Spectre is, what, two minutes longer than Skyfall? Three, tops? We're not talking Nolan or Tarantino here, who tack on an additional fifteen minutes every time out. I'd take a 150-minute Spectre over a 104-minute Quantum Of Solace, which was literally NOTHING but action sequences (and badly-shot and edited ones, at that), strung together with the barest minimum of narrative tissue between them.AndyDursin wrote:MJ -- I do not want to hear about you having an issue with long running times EVER AGAIN if you did not have a problem with THIS movie being absurdly 2.5 hours long. lol.
Bond 24 - SPECTRE
- Monterey Jack
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Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
I really, really enjoyed the film and feel like Daniel Craig's outings as Bond have been well done and most welcome. I am a big fan of Daniel Craig's Bond, feeling like he has captured more accurately the character of Bond in Ian Fleming's novels in his performances. There are many things I like about SPECTRE, but first the one thing I absolutely hated about it: the title song. I don't know who Sam Smith is, but he is a terrible singer for the type of song a movie (and character) like this require. The song is an embarrassment; I commented about why I did not like the song earlier in the thread so I will not repeat myself. Needless to say that Sam Smith's debacle of a vocal performance automatically elevates Madonna's and Lulu's contributions to the Bond universe with their songs. Why the powers-that-be did not give this song to a female to sing is beyond me. Horrible mistake on their part.
Having said that, there is much I loved about the movie itself. First, I loved the locations and the use of widescreen to show off many of the beautiful spots they chose to shoot in. I also loved the opening sequence and the long continuous shot there that reminded me of old fashioned filmmaking, building tension not through tons of edits but by well planned choreography. I also loved the nods to classic Bond films: FRWL with an extended train sequence/fight, the Rolls Royce made me think of Goldfinger, and the SPECTRE meeting made me think of Thunderball (and I loved the into of the cat). I liked that the story was meant to bring together all the elements of the Craig Bond trilogy of films, and I liked that the story was long and took its time rather than jumping from set piece to set piece. I was never bored; the action set pieces built good tension, I didn't mind Thomas Newman's score (though it is not on the level of a great John Barry score), and despite knowing that C was part of SPECTRE from the very start, it was fun to see the characters gradually come to that realization as the film moved along. Blofeld's motivations for world domination coupled with jealousy over Bond was interesting to me as well - I felt Waltz did a good job. And in addition, I liked that Maddie's character was strong.
One thing I did wonder though - why did Bond not want Maddie to see the video of him and her father? Maybe I missed something at that moment of the story, but Bond didn't tell Maddie that he had killed her father, so he didn't lie to her. I'm not sure what that had to do with anything. Otherwise, I enjoyed the story and the film as a whole, and if this is Daniel Craig's last Bond outing, it was a good way to go out. (9/10).
Having said that, there is much I loved about the movie itself. First, I loved the locations and the use of widescreen to show off many of the beautiful spots they chose to shoot in. I also loved the opening sequence and the long continuous shot there that reminded me of old fashioned filmmaking, building tension not through tons of edits but by well planned choreography. I also loved the nods to classic Bond films: FRWL with an extended train sequence/fight, the Rolls Royce made me think of Goldfinger, and the SPECTRE meeting made me think of Thunderball (and I loved the into of the cat). I liked that the story was meant to bring together all the elements of the Craig Bond trilogy of films, and I liked that the story was long and took its time rather than jumping from set piece to set piece. I was never bored; the action set pieces built good tension, I didn't mind Thomas Newman's score (though it is not on the level of a great John Barry score), and despite knowing that C was part of SPECTRE from the very start, it was fun to see the characters gradually come to that realization as the film moved along. Blofeld's motivations for world domination coupled with jealousy over Bond was interesting to me as well - I felt Waltz did a good job. And in addition, I liked that Maddie's character was strong.
One thing I did wonder though - why did Bond not want Maddie to see the video of him and her father? Maybe I missed something at that moment of the story, but Bond didn't tell Maddie that he had killed her father, so he didn't lie to her. I'm not sure what that had to do with anything. Otherwise, I enjoyed the story and the film as a whole, and if this is Daniel Craig's last Bond outing, it was a good way to go out. (9/10).
- AndyDursin
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Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
It's not just the time, it's what you do with it. SKYFALL had enough story to (pretty much) support its length. This movie absolutely did not. I can't think of another movie as needlessly long...maybe the 3rd PIRATES movie, but that's about it. The story felt slapped together -- which it clearly was given 4 different, credited writers and a script that wasn't even done when they started filming -- and the pacing was so flabby they could have axed 20-30 solid minutes (most of M's scenes should have been the first to go) with little detriment to the "action" such as it was.Monterey Jack wrote:Spectre is, what, two minutes longer than Skyfall? Three, tops? We're not talking Nolan or Tarantino here, who tack on an additional fifteen minutes every time out. I'd take a 150-minute Spectre over a 104-minute Quantum Of Solace, which was literally NOTHING but action sequences (and badly-shot and edited ones, at that), strung together with the barest minimum of narrative tissue between them.AndyDursin wrote:MJ -- I do not want to hear about you having an issue with long running times EVER AGAIN if you did not have a problem with THIS movie being absurdly 2.5 hours long. lol.
I'm beginning to think Naomie Harris has completely clouded the judgment of several of you....lol
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Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
Can you blame us?AndyDursin wrote:I'm beginning to think Naomie Harris has completely clouded the judgment of several of you....lol
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Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
Is he playing Bond villians in-between scoring assignments?Paul MacLean wrote: Christoph Beck was adequate as Blofeld, but nothing special.
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- AndyDursin
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Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
I didn't get it either. I thought it was going to be revealed that Blofeld had re-edited the footage and it was going to show Bond killing him off instead of him committing suicide, which would've turned Maddie away from Bond. It was built up like some big dramatic moment and I'm not sure what the point was. Of course, I didn't buy any of Bond and Maddie's relationship in terms of her falling in love with him, mainly because of his vacant performance. Just didn't work at all for me.One thing I did wonder though - why did Bond not want Maddie to see the video of him and her father? Maybe I missed something at that moment of the story, but Bond didn't tell Maddie that he had killed her father, so he didn't lie to her. I'm not sure what that had to do with anything.
At any rate, Ed the Fedex Guy weighed in, and he also was hugely disappointed and bored. So that's it, you guys lose. lol
Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
I figured Bond didn't want her to see it because it would be too upsetting? Which seemed pretty lame- she killed a man when she was young for pete's sake.
And I guess Bond killed about 200 people in one blast when he blew up the desert compound. Is that the highest body count for Bond in any movie? I only noticed 2 suvs drive off from the explosion.
And I guess Bond killed about 200 people in one blast when he blew up the desert compound. Is that the highest body count for Bond in any movie? I only noticed 2 suvs drive off from the explosion.
- AndyDursin
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Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
Yeah that's why I felt it was lame. I figured there was a twist coming there. Didn't Bond tell her he killed himself? So she already knew it, what was the big deal about seeing it?I figured Bond didn't want her to see it because it would be too upsetting? Which seemed pretty lame- she killed a man when she was young for pete's sake.
Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
Lol...maybe that was what Bond was afraid of too which was why he told her not to look at the video screens. Admittedly, that did not deliver on what it was promising. I did enjoy Maddie's character though - she had a killer instinct too (loved when she shot the dude on the train...the image of her holding that gun and her shooting form just sticks in my mind for some reason...lol...HOT!) so she could relate to Bond on some level that most of his women could not. Maybe they could have spent a bit more time building up that dynamic.AndyDursin wrote:I didn't get it either. I thought it was going to be revealed that Blofeld had re-edited the footage and it was going to show Bond killing him off instead of him committing suicide, which would've turned Maddie away from Bond. It was built up like some big dramatic moment and I'm not sure what the point was. Of course, I didn't buy any of Bond and Maddie's relationship in terms of her falling in love with him, mainly because of his vacant performance. Just didn't work at all for me.One thing I did wonder though - why did Bond not want Maddie to see the video of him and her father? Maybe I missed something at that moment of the story, but Bond didn't tell Maddie that he had killed her father, so he didn't lie to her. I'm not sure what that had to do with anything.
At any rate, Ed the Fedex Guy weighed in, and he also was hugely disappointed and bored. So that's it, you guys lose. lol
- AndyDursin
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Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
I liked the character and Seydoux just fine. I just felt there was zero chemistry between her and Craig, which had to do with his somnambulant performance. When she started talking about falling in love with him, I nearly laughed outloud. That element of the film was a total bust for me.
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Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
Sorry, Waltz!John Johnson wrote:Is he playing Bond villians in-between scoring assignments?Paul MacLean wrote: Christoph Beck was adequate as Blofeld, but nothing special.
You're getting me back for calling you on your Tyler Bates / Bryan Tyler boo-boo a couple of years ago aren't you? Fair enough!
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Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
No, I'd forgotten about that. But now you come to mention it...Paul MacLean wrote:Sorry, Waltz!John Johnson wrote:Is he playing Bond villians in-between scoring assignments?Paul MacLean wrote: Christoph Beck was adequate as Blofeld, but nothing special.
You're getting me back for calling you on your Tyler Bates / Bryan Tyler boo-boo a couple of years ago aren't you? Fair enough!
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Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
Okay, I am now at last up to speed with the entire Bond saga. Four films of this in under a week and every one of these films I was nodding off at some point and having to backtrack. All of the Craig films just suffer from being the same damned film every time it seems like and the fact that they feel the need to connect all of them together (not convincingly. In effect it took them four movies to reveal what "Dr. No" revealed in his first scene when he revealed he was working for SPECTRE in terms of tying multiple films together!). No, I'm talking about the fact that in every one of these films Bond is in rogue mode basically at some point and as soon as I saw after the teaser he was "rogue" I felt like Rocky the Flying Squirrel going, "AGAIN???" If I was to ever be given a chance to accept Craig as Bond then I needed to see him in the most traditional style of Bond films in which I don't see some dressing down from his superior. In four films they never gave it to me.
And gee, one film back we get a giant revenge plot on M. Now we get a buildup identical to the last film of revelation of a character we've never seen before with a giant revenge thing on Bond. Gee whiz, let's make Blofeld Bond's former foster brother! (talk about going for an Empire Strikes Back like moment) Let's also implausibly avoid mentioning his name until the last act of the film when the time to mention Blofeld's name was the first act. Let's implausibly bring back Mr. White and make him sympathetic all of a sudden before dispatching him.
The inside joke homages to the past didn't work for me. They give me an OHMSS scene, a FRWL scene and then they give Blofeld a scar to match Donald Pleasance's for the YOLT homage. But if the tone of the film as a whole doesn't ring true to me in terms of what the Bond style should be, then all these homages do is remind me of what better Bonds there have been.
I've done my duty and seen the Craig films once. And now as Connery said in another Bond film that was low in my esteem, "Never again!"
And gee, one film back we get a giant revenge plot on M. Now we get a buildup identical to the last film of revelation of a character we've never seen before with a giant revenge thing on Bond. Gee whiz, let's make Blofeld Bond's former foster brother! (talk about going for an Empire Strikes Back like moment) Let's also implausibly avoid mentioning his name until the last act of the film when the time to mention Blofeld's name was the first act. Let's implausibly bring back Mr. White and make him sympathetic all of a sudden before dispatching him.
The inside joke homages to the past didn't work for me. They give me an OHMSS scene, a FRWL scene and then they give Blofeld a scar to match Donald Pleasance's for the YOLT homage. But if the tone of the film as a whole doesn't ring true to me in terms of what the Bond style should be, then all these homages do is remind me of what better Bonds there have been.
I've done my duty and seen the Craig films once. And now as Connery said in another Bond film that was low in my esteem, "Never again!"
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Re: Bond 24 - SPECTRE
I busted a gut laughing at this. Once one has seen CR-Craig it makes it very funny (and if one didn't care for it, very appropriate!)John Johnson wrote: