Now I have seen it twice. Some great moments, in order of appearance:
After Bond has bested Scirarra and the helicopter pilot, I am amazed that Mendes doesn't immediately dive right into the credits so no momentum is lost. Instead, he boldly lingers on Bond piloting the chopper over Mexico City as the strings come up. Bond gathers his thoughts, and we revel in what we have seen, catching our collective breath. Then Bond finally takes a look at the ring he pulled off Sciarra's finger. And this moment, seeing the octopus logo, is more exciting for me (if you can believe it) than anything else in the PTS. We zoom in...and the titles explode on the screen.
Q injects Bond with the smart blood (actually a pretty cool idea, since we've seen that the forearm capsule-chip of CR can be removed by an enemy) as a "Post-Mexico insurance policy" but seems embarrassed that M has forced him to do this. Bond recognizes his discomfort and immediately tells him that he understands. Whishaw's subtle reaction to this, his appreciation for Bond growing by the minute, moved me. We see how these men relate to each other as equals; the squabbling and one-upmanship of SF is past.
When he escapes the SPECTRE meeting, Bond leaps from the balcony, and rolls to avoid breaking his legs. He gets into the bulletproof Aston Martin just moments before SPECTRE goons light it up with gunfire. B-)
(As far as the car chase goes, some have criticized it for the phone call to Moneypenny, saying it detracts from the drama. It didn't bother me; Bond knew there was a good chance he was going to die, and he had to let someone know that this shadowy cabal was behind the terrorist attacks.)
Jumping way ahead, when Bond is fighting Mr. Minx and it seems all is lost, Swann busts in with the PPK, firing with steely determination. (I love how T. Newman ramps up the music right when she begins shooting.)
In the heart of the villain's lair, Bond convinces Swann to look at him rather than see what happened to her father in the surveillance video. (Of course she wants to see her father for the last time, but she may be tempted to see if it's true that he killed himself. By looking at Bond, she's showing him that she trusts Bond implicitly--she knows he didn't kill her father.)
The torture scene is the best scene in all the films. That's saying a lot, I know, and I certainly can understand why others would disagree. I am amazed by the idea of lighting the darkest part of the film so it is saturated in white. And then...Persian cat! Nehru jacket! (It seems EON has decided to rescue Bond from the Austin Powers parodies by fully embracing its legacy, without apology.) Waltz manages to be quirky, ingratiating, menacing, and angry. He carries the scene. We have no idea how Bond is going to manage to use the watch, but since Blofeld wants to make Bond suffer in every way possible, he allows Swann to approach him (so she can see that Bond no longer remembers him). Thus, she can get the watch even as she admits her love for him. The scene also reveals Blofeld's motivations. I embrace them--I think being rejected by a father in favor of a pseudo-son could, indeed, drive an unstable young man to patricide. And again, like the fight with Minx, she saves him. It's like Blofeld says in this scene: what a shame these two can't be together--as the daughter of an assassin she's the only woman who can understand him.
So now Bond breaks out. You can see that this is a man DETERMINED to end this. He is a precision-killing machine. His poor shooting in the training sequences of SF is long past. Bond is taking out guys at 80 yards with a single shot. And notice that, until she is safely behind a wall, he does not let go of Madeline. Thus, many of his kills happen while he's holding the gun with one hand. I think we can already see that he has decided that she is his true love, and he's going to protect her no matter what.
Finally, at the end: Bond leans, and the camera shifts, revealing Swann next to him in the DB5, looking like she's incredibly proud of her man, and she'll follow him anywhere. (Remember, in the MI6 building, he saved her when there was nothing she could do--the first two times she saved him, but the third time James did it all.) The look she gives our hero is what every man longs to see on the face of the woman he loves. They drive off at the start of a new day, symbolizing the beginning of a new life together.
Pre-title sequence. Spectre meeting and the Hinx fight scene on the train. From there it was all downhill rapidly. The scriptwriters really dropped the ball. It was enjoyable enough though overall
Comments
After Bond has bested Scirarra and the helicopter pilot, I am amazed that Mendes doesn't immediately dive right into the credits so no momentum is lost. Instead, he boldly lingers on Bond piloting the chopper over Mexico City as the strings come up. Bond gathers his thoughts, and we revel in what we have seen, catching our collective breath. Then Bond finally takes a look at the ring he pulled off Sciarra's finger. And this moment, seeing the octopus logo, is more exciting for me (if you can believe it) than anything else in the PTS. We zoom in...and the titles explode on the screen.
Q injects Bond with the smart blood (actually a pretty cool idea, since we've seen that the forearm capsule-chip of CR can be removed by an enemy) as a "Post-Mexico insurance policy" but seems embarrassed that M has forced him to do this. Bond recognizes his discomfort and immediately tells him that he understands. Whishaw's subtle reaction to this, his appreciation for Bond growing by the minute, moved me. We see how these men relate to each other as equals; the squabbling and one-upmanship of SF is past.
When he escapes the SPECTRE meeting, Bond leaps from the balcony, and rolls to avoid breaking his legs. He gets into the bulletproof Aston Martin just moments before SPECTRE goons light it up with gunfire. B-)
(As far as the car chase goes, some have criticized it for the phone call to Moneypenny, saying it detracts from the drama. It didn't bother me; Bond knew there was a good chance he was going to die, and he had to let someone know that this shadowy cabal was behind the terrorist attacks.)
Jumping way ahead, when Bond is fighting Mr. Minx and it seems all is lost, Swann busts in with the PPK, firing with steely determination. (I love how T. Newman ramps up the music right when she begins shooting.)
In the heart of the villain's lair, Bond convinces Swann to look at him rather than see what happened to her father in the surveillance video. (Of course she wants to see her father for the last time, but she may be tempted to see if it's true that he killed himself. By looking at Bond, she's showing him that she trusts Bond implicitly--she knows he didn't kill her father.)
The torture scene is the best scene in all the films. That's saying a lot, I know, and I certainly can understand why others would disagree. I am amazed by the idea of lighting the darkest part of the film so it is saturated in white. And then...Persian cat!
So now Bond breaks out. You can see that this is a man DETERMINED to end this. He is a precision-killing machine. His poor shooting in the training sequences of SF is long past. Bond is taking out guys at 80 yards with a single shot. And notice that, until she is safely behind a wall, he does not let go of Madeline. Thus, many of his kills happen while he's holding the gun with one hand. I think we can already see that he has decided that she is his true love, and he's going to protect her no matter what.
Finally, at the end: Bond leans, and the camera shifts, revealing Swann next to him in the DB5, looking like she's incredibly proud of her man, and she'll follow him anywhere. (Remember, in the MI6 building, he saved her when there was nothing she could do--the first two times she saved him, but the third time James did it all.) The look she gives our hero is what every man longs to see on the face of the woman he loves. They drive off at the start of a new day, symbolizing the beginning of a new life together.
Thanks for reading.
that whole feel that nothing is gonna happen
THEN IT HAPPENED!!!
the snowy plane chase
bond landing on the couch ..... the TRIPLE HELI TWIST!!!