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Skyfall - What did you think?

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 Captain Gear 26 Oct 2012
Spoilers alert!

Saw it tonight. A millions times better than Quantum of Solace. More one liners than Casino Royale. I thought Sam Mendes had done a good job and there is some excellent dialog.

Loved the DB5.

Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem were very good. Though Fiennes is no Bernard Lee.

The new Q was quite entertaining.

The action was excellent. I particularly enjoyed London sequence and the finale in Glencoe.

Albert Finney was poor choice for the gamekeeper. He isn't Scottish ffs!

And I'm not too sure about the whole Eve Moneypenny thing.

Roll on Bond 24...
Wonko The Sane 26 Oct 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:
> Spoilers alert!
>
> Saw it tonight. A millions times better than Quantum of Solace. More one liners than Casino Royale. I thought Sam Mendes had done a good job and there is some excellent dialog.
>
> Loved the DB5.
>
> Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem were very good. Though Fiennes is no Bernard Lee.
>
> The new Q was quite entertaining.
>
> The action was excellent. I particularly enjoyed London sequence and the finale in Glencoe.
>
> Albert Finney was poor choice for the gamekeeper. He isn't Scottish ffs!
>
> And I'm not too sure about the whole Eve Moneypenny thing.
>
> Roll on Bond 24...

I loved it. I think the Moneypenny thing was good........ gives it a bit of modern history.

Craig.......... best bond ever in my opinion.
Skyfall............ best bond film.
 Puppythedog 27 Oct 2012
In reply to Captain Gear: Just got back;
we thought that this was probably the best bond film yet, even despite the massive action type bits it really didn't feel overdone and points felt very sophisticated. The one liners and the repartee were great and I was left desperate to see the next instalment.
 The New NickB 27 Oct 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:

I enjoyed, the only thing I wasn't too keen on was Bardem's bad guy. I would have liked him to be as terrifying as we know Bardem can be.
 Padraig 27 Oct 2012
In reply to The New NickB:
> (In reply to Captain Gear)
>
> I enjoyed, the only thing I wasn't too keen on was Bardem's bad guy. I would have liked him to be as terrifying as we know Bardem can be.

I totally agree! e.g. as he was in NCFOM. And blonde WTF? Everyone knows bad guys aren't blonde!

 Jerry67 27 Oct 2012
In reply to Captain Gear: I thought it was great, even if I had to watch it in French. Actually had a conversation about the voice overs, as they translated one commnet from Bond with the word "putain" which is pretty much f++k in English. I'm sure Bond would never use such words!
Thought it went a bit flat 20 minutes in, but then livened up.
Great film overall.
 imkevinmc 27 Oct 2012
In reply to Jerry67: The translators did a good job, but maybe out of sync.

You know the scene.

You know who was in the scene.

One of them said it - and it wasn't Mr. Bond !!!!
 mcgovern 30 Oct 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:
I quite enjoyed Skyfall, however I thought it was missing something compared to most other bonds. It just didn't feel like a bond movie. But then again, I enjoy it!
 Philip 30 Oct 2012
Very enjoyable, good spin on the man with the golden gun novel.
 Little Brew 30 Oct 2012
In reply to Captain Gear: I Loved it, my favourite bit had to be the scene with him on the Island tied to the chair, how many takes?!? as you could see the smiles wanting to giggle through that dialogue!
In reply to Padraig:
> (In reply to The New NickB)
> [...]
>
> I totally agree! e.g. as he was in NCFOM. And blonde WTF? Everyone knows bad guys aren't blonde!

http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/4cfe5cbd49e2aed649040000-590/chris...
Sarah G 30 Oct 2012
In reply to Padraig:
> (In reply to The New NickB)
> [...]
>
> I totally agree! e.g. as he was in NCFOM. And blonde WTF? Everyone knows bad guys aren't blonde!



PEDANT ALERT!


No, but the bad guys can be blond.....and the bad girls can be blonde.

Incidentally, our head, and deputy, and of HR are both blonde.....

I bet Sauron was blond too. (our HR is fondly known as Mordor).

Sxx
In reply to Captain Gear: I thought it was very good. I particularly liked the choice of London as a venue, putting it centre stage for a third time this year after the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics; let's face it, they could have gone anywhere. And the rather darker mood of the film shows that they've learned something from the Barry Otter films, that it doesn't need to be all flash-bang-wallop and they can afford to be indulge in what someone will probably describe on a DVD box as 'mild to moderate peril'.

Fiddling with the ejector seat button was a nice touch, though I'd have thought it even better if it hadn't then been explained. And I'm sure there are many involved in select committee hearings that will wish they could be a hundredth as exciting as the one featured. The adherence to the film cliche that everyone who smokes then dies was a little tedious, though there was only one of them.

But overall I thought it an enjoyable romp with little room for trimming; perhaps five minutes. The worst parts were the song accompanying the titles; can someone get that girl a diction coach? "Let the sky fawwwwww, let it crumbawwwwwww"; dreadful: and the adverts preceding the film where damn near everything seemed to be promoted with some kind of bond-related theme or link, and which nearly reduced me to advertising-related Tourette's.

T.
 graeme jackson 30 Oct 2012
In reply to Sarah G:
>
> No, but the bad guys can be blond.....and the bad girls can be blonde.
>

Robert Shaw was blond in 'From russia with love and so was Andreas Wisniewski in 'the living daylights'. I'm sure there were more. Blonds are inherently evil
JMGLondon 30 Oct 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:
Great film, really enjoyed it. I don't tend to compare Bonds, just take them on their own merit. My only negative comment is that the product placement in the first 20 mins was ridiculous!
 Mr Powly 30 Oct 2012
In reply to JMGLondon:

I think they're VW Beetles!
cap'nChino 30 Oct 2012
In reply to graeme jackson: See also View to a Kill for blonde baddies.

Product placement was just laughable at times. But this seems to be a neccessary evil to get the big budgets for everything else.

I loved the film. Thought it was different from the usual Bond format but kept alot of the roots.
 Rick Ashton 30 Oct 2012
In reply to Captain Gear: I thought it was a week film. Hardly any clever scenes, everything was too easy and you didn't even see how the bad guy escaped when he first got caught. And not even once was I sat in suspense wondering how James bond was going to get out of this one, all too easy and boring.

Nice shots of glencoe though.
 Davvers 30 Oct 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:

came away feeling disappointed. both craig and bardems talents were waisted. I think craig is one of the best bonds ever, I hope they return to from with the next one.
 TMM 30 Oct 2012
In reply to Davvers:
> (In reply to Captain Gear)
>
>both craig and bardems talents were waisted.

Not sure I agree, I think they're both fairly hip guys. There's no need to point the finger of blame as they both have the stomach for the role. It's no mean feat to land these roles. I suggest you toe line next time or just turn the other cheek.

 Blue Straggler 30 Oct 2012
In reply to graeme jackson:

Henchmen aren't "bad guys" though, just honest workers earning a wage. Haven't you seen Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery?

Maybe Blofeld was blonde once
cap'nChino 30 Oct 2012
In reply to Captain Gear: Think we need an official count on how many blondes there have been.
 Blue Straggler 30 Oct 2012
In reply to cap'nChino:
> (In reply to Captain Gear) Think we need an official count on how many blondes there have been.

Blonde Villains as in the main criminal mastermind, though. Henchmen just don't count. And Zorin was a Soviet-created genetic mutant quasi-albino wasn't he, and albinos aren't really blonde...

Is Bardem actually blonde in SkyFall? He looked white-haired in the trailer but I have yet to see SkyFall
 TMM 30 Oct 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:

Zorin was the product of a Nazi (always the bad guys, never get credit for the good work) experiment.
 Blue Straggler 30 Oct 2012
In reply to TMM:

Thanks for the correction, for some reason AVTAK is not one of the Bonds that I've seen more than, oh, twice. So I forget a few details
 Blue Straggler 30 Oct 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:

Does SkyFall have a capital F in the middle, or am I being an arse? I suspect the latter! Sorry, if that is the case.
 Mikkel 30 Oct 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:
> (In reply to cap'nChino)
> [...]
>

>
> Is Bardem actually blonde in SkyFall? He looked white-haired in the trailer but I have yet to see SkyFall


Just been to see it tonight, and i think he looks a bit like Boris in this movie.
 CarolineMc 30 Oct 2012
In reply to Mikkel: More like a scary love child of Boris and David Walliams... Co:
 graeme jackson 31 Oct 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:
How soon will it be out on DVD? I'd like to see this sometime but I just can't bring myself to sit through that godawful title song. It's been on the radio virtually non-stop this week and I can't believe how bad it is.
 Davvers 31 Oct 2012
In reply to TMM:

What I meant was the roles/screenplay wasted their talents, (they're both excellent)
 jonnie3430 31 Oct 2012
In reply to graeme jackson:
> I just can't bring myself to sit through that godawful title song. It's been on the radio virtually non-stop this week and I can't believe how bad it is.

It makes sense in context I think.
 Blue Straggler 31 Oct 2012
In reply to Davvers:

TMM was making a weak and laboured joke out of the fact that you typed "waisted" instead of "wasted"
 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:

I thought it was borderline appalling! Fiennes and Whishaw were good and watchable, and the dialogue between Craig and Marlohe at the bar was superbly played. Decent pre-credits (though the precision motorbike skills were a bit much to stomach) and superb graphics in the credit sequence; other than that, there was very little to recommend it. Nice cinematography I suppose, especially the very theatrical silhouette fight in Shanghai.

SPOILERS.










Bond would know that he had not passed his field tests, especially marksmanship.
Why does he have the DB5 from GoldFinger in a lockup in Kentish Town, in perfect working order? It makes no sense.
Why is the tube train that Bardem drops on his head totally empty apart from a driver, at Embankment during rush hour?
Why does Kincaid say "I was ready before you were born"? Ready for what, a renegade hit squad 45 years in the future?
Why is M distracting Naomie Harris in the pre-credits sequence by nagging at her all the time when there is obviously some dynamic action going on?
Why do senior MI6 operatives during a major security crisis drink a refreshing bottle of Heineken at mission control?


 butteredfrog 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:

Calm down dear its only a film.
 CarolineMc 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:

> Bond would know that he had not passed his field tests, especially marksmanship.
From his facial expression, I'd say he did know. Anyway, it's a film.
> Why does he have the DB5 from GoldFinger in a lockup in Kentish Town, in perfect working order? It makes no sense.
This is James Bond, why does it have to make sense?! It's just a film.
> Why is the tube train that Bardem drops on his head totally empty apart from a driver, at Embankment during rush hour?
It was planted by Silva - Q was surprised it was there, said something like 'That's odd'. Anyway, it's just a film.
> Why does Kincaid say "I was ready before you were born"? Ready for what, a renegade hit squad 45 years in the future?
Just a turn of phrase, anyway why wasn't he Scottish?! Ah, cos it's just a film.
> Why is M distracting Naomie Harris in the pre-credits sequence by nagging at her all the time when there is obviously some dynamic action going on?
Cos it's a film and films need dialogue and narration for the masses, apparently. And how else were they going to work in the VW Beetle product placement?!
> Why do senior MI6 operatives during a major security crisis drink a refreshing bottle of Heineken at mission control?
Cos they helped pay for the film! <Allegedly they used Coca Cola on the ground to stop the motorbikes skidding too much, but Coke didn't get a product placement deal for it!>

Chill Mr Straggler. It was a good film. Not as twisty-turny as Casino Royale but a good Bond film none the less. How many of the other Bond films were believable? Er, none! At least this one had a teensy-weensy bit of credibility!!!

Co:

 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to CarolineMc:

"It's just a film" is a poor and meaningless defence of anything. I am chilled. I like Bond films. If they aren't going to be credible then they should at least be "exciting". This one was basically a fight on a train, some rubbish on a lift in Shanghai then a nice fight, then a visit to a casino, then standing in a courtyard, then getting on the Tube, then hiding a bit.

The Craig films don't compete too well against my top four (FRWL, OHMSS, FYEO, TLD) in the "wanting to watch them again" stakes. Though bizarrely I seem to have enjoyed QoS more than did most people!
 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to CarolineMc:
> (In reply to Blue Straggler)
>
> It was planted by Silva - Q was surprised it was there, said something like 'That's odd'. Anyway, it's just a film.

Fair enough. I think the man coughing loudly behind me might have obscured the dialogue. Apparently the train says "Out of Service" on the front, presumably so they could secure a PG rating (or whatever it is) without having to film people surviving (drivers don't matter, it seems)
> [...]
> [...]
> And how else were they going to work in the VW Beetle product placement?!

I didn't mean just that bit. As an aside I thought it was very odd product placement, seemed almost negative. They were the 2nd generation model I think, weren't they (the frenetic editing made it hard to tell), and Naomie Harris' delivery of her line seemed rather dismissive (and the whole pre-credits sequence seemed very anti-German, with the LandRover besting the Audi and deftly swerving around the VW spillage)
> [...]
> Cos they helped pay for the film!

Well DUHHH, but it was far too incongruous and could have been put elsewhere. The Perrier truck filling the entire screen during the St. Petersberg tank chase in GoldenEye actually made MORE sense.
>
> Chill Mr Straggler. It was a good film. Not as twisty-turny as Casino Royale but a good Bond film none the less. How many of the other Bond films were believable? Er, none!

FRWL, OHMSS, FYEO, TLD, LTK and - stretching things somewhat (see: laser in watch cutting through armoured train...and all Boris scenes etc) - GoldenEye.

 wilkie14c 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:
Facking hell Blue, don't watch Vertical Limit then!!
 rustaldo 01 Nov 2012
Contains spoilers.

I was a little disappointed with it following all the hype.
Didn't eclipse Casino Royale for me and there's definitely been stronger offerings in the cinema this year.

It seemed blatantly obvious what was to come next when Silva was captured less than halfway through and the whole premise of his character as some sort of "cyber bully" just wasn't menacing in the slightest. (Similar problems in Die Hard 4.0)

And can someone please clarify, is he gay or what? WHAT on Earth was that all about?

And since when can rats not climb out of oil drums?

Why, oh why did Q plug that laptop in? He's meant to be tech savvy and sort of smart right? What did it even achieve? All it seemed to enable was transferring the laptops image onto the large screen behind him. I know they're impossible to find when you want one, but surely MI6 have a few HDMI cables handy.

Is it too much to ask that Bond films remain Bond centric? Nobody cares about M, he/she hands out the dossiers and 007 delivers, that is the MO and always has been, don't fix if not broken. M is merely an enabler and is best confined to the opening 5-10mins.

Since when is it O.K. to have poetry read mid-Bond?

And since when has Bond needed the assistance of gamekeepers?

I guess it was only a matter of time before one of the Bond films took its name from the house that Bond grew up in right..? Right..?

What was with that court room scene? That was just bad. Talk about shoddy marksmanship, aren't most of the people with weapons in that scene former/current MI6 operatives?

Personally, the trailer was better than the film.. which is a shame.
 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to rustaldo:
> Contains spoilers.
>
>
>
>
> And can someone please clarify, is he gay or what? WHAT on Earth was that all about?

He's either bisexual or just trying to mess with Bond's head, because he describes Sévérin as "something we both love" or some such thing.
You forgot to mention the false jaw which was obviously just there because Javier Bardem is a fan of the character "Jaws". It's not as if "looking ugly and disfigured" is going to disturb M - I mean she voluntarily hangs about with Daniel Craig FFS
>
> And since when can rats not climb out of oil drums?

They were full of oil, and I think they can't climb up vertical smooth metal even when not covered in oil - I saw it on Channel Five programme about how to survive an apocalypse by catching rats in a metal bucket
>
 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to rustaldo:

Actually, between you and me I think this thread is only for people who really really liked it to share their stories of how great they thought it was - we don't fit in so we'd best get out of here and leave it to them!
 ebygomm 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:

I got told off this morning for 'being as bad as Kenny' when I queried why the bodyguards in the Casino were trying to stop Bond going to meet the girl on the boat when that was the aim
 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to ebygomm:

They weren't really trying though were they? They just had to look like they were trying. They basically stood still and took it in turns to be smacked in the face with a briefcase.
 ebygomm 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:

I admire their dedication to making it look plausible, getting attacked by a komodo. Presumably he also knew about bond's special gun so could pull the trigger knowing it wouldn't fire.
 rustaldo 01 Nov 2012
The false jaw thing was the only sinister element to Bardem's character. It made him look scary and intimidating. I was half expecting it to crop up again later, otherwise what's the point??

That brings me to another contentious piece of the film, Bond kills Silva far too easily! I thought there would at least be a round of fisticuffs and Bond would take a general beat down before coming back strong in the later rounds to finish him off.

Wouldn't it have been better if he caved in the false side of Silva's face with a haymaker? Making the aforementioned false-jaw scene relevant and constructive. That would make for a more memorable ending than a mere knife to the back.

Oh, and literally 10seconds prior to that, M has a gun in her hand only a mere headspace away from a clear shot at Silva's. She's trained MI6 right?
Didn't Bond kill like an army of henchman from a similar oversight earlier in the film? (Potentially not an oversight yadda yadda yadda)

There's no reason for her NOT to kill Silva if she's going to die 2mins later anyway, nobody cares about the implications on her character if she's dead.

Ultimately, M dies from a GSW inflicted by the pot-shot of a lowly henchman! Talk about innocuous.
Wonko The Sane 01 Nov 2012
In reply to rustaldo:
> The false jaw thing was the only sinister element to Bardem's character. It made him look scary and intimidating. I was half expecting it to crop up again later, otherwise what's the point??
>

The point was to establish that behind that cartoon character joviality lay a dark and possibly insane character damaged beyond repair by the things which have been done to him. If you look at the character that way, the joviality becomes more sinister because you see you are dealing with a person who appears to have everything, but in fact has absolutely nothing to lose.

> That brings me to another contentious piece of the film, Bond kills Silva far too easily! I thought there would at least be a round of fisticuffs and Bond would take a general beat down before coming back strong in the later rounds to finish him off.
>


> Wouldn't it have been better if he caved in the false side of Silva's face with a haymaker? Making the aforementioned false-jaw scene relevant and constructive. That would make for a more memorable ending than a mere knife to the back.
>
Bond films have never really been about gore.

>




I do think people are slating this unfairly. Minor plot holes, the occasional bit of silliness.
Name ANY Bond film and it can be torn apart savagely. The gadgets, the one liners, the sheer haminess.

You're suspending beleif a little when you go in there. Personlly, this film required me to suspend less of that belief than any other Bond film I've seen. Gritty and personal. Liked it a lot.
 rustaldo 01 Nov 2012
I wasn't advocating the jaw-caving turn of events to satiate the gore-hungry.
Granted, Bond films are about more and don't resort to slasher antics.

I thought it would be more fitting to exploit such a gaping physical weakness in a villain, especially when Bond is "fragile" having "died".

"behind that cartoon character joviality lay a dark and possibly insane character damaged beyond repair by the things which have been done to him."
- like a poor man's joker?

 rustaldo 01 Nov 2012
And, Casino Royale is far grittier!

And, Casino Royale has far better one-liners!
Wonko The Sane 01 Nov 2012
In reply to rustaldo:
>
> "behind that cartoon character joviality lay a dark and possibly insane character damaged beyond repair by the things which have been done to him."
> - like a poor man's joker?

No. Like a real person.
 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to ebygomm:
> (In reply to Blue Straggler)
>
> I admire their dedication to making it look plausible, getting attacked by a komodo.

That bit was a weird reference to Return of the Jedi
 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to rustaldo:
>
>
> That brings me to another contentious piece of the film, Bond kills Silva far too easily!

It took a lot of restraint for me not to put on a dodgy Arnie accent and shout "Schtick arooouuuhnddd" at that point. God knows the film needed it after that dreadful "I got in some deep water" one-liner!
 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:
> (In reply to rustaldo)
> [...]
>
> It took a lot of restraint for me not to put on a dodgy Arnie accent and shout "Schtick arooouuuhnddd" at that point.

Or possibly a reference to Dalton's "He finally got the point"
 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to rustaldo:
> Ultimately, M dies from a GSW inflicted by the pot-shot of a lowly henchman! Talk about innocuous.


Actually I thought that was very nice touch, seen too rarely. The major stuff does NOT always have to be done by the major characters. Like in Executive Decision, it's not Kurt Russell who actually kills the bad guy.

 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:

I shall edit my initial post down to just the positives, as people seem to have missed them.

Fiennes and Whishaw were good and watchable, and the dialogue between Craig and Marlohe at the bar was superbly played. Decent pre-credits, and superb graphics in the credit sequence. Nice cinematography, especially the very theatrical silhouette fight in Shanghai.
 alanw 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear: I thought it was very good but maybe not quite as brilliant as many are making out (but maybe expectations were a bit high).

I did think the overall plot was an interesting departure from the normal magalomaniac intent on world domination into a straight revenge story. However, this is a well worn genre that has thrown up some fantastic films and I'm not sure Skyfall fairs too well when viewed against that competition. Oldboy it ain't.
 Mikkel 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:
> (In reply to ebygomm)
> [...]
>
> That bit was a weird reference to Return of the Jedi

That was my one big dissapointment, when they are going to do the Rancor scene, why not just use a miniature version of a Rancor as well.

The only questioned raised that i cant work out is why they went down Glen Etive to then turn back and go out through Glen Coe, did they get lost?
 graeme jackson 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:
Not seen it yet but they showed the clip on hammonds bond cars prog so ...

> Why does he have the DB5 from GoldFinger in a lockup in Kentish Town, in perfect working order? It makes no sense.

He won it from the bad guy in casino royale but later is seen driving a DBS so presumably he's stored the DB5 cos he gets a company car.
(also drives a company car in Quantum of Solace).
 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to graeme jackson:

Really? Well...OK fair enough in the Daniel Craig 007 universe I suppose, but why did the bad guy in Casino Royale have the Goldfinger DB5 in the first place? "Ah, you are James Bond, here, have a car from 42 years ago that used to be used by another James Bond"?

Or are you yanking my chain?
 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Mikkel:
> (In reply to Blue Straggler)
> [...]
>

> The only questioned raised that i cant work out is why they went down Glen Etive to then turn back and go out through Glen Coe, did they get lost?

Marie was navigating

In "picking a film apart" terms that's WAY worse than me! Top tip- I don't think the Istanbul locations were fully contiguous either
 Mikkel 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:

and why did they not play Ride of the Valkyries from the Merlin?
 graeme jackson 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:
> (In reply to graeme jackson)
>
> Really? Well...OK fair enough in the Daniel Craig 007 universe I suppose, but why did the bad guy in Casino Royale have the Goldfinger DB5 in the first place? "Ah, you are James Bond, here, have a car from 42 years ago that used to be used by another James Bond"?
>
> Or are you yanking my chain?

I'd assumed (perhaps wrongly) that craig 's 007 is a reboot. casino Royale was the first bond book and in the craig version he starts off not even having a license to kill so one can assume that we're supposedly starting from scratch and he hasn't even met goldfinger yet.
note - not having seen skyfall i don't know if craigs DB5 has all the gadgets but if it has, it's possible he had it "Q'd" when he got it back from the bahamas (wonder if he paid import duty).

 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to graeme jackson:
> (In reply to Blue Straggler)
> [...]
>
> I'd assumed (perhaps wrongly) that craig 's 007 is a reboot. casino Royale was the first bond book and in the craig version he starts off not even having a license to kill so one can assume that we're supposedly starting from scratch and he hasn't even met goldfinger yet.

That was my issue with it.

> note - not having seen skyfall i don't know if craigs DB5 has all the gadgets but if it has, it's possible he had it "Q'd" when he got it back from the bahamas (wonder if he paid import duty).

It is gadgeted up. But we don't know the timeline so you may be right on that suggestion. I'll let it go (reluctantly)

I've now decided that "scary jaw" Bardem had a bit of the Mumm-Ra about him

 Blue Straggler 01 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:
>
> Albert Finney was poor choice for the gamekeeper. He isn't Scottish ffs!
>

Made him look very Brian Blessed!
 JimboWizbo 02 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:

Now now, we should know better than to look for continuity in Bond movies
OP Captain Gear 02 Nov 2012
Thinking about it there are a lot of 'other films' in Skyfall

The DB5 - Goldfinger

The Kommodo Dragon - Return of the Jedi

The musical helicopter - Appocolypse Now

Silva in prison/escape - Silence of the Lambs

Any more that I didn't notice/have forgotten about.
 lynda 02 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear: results from the shrapnel from Bond's shoulder, He tells Tanner (I think that was the aide's name) "For Her eyes only"
 Blue Straggler 02 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:
> Thinking about it there are a lot of 'other films' in Skyfall
>
> The DB5 - Goldfinger
>
> The Kommodo Dragon - Return of the Jedi
>
> The musical helicopter - Appocolypse Now
>
> Silva in prison/escape - Silence of the Lambs
>
> Any more that I didn't notice/have forgotten about.

Secret agent goes to Shanghai and does a load of agenty bollocks at night backlit by wonderful neon advertising - Mission Impossible 3 (which in turn had a huge central section that was virtually a remake of Licence to Kill)



 JIMBO 02 Nov 2012
Personally it felt a bit carp...
The plot was thin, predictable and poor.
Seemed to be all about introducing the new cast members as characters we already know.
It also seemed like they made too much about Daniel Craig being old, as if they should ditch him for a younger actor - he did look tired and a bit half-arsed at times... Couldn't even be bothered to fire a gun properly just shooting from the hip.
Filled with nice sequences and lovely camera work - polished but not substantial
 Swirly 02 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:
> Thinking about it there are a lot of 'other films' in Skyfall
>
> The DB5 - Goldfinger
>
> The Kommodo Dragon - Return of the Jedi
>
> The musical helicopter - Appocolypse Now
>
> Silva in prison/escape - Silence of the Lambs
>
> Any more that I didn't notice/have forgotten about.


Most of the ending: Home Alone.

 colina 02 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:
.TBO since diamonds are forever i think bond has lost the plot rapidly. however i thought give him another chance..
no villains stroking cats .noobody with metal teeth ,hooks for hands,flying metal hats,zombie snake charmers,exploding fountain pens etc ,just a bitter ex mi6 agent who was quite handy with a laptop.
Apart from an encouraging opening sequence, the film rapidly declined into cloak and dagger discussions inside mi6 (think tinker tailor soldier spy)with no action whatsoever till the very end where the only redeeming aspect of the film was some fine scenery which looked to have been filmed around glencoe..(thankfully no sign of jimmy saville)

maybe someone can explain to me why it was called skyfall.cant see the significance.it appears to me to be the name of his house where he used to live.

may as well have called it number 2 arcadia gardens or something
i personally thought it was terrible.
The end sequence finished with subtitles "james bond will return with ...."

i wont be returning to see bond any time soon

 Mikkel 02 Nov 2012
In reply to colina:
> (In reply to Captain Gear)

> no villains stroking cats

True, this one only stoked Bond.
 winhill 03 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:

Disappointed
 lithos 08 Nov 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:

i reckon they should have got Sean to play that part, think of all the fun he could have had, especially with the db5 out front.
 Caralynh 08 Nov 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:
> (In reply to Captain Gear)
>
> I thought it was borderline appalling! Fiennes and Whishaw were good and watchable, and the dialogue between Craig and Marlohe at the bar was superbly played. Decent pre-credits (though the precision motorbike skills were a bit much to stomach) and superb graphics in the credit sequence; other than that, there was very little to recommend it. Nice cinematography I suppose, especially the very theatrical silhouette fight in Shanghai.
>
> SPOILERS.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Bond would know that he had not passed his field tests, especially marksmanship.
> Why does he have the DB5 from GoldFinger in a lockup in Kentish Town, in perfect working order? It makes no sense.
> Why is the tube train that Bardem drops on his head totally empty apart from a driver, at Embankment during rush hour?
> Why does Kincaid say "I was ready before you were born"? Ready for what, a renegade hit squad 45 years in the future?
> Why is M distracting Naomie Harris in the pre-credits sequence by nagging at her all the time when there is obviously some dynamic action going on?
> Why do senior MI6 operatives during a major security crisis drink a refreshing bottle of Heineken at mission control?


Saw it last night. I'll add to the above - Bond was told to take the A9 to Scotland since there were traffic cameras where, presumably, baddie guy could follow his trail. But the A9 doesn't go anywhere near Glencoe! I pointed this out to the bloke mid-film and just got a glare as a response.
 Thrudge 08 Nov 2012
In reply to graeme jackson:
> (In reply to Sarah G)
> [...]
>
> Robert Shaw was blond in 'From russia with love and so was Andreas Wisniewski in 'the living daylights'. I'm sure there were more. Blonds are inherently evil

Anne Widdecombe dyed her hair blonde a few years back. Don't think she's ever been a Bond villain, though. Go on, Anne, get an audition.
 Jaffacake 08 Nov 2012
In reply to JIMBO:

I felt with the references to bond being old was more a reference to some of the criticism of bond, same with all the stuff about things being outdated.

At least I hope they aren't planing to replace Daniel Craig soon, I really like him.

I also thought the film was great, but I'm very easy to please when it comes to films.
 The New NickB 09 Nov 2012
In reply to lithos:

But that would involve Connery being in Scotland for a few weeks, think of the tax implications.
 The New NickB 09 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:

> Albert Finney was poor choice for the gamekeeper. He isn't Scottish ffs!
>
I will let you in to a secret, Daniel Craig isn't even a secret agent, I believe it is called acting.
 Martin W 09 Nov 2012
In reply to Caralynh:

> Bond was told to take the A9 to Scotland since there were traffic cameras where, presumably, baddie guy could follow his trail. But the A9 doesn't go anywhere near Glencoe! I pointed this out to the bloke mid-film and just got a glare as a response.

Did it actually say in the film that it was Glencoe? Us UKCers recognise the place in a microsecond but most of the people who go to see the film will just have clocked it as "mistily atmospheric bit of Scotland", and the A9 is in Scotland so it would fit. My understanding is that the house itself was actually built for the film somewhere in Surrey (the A9 doesn't go there, either).

I rather enjoyed the film, as did my other half. It certainly passed a dreich afternoon in Edinburgh very acceptably. The nit-picking about how it fits with other Bonds I personally find rather tedious*. With all due respect to BS' opinion, as far as I'm concerned it's a story - it doesn't have to make complete, watertight sense (especially in a guns-and-gadgets fantasy like Bond, MI, Bourne etc) so long as it stands up well enough in other ways, which I think this film did.

Two things I didn't enjoy: the title song (who told that woman she could sing?) and the fact that the local cinema originally billed it as 100 minutes long when it's actually over two hours, so I nearly got a parking ticket for not buying enough time from the pay-and-display machine!

* It was that sort of thing that caused "Star Trek: Enterprise" to waste a good part of season four with a pointless plot arc about why Klingons didn't have brow ridges when Kirk was fighting them. It's OK, we understand that they didn't have the budget/technology to do the complicated makeup back then. Please just get on and tell us a story we're actually interested in!
 Fraser 09 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:

Overall I was very impressed. The few minor quibbles I had were:

- Bardem not coming over 'bad' enough

- Moneypenny not being a very good actress (thought she smacked a bit of a soap queenie)

- Ralph Fiennes seemed slightly miscast

- the new 'Q' was too much of a teenager

- bit slow in places.

- plot: in the Shanghai office building, why did 'the baddies' not just shoot the guy viewing the painting themselves, rather than have a hit-man do it? (After the killing, they essentially just went on with the housework. I maybe missed something there, but it didn't seem to make sense to me)


All the above however were more than made up for by the performances of Judy Dench and Daniel Craig, not to mention all the great locations and special effects.
OP Captain Gear 11 Nov 2012
In reply to The New NickB:
> (In reply to Captain Gear)
>
> [...]
> I will let you in to a secret, Daniel Craig isn't even a secret agent, I believe it is called acting.

Ah yea, but Daniel is quite good at acting the part of a secret agent isn't he? Whereas, I didn't think Finney did a good job acting the part of a Scottish game keeper...
 Ava Adore 11 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:

The first part of the film had me a bit fidgety and, dare I say it, bored. From the moment Bond took M and they opened the garage doors....well, I was hooked from that point onwards. Loved the film!
 Toby_W 11 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear: had lots of good bits but left me cold and a bit meh. Not sure if it just needed a good edit or what. Biggest disappointment for a long while and I love the new films so far.

My early failure of disbelief came when money penny didn't empty the rest of the clip into the other guy after hitting bond.

Cheers

A sad Toby
James Jackson 11 Nov 2012
In reply to Martin W:

> Did it actually say in the film that it was Glencoe? Us UKCers recognise the place in a microsecond but most of the people who go to see the film will just have clocked it as "mistily atmospheric bit of Scotland", and the A9 is in Scotland so it would fit. My understanding is that the house itself was actually built for the film somewhere in Surrey (the A9 doesn't go there, either).

Aye. The set was built on an MOD training area in Surrey - Hankley Common. My claim to Bond fame is disrupting night filming on the set by falling into a big concrete hole, getting hit in the face by my rifle, and causing significant damage to my knee while on a night exercise. My resulting loud sweary noises caused the film crew to come over and see what was going on.

I can confirm that the driveway isn't there, the lake isn't there, and the mountains are certainly not Surrey vintage. Knowing where it was filmed, the CGI itself is hugely impressive.

Completely orthogonal to all that - it's an awesome film; best of the last three IMO.
 Euge 12 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear: I thought it was rubbish and very boring. It is the first Bond I've seen since Moore and won't be rushing to watch another...

Daniel Craig is too wooden...

This just makes me like Bourne even more

E
 Tricky Dicky 12 Nov 2012
In reply to Blue Straggler:
> (In reply to graeme jackson)
>
> but why did the bad guy in Casino Royale have the Goldfinger DB5 in the first place? "Ah, you are James Bond, here, have a car from 42 years ago that used to be used by another James Bond"?
>

The DB5 was standard issue at the time of the Goldfinger film, so presumably the bad guy got it from another 00 operative.

I thought the film was great, although when the bad guy assasin, shot through the brake hose of the train, in the real world this would have automatically applied the brakes to the train.
 ripper 12 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear: I though it was...well, ok. not a lot more than that to be honest. the plot and the villain were completely bonkers of course and while that's hardly anything new in the Bondiverse it does sit a little uneasily with the new atmosphere of gritty realism of the Craig era. it's like the film wants to be both dark and gloomy Tinker Tailor-esque and whizz-bang action and effects-fest at the same time. I did enjoy the exchanges with the new Q, although they teetered on the very brink of turning to the viewer and breaking the fourth wall with a knowing wink. One of the most jarring things for me though was an apparent desire from the director to create a series of iconic Bond images. Craig seemed to be encouraged to pull a particular face several times, which looked like he was trying to do a caricature of Daniel Craig playing James Bond, and there were too many shots of him stood back to camera, legs splayed, in a very unnatural pose. And why the hell was he standing up in the punt/barge thingy taking him to that chinese casino? I did think Berenice Marlohe was good though, especially in the scene at the casino bar.
 Skyfall 12 Nov 2012
In reply to ripper:

> there were too many shots of him stood back to camera

Like the one of him on the rooftop looking out over Gotham, sorry, London


> I did think Berenice Marlohe was good though, especially in the scene at the casino bar.

Yes, she was quite, erm, captivating.
 ripper 12 Nov 2012
In reply to JonC: Gotham - love it!
and yes Ms Marlohe definitely pushed my buttons, but I also thought she played that part very well
 Skyfall 12 Nov 2012
In reply to ripper:

I couldn'd decide whether she was acting brilliantly or if it was all a bit OTT but it was one of the more rivetting scenes. Her demise was rather unexpected, even though expected, if you know what I mean.
Jim C 12 Nov 2012
In reply to Captain Gear:

Saw it last night, the wife 'liked it' I'm not a JB fan anyway, and I thought it was drawn out, but I was not expected to like it.

It was a small cinema, and it was watched in silence , no ohh's or Ahh's
or laughs, so I took it that others were not that impressed either.

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