Customer Reviews

Casino Royale (2-Disc Widescreen Edition)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Daniel Craig was introduced to the world as James Bond, people laughed. They booed, they jeered and they thought a blond bond would NEVER be good enough (although I never really understood why).

Now I doubt that anyone will ever laugh at Mr. Craig again. He makes Casino Royale the wonderful movie that it is. He makes it exciting, refreshing, witty. He delivers his lines with a passion that has been lacking in Bond since the good old Sean Connery days.

When they decided to refurbish the entire franchise, no stone was left unturned. They even got a Bond girl that didn't fit the traditional mold. Eva Green is beautiful, but in an unusual way. Vesper Lynd is smart, sassy, quick-witted and sarcastic. She matches James in every way and that is probably why he falls in love with her. To see their relationship grow is something I feel priviledged to have watched, and of course it makes the ending even harder to endure.

The DVD version of the movie came out March 13. It is the same version we saw in theatres. The special feature worth taking a look at is "Becoming Bond". They speak to everyone involved with Casino Royale, from the stunt men to Dame Judy Dench, along with Barbara Broccolli and Michael Wilson (producers). They discuss the controversy, the making of the film. They also talk to Craig ... Daniel Craig. Seeing Daniel in a relaxed setting discussing the role that would change his life is quite enlightening. He is funny and contemplative at the same time. He is a mature actor who has no doubts that "Becoming Bond" has lead his career on a completely different path. When he tells of his precarious boat ride right before the press conference (and what he would have done if he had fallen off), you see how seriously he takes this role.

Other special features include:

James Bond: For Real: Inside look at action and stunts of film

Bond Girls Are Forever: Closer Look at Bond's Leading Ladies

Chris Cornell's Music Video, "You Know My Name" ***awesome song, awesome video, awesome opening for the movie

Although the special features are few, the ones that are on the DVD are well done. Besides, they do have to leave something for the 10 year special anniversary version, right?

Finally, there is one left to be said ... Daniel Craig is now James Bond ... he owns the role and everyone is looking forward to the next installment to see what else he can do with his 007 status. For all those who jeered and booed and laughed ... time for some apologies.

I am not a James Bond fan, but I've seen many of them just the same. This one was quite good, mostly due to Daniel Craig's great performance. He was absolutely a great choice for the part and I hope to see him again play this part if ever they make other James Bond movies (as if they would stop...) as he has class and oh... gorgeous blue eyes! Physically, he's the most fit Bond that I can remember.

This Bond movie has a strong plot and the action scenes look brutal for once. There's a lot of action which I'm sure will please the true Bond fan.

I thought I'd hate this movie and didn't see it till now because I felt Pierce Brosnan was my Bond. (Yes, Sean Connery's quite a man, but I laughed all the way through the now dated Thunderball) Actually, I've never thought much of the 007 franchise as Bond to me was an annoyingly unflappable lounge lizard. I'm an Indiana Jones gal.

I loved this movie because Bond just received his 007 status and hasn't achieved his cold, unruffled-though-bombs-are-detonating demeanor. He falls; he's frightened when he darn well should be; he sweats! Seeing that he's a human being makes the wild action scenes believable. He's still a handsome rake, but his leading lady was a real character. Every Bond woman seems like nothing more than a handful of crowd-pleasing attributes--She's gorgeous, she's a martial arts expert, or even she's a psychic! But what kind of person is she? A) Good or B) Bad. So boring. Despite lacking the typical flashy qualities, this woman had depth and I could see why Bond would care about her.

My only complaint is that Casino Royale was too intense and needed Q to lighten things up. I know Desmond died, but he did leave a replacement. I hope they'll inject a little levity into the next Bond. I'll definitely see it.

MOVIE

I was a little iffy about having a new actor (Daniel Craig) replacing Pierce Brosnan, because Pierce is the bond of my time, but after watching Casino Royale, I'm pretty glad they did.

Casino Royale brings (to me) a refreshing change in the recent line of 007 films. It's WAYY better than the awful (and forgettable) Die Another Day, which i fell asleep watching. It has the action, the humor and the affairs you'd expect in a 007 movie, a different, but good change in atmosphere because of Daniel as the new Bond.

DVD

Why didn't they make a collectors edition that offers more features? I felt the features were minimal and wanted to see more. I miss the days when dvds were loaded with special features.

Overall an amazing movie (this coming from someone who isnt a big fan of 007) and you might be pleasantly surprised watching this.

I've read all of Ian Fleming's Bond books, watched all the Bond movies and I think I have a grasp of what James Bond actually signifies. He's a connoisseur, refined, elegant and probing on the outside. On the inside he's self-absorbed, violent, patient, and loves living on the edge. Casino Royale has captured his interior well, but has left his exterior out in the dust. I don't recognize the man. They've taken an eastside London chap and put him in a tux. They've sold the movie and packaged it to fit the times. Nothing wrong with that, but it has nothing to do with the kind of man James Bond was. Bond thrived on living by his wits more so than his athletic prowess. He was a perfectionist, a dilettante and a loner. He adored women and was extremely patriotic. And most important, he had a sense of humour. Daniel Craig, who is this guy?

For the original series of James Bond films, Sean Connery defined the part quite effectively. Since Connery other actors such as George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan have attempted to portray this persona with the same elan with varying degrees of success. In my opinion none have measured up to Connery in the qualities of an international British agent with unsurpassed physical skills, sophistication and attraction for women. None until now. Daniel Craig makes one heck of a Bond! He fits this role equally well. Thus this movie is quite successful. The locations-Italy, Montenegro, the Bahamas- are fantastic with wonderful photography. Some exotic, mind-dizzying technology is used but not too much. There are some exciting action scenes such as in Miami and particularly around the casino at Montenegro. Eva Green plays Vesper and provides some excellent verbal jousting with Craig such as on a train in Europe. Vesper also becomes the name of a drink (6 parts Gordon's Gin, 2 of vodka, one of Kina Lilet all shaken until cool). Overall this is a wonderful movie.The Griffon Trilogy: Part I

I beleve since a certain time James Bond had became a gadget man instead of a girl`s man,now he`s once again got his charisma.Daniel Craig even with his blond hair does an outstanding job in the role of Bond,few actors in the Bond series played him that well.The movie is exciting from beggening to end in what proves to be one of the best Bond movie ever.

Explosions,Guns,Kills,Girls,Nemesis,this movie`s got it all.Casino Royale is based on the book of the same name and is pretty impressive.This time Bond`s ennemy is Le Chiffre who has this mysterious eye(great for poker),a very interresting character also.The movie won`t give you a break its always intense and you always know something`s coming up.

It is interrresting to know that James Bond is not a "00" right at the start.Everithing about the movie is great from beggening to end this movie i stunning,definatly a buy.

I haven't watched a lot of Bond. In fact I haven't watched one Bond movie from start to finish ever. So Casino Royale was sort of a first. And man oh man was it ever a great first time.

Casino Royale is exciting, violent, and stylish. It is a prequel to the other Bond movies with James not yet a 00 agent at the beginning of the movie. However, he quickly gets this honor (by strangling a guy in the bathroom and shooting a double agent) on his first mission and the tone sets the mood for the rest of the movie. The basic plot line is Bond has too thwart funding to a terrorist plot by defeating the evil 'Le Chiffre' in a poker game. The plot decays a little near the end as it gets more convoluted but it does not really detract from the movie.

From what I've heard and seen, Bond movies have loads of high tech gadgets that Bond uses to get out of sticky situations. However, in Casino Royale Bond doesn't do this, he takes a much more 'hands on' approach (see example above) and it is very exciting. Bond also makes much more mistakes compared to other movies (or so I've heard) and he looks especially clumsy in his on foot chase scene (one of the greatest chase scenes of all time in my opinion).

And then of course there is Bond himself. Even a non Bond fan like myself scoffed at the idea of a blond haired 007. Daniel Craig not only proves the critics wrong but plays Bond amazingly. He may not be a Sean Connery but Craig with his sharp blue eyes and muscular physique is pretty damn good. His acting is not top notch but it didn't really bother me. The other characters also are played well from the evil nemesis to the smoking hot Bond girl, Vesper Lynd.

So even though I haven't watched any Bond movies before, if any others are half as good as this one then they worth all the praise people of heaped on them for years. Casino Royale is a must watch movie and it has definitely inspired me to go out and rent some other James Bond movies.

One reason Casino Royale is in the top five best Bond movies has to do with the script, written by Paul Haggis (the final draft, that is. Others worked on earlier drafts).

Haggis revised the Bond character, bringing him back to the form Sean Connery set years ago. The new Bond is blonde (big deal--a superficial change, really) but he's also clearly a 'blunt instrument,' as M calls him. He is a killer who seems to feel no remorse.

Haggis gets inside the archetype's head and explores why he developed such a tough exterior. If this sounds boring then I've failed to do adequate service to the script.

It is the one of the most intelligent scripts in the action/adventure genre I have ever seen. No surprise. Haggis also wrote Million Dollar Baby (2-Disc Widescreen Edition) and Crash (Widescreen Special Edition) (Director's Cut) among others. A pleasure to watch.

If you buy Linda Seger's Making a Good Script Great, 3rd Edition, you may read an interview with Haggis. Sheds light on the process that led to the final draft.

This is the best Bond movie ever made. I'm a big fan of the series and lean towards the Connery films. I love the merge of glamour and grit and CR does just that. Craig is a perfect Bond and reflects more of what Fleming created in the books. This is up there with one of my favourite movies of all time.