I noticed something in Casino Royale
Smoke_13
Kitchener Ont CanadaPosts: 285MI6 Agent
I want to discuss the scene early in the movie when Bond is chasing the bomb maker through the construction site.
Just after the bomb maker jumps the fence and hides behind the piping, Bond comes crashing through the fence driving the front end loader, tractor, what ever the heck you want to call it.
When I first saw that scene, for a split second I groaned "Oh Crap, here's more of the same old Moore and Brosnan, Bond can fly, drive or operate anything he wants with a smug smile on his face." But I was quickly relieved when he bailed out and the chase resumed on foot.
Tonight seeing it at the theater, the guy behind me muttered something like "Aw no, not this." at that exact same part. I'm certain he was feeling that same feeling I originally had of impending franchise doom. That this Bond was going to be like all the others.
My feeling of doom quickly went away and I love CR and really like Craigs way of playing Bond. I just got to thinking though, did anyone else get that "Oh no, cheesy Bond history is about to repeat itself" feeling during that specific scene of just me and that guy behind me?
Just after the bomb maker jumps the fence and hides behind the piping, Bond comes crashing through the fence driving the front end loader, tractor, what ever the heck you want to call it.
When I first saw that scene, for a split second I groaned "Oh Crap, here's more of the same old Moore and Brosnan, Bond can fly, drive or operate anything he wants with a smug smile on his face." But I was quickly relieved when he bailed out and the chase resumed on foot.
Tonight seeing it at the theater, the guy behind me muttered something like "Aw no, not this." at that exact same part. I'm certain he was feeling that same feeling I originally had of impending franchise doom. That this Bond was going to be like all the others.
My feeling of doom quickly went away and I love CR and really like Craigs way of playing Bond. I just got to thinking though, did anyone else get that "Oh no, cheesy Bond history is about to repeat itself" feeling during that specific scene of just me and that guy behind me?
Comments
I just had visions of Bond crashing through the fence on the tractor, dumping it's load on the bomb maker and trapping him under the dirt then phoning M and saying something like, "Relax M, Ive got him "covered." 8-) I think I would have left the theater.
Thank the powers that be, that they went the direction they did and made such a great film.
CR is the Bond universe that Fleming envisioned. Hopefully it will remain as such.
Now, as I said, I thought the chase scene in CR was terrific. It was quite implausible but was still relatively realistic. There was however one moment which IMO took things too far; that was when the bomber leapfroged over a table (?) and did not fall onto his face. That moment struck me as entirely false, because while I could accept that a bomber was also a skilled athlete with alot of endurance, that jump seemed to me to be far too difficult for some ordinary guy to accomplish as if it was the easiest thing in the world.
There was just a certain look in that "crash through the fence scene" that felt like the A typical Moore/Brosnan type Bond. Smugly driving a tractor and chasing the bad guy. It's not the plausability of it that I'm debating it's the feel that I got during that brief scene.
~Pen -{
mountainburdphotography.wordpress.com
That's pretty close to how I felt about it. I was grinning ear-to-ear, but not because I thought it was ridiculous. I was grinning because it was a perfect Bondian moment: Outrageous, sure, but not ridiculous. It was an action sequence and they emphasized excitement, not laughs. In the old days they would have added Keystone cops elements, like pigeons doing a double-take, or a tuxedo-wearin Bond putting on a hard-hat. It's all in the tone of the film.
~Pen -{
mountainburdphotography.wordpress.com
Roger Moore 1927-2017
When that scene started, I had the "oh come on" feeling, which was quickly extinguished as the chase scene began.
When he runs up the crane, because he was wearing a harness it looked a bit weird, which niggles me everytime for some strange reason.
When bond threw the gun at Mollaka and knocked him over that was a bit ridiculous and pointless.
But nothing completely unbelievable.
Everyone has different likes and dislikes, and opinions on the feasibility of different parts.
For me it was brilliant overall.
I don't think the gun knocked him over, but rather caused him to lose his balance. A person would instinctively move their body to get out of the way of the object that was thrown at them, which is a little dicey when your feet are standing on a relatively narrow girder.
The part that was unbelievable for me was Sebastian Foucant himself. His athleticism is absolutely incredible. It knocked me out when he jumped a couple floors by bouncing off the walls of the elevator shaft. Hard to believe someone can do that, but he apparently did.
The first is in the PTS when they leap out of the cubicle and onto the floor. The face of the stuntman is clearly visible. The same goes for one section of the stairwell fight. I just feel that the editing has let them down a bit here, or maybe they didn't plan on us lot picking it to pieces so thoroughly whilst waiting for the DVD to be released
You'd think Bond would at least get wide eyed for a split second as the bullets hit the glass, like "Holy Crap! He's shooting at me!"
I'm beginning to notice another fundamental difference in us as Bond fans. In general, some Bond fans love those smug, overly-confident, over the top Bond moments but we -the smart ones, don't.
You can add a third. During the crane fight between Bond & Mollaka the camera pans across the screen. Even though it is quite a distant shot of the fight you can still see it is a stuntman and not DC on the crane.
Perhaps it is bad editing. Or maybe it's some kind of homage to Roger Moore and his unlookalike stuntmen.
I think it's more a case of too much scrutiny. It noticed the crane shot MNL talks about -- but only after I'd seen in four times and had read on AJB that you could detect the stuntman. I didn't notice the instances you mention, but I'll check it out.
I'm not sure these types of things can be avoided if you watch too closely. It's like CGI effects. I could tell in Superman Returns when it was Routh and when it was CGI. I just ignore it. I figure I've always been able to ignore the fact that King Kong is a puppet in the original film, so being able to forget it isn't always Harrison Ford under the fedora in the Indiana Jones films is easy.
Totally with you there, hh. It's a movie, it's there to enjoy. Sure, you can watch a film ten times (we're fans here, after all, it's what we do) and then spot the stuntmen, wires, etc, but as long as it's not too blatant, it shouldn't detract from the viewing pleasure. There's also a little thing called suspension of disbelief- we all know Superman can't really fly, and that Kong can't exist, but we're there for entertainment first and foremost. This also applies to jumping from one crane to another, which is somewhat easier to swallow.
I had the same reaction. I can accept that the glass might be shatterproof, designed to protect the driver against chunks of "exploding" concrete hitting the cab during demolition or something, but a direct hit by a bullet? Naw ....
As to it being a "cheesy" moment, I didn't think that. What bothered me, though, was the notion that Bond could mount the loader, overpower the driver, get situated, and be off ... yet never more than 20 feet behind Mollaka.
You make a good point about AJB folks being uber-fans. We (over?)analyze every frame, utterance, plot point, actor, actress, score excerpt, sound effect, stunt, etc ... as if it was Shakespearean drama. Remember the lengthy discussion about the Aston Martin's swerve around Vesper? (I'm as bad as anyone -- I was right in the thick of it). Real-life accident investigators don't look that closely at their cases.
CR will be lucky if it's still standing by the time November 2008 rolls around.
I suppose this is a problem for people who have never watched the sport before, for me I particurlarly loved the lift shaft jump.
I'd imagine it's the same type of glass used. You just have to look at how those machines are used in war situations.
I'm pretty sure that King Kong does exist somewhere...
I think if you're able to withstand a large piece of rock falling from thirty stories up, you can withstand a tiny bullet.
Forgive me; my mind was elsewhere
Agreed. The example I gave from the crane fight in my previous post did not detract from my viewing pleasure at all. There are only very rare instances in the Bond series where it has and still does detract from my viewing pleasure. Most notably, the Paris chase sequence in AVTAK. It's too blatantly obvious on more than one occasion that Roger Moore Bond is not driving the car.
I thought of mentioning that sequence after the word "blatant" in my earlier post, but was afraid of being JFF'd from behind and the whole thread turning into (yet) another AVTAK debate
I was JFF'd a few days ago when I stated in one of my posts that OP was superior to AVTAK......How dare I