Saw it last night. Thought it was really enjoyable. Pulled on my emotional chord at the end despite having found out what happened on this thread. Would like to have seen a bit more of Safin and still can’t work out why his face was scarred if he had been spared from mr White’s attack on his family?
I like Dalton as Bond, don't think any of his predecessors could have played the darker Bond in License to Kill as well as he did. Always though he'd have made an excellent live action Captain Scarlet if that had happened in the 80s or 90s
Enjoyed the film immensely. Thought three hours went very quickly. Certainly quicker than 90 minutes watching Charlton. My problem is that James Bond is dead. That’s dead. 007 isn’t of course. We were reminded twice that it’s just a number. How can M, Q, Miss Moneypenny continue as if nothing has happened. They toasted to his memory. For me, if 007 is coming back as James Bond then something very drastic has to happen to reboot the franchise. They’ve got to try something completely new. Not just what they did when previous incarnations of Bond changed actors. We’ve never had to face that James Bond is dead and accept he’s suddenly back looking different. Confused. Thought the young black actress playing 007 would be a disaster if the idea is to continue with her. No credibility in the character at all. Heard suggestions that Amazon might be considering a series rather than blockbusters. That too would be a disaster.
He died in You Only Live Twice, machine gunned on a bed that retracted into the wall, so...
That was a faked death as part of the storyline. Am I being whooshed ?
could be the same again
Well if JB can escape death in that last scene then it’s ridiculous. No way that’s either survivable or a faked death.
It won’t happen. They killed him. They will reboot. The challenge is finding a way to reboot it in a way that won’t just repeat what they’ve just done. It’s one of the biggest challenges they’ve ever had with Bond. It was easy to change actor when there was no continuity. And even easier to go from Die Another Day to Casino Royale.
Challenge is really on for the next director and scriptwriters, this boot or cycle was excellent and had a huge kick up the arse from the makers of the Bourne films
Daniel Craig also played the role perfectly, snarky, cold, but also humorous and charming as well as being a double hard bastard.
I dont feel a particular affinity to the bond franchise as such beyond the last lot from casino royale onwards being excellent cinematic events, beautifully shot, proper big screen cinema stuff all embraced. I don’t care if the next set of films feature a black actor playing James Bond or a white actor, clearly the character is male but I think these last films did all that could be done with the character and gave him a proper arc and as cool as Sean Connery was he is second to Daniel Craig now
It's not the first time the Bond franchise has had to react to other movies. The likes of True Lies came out a year before Goldeneye and at that time was cited (at least in Empire magazine) as giving Bond a boot. Moonraker was in response to Star Wars. It's happened quite a lot!
You're absolutely right that giving Craig a long-term arc has allowed him to become a definitive Bond. The others were never given that opportunity. It just means the franchise is painted into a corner for now. I wonder how long they'll wait for the next one - my guess is at least 3-4 years.
Goldeneye was pretty good, but none of them were in the same league as the last 5 the ones before Pierce Brosnan for the reasons you rightly state, they were standalone films. I'm happy for them to leave Bond for a while and not make any rash casting or directorial decisions. I didn't see how this film was particularly woke, Bond girls have often been women who high kick and shoot people in the face, it was a good element of the film that someone else would be using the 007 and the fact it was a black girl I didn’t see as tokenism because she was well cast, the character was good and fitted in with the story. What I don't want is producers to feel they need to make a dramatic change for changes sake and give the world a non-binary, vegan, teetotal Bond to say "hey look at how awake we are to the world" and waiting a couple more years might make the world go a bit more sensible in terms of how overly vocal and sensitive some segments of society are in terms of stuff like fictional characters
Slightly above average Bond film. Works better as the end of a five part film series than a standalone movie.
I like Craig as bond but he was at best number three on the best bond list. Connery one with Moore at two.
Of course you are entitled to your opinion but Roger Moore was Bond during its dire years when Bond movies were in my opinion one up from a carry on film.
Really impressive stuff. Craig's finest hour. Location cinematography was excellent. The gadgets, stunts and pace of the plót. and even the script was pretty good. The wokeometer rang a bit but not overly so.
I took my daughter and was surprised to find a beautiful father/daughter theme ran through the story also.
A great story of self sacrifice for others. A man for his family. How rare to see this in this age.
We need much more of this kind of entertainment. An enjoyable film for all the family.
Slightly above average Bond film. Works better as the end of a five part film series than a standalone movie.
I like Craig as bond but he was at best number three on the best bond list. Connery one with Moore at two.
Surely you have missed off Timothy "Im a serious Bond Me!" Dalton, in error?!
The one who Cubby Broccoli said was the best Bond ?
When did he say that, I betcha it was when he was still playing the part and Cubby wanted to boost sales or something. Do you really think the best bond was Timothy Dalton?? Does anyone?
Slightly above average Bond film. Works better as the end of a five part film series than a standalone movie.
I like Craig as bond but he was at best number three on the best bond list. Connery one with Moore at two.
Surely you have missed off Timothy "Im a serious Bond Me!" Dalton, in error?!
The one who Cubby Broccoli said was the best Bond ?
When did he say that, I betcha it was when he was still playing the part and Cubby wanted to boost sales or something. Do you really think the best bond was Timothy Dalton?? Does anyone?
Slightly above average Bond film. Works better as the end of a five part film series than a standalone movie.
I like Craig as bond but he was at best number three on the best bond list. Connery one with Moore at two.
Surely you have missed off Timothy "Im a serious Bond Me!" Dalton, in error?!
The one who Cubby Broccoli said was the best Bond ?
When did he say that, I betcha it was when he was still playing the part and Cubby wanted to boost sales or something. Do you really think the best bond was Timothy Dalton?? Does anyone?
Connery - the original movie bond to which everyone else should be compared. Lazenby - Wooden barely worth mentioning. But he was in the best bond film. Moore - took Bond in a different direction. Perfect for the era. Live and Let die is the second best bond film imo. Dalton - seemed like a lower budget. Competed against similar action films of the era. Prototype of the Craig era Bond. Maybe 20 years to soon. I liked Dalton but the films were poor. Brosnan - Played Bond smooth. The films were ok. Craig - A fine actor and a very good rugged Bond.
I like Dalton as Bond, don't think any of his predecessors could have played the darker Bond in License to Kill as well as he did. Always though he'd have made an excellent live action Captain Scarlet if that had happened in the 80s or 90s
Saw it last night. Considering Daniel Craig's been a Bond that's less clean-cut and gets hurt more, I thought it was an appropriate ending. As a big Mr Robot fan I'm glad it was Rami Malek who saw to it as well.
I definitely enjoyed it, especially the first two thirds of the film. Ana de Armas was a particular highlight as she was charming and gorgeous. More of her in the next film please.
However, I really don't get why they went with that storyline in regards to Malek. Waltz was so captivating as Blofeld, and Malek just wasn't on par in terms of exuding power or being menacing.
They spent 3/4 films building up Spectre as the supervillain organised crime group behind everything with Waltz well cast as the evil mastermind to have the whole organisation killed off by Malek within half of the final instalment. Malek's character in comparison was lacking in motive once he'd avenged his father/family, and I still can't fathom how he became so powerful and/or rich.
Still enjoyed it and thought the action was good, especially when Bond revealed he'd been trained in guerrilla warfare by an Ewok and appreciated the ending though I found it surprising - just so alien to have Bond die! I just wish they'd handled the villain differently in this storyline for a more satisfying pay off.
I like Dalton as Bond, don't think any of his predecessors could have played the darker Bond in License to Kill as well as he did. Always though he'd have made an excellent live action Captain Scarlet if that had happened in the 80s or 90s.
That would have been a good series.
I thought he did play Captain Scarlet - miserable lump of wood that he is.
It just goes to show how thankful we should all be that we all have different opinions. I loved it, the nods to previous Bond films, the action sequences, the ending. Glad @JohnBoyUK mentioned that he welled up at the end, I have no idea why but when Louis Armstrong started I really did fill up. I loved OHMSS, it will always be one of my top 10 favourite films of all time and to hear that music really did get me. Loved it.
It just goes to show how thankful we should all be that we all have different opinions. I loved it, the nods to previous Bond films, the action sequences, the ending. Glad @JohnBoyUK mentioned that he welled up at the end, I have no idea why but when Louis Armstrong started I really did fill up. I loved OHMSS, it will always be one of my top 10 favourite films of all time and to hear that music really did get me. Loved it.
I definitely enjoyed it, especially the first two thirds of the film. Ana de Armas was a particular highlight as she was charming and gorgeous. More of her in the next film please.
However, I really don't get why they went with that storyline in regards to Malek. Waltz was so captivating as Blofeld, and Malek just wasn't on par in terms of exuding power or being menacing.
They spent 3/4 films building up Spectre as the supervillain organised crime group behind everything with Waltz well cast as the evil mastermind to have the whole organisation killed off by Malek within half of the final instalment. Malek's character in comparison was lacking in motive once he'd avenged his father/family, and I still can't fathom how he became so powerful and/or rich.
Still enjoyed it and thought the action was good, especially when Bond revealed he'd been trained in guerrilla warfare by an Ewok and appreciated the ending though I found it surprising - just so alien to have Bond die! I just wish they'd handled the villain differently in this storyline for a more satisfying pay off.
Think that’s a fairly valid point re: Spectre and Safin and perhaps the whole thing could’ve been split over a couple of films to flesh out the Felix/Cuba/Spectre storyline as well as add depth to Safin’s motives alongside Logan Ash, the CIA mole.
But there’s no way they could’ve got Craig to agree to yet another instalment unfortunately..!
Thought it was absolute rubbish. Could not wait for film to finish and if I'd known the other half felt the same, we would have walked out. Give me one of the early Bond films any time.
Thought it was great. Bond films have improved so much in the Daniel Craig era. Couldn’t believe the ending. There were people crying where I watched it. Obviously he needed to die, but we’re so used to main characters avoiding death at the last second that you half expected a helicopter to swoop in and grab him.
Great to watch it in a packed cinema too.
Why did he need to die? Seems to be a trend nowadays in movies that just leaves the film on a sour note for me
Aah but did he?
Just been to see it. Excellent and yes it was a shock ending. As to him dying, if he gets out of that they can call him bloody Houdini!
Really enjoyed it and made sure I didn't watch any trailers before going. A great bit of escapism for a few hours. Thought the hectic start and then the slower pace middle part of the film worked well. Some typical Bond humour, plus good acting all round.
Shame I had to share it with the usual noisy/too tall cinema goers. I'll wait for the bluray and watch it a second time at home.
I saw it last night and enjoyed it, having spent the last 18 months avoiding trailers, teasers, reviews, etc.
In my view Daniel Craig and the last 5 films have taken Bond back to where the books were. Grittier, harder, colder.
Pretty ironic that these 5 films have produced the 2 worst Bond songs by Sam “Fucking” Smith and Billie “Dirge” Eilish!
Also one of the best courtesy of Chris Cornell though.
Sam Smith's song is probably my favourite Bond tune. We all have different tastes.
My girlfriend thinks the best two bond tracks are the Duran Duran and aha ones. Often I find it best not to offer an opinion when faced with such provocation.
Thought it was great. Bond films have improved so much in the Daniel Craig era. Couldn’t believe the ending. There were people crying where I watched it. Obviously he needed to die, but we’re so used to main characters avoiding death at the last second that you half expected a helicopter to swoop in and grab him.
Great to watch it in a packed cinema too.
I really should have taken the spoiler alert notice in the thread title more seriously.
I'll still watch it though and assuming you're talking about bond, I do quite like the fact that he does die.
Would be sad but it sounds more of a proper meaningful ending, instead of just bond constantly getting away with stuff.
Comments
What they do next, God knows?
I like Craig as bond but he was at best number three on the best bond list. Connery one with Moore at two.
Lazenby - Wooden barely worth mentioning. But he was in the best bond film.
Moore - took Bond in a different direction. Perfect for the era. Live and Let die is the second best bond film imo.
Dalton - seemed like a lower budget. Competed against similar action films of the era. Prototype of the Craig era Bond. Maybe 20 years to soon. I liked Dalton but the films were poor.
Brosnan - Played Bond smooth. The films were ok.
Craig - A fine actor and a very good rugged Bond.
Just could have been 30 minutes shorter.
However, I really don't get why they went with that storyline in regards to Malek. Waltz was so captivating as Blofeld, and Malek just wasn't on par in terms of exuding power or being menacing.
They spent 3/4 films building up Spectre as the supervillain organised crime group behind everything with Waltz well cast as the evil mastermind to have the whole organisation killed off by Malek within half of the final instalment. Malek's character in comparison was lacking in motive once he'd avenged his father/family, and I still can't fathom how he became so powerful and/or rich.
Still enjoyed it and thought the action was good, especially when Bond revealed he'd been trained in guerrilla warfare by an Ewok and appreciated the ending though I found it surprising - just so alien to have Bond die! I just wish they'd handled the villain differently in this storyline for a more satisfying pay off.
In my view Daniel Craig and the last 5 films have taken Bond back to where the books were. Grittier, harder, colder.
Pretty ironic that these 5 films have produced the 2 worst Bond songs by Sam “Fucking” Smith and Billie “Dirge” Eilish!
I really should have taken the spoiler alert notice in the thread title more seriously.
I'll still watch it though and assuming you're talking about bond, I do quite like the fact that he does die.
Would be sad but it sounds more of a proper meaningful ending, instead of just bond constantly getting away with stuff.