Oops, I’ll read the full topic in future. When it comes to films I think are going to be decent, I try not to read up too much about them in advance. I pretty much spoiled the best bit of SOAP by watching The Daily Show.
I finally saw the movie and here are my thoughts.
It had very little dialogue. Much less than most Bond films. Though, this is good because most the dialogue is an explanation of how a villian is going to destroy the thing in some really extremely unbelieveable way.
Daniel Craig looks like a cross between Steve McQueen and Brad Pitt. Rugged face, steel blue eyes and body by DaVinci.
This Bond emphasised romance over sexiness. Which, I think is good.
Opening animation sequence was overall pretty weak. They would get a good idea, like punching a man and he turns into a pile of card insignias, and then repeat it over and over and over.
The relationship between Bond and M was great. I really enjoyed that.
I thought that was Richard Branson in the Airport scene.
The unloaded gun in the desk. When we, and the bad guy, sees the gun, was the bottom of the butt showing? Wouldn’t you see a missing clip, or rather the empty space left by the clip?
I liked this Bond much better than most of the recent Bonds.
Bond may have emptied the clip and put it back in. The guy still should have noticed the difference in weight, if he practiced with the weapon much. A handful of bullets is a noticeable difference; however, if he had loaded the gun two years ago, tossed it in the drawer and not handled it since, he wouldn’t necessarily pick up on that.
I loved this film, although like many others I feel it ran longer than it needed to. Not really any specific scene, just a lot of long takes; the whole thing could have been tightened up a bit without losing much. If I think about it, there were in fact a number of plot holes, but they really didn’t jar too much while I was watching.
Doesn’t matter, though. I really dug the dark tone and the, well, the weight of it. In overall tone, if not in plotting, I consider it closest to yy personal all-time favorite of the series, From Russia With Love. Unlike the majority of Bond films, one had the feeling there were serious physical and emotional effects to the fights, killings and betrayals. The torture scene, and the Venice climax, were partidularly effective in that regard. I liked that Bond was a man of few words, and that those few words were something more than a collection of quips. Le Chiffre was an interesting villain, evil without being pantomime like so many in the earlier movies.
I know Cranston isn’t here to respond at the moment, but I did want to comment on his complaint about Bond chasing rather than being chased in the opening sequence. For me, the whole point of that scene was that Bond was not in fact as athletic as, or had the local knowledge of, the guy running from him, and had to improvise repeatedly to keep up with him. I thought that wss very clearly conveyed by the filmmakers and I thought it worked very effectively.
For me, not just a good Bond film, but a a good film, full stop. An instant classic, and one of my two or three favorites of the series.
No, Bond holds up the clip and shows it him.
I don’t understand the big, coming out of the water scene. The guy took his shirt off abut 57 times in the movie. It was like he was William Shatner.
Oh, I’ve been poisoned, let me take off my shirt.
Popping in again to say how much I like what Zebra said about Craig:
“Daniel Craig looks like a cross between Steve McQueen and Brad Pitt. Rugged face, steel blue eyes and body by DaVinci.” - except I’d say body by Michelangelo…
and I’ll second everything El Kabong said also.
They weren’t planning on him showing much skin, but early in shooting, he came up out of the water and all the women on the set were more than a little distracted by the sight, so they figured a little rewriting might be in order.
To be fair, he did have to attach the AED electrodes. Although I didn’t quite understand if the electrode came undone because of foul play or clumsy handling?
Couldn’t be Leiter. He was killed in “License to Kill.”
No, he lost a few limbs, but survived. His wife was killed, though.
Saw the movie last night. My two cents:
The opening credits were lame and went on way too long. (My boyfriend thought it was good, though; no accounting for taste ;)) The film’s opening sequence with Bond becoming a double-0 was great, if a tiny bit predictable.
Daniel Craig was smokin’ hot, about 50 times hotter than I thought he would be. It was downright distracting at times - in a good, good way. My god. I’m getting a bit bothered just thinking about it. 
I guess I’m the only person who thought that the romantic interest was also very hot. She had the most amazing eyes. She was also smart and quick-witted, with an edge to her personality. I enjoyed their interplay and would have rather seen her as the new version of Moneypenny and keep their relationship as a flirtatious battle of wills in future movies. Alas.
One thing I liked was the entire skipping-over of the cliched scenes you knew were coming, such as how he got onto that last flight, what happened after he got pinched by security at the airport. They assumed the audience was smart enough to figure it out and kept the plot moving instead of filling time with irrelevant sequences. That was refreshing.
I did smirk a bit at the Texas Hold’em - kept looking for Ben Affleck - but considering the film was set present-day, it was relevant, I guess.
As soon as he “fell in love”, I turned to my friend and said “death warrant.” They dragged it out - too much lovey-dovey crap when you just knew she would buy it sooner or later.
Overall, a very good movie - one I’d see again, unlike any other Bond movie I’ve seen. The one thing I hope doesn’t happen is that he becomes a knock-off Jason Bourne. There’s definitely the danger of overlap there.
I (finally) saw this yesterday and I agree completely. I loved it, everything about it, and I didn’t think it was too long. I got more than my money’s worth. I also thought it had just the right amount of humor and what humor there was worked well for me (my favorite line: “One more syllable and I’ll have you killed”). I loved Vesper too. I thought she was gorgeous beyond belief and I understood why Bond would fall in love with her. She was beautiful and smart as hell and wasn’t intimidated by Bond at all. The character was a good actress (which makes Eva Green an even BETTER actress). I didn’t see her betrayal coming at all, and I liked her so much that I was relieved to find out that she only did it because she was forced to.
If I had to choose one thing that didn’t work for me, I’d say the theme song. It was catchy but fairly mundane and forgettable. The best thing was, of course, Daniel Craig. I knew he’d be great and he was. I’m thrilled that it all worked out!
I’ve seen several films in the last week, and this was very close to my favorite. It was certainly the most enjoyable and entertaining. Here’s how I’d grade the ones I’ve seen:
Shut Up And Sing A (not as entertaining as CR but my favorite)
Casino Royale A+
Flushed Away (for the 2nd time) A-
Babel B+
For Your Consideration B
Happy Feet B
Harsh Times B-
Running With Scissors C
(Cervaise, I never did get around to seeing A Good Year and it’ll probably be gone by next week)
Never before have I so anticipated a Bond film, and never before have I said, after seeing one, I want to see that again!
I saw this last Friday and absolutely loved it. I had never really gotten into Bond movies before, most likely because I have only seen Brosnan’s Bond.
This was a very refreshing change. The over-the-top gadgetry is gone. Surprisingly little female flesh is on display. IIRC, the most we see is a leg. Yet Craig can be seen nude or half-dressed a handful of times (and I must say, he is an incredibly attractive man. I want to go see the movie again - Craig in his swimsuit is worth the price of a ticket!). The stupid one-liners are gone and replaced with quips that are actually funny or amusing. Bond actually develops and changes as the movie progresses. And perhaps most importantly, the job isn’t easy for him. It was nice to see the hero take a beating and suffer for entering into a fight.
I forgot to mention that I was struck by Craig’s charisma on screen. I wasn’t too impressed by some of the still pictures I had seen floating around, but that seems like a totally different person than the one I watched in the theater. He is extremely charismatic, to the point where I no longer noticed he isn’t clasically handsome.
:smack:
That is what I ment to say!
Heh. Just what I said three weeks ago.
I’m very pleased at how well this movie is being received because it vindicates what I’ve been telling people for at least the last 15 years: James Bond should be a brute. It’s why Sean Connery was so great any everyone since (except Craig) hasn’t measured up. Bond is suave and urbane, yes, but that’s just a veneer. Underneath that civilized exterior he’s a thug at heart. That’s what makes him fascinating and sexy – that tension between civilization and barbarism.
In fact, here I am riding that very hobbyhorse on this message board back in 2005.
IIRC Leiter has been killed several times in the course of the series.
Didn’t he die in Thunderball among others?
Thank You! I have been trying to figure out who he looks like since I saw it last night- it’s Steve McQueen!
The best description I’ve heard is, “Vladimir Putin on steroids.”
Equipoise, I thought Eva Green was hawt and would gladly jump at the chance to pound her ovaries out. 
Did you ever see The Dreamers?
Hot, very very hot.
Twisted as well.