Quantum of Solace

[steveindenmark]

I saw the new Bond film the day after it came out and thought I would let you know what I thought.

I am not a huge 007 fan but I have seen all the films due to my age, I am 50. That means they have all been on TV more than once so you get to see them whether you want to or not.

There is a pattern to a Bond film and changing it dramatically just makes it an action film and not a Bond film. This for me is what they have done with Quantum of Solace.

First the title. I know all the words..Quantum of Solace.. but I am not sure what the sentence means. Its not like "Goldfinger", "Never say Never Again" I understand those.

Secondly, Bond theme songs are memorable as are the bands who sing them. Shirley Bassey, Sheena Easton, Aha, Duran Duran. Alecia Keys and some guy I have never heard of does the first ever Bond Duet for this film. I love music, but this song is so forgettable that I have no idea of how it went.

Bond always has romantic liason..that is almost missing in this film.

Gadgets...James Bond alway has gadgets...but not in this film.

Cheesy one liners....not in this film.

Bond almost never works with anyone else...he does in this one but she has a seperate agenda to him. Its a bit like 2 films in one.

There is a scene where there is a chase across the rooftops in Sienna, Italy. If you have seen the Bourne Identity where he chases through all the flats in Paris, it is a rip off of that.

The last quarter of the film is set in type of a hotel in the desert and has almost nothing to do with Bond and is boring.

So this is an action film and not a Bond film. IMHO it is not even a good action film, I have seen a lot better for a lot less production cost.

The Bourne Identity rings a bell.

Steve

 

[blantonator]

I agree, i hated it.

 

[yukon_alex]

Hmmm. I agree with a number of your points. The theme song was completely unmemorable, there were no gadgets, no gratuitous romp in the sack with a woman with a name like Pussy Galore. More action and less Bond.

I like it! I really do not want to see a return to the vacuous Bond. I like the character development that started in Casino Royal and continues in the current film. I like the fact that bond actually takes a licking and keeps on ticking. The scene where bond buttons his jacket over a large blood stain on his white shirt before entering the hotel is indicative of reality as opposed to the hair-is-never-out-of-place-even-after-I've-kicked-the-asses-of-22-bad-guys Bond of old. Bourne-like? Maybe. Is that bad? I really enjoy the Bourne movies too!

I am not a film critic and your mileage may vary. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

 

[Shafe716]

I disagree 100% I think this is definately a good direction for them to take the franchise. Ok maybe a few more gadgets... but overall this Bond character is way more in tune with the times. The older movies (with Sean Connery) were kind of hokey. But then again most movies of that era were, so it was in tune with the times as well.

I feel for you purists out there, cause I hate it when they change a formula I already am in love with (i.e. most recent Highlander direct to dvd release:thumbdown But you have to look at the bigger picture. They've broadened the audience and this character is real, he feels pain, deals with things the everyday person does and still kicks a$$.

just my $.02



Side note
This thread should be moved to the bar.

 

[steveindenmark]

We are all entitled to our opinions, and just as well otherwise we would all be watchng exactly the same films.

Out of interest I looked James Bond films up on Wilkapedia and was suprised at the detail. I was even more suprised at the percentage profits from the first film compared to the last film. The early films made massive profits.

James Bond (films - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

These are some of the things that should be added to the next Bond film:

[ame="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BfSGadg-TAA"]YouTube - BRP Bombardier Can Am Spyder roadster Tricycle[/ame]

[ame="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=P-oQ--U-WaQ"]YouTube - Swiss Rocket Man - Yves Rossy[/ame]

[nomedia]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCCrpVB5bFc&feature=related[/nomedia]

[ame="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iMIF2GrdL28&feature=related"]YouTube - WALLY 118 THE YACHT !!! END OF STORY[/ame]

They are all real.

What would you like to be added to the next Bond film?....and not women....

Steve

 

[billk]

I have been a Bond fan since I was a kid and I think the last two films are a great revival for Bond. You have to take in to account that Casino Royale is actually the first film in which Bond is elevated to "00" status and Quantum is a sequeal of that. He is still very impetuous and wild and not refined into the Bond we are all used to. A time before they introduce Q and all of his fun gadgets that we all love. I like the fact he is more "human" and gets tortured and bloody, still showing emotion. Not to mention that Quantum has one of the hottest Bond girls ever! But like was stated everyone has their own opinion and thoughts where Bond is concerned. As the debate of Connery vs Moore will go on forever.

 

[mdr]

Have to agree with Steveindenmark on all points. It was OK at best. Not a BOND film in the true sense of the words. Several scenes seemed "too familiar" though I would have said they were stolen from other movies. Definitely not up to the caliber of Bourne series, I gave Quantum 3 stars out of 5.

Hotei

 

[steveindenmark]

I have been a Bond fan since I was a kid and I think the last two films are a great revival for Bond. You have to take in to account that Casino Royale is actually the first film in which Bond is elevated to \"00\" status and Quantum is a sequeal of that. He is still very impetuous and wild and not refined into the Bond we are all used to. A time before they introduce Q and all of his fun gadgets that we all love. I like the fact he is more \"human\" and gets tortured and bloody, still showing emotion. Not to mention that Quantum has one of the hottest Bond girls ever! But like was stated everyone has their own opinion and thoughts where Bond is concerned. As the debate of Connery vs Moore will go on forever.

There never has and never will be a contest between Roger Moore and Sean Connery...Roger moore got the place through a British series called "The Saint" which was pretty Naff. He was not a great deal better as Bond.
As for the "Hottest Bond girl ever" You just have to be very, very young or blind.

Steve

 

[Jman]

I think the problem with the film was editing....seemed a bit choppy to me. It could have used a better story line and screen play, too. However, Daniel Craig is most definitely my favorite Bond. He has tremendous stage presence and high intensity. He is more believable, somehow, in the outrageous stunts in the two new films. Not a two dimensional character IMO.:thumbup:

 

[craig007]

I saw this today. It was OK, but not great. It was un-Bond-like. The filming was too jerky for my liking. The villan's payoff did not seem big enough for all of the trouble they went through.

It wasn't a terrible movie but IMO, Danial Craig is not quite cool enough to play 007/

 

[Raid The Revenge]

My favorite part of BOND movies are the "Maurice Binder" sequences at the beginning. You know those artistic segments with the awesome music and naked girls jumping on trampolines and stuff?

They're not the same anymore. Whoever did the Quantum of Solace "Maurice Binder" was a tard.

 

[stevesnj]

I thought Casino Royale was better but this was excellent...I think Daniel Craig is my second best Bond to Sean Connery... QOS is good not great...but I liked it alot

 

[steveindenmark]

[COLOR=\"DarkGreen\"]My favorite part of BOND movies are the \"Maurice Binder\" sequences at the beginning. You know those artistic segments with the awesome music and naked girls jumping on trampolines and stuff?

They're not the same anymore. Whoever did the Quantum of Solace \"Maurice Binder\" was a tard. [/COLOR]

Its funny what everyone thinks makes up a bond movie. But this is an element that skipped my mind. But it part of the film I like. It goes to show that the Bond films start right at the beginning and end right at the very end....if you know what I mean !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thinking about gadgets in Q.O.S ...I forgot the computer table when M was shown the passport...I have put it on my wish list.

Steve

 

[Zack]

Don't like a Craig as a Bond. He doesn't look and feel like Bond. Liked Brosnan much better. I would say he was perfect mix of elegance, action, looks to be a Bond. Craig has more like Slavic looks, not British

 

[rickvan67]

I think Daniel Craig is a kick a$$ bond, not quite Sean Connery but excellent. Hated Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan, cheesy pansies. Craig brings a butt kickin, bad a$$ quality that Bond needy badly. QoS was good, not as good as Casino, and I missed the gadgets.

 

[mstewar1]

Just saw it. Liked it well enough. Olga Kurylenko. Like her a lot more.

Someone suggested that he didn't have the (or enough) gratuitous flings in this one, but he did have the one, with the red head who got coated in oil, ala goldfinger.

I do miss the Q character, and I miss the gadgets and the gadget lab, too. Though he did have the tracking unit in the business card that he tracked with his cell phone. But that was about it. I think that we live in a time when we've all got so many little electronic gizmos, or such things are available, such that it's kinda hard to impress. The table computer thing was interesting but I can't help but think that it was just an animation of some sort. I wanna see a emp or sound or laser weapon.

It kinda breaks my heart to see them smash up one of those sweet Aston Martin's in every movie... It'd be kinda cool if they'd bust out with a killer motorcycle scene. High speed motorcycle chase scene, yeah baby. That cheesy thing that they did in Never Say Never was, well, it was cheesy.

As for Daniel Craig, I like him. He has supplanted Sean Connery as my favorite Bond. But I'll admit to being fickle and having a short memory... As someone else has said, he just brings a certain snarling intensity to the role. He can turn on the charm when he needs to. He's much more believable in the fight scenes. And the fight scenes are much more believable, too. Though I do understand that it was a sort of central aspect of the whole Bond persona that he was supposed to have some sublimely righteous fighting skill, so well developed that he could kick a bunch of a$$ and not break a sweat. Meh, don't miss that aspect.

Pierce Brosnan was way too unbelievable for my tastes. Just way wimpy looking. Elegance, schmelegance. Daniel Craig manages to look pretty stylish when they put him in the tux. That's enough elegance for me.

I totally agree with the opening sequence and theme song notion. Either they've gone away or are just that forgettable. Either way, it's too bad.

I'm a huge fan of the Bourne series, too. I do hope that the Bond franchise doesn't get too similar to the Bourne series, that it would retain some sort of Bond-ish aspect to distinguish it. More gorgeous women and gadgets would do the trick...

As always, ymmv. I'm just an action junkie who's relatively easy to please.

 

[mpb218]

Depressing what they have done to the Bond I love. I refuse to see them.

 

[reiobard]

thank you for the review, i will probably rent it, but i will definitely see it at some point.