Criticisms:
I though it was needlessly very long.
The casino fight was dull and pointless.
The girl dies halfway through. What was the point of her?
The one-liners are comically out of place and feel like something from Naked Gun.
As mentioned above, the disk-drive story is very silly.
Most of the plot is lifted from other films.
Bond cries when M dies, even though he didn't die when Tracy died?
Still it was a fun Bond adventure. Hopefully its commercial success will encourage EoN to do something more original in the near future.
I agree that it was a little too long, it's going to be one of those Bond films that you have to set aside time to watch as opposed to just fire on for something to do!
The Casino scene was pretty good in my opinion despite the dodgy CGI but I got over that pretty quickly. It was a pretty funny scene on the whole with some good acting from Berenice Marlohe. It was also interesting to see her smoking which reminded me a lot of Xenia Onnatop in the casino in Goldeneye. They could have made better use of the obvious outcome with the signature gun though - it just seemed too much like LTK again when I was hoping for it to be a bit different.
The one liners do seem a bit forced but i'm glad that they are there like that as opposed to not there at all.
The disk drive plot is silly but compared to many other bond films it's actually a pretty down to earth plot. I don't know when things like this became 'silly plots' when Moonraker and Die Another Day are out there.
And I like to think that Bond did cry when Tracy died, we just didn't see it. I can imagine after the shock kicked in and Bond found himself alone in his flat or wherever he had himself a little weep. But I agree it was a bit much that he cradled M and shed a tear. I think maybe it was just a bit overwhelming for him because he had many bad memories of Skyfall. I mean his parents graves are right outside and his only 'mother figure' he had left has just died in front of him.
A larger budget would be nice, definitely. Or at the very least better USE of the budget. I could do with a few fewer explosions or crashing trains if it meant more variety and an ending NOT stolen from Home Alone 2.
What's this crap about the budget? An estimated $200.000.000,- !!!!! Spend any more on a film and the risk of a flop is significantly increasing... Fact of the matter is that Skyfall was a critical and financial success - you may not like it, but don't pretend the makers got it wrong. The numbers are there to prove they didn't.
Lots of discussion and dispute about the numbers for Skyfall in terms of budget and I don't pretend to know the truth, my understanding was that the number quoted was reduced significantly.What I can say is as a viewer Deakins made it look spectacular.The Casino set was however, the most cheap and nasty looking thing I have ever seen in Bond film.The lack of exotic locations suited the movie, but I would like to see something lavish and Ken Adams like for 24.
Lots of discussion and dispute about the numbers for Skyfall in terms of budget and I don't pretend to know the truth, my understanding was that the number quoted was reduced significantly.What I can say is as a viewer Deakins made it look spectacular.The Casino set was however, the most cheap and nasty looking thing I have ever seen in Bond film.The lack of exotic locations suited the movie, but I would like to see something lavish and Ken Adams like for 24.
Yeah what was the deal with the Shanghai scenes and that? I take it they weren't filmed there? I must admit I don't know though.
Movies: The Spy Who Loved Me. Actor: Pierce Brosnan. Theme: You Only Live Twice. :D
Lots of discussion and dispute about the numbers for Skyfall in terms of budget and I don't pretend to know the truth, my understanding was that the number quoted was reduced significantly.What I can say is as a viewer Deakins made it look spectacular.The Casino set was however, the most cheap and nasty looking thing I have ever seen in Bond film.The lack of exotic locations suited the movie, but I would like to see something lavish and Ken Adams like for 24.
Yeah what was the deal with the Shanghai scenes and that? I take it they weren't filmed there? I must admit I don't know though.
Correct, they were not filmed on location. The only major location shooting was in Britain and Turkey, as far as I know.
Lots of discussion and dispute about the numbers for Skyfall in terms of budget and I don't pretend to know the truth, my understanding was that the number quoted was reduced significantly.What I can say is as a viewer Deakins made it look spectacular.The Casino set was however, the most cheap and nasty looking thing I have ever seen in Bond film.The lack of exotic locations suited the movie, but I would like to see something lavish and Ken Adams like for 24.
Yeah what was the deal with the Shanghai scenes and that? I take it they weren't filmed there? I must admit I don't know though.
Correct, they were not filmed on location. The only major location shooting was in Britain and Turkey, as far as I know.
Ah yes. I did suspect this was the case although I'll admit it was very convincing, considering.
If I wasn't aware of the cuts, I probably wouldn't have suspected it wasn't on location.
Something did feel "off" but... that may have been just due to me being aware of that.
Movies: The Spy Who Loved Me. Actor: Pierce Brosnan. Theme: You Only Live Twice. :D
Lots of discussion and dispute about the numbers for Skyfall in terms of budget and I don't pretend to know the truth, my understanding was that the number quoted was reduced significantly.What I can say is as a viewer Deakins made it look spectacular.The Casino set was however, the most cheap and nasty looking thing I have ever seen in Bond film.The lack of exotic locations suited the movie, but I would like to see something lavish and Ken Adams like for 24.
Yeah what was the deal with the Shanghai scenes and that? I take it they weren't filmed there? I must admit I don't know though.
Correct, they were not filmed on location. The only major location shooting was in Britain and Turkey, as far as I know.
The second unit shot scenes in Shanghai. None of the principal cast was there, however.
How did they do the Shanghai city overhead shot which zooms into the swimming pool?? I believe the pool was hotel in Greenwich?
CGI?
It was CGI. You can tell if you look closely in that shot from the sky. The pool interior shots were from a London hotel and the window views were altered when shown.
Can anyone explain how Bond had to sneak on board the boat to seduce Severene, yet was seen after the seduction openly walking on deck with the henchmen not caring.
I also can’t understand why the thugs in the casino scene wanted to kill him. Where they working for Silva, and if so why did they want to kill him while Silva’s henchmen on the boat didn’t want to kill him?
I agree with the general sentiment of this thread.
I think Skyfall is some weird 'Twilight Zone' version of James Bond. Skyfall is a Bond film where the plot makes little or no sense, a Bond film which has the gun barrel at the end of the film, a Bond film that suggests Bond might have had homosexual encounters and does show the main villain fondling Bond's legs in a blatently homoerotic way, a Bond film where the main villain can escape a glass cell without any explanation, a Bond film where we're told Bond failed his medical, he can't shoot straight but later on is a perfect shooter (!), a Bond film that is praised as the film of the year by the Guardian newspaper, a Bond film that is the highest grossing film in UK history (ignoring the vagaries of inflation which may or may not make such a stat meaningless) and a Bond actor with little charm or sophistication.
People are entitled to like or dislike Skyfall but my fear is the longer the franchise endures - and it's been going for half a century (!) - the more moribund it becomes and yet, paradoxically, all the obvious flaws in this film are ignored by most in the media. I wouldn't be surprised if Adele's song gets the Oscar for best song from a motion picture just to compound the fact that Skyfall is blessed with outrageous - and in my humble opinion - undeserved good fortune. The opening pre-credit scene is rather good, though.
Silva's escape was planned to the last detail months in advance and no doubt the bombs in the tube were rigged before hand, weeks before as well. The train served to stop anyone persuing him, cause disaster and act as a major diversion while Silva went to kill M. Bond just happened to show up early and cause Silva to set off the charges on top of him.
That might have made sense had the train actually had some people in it! I don't think any train on the London Underground - particularly at rush hour - is empty. How do you plant a bomb on an empty train during rush hour? Some feat. Heh.
Can anyone explain how Bond had to sneak on board the boat to seduce Severene, yet was seen after the seduction openly walking on deck with the henchmen not caring.
Yep, made no sense. Not one of the gang thought "who is this guy and why is he on the boat?" That scene ignores the basic rules of logical 'cause and effect' screenwriting! Weirdly enough, in the next scene we see Bond handcuffed so the gang finally realized "hey, this guy is the enemy!" 8-)
I agree with everything you say. I’m constantly puzzled by the media’s fascination and praise of the film. I can only assume they are not Bond fans and are praising it for other reasons not yet clear.
The only light at the end of the tunnel for me watching it, was seeing a male M reintroduced and the old MI6 office back in use. Hopefully, the aberrations that are Quantum of Solace and Skyfall will mark the end of considerable tinkering and we can get back to some classic Bond.
Incidentally, I’m reading OHMSS, and can’t see that book’s portrayal of Bond as in any way approximating Craig’s take on the character. The first half of the book shows us a Bond who is very much of his “class”—more like Dirk Bogarde than Daniel Craig's Bond.
I thought the bomb was in the subway not on the train itself, which surely couldn't be timed to even be in the same area at that time, but the film had lost me from hello really, I was just sitting it out at that point.
I think the problem with the film was Sam Mendes, who’s not really an action-oriented director. I don’t get the impression that he is a Bond fan, not that a director has to be, but it helps. Peter Hunt and Guy Hamilton were definitely Bond fans, and should have been allowed to direct more of the films. Hunt was more edgy than Hamilton, though, and so could have saved the franchise from becoming OTT as it did from DAF till TLD. I also liked some of John Glen’s direction of the Moore films.
Actually, from everything I have read and interviews I have seen, Mendes is actually a huge Bond fan.
It is unfortunate that Peter Hunt never directed another Bond film. Hunt actually only directed 5 other films besides OHMSS.
Can anyone explain how Bond had to sneak on board the boat to seduce Severene, yet was seen after the seduction openly walking on deck with the henchmen not caring.
Yep, made no sense. Not one of the gang thought "who is this guy and why is he on the boat?" That scene ignores the basic rules of logical 'cause and effect' screenwriting! Weirdly enough, in the next scene we see Bond handcuffed so the gang finally realized "hey, this guy is the enemy!" 8-)
As I interpreted:
They let them on because Silva wanted the agent Severine was talking to that cashed his chips to come and see him (she was always being watched). The best way is to let him in, then once he is already trapped, show him that he's not getting out. An MI6 agent, hand-delivered.
It was an intentional trick on Severine and Bond. Severine thought she could do as Bond asked and let him come to the island, despite her warnings, but that's not how Silva's henchmen are told to play when it comes to his island. Anyone there is under their control.
If by "lame" you mean one of the greatest movies of all time then yeah, I thought it was lame.
1: Casino Royale 2: Goldeneye 3: Skyfall 4: Octopussy 5: Goldfinger 6: Tomorrow Never Dies 7: The World Is Not Enough 8: The Living Daylights 9: From Russia With Love 10: The Spy Who Loved Me
I agree with everything you say. I’m constantly puzzled by the media’s fascination and praise of the film. I can only assume they are not Bond fans and are praising it for other reasons not yet clear.
The only light at the end of the tunnel for me watching it, was seeing a male M reintroduced and the old MI6 office back in use. Hopefully, the aberrations that are Quantum of Solace and Skyfall will mark the end of considerable tinkering and we can get back to some classic Bond.
Incidentally, I’m reading OHMSS, and can’t see that book’s portrayal of Bond as in any way approximating Craig’s take on the character. The first half of the book shows us a Bond who is very much of his “class”—more like Dirk Bogarde than Daniel Craig's Bond.
Bitchy, effeminate Dirk Bogarde as James Bond? Sorry, not quite seeing it. Also, of what "class" do you consider Bogarde to be a member? In his most famous role he was a servant.
Not like Bogarde in The Servant, of course, but in his more urbane roles.
Incidentally, Bond in the books is by no means “cool”. That was something Connery introduced to the character. In the books he comes across as more stolid, determined and stiff upper lip. Some of his dialogue could be out of a Captain Hornblower or Biggles novel. He comes out with things like, “By God” this or “dammed if I will” etc. Awful dialogue! Thank God the films didn’t have Fleming writing the scripts.
Comments
I agree that it was a little too long, it's going to be one of those Bond films that you have to set aside time to watch as opposed to just fire on for something to do!
The Casino scene was pretty good in my opinion despite the dodgy CGI but I got over that pretty quickly. It was a pretty funny scene on the whole with some good acting from Berenice Marlohe. It was also interesting to see her smoking which reminded me a lot of Xenia Onnatop in the casino in Goldeneye. They could have made better use of the obvious outcome with the signature gun though - it just seemed too much like LTK again when I was hoping for it to be a bit different.
The one liners do seem a bit forced but i'm glad that they are there like that as opposed to not there at all.
The disk drive plot is silly but compared to many other bond films it's actually a pretty down to earth plot. I don't know when things like this became 'silly plots' when Moonraker and Die Another Day are out there.
And I like to think that Bond did cry when Tracy died, we just didn't see it. I can imagine after the shock kicked in and Bond found himself alone in his flat or wherever he had himself a little weep. But I agree it was a bit much that he cradled M and shed a tear. I think maybe it was just a bit overwhelming for him because he had many bad memories of Skyfall. I mean his parents graves are right outside and his only 'mother figure' he had left has just died in front of him.
Lots of discussion and dispute about the numbers for Skyfall in terms of budget and I don't pretend to know the truth, my understanding was that the number quoted was reduced significantly.What I can say is as a viewer Deakins made it look spectacular.The Casino set was however, the most cheap and nasty looking thing I have ever seen in Bond film.The lack of exotic locations suited the movie, but I would like to see something lavish and Ken Adams like for 24.
Yeah what was the deal with the Shanghai scenes and that? I take it they weren't filmed there? I must admit I don't know though.
Movies: The Spy Who Loved Me. Actor: Pierce Brosnan. Theme: You Only Live Twice. :D
Correct, they were not filmed on location. The only major location shooting was in Britain and Turkey, as far as I know.
Ah yes. I did suspect this was the case although I'll admit it was very convincing, considering.
If I wasn't aware of the cuts, I probably wouldn't have suspected it wasn't on location.
Something did feel "off" but... that may have been just due to me being aware of that.
Movies: The Spy Who Loved Me. Actor: Pierce Brosnan. Theme: You Only Live Twice. :D
The second unit shot scenes in Shanghai. None of the principal cast was there, however.
CGI?
What cuts are you "aware of" ?
Plenty of bluster...no hard facts...don't rely on Google
Yes, I just don't consider it major location shooting since they were basically done to grab establishing shots to splice in.
It was CGI. You can tell if you look closely in that shot from the sky. The pool interior shots were from a London hotel and the window views were altered when shown.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5FWfg__wKSY
That's a funny video, The Mantis.
Really enjoyed it, very funny[list=*]
[/list]
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
I also can’t understand why the thugs in the casino scene wanted to kill him. Where they working for Silva, and if so why did they want to kill him while Silva’s henchmen on the boat didn’t want to kill him?
I think Skyfall is some weird 'Twilight Zone' version of James Bond. Skyfall is a Bond film where the plot makes little or no sense, a Bond film which has the gun barrel at the end of the film, a Bond film that suggests Bond might have had homosexual encounters and does show the main villain fondling Bond's legs in a blatently homoerotic way, a Bond film where the main villain can escape a glass cell without any explanation, a Bond film where we're told Bond failed his medical, he can't shoot straight but later on is a perfect shooter (!), a Bond film that is praised as the film of the year by the Guardian newspaper, a Bond film that is the highest grossing film in UK history (ignoring the vagaries of inflation which may or may not make such a stat meaningless) and a Bond actor with little charm or sophistication.
People are entitled to like or dislike Skyfall but my fear is the longer the franchise endures - and it's been going for half a century (!) - the more moribund it becomes and yet, paradoxically, all the obvious flaws in this film are ignored by most in the media. I wouldn't be surprised if Adele's song gets the Oscar for best song from a motion picture just to compound the fact that Skyfall is blessed with outrageous - and in my humble opinion - undeserved good fortune. The opening pre-credit scene is rather good, though.
That might have made sense had the train actually had some people in it! I don't think any train on the London Underground - particularly at rush hour - is empty. How do you plant a bomb on an empty train during rush hour? Some feat. Heh.
Yep, made no sense. Not one of the gang thought "who is this guy and why is he on the boat?" That scene ignores the basic rules of logical 'cause and effect' screenwriting! Weirdly enough, in the next scene we see Bond handcuffed so the gang finally realized "hey, this guy is the enemy!" 8-)
The only light at the end of the tunnel for me watching it, was seeing a male M reintroduced and the old MI6 office back in use. Hopefully, the aberrations that are Quantum of Solace and Skyfall will mark the end of considerable tinkering and we can get back to some classic Bond.
Incidentally, I’m reading OHMSS, and can’t see that book’s portrayal of Bond as in any way approximating Craig’s take on the character. The first half of the book shows us a Bond who is very much of his “class”—more like Dirk Bogarde than Daniel Craig's Bond.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_506329&feature=iv&src_vid=5FWfg__wKSY&v=IFKu_bwMoYE
I thought the bomb was in the subway not on the train itself, which surely couldn't be timed to even be in the same area at that time, but the film had lost me from hello really, I was just sitting it out at that point.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Actually, from everything I have read and interviews I have seen, Mendes is actually a huge Bond fan.
It is unfortunate that Peter Hunt never directed another Bond film. Hunt actually only directed 5 other films besides OHMSS.
As I interpreted:
They let them on because Silva wanted the agent Severine was talking to that cashed his chips to come and see him (she was always being watched). The best way is to let him in, then once he is already trapped, show him that he's not getting out. An MI6 agent, hand-delivered.
It was an intentional trick on Severine and Bond. Severine thought she could do as Bond asked and let him come to the island, despite her warnings, but that's not how Silva's henchmen are told to play when it comes to his island. Anyone there is under their control.
Bitchy, effeminate Dirk Bogarde as James Bond? Sorry, not quite seeing it. Also, of what "class" do you consider Bogarde to be a member? In his most famous role he was a servant.
http://www.leninimports.com/dirk_bogarde.html
Incidentally, Bond in the books is by no means “cool”. That was something Connery introduced to the character. In the books he comes across as more stolid, determined and stiff upper lip. Some of his dialogue could be out of a Captain Hornblower or Biggles novel. He comes out with things like, “By God” this or “dammed if I will” etc. Awful dialogue! Thank God the films didn’t have Fleming writing the scripts.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/05/honest-movie-trailer-for-skyfall-bond-overrated_n_2625568.html?utm_hp_ref=comedy