Casino Royale Crunchies, Discussion for us Bond fans

Just got back from seeing this; dying to talk about it with anyone and everyone. Hopefully the Bond fanatics come forth. I will try to mark all spoilers that I can; though that means half what will be typed here will be in those tags... nevertheless...

Spoilers:

I do not understand any criticism of the way the relationship between Vesper and Bond is played, I think what happened was very appropiate for a two and a half hour action movie; things seemed... very developed and it was easy to see the attraction from the beginning. There wasn't that annoying disconnect and a lot of forced dialogue, if anything I was just afraid other people would digest lines like "Whatever I am, I'm yours" poorly.

That said, great as a love story. Bond deserves such a tale, the last we saw of any emotion in Bond was probably the otherwise deprived of life Die Another Day, or On Her Majesty's Secret Service. You get the impression from this film that this is Bond as Ian Fleming saw him, this is the Bond behind 007 and it explains why he is how he is.

Example:
Spoilers:

Was I the only person harkening back to Goldeneye throughout this entire movie. Of course Martin Campbell directed both films but there are some specific lines that drew the parallels for me. Vesper says that Bond isn't letting her back in, he's got his 'armor back on' right? Remember what Natalya asked? "How can you be so cold?" "It's what keeps me alive". Finally those of us that haven't read any Bond novels get some clarification as just to what the hell that means. Vesper Lynd of course betrays Bond for an unnamed organization that she had been working for to keep her boyfriend alive.

Now to what I consider the best part of this little analysis...
Spoilers:

The necklace, it symbolized Ms. Lynd's tie to guy she loved so much. But in the end of the movie, was the objective really to work for them? It seems that the girl who melted Bond's heart lost her other man when she bargained to keep Bond alive during the 'rescue' from the torture sequence. In other words, her intentions changed towards the end of the movie; she really did fall madly in love with Bond and as such in her desperation to save him she lost what she was originally fighting for. All we ever know of the original boyfriend is the necklace, and now it's gone from her neck. So now we get to Mathis and the drop... Bond is determined to get that money back and find answers from this woman he loves so much. What's tragic is that Vesper knew she wasn't coming back; she saved Bond on purpose, and was going to give away the money to her employers, knowing he would come to save her (and secure the money then, or later due to her phone clue)... I just thought this was really well done, she's tortured by her personal feelings and her soul (which the movie teaches us people in these situations tend to lose) was riddled with guilt. It's horrible how things happened, but the core story and lesson for Bond was crystal clear. We've spent 21 Bond sequels seeing what these events shaped him into, he's just as he is in Casino Royale... ruthless, brutal, arrogant... but it's Vesper Lynd that made him efficient, not cold-hearted, but very aware of why he has to keep his personal feelings at bay. She's why he doesn't kill women in any of the other films, it's why he tries hard to objectify women even though it's clear he has strong caring feelings for his country and the innocents of the world (especially the womenfolk).

This is a 9 or 10 out of 10 for me, the movie was exactly what I hoped for, it delivered in every possible way, explored exactly what it set out to... and I think the Bond movies will be better for it. Not because of the 'lack' of gadgets, the brutish fisticuffs, or "throwing in" a love story (this was THE original Bond story), but because everything came together: The cast is brilliant from Bond to Spoilers:

Felix Leiter

. Everything you heard about the torture sequences, action, it's all true; incredibly well done, it's a fresh and involving Bond film that I can't wait to see again.

EDIT: Aw crap (Bond 22 spoilers)
Spoilers:

Apparently they're going to use Vesper's boyfriend as the villain in the next movie, delving into the unnamed organization (originally SMERSH in the novel), that had Vesper by the throat. Interesting twist but here I was thinking she'd dumped the necklace because she lost him. Perhaps this better explains her choice about Bond, her boyfriend is a megalomaniac! She did say she learned to let go, no?

This post has been edited by Nightwing on Nov 18 2006, 03:55 AM

I look forward to seeing this; I didn't click on the spoilers, this is one movie I don't want spoiled...

When you buy your ticket, tell the cashier "here's my money, every penny of it!"

It still surprises me that after so many "Yar I hate Craig" factions, they end up calling him one of the best Bonds ever

I'm seeing this movie in 3 hours.

All of the action was really cool, and it is different from usual Bond movies.

Now for a fresh spoiler:
Spoilers:

Felix = Mini Phillip Banks

I regret to say, I haven't actually seen any Bond movies yet(aside from bits and pieces of a really crappy Pierce Brosnan one). Is this a good one to jump on the bandwagon with?

It is a re-start of the series kind of like Batman Begins was for the Batman movie series. So yes.

Holy **** that was awesome.

I just got back from seeing it... man, it was so great.
Spoilers:

It tore me to bits that towards the end, you knew Vesper was going to snuff it. At least the betrayal took the pang away... yes it was that emotional. And I loved how the whole thing took place at a polker table. The 1 hour break thing was great. Two people who just got done nearly killing each other hop back into the game like nothing's happened. Great ****...

And this movie was as funny as hell too. I personally walked in with a bias against Craig. He is now one of my favorite Bonds ever, if not my most favorite. Seriously, go watch this. NOW.
Spoilers:

On another note, I loved how they didn't play the Bond theme throughout the whole movie. Actually, I was disappointed at the time, but when he goes "Bond... James Bond" and then... BAM, theme music, I was so happy... oh man, this movie is better than The World is Not Enough!

Not to mention that the title credits song (and display) were beautiful.

same

Yeah TWINE did rule. I think the reason for your other comment...
Spoilers:

Is that throughout the whole movie it is his learning process to not just having 00 rank but being worthy of the title. We're not supposed to see '007' until the end, and in those last few moments it's everything about Bond we've come to expect from the past movies: He says the line, the music plays, and he stands a clear invincible heroic figure like before... he's even put his 'armor back on' "Why would I need more time" "the ***** is dead" etc.

Oh and also; I totally agree about the Spoilers:

breaks during the poker game... freakin' classic, the recuscitation of Bond... everything manages to be so dramatic even though we know our hero isn't going to actually kick the bucket... and then the one liners hit again "Are you alright?!" "ME?!" ... and of course when he returns to the table "Sorry... that last hand... nearly killed me" I almost fell out of my seat I was laughing so hard. And Vesper crying in the shower... DAMN that tore me apart...

This post has been edited by Nightwing on Nov 19 2006, 04:34 AM

Oh also; for anyone that hasn't heard it, and for which this is a selling point of the movie...

the crazy computer animated intro for this particular Bond movie is set to song by this man, Chris Cornell. If you want to hear "You Know My Name". Check out his MySpace, you just might crap yourself at how awesome it is

http://www.myspace.com/chriscornell

I loved the theme song too. This is a great movie.

I want to read Mario Gamer's review now for some reason.

I saw it last night but I'm too happy with my Wii.

I'll write a review later tonight.

lol u pervert

I just got back from watching this a second time...

Oh god, it was still beautiful. I managed to see
Spoilers:

the part where James almost hits Vesper with the car; I was in the restroom the first time.

I can't get over the theme song either. Gorgeous...
The main reason for this bump was to hear others' opinoins, though. :p

I'm seeing this Tuesday for a second time.
The first time I saw it I was sitting in the front row which made my neck hurt quite allot afterward.

+ Mario Gamer, post your review already! >:(

It's been four long years and damnit I've waited through every one. Luckily I've had my good old friend at EA to tie me over with lame games. Thanks guys.
For those who don't know I'm a pretty big Bond fan. Goldeneye was one of the first games I played on the N64 and certainly one of my favorites. Now Brosnan has always been my favorite and I admit I was a little biases towards the new guy. Probably because Brosnan was the only bond I knew, the one I grew up with. Okay so before I start I know this is a make over for the series but there are some things they should've left and I'm very disappointed to see them go.
First off the intro is the first in the series to not carry the gun barrel. This really needed to be included whether it was a reboot or not. It's a classic logo of the series. Now other then that the intro got my pumped to see Bond was back and the little digital movie for the credits was the best one I've ever seen. And the scene after the opening? Man. I knew this was going to be a good movie.
Well, somewhere down the line I thought to myself this is a really good movie but I still am not watching it as if it's Bond. Maybe it's just me and this is an actor-change-shock. But something didn't feel right. He wasn't suave enough, he was gritty and dirty. He was also vulnerable in this movie which I think was a good thing and we should've seen more of in the past 20 films. The acting was good on everyone's part, though I think Craig shouldn't have been so...stiff in himself. The action scenes were great and there was no real cheesy CGI this time. No Q or Moneypenny either which was another huge disappointment. The longest film the date almost pressing three hours.
The story was good for the first half hour but, like most Bond films it got confusing and I'll have to see it again to understand it.
Spoilers:

The ending was really short and Le Chiffre needed a more exotic death and boy do I LOVE cliffhangers.

So basically I'm torn on the movie. While it was a good movie it felt more like just another action film and not a Bond film. I can't say I wasn't disappointed.

7/10

And where was the Bond theme? It wasn't in the entire movie.

The Bond theme was at the very end, if that counts.

I thought it was an excellent movie.

Yeah but why not during any action parts?