CallOfEuropeanSpirit it’s not like another 00 agent will replace James Bond in the franchise, but the idea of James Bind working with another 00 agent is interested, and something that hasn’t been done a whole lot in the James bind movies
2013: EON Productions manages to finally secure the rights to Blofeld and SPECTRE from the estate of Kevin McClory after 42 years. And that's why I have problems with 'Spectre'. Blofeld's inclusion is more because they could do it, rather than because they should have done it. I always felt Purvis & Wade wanted to use SPECTRE in 'Casino Royale' but couldn't because of the rights, so when they finally got the chance to use SPECTRE they wanted to make up for lost time, so did a ruddy big recon of the past films, as if they could alter the films that came before. Not to mention, using Blofeld also gave Broccoli & Wilson closure over the whole McClory debacle that their dad was forced to deal with for decades. And why make Blofeld Bond's brother? Because probably the inane studio heads at Sony Productions thought it would be deep. I can see them, in their board rooms, saying something like: "Being a villain just for the sake of having a villain isn't good character development. If he truly is Bond's arch-nemesis like they say he is, there should be something more profound about Blofeld. Could they be long lost brothers? Yes, do that." Ugh. The reason Blofeld is Bond's arch-nemesis, as opposed to any of the others, is because he has tenacity - and keeps coming back. He's the one guy Bond failed to kill. Not some cod personal-connection crap. The only villain before who had a personal-connection to Bond was Trevelyan in 'GoldenEye', and that worked because his grievance was with Britain, not with Bond himself. It wasn't a personal vendetta against Bond specifically. And that's why it worked, because it was the grand-scale master-plan that Bond villains are supposed to have. This "oh, daddy loved you more cuckoo" plan is just too weak. Look, I don't think emotional depth is a bad thing in Bond films - in fact, I think it can really richen a film's story if written well. That's why I like 'OHMSS' and 'Licence to Kill', because you see more of Bond as a person than just a conduit for action set pieces. But written poorly, it feels lazy. And that's what we have here. "Oh look at me, I'm being deep!" No you're not 'Spectre', no you are not.
Calvin - Bond Reviewer Why thanks! I'm very glad you liked it! Blofeld is a character I find really interesting - his legacy as the only Bond villain to be the villain of multiple films; as the stereotypical Bond villain we see in pop culture (I mean, pretty much all parodies of Bond villains have a cat to stroke, or a rotating chair to spin, or a face we never see); and also the basis of the whole Broccoli/McClory feud - the one that got away, so to speak. And now, a 4th legacy: as the first Bond villain to survive the reboot. Hopefully also the last - as much as I love the classics like Goldfinger and Dr No, I also love innovation. If they retread all the old villains I might just march up to EON Productions and loudly shout "No!" Anyway, I hope Bond 25 gives us a good spiral into insanity for Blofeld. It's an interesting character development that Fleming gave to us in 'You Only Live Twice', so, hopefully we'll get to see that. Purvis & Wade are Fleming geeks after all, so it's possible. Also - did you know early drafts of 'Spectre' that were leaked online contained Irma Bunt? Might have been cool to see her rebooted too, but seeing how they treated Blofeld, maybe it's best she was cut.
@@themasher4821 No, I saw that, I was just confused as to why you brought up Greta Gerwig when she had absolutely nothing to do with Spectre, or any Bond film for that matter. So I’m not sure what the point you’re trying to make is.
This movie is SOOO dreadfully boring! Technically, it's a superb film; Masterfully shot by Hoyte van Hoytema, and directed well with some good acting. The action scenes are alright. The stand-out sequence being the train fight. I really hate how they reuse a lot of the music, which is really lazy, and I hate the 'twist' and how the films are tied up. It's just a really boring film.
I think the movie would have been better with a David Arnold Score and better editing. Everything is so slow in the action scenes, we don't need rapid fire editing but it's completely dull.
Great point. The directing was good, the acting was on point, it looks fantastic and some of the locations are gorgeous. But the movie had no soul. It was made to check the typical Bond movie boxes and to make a horribly lazy attempt at tying the other movies together. Nothing like Skyfall and Casino Royale, hell, even Quantum was at least TRYING to be different.
How do the writers think up all those villain names? Mister *_White_* , Mister *_Green_* ? Willard *_Whyte_* , no relation..... And how could Bond walk away from Monica on the bed, then be seen in public with that fat ass and bleach blond mannequin Madelaine Swan? Then they bring her back with the wimpy brother Blofeld? The new 007 girl is a snotty bitch, this new movie will be a real box office bomb, I can smell it all the way to November, if people ever go to theaters again.
For me, it's good enough until the train fight ends. I'm still in the story up until this point. Then the rest of the movie is so shit it's almost beyond belief how lazy it becomes.
I like how the title sequence didn't include Dominic Greene as if to imply, "Yeah let's just forget about Quantum of Solace. Greene wasn't memorable anyway."
Weird choices in this film. Despite her brief screen time ,the Monica Bellucci character was more interesting than Madeline Swann. Blofeld was no surprise and was actually just fine as Franz Oberhauser. It would have made more sense to have had Spectre be behind the death of Bond's parents in that unexplained climbing accident (perhaps Andrew Bond was a spy for MI6). Instead we got the "Brofeld" plot from Austin Powers: Goldmember. This review was very fair to the film, praising its strengths as well as pointing out its weak points. We only disagree on the Sam Smith theme. I'd rather get the brain drill than ever hear Smith's warbling again.
Indeed, Bellucci should have been given more to do. I’d have more bought Bond falling in love with her than Swann in this context. Thanks for the very kind comment! I’m happy it came across as fair despite me probably going on a bit of a rant towards the end 😅
I object to the climax of this and QOS because of the way they turn Bond into a cookie-cutter hero who is suddenly above killing when he has the villain at his mercy. We watch Bond movies because of the unique nature of who Bond is, an assassin with a license to kill in cold blood, it would be nice to see him use it once in a while because he hasn't really made use of it since the opening of Casino Royale.
My take on the Q scene: Q is delivering the message his superiors told him to say, which is, we can monitor your vital signs and see if you are okay. Q then says it is a post-Mexico insurance policy, which I believe is Q going off-script and hinting that the real reason for the tracking is to keep tabs on where Bond is. (You can also see that one of the vital signs is alcohol level, implying that they are keeping track of Bonds drinking habits, suggesting they might think he is an alcoholic.) Q also says it was a direct order from M, which is his way of telling Bond that Q personally does not agree with this. When Bond says he completely understands, he is telling Q that he gets it is M wanting to spy on him and no hard feelings to Q. [30:10] I think Bond's reaction is not just that Madeline will see her father shoot himself, but also she will see that Bond enabled it. Of course, it is still something of an over-reaction given that we know White was dying anyway. The only way it makes any sense is if Madeline had not seen her father for some time and did not know what condition he was in, not what his relationship with Bond was. It's probably another continuity error caused by either editing or script changes. [31:40] You almost went full-gollum there. We hates this scene Baggins.
In Connery third movie Goldfinger the Villain Goldfinger was not apart of Spectre so in Craig's 3rd film Skyfall the Villain in that movie Silva shouldn't have been apart of Spectre
I choose to negate that idea from the film in my mind. Silva DOES belong on his own, and I just put my brain into denial mode and say that Blofeld purposefully lied to Bond about it.
I simply refuse to believe Silva would work for any other person after being betrayed by his own MOTHER. why would he want to work with someone (let alone trust someone) after being thrown into a Chinese prison (and tortured) by the woman who raised him. I know I wouldn’t be able to and I highly doubt he would. Silva doesn’t need to work with anyone anyway because of how smart he was I just found it stupid trying to tie all the DC villains together
Bond parachuting out of the DB10 and then doing the trademark Bond thing of doing whatever to his suit and saying good evening was one of the best parts of the film
I definitely don't always agree with your analysis, but you were exactly spot-on with this one. I happen to really like the opening helicopter fight, and I'm a bit surprised you seemed happy with Blofeld's desert crater "Lair" which to me looked like a generic suburban Business park, only more boring (Christ, if there was ever an appropriate moment for the series to get ambitious and at least try to pay tribute to Ken Adam with a set...) but other than those two minor quibbles you perfectly covered every beat of where Spectre goes wrong. Thing is, even aside from the massive misstep of making Blofeld Bond's jealous kid brother (God, did no one in the production ever describe the "big reveal" that way, listen to what they just said, and realize they were making a huge mistake?), much of the movie on a scene-by-scene level just doesn't click. No big dramatic reason like a double-taking pigeon or Sega Genesis-level CGI kitesurfing sequence to roll our eyes at, just scene after scene that is trying to be exciting or dramatic and just not pulling it off.
Thanks, Brian! Great post. Especially agree with the last bit. It's funny how there's not exactly one heinous moment to pin the blame on like the kitesurfing or pigeon so the whole thing just comes across poorly.
Good to see you back Calvin. I 100% agree with your review it was very meh in my opinion! What we need is an action/chase scene with John Barry's 007 theme in the scene similar to Moonraker or From Russia with Love. I did not receive it very well if I am honest but who knows may get better if I view it again.
I don’t think making Bond and Blofeld brothers was the worst part, it’s the fact that they made Blofeld “the author of James’ pain” because of his dad teaching James how to ski. If their relation was just a coincidence, fine, but the fact that they made Blofeld some petty lost brother made it so stupid and cheesy.
I don't think either of these things was the worst part. This entire "reboot" thing was a completely pointless farce that became such a boring, pretentious and amateurly-written mess that even they had to kill Bond in the end just to get rid of the lame cringepile they bodged together. They tried to make every Craig movie an episode like a tv series yet didn't even bother planning it out. They just threw any old fanboy ideas into a blender and cobbled stories together that in fact make zero sense as a sequential story when you actually go back and try to fit all those supposedly linked stories and characters and events together. Just one initial example, James Bond going after Le Chiffre clearly has nothing whatsoever to do with Blofeld...yet supposedly Blofeld orchestrated the entire thing, eugh, whatever, just amateur fanboy writing. And is Quantum supposed to be SPECTRE btw? What was the point of "Quantum"? Just to have something to make the title more relevant for one movie? 🙄 Making everyone related to each other and everything part of one big plot (even though they actually didn't and none of it makes any sense) is the cheapest form of writing trick to try and force some sort of relationship and emotional depth and intrigue to stories. Then to make it all worse, they totally shoehorned in an apparently profound romantic love for Bond with some wooden character that does absolutely nothing whatsoever to warrant becoming the deep love of Bond's life. Essays can be written on how bad most of Craig's tenure has been post-Casino Royale. They didn't even use this whole reboot circus to even do anything new with the character, all they ended up doing was trying to go back to a retro-60s style! What was the point of any of it??
Great review, well worth the wait. Yeah, the final showdown definitely should have taken place at the crater and not back in London. Have you seen the "Every Bond Movie in 3 minutes" video? If you haven't you should, it proves just how nonsensical the whole Blofeld as Bond's brother plays out over the course of Bond's history. Just one question, surely the "dead are alive" title card was more of a reference to the Day of the Dead celebrations in the scene that follows rather than to the references to Vesper & co? Otherwise, great work!
"surely the "dead are alive" title card was more of a reference to the Day of the Dead celebrations in the scene that follows rather than to the references to Vesper & co?" It's both
Spectre was such a massive letdown in so many ways. It managed to squander a potentially amazing & iconic villain re-introduction, & completely screwed up the overarching Daniel Craig Bond story.
With the MI6 regulars helping out Bond in the finale, I think a better comparison is Mission Impossible. Just swap out Bond for Hunt, M for Luthur, Q for Benji, Tanner for Brandt and Moneypenny for Ilsa.
In a world where Spectre exists, I cannot see how people can be so hard on QoS. QoS starts off with such a great sequence and it has some great moments. It has flaws, I’ll give you that, but I can watch it- I feel obligated to watch it anytime I watch Casino Royale because of how QoS continues the end sequence. The only good things in Spectre are Ralph Fiennes and Dave Bautista.
A great review of Spectre Calvin ! I totally agree with EVERY point you make as regards this TERRIBLE Bond Movie ! ( imho) . Nothing much makes sense , and the family link between Blofeld and Bond is so cringeworthy and devoid of ANY reason ! The climax is weak , . But i had a belly laugh when you pointed out as regards why Blofeld would stick pictures of previous characters on the walls .. And Greenes picture being left out .. So funny 😅. The music was poor ..i totally agree . NTTD was poor too ! I miss the old movies from the 70s imo . TSWLM and FYEO being my faves . Keep up the great work Calvin !
I can tell you the EXACT MOMENT Spectre went off the rails for me while watching it in the theater. It had great cinematography, fun moments, good storytelling and pacing - I was INTO it and enjoying the ride, including the fight on the train with the henchman and Bond and Ms. Swan being escorted to Blofeld's lair in the desert... and then they walked into that damn dark room with the meteorite and it's like the whole movie just died from there on out. Them as brothers? Please! Christof Waltz won TWO Oscars for playing villains entertainingly well, you can see why they considered him, but he was soooooooo boring... and then you've got this little guy in loafers and a Neru jacket standing there, no threat at all, no danger. (I also look forward to successfully flying a helicopter after having my head drilled into twice, but I digress). They escape, go back to London, ONLY to have Madeline be kidnapped AGAIN so Bond can have this final meet-up in the shell of MI6? (And I'm so glad Blofeld had the TIME to collect the headshots of M, Vesper, Mr. Green, Silva, etc., to hang them). Ugh. Yes, I loved the boat chasing the helicopter down the Thames, but that's it. The movie was clipping along fine and then fell apart. One of the things I LOVED about Skyfall was it was a stand-alone adventure with NO sequel feel, NO ties to Vesper or Quantum or anything... and it SHINED! and then with Spectre they tried to make us think Silva was mixed up in this whole arc too. Thanks for letting me rant - I just loved the whole feel of the movie until literally the second they walked in to meet Blofeld and then all the energy fell out fo the movie.
the final 25 minutes are a dream. They have to be! Bond gets that drill in his head and passes out. He dreams about a quick and easy escape and getting back to London to finish the job. It has to be! Please! Otherwise that last 25 minutes is a complete failure. There were more exciting episodes of the Professionals in 1978.
The villain plans in all Craig’s Bond movies have all been a lot less than “world domination/destruction” of the old Bond films. I mean - “Bolivian water rights”? That’s why I’ve always been kind of underwhelmed with this series. The Moore films got way over-the-top, but this was too extreme of a downsizing.
I suppose so - the plots in Craig’s Bond movies were closer to the Bourne stories, et al than the Bond movies I grew up with. I understand why many people like them but I guess I liked the world threatening villains and their grandiose plots better. Oh, well - it’s why Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors.
Among a myriad of other (perhaps more consequential) issues I have with the film, I cannot BELIEVE that they set up Blofeld torturing Bond by messing with his balance and perception, and then didn't follow through by having Bond's aim and ability be all over the place in the escape from the crater lair. It would've been great to see an extended sequence of Bond struggling to get past all the guards in the base because he can't shoot them and struggles in hand-to-hand combat. My only guess is that they didn't want people to think they were just rehashing the Skyfall moments, but boy, what a missed opportunity. Maybe Madeline could save Bond from the crater lair. That would help me believe their chemistry and relationship more.
Honestly when I first saw this movie, I felt really confused the entire time. I thought that maybe the movie just needed another viewing and I would understand a lot of the real weirdness I felt in the plot. But nope--every time I see it those questions are still there. And these aren't the type of plotholes discovered by fans after overanalyzing the movie to a ridiculous extent--this is just basic storytelling logic that just gets thrown out the window time and time again in here. The needle during the torture scene is the perfect example. Blofeld sets up what the needle is for and what he's going to do with it, does exactly what he said he would do, and inexplicably it just doesn't do what he said it would. It's just like really bad storytelling. The revelation that Blofeld was behind everything from the previous movies is just flat out ridiculous. You can't just do this type of thing as an afterthought. There wasn't a single thread in any of those other movies that set this up--you can't just suddenly have a payoff of something you never set up even a little bit. And that ending....what the hell? I genuinely thought that this was an indication that the Craig era was over and the next one would start again in a completely different continuity with a new lead actor. I was extremely surprised to find out that the producers basically waited for Craig to say "yes" before making the upcoming one. At this point, literally the only story you can tell is Madeline getting killed and Bond on a revenge mission. Unless Bond 25 is going to be about domesticated Bond getting mad because his copy of The Guardian isn't delivered on time in the morning. The whole film just felt rushed, and I can't shake that sense every time I watch it. It's weird how Craig seems to be alternating between some of the best Bond films ever and some truly rushed and thrown together sequels. I have a feeling that a lot of this has to do with all the legal and financial issues that have definitely affected the production of these throughout the Craig era.
While I think the film has gone down in my estimations since it came out (much better than Quantum of Solace by a million miles), I still enjoy it, to be honest. I can see the problems, and it could have been so much better, but oh well. Great review as always.
Finally, another great video from one of my favourite channels. Spectre is a very disappointing film just like QOS. Craig has only a 50/50 ratio at this point- his next has got to be the one to match Casino Royale or his time as Bond would have been wasted.
To start off,I have to tell you how much I've enjoyed your channel these last few years. It is the BEST 007 Channel on youtube(James bond radio a close second!)!! I completely agree with a lot of your points about Spectre but strangely enough I've actually grown to like it MORE as time has gone by! Im not exactly sure why, but it could simply be because I'm an older bond fan who grew up with Spectre as the ultimate bad guy organization and it was just really cool to see them back-even though they were very modern and kind of neutered down. Yes,like every other Bond fan, i did think the whole Blofeld is Bonds brother idea was really stupid, but I was so happy seeing Blofeld back menacing James Bond again that it didn't bother me all that much.Better not to think of it! This didn't bother me anywhere near as much as the weakest part of the movie which,as you pointed out ,were the action sequences. This Is a BIG part of why so many were disappointed in the film. Outside of the pre credits and the train fight they all felt pretty LOW BUDGET and AVERAGE. When Bond is discovered at SPECTRES meeting they send ONE GUY after him?really? The plane chase ,I think ,was a replacement for a planned ski chase that Craig did not want to do which was a real shame because that would have been much more exciting than what we got. But the worst action scene ,by far ,was that ridiculously easy escape from SPECTRES base! Compare it to ANY of the other Spectre base battles that were done in past Bond films and it's stunning how lame it is in comparison. (And these were done over 40 years ago!) That being said,with all these weaknesses --I still enjoyed the movie a lot! Craig was excellent as usual-who the heck knew when he was first cast what a truly GREAT James Bond he would turn out to be I also thought the characters were well done-I thought Madeline was a very good Bond girl and Blofeld and Hinx were great villains. (Blofeld was underwritten but I thought he did a good job with what he was given) The story was great and it had a real 007 feel with the return of Blofeld and Spectre. So although it was a sort of mixed bag,I think the film is still a lot of fun to watch and enjoy.
The 2 biggest problems with this film: Craig and Mendes. Neither should have ever been brought into the franchise. Mendes isn't an action director and no matter how pretentious the Craig films have been they're still supposed to be escapist actioners. Craig is just awful in the role. No emoting, no charisma (the whole Aston chase is one of many examples) - just all wrong in every way.
Spectre was trash from the very beginning. That whole scene at the festival was a mess. I was far too distracted by the fact that a whole fucking building came down and a helicopter was flying out of control dangerously low to the ground, yet the parade kept going. And also that James would've maintained his cover if he'd stayed in his costume. There was no pay off in Spectre, because nothing that the film thought were reveals...were ACTUAL reveals, or came as the result of any setup. Plot wise, Spectre felt like there should have been another film before it. But even if there were, from a cinematographic perspective, the film was just plain and boring. It didn't have a distinctness or a tone about it in the way the other films did.
Yeah, that whole opening scene is baffling because it has all the ingredients for an epic, fast-paced, visually spectacular introduction to the film....yet somehow manages to be extremely bland at best, and downright idiotic at worst.
To be fair about the brotherly relationship between Bond and Blofeld, its gets almost as much development as the relationship between Brosnan Bond and Alec Trevelyan in Goldeneye. But no one bitches about these lines; "For England James?" "No! For me." WTF did Trevelyan ever do to you James that this is more personal than normal?
Q is in love with bond. He clearly is affected by Bond's heartbeat/vitals, and it explains away the bizarre fact that Q would risk so much to allow Bond to go rogue.
One thing I noticed about Spectre, the plot seems similar to Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, with the entire "This agency is outdated, we no longer need Hotshot Cowboys" and such
I can see why you would rank this as one of the lower Bond movies overall, but near the end of this review you mention how it could possibly be at the very bottom and I'm sorry but I strongly disagree. A View To A Kill, Die Another Day and Quantum of Solace are offensively bad Bond movies, those movies make fans of Bond embarrassed to be Bond fans, being a British guy like myself who's a Bond fan with an American girlfriend who had never watched a Bond movie in her life before I met her, I've had to purposefully ensure she avoids A View To A Kill, Die Another Day and Quantum when I've been introducing some of the movies to her (also I've tried to make sure she avoided The Living Daylights and For Your Eyes Only but that's just more of a personal preference because I find them extremely boring). Nevertheless though I have watched this movie with her and while there are a lot of problems with SPECTRE, I don't see how any Bond fan can watch Quantum, AVTAK or Die Another Day with a loved one or a friend and not feel embarrassed when they start laughing at the absurdity as to what is happening. SPECTRE deserves criticism for being a pretty generic action film and having poorly written characters and a silly plotline that tries to be too big and expansive for what it is, it does not however deserve the amount of criticism as being ranked alongside those other 3 Bond films I listed though, they are on a completely different level of bad, SPECTRE whilst not a good movie had in my opinion an awesome opening sequence, cool song and titles, AMAZING cinematography (seriously that meeting scene with Spectre and Blofeld where you don't see his face, expertly shot and directed and acted in every way), also the cast does a good job with some genuinely funny lines that don't feel stupidly cheesy and unnecessary either, plus there's no ridiculous Christopher Walken and Grace Jones wrestling sex scene or creepy old Roger Moore having sex with a girl younger than his granddaughter and there's no super cheesy lines and atrocious Madonna theme song like Die Another Day and Quantum. SPECTRE deserves more praise than what it gets in my opinion from this review, while I wouldn't call it a good movie, i would say it's certainly not bad, when I watched it with my girlfriend we both had problems with it at the end but we're still glad we saw it and did enjoy the experience way more than not enjoying it. No way on earth does it deserve to be ranked as low as A View To A Kill, Die Another Day and Quantum in my eyes, there's too much good stuff in there to be ranked alongside previous Bond movies of which I personally can't find hardly any redeeming factor, at least A View To A Kill I guess had a good theme song, but other than that I have nothing good I can say about any of it, and that goes for Die Another Day and Quantum too.
I must say, it's a toss up between this and Quantum for the bottom. Honestly, as badly realised films as AVTAK and DAD are, I still find fun elements in them. I think Walken and Jones are so bizarre that they're quite hypnotic and DAD has enough fun, stupid action to keep me entertained and the lovely Rosamund Pike. Basically, the highs of AVTAK and DAD are greater than the highs of Spectre for me.
Calvin - Bond Reviewer Fair enough. I can definitely acknowledge that DAD and AVTAK have a lot of fun elements, it's just personally I found the bad aspects to be woefully unforgivable and embarrassing, meanwhile the downsides of SPECTRE are usually more complaints that I have of generic action movies which I feel offers SPECTRE a slightly more forgivable pass in my eyes as opposed to something utterly absurd like Walken and Jones' bizarre scenes. To each his own though as they say. By the way though, regardless of my opinion I love your reviews and I've been a fan of yours since your early days on YT, keep up the good work!
AVTAK is quite possibly the funniest movie in the franchise. DAD is not that far removed in the guilty-pleasure department, even though Toby Stephens is nowhere near as hilarious as Walken. Personally I'd add TMWTGG to the bottom-of-the-barrel list. Not even the late great Christopher Lee could save that film from a dull script, one of the worst Bond girls, lackluster action sequences and a cringe-worthy performance from dear old Roger
Bertrand CHALINE I see your point but I don't know, there's something I find weirdly relaxing about The Man With The Golden Gun, there's nothing amazing in the movie but I think it's because it was on tv a lot for me as a kid and I tend to associate the movie with relaxing in on a Sunday afternoon. It's certainly not a movie I think I would ever choose to watch in the sense of looking at my Blu Ray collection and going "ahh yes I'll watch that one" but there is something about it that is soothing when I select it whenever it's on tv, I think it's because there are some funny lines and the story is incredibly simple to follow so you can just sit through it, maybe have a scroll through the news or whatever on your phone while watching and still enjoy. I would still put it near the bottom of the list though, clearly by the fact that I said I think it's acceptable to use your phone while watching it shows it's not exactly a gripping or exciting movie which is sad for a Bond film. Still for me I absolutely have to say AVTAK, DAD and Quantum are the worst, if you are a Bond fan and you wanted to get your friend or a girlfriend into James Bond and you showed them The Man With The Golden Gun, they would probably find boring at worst, with AVTAK, DAD and Quantum I don't see how anyone could have any reaction other than to be laughing AT the movie or cringing at the attempts they make to be funny or exciting.
AVTAK absolutely soared up my rating when I recently rewatched it. It's amazing camp and out of all the James Bond films that are clearly impossible to take seriously it just might be my favorite. Bond in such a posh setting + amazingly over the top action setpieces (I mean come on, you got the horse race, the eiffel tower chase, golden gate bridge mayhem, house without furniture, mine shaft about to explode etc) make it an absolute blast. The theme song is top tier as well. Honestly it might be my favorite Moore movie too. Die Another Day pisses me off though, such a cool first act ruined by stupid shit and CGI STUNTS IN A BOND MOVIE (literally breaking rule number 1 there), it's frustrating, a waste of potential and insulting to my intelligence. I do enjoy 3 or so action setpieces though. AVTAK had no potential left to fulfill, it took full advantage of being really stupid already. But then you find The Living Daylights boring so I don't think we're ever gonna agree here, I love that one.
You mentioned in a previous Spectre review that you wouldn't see the other Bond actors have such an explosive reaction. I'd argue Pierce Brosnan would have conveyed a similar reaction.
Great video as always, Calvin! I really liked Spectre when I first saw it, but it has had time to sink in for me, too, and I like some aspects of the film more than others. I put it on recently and I found it to be a very enjoyable Bond film that's more of a traditional action adventure compared to Casino Royale and Skyfall which both had such great themes, action, and story. Waltz as Blofeld is a huge wasted opportunity, but he's slowly beginning to grow on me. Killing his father SOLELY on the basis that he was kind to an orphaned boy is pretty f**king terrifying, we got a bit of mental unhinge as he laughed before flipping the switch in the old MI6 HQ, and I felt that he and Bond had some brother-like banter in the Spectre base. I hope he gets to do a more interesting and traditional take on Blofeld in Bond 25. Finally, putting Spectre near the buttom of the ranking is a bit harsh. For me, it's around the middle as I can actually see myself watching it from time to time.
It always annoyed me how the tracker from CR wasn't mentioned or referred to during the Q scene. A throwaway line like, "this again..." would've been perfect..
Great review, Calvin. It’s a film that’s taken me equally as long to figure out where it ranks among the other Bond films. Daniel Craig’s comment that he wants “to go out on a high note” with Bond 25 makes you wonder if there was more behind-the-scenes drama on Spectre than what the Sony hack revealed (such as the messy third act).
Hey Calvin, what happened to the In-depth Movie Review of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall? I've been looking for Skyfall on your channel and for some odd reason it's gone which sucks since I liked how you were freaking out when the Aston Martin DB5 gets damaged by gunfire before being destroyed by the chopper and of course Bond's reaction to that.
Daniel Craig went on record and said that the Austin Powers Franchies ruined bond, but Bond has been doing a few Austin powers things but in a more serious manor, the henchman death from the first film was replicated briefly with Dryden, that we see some consequences of a villain death, although in Casino Royale its very blink and you'll miss it, as opposed to a scene in Austin Powers, then we have the brothers bit, which was more played for feel good than comedy in Gold Member whilst here its a downer what should be a massive shock for bond
This is such a frustrating film. All the ingredients are there for a truly fantastic Bond adventure (pretty much all the crew from Skyfall are back! SPECTRE is finally back! BLOFELD is finally back and they got the perfect actor to play him! Mr. White is back and gets a great exit! Finally, a good henchman!), but it just never comes together as well as it should and is downright head-scratching at times. I understand that they wanted to make Blofeld a personal villain for Craig's Bond without killing Tracy Bond again, but that stepbrothers twist... oof. All that said, I still have a soft spot for Spectre because it was the very first (and to date, only) Bond film I saw in a theater, in IMAX no less. Seeing it again on Blu-ray brought the flaws out a lot more, but I'll always treasure that experience.
Calvin is so right about the totally unnecessary need to link the movies together as it's very much the done thing with all these damn "xxxx Universe"' in movies. It's just not Bond, it really isn't. And I'm not even going to get started on the whole mr.baddie and his stupid brother-issues and all that shite. And yep those fucking photos stuck on the wall - it's like a school prank.....hilarious skit from CD about that. Brilliant!!! Anyway, enough from me, I could drone on all night. Ah, I will say this. The intro up until the helicopter nonsense is excellent. Brilliant video as all CDs in-depth reviews are. 👍👍🙂🙂💓
how do people pick out tracks across different movies/shows? i don't think i've ever once even payed attention to the music beyond the emotion it helps convey.
I think the only way this version of Blofeld would've worked was if Waltz actually made Oberhauser and Blofeld separate personalities in a way. Have him act all cool and Blofeld-y in front of his henchmen and then whenever he's alone with Bond, he starts acting like the childish little brother who's eager to show how much better he is. It wouldn't be the greatest interpretation ever, but it would be something different and would at least make the whole "oh he's not Blofeld" thing a bit less embarrassing, since it would be more like Oberhauser pretending to be something he's really not.
11:10 I think I have an idea of why that happens because Q is aware of Bond going off the grid but still has an idea he might follow it but doesn’t believe he will .
I'm with you 100%. I loved the Daniel Craig James Bond movies and hate almost all the others, but Spectre was a disappointment almost all around. Especially considering how excited I got to learn that both Christoph Waltz and Lea Seydoux were involved in the film. Their characters were not fleshed out well enough at all
Spectre is a film that I enjoy slightly more than Quantum of Solace (which I don't think is a bad film either). It has some great or potentially good elements mixed in with mediocre elements. I'll have to disagree on Hinx's death though. It made logical sense and feels realistic. I liked the Spectre subplot for what it was but I agree that the brother connection was forced and strange.
Overall I prefer this fillm over Skyfall, mainly for better action sequences and I adore the scene between Bond and Mr White. But the retcomning of Spectre into the last 3 films is hamfisted and Madeleine is unconvincing as a new love for Bond.
This film gets too much of a bad press: yes it has some awful and out of place moments, and I hated the blofeld storyline, but all the action is superb, Craig is brilliant and the cinematography is excellent. Couple that with some v good performances from the MI6 team and the film isn't that bad, worse than I remember, but definitely not one of the worst bond films
Charlie Williams the action was great?? The cold open looks like a shitty xbox game with the over the top yellow filter and terrible cgi, the helicopter fight has no suspense and makes little sense. bond just walks out of blofelds lair casually like the Terminator instead of running for his life. The car chase.. Dont get me started on that. The only good action was the fight between bond and hinx, although if blofeld wanted him to come to him, why did hinx try to kill him? Why were they picked up randomly in the desert? How did they know they were there? Ah this fucking movie almost ruined my 25 year old love for james bond
14 Aspen Drive the yellow filter thing doesn't bother me that much, the helicopter bit has plenty of suspense, the car chase has a good soundtrack and I thought it was exciting, the snow plane bit was questionable but still cool. I agree that the hinx fight was the best bit of action and yeah it doesn't make sense that he would be sent if James was on his way anyway. The only bit of action that is bad in my view is that video game beginner mode shootout bit in the desert. Also I don't think the surveillance plot is in the least bit confusing or weak as many people think; it's explained many times in the film. I guess concerning the action it's just the style: some like quantum of solace shaky cam, others like one with a lot of humour
Your a right proper Charlie with this view! 'ACTION IS SUPERB' - thats an actual quote from your comment 'ACTION IS SUPERB'...you having a laff!!! Did you NOT SEE the helicopter green screen whatever b*llocks...You do know HOW MUCH THIS MOVIE COST dont you....it cost a fortune and NOTHING was on screen..all in the linings of other peoples pants. Now..lets see...other action...wait for it..wait for it....other action...hummm..finally..carchase..in the dark...Craig looking bored!...all chat...and then the payoff...the ejector seat..blink and you will miss it..HECK NO!..dont blink and you still wont see it...now then...more action to follow...ok..waiting...that C- dialogue..nope...the South African thang blowing up - on a tv screen..nope...the talking...then endless talking..the introductions to characters.....the SNOW thing..in a plane...TOTALLY UNINVOVING..come on...im right..it was...it was ok...but...nothing special....Train sequence next...that was decent....and then...the simple escape...and then...the boat v helicopter - pants. 'ACTION was superb' you say...perhaps if you definition of action is a watching a paper bag blowing in the wind...oh right - that was one of Mendus's wasnt it!
BOGGLE LUGG mate come on. It's a matter of opinion. I enjoy the action in this film so there is no need to be so antagonistic. Yes it's a questionable film, BUT it's entertaining, which is what a bond film is meant to be
The leaked Sony emails revealed this film's problem: the script. Even by December 2014, when principal photography was already taking place, they were struggling to make sense out of a messed up screenplay. Not to mention Sony executives were pushing to reduce this film's budget (which ironically turned out to go the other way around). I might add, on the debate about whether Quantum of Solace or this film is better, I'd definitely go with Quantum. Sure, it has many faults and I can't say its script is in a better place, but hell, at least it made me feel SOMETHING. The scenes that needed an emotional punch definitely packed it, which isn't the case with SPECTRE.
Here's my main problem with the Daniel Craig Bond movies: they act like they're a reboot but they aren't a reboot. "Casino Royale" shows Bond getting his 00 status. This move reintroduces SPECTRE and Blofield. Reboot, right? Nope. "Casino Royale" had Judy Dench as M, who was M during the Brosnan Bond movies, so those are tied together. Desmond Llewelyn was also in a couple of Brosnan movies, which ties ALL the Bond movies together. They're all the same continuity. So, you have Bond gaining his 00 status decades after he's been running around calling himself 007. You bring back a character and an organization that was already in several movies and Bond doesn't know who he and they are but he did know who they were. Moneypenny and Q got old but Bond doesn't. Moneypenny has spontaneously changed race. Bond meets Felix after he already met and worked with Felix decades ago. The timeline is a complete clusterfuck all because they didn't recast one character.
@Harry BuddhaPalm There has been a recurring theory that 007 James Bond is a Codename and every previous Bond was a different person taking on the mantle, Also Daniel Craig's is the grandson of Sean Connery's (RIP) Bond, Andrew Bond is son of Connery's Bond as a result of a one night stand he had in the 60s, MI6 Couldn't have Bond be a father or have a family so they put Andrew's mother in hiding, Andrew would grow up hearing tales about his dad BUT would resent MI6 (for very good reasons) eventually Andrew would marry & have a son of his own who he named James, Until the tragic climbing accident takes place which causes the death of both Andrew and his wife leaving James orphaned and than adopted by blofeld's father, later in life James decides to join MI6 in honor of his grandfather etc. Q, M, Moneypenny, and Felix leiter, Are also codenames as well Blofeld is also a title / codename, Christoph Waltz is the grandson of the original blofeld play by Donald Pleasence
My opinion is that the best Bond themes should be jazzy. Just to name some examples the themes of Goldfinger and View to a Kill have a great energy to them. Casino Royale and Skyfall also had that kind of energy. I know that opinions are subjective but I think most of Craig's era Bond themes fail to miss the mark. They may be good songs on their own when listened separately.
I really really really hope they retcon Blofeld being Bond's foster brother in No Time To Die. Like maybe an Mi6 psychiatrist reveals Blofeld's craziness caused him to make up the brother plot. Still doesnt explain why he'd specifically target Bond.
I think if they made it that Blofeld and Bond weren’t brothers and that it was just Blofeld and not Oberhauser I think the acting of Craig and waltz was good but it was poor writing and plot that dragged it down in my opinion.
I honestly loved Spectre up until the last few minutes. Hinx could have been used more and they tried to tie a few too many unnecessary threads together, but overall I enjoyed it. But Craig is a gritty, real Bond and shooting down a helicopter with a 380 (9mm short) mouse gun at no less that 300 yards was just a bridge too far. A PPK would have trouble penetrating a heavy coat at that range, to say nothing of a helicopter fuselage. I didn't like the break in character on the bridge, but it didn't run the film for me by any means.
Where to begin with my hatred of this film. 1. Story/Plot. There isn't one really. Bond connects the dots to get to Blofeld, who is his brother for no reason. All past characters are tied to Spectre, whether it makes any sense or not. Meanwhile, evil Spectre tries to implement a spy network that is likely less powerful than what Google can already do. It would have been fun to see Spectre get demonetized by Google. 2. As noted in video, there is hardly any action, and it is very tepid. The car chase is less daring than a car advert. In fact, I think it is a car advert. The ending with the exploding MI6 building borrows heavily from The Dark Knight. I guess no-one told the writer or director not to remind the audience of better films. 3. Blofeld is not only the worst Blofeld, he is likely the worst Bond villain of all time. He's achieved exactly nothing over nine years except some off-screen terrorism-for-hire. He has this massive evil octopus empire and one bored-looking 00 agent has pretty much single-handedly brought it down, mostly thanks to Spectre giving zero f-ks about the fire code. Oh and he's Bond's brother. Woot. 4. Madeline is one of the worst Bond girls. The only advice the director gave her was look like you know you're a discount Scarlett Johansson. Monica Bellucci has barely one scene and manages to come out looking better in every way. Craig looks pretty uncomfortable in all intimate scenes, but Bellucci carries him through her scene while Craig-Seydoux looks almost comical. 5. Why is it so hard to make a decent Bond film? I know they are trying to move with the times. What times are they moving with? Awkward forced cinematic universe? If they were going to copy anything it should have been the Mission Impossible franchise, which is increasingly looking more Bond-like than Bond. If anything Mission Impossible shows that you could still make a classic Bond film and it would have an audience. Here's a plot: All the spy agencies seem to be going all out to kill each other, threatening a cold-war of sorts between all major governments. Bond, in particular, seems to be hated by everyone, even supposed allies. Turns out Blofeld already has the recently launched spy network under his control and he is using it to pit agencies against each other, and particularly against Bond who he recognizes as someone who has ruined many Spectre plans. Bond and Q subvert the spy network and use it to bring Blofeld out of hiding. Some massive pitched battle takes place involving agents from different countries and Spectre. Okay, maybe not the best story ever, but it's better than what we got.
Daniel Craig has been Bond from 2006-2020. I know almost nothing about 007 outside of Nightfire and the Daniel Craig video games on 360. But has he been Bond the longest?
I was with the film until they blew up the MI6 building. It feels wrong to blow up a part of Bond that served in 7 instalments. But don’t worry, I didn’t like Waltz as Blofeld, probably the worst in the series. He gets on my nerves more than he does Bond’s. Him saying “cuckoo” is instantly irritating. But I’m glad to know others besides my whole family knew what “C” truly stood for…
I LOVE all Craig´s Bond movies. Yes, even Quantum of Solace. And yes, that includes SPECTRE. - I don´t like Blofeld storyline, but I don´t mind it. It´s like Bond turning Japanese in You only lives twice or silly trasvesti Blofeld in Diamonds are forever - I don´t like it, but it doesn´t affect my enjoyment of the film. - The PTS is wonderful. Why? Because Day of the Dead in Mexico is a gorgeous and exotic way to start a Bond movie. And yes, we have had other scenes with Bond in a helicopter, but this time is with a lot of people involve and it´s so tense. And the long shot at the beginning is fantastic. - All the part in Rome is like small Bond movie. I always see it as a movie within a bigger movie: we have Bond seducing the amazing Monica Belucci, a fantastic introduction of Blofeld and Mr. Hinx and very fun car chase. It´s not one of the best car chases, of course, but seeing those cars in Rome, during the night, with that score, is magical for me. - The fight train is one of the best in the series. It´s one of the few times I saw Craig´s Bond losing his cool, so overwhelmed by the superiority of Hinx. You can feel he was going to die. - Yes, Mr. White scene is GREAT. - Blofeld is a weak villain here, but I see this as a presentation. I think it´s perfect to see him with his scare at the end and his blind eye. It´s a promise of a villain returning (I hope!). Like Blofeld in YOLT, it´s just his introduction. - The cimetagraphy is one of the best in the series. It´s a very beautiful film to look at. - Craig is enjoying himself in this one. He´s as playful as Sean Connery. I love it! I feel it´s a logical progresion from being a rookie in Casino Royale until now, that it´s just the 007 we all know. That´s why I don´t mind the shooting in Blofeld´s lair. He´s more lethal and precise now. So for me it´s one 007 fun movie, like Tomorrow never dies, Octopussy or Moonraker. It´s not a classic, but I can watch it many times and I enjoy it so much.
Good to see you back, Calvin, although I'm sorry to hear that you hate this film. Me...well...my inner fifteen year old, the girl who writes lots of sappy poetry, likes Spectre while my adult self rolls her eyes. This feels like something I'd have written in high school. That nobody caught the similarities to "Goldmember" just reinforces that assessment. My hope for the next picture is that they start off not even mentioning Maddy as I cannot think of a way they could write her out that wouldn't been irritating. Hopefully that movie will be awesome. Best.
If New York New York was actually the Sinatra version,it would ne funny because the last (full) aperence of spectre as well as the first showing of blofelds head was in You Only live twice whose main theme was sung by Nancy SINATRA.
I never understood why Bond was given anything (the watch) by Q as he was officially grounded by M not 24-48 hours before. AND... and... why the blazes is White recording things on VHS tape in 2015??
I should probably have said my anger with this film stems from how hard it was to get the rights for blofeld and how the writers took such an incredible dump on him. Add to the wasting of such an incredible actor and this is quite simply unforgivable
I know why you don't like the Helicopter fight Calvin. There is no mention of a stainless steel delicatessen.
VictorWarmflash don’t kill me
Oh! You want to get off?
mr boooooooondd
Put me down!!
Can anyone explain what that meant. It's bugged me for years. Its the most random line from any film that's ever been made.
It would've been funny if Idris Elba showed up at the end at Q's headquarters and was like "...where the fuck's my car?", implying that he's 009
oh boy indeed
No. James Bond is white.
CallOfEuropeanSpirit but he wouldn’t be James Bond, he would be another 00 agent
@@hansmichaelfanunal2545 Except a minority of feministo-ethnomasochists on twitter, nobody wants to see another agent, we want James Bond.
CallOfEuropeanSpirit it’s not like another 00 agent will replace James Bond in the franchise, but the idea of James Bind working with another 00 agent is interested, and something that hasn’t been done a whole lot in the James bind movies
The whole "brothers" thing is hilarious. It's as if they watched Austin Powers Goldmember and thought... LET'S DO THIS.
How is Austin powers tied to this ?
@@umairashraf5167 aren't Dr. Evil and Austin Powers brothers in that movie? It's related since Austin is a parody of James, and Dr. Evil is Blofeld
@@aarynminyard5325 I liked the idea
Yes I'm agree with you.
Still it’s great movie 4 half years later
"The dead are alive" sounds like a precursor to "The dead SPEAK" at the beginning of The Rise of Skywalker.
Both also have the problem of feeling like they’re fanfiction put up on the big screen.
Oh, yeah, Rise of Skywalker...that reminds me, that however bad Spectre, DAD and QoS are, there is still some rock bottom below.
@@johnweber4577 And both films bastardize the two big bads of their respective franchises (Blofeld and Palpatine) in equal measure.
@@johnweber4577
And not even good Fan Fiction at that!
@@Extra-dg7uv How was Palpatine basterdized? I didn't like Rise of Skywalker either, but Palpatine was undeniably still in-character.
The "Bond is Blofeld's brother" sub plot is kinda like Austin Powers is Dr. Evil's brother gag.
2013: EON Productions manages to finally secure the rights to Blofeld and SPECTRE from the estate of Kevin McClory after 42 years.
And that's why I have problems with 'Spectre'. Blofeld's inclusion is more because they could do it, rather than because they should have done it. I always felt Purvis & Wade wanted to use SPECTRE in 'Casino Royale' but couldn't because of the rights, so when they finally got the chance to use SPECTRE they wanted to make up for lost time, so did a ruddy big recon of the past films, as if they could alter the films that came before. Not to mention, using Blofeld also gave Broccoli & Wilson closure over the whole McClory debacle that their dad was forced to deal with for decades.
And why make Blofeld Bond's brother? Because probably the inane studio heads at Sony Productions thought it would be deep. I can see them, in their board rooms, saying something like: "Being a villain just for the sake of having a villain isn't good character development. If he truly is Bond's arch-nemesis like they say he is, there should be something more profound about Blofeld. Could they be long lost brothers? Yes, do that."
Ugh. The reason Blofeld is Bond's arch-nemesis, as opposed to any of the others, is because he has tenacity - and keeps coming back. He's the one guy Bond failed to kill. Not some cod personal-connection crap. The only villain before who had a personal-connection to Bond was Trevelyan in 'GoldenEye', and that worked because his grievance was with Britain, not with Bond himself. It wasn't a personal vendetta against Bond specifically. And that's why it worked, because it was the grand-scale master-plan that Bond villains are supposed to have. This "oh, daddy loved you more cuckoo" plan is just too weak. Look, I don't think emotional depth is a bad thing in Bond films - in fact, I think it can really richen a film's story if written well. That's why I like 'OHMSS' and 'Licence to Kill', because you see more of Bond as a person than just a conduit for action set pieces. But written poorly, it feels lazy. And that's what we have here. "Oh look at me, I'm being deep!" No you're not 'Spectre', no you are not.
Excellent post! Really great reading and I completely agree with you!
Calvin - Bond Reviewer Why thanks! I'm very glad you liked it! Blofeld is a character I find really interesting - his legacy as the only Bond villain to be the villain of multiple films; as the stereotypical Bond villain we see in pop culture (I mean, pretty much all parodies of Bond villains have a cat to stroke, or a rotating chair to spin, or a face we never see); and also the basis of the whole Broccoli/McClory feud - the one that got away, so to speak. And now, a 4th legacy: as the first Bond villain to survive the reboot. Hopefully also the last - as much as I love the classics like Goldfinger and Dr No, I also love innovation. If they retread all the old villains I might just march up to EON Productions and loudly shout "No!"
Anyway, I hope Bond 25 gives us a good spiral into insanity for Blofeld. It's an interesting character development that Fleming gave to us in 'You Only Live Twice', so, hopefully we'll get to see that. Purvis & Wade are Fleming geeks after all, so it's possible.
Also - did you know early drafts of 'Spectre' that were leaked online contained Irma Bunt? Might have been cool to see her rebooted too, but seeing how they treated Blofeld, maybe it's best she was cut.
Laying out the facts! 👍
@@themasher4821 What the hell are you on about?
@@themasher4821 No, I saw that, I was just confused as to why you brought up Greta Gerwig when she had absolutely nothing to do with Spectre, or any Bond film for that matter. So I’m not sure what the point you’re trying to make is.
This movie is SOOO dreadfully boring! Technically, it's a superb film; Masterfully shot by Hoyte van Hoytema, and directed well with some good acting. The action scenes are alright. The stand-out sequence being the train fight. I really hate how they reuse a lot of the music, which is really lazy, and I hate the 'twist' and how the films are tied up. It's just a really boring film.
I agree. It's the Thunderball of the Daniel Craig era.
I think the movie would have been better with a David Arnold Score and better editing. Everything is so slow in the action scenes, we don't need rapid fire editing but it's completely dull.
Great point. The directing was good, the acting was on point, it looks fantastic and some of the locations are gorgeous. But the movie had no soul. It was made to check the typical Bond movie boxes and to make a horribly lazy attempt at tying the other movies together. Nothing like Skyfall and Casino Royale, hell, even Quantum was at least TRYING to be different.
How do the writers think up all those villain names? Mister *_White_* , Mister *_Green_* ? Willard *_Whyte_* , no relation.....
And how could Bond walk away from Monica on the bed, then be seen in public with that fat ass and bleach blond mannequin Madelaine Swan? Then they bring her back with the wimpy brother Blofeld? The new 007 girl is a snotty bitch, this new movie will be a real box office bomb, I can smell it all the way to November, if people ever go to theaters again.
For me, it's good enough until the train fight ends. I'm still in the story up until this point. Then the rest of the movie is so shit it's almost beyond belief how lazy it becomes.
Spectre felt like Craig's Bond was retiring, especially with that ending. I'm still surprised Craig came back for Bond 25.
Amazing what being offered a shit ton of $$$ will do in regards to wanting to slash your wrists. Artist credibility & integrity there Craig
Think he came back as he realised how bad this one was
@@davidbull7210 Spectre is a bad bond movie i will say that
With the amount they're paying him I don't blame him one bit for coming back
A ton of cash and Full creative control.
I like how the title sequence didn't include Dominic Greene as if to imply, "Yeah let's just forget about Quantum of Solace. Greene wasn't memorable anyway."
He wasn’t memorable but his picture was shown at the end in the ruins of MI6.
@@Ludwig1970 no it wasnt
Who?
@@LexVanguard2004 Exacly. :D
I have better memory of the extra brooming the air than Greene himself.
"I came to your home once to see your father."
"Yes, I served you some of our milk and then you shot the people hiding under our floorboards!"
Weird choices in this film. Despite her brief screen time ,the Monica Bellucci character was more interesting than Madeline Swann. Blofeld was no surprise and was actually just fine as Franz Oberhauser. It would have made more sense to have had Spectre be behind the death of Bond's parents in that unexplained climbing accident (perhaps Andrew Bond was a spy for MI6). Instead we got the "Brofeld" plot from Austin Powers: Goldmember. This review was very fair to the film, praising its strengths as well as pointing out its weak points. We only disagree on the Sam Smith theme. I'd rather get the brain drill than ever hear Smith's warbling again.
Indeed, Bellucci should have been given more to do. I’d have more bought Bond falling in love with her than Swann in this context. Thanks for the very kind comment! I’m happy it came across as fair despite me probably going on a bit of a rant towards the end 😅
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. My favorite scene is when Bond interrogates the mouse at gunpoint.
why?
@@ZombyMammoth funny
@@ioankibble8866 I saw a similar scene in a John Wayne picture where he actually shoots the mouse. It's so much better.
That scene seems like a homage to Diamonds are Forever
I thought the film was okay but at times very dull. Also that ending...ugh. (Spoilers) For me, Blofeld should have got away.
Completely agree. They should have just had him make his getaway and have Bond showdown with Hinx or some other villain instead.
I object to the climax of this and QOS because of the way they turn Bond into a cookie-cutter hero who is suddenly above killing when he has the villain at his mercy.
We watch Bond movies because of the unique nature of who Bond is, an assassin with a license to kill in cold blood, it would be nice to see him use it once in a while because he hasn't really made use of it since the opening of Casino Royale.
Red Pill Intelligence Honestly, I bought it when Craig didn't kill the guy at the end of Quantum. But here, not really.
But that happens all the time. Maybe we’ll see him escape from prison in a future film?
G Kroll He was just trying to intimidate bond. But why so homophobic?
My take on the Q scene: Q is delivering the message his superiors told him to say, which is, we can monitor your vital signs and see if you are okay. Q then says it is a post-Mexico insurance policy, which I believe is Q going off-script and hinting that the real reason for the tracking is to keep tabs on where Bond is. (You can also see that one of the vital signs is alcohol level, implying that they are keeping track of Bonds drinking habits, suggesting they might think he is an alcoholic.) Q also says it was a direct order from M, which is his way of telling Bond that Q personally does not agree with this. When Bond says he completely understands, he is telling Q that he gets it is M wanting to spy on him and no hard feelings to Q.
[30:10] I think Bond's reaction is not just that Madeline will see her father shoot himself, but also she will see that Bond enabled it. Of course, it is still something of an over-reaction given that we know White was dying anyway. The only way it makes any sense is if Madeline had not seen her father for some time and did not know what condition he was in, not what his relationship with Bond was. It's probably another continuity error caused by either editing or script changes.
[31:40] You almost went full-gollum there. We hates this scene Baggins.
SPOT ON IMO
In Connery third movie Goldfinger the Villain Goldfinger was not apart of Spectre so in Craig's 3rd film Skyfall the Villain in that movie Silva shouldn't have been apart of Spectre
I choose to negate that idea from the film in my mind. Silva DOES belong on his own, and I just put my brain into denial mode and say that Blofeld purposefully lied to Bond about it.
@@StarWarriorCentral I do the same thing.
I think Silva was working on his own and he just borrowed money from Spectre to fund his vendetta.
I simply refuse to believe Silva would work for any other person after being betrayed by his own MOTHER. why would he want to work with someone (let alone trust someone) after being thrown into a Chinese prison (and tortured) by the woman who raised him. I know I wouldn’t be able to and I highly doubt he would. Silva doesn’t need to work with anyone anyway because of how smart he was I just found it stupid trying to tie all the DC villains together
Bond parachuting out of the DB10 and then doing the trademark Bond thing of doing whatever to his suit and saying good evening was one of the best parts of the film
I definitely don't always agree with your analysis, but you were exactly spot-on with this one. I happen to really like the opening helicopter fight, and I'm a bit surprised you seemed happy with Blofeld's desert crater "Lair" which to me looked like a generic suburban Business park, only more boring (Christ, if there was ever an appropriate moment for the series to get ambitious and at least try to pay tribute to Ken Adam with a set...) but other than those two minor quibbles you perfectly covered every beat of where Spectre goes wrong.
Thing is, even aside from the massive misstep of making Blofeld Bond's jealous kid brother (God, did no one in the production ever describe the "big reveal" that way, listen to what they just said, and realize they were making a huge mistake?), much of the movie on a scene-by-scene level just doesn't click. No big dramatic reason like a double-taking pigeon or Sega Genesis-level CGI kitesurfing sequence to roll our eyes at, just scene after scene that is trying to be exciting or dramatic and just not pulling it off.
Thanks, Brian! Great post. Especially agree with the last bit. It's funny how there's not exactly one heinous moment to pin the blame on like the kitesurfing or pigeon so the whole thing just comes across poorly.
CALVIN BACK IN ACTION WITH ANOTHER JAMES BOND REVIEW THIS TIME WITH SPECTRE KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK CALVIN,COLTON
PLEASE DO NOT YELL
When they said they were brothers, I was thinking really?? You are going down the Austin Powers route?
2:37 so this is what inspired the first words in Star War: The Rise Of Skywalker opening crawl. Those first words being “The Dead Speak!”
Good to see you back Calvin. I 100% agree with your review it was very meh in my opinion! What we need is an action/chase scene with John Barry's 007 theme in the scene similar to Moonraker or From Russia with Love. I did not receive it very well if I am honest but who knows may get better if I view it again.
Spectre might be the most meh movie I've ever seen which is especially disappointing because I absolutely adore Skyfall.
I don’t think making Bond and Blofeld brothers was the worst part, it’s the fact that they made Blofeld “the author of James’ pain” because of his dad teaching James how to ski. If their relation was just a coincidence, fine, but the fact that they made Blofeld some petty lost brother made it so stupid and cheesy.
I don't think either of these things was the worst part. This entire "reboot" thing was a completely pointless farce that became such a boring, pretentious and amateurly-written mess that even they had to kill Bond in the end just to get rid of the lame cringepile they bodged together. They tried to make every Craig movie an episode like a tv series yet didn't even bother planning it out. They just threw any old fanboy ideas into a blender and cobbled stories together that in fact make zero sense as a sequential story when you actually go back and try to fit all those supposedly linked stories and characters and events together. Just one initial example, James Bond going after Le Chiffre clearly has nothing whatsoever to do with Blofeld...yet supposedly Blofeld orchestrated the entire thing, eugh, whatever, just amateur fanboy writing. And is Quantum supposed to be SPECTRE btw? What was the point of "Quantum"? Just to have something to make the title more relevant for one movie? 🙄
Making everyone related to each other and everything part of one big plot (even though they actually didn't and none of it makes any sense) is the cheapest form of writing trick to try and force some sort of relationship and emotional depth and intrigue to stories. Then to make it all worse, they totally shoehorned in an apparently profound romantic love for Bond with some wooden character that does absolutely nothing whatsoever to warrant becoming the deep love of Bond's life. Essays can be written on how bad most of Craig's tenure has been post-Casino Royale. They didn't even use this whole reboot circus to even do anything new with the character, all they ended up doing was trying to go back to a retro-60s style! What was the point of any of it??
@@AD-kv9kj And the fact that killing Bond was Craig’s idea shows he’s got a big ego
Great review, well worth the wait. Yeah, the final showdown definitely should have taken place at the crater and not back in London. Have you seen the "Every Bond Movie in 3 minutes" video? If you haven't you should, it proves just how nonsensical the whole Blofeld as Bond's brother plays out over the course of Bond's history.
Just one question, surely the "dead are alive" title card was more of a reference to the Day of the Dead celebrations in the scene that follows rather than to the references to Vesper & co? Otherwise, great work!
"surely the "dead are alive" title card was more of a reference to the Day of the Dead celebrations in the scene that follows rather than to the references to Vesper & co?"
It's both
Spectre was such a massive letdown in so many ways. It managed to squander a potentially amazing & iconic villain re-introduction, & completely screwed up the overarching Daniel Craig Bond story.
The X-Factor "New York, New York" was probably much cheaper to license than Sinatra's
Largo is gonna be Bond's cousin in the next movie
I'm a little late to the party, but your content is really great. I thoroughly enjoyed this video! Thank you for creating and posting it.
Thank you so much for watching and for leaving such a positive and kind comment! Appreciate it :)
@@calvindyson where is your skyfall content??
With the MI6 regulars helping out Bond in the finale, I think a better comparison is Mission Impossible. Just swap out Bond for Hunt, M for Luthur, Q for Benji, Tanner for Brandt and Moneypenny for Ilsa.
In a world where Spectre exists, I cannot see how people can be so hard on QoS. QoS starts off with such a great sequence and it has some great moments. It has flaws, I’ll give you that, but I can watch it- I feel obligated to watch it anytime I watch Casino Royale because of how QoS continues the end sequence.
The only good things in Spectre are Ralph Fiennes and Dave Bautista.
A great review of Spectre Calvin !
I totally agree with EVERY point you make as regards this TERRIBLE Bond Movie ! ( imho) .
Nothing much makes sense ,
and the family link between Blofeld and Bond is so cringeworthy and devoid of ANY reason !
The climax is weak , .
But i had a belly laugh when you pointed out as regards why Blofeld would stick pictures of previous characters on the walls ..
And Greenes picture being left out ..
So funny 😅.
The music was poor ..i totally agree .
NTTD was poor too !
I miss the old movies from the 70s imo .
TSWLM and FYEO being my faves .
Keep up the great work Calvin !
I can tell you the EXACT MOMENT Spectre went off the rails for me while watching it in the theater. It had great cinematography, fun moments, good storytelling and pacing - I was INTO it and enjoying the ride, including the fight on the train with the henchman and Bond and Ms. Swan being escorted to Blofeld's lair in the desert... and then they walked into that damn dark room with the meteorite and it's like the whole movie just died from there on out. Them as brothers? Please! Christof Waltz won TWO Oscars for playing villains entertainingly well, you can see why they considered him, but he was soooooooo boring... and then you've got this little guy in loafers and a Neru jacket standing there, no threat at all, no danger.
(I also look forward to successfully flying a helicopter after having my head drilled into twice, but I digress). They escape, go back to London, ONLY to have Madeline be kidnapped AGAIN so Bond can have this final meet-up in the shell of MI6? (And I'm so glad Blofeld had the TIME to collect the headshots of M, Vesper, Mr. Green, Silva, etc., to hang them). Ugh. Yes, I loved the boat chasing the helicopter down the Thames, but that's it. The movie was clipping along fine and then fell apart. One of the things I LOVED about Skyfall was it was a stand-alone adventure with NO sequel feel, NO ties to Vesper or Quantum or anything... and it SHINED! and then with Spectre they tried to make us think Silva was mixed up in this whole arc too. Thanks for letting me rant - I just loved the whole feel of the movie until literally the second they walked in to meet Blofeld and then all the energy fell out fo the movie.
This. I can buy Greene and *maybe* Le Chiffre being involved with Spectre, but SILVA? Hell no.
@@jaycie586 👍👍
I've never been more disappointed leaving the cinema
You said you saw it 4 times 😂😂
I know what you mean. When I came out of the theater, my first thought was, "OMG, I just watched the last James Bond movie!"
I thought it would never happen but damn am i glad it did. You are just the best, good job
Thanks very much :D
the final 25 minutes are a dream. They have to be! Bond gets that drill in his head and passes out. He dreams about a quick and easy escape and getting back to London to finish the job. It has to be! Please! Otherwise that last 25 minutes is a complete failure. There were more exciting episodes of the Professionals in 1978.
It would make sense actually if they did it. They could. And I would like it.
The villain plans in all Craig’s Bond movies have all been a lot less than “world domination/destruction” of the old Bond films.
I mean - “Bolivian water rights”?
That’s why I’ve always been kind of underwhelmed with this series.
The Moore films got way over-the-top, but this was too extreme of a downsizing.
Craig's Bond movies were always about things becoming personal
I suppose so - the plots in Craig’s Bond movies were closer to the Bourne stories, et al than the Bond movies I grew up with.
I understand why many people like them but I guess I liked the world threatening villains and their grandiose plots better.
Oh, well - it’s why Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors.
Has anyone else noticed that the impact mark in the bullet proof glass near the end of the movie is the spectre emblem?
I did. And I found it pretty ridiculous.
wait ..... isn't this the plot to Goldmember?
I always assumed the “been to your house when you were a little girl” was a nod reference to inglorious bastads
Among a myriad of other (perhaps more consequential) issues I have with the film, I cannot BELIEVE that they set up Blofeld torturing Bond by messing with his balance and perception, and then didn't follow through by having Bond's aim and ability be all over the place in the escape from the crater lair. It would've been great to see an extended sequence of Bond struggling to get past all the guards in the base because he can't shoot them and struggles in hand-to-hand combat. My only guess is that they didn't want people to think they were just rehashing the Skyfall moments, but boy, what a missed opportunity. Maybe Madeline could save Bond from the crater lair. That would help me believe their chemistry and relationship more.
Honestly when I first saw this movie, I felt really confused the entire time. I thought that maybe the movie just needed another viewing and I would understand a lot of the real weirdness I felt in the plot. But nope--every time I see it those questions are still there. And these aren't the type of plotholes discovered by fans after overanalyzing the movie to a ridiculous extent--this is just basic storytelling logic that just gets thrown out the window time and time again in here. The needle during the torture scene is the perfect example. Blofeld sets up what the needle is for and what he's going to do with it, does exactly what he said he would do, and inexplicably it just doesn't do what he said it would. It's just like really bad storytelling. The revelation that Blofeld was behind everything from the previous movies is just flat out ridiculous. You can't just do this type of thing as an afterthought. There wasn't a single thread in any of those other movies that set this up--you can't just suddenly have a payoff of something you never set up even a little bit.
And that ending....what the hell? I genuinely thought that this was an indication that the Craig era was over and the next one would start again in a completely different continuity with a new lead actor. I was extremely surprised to find out that the producers basically waited for Craig to say "yes" before making the upcoming one. At this point, literally the only story you can tell is Madeline getting killed and Bond on a revenge mission. Unless Bond 25 is going to be about domesticated Bond getting mad because his copy of The Guardian isn't delivered on time in the morning.
The whole film just felt rushed, and I can't shake that sense every time I watch it. It's weird how Craig seems to be alternating between some of the best Bond films ever and some truly rushed and thrown together sequels. I have a feeling that a lot of this has to do with all the legal and financial issues that have definitely affected the production of these throughout the Craig era.
While I think the film has gone down in my estimations since it came out (much better than Quantum of Solace by a million miles), I still enjoy it, to be honest. I can see the problems, and it could have been so much better, but oh well. Great review as always.
Jamie O'Rourke
A agree with almost every single thing he said in the review, but I too still enjoyed it. It's definitely way better than Quantum.
Finally, another great video from one of my favourite channels. Spectre is a very disappointing film just like QOS. Craig has only a 50/50 ratio at this point- his next has got to be the one to match Casino Royale or his time as Bond would have been wasted.
8:30 Electra king is one of those twists actually
To start off,I have to tell you how much I've enjoyed your channel these last few years.
It is the BEST 007 Channel on youtube(James bond radio a close second!)!!
I completely agree with a lot of your points about Spectre but strangely enough I've actually grown to like it MORE as time has gone by!
Im not exactly sure why, but it could simply be because I'm an older bond fan who grew up with Spectre as the ultimate bad guy organization and it was just really cool to see them back-even though they were very modern and kind of neutered down.
Yes,like every other Bond fan, i did think the whole Blofeld is Bonds brother idea was really stupid, but I was so happy seeing Blofeld back menacing James Bond again that it didn't bother me all that much.Better not to think of it!
This didn't bother me anywhere near as much as the weakest part of the movie
which,as you pointed out ,were the action sequences.
This Is a BIG part of why so many were disappointed in the film.
Outside of the pre credits and the train fight they all felt pretty LOW BUDGET and AVERAGE.
When Bond is discovered at SPECTRES meeting they send ONE GUY after him?really?
The plane chase ,I think ,was a replacement for a planned ski chase that Craig did not want to do which was a real shame because that would have been much more exciting than what we got.
But the worst action scene ,by far ,was that ridiculously easy escape from SPECTRES base!
Compare it to ANY of the other Spectre base battles that were done in past Bond films and it's stunning how lame it is in comparison.
(And these were done over 40 years ago!)
That being said,with all these weaknesses --I still enjoyed the movie a lot!
Craig was excellent as usual-who the heck knew when he was first cast what a truly GREAT James Bond he would turn out to be
I also thought the characters were well done-I thought Madeline was a very good Bond girl and Blofeld and Hinx were great villains.
(Blofeld was underwritten but I thought he did a good job with what he was given)
The story was great and it had a real 007 feel with the return of Blofeld and Spectre.
So although it was a sort of mixed bag,I think the film is still a lot of fun to watch and enjoy.
The 2 biggest problems with this film: Craig and Mendes. Neither should have ever been brought into the franchise. Mendes isn't an action director and no matter how pretentious the Craig films have been they're still supposed to be escapist actioners. Craig is just awful in the role. No emoting, no charisma (the whole Aston chase is one of many examples) - just all wrong in every way.
Spectre was trash from the very beginning. That whole scene at the festival was a mess. I was far too distracted by the fact that a whole fucking building came down and a helicopter was flying out of control dangerously low to the ground, yet the parade kept going. And also that James would've maintained his cover if he'd stayed in his costume.
There was no pay off in Spectre, because nothing that the film thought were reveals...were ACTUAL reveals, or came as the result of any setup. Plot wise, Spectre felt like there should have been another film before it. But even if there were, from a cinematographic perspective, the film was just plain and boring. It didn't have a distinctness or a tone about it in the way the other films did.
Yeah, that whole opening scene is baffling because it has all the ingredients for an epic, fast-paced, visually spectacular introduction to the film....yet somehow manages to be extremely bland at best, and downright idiotic at worst.
Honestly I really liked
Spectre, and don't know why so many people dislike it
It is number 10 in my list of all the films
I like Calvin’s analysis of the films. He’s objective but articulate & funny. He gets Bond I feel
To be fair about the brotherly relationship between Bond and Blofeld, its gets almost as much development as the relationship between Brosnan Bond and Alec Trevelyan in Goldeneye. But no one bitches about these lines; "For England James?" "No! For me." WTF did Trevelyan ever do to you James that this is more personal than normal?
Q is in love with bond. He clearly is affected by Bond's heartbeat/vitals, and it explains away the bizarre fact that Q would risk so much to allow Bond to go rogue.
It's always good to see new content from you Calvin! You have the best James Bond TH-cam channel for sure. Thanks for all your hard work!
Its sad to hear him talking about Bond 25 getting into gear and here we are 3 years later without it
Calvin, incisive analysis. Especially 37:01, brilliant!
One thing I noticed about Spectre, the plot seems similar to Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, with the entire "This agency is outdated, we no longer need Hotshot Cowboys" and such
I can see why you would rank this as one of the lower Bond movies overall, but near the end of this review you mention how it could possibly be at the very bottom and I'm sorry but I strongly disagree. A View To A Kill, Die Another Day and Quantum of Solace are offensively bad Bond movies, those movies make fans of Bond embarrassed to be Bond fans, being a British guy like myself who's a Bond fan with an American girlfriend who had never watched a Bond movie in her life before I met her, I've had to purposefully ensure she avoids A View To A Kill, Die Another Day and Quantum when I've been introducing some of the movies to her (also I've tried to make sure she avoided The Living Daylights and For Your Eyes Only but that's just more of a personal preference because I find them extremely boring). Nevertheless though I have watched this movie with her and while there are a lot of problems with SPECTRE, I don't see how any Bond fan can watch Quantum, AVTAK or Die Another Day with a loved one or a friend and not feel embarrassed when they start laughing at the absurdity as to what is happening. SPECTRE deserves criticism for being a pretty generic action film and having poorly written characters and a silly plotline that tries to be too big and expansive for what it is, it does not however deserve the amount of criticism as being ranked alongside those other 3 Bond films I listed though, they are on a completely different level of bad, SPECTRE whilst not a good movie had in my opinion an awesome opening sequence, cool song and titles, AMAZING cinematography (seriously that meeting scene with Spectre and Blofeld where you don't see his face, expertly shot and directed and acted in every way), also the cast does a good job with some genuinely funny lines that don't feel stupidly cheesy and unnecessary either, plus there's no ridiculous Christopher Walken and Grace Jones wrestling sex scene or creepy old Roger Moore having sex with a girl younger than his granddaughter and there's no super cheesy lines and atrocious Madonna theme song like Die Another Day and Quantum. SPECTRE deserves more praise than what it gets in my opinion from this review, while I wouldn't call it a good movie, i would say it's certainly not bad, when I watched it with my girlfriend we both had problems with it at the end but we're still glad we saw it and did enjoy the experience way more than not enjoying it. No way on earth does it deserve to be ranked as low as A View To A Kill, Die Another Day and Quantum in my eyes, there's too much good stuff in there to be ranked alongside previous Bond movies of which I personally can't find hardly any redeeming factor, at least A View To A Kill I guess had a good theme song, but other than that I have nothing good I can say about any of it, and that goes for Die Another Day and Quantum too.
I must say, it's a toss up between this and Quantum for the bottom. Honestly, as badly realised films as AVTAK and DAD are, I still find fun elements in them. I think Walken and Jones are so bizarre that they're quite hypnotic and DAD has enough fun, stupid action to keep me entertained and the lovely Rosamund Pike. Basically, the highs of AVTAK and DAD are greater than the highs of Spectre for me.
Calvin - Bond Reviewer Fair enough. I can definitely acknowledge that DAD and AVTAK have a lot of fun elements, it's just personally I found the bad aspects to be woefully unforgivable and embarrassing, meanwhile the downsides of SPECTRE are usually more complaints that I have of generic action movies which I feel offers SPECTRE a slightly more forgivable pass in my eyes as opposed to something utterly absurd like Walken and Jones' bizarre scenes. To each his own though as they say. By the way though, regardless of my opinion I love your reviews and I've been a fan of yours since your early days on YT, keep up the good work!
AVTAK is quite possibly the funniest movie in the franchise. DAD is not that far removed in the guilty-pleasure department, even though Toby Stephens is nowhere near as hilarious as Walken. Personally I'd add TMWTGG to the bottom-of-the-barrel list. Not even the late great Christopher Lee could save that film from a dull script, one of the worst Bond girls, lackluster action sequences and a cringe-worthy performance from dear old Roger
Bertrand CHALINE I see your point but I don't know, there's something I find weirdly relaxing about The Man With The Golden Gun, there's nothing amazing in the movie but I think it's because it was on tv a lot for me as a kid and I tend to associate the movie with relaxing in on a Sunday afternoon. It's certainly not a movie I think I would ever choose to watch in the sense of looking at my Blu Ray collection and going "ahh yes I'll watch that one" but there is something about it that is soothing when I select it whenever it's on tv, I think it's because there are some funny lines and the story is incredibly simple to follow so you can just sit through it, maybe have a scroll through the news or whatever on your phone while watching and still enjoy. I would still put it near the bottom of the list though, clearly by the fact that I said I think it's acceptable to use your phone while watching it shows it's not exactly a gripping or exciting movie which is sad for a Bond film. Still for me I absolutely have to say AVTAK, DAD and Quantum are the worst, if you are a Bond fan and you wanted to get your friend or a girlfriend into James Bond and you showed them The Man With The Golden Gun, they would probably find boring at worst, with AVTAK, DAD and Quantum I don't see how anyone could have any reaction other than to be laughing AT the movie or cringing at the attempts they make to be funny or exciting.
AVTAK absolutely soared up my rating when I recently rewatched it. It's amazing camp and out of all the James Bond films that are clearly impossible to take seriously it just might be my favorite. Bond in such a posh setting + amazingly over the top action setpieces (I mean come on, you got the horse race, the eiffel tower chase, golden gate bridge mayhem, house without furniture, mine shaft about to explode etc) make it an absolute blast. The theme song is top tier as well. Honestly it might be my favorite Moore movie too.
Die Another Day pisses me off though, such a cool first act ruined by stupid shit and CGI STUNTS IN A BOND MOVIE (literally breaking rule number 1 there), it's frustrating, a waste of potential and insulting to my intelligence. I do enjoy 3 or so action setpieces though. AVTAK had no potential left to fulfill, it took full advantage of being really stupid already.
But then you find The Living Daylights boring so I don't think we're ever gonna agree here, I love that one.
You mentioned in a previous Spectre review that you wouldn't see the other Bond actors have such an explosive reaction. I'd argue Pierce Brosnan would have conveyed a similar reaction.
The mouse is more threatening than Blofeld in this film.
I thought Moneypenny’s boyfriend was C. The way he was obscured in that scene made me think that he was sleeping with her to get info on Bond.
Great video as always, Calvin! I really liked Spectre when I first saw it, but it has had time to sink in for me, too, and I like some aspects of the film more than others. I put it on recently and I found it to be a very enjoyable Bond film that's more of a traditional action adventure compared to Casino Royale and Skyfall which both had such great themes, action, and story. Waltz as Blofeld is a huge wasted opportunity, but he's slowly beginning to grow on me. Killing his father SOLELY on the basis that he was kind to an orphaned boy is pretty f**king terrifying, we got a bit of mental unhinge as he laughed before flipping the switch in the old MI6 HQ, and I felt that he and Bond had some brother-like banter in the Spectre base. I hope he gets to do a more interesting and traditional take on Blofeld in Bond 25. Finally, putting Spectre near the buttom of the ranking is a bit harsh. For me, it's around the middle as I can actually see myself watching it from time to time.
Jonas Carlsson g
It always annoyed me how the tracker from CR wasn't mentioned or referred to during the Q scene. A throwaway line like, "this again..." would've been perfect..
Spectre could’ve been such an amazing bond movie
Great review, Calvin. It’s a film that’s taken me equally as long to figure out where it ranks among the other Bond films. Daniel Craig’s comment that he wants “to go out on a high note” with Bond 25 makes you wonder if there was more behind-the-scenes drama on Spectre than what the Sony hack revealed (such as the messy third act).
The picture of M/Judi Dench on the wall at MI6 HQ with the pictures of the Spectre villains means that M/Dench was a villain in Spectre too.
Hey Calvin, what happened to the In-depth Movie Review of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall? I've been looking for Skyfall on your channel and for some odd reason it's gone which sucks since I liked how you were freaking out when the Aston Martin DB5 gets damaged by gunfire before being destroyed by the chopper and of course Bond's reaction to that.
Daniel Craig went on record and said that the Austin Powers Franchies ruined bond, but Bond has been doing a few Austin powers things but in a more serious manor, the henchman death from the first film was replicated briefly with Dryden, that we see some consequences of a villain death, although in Casino Royale its very blink and you'll miss it, as opposed to a scene in Austin Powers, then we have the brothers bit, which was more played for feel good than comedy in Gold Member whilst here its a downer what should be a massive shock for bond
This is such a frustrating film. All the ingredients are there for a truly fantastic Bond adventure (pretty much all the crew from Skyfall are back! SPECTRE is finally back! BLOFELD is finally back and they got the perfect actor to play him! Mr. White is back and gets a great exit! Finally, a good henchman!), but it just never comes together as well as it should and is downright head-scratching at times. I understand that they wanted to make Blofeld a personal villain for Craig's Bond without killing Tracy Bond again, but that stepbrothers twist... oof.
All that said, I still have a soft spot for Spectre because it was the very first (and to date, only) Bond film I saw in a theater, in IMAX no less. Seeing it again on Blu-ray brought the flaws out a lot more, but I'll always treasure that experience.
Calvin is so right about the totally unnecessary need to link the movies together as it's very much the done thing with all these damn "xxxx Universe"' in movies. It's just not Bond, it really isn't. And I'm not even going to get started on the whole mr.baddie and his stupid brother-issues and all that shite. And yep those fucking photos stuck on the wall - it's like a school prank.....hilarious skit from CD about that. Brilliant!!!
Anyway, enough from me, I could drone on all night. Ah, I will say this. The intro up until the helicopter nonsense is excellent.
Brilliant video as all CDs in-depth reviews are. 👍👍🙂🙂💓
how do people pick out tracks across different movies/shows? i don't think i've ever once even payed attention to the music beyond the emotion it helps convey.
I think the only way this version of Blofeld would've worked was if Waltz actually made Oberhauser and Blofeld separate personalities in a way. Have him act all cool and Blofeld-y in front of his henchmen and then whenever he's alone with Bond, he starts acting like the childish little brother who's eager to show how much better he is.
It wouldn't be the greatest interpretation ever, but it would be something different and would at least make the whole "oh he's not Blofeld" thing a bit less embarrassing, since it would be more like Oberhauser pretending to be something he's really not.
It would have been cool if instead of all of the MI6 regulars helping Bond throughout the climax, it was a few other OOAgents helping him
11:10 I think I have an idea of why that happens because Q is aware of Bond going off the grid but still has an idea he might follow it but doesn’t believe he will .
I'm with you 100%. I loved the Daniel Craig James Bond movies and hate almost all the others, but Spectre was a disappointment almost all around. Especially considering how excited I got to learn that both Christoph Waltz and Lea Seydoux were involved in the film. Their characters were not fleshed out well enough at all
Spectre is a film that I enjoy slightly more than Quantum of Solace (which I don't think is a bad film either). It has some great or potentially good elements mixed in with mediocre elements. I'll have to disagree on Hinx's death though. It made logical sense and feels realistic. I liked the Spectre subplot for what it was but I agree that the brother connection was forced and strange.
Overall I prefer this fillm over Skyfall, mainly for better action sequences and I adore the scene between Bond and Mr White. But the retcomning of Spectre into the last 3 films is hamfisted and Madeleine is unconvincing as a new love for Bond.
This film gets too much of a bad press: yes it has some awful and out of place moments, and I hated the blofeld storyline, but all the action is superb, Craig is brilliant and the cinematography is excellent. Couple that with some v good performances from the MI6 team and the film isn't that bad, worse than I remember, but definitely not one of the worst bond films
Charlie Williams the action was great?? The cold open looks like a shitty xbox game with the over the top yellow filter and terrible cgi, the helicopter fight has no suspense and makes little sense. bond just walks out of blofelds lair casually like the Terminator instead of running for his life. The car chase.. Dont get me started on that. The only good action was the fight between bond and hinx, although if blofeld wanted him to come to him, why did hinx try to kill him? Why were they picked up randomly in the desert? How did they know they were there? Ah this fucking movie almost ruined my 25 year old love for james bond
14 Aspen Drive the yellow filter thing doesn't bother me that much, the helicopter bit has plenty of suspense, the car chase has a good soundtrack and I thought it was exciting, the snow plane bit was questionable but still cool. I agree that the hinx fight was the best bit of action and yeah it doesn't make sense that he would be sent if James was on his way anyway. The only bit of action that is bad in my view is that video game beginner mode shootout bit in the desert. Also I don't think the surveillance plot is in the least bit confusing or weak as many people think; it's explained many times in the film. I guess concerning the action it's just the style: some like quantum of solace shaky cam, others like one with a lot of humour
Your a right proper Charlie with this view! 'ACTION IS SUPERB' - thats an actual quote from your comment 'ACTION IS SUPERB'...you having a laff!!! Did you NOT SEE the helicopter green screen whatever b*llocks...You do know HOW MUCH THIS MOVIE COST dont you....it cost a fortune and NOTHING was on screen..all in the linings of other peoples pants. Now..lets see...other action...wait for it..wait for it....other action...hummm..finally..carchase..in the dark...Craig looking bored!...all chat...and then the payoff...the ejector seat..blink and you will miss it..HECK NO!..dont blink and you still wont see it...now then...more action to follow...ok..waiting...that C- dialogue..nope...the South African thang blowing up - on a tv screen..nope...the talking...then endless talking..the introductions to characters.....the SNOW thing..in a plane...TOTALLY UNINVOVING..come on...im right..it was...it was ok...but...nothing special....Train sequence next...that was decent....and then...the simple escape...and then...the boat v helicopter - pants. 'ACTION was superb' you say...perhaps if you definition of action is a watching a paper bag blowing in the wind...oh right - that was one of Mendus's wasnt it!
BOGGLE LUGG mate come on. It's a matter of opinion. I enjoy the action in this film so there is no need to be so antagonistic. Yes it's a questionable film, BUT it's entertaining, which is what a bond film is meant to be
The cinematography is yellow
I think it says a lot that of the bond films I’ve seen this is the one I often forget that I actually saw
The leaked Sony emails revealed this film's problem: the script. Even by December 2014, when principal photography was already taking place, they were struggling to make sense out of a messed up screenplay. Not to mention Sony executives were pushing to reduce this film's budget (which ironically turned out to go the other way around).
I might add, on the debate about whether Quantum of Solace or this film is better, I'd definitely go with Quantum. Sure, it has many faults and I can't say its script is in a better place, but hell, at least it made me feel SOMETHING. The scenes that needed an emotional punch definitely packed it, which isn't the case with SPECTRE.
Here's my main problem with the Daniel Craig Bond movies: they act like they're a reboot but they aren't a reboot. "Casino Royale" shows Bond getting his 00 status. This move reintroduces SPECTRE and Blofield. Reboot, right? Nope. "Casino Royale" had Judy Dench as M, who was M during the Brosnan Bond movies, so those are tied together. Desmond Llewelyn was also in a couple of Brosnan movies, which ties ALL the Bond movies together. They're all the same continuity. So, you have Bond gaining his 00 status decades after he's been running around calling himself 007. You bring back a character and an organization that was already in several movies and Bond doesn't know who he and they are but he did know who they were. Moneypenny and Q got old but Bond doesn't. Moneypenny has spontaneously changed race. Bond meets Felix after he already met and worked with Felix decades ago. The timeline is a complete clusterfuck all because they didn't recast one character.
@Harry BuddhaPalm
There has been a recurring theory that
007 James Bond is a Codename and every previous Bond was a different person taking on the mantle,
Also Daniel Craig's is the grandson of Sean Connery's (RIP) Bond, Andrew Bond is son of Connery's Bond as a result of a one night stand he had in the 60s, MI6 Couldn't have Bond be a father or have a family so they put Andrew's mother in hiding, Andrew would grow up hearing tales about his dad BUT would resent MI6 (for very good reasons) eventually Andrew would marry & have a son of his own who he named James,
Until the tragic climbing accident takes place which causes the death of both Andrew and his wife leaving James orphaned and than adopted by blofeld's father, later in life James decides to join MI6 in honor of his grandfather etc.
Q, M, Moneypenny, and Felix leiter,
Are also codenames as well
Blofeld is also a title / codename,
Christoph Waltz is the grandson of the original blofeld play by Donald Pleasence
When will you be putting out your review for Diamonds are Forever?
I've been also waited for that.
My opinion is that the best Bond themes should be jazzy. Just to name some examples the themes of Goldfinger and View to a Kill have a great energy to them. Casino Royale and Skyfall also had that kind of energy. I know that opinions are subjective but I think most of Craig's era Bond themes fail to miss the mark. They may be good songs on their own when listened separately.
I really really really hope they retcon Blofeld being Bond's foster brother in No Time To Die. Like maybe an Mi6 psychiatrist reveals Blofeld's craziness caused him to make up the brother plot. Still doesnt explain why he'd specifically target Bond.
SPECTRE works well as a parody.
Calvin, this was more entertaining than Spectre itself. Well done!
Yes finally
I think if they made it that Blofeld and Bond weren’t brothers and that it was just Blofeld and not Oberhauser I think the acting of Craig and waltz was good but it was poor writing and plot that dragged it down in my opinion.
I honestly loved Spectre up until the last few minutes.
Hinx could have been used more and they tried to tie a few too many unnecessary threads together, but overall I enjoyed it.
But Craig is a gritty, real Bond and shooting down a helicopter with a 380 (9mm short) mouse gun at no less that 300 yards was just a bridge too far. A PPK would have trouble penetrating a heavy coat at that range, to say nothing of a helicopter fuselage.
I didn't like the break in character on the bridge, but it didn't run the film for me by any means.
Where to begin with my hatred of this film.
1. Story/Plot. There isn't one really. Bond connects the dots to get to Blofeld, who is his brother for no reason. All past characters are tied to Spectre, whether it makes any sense or not. Meanwhile, evil Spectre tries to implement a spy network that is likely less powerful than what Google can already do. It would have been fun to see Spectre get demonetized by Google.
2. As noted in video, there is hardly any action, and it is very tepid. The car chase is less daring than a car advert. In fact, I think it is a car advert. The ending with the exploding MI6 building borrows heavily from The Dark Knight. I guess no-one told the writer or director not to remind the audience of better films.
3. Blofeld is not only the worst Blofeld, he is likely the worst Bond villain of all time. He's achieved exactly nothing over nine years except some off-screen terrorism-for-hire. He has this massive evil octopus empire and one bored-looking 00 agent has pretty much single-handedly brought it down, mostly thanks to Spectre giving zero f-ks about the fire code. Oh and he's Bond's brother. Woot.
4. Madeline is one of the worst Bond girls. The only advice the director gave her was look like you know you're a discount Scarlett Johansson. Monica Bellucci has barely one scene and manages to come out looking better in every way. Craig looks pretty uncomfortable in all intimate scenes, but Bellucci carries him through her scene while Craig-Seydoux looks almost comical.
5. Why is it so hard to make a decent Bond film? I know they are trying to move with the times. What times are they moving with? Awkward forced cinematic universe? If they were going to copy anything it should have been the Mission Impossible franchise, which is increasingly looking more Bond-like than Bond. If anything Mission Impossible shows that you could still make a classic Bond film and it would have an audience.
Here's a plot: All the spy agencies seem to be going all out to kill each other, threatening a cold-war of sorts between all major governments. Bond, in particular, seems to be hated by everyone, even supposed allies. Turns out Blofeld already has the recently launched spy network under his control and he is using it to pit agencies against each other, and particularly against Bond who he recognizes as someone who has ruined many Spectre plans. Bond and Q subvert the spy network and use it to bring Blofeld out of hiding. Some massive pitched battle takes place involving agents from different countries and Spectre.
Okay, maybe not the best story ever, but it's better than what we got.
Daniel Craig has been Bond from 2006-2020. I know almost nothing about 007 outside of Nightfire and the Daniel Craig video games on 360. But has he been Bond the longest?
I was with the film until they blew up the MI6 building. It feels wrong to blow up a part of Bond that served in 7 instalments.
But don’t worry, I didn’t like Waltz as Blofeld, probably the worst in the series. He gets on my nerves more than he does Bond’s. Him saying “cuckoo” is instantly irritating.
But I’m glad to know others besides my whole family knew what “C” truly stood for…
I LOVE all Craig´s Bond movies. Yes, even Quantum of Solace. And yes, that includes SPECTRE.
- I don´t like Blofeld storyline, but I don´t mind it. It´s like Bond turning Japanese in You only lives twice or silly trasvesti Blofeld in Diamonds are forever - I don´t like it, but it doesn´t affect my enjoyment of the film.
- The PTS is wonderful. Why? Because Day of the Dead in Mexico is a gorgeous and exotic way to start a Bond movie. And yes, we have had other scenes with Bond in a helicopter, but this time is with a lot of people involve and it´s so tense. And the long shot at the beginning is fantastic.
- All the part in Rome is like small Bond movie. I always see it as a movie within a bigger movie: we have Bond seducing the amazing Monica Belucci, a fantastic introduction of Blofeld and Mr. Hinx and very fun car chase. It´s not one of the best car chases, of course, but seeing those cars in Rome, during the night, with that score, is magical for me.
- The fight train is one of the best in the series. It´s one of the few times I saw Craig´s Bond losing his cool, so overwhelmed by the superiority of Hinx. You can feel he was going to die.
- Yes, Mr. White scene is GREAT.
- Blofeld is a weak villain here, but I see this as a presentation. I think it´s perfect to see him with his scare at the end and his blind eye. It´s a promise of a villain returning (I hope!). Like Blofeld in YOLT, it´s just his introduction.
- The cimetagraphy is one of the best in the series. It´s a very beautiful film to look at.
- Craig is enjoying himself in this one. He´s as playful as Sean Connery. I love it! I feel it´s a logical progresion from being a rookie in Casino Royale until now, that it´s just the 007 we all know. That´s why I don´t mind the shooting in Blofeld´s lair. He´s more lethal and precise now.
So for me it´s one 007 fun movie, like Tomorrow never dies, Octopussy or Moonraker. It´s not a classic, but I can watch it many times and I enjoy it so much.
Good to see you back, Calvin, although I'm sorry to hear that you hate this film. Me...well...my inner fifteen year old, the girl who writes lots of sappy poetry, likes Spectre while my adult self rolls her eyes. This feels like something I'd have written in high school. That nobody caught the similarities to "Goldmember" just reinforces that assessment. My hope for the next picture is that they start off not even mentioning Maddy as I cannot think of a way they could write her out that wouldn't been irritating. Hopefully that movie will be awesome. Best.
If New York New York was actually the Sinatra version,it would ne funny because the last (full) aperence of spectre as well as the first showing of blofelds head was in You Only live twice whose main theme was sung by Nancy SINATRA.
Before this movie came out and bond says "Make me disappear."I thought he was talking about the car and referencing die another day.
I can’t be the only one that thinks Calvin should be the next James Bond 🙄
See myself more as Q I think ;)
I just thought it was ridiculous that they were brothers. Skyfall was a masterpiece. Cmon Sam Mendes.
Bond only spent two winters with Blofeld as a child it's said in the film. So they probably spent little more than 2 months together.
I never understood why Bond was given anything (the watch) by Q as he was officially grounded by M not 24-48 hours before.
AND... and... why the blazes is White recording things on VHS tape in 2015??
Calvin would you ever consider doing commentaries on the bond films?
I think he needs to be with someone to do it. Like, imagine Calvin and that Dutch fella do one together! :D
Quantum was far superior of a crappy film
I should probably have said my anger with this film stems from how hard it was to get the rights for blofeld and how the writers took such an incredible dump on him. Add to the wasting of such an incredible actor and this is quite simply unforgivable