Spectre, one year later

Halcon

Saw Spectre again, for the first time since last seeing it on the theater screen last year.

I had enjoyed the film immensely at the theater, I guess you could count me in the 'love' bracket rather than 'hate'.

The film for me was even more enjoyable this time around. There are SO many scenes that more than make up for any slip ups.

-the pre title sequence of course, generally applauded universally, so vibrant yet restrained. We've seen Bond do this before with helicopters but still doesn't take anything away. The colors and vibe reminded me of the warm and golden hues of the Roger Moore era.

-the scenes with M at the new/old MI6, seeing Bond back in that office was pure pleasure.

-the meeting Spectre holds in Rome scene- pure perfection! the slow and subtle pace of this scene, with the various Spectre members interacting really creates an 'observer' dynamic, I felt like I was right there witnessing Spectre doing its evil 'thing'. very realistic! The setting, the shadows, the opulence, and then Blofield walks in! Number 9's (or whatever his number was) demise at the hands of Mr. Hinx was a wonderful realistic reference to Thunderball's spectre scene.

-the scene with Mr. White, again very subtle and the relationship comes full circle to its fitting 'spy'ish conclusion, very well handled.

-the train scene, where do I start?? This has to be one of the best 'classic' sequences in James Bond films, very elegant, very classic, very dangerous with Bond's fight against Mr. Hinx.

-the Blofield layer sequences were, (also) fantastic. They clearly channeled Dr. No, YOLT, OHMSS, Blofield was equally menacing and intelligent enough to be capable of such a complex endeavor. His 'minions' in the background brought a smile to my face as well as the damn cat. How can these details be offputting??? loved the torture scene, very fitting for Blofield. The explosion scene was absolutely too short and should of had better suspense and tension. Bond escaped too easily compared to previous films with grandiose layers.

-from here I skipped to the end of the film, bypassing the final act which I must admit I had no desire to watch again. this is certainly the film's major weakness.

loved Monica Bellucci, Lia Sedoux, loved the suits (especially the tan), loved that Bond was more relaxed, loved the score...

As a Bond fan, I enjoy watching Bond in settings more so than the story itself (he's been there done that right?) I'll take a great story for sure, but settings are equally satisfying and this film had a many good ones. B-)

KDevereaux

"…the Blofield layer sequences were, (also) fantastic. They clearly channeled Dr. No, YOLT, OHMSS, Blofield was equally menacing and intelligent enough to be capable of such a complex endeavor. His 'minions' in the background brought a smile to my face as well as the damn cat. How can these details be offputting??? loved the torture scene, very fitting for Blofield. The explosion scene was absolutely too short and should of had better suspense and tension. Bond escaped too easily compared to previous films with grandiose layers…."

Spectre was a good film in the Bond group, and Sam Mendes is a master filmmaker, but my personal favorite scene from SP was the funeral scene, where the camera from Bonds view at the back of the mourners slowly zooms forward and focuses not on Monica Bellucci the widow, who we are led to believe that Bond is watching, but on the back of Blofeld’s head, and is an excellent play by the director to introduce Bond's rival. Bloefeld turns his head just slightly as if he too is sensing that his childhood opposite and as he alludes to later, the cuokoo in his nest, James Bond, is present.

walther p99

Though my opinion of SP is the same as it was the day I saw it, which is its extremely underwhelming and generic. I must admit I love the first 10-15 minutes of the film. A great PTS, Bond in M's office, Bond at his flat, Bond at Q's. All those scenes are wonderful. Its only once the mission begins in Rome that the film slowly begins its nose dive into mediocrity.

KDevereaux

The opening scenes of SP were impressive, to be sure. I would like to believe that it was a crowning moment for the director/cinematographer of the film. Like the eyes of da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and everything else merely a framework of support.

welshboy78

It really is a mixed bag.

I enjoy it lots overall but the weak parts for me are:

Car chase (this is the first part of the film which is weak)
Hotel Room / Hidden Room scene (hidden room in hotel makes no sense with no exit / enter lol)
Blofelds Lair (biggest flaw - what a missed opportunity)
London Blofeld finale (seems rushed and the escape was a doddle)

Everything else I really loved.

Its as if they should have made the Blofeld lair the finale however sacrificed it to squeeze in the london MI6 finale hence both turned out weak. They should have stuck with one or the other (lair made more sense since thats where Blofeld was based).

In a nutshell they crammed too much in which was detrimental to the film.

Chriscoop

I find lots to enjoy and some memorable scenes, the opening 20mins is good, the Mr white scenes are excellent, the hinx train fight is one of the series best fights, hoffler clinic, I really like the scenes with monica belucci, and a lot of Dc's little asides such as waving at the goons at the funeral, saluting at hinx from the plane, telling the hoffler guard to stay, tanner and q stopping laughing at the db5 when bond cuts them a look
I try not to focus too hard at the story as with Skyfall it makes no sense.
If it had been anyone else playing Bond I may be more critical but I love bond and as always find dc entirely watchable.

Ornithologist

welshboy78 wrote:

Hotel Room / Hidden Room scene (hidden room in hotel makes no sense with no exit / enter lol)

I thought about this and the explanation I came up with goes like this: Mr White was probably already pretty rich when they got married (or getting so quickly afterwards) so he reserved the Hotel room/suite indefinitely, which allowed him to make some changes. People do this in hotels sometimes, Udo Lindenberg has been living in the Hotel Atlantic in Hamburg (TND location) since the 1990s. Having no door makes no sense but it's possible he had the room blocked off later (after withdrawing from Spectre) so it wouldn't be found.

welshboy78

Yeah I assumed the room might be permanently booked or something lol

I guess he once had a door to the room otherwise would have to get the builders and a good plasterer in everyday (and hope he never forgot anything in the room!)

To be honest it could have been written better, personally I would have had Mr White tell him Madelaine had the co-ordinates somehow (even if she did not realise) and Mendes spent this additional time tidying up the end better etc or even extend the dinner on the train to make their relationship develop more / better

walther p99

welshboy78 wrote:

Yeah I assumed the room might be permanently booked or something lol

I guess he once had a door to the room otherwise would have to get the builders and a good plasterer in everyday (and hope he never forgot anything in the room!)

To be honest it could have been written better, personally I would have had Mr White tell him Madelaine had the co-ordinates somehow (even if she did not realise) and Mendes spent this additional time tidying up the end better etc or even extend the dinner on the train to make their relationship develop more / better

That bit was another moment of "what?" from me, as you stated there's no entrance to the secret room shown, did Mr. White just knock it down and reseal it every time he needed to go in there?

Chriscoop

I took it as he had it sealed up when he was poisoned by Spectre. I quite liked the scenes at l amercaine, particularly bond talking to the mouse.

walther p99

Chriscoop wrote:

I took it as he had it sealed up when he was poisoned by Spectre. I quite liked the scenes at l amercaine, particularly bond talking to the mouse.

I loved that scene too, one of the few highlights from that portion of the film.

Miles Messervy

I re-watched SPECTRE when it became available on Bluray, but I turned it off when they left Morocco. I think that's the natural ending of the film, and although that sequence feels rushed and is generally underwhelming, the movie as whole is much better without the weight of the London finale. In other words, the film can survive one underwhelming finale based on the strength of what comes before it; two is too many.

Chriscoop

walther p99 wrote:

Chriscoop wrote:

I took it as he had it sealed up when he was poisoned by Spectre. I quite liked the scenes at l amercaine, particularly bond talking to the mouse.

I loved that scene too, one of the few highlights from that portion of the film.

So it's not only women we have great taste in walther -{

welshguy34

Rewatched the film on bluray recently. I like it but it of course has faults. It's behind Casino Royale and Skyfall and just ahead of QOS for me. I like all of Craig's films just to clarify.

ichaice

Really disappointed by Spectre. The best part for me was the roof walk, now that was cool. The lair, the final act, really didn't enjoy them at all.

KimWilde fan

Loved the Rome scenes, very atmospheric, slightly disappointing after

Unknown007

I actually felt the London Climax scene was a bit of an anti-climax. It's a bit like Bond letting the School Bully of the hook so to speak.

Still feel a little sick the DB.10 ended up as it did and that the James Bond Theme was a little under used through out the whole film.

walther p99

Unknown007 wrote:

and that the James Bond Theme was a little under used through out the whole film.

yeah I felt that out of all the Craig films that this would be the one where they blast the Bond theme during an action scene, and indeed there were a few moments that were perfect for it but alas Newman didn't deliver. The closest we got was when it was used during "detonation".

KDevereaux

Seeing M get a larger role in QOS, SF and SP was good fun, although the sub-plot in SF is difficult the director kept it alive. Judi Dench, and Ralph Fiennes are both actors with great breadth, so to leave them simply sitting behind a desk grilling Bond for his never ending list of misdeeds would have been a waste of talent. If this turns out to be the last of the Craig Bond's, where ever the producers go next, they'll have a difficult time matching the complexity this series generated.

Matt S

KDevereaux wrote:

Seeing M get a larger role in QOS, SF and SP was good fun, although the sub-plot in SF is difficult the director kept it alive. Judi Dench, and Ralph Fiennes are both actors with great breadth, so to leave them simply sitting behind a desk grilling Bond for his never ending list of misdeeds would have been a waste of talent. If this turns out to be the last of the Craig Bond's, where ever the producers go next, they'll have a difficult time matching the complexity this series generated.

It's a problem when the actors playing are better than the actor playing Bond, and they are given so much screen time. M shouldn't be competing with Bond.

James Suzuki

So I watched it with a mate last night.
We watched Skyfall the night before. Surprised how much i enjoyed Spectre and felt like it was a more entertaining film than SF. I'm really careful critiquing Bond films, because, yes its important to not be an utter fanboy, and ignore a film's faults, I really do love this series and any Bond film, for me, is a great film worth watching.
The ending sequence really grew on me and I really really like these days. The score is superb and when Bond shoots the Helicopter down with a Walther, I had a huge grin on my face.

walther p99

James Suzuki wrote:

The score is superb and when Bond shoots the Helicopter down with a Walther, I had a huge grin on my face.

That's Interesting, seeing as these two things are among the most hated aspects of the film.

James Suzuki

walther p99 wrote:

James Suzuki wrote:

The score is superb and when Bond shoots the Helicopter down with a Walther, I had a huge grin on my face.

That's Interesting, seeing as these two things are among the most hated aspects of the film.

I know!
I guess they really just grew on me.

KDevereaux

As merely a viewer, I’ve no background or skills as a director or producer, or even professional critic, so I’m afraid I can’t stand in judgment over a particular actor’s skill versus their counterpart’s onscreen performance. I’ve certainly enjoyed Craig’s character in other films, and would like to see his acting skills tested in other venues as well. The last few Bond films altered the landscape as each of the earlier Bond incarnations have. As a fan, my only requirement of these films is that they are entertaining.

Miles Messervy

walther p99 wrote:

James Suzuki wrote:

The score is superb and when Bond shoots the Helicopter down with a Walther, I had a huge grin on my face.

That's Interesting, seeing as these two things are among the most hated aspects of the film.

I have no problem with Bond shooting the chopper down with his PPK. It's a Bond movie, after all. The score, however, was a huge problem. Other than the music when Bond was walking on the rooftops in Mexico City, the gunbarrel music, and Lucia's theme, it was all forgettable. Skyfall's score certainly wasn't a landmark in the series, but I thought it was much better.

walther p99

Miles Messervy wrote:

walther p99 wrote:

James Suzuki wrote:

The score is superb and when Bond shoots the Helicopter down with a Walther, I had a huge grin on my face.

That's Interesting, seeing as these two things are among the most hated aspects of the film.

I have no problem with Bond shooting the chopper down with his PPK. It's a Bond movie, after all. The score, however, was a huge problem. Other than the music when Bond was walking on the rooftops in Mexico City, the gunbarrel music, and Lucia's theme, it was all forgettable. Skyfall's score certainly wasn't a landmark in the series, but I thought it was much better.

Yeah there were certain tracks like the rooftop walk cue and the unreleased Q-Lab music that hinted at a proper Bond score but its mostly rehashed SF material and bombastic excess. I also think SF's score was much better, it was less fussy and fit the tone of the film better.

CoolHandBond

SP is a brilliant Bond movie up there with OHMSS and FRWL. Cannot understand all the hate for it. But as OHMSS has grown in stature over the decades so will SP.

Gassy Man

I watched it again last night and can say I enjoyed it just as much as the first time, which is to say, better than Skyfall and Quantum of Solace but less than Casino Royale. It holds up well as a genuine Bond film, which also proves that Craig has the presence to carry an even better entry in this regard should they ever figure out how to make one.

The biggest weakness remains -- an underwhelming third act that begins once they're at the lair, which itself underwhelms. Mendes as a director likes to do that. He somehow thinks smaller when the film should be bigger make it more intimate without properly contextualizing why that doesn't work in a Bond film. What's interesting is how what so many critics think are weaknesses here were praised in Skyfall, which also has an underwhelming climax. But Spectre doesn't suffer from the derivative nature of Skyfall (The Dark Knight meets Straw Dogs) nor its narrative illogic.

Where Spectre suffers is in the reluctance to fully commit to being a big budget Bond entry. What's remarkable is that it cost twice as much as Casino Royale but often looks and feels even smaller than that film. This is entirely on Mendes, as his films are trademarked with exactly this approach.

Skyfall, for all the praised character development, could easily have been a generic action film -- wounded warrior faces his tortured past to right a current wrong. Spectre, on the other hand, traffics more in what the Bond films were known for -- facing a current enemy with grand schemes that could destroy the world. The attempt to shoehorn the brother element into the story was a gigantic and unfortunately misstep, too, and completely unnecessary for the plot, but it only seems clumsier here than the whole Bond-Silva brothers with M the mother in Skyfall because Spectre does not fog things with sentimentality.

Spectre remains the superior effort to me over Skyfall and Quantum of Solace, though it still falls short of Casino Royale. Rather than insert trivia about the characters, the stories needs to be better constructed to show rather than tell. Otherwise, they need to step up the scale of the films. Spectre may have spent a ridiculous among of money in production, but it didn't show up as much on the screen. That's its biggest failing. All in or don't play. And Spectre held back too much on what to show.

chrisisall

James Suzuki wrote:

The ending sequence really grew on me and I really really like these days. The score is superb and when Bond shoots the Helicopter down with a Walther, I had a huge grin on my face.

I *loved* that myself. Just so over-the-top BOND!!! -{

sniperUK

The most moronic thing in a crap movie full of moronic things.

Barbel

Na, the "brother" angle was the worst aspect.