QOS opinion has not changed

UltimateTruth

Yesterday i was feeling tired and emotionally down, so I decided to watch a Bond movie to lift my spirits. I decided on QOS because I hadn't seen it for awhile, and also because I enjoy D.C.'s portrayal of Bond.
Instead of feeling better, I developed a headache after deciding to sit through the opening theme song (probably only the 2nd time I've heard it...the 1st being in the theatre in 2008) and the nerve racking scene editing of the film. I turned it off after Haiti and broke out my hardcover edition of YOLT. I proceded to read about 100 pages.
Such a shame because IMO the film DOES have great elements and a good storyline.......Too bad the final product was bungled in the editing room...........

Thunderpussy

My view on QOS has changed a great deal over the years, From extreme hatred, to acceptance then grudgingly Liking
many parts of it. ) I agree on first watching the editing is frantic but as I've watched it many times, it doesn't seem
as jarring on the senses as once it did. . To concentrate on the good points, .....

Craig's wardrobe is IMHO the Best of his Bond films, I love his suits.
The opening car chase is very exciting ( When you get used to the editing )
Olga Kurylenko, is Beautiful. :x
Mathis, a great Friend to Bond, Pity they killed him off.

There are some points I'm not a fan of but I think I've bashed QOS for long enough. ) so I'll try
and be Positive.

welshboy78

Yeah it had great sections but put together badly and some scenes irritating!

E.g. I find the car chase annoying purely due to the editing!!
The next section fighting on the scaffolding, swinging about etc a bit daft
Mi6 far too futuristic with the touchscreen minority report rubbish
The plane section CGI could have been done better
Greene could have been slightly more convincing

Do love the rest though, I just find the first 15 mins tedious until he gets to Haiti

Edit: Olga is wasted and it feels like Bond should have had better relations with her

Napoleon Plural

Insultingly dumb stuff early on, such as when Bond goes to Haiti, nastily kills a man, doesn't even bother to do basic spying stuff on his room, then just happens to get picked up by a gal who for no real reason mistakes him for the killer, when she think he is going to kill her heads straight to the guy who arranged the hit rather than running for the hills, like you do, rubbish exposition from the bad guy to fill in the plot, Bond being real inconspicuous pouting and posing on his bike in full view of the security guards. And so on.

Number24

QoS is a really weak entry. I think the scafolding fight is possibly the best part of QoS. I also think all scenes involving hotels in the movie are good, including the Haiti hotel fight. It does make the movie more Bournesque, but I still like it. The title song is jarring, but I actually like the title sequence with the sand.
The editing is a negative. Especially the jump into the sinkhole could be so much better with less frantic editing. Elvis is probably the worst henchman in the series, he is neither threathening nor funny. I actually like the villan, especially the piano teacher story and the threath to in the desert hotel. I think with a better editing, them song and henchman it could be a lot better.Not among the really good, but OK.

BIG TAM

I quite like the film these days. It's grown on me. My main gripe is the editing & camerawork but that's not aimed exclusively at QOS; it's an irritation with most modern action films. There are pace issues with the climactic hotel set-piece. It could have done with fattening up with more suspense. As it stands it's as if there's a rush to get the film over & done with. The Writers' Strike definitely hurt this film but it's not the clunker a lot of people say.

DieAnotherDay

I have quite a strange relationship with QoS. I don't particularly like it but I often find myself watching it ?:) I often find new plot threads and minuscule details on each visit which makes me appreciate the film slightly more but still...it's probably one of my least favourites along with DAF, MR and LTK (sue me) -{

Sir Miles

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Insultingly dumb stuff early on....

Then I'm happy to be dumb - and I don't feel insulted, so I must be dumb

QoS is one of the best Bond films - for me....if you don't like it, fine....I'm just happy people are giving REAL REASONS as to why they dislike it...and staying clear from just insulting how DC looks -{

Napoleon Plural

Craig doesn't look so bad in this for the most part, but as I posted elsewhere I do find it annoying that he looks so good in Dragon Tattoo and not as Bond. It's like if you had Connery playing Bond as he looks in, say, A Fine Madness or The Hill, and have him looking like Bond in those films.

I think Benedict Cumberbatch would have made a good Greene, you need someone who just looks evil, as he did in Atonement.

BIG TAM

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Craig doesn't look so bad in this for the most part, but as I posted elsewhere I do find it annoying that he looks so good in Dragon Tattoo and not as Bond. It's like if you had Connery playing Bond as he looks in, say, A Fine Madness or The Hill, and have him looking like Bond in those films.

I think Benedict Cumberbatch would have made a good Greene, you need someone who just looks evil, as he did in Atonement.

I agree with you about what you say about Daniel Craig's look. He does look better & oddly younger in other films. It doesn't detract from my pleasure in his performance though.

I used to think the same about Roger Moore. He appears embalmed in parts of A VIEW TO A KILL but looked far younger at the London premier without any make-up.

Jamesbondjr

I really like QoS. I understand the reservations a lot of people have about it, and on may levels it doesn't work too well. For me though, the film is about individual moments that show the foundations of the character that Bond eventually becomes. Notably, not letting Green fall to his death in the fire and also not killing Vesper's boyfriend at the end. These two moments show the 'blunt instrument' from Casino Royale becoming a more human character.

He sees that he does not need the deaths of these people for closure. Realising that his life is heading down a dark path, he stops himself and separates himself from the side of his profession that could be come too personal and damaging. Also I really like that he refrains from trying to talk Camille out of her revenge as would be the norm; he understands her and knows exactly what she is going through.

Quantum of Solace can be seen as pretty vacuous and all flash and bang but there is some deeper stuff going on that isn't immediately apparent because of the style of the film and the editing (which is horrific at times).

The film as a whole also works best as an epilogue to Casino Royale rather than a standalone piece, which also works against the film rather than being it's strength.

kwsizer

I agree with Jamesbondjr, here above, about QoS having much more character depth that perhaps any other film, apart from CR. Due to the storyline, it's obviously its direct sequel, and that's one of the selling points, along with the direction (which I liked) and the frantic editing ( a few sequences are so ambitious in their construction that they really grow on you when you watch them in slo-mo, at home). Craig is tough as nails and marvellously dark and inward at many points. Cinematography, storyline, mood and context were unique in QoS and EON has made a HUGE mistake in not following up to the story with Haggis (the best contributor ever to the Bond films) in Skyfall, also due to the fact that the game with Quantum and Mr White was all but ended. In comparison with QoS Skyfall seemed a Disney family flick, to me. Give me Haggis and Forster back, please.

Thunderpussy

Welcome on board Kwsizer, -{ nice first post. {[]

welshboy78

Hopefully Craigs final film (presume Bond 25) will wrap up the Quantum story

Sir Miles

welshboy78 wrote:

Hopefully Craigs final film (presume Bond 25) will wrap up the Quantum story

I have a sneaky feeling Craig won't finish with Bond25...I think it will be Bond26...

welshboy78

Hope your right (unless he is wearing a toupee by then)

Now EON have the rights to Blofeld again maybe they will revisit him in the Quantum wrap up!! Though guess that would split fans even more lol

Sir Miles

kwsizer wrote:

I agree with Jamesbondjr, here above, about QoS having much more character depth that perhaps any other film, apart from CR. Due to the storyline, it's obviously its direct sequel, and that's one of the selling points, along with the direction (which I liked) and the frantic editing ( a few sequences are so ambitious in their construction that they really grow on you when you watch them in slo-mo, at home). Craig is tough as nails and marvellously dark and inward at many points. Cinematography, storyline, mood and context were unique in QoS and EON has made a HUGE mistake in not following up to the story with Haggis (the best contributor ever to the Bond films) in Skyfall, also due to the fact that the game with Quantum and Mr White was all but ended. In comparison with QoS Skyfall seemed a Disney family flick, to me. Give me Haggis and Forster back, please.

I'm sorry...but that is FAR too sensible a post - showing logic, thought and a fair degree of maturity...I'd welcome you here, but you are far too erudite to stick around

Seriously...great post...and welcome -{

Blackleiter

kwsizer wrote:

I agree with Jamesbondjr, here above, about QoS having much more character depth that perhaps any other film, apart from CR. Due to the storyline, it's obviously its direct sequel, and that's one of the selling points, along with the direction (which I liked) and the frantic editing ( a few sequences are so ambitious in their construction that they really grow on you when you watch them in slo-mo, at home). Craig is tough as nails and marvellously dark and inward at many points. Cinematography, storyline, mood and context were unique in QoS and EON has made a HUGE mistake in not following up to the story with Haggis (the best contributor ever to the Bond films) in Skyfall, also due to the fact that the game with Quantum and Mr White was all but ended. In comparison with QoS Skyfall seemed a Disney family flick, to me. Give me Haggis and Forster back, please.

Welcome fellow fan. Your first post is very fair, well-stated and intelligently presented. But don't worry, if you stick around here a while it won't be long before we break you of those bad habits! )

Seriously, though, I agree with your thoughts about QOS, a film that has definitely grown on me over time.

UltimateTruth

Y'know, more or less, everyone on this board has the same opinion..... "It's grown on me....!" , "I like it, except for the editing !" etc.........
THAT's the frustrating thing about that movie....The elements were there !!!!!!!!!

Daniel Craig looked and acted great, Olga is one of my favorite Bond girls, the villian was decent (Who says that a great villian can't be un unlikeable little jacka$$ ?), great locations and scenery, stoyline....evrything,........but it was assembled wrong.

It's like they were building a Ferrari, and didn't properly hook up the engine to the tranny..........(maybe I should say Aston Martin ha ha)

Thunderpussy

) Some very good points Ultimate Truth. -{

chrisisall

kwsizer wrote:

In comparison with QoS Skyfall seemed a Disney family flick, to me.

Ha ha, I wouldn't quite go that far, but yes, QOS is great, and it is better than SF IMO.

Mr Mallory

Loved it then and love it now the best Craig Bond yet.

Gassy Man

I'm still disappointed by it after the tour de force that was Casino Royale. Though the performances are great, it has less character development to me than either its predecessor or successor, spending more time servicing a plot that wasn't all that remarkable. On top of that, while many Bond films, including Casino Royale, could offer a range of emotions, this one had pretty much the same dour mood all the way through, and it became quite fatiguing. In this, I found myself caring less about even Bond than I had in the previous film. I thought Felix and Mathis were largely wasted, and I'm still confused by the dialogue as to whether the latter was or wasn't traitorous. Greene was creepy looking but not all that menacing or interesting as a villain, and about the same could be said for General Medrano. The editing was hard to follow and at times headache inducing, though the cinematography in general was quite sharp. If Forster hadn't been so determined to trim the movie down to the bare essentials, it might have been considerably better. I get the sense that there was a better Bond movie than this, but a lot of it ended up on the cutting room floor. There are some wonderful sequences -- the hotel fight, the opera, Bond's escape from the hotel, Bond's desert confrontation with Greene -- but they're piecemeal.

Thunderpussy

Would anyone know the name of the film which the air controller is watching as Greene's plane takes off ?
As we still have no director's commentary, and this feels to me to be the sort of in joke that directors love.

Barbel

Gassy Man wrote:

If Forster hadn't been so determined to trim the movie down to the bare essentials, it might have been considerably better. I get the sense that there was a better Bond movie than this, but a lot of it ended up on the cutting room floor. There are some wonderful sequences -- the hotel fight, the opera, Bond's escape from the hotel, Bond's desert confrontation with Greene -- but they're piecemeal.

I agree with this; there's a better movie in there. I've grown to like it more since its release, especially as it goes along (the editing calms down as the film proceeds and of course we get further away from that song) and those sequences mentioned are superb. Some would argue that the plot/characters are underdeveloped while others argue that we the audience aren't being spoonfed and have to work the links out for ourselves.
TP, I'll have to watch it again now to try to spot the film you mention!

chrisisall

QOS is the LTK of the 21st. And I love LTK. -{

L Jones

My opinion of "QUANTUM OF SOLACE" hasn't changed one bit. Even though I was not impressed by the film's pacing, shorter running time and choppy editing (especially in the first half). But I liked the story very much. I liked the fact that it addressed the consequences of Vesper's death and MI6's desire for information on Quantum. For me, it was more of a sequel than that PTS for "DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER".

Blackleiter

Gassy Man wrote:

I'm still disappointed by it after the tour de force that was Casino Royale. Though the performances are great, it has less character development to me than either its predecessor or successor, spending more time servicing a plot that wasn't all that remarkable. On top of that, while many Bond films, including Casino Royale, could offer a range of emotions, this one had pretty much the same dour mood all the way through, and it became quite fatiguing. In this, I found myself caring less about even Bond than I had in the previous film. I thought Felix and Mathis were largely wasted, and I'm still confused by the dialogue as to whether the latter was or wasn't traitorous. Greene was creepy looking but not all that menacing or interesting as a villain, and about the same could be said for General Medrano. The editing was hard to follow and at times headache inducing, though the cinematography in general was quite sharp. If Forster hadn't been so determined to trim the movie down to the bare essentials, it might have been considerably better. I get the sense that there was a better Bond movie than this, but a lot of it ended up on the cutting room floor. There are some wonderful sequences -- the hotel fight, the opera, Bond's escape from the hotel, Bond's desert confrontation with Greene -- but they're piecemeal.

Although I suspect that I enjoy QOS more than you do, I pretty much agree with all of your criticisms of the film. It had the potential to be significantly better than it turned out.

chrisisall

Blackleiter wrote:

It had the potential to be significantly better than it turned out.

Everyone's a film editor... )
But... yeah.

Harry Palmer

Loved it from the start. Consistently in my top 4.

chrisisall

Harry Palmer wrote:

Loved it from the start. Consistently in my top 4.

Ahhh, a man of good taste! -{