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U.K.
- U.S.A. - Czech. - Germany
| 2006
Directed by Martin Campbell
Starring
Daniel Craig
Eva Green
Mads Mikkelsen
B&W, Color
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144 Minutes
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PG-13
Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC |
2-disc set)
Sony Pictures Home Entertinment
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James
Bond Ultimate Collector's Set
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9
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7 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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They took a gamble, one
they didn't really have to.
The
honchos at EON Productions —
the company responsible for the long-running and
highly successful series of 'official' James Bond
films — were at a crossroads after the
release of 2002's Die
Another Day, the 20th Bond supersaga since
the original Dr.
No (1962). The movie was panned by the critics
and disliked (if not hated) by serious Bond fans,
who bemoaned its embrace of CG overkill and Roger
Moore-style silliness. 007 No. 5, Pierce Brosnan,
was now past fifty and exhibiting a hint of boredom
with the role. Still, the
pic made a ton of money... Wouldn't the safe bet
be to go another round or two with Brosnan?
After all, the popular Brosnan was identified
with James Bond in the pop culture consciousness
like no other actor before him except Sean Connery.
Instead,
they raised the stakes. They went with an unlikely
choice, one which touched off a fracas on the
Internet and brought out some of the sharpest
knives I've yet seen in the entertainment press.
Daniel Craig (Munich,
Layer Cake) would
be the new James Bond, the shortest (5' 11"),
blondest actor to ever play the role for the official
franchise. Going further, the 21st Bond film would
be a "reboot" of the entire series —
we'd be reintroduced to the character as if none
of the events of the previous pics had occurred,
a la 2005's Batman
Begins. (Continuity has never been a hallmark
of the Bonds, it must be said. For a series entering
its fifth decade, how could it be?) Craig's 007
debut would be an updated but essentially faithful
adaptation of creator Ian Fleming's first Bond
novel, Casino Royale (1953).
A lot of people were predicting
failure. "Bond is dead" was an old refrain
heard once more. Even before a single frame of
film had been shot, Internet muckrakers began
mercilessly attacking Craig's casting. The actor
was snarkily called a "homunculus",
"Mr. Potato Head", "Gollum in a
Tux", and worse. Ridiculous tabloid stories
were gleefully bandied about during production.
I simply can't imagine the pressure that Craig
must've felt with a $150,000,000 movie riding
on his shoulders... If the picture tanked — regardless
of the reason — he'd be the one to get the blame.
As it
turned out Casino Royale
went on to become the highest-grossing
James Bond film to date, a major international
box-office smash. Critics and audiences alike
clicked with the new approach and the new 007.
The lion's share of the credit lies with a smarter
script (polished by Oscar-winner Paul Haggis),
the energetic direction of Martin Campbell (GoldenEye)
and, of course, Daniel Craig. The least 'movie
star' handsome of the six Bond actors he nonetheless
commands the screen with a virile gravitas. Craig
essays the role with the dedicated seriousness
of Timothy Dalton yet has a touch of Connery's
roguish charm, something Dalton lacked. He's also
the most physically fit of the Bonds, always completely
believable in the action scenes. (A good thing,
too, since 007 has never had to do this much running
before. I almost expected him to briefly pause
during the exciting Madagascar foot chase, look
into the camera to break the 'fourth wall' and
quip, "This never happened to the other
fellows!") I'd like to think that the
nasty web gossip and ridicule Craig endured —
before being given a chance — perhaps served some
useful purpose after all. Craig works hard to
earn our trust, to prove he can make the iconic
role his own, just as the younger, less experienced
Bond of the movie works hard to prove to both
his superiors and to himself that he's got the
right stuff for the elite Double-O section. It's
a conjunction of both actor's and character's
goals that serves the film well.
Although
the basic story is taken from the classic Fleming
novel, changes were necessarily made to bring
it up to date. Bond is still pitted against the
reptilian Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), financier
for an enemy organization, only now the bad guy
works for a cabal of international terrorists
instead of the KGB. Their main battlefield remains
a gaming table at the exclusive Casino Royale
(transported in the film from northern France
to the former Yugoslav republic of Montenegro).
Le Chiffre, who has the operating funds of various
terrorist groups in his care, loses a great deal
of money that doesn't belong to him playing the
stock market — he's got to recoup the losses quickly
if he wants to go on living. A skilled, obsessive
gambler, he arranges for a high-stakes game of
Texas Hold 'Em poker at Royale, confident of victory.
But thanks to the actions of its newest Double-O
agent, James Bond, British intelligence has gotten
wind of Le Chiffre's scheme and moves to trap
him. Bond, considered the best card player in
the service, is sent to Royale with a multi-million
dollar stake. His mission: clean Le Chiffre out,
leaving the banker exposed with nowhere to turn
but MI6 for protection. To oversee his handling
of the funds, 007 is assigned treasury agent Vesper
Lynd (smoldering French actress Eva Green) as
a partner, to his initial chagrin. As the dangerous
stakes increase, Bond and Vesper fall into a romance
that can only have a tragic outcome.
Many of the familiar Bond movie
trappings are dispensed with starting from the
get-go. The traditional 'gunbarrel' opening is
discarded. (Heresy!) The pre-title sequence
is in grainy black and white, showing Bond making
the first two kills of his espionage career (which
earn him Double-O status). The main titles, which
set Chris Cornell's hard-driving pop/rock theme
song ("You Know My Name") to some very
cool 'retro'-looking computer graphics, does not
feature any silhouetted dancing chicks
— instead, it is Craig (fighting, shooting guns)
who is highlighted. The signature action scenes
are less extravagant and more realistic, with
far fewer explosions and an emphasis on rough
and tumble hand-to-hand combat. And all through
this adventure Bond doesn't employ any gadgets
beyond a standard tracking device and a medical
defibrillator. (Tech wizard Q is never even mentioned.)
To survive and triumph 007 must rely strictly
on his wits, strength, stamina and willpower.
(And the occasional 9mm slug.) Along the way he'll
sweat, bleed, and make serious mistakes. This
is the darkest and most violent of the films since
1989's Licence
To Kill, with the torture scene — taken directly
from the novel — especially noteworthy. Auric
Goldinger merely threatened Bond with a
vasectomy by industrial laser; the villain of
Casino Royale takes
a direct hand in smashing Bond's 'nads with a
knotted length of heavy rope. (In the book the
torture tool is a carpet beater. Ouch!)
Never before have we seen the superspy made to
suffer like this in the line of duty. Craig really
excels in the scene, making us feel Bond's pain
and actually worry that he might not make it out
of this particular jam alive, much less intact.
Rather than drop some witty bon mot in
the face of grueling torture, this 007 resorts
to black, cutting humor in desperate defiance.
Apart from Craig's dynamic
debut, CR's other
main strength is that it actually has a story
— the plot isn't merely an excuse for a parade
of action set-pieces. The "something's got
to blow up every 15 minutes" rule goes out
the window since the entire middle act of the
film is dominated by the card game (changed from
the novel's baccarat), with 007 facing his enemy
across the green baize of the poker table instead
of dodging machine-gun fire and explosions. Bond
and Vesper are given time to develop a genuine
relationship, which, as in the book, forms the
heart of the narrative.
Craig's Bond may be a tough-as-nails ex-Royal
Navy commando but he also has a sensitive, vulnerable
side. For this reason CR
joins On Her
Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and The
Living Daylights ('87) as the most romantic
of Bond films. There's still plenty of
cool action for the guys (chiefly the outstanding,
thrillingly staged set-pieces that bookend the
main story), but this entry has plenty to offer
the ladies as well — or so the wife tells me,
anyway.
Sure,
there are things to nit-pick... One doesn't have
to look very hard to find some unfortunate continuity
errors; signage in what is supposed to be a Balkan
nation (Montenegro) is clearly written in the
Czech language. And it's rather odd that Bond's
sleek, high-tech Aston
Martin DBS doesn't come equipped with an airbag.
(Once Bond had crashed the car, a single, quick
shot of a dashboard indicator reading "AIRBAG
MALFUNCTION" would've fixed that.) As
secret service chief M during the Brosnan years,
the always spot-on Judi
Dench was a great asset to the series but I question
her return in this picture. Being that CR
is supposed to be a total reboot I feel it would've
been better to start afresh with a new actor in
the part, such as Edward Woodward
or Patrick Stewart (for example).
Minor warts and all,
Casino Royale is
James Bond reinvigorated and rejuvenated. Craig
is simply terrific. He's solidly supported by
a diverse and interesting cast, including Giancarlo
Giannini (Black
Belly Of The Tarantula) and Jeffrey Wright
(Syriana) as 007
allies René Mathis and Felix Leiter. Mikkelson
makes for an offbeat villain — his ruthlessly
cold, mask-like countenance could be the devil's
own poker face. Eva Green is a stunner who can
act, a natural beauty rather than the Playboy
centerfold type. There's an intriguing story,
told very well, punched up with some slam-bang
action. I think it's the best Bond film in over
40 years.
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Casino Royale was
in theaters only four months ago, so naturally
the spankin' new 2-disc set offers demo-quality
picture and sound. The anamorphic 2.40:1 widescreen
transfer and 5.1 Surround audio track are absolutely
top caliber. Folks with higher-end equipment will
be disappointed that no DTS mix is offered; the
same goes for anyone hoping for an audio commentary.
(No doubt held back for the inevitable "ultimate"
edition DVD.)
Among
the Disc 2 extras are three featurettes, all of
the puff-piece variety but slickly produced and
fairly interesting regardless. The 26-minute Becoming
Bond focuses on Daniel Craig's selection as
the new 007, weaving interviews of the actor,
director Martin Campbell, the producers and others
with behind-the-scenes footage of CR's
production. James Bond: For Real (24 min.)
is along the exact same lines, only with the emphasis
on the stunts and action scenes. Bond Girls
Are Forever is a 48-minute documentary produced
and hosted by Maryam D'Abo (The
Living Daylights), which first aired on
the AMC cable channel in 2002. D'Abo interviews
most of the main 'Bond Girls' from the series
while showing us film clips. A few minutes of
new footage covering CR
has been added featuring Eva Green and Caterina
Murino ("Solange"). A music video and
trailers for other Sony movie product (such as
Spider-Man 3) are
tossed in, but the promo for CR
is inexplicably missing. 3/15/07
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