Brosnan and Craig Bond Films Reviews

[Jedi007]

Sources:
www.mjnewton.demon.co.uk/bond/dad.htm
http://www.devilsreviews.com/reviews/jamesbond5.htm
http://www.devilsreviews.com/reviews/jamesbond6.htm

Note: I've edited a few parts.

Pierce Brosnan

The third major Bond actor (ignoring the minor ones), Pierce Brosnan's road to the role has been written about thousands of times, so I'll leave it at: Brosnan was offered the part, but the press caused his failing show, Remington Steel, to be resurrected, forcing him to pass and giving Dalton what turned out not to be his big break. Eight years later, Brosnan finally became Bond, saving the dying franchise.

His version of the super-spy is a combination of those who went before him, toning down their traits. He's got the boyish foolishness mixed with cold violence that marked Connery's and the elegance and grace of Moore's, while tossing off quips like both. He is vulnerable like Lazenby's and has inherited Dalton's Bond's barely controlled seething anger and intensity. These personality attributes don't always fit together well, but if you're looking for a complex, multi-layered Bond, here's your man.

Once again, this Bond is wanted by all women. As for all men wanting to be him, well, yes, but not as much as Connery's or Moore's. This Bond is cool and powerful, but troubled. He's mysterious, keeping much of his real self hidden (thus the one-liners are a defense mechanism, unlike for Moore's, where he said them because it was fun). This Bond is an enigma who is suppressing great pain.

The four Brosnan films are all extravaganzas, offering the most spectacular stunts, lavish chases, and colorful cinematography of the franchise. These movies look good. They are built to be light entertainment, but take the pain of Bond and others more seriously.

The personnel have undergone some changes. Desmond Llewelyn is still around as Q, but he died during the Brosnan years to be replaced by John Cleese, initially playing R. The old M is gone, and the new one is played by an over-serious Judi Dench. She lightens up as the films progress. Miss Moneypenny is still Miss Moneypenny, but she's now played by attractive Samantha Bond as a modern woman. His main contacts outside of MI6 tend toward the comic. Jack Wade is a light-hearted CIA agent who is able to pop up anywhere. In an odd bit of casting, he's given life by Joe Don Baker who had played the villain in The Living Daylights. Robbie Coltrane shows up in two films as a Russian crime boss with a hard-to-fathom fondness for Bond.

The Brosnan films are:

GoldenEye
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World is Not Enough
Die Another Day


GoldenEye

CrazyMan Says
See It
(And Own It)

This is everything a Bond flick should be: hot women, violence and explosions, and a cool super spy that's living the life you dream of. GoldenEye is fast, colorful <edited>.

Gadgets: Low
Absurdity of evil plot: Average
Killer fish: Nope

A Russian general destroys a secret space facility to hide his theft of the GoldenEye satellite weapon. Bond heads to the ex-Soviet Union to find a mysterious crime lord who has plans for the devise that wouldn't be good for Queen and country. Luckily, he meets up with delectable Natalya Simonova, a computer programmer who survived the general's crime. After that, it's ejector seats on helicopters, a chase down crowded streets in a tank, an exploding armored train, missiles, plane crashes, and more automatic fire than even CrazyMan can count.

Brosnan inhabits Bond and the action scenes are the best in the entire series (the pre-credits sequence gives the leap off a cliff from The Spy Who Loved Me a run for the money). The villain is a winner and the humor works. But those are minor compared to the Bond girls. Izabella Scorupco's Natalya Simonova and Famke Janssen's Xenia Onatopp are arguably the finest pairing in twenty-two films. Scorupco, a Swedish model and pop star does the old "hot-chick styles her hair differently and puts on glasses to become an intellectual" thing and this time, it works. At all times you can tell that this is one fuckable babe, but it is also easy to accept her as a computer nerd. This Bond girl is more than a plot point. She's got a personality and is the most developed character in the series after the star. She gets substantial screen time as this is her story as much as 007's, and it is a compelling one. Bond is the superman that's fun to watch, and Natalya is the heart. She's strong without being a gun-toting Amazon. Bond girls fall into two categories: girls with guns and screamers. She's a new category.

As enjoyable as she is, nothing beats Onatopp. She likes killing...a lot. A whole lot. Every death sends shivers of ecstasy through her. She murders an admiral by crushing him with her thighs during sex and she climaxes as he stops breathing. I don't feel sorry for him. Can you think of a better way to die? She orgasms as she machineguns a room full of computer programmers (the tremor in Janssen's lip is delightful). Oh, she is my kind of woman! And you've never seen anyone fill out a Russian uniform the way she does. Unfortunately, it isn't the standard cut for women in their military.

GoldenEye is not only a great Bond film, it is one of the best action flicks of all time. <edited>

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Pride: More than in the other Brosnan films, Bond likes himself and is in control.
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Thought: He calls it instincts, but this Bond is a thinking man.
Humor: Light and fun throughout, there are the occasional one-liners, a healthy dose of innuendo, and several characters provide comic relief.
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Tomorrow Never Dies

CrazyMan Says
See It

The second Brosnan film is slightly darker than the first, but is otherwise a close cousin, with high levels of excitement and a general aura of Saturday afternoon coolness. Bond is back to f**k some women and kill some bad guys, and he's not concerned about the order.

Gadgets: High
Absurdity of evil plot: Average
Killer fish: Nope

The head bad guy is Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), a megalomaniacal media mogul who sinks a British ship, steals one of its missiles, and blames it on the Chinese. James Bond is dispatched to ascertain the truth before war breaks out. It helps his investigation that Carver's wife is one of his old lovers (ah, there are so many), one who he was closer to than normal. Bond isn't the only one suspicious of Carver. Chinese agent and martial arts master Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) is also on the case.

Elliot Carver is the most colorful villain since the Connery years, raving about the power of words and responding to reports of disasters with "Outstanding" and "Delicious." He's a thinly veiled parody of right-wing control freak Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp, Fox News, and many others, making Tomorrow Never Dies one of the only James Bond movies with a theme <edited>. But as this is Bond, the examination of the problems with modern media never gets in the way of a good machinegunning.

The two main Bond girls are Teri Hatcher and Michelle Yeoh. Hatcher's Paris Carver is in the mold of many babes before her, but she has all the right curves to fit that mold exquisitely. Plus she dresses well. Garter belt and stockings are always the proper choice, particularly without a dress. Yeoh's Wai Lin is a bit different—the first Bond girl who is his equal as a spy. Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me had been a good agent (certainly superior to the many red-shirted MI6 and CIA operatives who die in every film), but Lin, like Bond, is a super-spy who can perform impossible feats. Her Hong Kong-style fights are a welcome change of pace. Sadly, her wardrobe is far too conservative and she doesn't put enough emphasis on getting laid. Oh well, that's why it's important to have multiple Bond girls.

Following the fads: Hong Kong chopsocky enters Western mainstream films.

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Pride: Bond is d**n cool and knows it.
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Thought: Average for a Bond film.
Humor: Some good lines, most recited by the supporting cast. Overall, a more serious outing—not as light as the Connery or Moore films.
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The World is Not Enough

CrazyMan Says
See It
(But don't rush)

“There's no point living, if you can't feel alive.” I couldn't have said it better. Of course the statement would have carried more weight if the good guys said it, but wisdom is wisdom, no matter the source.

The story is as preposterous as ever, though it manages to seem less fantastic for an hour. Sir Robert King, a wealthy old friend of M's, is murdered by deranged Renard, a man who feels no pain. Renard had kidnapped King's daughter Elektra a few years earlier, and now appears to be killing off everyone that made that an unsuccessful crime. Bond sets off to protect Elektra, who is continuing the work on her father's oil pipeline. But all is not what it seems, which becomes clear when Renard steals a nuclear bomb. It's a good thing Bond has the help of scientist Christmas Jones.

Gadgets: High
Absurdity of evil plot: Average
Killer fish: Nope


While the plot, double-entendres, and stunts are old-style Bond (and in the case of the stunts, better than average), 007 himself is sulkier than usual. Of course that could be old-style as well—think Dalton. <edited>. <edited>. Renard shares Bond's poor mood, showing us that good and evil can join together, at least in being grumpy. Maybe it's an inferiority complex coming from Renard's realization that he's an uninteresting villain (good thing he's not alone on the dark side). Actor Robert Carlyle emotes with wild abandon, but doesn't have enough of a character to make it meaningful.

Elektra, played with rich sexuality and power by Sophie Marceau, is a fine addition to the Bond girl pool. She smolders. Denis Richards's Dr. Jones doesn't do so well. She's more boppy than sensual. Too bad she's even worse as a plot device. Accepting her as a nuclear physicist is beyond anyone's suspension of disbelief as she wars with Tanya Roberts for the title of Worst Bond Girl.

Character-wise, this is a sub-par outing, but the action is top notch. Leaping speed boats, exploding balloons, helicopters with buzz saws, paragliding snowmobiles, and snipers everywhere. Yeah, that's how it's done.

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Pride: 007 is proud, but anger and mysterious pain make a less proud Bond.
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Thought: Bond's a smart man, but it doesn't show here.
Humor: Bond has the regular quips. Robbie Coltrane and John Cleese (as Q's underling R) add comic relief.
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Die Another Day

CrazyMan Says
See It
(But don't put it high on your Bond viewing list)

The last Brosnan film elevates the fantasy action and degree of sci-fi gadgetry while darkening the drama. Yeah, that means uneasy bedfellows, and I'm not talking about Bond and the gals. Still, Die Another Day is an enjoyable romp.

Bond stops a renegade Korean officer and his plan to sell conflict diamonds, but is captured and tortured. Traded for a terrorist when Western secrets are exposed, Bond is confined by MI6 and taken off active duty. Desiring to prove that he didn't talk and get some payback, he escapes and does the globe trotting that he does so well, discovering that a flamboyant corporate exec with ties to the Koreans and wealth based on conflict diamonds, has built a satellite that could threaten the West.

Gadgets: High
Absurdity of evil plot: Average
Killer fish: Nope

What's with Brosnan and torture? In Tomorrow Never Dies he's shown the torture implements the way it's done in inquisition films, in The World is Not Enough he's placed in a torture chair, and in Die Another Day he gets the full treatment. <edited>. It seems the producers knew that their audience had a hard-on for it, but didn't want to shock anyone, so slowly built up, over four films, to the genital beating that would grace Casino Royale. <edited>

Brosnan's in control of the Bond character, but he's starting to look a bit worn. It works this time since those months of torture should leave him a bit strained, but it was time for him to leave the franchise. It's nice that he left without making that one-to-many the way both Connery and Moore did.

Halle Berry and Rosamund Pike do their jobs, and end up somewhere in the middle of the Bond girl pack. Berry's Jinx starts out in the upper echelons as a highly sexed mystery woman, but ends up as another in a long line of straightforward government agents.

Forget the characters; it's action that counts, and Die Another Day has some of the best you'll see anywhere. At the kick-ass level there's the opening hovercraft battle with Bond taking on a Korean army. It sets the tone for the movie, and who doesn't love close combat flamethrower use? But it isn't all sharp. In the lackluster department there's Bond's escape via rocket ice-car. There's no tension, just the need to show off another vehicle. That scene leads directly to the series' most embarrassing moment since Connery's Bond put on his Japanese make-up: Bond paragliding/surfing through icy water. The CGI skills are lacking, making it obvious that Brosnan has been replaced by animation. Sad.

The most thrilling scene is old-school: a sword fight. It's not what you expect from Bond, which may be why it works so well.

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Pride: Gotta love the way the man, wet and ill kept, strides into a luxury hotel.
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Thought: 007 shows more signs of a brain than he did in The World is Not Enough, but he's still in "blunt instrument" mode.
Humor: Bond is low on one-liners, but Jinx takes up the slack. And John Cleese does what John Cleese does best.
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Die Another Review from Bond Film Informant

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The gunbarrel: The same gunbarrel footage is used as in the previous 3 movies, although it has now been augmented by a CGI bullet that flies towards the audience, indicating that Bond is now such a good shot that he can fire right down a gun barrel... The music starts off as a more traditional arrangement than in David Arnold's two previous scores, before going very techno.

Using the title: Bond notes that Graves has lived "To die another day" when he confronts him in the Ice Palace shorty after working out his real identity.

The novel approach: There is little overt use of material from Fleming. However, there do appear to be similarities between Gustav Graves and Hugo Drax from Fleming's "Moonraker"; both are supposedly members of the British establishment with benevolent schemes but are ultimately revealed to be something quite different. More explicit references to "Moonraker" didn't make it into the movie; the country club where the fencing sequence is set is called Blades (the name of M's gentleman's club from the novel), but it is not named on-screen. Similarly, Rosamund Pike's character was originally announced as being called Gala Brand, the name of the heroine from "Moonraker", but this was changed before filming actually began as a result of script changes that made the character less like the one in the book. Indeed, the resulting character of Miranda Frost is actually more reminiscent of Vesper Lynd, the heroine from "Casino Royale", an MI6 agent who was revealed as a traitor.

As part of the celebratory nature of the film (see mainly under "Continuity"), the film does provide some other nods towards Fleming. In Cuba, Bond pretends to be an orthinologist, inspired by a book called "Birds of the West Indies". This is a real book by a real ornithologist called James Bond and was the source from which Fleming took the name of his secret agent when writing "Casino Royale". Later, we see old posters for Players cigarettes in the abandoned tube station. This is a reference to "Thunderball", since that film's heroine, Domino, was enamoured of the sailor who appeared on the box of this particular brand. The name of the villain - Colonel Moon - is also an explicit nod to the first non-Fleming Bond novel, Kingsley Amis's "Colonel Sun" (indeed, some sources suggest that in early versions of the script the character was called Colonel Sun - which would have been appropriate given the nature of the Icarus device). Although possibly not deliberate, the adaptive camouflage of the Aston Martin is very similar to one of the extras on the Q Branch Jaguar driven by the literary Bond in "The Facts Of Death" by Raymond Benson.

There are further nods to Fleming in some of Miranda Frost's dialogue - she mentions the phrases "sex for dinner" and "death for breakfast", which recall chapter titles in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (the latter is a direct quote, but the former is actually "Love For Dinner" in Fleming).

As with the last two movies, Die Another Day was novelised by Raymond Benson.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service: The character seen as Major Boothroyd's assistant has now taken over as Q. In a nod to the derivation of the code name, Bond actually refers to him as "Quatermaster". MI6 is still based at Vauxhall Cross as in the previous Brosnan movies, and we see that Bond has his own office in this building as he did in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (the office actually appears during the virtual reality training sequence, but it must be assumed that this is representative of the real world).

MI6 also has additional premises in London in an abandoned tube station accessed from the south bank of the Thames, by Westminster Bridge. The precise role of this base is unclear; Q claims that this is where Q Branch develops its technology, but that seems unlikely given the absence of white coated technicians and it seems to be acting more as an archive (see also "Other trivia"). The station is called Vauxhall Cross (after the location of MI6 headquarters) and is fictional. The map seen places it on the Picadilly Line, between Green Park (called Dover Street on the map, which was the old name of this station until the entrance was changed) and Hyde Park Corner. There is actually an abandoned tube station here called Down Street but that station is in the tunnels still used on the line whereas Vauxhall Cross is clearly an abandoned branch.

MI6 has an evaluation centre in the Falklands, which is where M is planning to send Bond after his recovery from North Korea.

MI6 has a presence in Cuba in the form of Raoul. He doesn't represent a formal "Station" in the same way as many previous outposts, but is a sleeper agent who seems to have been all but forgotten about. However, Bond knows of him and activates him in order to gain his help. When Bond arrives at Raoul's cigar factory he says that he represents Universal Exports, the cover name for MI6 used in many previous films.

Locations: North and South Korea and the demilitarised zone between them (Bond arrives in North Korea on the Puk'chong coast and Graves later makes use of Pyongong airbase in the North); Hong Kong (where Bond stays in the Rubeyon Royale Hotel); Cuba (Havana and Isla Los Organos, where Alvarez has his clinic); London; Iceland.

The villain: Colonel Tan-Sun Moon, a hardline North Korean army officer and the son of a more moderate general. He was educated at Oxford and Havard, an unsuccessful attempt by his father to build a bridge between North Korea and the West. He is initially involved in illegal arms smuggling in exchange for conflict diamonds (diamonds which are sold by warlords in African countries - Sierra Leone in the case of the movie - in order to finance their activities - a trade that is supposedly banned internationally). Colonel Moon is seen as such a threat by the West that Bond is sent to assassinate him and the Colonel is supposedly killed. However, he escapes and makes use of experimental gene therapy - in effect a DNA transplant - and re-emerges as a Westerner called Gustav Graves. There is a side effect from the therapy in that Graves can no longer sleep. Graves emerges on to the international scene shortly after Moon's supposed death; his official biography lists him as an orphan who went from working in a diamond mine in Argentina to discovering diamonds in Iceland after learning engineering (although the diamond mine is faked using conflict diamonds). He becomes wealthy as a result, but donates half his earnings to charity and is working on the Icarus space programme supposedly for the good of mankind, leading to him being knighted. He is seen as a flambuoyant adventurer, with an ambition to become a fencing champion and has political connections in the UK making MI6's investigations into him difficult. His real plan is to use Icarus to allow North Korea to take over the entire Korean peninsula and then Japan. He is killed when Bond throws him out of his aircraft - straight into one of its engines...

Colonel Moon has a henchman in the form of Zao, whose precise role is unclear but is regarded as an international terrorist. His face is scarred with diamonds as a result of an explosion engineered by Bond and is set for the same gene therapy as Moon in order to turn him into a German industrialist. However, the process is interrupted by Bond, leaving him bald and white skinned. He is killed by a falling chandelier in Graves's Ice Palace.

The Colonel has another companion, in the form of Miranda Frost, who acts as his publicist and is an MI6 agent who has supposedly infiltrated Graves's organisation after three years working in cryptography. However, she is actually a double agent who was on the Harvard fencing team with Moon. She won the gold medal for fencing at the Sydney Olympics by default when the actual champion suffered a fatal drugs overdose thanks to Moon.

Moon/Graves has other associates - Mr Kil, a security officer who is killed by Jinx, and Vladimir Popov, the scientist behind Icarus.

The girl: Giacinta "Jinx" Johnson, an NSA agent who crosses Bond's path as part of her mission to Zao. She was born on a Friday 13th, partly inspiring her nickname. The character appears to have been subject to a name change at some point since some sources (including the soundtrack album) refer to her as Jinx Jordan.

Bond's conquests: Two, Jinx and Miranda Frost.

Gadgets: After three films in a BMW, Bond is back in an Aston Martin, namely a Vanquish (a silver grey one with registration KE02 EWW). Like the BMWs in Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough it can be remotely controlled (and like the first of these it also includes vocal instructions to the driver). However, its main feature is adaptive camouflaging, which effectively renders it invisible. Other features include an ejector seat (recalling the Aston Martin from Goldfinger), rockets (incorrectly refered to as torpedoes) and machine guns, thermal imaging, extending spikes from the tyres for driving on ice (as the Aston Martin in The Living Daylights) and a close in weapon system to destroy weapons that are aimed at the car.

Q also presents Bond with a ring containing a "sonic agitator" which uses sound waves in order to shatter bullet proof glass. It has been suggested that this gadget was included in order to allow Pierce Brosnan to wear his wedding ring, given that he had married subsequent to The World Is Not Enough. Other gadgets used include a watch with a detonator, another watch containing a laser (as in GoldenEye), a miniature rebreather (as in Thunderball), a combat knife concealing a GPS beacon and a surfboard with a concealed compartment allowing weapons to be carried. We also see that Q has developed a high tec virtual reality training system that is used to test Bond on his return to service.

The Q Branch archive is filled with gadgets from earlier movies including the attache case and Rosa Klebb's knife shoe (From Russia With Love), the jet pack (Thunderball), the Indian rope, Acrojet and crocodile submarine (all Octopussy) and Snooper (A View To A Kill)

The villains also have the fair share of gadgets, principally including the first gadget laden car to be used by a villain, namely Zao's green Jaguar XKR which features thermal imaging, machine guns, rockets, mortars and a giant ramming device. In addition, Graves has the control unit for Icarus built into a special suit that also has a self defence mechanism in the form of the ability to inflict 50,000V of electric shocks. We also see that Jinx has some gadgetry at her disposal since the detonator for the explosives she uses at the Cuban clinic is in the form of a mobile phone.

Recurring characters: Colin Salmon makes his third consecutive appearance as MI6 man Charles Robinson. If the virtual reality simulation is representative of reality, Robinson appears to be combat trained.

Continuity: With Die Another Day being the twentieth movie and celebrating 40 years of Bond films, it features a deliberate policy of referencing its predecessors. A number of these are very obviously deliberate, whereas others are subtle and could just be the movie unintentionally reusing elements of the Bond formula in the same way as earlier films. But the following is a list of probable references which appear reasonable...

Dr No: Halle Berry comes out of the sea wearing a bikini and knife belt very reminiscent of Ursula Andress's celebrated introduction. However, the subsequent scene between Bond and Jinx then seems more reminiscent of Bond's meeting with Fatima Blush in Never Say Never Again. A bizarre sound effect mimicing the one from the original gun-barrel sequence can be heard when Bond escapes from the medical room on the warship (it is immediately after Bond tells the nurse "Thanks for the kiss of life"). Although not a Bond reference, another sound effect, this time during the Cuban clinic sequence is reminiscent of the brain-washing effect from The Ipcress File (as produced by Harry Salzman). The car that Bond drives in Cuba is reminiscent of the way that he drives in Kingston in the first film (although it is not the same model - it is a Ford Fairlane here, whereas the earlier film featured a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air).

From Russia With Love: The character of Raoul is reminiscent of Kerim Bey, and his cigar factory is similar to the rug bazaar. Within Q Branch, Bond plays with the attache case and its knife (the very first gadget) and sniffs Rosa Klebb's shoe. The Chinese attempt to film Bond's liaison with an enemy agent from behind a one way mirror in a hotel room in the same way as SPECTRE. The dialogue in Bond's meeting with Jinx ("My friends call me Jinx" - "Mine call me James Bond") is essentially the same as when he meets Tatiana Romanov.

Goldfinger: Bond drives an Aston Martin with an ejector seat. The scene when Q briefs Bond also references its famous predecessor ("...You're joking" - "Like my predecessor, I never joke about my work"). The entire fencing match, where Bond challenges the villain to a sporting contest to win an item of merchandise close to the villain's heart, recalls the golf match against Goldfinger, albeit a more physical version. The climax features an aircraft decompressing, sucking the villain out whilst the Bond girl battles to control it. Jinx is strapped to a table and is threatened with an advancing laser beam. After surfing, Bond removes his wetsuit (or should that be drysuit?) to reveal dry clothes, although unfortunately not a tuxedo...

Thunderball: Bond uses the rebreather that debuted in the earlier film and Q Branch includes the jetpack (and it still works!). After distracting some guards at the Cuban clinic and invading a patient's room, Bond takes a grape in a sequence that mirrors his actions in Shrublands.

You Only Live Twice: The soundtrack in the final scene between Bond and Jinx is very reminiscent of the theme of the earlier film.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service: The Cuban clinic seems reminiscent of Blofeld's brainwashing set up at Piz Gloria. Bond is seen in his office at Secret Service HQ. David Arnold's soundtrack includes elements from the OHMSS theme.

Diamonds Are Forever: Diamonds feature heavily, as does diamond smuggling and a space based weapon system. Graves almost says the name of the earlier film: "Diamonds are for ever...yone". The actual title can be seen as a sub-heading in the article on Graves that Bond reads on the plane. The glass floor of Graves's office at the Ice Palace is reminiscent of Willard Whyte's apartment.

Live And Let Die: The destruction of the minefield by Icarus resembles the explosions of the poppy fields from the earlier film.

The Man With The Golden Gun: Colonel Moon demonstrates a weapon to Bond by destroying the aircraft that 007 was intending to use to leave, in a similar way to Scaramanga. The villain has a device that converts solar energy to a destructive laser weapon.

The Spy Who Loved Me: Graves uses a Union Flag parachute. The sound effect of Icarus sounds very like the attack on HMS Ranger. Cars fall from the sky and stay up ended near an innocent bystander.

Moonraker: The plunge of the hovercraft over the waterfall at the start of the film is shot in a similar way to Jaws's mishap in the Amazon.

For Your Eyes Only: There are echoes of the climb up St Cyril's when Bond hangs from the cliff of ice, with a rope slipping and 007 dropping further down the cliff.

Octopussy: The plot of the movie revolves around a hardline Communist overcoming more moderate colleagues in order to use a superweapon on a border with the West prior to a large ground invasion. The Q Branch sequence features the crocodile submarine, Acrojet and extending Indian rope from the earlier movie.

A View To A Kill: Snooper can be seen in the Q Branch sequence.

The Living Daylights: The opening shot through the gunbarrel, showing the beach defences of North Korea, looks very like the equivalent opening shot of Gibraltar. The climax involves a large cargo plan from which vehicles are dispensed. Bond is chased across ice in his Aston Martin, which has extending spikes from its tyres.

Licence To Kill: Bond is released from active duty, but that does not prevent him from pursuing his own agenda, focussed on getting revenge.

GoldenEye: Bond has a watch containing a laser. A character is believed killed in the pre-credits sequence, only to return as the main villain, albeit in a different form. A villain is also disfigured following an explosion set by Bond. The bullet in the gun-barrel sequence is reminiscent of the one in the titles to the first Brosnan movie.

Tomorrow Never Dies: Bond uses a remote controlled car. Jinx's leather outfit, complete with cable, is similar to Wai Lin's, although the Chinese Colonel's descent in Hamburg when dressed like this is mirrored by Bond as he descends the dome covering the supposed diamond mine.

The World Is Not Enough: David Arnold's soundtrack re-uses elements from his score for the previous theme ("Going Down The Pipeline" during the Antonov sequence, and the final scenes with Bond and the girl featuring very similar music). Jinx escapes from the Cuban clinic in a Sunseeker speedboat that is very similar to the one used by the Cigar Girl in the pre-credits sequence to the previous movie.

Cameos: Producer Michael G Wilson makes his customary cameo and is credited for the first time - he plays General Chandler and can be glimpsed in the US situation room in South Korea. However, he also appears briefly earlier in the film when he can be seen in Cuba, leaning against a car as Bond crosses a street.

Oliver Skeete, the dreadlocked concierge who brings Bond his message at Blades Club, is a minor celebrity in the UK as a show-jumper.
The air hostess who serves Bond as he flies into London is played by Deborah Moore, the daughter of a certain Roger Moore...

Cuts: The US version of the film apparently lost a couple of minutes from the love scene between Bond and Jinx in order to secure a lower rating. All versions lost a sequence where Bond flies into London holding on to the undercarriage of the aircraft, apparently in an attempt to avoid immigration. Also, the original version of the love scene between Bond and Miranda - featuring one of the Icelandic hot springs - was rejected and refilmed.

I didn't catch the name?: Bond uses his trademark introduction when he meets Graves at Blades.

Vodka Martinis: We don't actually here Bond order one "shaken, not stirred", but he does actually drink one when flying into London (due to turbulence he quips to the air hostess that it was a good job he ordered it shaken). Later at the Ice Palace he orders one with ice (if the barman can spare any...).

Gambling: Bond does not gamble in the movie, unless one counts the fencing match since there is a wager at stake.

Bond bits: Bond takes the identity of a diamond smuggler called Van Bierk when he attempts to assassinate Colonel Moon. However, when this goes wrong he is captured and held by the North Koreans for a period of 14 months. Later, he smokes for the first time in the Brosnan movies (although it is a large Roger Moore style cigar, rather than cigarettes). Bond has the ability to stop his heart (shades of rival 60s spy Derek Flint) and we see that he sleeps with his gun under his pillow (something he did in Thunderball and mentioned again in Tomorrow Never Dies).

Other trivia: Judging by a tube map on the wall, the disused railway station used by MI6 is Vauxhall Cross on the Picadilly line. The name is clearly a nod to Vauxhall Cross being the location of MI6's main headquarters (both in reality and the movies). However, it is already close to an underground station (just called Vauxhall). It is also clear that the disused station is south of the Thames - and the Picadilly line only stays to the north.

Anything else? : The title sequence is directly part of the story, featuring continuing action from the movie as well as the usual graphics. This is not something that has been used since the very first film Dr No (with the footage of The Three Blind Mice), but it is much more extensive here.

Q comments that he thinks that Bond's new watch is his twentieth, a reference to Die Another Day being the twentieth (official) movie.

The article on Gustav Graves that Bond reads as he arrives back in London is written by Gregg Wilson - a reference to Michael G Wilson's son who worked on the film as script supervisor.

John Cleese's history as part of the Monty Python team is acknowledged as Bond leaves the virtual reality trainer and tells Q that he caused "only a flesh wound", referencing a well known sketch from Monty Python And The Holy Grail. It has also been suggested that the fact that Q's legs wobble as he walks behind the invisible car is a nod towards the famous Monty Python sketch in which Cleese portrays a member of the Ministry of Silly Walks.



Daniel “Barbie B” Craig

With only one excursion into the land of Bond, it's too early to characterize Daniel Craig's films. As for his take on the super spy, I can be tentative at best. As he's playing a proto-Bond, just starting in his career and still developing those characteristics that would define the man in later outings, his portrayal could be completely different next time around. For now, his James Bond is extremely athletic; he's also troubled and petulant. He shows little intelligence, less charm, and while he can "read people," is devoid of empathy. M calls him a blunt weapon (as she had in a previous film), but this time, she's accurate. He is driven, but little reason is given except for much harping on his ego which does not explain his behavior. He isn't a suave secret agent; he's a killing machine. In the past, Bond was someone men wanted to be, and women wanted to be with. Not this time. This is the James Bond of low-budget exploitation cinema, put in a huge budget film.

It's always been tricky to put the Bond films together in time. Too many years separate Dr. No from Die Another Day for the spy to be one man (thus the multiple actors). But now things are more confusing since Daniel Craig's Bond-adventures predates those in all the other films. This is a young Bond just earning is "00" status, who is set in time after is later selves. And there's M, still played by Judi Dench, who, according to GoldenEye took the position years after Bond had earned his reputation. Is the series rebooting or just thumbing its nose at continuity? It doesn't really matter, but it is curious. I have someone<edited> who swears that the filmmakers' intention is that James Bond keeps dying every few years so MI6 recruits a new agent and give him the old name. Hmmmm, now isn't that the plot to the 1967 spoof also titled Casino Royale.

Casino Royale

CrazyMan Says
See It
(If you are a fan boy)

Casino Royale is the fan boy's Bond film. It answers all those questions that if you were asking, you didn't get the movies. When did Bond first wear a tux? Why doesn't he get into close, permanent relationships with women? Did he always want his martini's shaken, not stirred? Under what circumstances did he first introduce himself with, "Bond, James Bond"?

Gadgets: Low
Absurdity of evil plot:Low
Killer fish: Nope

Let's get this out of the way for all those people who failed physics and are unaware of the working of the human body. This is NOT a realistic film. The term "gritty realism" is being tossed around by uneducated critics who like to lavish praise on anything they can so label. This ain't it. Cars do not barrel-role seven times on their own. It can't happen. Why is the one flip done in Man With the Golden Gun often criticized as silly and fake while the multiple flips here are called true-to-life? The former was actually performed by a stuntman driving a real car off a ramp, while this time the car was shot out of a cannon. Is it because Bond meant to do the river jump while it is an accident now? Similarly, no human being can leap and swing as Bond and the terrorist do at the beginning of the film. Like the crash, it is pure fantasy.

Luckily, I like fantasy, but I prefer some explanation for the non-real elements, no matter how bizarre and unlikely it is. It'd be nice if something said why a henchmen was able to do tricks that would impress Batman. He jumps around on girders and drops several stories, and he's just some average bomb-maker? Can all bomb-makers do that? Shouldn't he have been some super-villain trained for years or an Olympic gymnast gone bad? I'm perfectly happy to see all the outlandish action (there's a lot more than I'm mentioning); let's just remember that is is just that, and Casino Royale is no closer to our world than Thunderball and You Only Live Twice, just grouchier.

The plot more-or-less follows the novel's (minus the action scenes). James Bond is sent to stop a banker, Le Chiffre, who supports terrorists (of course it wasn't terrorists in the book, but terrorists are all the rage). Le Chiffre has entered a high stakes poker game (it was baccarat in the book, but it's a little too high-brow and not nearly trendy enough) and Bond must make sure he loses. He's aided by the peevish Vesper Lynd. Considering that as things turn out, she should really want Bond to like her, there's no reason for her to be such a bitch to him. But hey, Eva Green is really hot, and that's the point after all.

Casino Royale is fresh, but only for the franchise, not films in general. It is different because it is so very much the same at a more basic level: it may be the most slavish Bond movie ever to the decree that Bond flicks embrace current fads. This is James Bond starring in Mission Impossible 3. This year's cinematic trends are grit, anger, torture, and of course, terrorism. It is reminiscent of Live and Let Die and its peculiar absorption of blaxploitation. Mainstream films have gotten a bit darker, and Bond's along for the ride.

<edited>

Trendy Influences: Terrorists, gritty action pics with excessively physical leads, dark make-overs of pop icons like Batman, torture as entertainment on TV and in movies, celebrity poker.

<edited>
Pride: Bond needs it to replace his egotism.
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Thought: Unfortunately nope. This is a dimmer Bond.
Humor: Bond goes gritty and serious.
Lust: Surprisingly little. This Bond leaves a girl before having sex with her, though he does tumble a bit with Eva Green who does her best to be sexy. For the gals, there's Daniel Craig in a swimsuit pretending he's Ursula Andress.

[The Sweeney]

What are you trying to prove with this, Jedi? That the critics all loved Brozza but hate Craig.....?

[Jedi007]

Where in those reviews you've read that I've said that all love Brosnan and hates Craig? You're assuming things again. I was just trying to show to some Craig Fanatics "who seem to like attacking Brosnan everytime someone said against Craig even though that someone doesn't just only support Brosnan but the entire Bond actors before Craig" that Brosnan made a good job in bringing all the elements that made the movie Bond loved by all people, both old and young, men and women. While Craig's portrayal ruined all those elements, by making Bond the same with film's modern spies/agents, making him very athletic instead of using his mind to win his battles. Why, can't you accept that Craig was made like Ursula Andess instead of Sean Connery?

Another thing: You've missed that I've highlighted "Craig's portrayal might be different the next time around." You have to rememeber that Jedi007 still have hopes for Bond22.

[The Sweeney]

Why, can't you accept that Craig was made like Ursula Andess instead of Sean Connery?

Matter of opinion only, Jedi - and one that I don't agree with. Other than the very brief, blink-and-you'll-miss it shot of Craig coming out of the water in his speedos, this is a very poor claim that Craig was more like Ursula than Connery. Craig is the closest we have as Bond since Connery, and this is an opinion that I am not alone with.

Another thing: You've missed that I've highlighted "Craig's portrayal might be different the next time around." You have to rememeber that Jedi007 still have hopes for Bond22.

Glad to hear it, Jedi. I hope you enjoy it more than CR.

[Gary Seven]

Brosnan was widely spoken of as being the best Bond since Connery during his tenure.

His films did well at the cinema, and the reviews were pleasant.

Brosnan's Bond was a mixture of all the popular Bond elements.

Craig's Bond is a new type of spy film which does not bare much relation to Fleming's creation or the popular film series.

[The Sweeney]

Craig's Bond is a new type of spy film which does not bare much relation to Fleming's creation.

On the contarary, I think he is more closer to Fleming's creation that Brosnan, Lazenby or Moore, and not far off Connery or Dalton.

I take it you have read the novels then...?

[Jedi007]

Craig is the closest we have as Bond since Connery, and this is an opinion that I am not alone with.

If you are really a Fleming fan, then you should have realized that we have already a Fleming Bond before Craig was miscasted in the Bond role. Not only that he got the looks, he's also a great actor, made two great films (and balanced at that: the other was pure entertainment, the other, a serious one), and also very intense in portraying the literary Bond. And he's not as dour as Craig is.

[The Sweeney]

Craig is the closest we have as Bond since Connery, and this is an opinion that I am not alone with.

If you are really a Fleming fan, then you should have realized that we have already a Fleming Bond before Craig was miscasted in the Bond role. Not only that he got the looks, he's also a great actor, made two great films (and balanced at that: the other was pure entertainment, the other, a serious one), and also very intense in portraying the literary Bond. And he's not as dour as Craig is.

Guess I didn't clarify myself properly there. What I meant was, he is closer to Connery's Bond than any other actor. You are right about Dalton being the closest to Fleming's Bond.

[Jedi007]

Glad to hear it, Jedi. I hope you enjoy it more than CR.

But from the news and rumors I've been hearing, Craig's portrayal of Bond will not be different from CR, so I guess I would not be enjoying Bond 2.2 again.

[The Sweeney]

Glad to hear it, Jedi. I hope you enjoy it more than CR.

But from the news and rumors I've been hearing, Craig's portrayal of Bond will not be different from CR, so I guess I would not be enjoying Bond 2.2 again.

News and rumours! Exactly!

Wait and see what the film turns out like. Not one reel has even been shot yet.

[Capt. Sir Dominic Flandry]

It looks like Bond 22 will follow on from Casino Royale, which is not good news for fans who disliked the Craig Bond.

[Dr. No]

Casino Royale is fresh, but only for the franchise, not films in general. It is different because it is so very much the same at a more basic level: it may be the most slavish Bond movie ever to the decree that Bond flicks embrace current fads. This is James Bond starring in Mission Impossible 3. This year's cinematic trends are grit, anger, torture, and of course, terrorism. It is reminiscent of Live and Let Die and its peculiar absorption of blaxploitation. Mainstream films have gotten a bit darker, and Bond's along for the ride.

Right on teh point, CRs fresh for the series but not movies in general.

I did read CR and did not see the Bond Fleming wrote in CR the movie. For Craig's spy being like Connery's I gotta say no, Connery's had a sense of humor and class. A lot of different little things as well

[Gary Seven]

The novel did seem to be somewhat different from the film. I suppose one was a thriller written just after the war, and the other was a popular piece of entertainment made in 2007. So there was bound to be a difference.