DVD Review HTF DVD REVIEW: Quantum of Solace (1 Viewer)

[Timothy E]

I like Roger Moore even though I found his portrayal of 007 to be too distant from Fleming's conception of the character. I enjoy his Bond films in spite of that fact. On the other hand, I think Moore's portrayal of Simon Templar is sublime.

Back on track, I found the Bond character as written in QOS to be farther removed than Moore's films from Fleming's original concept of 007. I hope to see that rectified in future films.

 

[Edwin-S]

QoS worse than Moonraker? That's a laugh. Nothing is worse than Moonraker, except maybe A View to a Kill. Worst Bond.....hmm...Moonraker or AVtaK......AVtaK or Moonraker....hmm.....hmm. Nope. My vote still goes to Moonraker. That film was the Bond series at its absolute nadir.

One of the biggest problems with the Bond series under the tutelage of Babawa Bwoccoli is that she forgot "M" is supposed to be a bit part and that the initial isn't shorthand for "Mama".

I have to admit I can't figure out what people want out of this series. People did nothing but bitch that the Bond series was formulaic, trite, and worn out when the films were all big stunts, a pile of gadgets, and ridiculous mad villains bent on world domination. The producers ditch all of those cliches and try to make it harder and more realistic. Now the bitches seem to be over the lack of big stunts, fancy gadgets, and over-the-top-villains bent on world domination.

I don't think the producers of this series can win no matter what they do. Maybe it is time to send Bond to the Old Spys Home.

 

[John Hodson]

This is Fleming not Le Carré Sex, sadism and snobbery - I think the 21st century incarnation largely fits that remit (plus the requirement to make container loads of profit), you don't, that's a shame. But if what you want is a Bond that slavishly follows Sir Ian's text, then, well, that's never going to happen.

 

[David_B_K]

I read most of the original novels many years ago. To me the film series started going downhill with You Only Live Twice. That's when they hit on "the Formula", and simply remade that film many times (with a few exceptions along the way).

By the time of Brosnan's Bond, I thought they should simply stop filming them. It is a colossal waste of money to keep cranking out the same overblown epics every couple of years. A low point for me was when they named a character "Christmas" just so Bond could make a tasteless pun about Christmas coming twice in one year. I never bothered to see Moonraker, AVTAK, Octopussy or Die Another Day.

The series reboot has really worked for me. We now see Bond get into situations in which his life is literally on the line. He no longer is simply "knocked out" and then taken on a tour of Dr. Evil's establishment and shown where the self-destruct button is. Also, I think there is enough humor in Craig's Bond. In the novels, there were not nearly as many Bond bon-mots as there were in films past. Some of the late Connery (and most Moore) films are outright comedies. Hoever, in the film of From Russia With Love, after Kerim Bey dispatches the enemy agent emerging from mouth of the image of Anita Ekburg on the billboard, Bond quips, "she should've kept her mouth shut". I don't remember if that line was in the novel (I think it was), but it is an example of the extent of humor in the novels.

What puzzles me about the dislike many have for Quantum of Solace is that, to me it does not seem all that different to me than Casino Royale. Sure, it has a lot more action, but I sort of think of it as the rest of Casino Royale. The complaints that Bond is too much like Bourne could be leveled at Casino Royale as much as QOS. Of the early Bond films, I guess the Craig films remind me most of From Russia With Love. Robert Shaw was a cold-blooded adversary, and the fight between Bond and Shaw was almost savage. That sort of intensity was lost in many later films, and IMO the Craig Bonds have revived it.

 

[Steve Christou]

Gaah! Too many Batman fans on this thread, not enough Bond fans. I grew up with the Connery and Moore Bonds, watched each of those films dozens of times over the decades. I find them far more entertaining than any of the new Bond flicks. Good or bad I'd rather have those old movies in my collection than the Brosnan or Craig Bonds. Nostalgia rules!

As for the much maligned Quantum of Solace, I was one of the very few members in the QoS discussion thread that liked the film, practically everyone else hated it. It's near the bottom on my Bond favourites list but as a kick ass action film it had few equals last year.

 

[David_B_K]

Well, I'm not much of a Batman fan, at least as far as The Dark Knight is concerned. I do have all of Batman: the Animated Series on DVD, as well as Batman Begins on DVD and HD DVD. I guess my dislike of The Dark Knight is akin to the dislike many have of QOS. I fail to see why anyone would want to sit through The Dark Knight more than once, but many here luuuuuved TDK, so you never know.

A thing to remember about Bond is that as a series it is unprecedented. It would have made sense for the franchise to die with the 1960's, as the books were written (primarily) in the 50's and the "spy craze" died out in the 60s. All other film series' lasted 10 or so years. If you look at other film series'-The Saint, The Falcon, Charlie Chan, Michael Shayne, Dr Kildare, whatever, died out and now look like products of a different era. Occasionally, some of those old film series' might be revived with a feature or two, but those were not part of the same series. It is almost unbelievable that the Bond franchise (accounting for generational regime changes) is the same franchise as the one that began in 1962.

Even though it is the same franchise, it can easily be divided into sections by the actor who played Bond, and the direction the series was taking. Some people like every incarnation of Bond, some only like "their" bond, which is often the first one they saw. It makes sense to me that some people will not care for a certain version of Bond. I do not have ANY of Moore's bond in my collection, which is why I refused to buy those boxed sets. I hated his prissy portrayal and the comedic direction of the series. After suffering through Brosnan's The World is Not Enough, I doubt I would have bothered seeing another Bond film if the franchise had not gone off in a new direction.

bTW, I can see how some are bothered by the fact that QOS was so fast it did not slow down to catch its breath. I simply look on it as the action-packed conclusion of Casino Royale. I would be surprised if the next Craig outing is the same.

 

[Tony J Case]

And this is the statment I argue against the most. Lets assume for a second that Quantum of Solace does not have 40 years of baggage attached to it, that it's just a generic action flick without 007. Even given all that, it STILL fails as an action flick.

The opening car chase, for example, with Bond under constant machine gun fire, is so quickly cut and so obviously composed of incomprehensible CGI that we're essentially looking at blurs, bright colors bouncing off each other and lots of noise, inter-cut with Bond at the wheel and POV shots of approaching vehicles. Or take the foot chase and fight across the rooftops (pointlessly inter-cut with pretentious art house scenes of a horse race, mind you) - I quite literarily couldn’t tell which person was Bond and who the enemy was. They were both dressed in black, and with the camera whipping around so badly, I simply couldn’t tell who was who.

This whole "shake the camera" action sequance nonsense that grips Hollywood these days has *GOT* to stop!

 

[Richard--W]

Not what I meant. Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service don't follow Fleming's text slavishly, but they are right and proper adaptations and great Bond films. The rest of my answer is in post 130 and 124 here:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...on-thread.html

 

[paul_austin]

yeah I thought I hated the quick cuts in the ice car chase from "Die Another Day" I found it distracting and it ruined what should have been a good chase scene. But crap that was nothing compared with the action in "QoS".
I still adore "Casino Royale" while "QoS" just left me cold...and the song, well just dont even get me started on that. Lets just say I thought Ah-Ha had the worst with "the Living Daylights" (they should have gone with "If There Was a Man") but ewww this song hasnt grown on me at all.

 

[Bubble]

What about "For Your Eyes Only"?

I think action scenes were a bit chaotic in QoS, although there was something interesting of this approach to shooting action.
The new Bond creation seems fine, I only would like Bond to be a bit more experienced, sure of himself and like in the old days in the next one. Bond movies aren't a good area to spread feministic propaganda. (That was a joke )
The movie seems to appear weak comparing to Casino Royale, but treating it as a continuation to CR, and assuming that the third one with Craig would be much better I can accept it.
If only it wouldn't have the worst song to a Bond movie.

 

[Richard--W]

Ready to buy Quantum of Solace twice in one year? Now that the 2-disc special edition DVD and Blu-Ray are out and selling well, director Marc Foster told the Toronto Sun that he is working on an upgraded edition for Blu-ray. Details are here:

Forster working on better DVD | DVD | Entertainment | Toronto Sun

 

[paul_austin]

sadly this should be no suprise to anyone...heres a thought maybe piracy is rampant because the studios are over greedy bastards and some feel enough is enough....nowadays a double dip is not the exception but the rule

 

[Albert_M]

You're assuming that the upgrade is worth getting. Most of these multi-releases are repackaged with some trivial crap.

Many of the original "deluxe" editions have contrived materials. I opted for the single disc.

 

[Richard--W]

The article talks about additional supplements and the question of whether or not to include an "alternate" ending, but it doesn't mention a recut of the film. I'd be interested in a recut of the film. I have no interest in additional supplements.

I agree with the director's remarks that commentaries give too much away, spoil the mystery of cinema, and spoil the magic by explaining methods and processes. So, why is he doing it ...

 

[Richard--W]

James Bond is death in Quantum of Solace. I'm making a list of the visual motifs. Would anyone care to add their thoughts?

I'm trying to remember the name of a film in which a truck-load of coffins are knocked over in a chase scene. It's not the scene at the beginning of Wild Strawberries, but it's in some other European film. I've been making a list of all the films that Quantum of Solace borrows, or steals, from. I can't remember which film I've seen the coffin spill before, only that I've seen it.

Any suggestions?

 

[RATLSNAKE]

I've yet to buy QoS on DVD, because I bought the originally 2-disc CR, only for them to release the 3-disc set not long after.

Has there been any more news regarding the double-dip of QoS on DVD?

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by RATLSNAKE

Has there been any more news regarding the double-dip of QoS on DVD?

I have no inside info but I doubt you'll see it until the next Bond movie hits theaters in a few years.