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Post by formermi6agent on Jan 17, 2007 15:05:14 GMT -5
How would you make Die Another Day better?
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Post by Yuliya on Jan 17, 2007 16:03:07 GMT -5
I agree with Ace - trash the ice surfing scene. Although I don't mind that scene per se. It's a little artificial, but it doesn't bother me that much. Two things do. One - toward the end the movie turns into one big bang, and the surfing scene adds to it. And two - it takes the time (and the budget) that could be put to better use.
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Post by IcyCalm on Jan 17, 2007 20:03:55 GMT -5
How would I make Die Another Day better? It is oh so very simple: keep in Pierce and Halley's love scene.
They bothered to film it, it was fairly intense, Pierce was all for it, we were all for it. They kept it out for the under-13 crowd. To them I say: wait a few years to legally view Die ANother Day but in the meantime you've got so very many movies to keep you entertained. The Brocolli's just couldn't deny their box office receipts.
Oh and definitely deep-six the fake CGI scene. It violated Bond's film mandate to do things authentically anyway. Maybe it was put in for those under-13'ers.
So formerbi6agent, how would you have made this picture better?
IcyCalm
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Post by respectanimals on Jan 17, 2007 21:01:28 GMT -5
Speaking of the ice surfing scene, how would you make it better? I agree with the others that they should have just cut it out entirely. I would prefer that if an action scene is not humanly possible to do, then don't put it in the film. If a stunt man could do it, but might get hurt trying, then they should definitely use computers. The action needs to be entirely possible, but not necessarily likely to happen, for me to enjoy it. I want something at least bordering on reality. With the windsurfing scene it just seemed like they were purposely trying to go over-the-top and do something which was purely fantasy. That is the opposite of what I wanted and totally unneccesary to the film. Ellen
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Post by respectanimals on Jan 17, 2007 21:17:59 GMT -5
How would I make Die Another Day better? It is oh so very simple: keep in Pierce and Halley's love scene. IcyCalm I'll second that IcyCalm! LOL! I WANT THAT SCENE! Let's leave the one of him in the hot tub with Miranda Frost in the movie as well. Die Another Day is actually the Bond movie I watch most these days, as I really like the interactions between the characters and the storyline was interesting. I just fast-forward through most of the action scenes and try to ignore the fact that he's driving around in an invisible car. The torture scene should have been an entire scene as well, instead of just thrown in with the opening credits. I really liked the fact that Jinx was not only beautiful and feminine, but extremely capable as well. Basically the film had some great things in it, but it also had some of the absolute worst I have ever seen, so even though I take out the DVD quite often, my fast-forward button gets a workout. LOL! Ellen
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Post by Yuliya on Jan 18, 2007 0:35:26 GMT -5
Oh, come on! I saw that scene on the big screen. You're missing a few seconds, that's all. I'm not saying the scene isn't better with those few seconds, but it can't save the movie.
What would make the film better is the relationship with Miranda. And not just the cut sex scene or even scenes - because while there was something in the hot tub, there was also something in bed, with the stickers on Pike's breasts catching the black fur of the covers that looked like PB's chest hair. But I mean more than that, I mean the relationship, not just the cold "Business necessity requires that we have sex in this bed right now."
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Post by formermi6agent on Jan 18, 2007 1:18:58 GMT -5
If I would make Die Another Day better, I would say more focusing on the story rather than overload of CGI stuff. I don't mind the invisible car, but the ice surfing scene, I thought that Pierce wouldn't deserve that kind of thing.
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Post by londonstreet on Jan 18, 2007 4:40:13 GMT -5
Thanks for all the reviews, they more or less confirm what I think of Casino Royale and Craig as Bond. And as for the PR work around Casino Royale I think it's been exaggerated too. Nominations, yes I was thinking of Bafta, I have the feeling they are exaggerated too but can't say not having seen the movie.
Die Another Day, among Pierce Bond movies it's perhaps my least loved one. The first part is great and maybe even better than TND and TWINE, the story is very good but then we see the invisible car and the ice surfing scene......that's too much even for me that I like all the gadgets and some silly scenes that bond movies usually has. For making it better I'd just cut out the ice surfing scene and add the love scenes with Miranda. Maybe I'd also change the scene with Dench in the tube and make it in Bond's apartment.
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Post by sparklingblue on Jan 18, 2007 9:34:23 GMT -5
I agree with Yuliya on the fact that towards the ending DAD became one big explosion. I really liked the first half, and I also enjoyed the scenes in Cuba because they were just beautiful (if you ignore the corny lines). I also think the sword fight is very impressive. In the second half of the film they should have paid more attention to characters and relationships, as Yuliya says, and not try to top one outrageous action scene with a more outrageous one. By the time that plane went up in flames I was just tired of it all, even when I saw the film for the first time. I really loved the Moneypenny scene at the end though, because it was funny and sexy and because the actors seemed to really enjoy it. I think with this film they were in a conflict between making a film for a more mature audience or an action flick that will attract the younger audience with what they are used to from MTV or whatnot.
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Post by IcyCalm on Jan 18, 2007 11:13:12 GMT -5
Here's another point regarding Die Another Day. It was the 20th Bond film celebrating 40 years. As a gift to the fans, they attempted to include something from all the other 19 films into DAD. (One day I'm going to watch it with a pad and pencil and try to catch as many as I can, never having seen a Roger Moore film.) If DAD seems a bit cluttered up, it is for this reason. They were trying to salute to the Bond universe, a tall order. When you think how unique this idea was, I don't blame them for going for it. Then DAD had to have its own identity as well. As the crowning glory 20th Bond film, it had to out-perform the previous 19.
With this in mind, I think DAD was a magnificent achievement. I too felt exhausted in the theater by the time the plane broke apart. That movie literally had everything, presented at warp speed. We got our money's worth!
My favourite scenes: torture scenes (mainly because Pierce has long hair), the swordfight because he did 99% of it himself with little practice (I'm so proud), the walk across the Hong Kong lobby as if he owned it, and the seduction of Moneypenny.
IcyCalm
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Post by donnamcg on Jan 18, 2007 11:41:06 GMT -5
Ohhhh...these are all of my favorites too ... but I also loved him in bed with Halle. But .... I just love PB in bed with anyone cause... well ... you know. sigh Donna
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Post by Lauryn on Jan 20, 2007 17:53:56 GMT -5
I won't weigh in with loads of analysis on Casino Royale since I haven't much to add to what Yuliya and others have said so well. I didn't go in disliking Craig in other roles but it's fair to say his Bond has the same limitations and strengths. When he's hard at work, as he is in CR, he can give a very focused performance, and with some authority but he's a heavy weather kind of actor, you can hear the wheels grind when he has to shift gears. It's all the same timbre whether he's facing down a villain or chatting up a girl. He has a brusque "can't be bothered" anti-charm kind of charm, but not the quality of being able to outright seduce a woman or an audience that Bond should have in spades. He'd be painful as dentistry to watch in a variegated role like Julian Noble in "The Matador" where style and situations and character can shift in mid-stride or mid-sentence.
As a sensualist his Bond is kind of hopeless. You suspect he would rather be at the gym and sex is just another workout. Would someone always in training or in the throes of self-denial really mind so much being half monk half hitman? As has been remarked, it doesn't help that his Bond girl, the supposed love of his life is so brittle, marble mouthed and distant and that Martin Campbell's direction has no ear for dialogue / foreplay. After all the buildup in the press for CR the romance is unmoving and not well set up, though I blame Eva Green and the direction most for that. Plus, Campbell and the Broccolis haven't learned anything from Goldeneye and still think clumsy psychoanalysis equals sprightly banter.
For action, I liked the crane / construction site sequence (because Sebastien Foucan is amazing to watch) The others went on too long or were confusingly staged. Phil Meheux's cinematography is an asset to the film, especially in the Montenegro and Venice scenes. He has a more colorful palette to work with than in Goldeneye. So much of the re-boot is an eye-rolling nonsense. Bond whining "it's tailored!" about the suit Vesper had made for him -- as if he would have lasted a second in the Oxbridge fishbowl of his biography with that attitude. They explain it away by saying Bond wears his suits and upbringing with disdain. More here, really, like a SAS squaddie's shrug of macho disinterest. To top that, his attitudes toward women have not yet been fully formed (so we're told until he meets Vesper) at the age of 37, so he's a slow learner for sure. Though I didn't like the Dante's Inferno style set (I would have gone for a luxurious setting for contrast with the torture) I thought Daniel Craig acquitted himself well in that scene. On the page I couldn't imagine anything more cringingly out of place than the "humor" that was written but between gritted teeth he makes it (almost) work, which is far more than it deserves.
Though CR has its silly moments and isn't exactly seamless in terms of story the decision to go darker and for more dirt-under-the-nails realism (as far as you can in Bond) gives it more consistency, IMO. Craig, with his single minded style of acting, should be grateful. That Brosnan's films tended to throw it in the Cuisinart in terms of tone, veering from one style and set piece to the next really highlighted how much they relied on PB to lend elegance to things that otherwise might seem tacked on or labored. DC has been handed a style that conforms to him rather than having it the other way round, though Brosnan could match him in it. They have cut down on the one-liners and made an effort to write humor that sounds more natural for Craig's Bond to say. It's distracting though, because I'm imagining the spin Brosnan could put on them, had he been given the chance. I don't know if even he could strike sparks from Eva Green's Vesper, or their awkward dialogue on the train, but she's French and he had a chemistry with Sophie Marceau, so the odds aren't bad. It's a shame that PB's Bond wasn't allowed to go darker with Bond, let loose to be a bit more of a bastard, a burnt out case, compromised by a woman he loves, for just one film. Because even a rotter like his Osnard in TOP always has his charm to fall back on.
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Post by Myrtle Groggins on Jan 31, 2007 1:32:27 GMT -5
Thanks for posting all your comments and reviews.
I've only seen two "Casino Royale" versions, the first one - Barry Nelson's TV version, and the second one with David Niven and Peter Sellers. I loved the book.
No more Pierce as Bond. No more new Bonds for me. I refused to see Dalton's Bond when he was hired instead of Pierce thanks to NBC. It took me many years before I broke down and watched his two movies simply because I've liked his work in other things and because I was going through the whole Bond movie and book series in honor of the 50th anniversary of the books. Must say I truly liked Dalton's Bond.
This time, after what they did to PB, I refuse to see the so-called 'best Bond ever'. I can't see myself giving in for many years as I've had my fill of car chases, meaningless sex, explosions, and whatever else Bond movies are famous for. I prefer a story in my movies and we just don't get that from Bond. Without Pierce, it's just not worth the time or money.
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Post by IcyCalm on Feb 11, 2007 17:00:36 GMT -5
Well Craig didn't get the BAFTA for best actor today... I'm glad he didn't (for the many reasons mentioned in this thread) even though I didn't actually see Casino Royale. Whether his performance deserved it or not, I'm still glad. I'm even more glad Pierce wasn't present at the awards to have to sit there watching DC get nominated. I'm sorry his dad's illness kept him away - its just that PB didn't need to be there and witness whatever was to happen. (As it was, Casino picked up only 1 out of 9 nominations, in the sound category.)
As for PB's dad: speedy recovery to a good man. IcyCalm
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Post by Ace on Feb 12, 2007 11:54:33 GMT -5
Pierce wasn't going to the BAFTAs that I know of. He was scheduled for the IFTAs in Dublin where he'd been nominated for Best Actor for The Matador.
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