# Bond 23: Skyfall



## Scar Symmetry (Nov 3, 2011)

BBC News - Bond film called Skyfall

Sam Mendes directing and Javier Bardem as the villain?

This film is going to rule!


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## ShadowFactoryX (Nov 3, 2011)

im a big bond nerd, super excited about this


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## vampiregenocide (Nov 3, 2011)

Javier Bardem is scary as fuck, and built like a brick shithouse. Perfect Bond villain.


I'm glad this is getting made, because there were a lot of unanswered questions from the last film (I thought it was a bit too vague and disconnected) and there were rumours they weren't making another one.


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## Xaios (Nov 5, 2011)

If they can recapture the awesomeness of Casino Royale, hell yeah. Unfortunately, Quantum of Solace... well, sucked.


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## AySay (Nov 5, 2011)

Not sure if I'm digging the name. It kinda sounds cool, but then it also reminds me of Chicken Little...and we know what a dumbass he was...


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## Xaios (Nov 5, 2011)

The name's Little. Chicken... Little.


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## Infinite Recursion (Nov 5, 2011)

Craig is one of my favorite Bonds and I like the tone and direction of the new films (other then the parts where QoS sucked, like the plot). If the plot for this better, they seem to have a solid handle on the action, so it should be great.


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## Demiurge (Nov 5, 2011)

vampiregenocide said:


> Javier Bardem is scary as fuck, and built like a brick shithouse. Perfect Bond villain.



Right. Only dude who wore an emo haircut and got more badass.


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## Xaios (Oct 21, 2012)

Uber-epic threadbump incoming!

Being as this movie is less than 3 weeks out, I figured now would be a good time to bring the discussion back. The early critical buzz has been pretty phenomenal thus far.

For the most part, I've quite enjoyed Daniel Craig as James Bond. Casino Royale was an all-around great movie. While I didn't enjoy Quantum of Solace nearly as much, none of the issues I had with it stemmed from Craig's Bond potrayal, but rather the hackneyed plot.

Right now Skyfall has a score of 85 on Metacritic and 97 on Rottentomatoes. I know aggregate review scores aren't all things to all people, but they're certainly a *reasonable* indicator of a movie's quality.


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## Jarmake (Oct 22, 2012)

Loved casino royale, wasn't too excited about quantum of solace. There's hoping that Javier Bardem is as badass as he was in "no country for old men", which was such a great movie. Dude has a 90's haircut and kills folks with a pneumatic pistol. And actually succeeds as being one of the best, or even the best, of bad guys of all times. Also love Daniel Craig as James Bond. He really fits to the role, that finally is like the original Bond that Fleming created: Cool outside, but boiling on the inside with inner demons. Finally a Bond that doesn't use silly gadgets and say a oneliners when killing a guy with a smile on the face. And who isn't Pierce Brosnan. 

Ok, golden eye was very good movie, but other than that.. pffft.


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## wankerness (Oct 23, 2012)

Early reviews are really good. And apparently Bardem doesn't turn up until halfway through the movie, has a long blonde wig and is flamboyant and sexually threatens bond. I can't even imagine this.


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## Murmel (Nov 1, 2012)

Watched it yesterday. I enjoyed it and I don't even like Bond 

I still have a bit of problem with Bond being pretty much a rapist, and his "license to fuck all of your shit up without any consequences even though you're innocent" really grinds my gears.


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## troyguitar (Nov 1, 2012)

I don't remember anything from QoS, I'll have to watch it over again then check this out.

I still prefer the slick Brosnan version to Craig though, could be due to all of those hours spent playing Goldeneye on N64.


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## Greatoliver (Nov 3, 2012)

I didn't think it was that great 

I enjoyed Casino Royale as it brought some grit to 007, and was like a realistic Bond. QoS was generally a bit rubbish imo. I felt Skyfall was trying to be more like the old Bond, with lots of crazy explosions etc., but ended up losing the feeling of Casino, and not quite making it into old Bond territory.

Still, it was definitely enjoyable!


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## wankerness (Nov 4, 2012)

I saw Quantum of Solace for the first time the other day, all I have to say is thank god I'd just watched Casino Royale the same week. That movie has so many plot strands that just continue straight over from the previous movie with no explanation. I feel like most of the hate for it must be from people that had watched casino royale more than about a week earlier who didn't have photographic memory. It works very well as a follow-up, but is probably almost completely incomprehensible if you don't have the previous movie memorized. It IS a flaw with the movie to require that kind of memory from the previous movie, but if you watch them back to back you'd probably like it a lot more.

Also, it seemed like all the other characters were telling Bond that he was really sad about Vesper instead of him actually seeming sad about it. It was not filmed well from that perspective but I thought the ending worked. It's definitely not as good as Casino Royale but in the grand scheme of bond movies it's one of the better ones. Certainly better than any of the turds with Pierce Brosnan (I feel like almost everyone who defends goldeneye was a huge fan of the videogame and thus has the movie confused with their nostalgia for that!).


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## Xiphos68 (Nov 4, 2012)

Today I just caught a good bit of Casino Royale and I really enjoyed it.

Daniel Craig is a great actor for the part of Bond and like most say Quatum of Solace was ok. 

I'm really looking forward to seeing the new one Friday. If college will let me. Haha.

Rodger Moore apparently said that Daniel is the best James Bond ever and that new the movie is great!


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## kung_fu (Nov 5, 2012)

I'll be seeing Skyfall on Saturday. I'm going to give Quantum of Solace a go tonight. I just hope it isn't as bad as you guys make it out to be . I enjoyed Casino Royale, and the previews for Skyfall look incredible.


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## Guitarwizard (Nov 8, 2012)

Went to see it yesterday - I actually really liked it! Towards the end I think it weakened a little in terms of overall storytelling and speed, but it is definitely one of my favourite bond movies.


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## jordanky (Nov 8, 2012)

I heard the Skyfall theme by Adele a few days ago... She rules.


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## setsuna7 (Nov 8, 2012)

Saw it. Bardem= Totally BADASS!!


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## Korbain (Nov 9, 2012)

kung_fu said:


> I'll be seeing Skyfall on Saturday. I'm going to give Quantum of Solace a go tonight. I just hope it isn't as bad as you guys make it out to be . I enjoyed Casino Royale, and the previews for Skyfall look incredible.



i enjoyed quantum of solace...wasn't as good as casino royale. Still a great bond movie though, it only ran for like 90 mins compared to casino royales nearly 3 marathon, which is why i think quantum of solaces story was a bit weak, wasn't enough time to dish the story out properly

Cannot wait for skyfall!! MAHHH GAWWDDD lol comes out in a week or 2 here. From what i've heard/read, it's amazing


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## Xaios (Nov 10, 2012)

Saw it, loved it. I agree with Setsuna, Bardem killed it.


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## Mexi (Nov 13, 2012)

Just saw it about 40 min ago, very good movie.

I sorta knew that Bardem was going to be great considering his role in No Country For Old Men, but his performance really was top notch.

The movie had really good pacing, acting, writing and just a great bond movie overall. slightly edges out casino royale in my books, but maybe I should let the movie settle in (or see it again)


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## MrPepperoniNipples (Nov 18, 2012)

Saw it about 20 minutes ago.
They done did a good job with it.

Never liked Daniel Craig, though, and still don't like him.
He's too serious, not playful and 'smooth' enough.

And I don't really like how 'personal' the film was and are becoming but I guess that's what sells right now.

But I enjoyed it very much!
Except what bothered me most was


Spoiler



inconsistency in moneypenny now being black


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## ROAR (Nov 18, 2012)

that's as weird as being bothered by


Spoiler



Lando playing Commissioner Gordon



I dug this movie. Definitely to fun watch


Spoiler



Bond go through a mid-life like crisis, and start to be pushed
away by a world he feels out of touch in. 
Bardem killllled it. That eurovillian shit has been overdone at this point.
This guy brought some new life.


Two more films left, let's hope they don't fuck em up.


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## Eric Christian (Nov 18, 2012)

My oldest boy and I saw Skyfall Friday night. Overall we really liked it. I've got pretty much every James Bond DVD there is so its kinda hard to disappoint me really. Its worth paying 10 bucks to see it. On a side note we went and saw Cloud Atlas last night and that was really good as well.


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## troyguitar (Nov 18, 2012)

Saw it last night, it was decent but maybe I'm outgrowing Bond movies at this point. Seemed like too much raw darkness, death, explosions and too little fun and stylishness. Too much Dark Knight, not enough Austin Powers...


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## MrPepperoniNipples (Nov 18, 2012)

troyguitar said:


> Too much Dark Knight, not enough Austin Powers...


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## ROAR (Nov 18, 2012)

More Austin Powers....?
I'm sorry but if that happened you guys would be ripping on it.
"Too much Dark Knight"
I don't understand that either,
it's like being realistic at all with a movie automatically makes it
a Nolan rip off.


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## MFB (Nov 19, 2012)

They're saying Daniel Craig needs to start being less dark and go back to when Bond was still making quips and having a smidge of fun while still being one of the most badass men in the world; that's all. Nowadays every film is either radically far on the realistic aspect and won't put any humor in it for fear it will take away from "the realism" or it's so blatantly comedy that any attempt at realism in it will look like another joke to them ("Oh my god, they just wrote this totally realistic aspect at the most random moment, I get what they're doing - it's so ..._meta_")


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## troyguitar (Nov 19, 2012)

eh it's just too serious, Bond was never a serious character and I liked it that way.


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## ROAR (Nov 19, 2012)

I see what you mean, there are some "comedic" type
Lines in Skyfall but they don't really work. 
Perhaps in the future they'll be a little lighter. 
Q was some good new blood


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## Xaios (Nov 19, 2012)

I tend to enjoy the "darker" tone of the newer Bond movies as compared to the old ones, but I can certainly see why someone might mistake this for "The Dark Bond Rises."

"He wanted us to lock him up in the MCU/MI6!" 

The appearance of the old Aston Martin, though, was a great opportunity for some nostalgic comedy, and they didn't waste it.


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## MrPepperoniNipples (Nov 19, 2012)

Xaios said:


> The appearance of the old Aston Martin, though, was a great opportunity for some nostalgic comedy, and they didn't waste it.



oh god you could actually feel the crowds interest rise when it was revealed


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## Mexi (Nov 19, 2012)

haha, people round here cheered/whistled obnoxiously when it was shown.

that said, it really is a gorgeous car.


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## toiletstand (Nov 19, 2012)

the opening with adele was amazing!


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## sakeido (Nov 19, 2012)

bond not smooth enough? did you hear some of his quips... come on 

saw it on Friday, loved it. probably best Bond movie ever


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## MFB (Nov 19, 2012)

Smooth =/= light-hearted, it just means smooth though


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## Mexi (Nov 19, 2012)

I think because of how much of this film focused on Bond's own past (which is far from light-hearted) there simply wasn't very much room for it this time around. Also, this film also introduced Moneypenny and Q, and I think their respective roles will add more of that lighthearted back and forth as their characters did in the previous films.


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## Koloss85 (Nov 22, 2012)

Though I enjoyed this more grittier version of bond in skyfall, I can see where you guys are coming from in terms of the seriousness. But in my opinion, Bond being put through the ringer kinda did good for his character development and Craig's take on him isn't so one-dimensional. I enjoyed that a bit more.


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## Danukenator (Nov 22, 2012)

I get what they are going for with Skyfall. It's basically a mix of Ghost Protocol and the entire Bourne series. They want a darker gritty Bond that is more realistic. Right not, it's what sells and what people want in their action films.

However, I want more Bond films that follow the more classic formula. I liked the cheesy supervillians that had a crazy motive like world domination or a space death ray. I like Bond being an unbeatable. I like the laser watch and the suit case helicopter and, hell, even the exploding pen.

I agree with the other people in this thread. While these are good action films, they don't really feel like a Bond film. I like how Ghost Protocol managed to have a serious plot but have light hearted moments and some genuine comedy. I hope they try and incorporate that into the future Bond films.


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## GlxyDs (Nov 23, 2012)

I enjoyed the film, even if it was a little different from what I expected out of Bond. Things can't be the same forever! All this "Nolan-esque" talk fascinates me though.


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## Jarmake (Nov 24, 2012)

I'm glad they learned from their mistakes (Quantum of Solace). We (me and my wife) really enjoyed this film and oh yes, Daniel Craig is the best bond ever. And I loved Javier Bardem as the bad guy. Only Javier can pull off those hairstyles and quite high pitched voice without losing credibility as a baddie.


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## ROB SILVER (Nov 24, 2012)

I'm off to see it in a few hours!


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## EarthDeparture (Dec 2, 2012)

I think this was the movie the franchise needed, movie was incredible. Bardem was the perfect villain too, dude is terrifying. Haven't been too keen on a lot of the movies that came out recently, but this movie was sweet.


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## soliloquy (Dec 3, 2012)

i thought skyfall was one of the better bond movies, but even then, i dislike bond films. they always lack substance of any sort. action scene is hardly memorable. car chases are almost irrelevant. character development is hardly ever there. the plot twists and turns are redundant based on the 4 decades of bond films. 

bond does one thing really well, and that is it shows random gadgets and pretty cars. but that alone doesn't make a movie good.

also, aside from M, hardly any bond films have meaningful female leads. and even then, M hardly meant anything...at least to me...

bond is not a typical guy movie as it lacks action, nor is it a raunchy comedy...its just a movie. its a fun time-pass, but to me, hardly any bond had any memorable moments. and that is spanning about 15 years....


/rant


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## Thep (Dec 3, 2012)

I think it might me growing up, but I thought it was fucking terrible.

Cheesy, full of superfluous details, chock-full of bad CGI, predictable, tired and overused plot, bad script and acting....ugh. I was just so dissapointed. 

But I loved Casino Royale and thought Quantum of Solace was pretty good.


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## wankerness (Dec 3, 2012)

Thep said:


> Cheesy, full of superfluous details, chock-full of bad CGI, predictable, tired and overused plot, bad script and acting....ugh. I was just so dissapointed.



Elaborate on any of these statements. I didn't like it that much and casino royale was definitely better, but wtf are you on about? 

Full of superfluous details? Like what? I mean, it might have a lot compared to your average Ozu, but it seemed to be much more straightforward and with far less chaff than every single James Bond movie between From Russia with Love and Casino Royale.

Who was a weak actor? I basically hate M and was dismayed that they gave her so much screen time, but I couldn't fault the acting at any point. There were no walk-on cameos from Madonna and no atrocious fake accents. Daniel Craig has more acting ability in his pinky than Pierce Brosnan did in his entire watch-modeling body. The only guy I could see even possibly making a case for was that old dude who was camped out at James Bond's house.

The plot was tired and OVERUSED? Compared to what? It's certainly no worse than any other James Bond movie in the plot department. I guess you could say they've done similar crap with him getting beaten up and coming back from retirement in the past, but I can't recall the whole Straw Dogs style finale ever being used in any of the past ones. I thought it was just fine plotwise. It was mostly a traditional james bond movie but it ended up doing it a lot better than all the ones it echoed (You Only Live Twice, Goldeneye, The World is Not Enough I can see some plot elements from).

Where was there bad CGI? I was actively looking for bad CGI (I've made that a habit since the CGI surfing incident) and didn't notice any CGI, let alone bad CGI, at all besides the komodo dragons. The train crash looked like a miniature, most of the stunts were very clearly done by stuntmen and the explosions looked very real.

Are you sure you didn't accidentally catch a screening of Die Another Day?

I used to be a fanboy of these movies and have watched every single one of them at least 3 times each, besides Die Another Day cause I hated it and Quantum of Solace cause I only first saw it about a month ago. I like a lot of them but they REALLY aren't that good. ANd this movie wasn't half as dark and edgy as you guys are talking about unless you're comparing it to like, Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me. It has plenty of jokes and winks at the audience and there's nothing even close to the nasty level of stuff like James Bond getting whipped in the junk in Casino Royale or that guy's head exploding in Licence to Kill.

I liked it slightly less than Casino Royale cause I can't stand Judi Dench and I was in love with Eva Green, but I have to say the first 20 minutes and last 45 minutes blew that movie's action setpieces out of the water entirely. I just think that one was better paced and the whole cardgame in the middle was wayyyyy better than the rather boring middle in this. Javier Bardem was also a billion times more entertaining than the cold fish in that movie, but since he didn't even show up until at least halfway through the movie it didn't count for as much as it might have. 8/10


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## wankerness (Dec 3, 2012)

troyguitar said:


> eh it's just too serious, Bond was never a serious character and I liked it that way.



Umm, yes he was, have you ever seen Dr. No? From Russia with Love? On Her Majesty's Secret Service? Licence to Kill? Even The World is Not Enough had him being very nasty and coldblooded in parts and had that whole plot with the mean ol' bitch from Braveheart trying to kill M. Roger Moore is the only outright jokey one, and even he tried to be hardcore in For Your Eyes Only. Daniel Craig had as many one liners in this as Sean Connery ever did.


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## avenger (Dec 5, 2012)

Danukenator said:


> I get what they are going for with Skyfall. It's basically a mix of Ghost Protocol and the entire Bourne series. They want a darker gritty Bond that is more realistic. Right not, it's what sells and what people want in their action films.
> 
> *However, I want more Bond films that follow the more classic formula. I liked the cheesy supervillians that had a crazy motive like world domination or a space death ray. I like Bond being an unbeatable. I like the laser watch and the suit case helicopter and, hell, even the exploding pen.*
> 
> I agree with the other people in this thread. While these are good action films, they don't really feel like a Bond film. I like how Ghost Protocol managed to have a serious plot but have light hearted moments and some genuine comedy. I hope they try and incorporate that into the future Bond films.


Could not agree with this point any more... BUT...

I thought it was interesting to see Bond put in an arena the exact opposite of the classic tech gadgets, cheesy villians, and space death rays. I think it was a neat movie having him fight off baddies with an old shot gun and explosive light bulbs but in the future would want to see him play a more classic bond role. 

I will say I was waiting for some ridiculous plot to be revealed (world domination, changing ocean currents via some extreme computer controlled opening of all the worlds dams XD) but sat down and enjoyed what was offered when i realized that was never coming.

Also possible the best bond intro of all time (the song part). Can't imagine how much work went into that.


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## wankerness (Dec 6, 2012)

avenger said:


> Also possible the best bond intro of all time (the song part). Can't imagine how much work went into that.



Yes, definitely agreed.


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## ddtonfire (Dec 6, 2012)

I really enjoyed the movie, but I still don't understand why* [SPOILERS]* Bond took M to a secluded place alone to supposedly protect her and use her as bait to draw the villain to kill her, which he ended up doing anyways *[/SPOILERS]*


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## wankerness (Dec 6, 2012)

Your tags failed. 

I wasn't clear on why there was no plan for any backup whatsoever when Q and Ralph Fiennes were aware of where they were.


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## ROB SILVER (Dec 8, 2012)

I finally saw it last weekend.

I really liked it, especially some of the little nods to earlier movies, but I thought it was a bit long maybe.

The were a few spots were the pace dropped of a bit too much.


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