Casino Royale vs Skyfall?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by antonkk, Aug 8, 2014.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Spaghettiows

    Spaghettiows Forum Resident

    Location:
    Silver Creek, NY
    Tough crowd here. I thought they were both really good, better than any of the Brosnan films except possibly Goldeneye, which I rank among the better entries of the series.

    In short, Skyfall was a little faster moving and visually impressive, but Casino Royale had more gravitas, for lack of a better description, so I am going with Casino Royale. Close call.

    As for Dench's M, I never had a problem with Dench in the role, but as others have said her version of the character took up too much screen time and/or was pushed too deeply into the plotlines compared to the films preceding Dench's arrival. But I suppose they had to do that to attract somebody with name recognition to take the role.
     
  2. Slokes

    Slokes Cruel But Fair

    Location:
    Greenwich, CT USA
    Like all three, but Casino Royale was the best. It was a terrific way to shake out the franchise, while Skyfall did a marvelous job at incorporating comedic elements in the Craig-era Bond. I think Bardem works as a bad guy more from this standpoint, with his godlike powers and his vaguely gay/bratty persona. He plays his character with surprising subtlety and softness, really challenging the formula, and well. I see him as a callback to my favorite Bond villain, Charles Grey in Diamonds Are Forever, who is also funny and urbane, though not nearly as nasty as Bardem's character.

    Still, Skyfall is just not as effective storywise as Casino Royale, and Royale is the one that brought us Craig's Bond in such a forceful and gripping way. Skyfall is a knockout visually, more so than Royale, but it doesn't have the relationship arc between Bond and Vesper to pull us in and keep us invested all the way through.

    Quantum Of Solace isn't as good as either, but it retains some of the energy of Casino and like Alexpop says, has Olga. I like the unusual plot and locale, too. I thought the "evil CIA" subplot was pandering to the politics of the time it was made, and really weakened the film.
     
  3. aussievinyl

    aussievinyl Appreciator Of Creative Expression

    In SKYFALL, Bond is depressed, angry and weakened, which some find hard to take - I love the film for those reasons. It's because Daniel Craig can act that the story arc can be more dramatic. I like the 'mother' aspect of M. Bond is orphaned and a hard SOB, but still is affected when he loses someone who seems important to him (or so it seems). The earlier Bonds (apart from OHMSS) weren't setting Bond up as a multifaceted character - he just needed to be tough. The latest movies, apart from QoS, are using Daniel's talents and adding layers to Bond's personality. Revenge was the motive at the end of both CASINO ROYALE and SKYFALL, so basically he's angry again. What's strange to me is that this doesn't need to be explained - maybe it is just smart and flattering work on the part of the writers, who know that Daniel can (and obviously does want to) do more than shoot at people. I admire Judi Dench, who's one of the best - the director no doubt feels the same. She needed to be a big part of the plot because the villain hated her. It's not often we place the Bond films and great actors in the same sentence - now we can and I am very grateful. I still go back to FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, but I don't feel that the current movies are too far away from that. CASINO ROYALE comes closest - it needed to, to strongly reintroduce the character.
     
    arbogast and lbangs like this.
  4. Joe071

    Joe071 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cayuga
    I think every true Bond fan owes it to himself to read Ian Fleming's novel Casino Royale. And then the rest of the bunch.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. nbakid2000

    nbakid2000 On Indie's Cutting Edge

    Location:
    Springfield, MO
    Moonraker was better than Quantum of Solace.

    Brosnan was a GREAT Bond. He got stuck with terrible scripts after GoldenEye though.
     
    Hippie Saint likes this.
  6. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    yes...IMO, he looked the part as much as Connery did.
     
  7. Lucidae

    Lucidae AAD

    Location:
    Australia
    Moonraker gets badmouthed a lot, but really it's just James Bond dialed up to 11.

    Brosnan was decent but he had nothing on Timothy Dalton.
     
  8. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Agreed, a great novel, and so are most of the rest. This is the cover of the paperback copy I read all those years ago.

    [​IMG]
     
    lbangs likes this.
  9. Joe071

    Joe071 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cayuga
    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]

    I've posted these elsewhere, but I'm sure Bond fans won't object. :cool:
     
    Bobby Buckshot and alexpop like this.
  10. Joe071

    Joe071 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cayuga
    Mine is also paperback, but I love the covers in the Panther series I just posted above. Here's an interesting read: http://www.jamesmpickard.com/investing-in-ian-fleming.htm and this forums seems just about the right place for that kind of stuff. :D:D:D
     
  11. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Colonel Sun -Kingsley Amis
    Perversely my first Bond novel real time purchase.
     
    Joe071 likes this.
  12. Tony Stucchio

    Tony Stucchio Active Member

    Location:
    New York City
    This question just popped into my head -- has Daniel Craig ever smiled in a Bond movie?

    Years ago, when I finished reading all of the Flemings, I tried desperately to get a copy of this. But since eBay/Amazon didn't exist, I failed. Now I couldn't care less about getting a copy.
     
  13. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Ok.
     
  14. lbangs

    lbangs Senior Member

    Skyfall 40:05 jumps to mind.

    Shalom, y'all!

    L. Bangs
     
  15. tonyc

    tonyc Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    I voted "Skyfall". I have only seen it once so that might be a reason I hold it in higher esteem. "Casino Royale" is very slow upon second viewing.
     
  16. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Moonraker. :)
     
    GentleSenator likes this.
  17. shokhead

    shokhead Head shok and you still don't what it is. HA!

    Location:
    SoCal, Long Beach
    I enjoy all Bond films so I liked both and watch both.
     
  18. SizzleVonSizzleton

    SizzleVonSizzleton The Last Yeti

    I chose Skyfall.

    It seems like every Bond film has at least one thing that is so distracting and easily fixed that it brings it down a few pegs. In the case of Casino Royale, that is Mathis narrating Bond's actions in the card game; "Bond is doubling down", "a tell is....". Every time that scene comes up I'm just dumbfounded that someone didn't say "no no no get that stupid dialogue out of there"!!!

    That said, I do think Casino Royale is a very good Bond movie, but Skyfall is better!
     
  19. I don't know...Robert Shaw in From Russia with Love was pretty scary.
     
  20. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    thank GOD someone else thinks that! worst thing about that movie, hands down.
     
  21. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Miss the gadgets, thrills ..non pc.
     
  22. Thesmellofvinyl

    Thesmellofvinyl Senior Member

    Location:
    Cohoes, NY USA
    I have yet to see any of the Craig-as-Bond films. Does it make any difference which I see first, in terms of plots or characters?
     
  23. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I think it does, just a little. Casino Royale before Quantum of Solace.
     
    Thesmellofvinyl likes this.
  24. cathandler

    cathandler Senior Member

    Location:
    maine
    Just two words: Vesper Lynd...
    [​IMG]
     
    blind_melon1 likes this.
  25. blind_melon1

    blind_melon1 An erotic adventurer of the most deranged kind....

    Location:
    Australia
    Eva Green :love:
     
    cathandler likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine