[john doran]

saw it last night and it totally blew me away - it was everything that i had been hoping, and i had been hoping for a lot...my favorite bond movie by at least one order of magnitude.

i was one of the guys who thought that the broccoli's had lost their minds when they originally cast craig for the role; then i saw layercake and knew he could pull it off; then i saw the film and realized that i hadn't anticipated just how well he would pull it off. craig completely inhabited the role for me, so much so, in fact, that i am already starting to think of him as just bond.

loved the immediacy of the action, especially the fighting: i thought it was excellent that bond's martial victories were always hard fought-for, and that he took a beating in the process.

loved that there were (almost) no gadgets and no ridiculous arnold-esque one liners (and that the line that there were, were understated, and had a much greater effect because of it).

loved all of it, really, from soup to nuts.

i only pray that they can keep the franchise from devolving into another caricature of itself.

[Adam Sanchez]

Quote:

Same here! The only thing I can think of is her uncanny resemblance to a younger Sophie Marceau. Very similar eyes.

I'm glad it's not just me! I still can't place where I have seen her, though now that someone mentioned it, I Wish I have seen The Dreamers. Ha ha!

It's her mouth that makes me sure I have seen her before. This is one of the very few times imdb didn't help me!

I want to see this movie again, it was excellent.

[Haggai]

I liked this one a lot, though I'll get to the criticisms first. The big action sequences in the early part went on for too long, namely the chase that ended up in the embassy, and then the airport runway truck business. The latter sequence isn't all that special when compared to the one in Raiders of the Lost Ark. And the main villain is pretty short on personality.

Otherwise, lots of really good stuff. Craig is an excellent choice for this kind of Bond, a really hard-edged guy who's always teetering on the brink of going too far. Eva Green is smokin' hot and completely believable as an intelligent match for Bond. Several people have singled out the shower sequence for praise, which I definitely agree with. Very well written and beautifully played--it went a long way in fueling the development of their relationship. The double-triple-reverse-fake-out plot twists seemed like a bit much as they were all piling on top of each other, but it works out very well in terms of getting Bond's character to that particular point he reaches by the end of the movie.

Not a bad job to be the dealer in that poker game, eh? Bond left him a half-million dollar tip!

[john doran]

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Originally Posted by Haggai

Not a bad job to be the dealer in that poker game, eh? Bond left him a half-million dollar tip!

yeah, i noticed that, too. i wonder if the high-rollers in places like that ever really leave similar tips...

[Haggai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holadem

And call me jaded, but even 38 is a bit late for a "trust no one" lesson, I think, especially for someone in his business.

None of this is a big deal though, just thinking out loud.

H, I see what you're driving at there, but I think it's more of a "lesson RE-learned" thing for him by the end of the movie. He doesn't really trust anyone before running into Eva, and even with her it's just about her hotness, at first. But the connection between them develops in a way that he's surely never encountered with any other woman, with her experiencing the danger he lives with and still sticking by him (i.e. staircase fight and shower scene, plus saving his life with the defibrillator), so he thinks she must be the one he can trust.

[Holadem]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haggai

I liked this one a lot, though I'll get to the criticisms first. The big action sequences in the early part went on for too long, namely the chase that ended up in the embassy, and then the airport runway truck business. The latter sequence isn't all that special when compared to the one in Raiders of the Lost Ark. And the main villain is pretty short on personality.

About the initial chase, I too did question the wisdom of such an elaborate and lenghty action sequence when the audience is not privy to the stakes.

--
H

[JeremySt]

Did anyone catch what drink Bond ordered at the card table?

[GerardoHP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeremySt

Did anyone catch what drink Bond ordered at the card table?

Yeah, I'd love to know! That went by too fast for me, but I'd like to try it!

[Holadem]

Quote:

Did anyone catch what drink Bond ordered at the card table?

No, but it didn't sound very manly. But then again, when you go around killing people and bagging hot wives, you can afford to order sissy drinks without fear of shrinkage. It is the rest of us cubicle zombies who hinge an unhealthy amount of our masculinity on such trivial matters .

--
H

[Haggai]

I don't think there's been much said so far in this thread about the return of Felix Leiter (maybe a couple of people mentioned it), which I thought was nicely done.

[Paul Case]

I just have to say that I loved the stairwell fight. One of many highlights in what may well end up as my favorite Bond film (at least of the ones that do not star Connery).