Spectre

ack

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beaur

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I just saw it. Daniel Craig to me is a great Bond. Connery is #1 but Craig is 1A for my money.

I liked the movie a lot. Less action scenes than other Bond movies but it worked, and a bit more "character" building. A couple of laugh out loud moment that actually fit and reminded me of the original movies from the 60's. Story was good was interesting and the gadgets didn't take over the movie. There were enough hints in the movie that this is Craig's last movie. Interesting twist on the villain that makes it clear the Bond franchise won't die any time soon but villans weren't very threatening for my money. Not to forget the Bond girls; well Monica Bellucci has always been gorgeous and she doesn't have much to do here. Lea Seydeux also reminds me of older Bond girls, she's beautiful and sticks around longer than recent ones. New Q is finding his groove, and I am glad they didn't try to parrot the original.

I'll be seeing it again.

Beau

The reviews are all over the place (just like Skyfall, despite the fact it grossed $1.1b); for example

If there is such a thing as "James Bond's Greatest Hits," then Spectre is it.
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/spectre-20151104
vs
'Spectre' Is The Worst 007 Movie In 30 Years http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottme...w-spectre-is-the-worst-007-movie-in-30-years/

I'll post what I thought of the movie after people have had a chance to see it this weekend.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
We just got back from the film. I too was fixed to the screen for the 148 minutes but when all was said and done I loved the way it tied everything together. We all remember Ernest Stavro Blofeld with his ring and the white cat on his lap from one of the original Sean Connory films.

Having said that I found the movie a 7.5/10 Very good but not great

I thought the opening scene was also good but a far cry from the best one ever as many reviewers were decrying (which for me was the opening of Casino Royale).

It was also difficult getting used to a new M, a new Q and a new Miss Moneypenny as well as seeing M in combat mode himself

I too sense this is his last Bond film as much of his acting seemed detached and he was going through the motions.

I also expected more from this Bond girl. Lea Seydeux looked just a bit too mature for the role
 

flez007

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Aug 31, 2010
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I also attended with my son (film actually started at 0:07 today in all cinemas) and rated it 7.5/10 - for some reason Casino Royale marked us in a much positive way.
The views of Mexico City were not bad but could be better IMHO
- and liked Bellucci better than Seydeux given the short time she had in the film (more engaging and energized).
 

MadFloyd

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May 30, 2010
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Thanks for the reviews. I could watch the opening scene of Casino Royale over and over - it's perfection in my mind.

I am happy to hear there is some character building rather than just mindless action. Sounds like I will enjoy it but not love it.
 

NorthStar

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Thanks for the reviews. I could watch the opening scene of Casino Royale over and over - it's perfection in my mind.

I am happy to hear there is some character building rather than just mindless action. Sounds like I will enjoy it but not love it.

 

MRJAZZ

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Jan 20, 2014
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Those Bond films with Daniel Craig; the're all the best.
The older Bond films with Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Peter Sellers, ...they were all mediocre and inferior.

I can't wait to add this one ('Spectre') to my Daniel Craig James Bond 007 Blu collection, among all the the other ones starting back in 1962.
That's 53 years of Bond flicks! ...I bet there is another 47 years to go still!

I love Monica Bellucci. I love Jags.

___________

* Is it playing in (((3D))) @ some theaters ('Spectre')? ;-)

_______

View attachment 23144 View attachment 23145

DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and GOLDFINGER are hardly mediocre Bond films. CONNERY will always be the best BOND although Craig is very good in the role.

Cheers.....
 

MadFloyd

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Thanks, Bob. I was actually thinking of the scene just after the opening credits (long foot chase), but of course I also like the black & white scene and adore the credits as well. Did I mention that I love this movie? :)
 

NorthStar

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DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and GOLDFINGER are hardly mediocre Bond films. CONNERY will always be the best BOND although Craig is very good in the role.
Cheers.....

Agreed. I also like THUNDERBALL very much.

For sure, back in the 60s, when we were young. * They were more (and still are) "funny" flicks, more than anything else; "mediocre" wasn't the exact word to describe, for that I admit it, ...I used that word in thinking as a comparison to today's Daniel Craig's (James Bond double 07) flicks. It's normal; we live in a world more advanced today in regards to everything...action, villains, fancy cars, Vanquish, women, picture quality, locales, aerial shots, cameras, ...all the 2015 stuff...fifty years more advanced.
In that sense of comparison, I used the word "mediocre" as "funny", "amateurish", "old style", "passé", ...simply in reference to its old age and the mentality of that older generation. I love all those older Bond flicks with Sean Connery, and today they are still "fun" to watch. They are part of our movie's collection, part of our movie history. ...This side of the British empire.
* In the movie 'Mad Max: Fury Road', the master villain used that word, "mediocre", in one scene. It simply crossed my mind in comparing old and new Bond flicks; very innocently, in a funny sense, in movies.

:b

Sean Connery - Zardoz (007).jpg
 

Mike

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DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and GOLDFINGER are hardly mediocre Bond films. CONNERY will always be the best BOND although Craig is very good in the role.

Cheers.....

What he said. I also liked some of the Roger Moore ones (Man With The Golden Gun and Live And Let Die, for example). The ones from the nineties were pretty woeful at times. Timothy Dalton was the global minimum.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
What he said. I also liked some of the Roger Moore ones (Man With The Golden Gun and Live And Let Die, for example). The ones from the nineties were pretty woeful at times. Timothy Dalton was the global minimum.

And let's not forget Woody Allens version of Casino Royale :)
 

MRJAZZ

Industry Expert
Jan 20, 2014
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Or George Lazenby in On His Majesty's Secret Service

Agreed. Lazenby did a great job in the one and only Bond film he was in. In my opinion he could have been the next best Bond after Connery. Apparently he thought acting in more Bond films was beneath him. His close friend , English actress DIANA RIGG (of the hit TV series THE AVENGERS) encouraged him to do more Bond films but he passed ( or as another rumor has it, he would only due more Bond films if he was paid more than Connery was , and along with other perks , but the producers passed.....at any rate he was a very good BOND in OHMSS.
Cheers
 

ack

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SPOILER ALERT

So having seen Spectre a few times now, I feel the movie is just brilliant. The reviews, as I said, are all over, and it goes to show what people are looking for in these films and what they get. However, Spectre comes with a disadvantage - we all know a lot about the organization and its leader, so the element of surprise in the plot just isn't there - Casino Royale and Skyfall deliver well on that. On the other hand, what is there is a solid story that ties really well Bond to Blofeld and all of Craig's movies up until that point, with continuity and a lot of symbolism; I also thought the title sequence was extremely well done, offering a lot of meaning and connecting with the song really well. Examples of symbolism are spread throughout, and for example, while I originally thought the final showdown with Blofeld to be a little weak - i.e. the moment he jettisons his magazine and empties his gun barrel, sparing Blofeld's life - I then realized that Bond is acting exactly as M describes his men to be, "A license to kill is also a license not to kill", and he empties his gun exactly the same way Swann did when she said "I hate guns", and finally tosses his gun into the river, as if to say goodbye to the audience or to show his discontent with his job, or both.

Craig's Bond continues to be a "blunt instrument", his character (confidence in himself, experience, et al) has evolved over the previous films, but also retains a key important aspect - that of someone who does not really subscribe to the love-them-and-leave-them school of thought, but actually cares about his female companions; so much so that he ends up tossing his gun in order to be with his newly-found love at the end. Craig's Bond falls easily in love (Vesper) and it shows in his eyes in this film with Swann as well - e.g. the way he looks and smiles at her in the train scene, but more importantly, when she herself decides to abandon him and his way of life; the disappointment in his eyes is quite evident, and he's actually quite content to be able to go back to her at the very end, ready to abandon the service as he did with Lynd. As such, Craig's Bond is still psychologically very vulnerable and he seeks the companionship of women, as opposed to them throwing themselves at him - for example, there is no reason why he'd compromise and tell Mr. White that he wants to protect his daughter and hand over his gun to him as proof of his word of honor. At the same time, he's still inexperienced - or as my wife put it, why didn't he just shoot the surveillance camera in Mr. White's home.

There is continuity in Craig's Bond between Skyfall and Spectre, especially when it comes to his childhood. In Skyfall, he stops and looks at the Scottish mountains, clearly disturbed by memories of the loss of his parents; he's also not visited his home in years. In Spectre, viewing that old photograph from his childhood in his flat is disturbing to him as is the note of guardianship... Bond's character is a deeply lonely and disturbed individual, and that's why Dench said "orphans always made the best recruits" - they need a purpose in life. He's also jealous, as evidenced when Moneypenny is revealed to have a lover and a life. Bond, at the end, clearly wants to have a life too.

Some US critics, as posted earlier, call him a dull and tired Bond. But here's what Fleming said about his vision of Bond: "When I wrote the first one in 1953, I wanted Bond to be an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened; I wanted him to be a blunt instrument ... when I was casting around for a name for my protagonist I thought by God, [James Bond] is the dullest name I ever heard." I find Craig's acting a brilliant interpretation of Fleming's depiction. And unlike the same critics who were expecting a rather larger participation by Monica Bellucci , it was obvious to me she was only going to get brief but important screen time. Lea Seydoux is rather cold, but I felt she had to be as the daughter of an assassin, one who probably did not get a proper upbringing.

I also thought the movie had very few weak moments - like in the opening scene it is obvious he'd chosen that hotel for a reason, but why would the girl have the key to the room and not him??? Regarding that opening scene, I thought it was oversold, but at the same time they spared no expense in dressing up all these extras, and the helicopter scene was quite daring. All in all, all action scenes were made to be more realistic than sensational, though the blowing up of Blofeld's lair could have used a little more imagination.

While I hold Casino Royale and Skyfall in higher regard, I felt Spectre is a solid 9/10 because of the acting and the solid story. Equally important is what "Bond" still stands for, and I was glad to see so many young fans dressed up in black tie and gowns at the IMAX showing I went to:

bond-fans.JPG

Finally, here's hoping this lady will make a cameo appearance in some future movie, though I understand she's too serious an actress to do so (you just focus on her face, OK?? LOL)

connely.jpg

In two weeks, we are gathering a bunch of couples to go see it again with drinks at the Four Seasons to follow. This is really a fun movie.

PS: The movie is filmed in 35mm analog film, the IMAX version was digitized and it clearly showed, taking away from the experience
PPS: Bloomberg has a nice article breaking down all the Bond characters - see which one you identify with http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-bond-james-bond/
PPPS: Another fun Bloomberg page http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...nsive-thing-in-james-bond-s-spectre-explained
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Great stuff ack and well thought out. Gave me room to ponder your evaluation.

The story indeed tied everything together. There were things however that were somewhat preposterous that my wife picked up on, such as how did the two of the escape onto that train with nothing only to show up in the diner of the train in tuxedo and evening gown.

To me he looked tired in the role but as you say, perhaps this is where Bond has evolved in his life and that was his acting

as for a 9/10 that is pushing it (and I like you am a Bond lover). I would give it a 7.5/10 but I still liked it
 

ack

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May 6, 2010
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There were things however that were somewhat preposterous that my wife picked up on, such as how did the two of the escape onto that train with nothing only to show up in the diner of the train in tuxedo and evening gown.

Not sure if I understand your question, but they were traveling with luggage to Tangier (L'Americain) though we don't really see it (perhaps someone else is carrying for them), he asked the train attendant to press his suit, and they carry luggage after they exit the train, while awaiting to be picked up (they were counting on being under surveillance, and were expecting to be found). Maybe I missed something.

Craig certainly looked older than 10 years ago, he's no longer a kid.
 

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