The return of the dark, serious Bond. With parkour!
Yes, I’m aware that Skyfall is yet unreleased in most of the world, but I’m including it for completeness (and it’s possible some of you have actually seen it already).
As it’s the only one of these I’ve seen, I have to vote for Casino Royale. I did very much enjoy it, and I’ve just never gotten around to seeing Quantum of Solace.
Craig sucks, so none of them.
I haven’t seen Skyfall yet, but of the previous two, Casino Royale, no contest. The opera bit in Quantum of Solace was rather fun, as were Bond’s hotel arrangements and pretty much everything with Judi Dench, but the first scene was horribly edited and the villain fell flat.
Still, from what I heard they were completely screwed by the writers’ strike, so I can’t blame them for recovering poorly.
I have yet to see Skyfall, but what I’ve seen of the trailer makes it look more like a traditional “Big Explosions” movie with guns, gadgets, and girls akin to The World Is Not Enough. Not necessarily bad, but I’m not expecting great things from it, despite the exceptional cast.
As a film, I think Casino Royale stands out as one of the best entries in the entire franchise, along with From Russia With Love and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (with The Living Daylights trailing as an as-run). What is exceptional about all three movies is that they eschew the almost clockwork investigation/capture/escape/resolution of the typical Bond film in favor of more complex plotting where Bond may actually have some weakness and has to improvise. Casino Royale in particular was distinguished in the cinematography (the cold open of Bond’s first two kills, alternating between German Expressionalist and French New Wav-ish cinema verite graininess), the dialogue (the exchange between Bond and Vesper on the train harkens to classic Golden Age banter; “How was your lamb?”, “Skewered…one sympathizes.”), and the intentional deconstruction of the myth of Bond-as-hero (Vesper: “And of course, it makes perfect sense…MI-6 looks for maladjusted young men willing to sacrifice others for Queen and country. You know, former SAS types with easy smiles and expensive watches. Rolex?”)
It would, frankly, be hard to top Casino Royale in terms of plot and originality. I really wanted to like Quantum of Solace; it had a great setup–Bond taking down the Quantum organization–and some brilliant individual scenes, such as the brutal knife fight in the suite in Port-Au-Prince and the chase-and-fight on the floating stage in Bregenz, intercut with scenes of vengence from the opera (Mr. White: “Tosca’s not for everyone.”), but the plot seemed almost coincidental, and Bond was completely unaffected by the routine dispatching of his associates, in essence, becoming exactly that which Vesper had so criticized. (The less said about the spontaneously exploding hotel/lair in the desert and Olga Kurylenko, the better.) The movie would have been better told in flashback, with Bond preparing to assault the compound (with more than a single Sig pistol) and expecting to die in the process.
Stranger
“This never happened to the other fella.”
Stranger
I think pretty much every Bond trailer looks like that.
We need to re-do this for sure once we’ve all had months to see Skyfall a few times.
I do love Quantum of Solace, though, and I think it is overly bashed. It is not as good as Casino Royale, but I do love it, especially the finale at that weird hotel in the desert.
When do we get the George Lazenby poll?
Why isn’t there an entry for 'Cowboys and Aliens" ?
Craig’s Casino Royale is easily the best Bond film ever. I’m hopeful Skyfall will compare.
FWIW, Skyfall has really impressed most of the British critics, as well as the publisher of Double-0-Seven Magazine (Guess there’s something for everybody.) I’m really looking forward to it, and hope it’s as good as Casino Royale.
I liked the idea of Quantum of Solace but I thought it was poorly executed. Casino Royale was a good movie but as a Bond movie it doesn’t score high on the rubric. I’m going to vote for Skyfall sight unseen.
Quantum would’ve been a better movie if the director could’ve held a shot for more than three seconds.
Not voting until I see Skyfall. Of the two I have seen, Casino Royale.
Casino Royale. Mainly because it is the only one I’ve seen in full.
I think it does stand as one of the best without doubt the Bond-M dynamic is one of the best elements of any Bond film.
Daniel Craig could well be the best Bond ever especially if he keeps Judi Dench to play against.
Incidentally, I only caught QOS from the opera scene onwards and really quite liked what I saw. Did I pick the right part to watch? did the earlier scenes drag the film down?
I’ve voted Casino Royale, based on the probability that Skyfall won’t be as good. In fact, Skyfall would have to be better just to have the same impact, as the reboot was very welcome after the Brosnan films, which I personally find unwatchable.
The reviews I have seen have it pegged as better than Casino Royale.
Casino Royale was pretty good, but I couldn’t get over the fact that they dumped the Baccarat game for mother-freakin’ Texas Hold 'em. I mean, c’mon. Bond would NOT play Texas Hold 'em if you held a gun to his head.
He would to get laid…