn't count as the "origin" of Bond.
  • RAZORBACKRAZORBACK Posts: 371
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    Watched 'Skyfall' earlier today and although I enjoyed it I didn't think it came close to living up to the hype...
  • InTheLoopInTheLoop Posts: 6,595
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    Agreed, it was very overhyped, but still better than average.
    There were too many speculative moments of suspension to drive the plot forward, and logically nothing flowed 100% to make it entirely justifiable of the alleged actions, such as:
    Who was patrice trying to shoot in Shanghai? It just seemed a fillit to go there, to show some pretty city shots (which were stunning BTW)
    Why was brunette chick imprisoned by silva, i need more than he had "promised her everything?"
    Skyfall's caretaker has just been chilling out in that house since Bond was, what, erm, 10 years old?
    So Bond does Houdini-esque escapes from death constantly yet Silva doesn't even wait for 15-20 seconds to ensure that he's dead when underwater? All which leads to Bond conveniently getting out to show no after effects of hypothermic water or being wet to "throw" a knife at silva and kill him!?
    Silva is being prisoned in a glass box by three guarded policemen yet he somehow escapes offscreen (quelle surprise) which leads to a ridiculous underground chase and whenever Bond is just about to lose touch the light suddenly flickers to reveal Silva running 10 metres ahead of just in sight.
    And then the tube crash happens! The tube which had no passengers on?
    Then there's an unduly long scene with Q showing how M and Bond will make their way up to Skyfall by setting "breadcrumbs" for Silva and he next enters our screen blurting camp music from a helicopter? Right. So much for the meticulous planning if your not even going to show how the breadcrumbs succeed into luring Silva there

    And the plot was driven by someone who wanted revenge on M, because as an intelligence agent he had gotten too obsessed with hacking and the Chinese Intelligence were onto him, so she made the decision to sacrifice him instead of other agents. That's fine, but I wanted more, it could have gone FURTHER, why not have Silva being trained as a young recruit and ordered by M to kill Bond's parents, (remember, as M said, orphnas are the best recruits!) or Silva to have more dirt on M to make her look more like a bitch.
    It was all too soft, Silva had a case of sour grapes, his vindictiveness was unjustified, M obviously was correct in making that decision so there was no "agreement" with Silva, thus we didn't feel really emotional (positive or negative) when he was killed.

    The best films from the last few years, in the action genre, have no flaws. You leave the film with very very little questions, all the actions, morals and intentions are convincing.

    Here it feels a tad too contrived. Certainly not as disappointing as Promtheus, but definitely a let-down from it's overhyped mantra in the last couple of the weeks.
  • PunksNotDeadPunksNotDead Posts: 21,129
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    r11co wrote: »
    Troll.
    Homophobe

    Take it somewhere else please :)
  • ChparmarChparmar Posts: 6,367
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    Okay, just seen it and I am sick of Craig and his street-thug level Bond.

    Bond is supposed to be a sophisticated Spy, who never loses his cool, even when the world is falling apart. Please bring back stylish, Connery/Moore! Surely, it's not too much to ask for, even in this modern age?!
  • charmarrcharmarr Posts: 599
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    I will say it again.......because of the extreme hype you are meant to like it.
    In two years time you will look back,as you did with the other Bond films and say to yourselves,It was'nt really that good.
    Don't you see,that is why the stars do the boring rounds of interviews to hype it up to the maximum so that all you fools will have to agree that it is a wonderful film.
    That is why they are laughing all the way to the bank.
  • big danbig dan Posts: 7,878
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    charmarr wrote: »
    I will say it again.......because of the extreme hype you are meant to like it.
    In two years time you will look back,as you did with the other Bond films and say to yourselves,It was'nt really that good.
    Don't you see,that is why the stars do the boring rounds of interviews to hype it up to the maximum so that all you fools will have to agree that it is a wonderful film.
    That is why they are laughing all the way to the bank.

    Poor argument. Being sucked into the hype is initially going to see the film... after that we are all able to use our own objectivity to decide whether we liked it or not.

    Like I said in my previous post, I personally thought QoS was highly disappointing as did many others. If anything the more a film is hyped up, the more disappointing and noticeable it is if it fails to deliver.

    Please just accept that people have different opinions. I am willing to accept you perhaps think it is overhyped, but do not insult us by saying that we are not capable of forming our own views.
  • Bob_WhingerBob_Whinger Posts: 1,098
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    r11co wrote: »
    Troll.

    You are the troll. All you do is comment on other peoples posts and have no original thoughts of your own.
  • Bob_WhingerBob_Whinger Posts: 1,098
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    I think they may have made a huge mistake. The movie spends much more time on character development. Then kills off all three people that the audience has got to know and like.
  • BrooklynBoyBrooklynBoy Posts: 10,595
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    I like that with each of the new reboot movies there has been increasing nods to the 60's movies. An example being
    moneypenny in Skyfall and the new M using what looks very much like M's office from the Connery/Moore era.

    I do miss the gunbarrel from the start of the movies and I miss the old megalomaniac villains with Ken Adam designed lairs and the gadgets.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,691
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    charmarr wrote: »
    I will say it again.......because of the extreme hype you are meant to like it.
    In two years time you will look back,as you did with the other Bond films and say to yourselves,It was'nt really that good.
    Don't you see,that is why the stars do the boring rounds of interviews to hype it up to the maximum so that all you fools will have to agree that it is a wonderful film.
    That is why they are laughing all the way to the bank.

    Dont think so.

    Bond films are supposed to be entertaining. Quantum Of Solace was not - the action scenes were noisy and too fast so you couldnt see them properly. The plot was non-existant. There was no humour at all, it was a low value action film.

    This film was a return to some of the previous stuff that made the franchise watchable. And Daniel Craig was much more comfortable and brought some Sean Connery style to the film. While I wouldn't rank the film in my top three Bond movies, it was certainly much better. the fact that I took a family member with me who dosent like the franchise and for them to like the film says a lot.

    So i dont think that I will be going back after 2 more watches (or 2 years time) to say it wasnt as good as I thought it was initially thanks.

    If I had a criticism about the experience - it was having to sit through 40-45 minutes of purile adverts before the film started. Was that really necessary?
  • MissDexterMissDexter Posts: 1,644
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    It's been a funny old decade for Mr Bond, 10 years ago the 40th anniversary Bond movie Die Another Day saw the franchise not just shoot itself in the foot - it proceeded to chop the foot off and flush it down the toilet into a cesspit of effects-heavy and self-referential poop!
    The reboot arrived with Casino Royale which surprised everyone by not just being commercially successful but critically successful too, it wasn't to everyone's tastes with its Bourne-a-like editing and lack of traditional elements but it gave the Bond slate a much needed wipe clean.......
    Then Quantum Of Solace happened, the franchise dropped the ball again. Perhaps the success of Casino Royale was taken too much for granted and the reboot became a rebomb. Audiences were confused and genuinely let-down. To add insult to injury the MGM financial situation put Bond on the to-do list once again.

    So we come full circle to the next big anniversary - the 50th - and anticipation has never been so high - which way will it go? Traditional or NuBond?

    Why not both?

    Skyfall, to put it as simply as possible gets it "right". There's an overall feeling that the Bond team have sat back and had a good honest think about what the audience wants......and that is something we usually can't have - the best of both worlds. I don't wish to blow my own trumpet but I knew from the moment I saw that Casino Royale was lacking many Bond elements that evenutally tradition would slowly work its way back in and the Bond franchise would be rebuilt from within.

    Skyfall has a melancholic mood that drives the whole story forward, there are demons here that need to be faced. The past has to be dealt with and everything needs to move on, the whole movie IS the position the Bond franchise is in. Very brave of the team to more or less admit on screen that it is in a sense "now or never".

    The core story is brilliantly easy to follow thus avoiding any alienation of the more casual Bond fan, what could be simpler than "they've got something we want, we need to get it back"?
    There's minimal globe-trotting which for once is very welcome. Focussing on England and London comes across as a huge thank you to Bonds original audience and a great nod to 2012 which has been a Great British year.
    Characters are clear and simple, their motives and allegiances are set out and never change - I don't know about you, but I tire of the "double-crossing" twists that plague many movies these days. Each character truly is part of the story and no one seems to be just dressing the set.

    Action wise it's great and almost understated, the story really pushes the movie along - the action happens at the right time and never outstays its welcome. The pre-credits is a classic that nods to Octopussy and The Living Daylights without the need to hammer the point home. For me, the action highlight is the beautifully shot fight scene set against a neon-lit backdrop in Shanghai......less is indeed more.

    Performances are spot on, the choice of actors over models and novelty-casting has paid off. Seeing the calibre of Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris certainly gives hope for the future. I was especially impressed by Berenice Marlohe as Severine, a relatively small role but non the less amazing. I don't think any Bond girl has been so dangerously, erotically enticing as her before - she was perfect.
    Craig has really become Bond now, he's as intense as ever but seems more at ease with the role and his humour is certainly coming through.

    So, I mentioned earlier "the best of both worlds" - this is the Bond that should in theory please everyone. There's lots in this film about old vs new and none of it's very subtle. Sam Mendes does a great job in pulling back on the much criticised Bourne style editing and direction, he makes it much more accessible to the wider audience. The scale of the whole thing seems to be kept on a much tighter rein with the previously mentioned Shanghai sequence the only exotic location that registers. The nods to old Bond are fantastic and very welcome, an obvious sign that producers value their core audience. The nods to future Bond are pleasing and demonstrate trust that the audience can handle changes.

    Like all movies, look deeper and there are flaws and maybe the odd "as if" moment but when something is as stunning and well made as this they are forgivable and forgettable. If mistakes lead to the whole movie tripping up then I would take issue and question it (yes Prometheus I'm looking at you) but in this case it's all so skilfully handled you just go with the flow.

    Of all the clichés in all the world "Bond is Back" is a very overused one but in this case it really is true. The last two Craig movies were kind of "Bond on loan", Skyfall cements the fact that Bond has done his time on the naughty step and he's accepted he needs to grow up.

    All that's left is for us to enjoy him......again and again.
  • NorfolkBoy1NorfolkBoy1 Posts: 4,109
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    While I enjoyed it very much and thought it was an excellent Bond film, and a very good film with some of the best cinematography I've seen this year, a few things niggle at me which keep it out of the 5*/BEST BOND EVA!!!!1111!! stratosphere which many people seem to have bestowed upon it.

    In my opinion the need to recognize 50 years of history weighs a bit too heavy on the film's shoulders, for instance the decision to make the DB5 the one from Goldfinger (the actual car, same number plates and everything) instantly sets off massive continuity alarm bells in my mind, this wouldn't have happened if it was the car he won in Casino Royale with some more modern weaponry additions.

    More of a worry though (albeit with From Russia With Love fresh in my mind having watched it last week) was the return to some slightly dodgy sexual politics, with each and every one of the female characters being quite frankly pathetic. From Moneypenny's in-the-field incompetence, to M quivering in the corner at the conclusion, none of the film's women displayed any off the sass or verve of Vesper in Casino Royale.

    I know I've invoked CR twice here, and many people aren't so hot on that particular installment of Bond. Personally I grew up in the Roger Moore era, but I don't look back on it as fondly as many seem to, so the Komodo Dragon bit and the post-kill quips just didn't sit right with me, they took me out of an otherwise excellent film, as did, for a short moment, the thought "Home Alone" during the section at Skyfall Lodge.

    All relatively minor niggles though, and not enough to stop me enjoying it, it certainly felt more of a traditional Bond film than either of the last two, it was DEFINITELY a better film than QoS (by some considerable margin), but I'm not sure it's a better film overall than CR, but that's entirely down to personal opinion.
  • MissDexterMissDexter Posts: 1,644
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    While I enjoyed it very much and thought it was an excellent Bond film, and a very good film with some of the best cinematography I've seen this year, a few things niggle at me which keep it out of the 5*/BEST BOND EVA!!!!1111!! stratosphere which many people seem to have bestowed upon it.

    In my opinion the need to recognize 50 years of history weighs a bit too heavy on the film's shoulders, for instance the decision to make the DB5 the one from Goldfinger (the actual car, same number plates and everything) instantly sets off massive continuity alarm bells in my mind, this wouldn't have happened if it was the car he won in Casino Royale with some more modern weaponry additions.

    More of a worry though (albeit with From Russia With Love fresh in my mind having watched it last week) was the return to some slightly dodgy sexual politics, with each and every one of the female characters being quite frankly pathetic. From Moneypenny's in-the-field incompetence, to M quivering in the corner at the conclusion, none of the film's women displayed any off the sass or verve of Vesper in Casino Royale.

    I know I've invoked CR twice here, and many people aren't so hot on that particular installment of Bond. Personally I grew up in the Roger Moore era, but I don't look back on it as fondly as many seem to, so the Komodo Dragon bit and the post-kill quips just didn't sit right with me, they took me out of an otherwise excellent film, as did, for a short moment, the thought "Home Alone" during the section at Skyfall Lodge.

    All relatively minor niggles though, and not enough to stop me enjoying it, it certainly felt more of a traditional Bond film than either of the last two, it was DEFINITELY a better film than QoS (by some considerable margin), but I'm not sure it's a better film overall than CR, but that's entirely down to personal opinion.

    I seem to remember Vesper quivering in a shower because the situation she was faced with was more violent and intense than she had anticipated.
  • NorfolkBoy1NorfolkBoy1 Posts: 4,109
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    MissDexter wrote: »
    I seem to remember Vesper quivering in a shower because the situation she was faced with was more violent and intense than she had anticipated.

    A good point, and that scene is my main niggle with CR, I just find the finger sucking a bit wierd, but that was a particularly violent episode and she wasn't a hardened old bird with decades in the game.
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