GRcade

Dan. wrote:

Tafdolphin wrote:Dan, you are mental. Still. Just plain batshit.

Thanks for dismissing my criticisms with your eloquent and well-thought-out response

I'll trawl back through the thread and see your previous posts on the subject to see if I can find a reason for your being dismissive

Tafdolphin wrote:The whole thing was a collection of locales connected by the thinnest of thin plot and bunch of two dimensional "characters" doing...well. Bit of this. Bit of that. Stuff.

Here you are talking about Skyfall, I can only assume

Oh my God Javier Bardem is the villain and he's an ex-agent! That is so connected to MI5 and MY WORD HIS SEXUALITY IS AMBIGUOUS. Such character development. Now we're on an island, then London HE IS OUT FOR REVENGE then Scotland. Such connection of locales

To be honest it applies to both of them, but at least Skyfall's locations were interesting with good set pieces and interesting dialogue. Spectre was just...dull in comparison.

If you're left feeling "grubby" by skewed gender politics then I can only assume you've never enjoyed any of the old James Bond films? In which case I can't understand why you expected to like this one. Clearly you liked Skyfall but Skyfall is just an exercise in cinematography/marketing and doesn't hold water as a credible action movie; even less so as a 'Bond film'.

I think I actually mentioned the older Bonds while discussing that. In fact, I made a point to. Back in the 60 and 70s gender politics allowed for such nonsense. In the 90s Bond films the women usually had something to do (Natalya, that Chinese spy from TND, the main villain from TWINE). Here they're both useless and there just for the T&A. It's really rather backwards.

I agree the female roles in this were very poorly thought-out. However except for M (who you might argue is relegated from powerful supervisory role to simple damsel in distress) they're not any better in skyfall. They haven't been good in any Bond since Casino Royale. It's something I think they'll struggle with for a while.

Skippy wrote:You must be the only person on this planet who sees Christoph Waltz playing a villain and thinks "Green Hornet"

It was the only thing I could remember him being in at the time.

I liked it apart from the stupid brain torture scene, which was just incomprehensibly dumb and totally dissatisfying on every level.

It was around the same level as Skyfall for me. Casino is much better but Quantum was worse.

I totally forgot about that sequence. A big deal was made of the side effects and then Bond shook it off quicker than Jack Bauer.

Oh yeah I forgot about that scene too.

Casino Royale had the all-time best torture scene in a Bond movie. Villain keeps it simple, Bond gets his barbs in, villain dies.

I think before that part of the torture took place it was said "if done right..." so they have an out. Still though, that's when I realised the film was just a big checklist of Bond clichés being ticked off to trick people into thinking they've seen a good Bond movie. It's a flea circus

Skippy wrote:Still though, that's when I realised the film was just a big checklist of Bond clichés being ticked off to trick people into thinking they've seen a good Bond movie.

Hmm. Not sure a Day of the Dead opener, London bridge finale, blown-up MI5 building, a villain Bond knew from childhood, and said villain being taken into custody in the film's final scene are Bond clichés. Plenty of the rest of the film is reminiscent of old Bond but the Craig movies are a reboot so that's to be expected no? If the movie being entirely Bond themes made for a bad movie Goldeneye would have been considered rubbish.

I think you're looking for reasons to dislike the movie because it was so different to Skyfall and you really liked Skyfall. Fair enough, dislike the movie, you're entitled to your opinion, but you can't criticise it for the things that are equally or moreso applicable to Skyfall or previous "classic" Bonds. Straying too far from the Bond movie 'formula' can work (Casino Royale) and it can backfire (Die Another Day). They strayed from the formula with Skyfall but that didn't mean it wasn't formulaic. You liked it, I didn't; fair enough, but that doesn't make Skyfall the template for all future Bond movies.

Skyfall isn't the be all and end all of Bond films, it's just a better Bond film than Spectre.

Karl wrote:I liked it apart from the stupid brain torture scene, which was just incomprehensibly dumb and totally dissatisfying on every level.

It was around the same level as Skyfall for me. Casino is much better but Quantum was worse.

Pretty much how I felt about it and agree with Casino being superior and Quantum just well, not very good at all.

Lagamorph wrote:

Skippy wrote:You must be the only person on this planet who sees Christoph Waltz playing a villain and thinks "Green Hornet"

It was the only thing I could remember him being in at the time.

Au revoir Shoshanna! Inglorious Basterds is by far Waltz's most famous role.

Karl wrote:I liked it apart from the stupid brain torture scene, which was just incomprehensibly dumb and totally dissatisfying on every level.

I would agree, but I squirmed like a baby watching it. I can't stand watching medical procedures so that was torture to watch, so I was kinda engrossed against my will.

Why is Craig's Bond always such a rapist?

Seriously four people writing a script and they still think stuff like that (and the stupid torture scene and all the rest of it) is a good idea?

Frank wrote:Why is Craig's Bond always such a rapist?

Seriously four people writing a script and they still think stuff like that (and the stupid torture scene and all the rest of it) is a good idea?

You won't like the Connery bonds then.

I've never liked Connery's Bond. Didn't he have the... yellow-face scene, too?

Frank wrote:I've never liked Connery's Bond.

...

Saw this the other day in IMAX. Thought it was... 'better than alright', but that's about it. Roughly a 6.5/10.

Whoever came up with the idea of that big dude saying "gooseberry fool" just before he got yanked out of the train to his doom and whoever signed it off should be legally prohibited from writing anything ever again. It completely ruined a decent bad guy and what was probably the best action scene in the entire film. It could have been rescued by more convincing acting/direction, perhaps a gritty "gooseberry fool" through his teeth while desperately moving to somehow save himself, but no, they had him stand still and practically stare right into the camera in an attempt at comedy. Awful.

I would forgive anyone for thinking they'd accidentally dozed off and missed a key scene or two when all of a sudden the doctor was in love with Bond. Where did that come from?!

Confirmed order of Craig Bond films:

Skyfall > Casino Royale >>>>>>>>>>>>> Spectre >>> Quantum of Solace

I'd just love to see the next Bond not have to go rogue, it would be refreshing for him to actually have a job.

Oblomov Boblomov wrote:Skyfall > Casino Royale >>>>>>>>>>>>> Spectre >>> Quantum of Solace

This guy is on point.

Casino Royale >>>>> Skyfall >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Spectre > Quantum of Solace