I got a great idea for the next Bond film: Bond goes on a random impersonal mission, fights some random villain he has no connection with, and goes home.
Loved the discussion at the 22 minute mark about the importance of story, and when David says it's all about CHARACTERS. I'm a novelist and my way of "plotting" a story is to come up with vivid characters and present them with a conflict and then just let THEM sort it out, because well written characters have such obvious character traits that you can visualize how they'd deal with a situation rather than trying to shoehorn them into behaving according to how the 'plot' tells them they need to behave to advance the story.
There's a TH-cam video, made up of various documentaries on the making of Casino Royale. It's about 2.5 hours long and well worth watching. I think the reason this film was so good, is because they spent years thinking about the concept. They wanted to do a 'prequel' type film before, bit couldn't do it with Pierce Brosnan, as it would not make sense timeline wise. So that idea was put on hold until a new Bond actor came along. A number of factors all came together for the film, the prequel aspect, the reboot, going back to basics removing the gadgets, a younger actor able to do more action. Also in the documentaries you will learn lots of little Easter eggs in the film, that normally go unnoticed.
I remember seeing the trailer for Casino Royale and being so psyched. I was on their website often and had the wallpaper on my computer. I took a Caribbean cruise shortly before the movie and while in Saint Martin I saw the Persol 2244s in a store and had to get them. Walking around the Caribbean like Bond. 😉
The director Martin Campbell is well known for relaunching good movies. In fact its probably one of the most important, but often overlooked aspects of these films as it can be a real make or break entry into a film franchise. He did the same with Goldeneye as well.
A really enjoyable and insightful conversation, even for a more casual Bond fan such as myself. Keep up the great work chaps. Thank you, Best regards, TGV
Great video as always. One thing that sticks out every time I watch CR is Bond's relationship with M. Craig's Bond definitely had the deepest connection to M. I'm so glad they kept Judi Dench. Damn, I can still remember when I saw CR the the first time. It was exhilarating, it was emotional, and it was different. Like you guys touched on, the depth of the characters and purely classic source material made it really easy to embrace Craig as the new Bond.
In all these years, no one I’ve seen but me seems to have noticed this. Bond doesn’t run from anyone in this film. He’s never chased. He’s always moving forward, doing the chasing. Yes he ducks into the stairwell, but he’s not running away. Not being chased. No other Bond film has done that.
Excellent review mates! Casino Royale went back to basics, which was perfect timing in the Bond canon. Craig's interpretation of the character was spot on. Let's face it, Bond is less of a spy and more of an assassin with his license to kill. No actual international spy would be so well known under any circumstances, but an assassin could possibly get away with it. I liked CR because we finally got a real reason for Bond's cold blooded attitude. You guys covered it perfectly. Well done gents, very well done. Cheers!
David and Joe -- I can't agree with you more! Your tandem assessment is dead-on perfect. And so is 'Casino' -- IMO the best Bond film since 'Majesty's'. My three favorites are 'Goldfinger' (my first Bond film), 'OHMSS' and 'Casino', with the order being immaterial as, to me, they're all equally fine. 'FRWL' is also way up there but often feels as much Hitchcock as Fleming. I caught up with 'Russia' and 'Dr. No' on their later double-bill re-release, whereas the Bonds from 'Goldfinger' onward I caught on the big screen during their initial release. ('Thunderball' and 'YOLT' are faves too.) But after the super fun though lighter Moore era, the brief relief of the more Flemingesque Daltons, and the very uneven Brosnan era, I was blown away by the stunning excellence, depth and power of 'Casino' on every level, including its unexpected faithfulness to Fleming's seminal novel. Who would've thought that a 21st Century Bond film could be as good as the Connery era classics? And even though I adore Connery -- who was, after all, my first Bond -- Daniel Craig gave, in 'Casino', what I consider the single finest performance of any actor in that role. And when was any Bond actor ever nominated for a Best Actor BAFTA until Craig? 'nuff said.
I really, really REALLY wish they'd go back to Casino Royale. I honestly don't care about the goofy old stuff they've added back since. The gritty, hard-edged (somewhat)realistic tone, the music, the characters, everything was just about perfect.
The family and I watched Casino Royale literally last night! I chose it in our Family Film Club: the 22nd film as it was my 7th choice I thought I may as well go with a 007 film! Craig gave a tour de force performance in that film and in my opinion it his best performance and film of the Bond franchise!
TheBondExperience I think it's a great film: nothing against The Lion King but I much prefer Casino Royale! Sure it's edgy and badass, but it makes for a great flick!
Haha, this was my brother’s pick, Mum isn’t really into action films so it wasn’t really into her cup of tea and Dad wasn’t that impressed, saying it was “more stunts than story”, can’t say it was a winner with them, but I guess you can’t win ‘em all haha.
Casino royale is the perfect bond movie. My fav bond. The Car, the story, new take on bond, love story. The only film that beats it for style cues is skyfall
That was really cool and also very funny :-D Totally agree with you guys ... even I rate QoS and SF pretty high as well. To me the first 4 Connery and the first 3 Craig Bond movies form my gold standard for 007 films. Let‘s see what B25 will bring us ... thanks for this vlog series - really enjoyed it.
I just loved these videos (Best/ Worst) you two did. I completely understand your perpectives, and you really can enhance all the good (and bad) points in each movie. Thanks!
I actually watched this film late last night after watching OHMSS. It's really cool to wake up this morning to see you guys with a new upload reviewing it. Awesome Bond flick! One of the best for sure.
i was born in 1964 so my favorite Bond film throughout my entire life had always been the first i ever saw-Goldfinger. That is,until I saw this one. Like you guys,it just blew me away. Craig was easily the best 007 since Connery-and the first since him that really looked like he actually could do all the action you saw him do. Including actually being able to kick ass for real which only Connery was able to make us believe before. It also features an incredible story,tons of exciting action,a fantastic villian and,of course,the best Bond girl of all time. The bad part is that it was so perfect that they have not been able to equal it since! Maybe No Time To Die will finally be the one!?!
I feel like Joe is on something with a more accurate adaptation of live and let die would be awesome. The book version of Mr. Big. His shark like appearance. A return to New York. The underwater infiltration. Definitely elements that can be brought to the screen.
Thanks a lot for this video series. Personally I was driven back to my first times to see all this movies. The funny thing is, that I saw every Bond movie always the first time in a Cinema. I am born 1967, but when I was twelve and started to see the movies, they still run in small cinemas in Germany and not on tv! The other funny thing is, that I found the books 77 in a small bookstore and started to read them with 10. So when I saw my first Bond movie with 12, I had read all the stuff from Ian Fleming and the first Bond movie I saw was „Dr. No“ and I waited the whole end with nearly closed eyes for the octopus! 😀.And it didn’t came... Greets from Germany!
I loved Casino Royale and it's probably in my Top Five but....I think what keeps it reaching the actual precipice of Bond canon is the pacing of the last 20 or so minutes. It's all compelling but it just feels like a fourth act tacked on the rest of the story - it's really charming to see their romance blossom but part of me wishes it was more integrated into the story up until that point....especially Vesper's betrayal which I think would have had more impact if it was set up earlier in the film. Still a great film but I would still have to put Skyfall at the top: I love the uniqueness of the climax and I love how it ends up being an emotional send-off to Judi Dench's M. But overall....great discussion guys!
Spectre really pissed me off when Blofled basically said that Silva and Le Chiffere we’re taking orders from him, so dumb. It makes these two great villains weaker
I remember back in '06, reading a newspaper article saying that "word from the set is that Craig nails the role." I went to TH-cam, watched the first teaser and it was like an adrenaline shot to my arm! This was the Bond film I'd been waiting for. I was over the moon about it.
Always appreciate these discussions. And Casino Royale is truly a magnificent film and established Craig as the best (equal with Connery) Bond (with Lazenby close behind those two). Skyfall was just as magnificent though in different ways. I would not put Casino Royale above Skyfall. Only slightly behind these two is Quantum of Solace. As many of us have said, Quantum of Solace is an underrated film. Hard and tough and surprising all the way through. Should never be dismissed. I see the three of them as a trilogy. Only the fourth Craig film Spectre falls down in places (and yet still has some great sequences). The first three films of Daniel Craig are such a joy.
I love Goldfinger, Thunderball and From Russia With Love but yes Casino Royal is the best Bond film of the entire franchise for all the reasons you say and because it's the most faithful to Ian Fleming's book.
What do you guys think of bringing David Arnold back but maybe just for like one track or two? It could play during a big chase sequence like the substitute score for the tank chase in GoldenEye. There's no doubt he is a genius at manipulating the Bond theme.
The Craig franchise has followed a peak and trough movement throughout. Spectre fell on a trough, but I believe (hopefully) that 25 (Shatterhand?) will leave on a good note. Just don't follow the spoilers.
You guys did a fantastic job with this dissection of the greatest Bond film of all time,"Casino Royale"..One Scene I thought you guys would talk about and by the way is personally my favorite in the entire film,,, is when Bond realizes his Vodka Martini is tainted and then he pays out to the table realizing he's going into cardiac arrest then just escalates with the editing and camera work,then it just keeps building to what climaxed as the most masterful most intense Bond moment in the history of the franchise.Well written,acted and shot to absolute perfection.In my humble opinion,Casino Royale is till now the best Bond film ever made in every possible way/Hands down!!!!!!Great commentary from the both of you✅
Quantum is one of those movies where you have to watch it a few times to appreciate it. It was made a bit too fast and the script was incomplete, which is obvious, and Amalric's villain just doesn't have "it" but the movie is much better than it was originally given credit for and certainly the first time I saw it. Forster probably was the most skilled camera director the series had in a long time, maybe ever (I'm not a fan of Mendes's directing).
5 ปีที่แล้ว +1
grafiek best car chase scene ever but the ‘villain’ was SUPER GAY and weak
I appreciated it more with Casino Royale very fresh in my mind, but the fast editing kind of made me sick. Really, it's not the general story or characters that make it hard to watch, it's technical stuff like editing/pacing.
Seeing these clips in black and white makes me think the whole film would have been great in Black and White. The black and white pre credit sequence was awesome so I think the whole film could have kept that
I love this channel let me say that first! I have to agree with the title here and say it’s Craig’s best film. This movie really broke down to the fundamentals, what makes a man (Bond) a cold as steel Assassin become a human being in love (vesper) only to be betrayed by said love, which turns hims into a true trigger machine! The progression of this arc was magnificently done.
Great movie indeed. At the begining I would like some more references to Bond's naval service before beeing recruited as a 00 agent. Also, what bothers me with Casino Royale is that it totally ignores some basic things from the previous movies. For instance: 1) In Dr. No we see Bond and Felix Leighter meeting for the first time. Here we see them again meeting for the first time! 2) In Goldfinger the Service (Q) provides for the first time the DB5 to Bond, in replacement to his old Bentley. Here we see that Bond is winning the car in cards and it is his own. These things are a little annoying to me...
The reason why people love this movie is because it has a powerful opera like ending. Many operas are considered masterpieces and when you take those opera like characteristics and put them in a movie, it can impress an audience if done right.
First time I saw Casino Royale, I thought "good movie but weird Bond movie" in a way that I was so used to the "screen Bond" (and not the book bond which I think people forget sometimes) that I thought something was missing of the older Bond movies and I thought "does this guy ever enjoy doing what he does ?" I still think it's his best movie , Skyfall was good too but I didn't like the exploration of Bond's past and the vilain's plot kind of sucked if you think of it, he just wants to kill M, and Bond was supposed to be the new guy in CR and QOS but he suddenly becomes outdated in Skyfall ? )
Great review. I agree with David - I was not super impressed the first time I saw it. Multiple viewings later it has grown on me and I better appreciate it. Oh, did you feel that Connery moment at the beginning when Bond shoots the operative in the office? Reminds of the Dent kill. I think that Joe hit in on the head with his comment about no lasers and such. So true. I done with orbital lasers, diamonds, nuclear explosives, or mass destruction of the human race.
Michael Poplawski I never thought of it that way before...but you’re right.The sitting there talking,The way Dent pulled the trigger on the empty S&W and Connery said you had your 5 or 6(I forget)To Craig saying “I found your Gun” or Something.Very good Catch👍🏻👍🏻
I mght disagree with your first claim.The First movie of 007 actors is the best (your claim) . I think as a character Sean Connery in Thunderball suits the best character in his movies.I only mention the bond character not the whole movie.Note : I am a fan of these discussions !!! Keep up the good work !
I agree with them doing Live and Let Die as the sequel. Had the same thoughts after seeing this and after Quantum and them doing their own thing again, I knew that Casino was going to kind of be viewed as a beautiful fluke instead of the start of something great.
Casino Royale is the best Bond IMHO, followed by Gold Finger. Quantum in very underrated as you have mentioned previously and I totally agree. It is SHAMEFUL what they have done to this franchise. Broccoli must be rolling in his grave. Absolutely disgusting. One can only hope the pendulum will swing and Bond, the real Bond will live again some day.
Yes, Casinò Royale is the best Craig movie and also the best Bond movie. I like ALOT Skyfall, but Casinò is the champion. BTW, very good discussions and videos on this channel. Congratulations, keep up the good work.
Nash F I cant imagine Dalton in that Movie...That was Moore’s 2nd Best film IMO.Dalton was a Good actor to play Bond,But “Living Daylights”Was slow,Boring and Politically Correct Nonsense.License to kill was very Good though.
This movie is mostly excellent, but there are still TONS of problems with it. Watch "everything wrong with Casino Royale" for some obvious examples. CR is disqualified for contention as the best Bond movie for not having a Q scene or really any gadgets at all. Also you're right that Daniel Craig is a brute, not James Bond. Bond isn't supposed to be a brute, in fact Fleming was concerned that Connery was going to be too much of a brute for the role. Craig isn't suave/elegant enough; especially after this one, he hardly ever smiles or even talks. He's bland and eternally pissed until NTTD, which has it's own large set of problems. I think Craig was a horrendous miscast by the producers. Cubby would not have approved of him, nor anything they've done after Casino.
Did anybody know that Daniel Craig was in The Young Indiana Jones and Jeffrey Wright was in it to as a Blue Jazz player in the Young Indiana Jones tv series.
It's strange as Craig is one of the better actors to take the role and given better scripts, although I generally don't find his films as fun or enjoyable as say, Connery's or Brosnan's.
Brosnan was good for one more. Espescially as a 2 year gap was possible after DAD. This turned into 4 years & a new Bond. But Brosnan couldn't have made a CR type film. He had a great body, but blue swimming trunks....
He could have done another for sho. I honestly don't have HUGE problem with Die Another Day other than I do not like the ending. I like it up until Bond saves Jinx in the ice palace. I just don't dig that whole plane ending...
Enjoyed DAD pre title sequence. Madonna's song didn't sound too bad when merged with Brosnan getting tortured. The car chase would have been fun for 9 year olds. Brosnan was super confident & the villians were a match for Bond. But the CGI, oh dear.
Thanx, guys! While I agree that Casino is a wonderful product, I feel that Craig was the best of his Bond in Skyfall. He was totally Being James Bond & most completely demonstrated The Bond Experience there! :-)))
Skyfall was the perfect blend - it had the emotion of Casino Royale but a more compelling cat-and-mouse story and villain - LeChiffre was very good but Silva was amazing. And yes it did get criticized for being very "Dark Knight-ish and Nolan-like but folks forget that it's Bond canon that inspired movies like The Dark Knight in the first place.....Skyfall was taking it full circle as if to say, "Hey ok you did a great job with the Joker and made him into an awesome Bond villain......cool, but HERE' how you do it even better!" And this is coming from some one who loved the Dark Knight Trilogy (Batman Begins is my personal favorite) but Batman still isn't Bond. :)
I love Casino & Skyfall but I think Craig is miscast as Bond. Great actor but Bond shouldn’t be on steroids, I feel like Daniel would make a better Bond villain honestly. Timothy Dalton or Daniel Day Lewis always seem to fit Fleming’s descriptions in my mind. The novels would adapt better into a series on HBO or Netflix. Love EON & MGM but they have never properly reflected the source material.
Casino Royale is the best Craig film by far, but sadly, like Brosnan they never got it quite right after that. But this has the best title song of the modern era, best villain, best Bond action and best Bond opening credits. It's not even close with the other movies.
As one of the all time best Bond movies, CR is clearly the best Craig - but it set a standard that the following films fell well short of unfortunately. I am surprised you both took LD over LtK - LD was good but faded badly in the last 3rd - License to kill was absolutely fantastic.
Casino Royale is phenomenal (and my overall 4th but really my top four.. maybe five with Goldeneye are almost interchangeable) but Skyfall just speaks to me. I only wish Sean Connery had been up to play Albert Finney's caretaker character Kincade-- then that movie would be perfect. My Craig order is: 1. Skyfall (3rd overall) 2. Casino Royale (4th overall) 3. Spectre (19th overall) 4. Quantum of Solace (24th overall).
100% casino Royale is craigs best bond movie, certainly far from the best 007 film but Martin campbell did a great job with goldeneye does a terrific job here,but I'm not impressed with the other 3 efforts
My two main criticisms of Casino are sort of petty but relevant within the larger Bond mythos. One, which drove me slightly nuts from the beginning, was using Texas Hold'em as the table game. I get it was 2006 and everyone thought they were Matt Damon in Rounders and it's probably more narratively rich than baccarat, but still, it's not a European thing and it's not "sexy." There was a Fleming-ness that was lost by changing the game -- Fleming was a British chauvinist, and I don't know he'd approve of an American casino game (and yes, poker is as American as jazz) being the mcguffin of the plot. And my second was touched on in the video: Craig just wasn't comfortable enough yet in the tux. I don't know if they made him too jacked (I do think they added too much bulk to him in general) or if he just didn't have enough experience in them or was just nervous or whatever it was. But he definitely wasn't wearing the tux like he was able to later on. Also his hair just wasn't right -- it was like they were worried about volume since Craig is thinner on top but they still wanted a more athletic cut than Brosnan, and I also wonder if in the intervening years he's had "treatment" of some sort to maintain and even thicken his hair. And yes, it is Craig's best. Easily. Especially compared to Spectre. But that could be another idea for a video series: look at the clunker films and go "what went wrong?"
The good guys are always chasing the bad guys so Bond is unnecessary unless there is a bad guy. I agree, starting with the intentions and motives of the villain is probably the most effective way to make a good Bond film.
"When one's young, it seems very easy to distinguish between right and wrong. But, as one gets older, it becomes more difficult. The villains and the heroes get all mixed up."
This is also my favourite Bond film ever. I really wish they could hit the target again with the intelligence and style they did here.
Casino Royale is one of the absolute greatest films ever made.
Yep. It’s been my favorite film since I was 10 years old
I got a great idea for the next Bond film: Bond goes on a random impersonal mission, fights some random villain he has no connection with, and goes home.
Might work!
Love it!
Loved the discussion at the 22 minute mark about the importance of story, and when David says it's all about CHARACTERS. I'm a novelist and my way of "plotting" a story is to come up with vivid characters and present them with a conflict and then just let THEM sort it out, because well written characters have such obvious character traits that you can visualize how they'd deal with a situation rather than trying to shoehorn them into behaving according to how the 'plot' tells them they need to behave to advance the story.
Love your technique!
There's a TH-cam video, made up of various documentaries on the making of Casino Royale. It's about 2.5 hours long and well worth watching. I think the reason this film was so good, is because they spent years thinking about the concept. They wanted to do a 'prequel' type film before, bit couldn't do it with Pierce Brosnan, as it would not make sense timeline wise. So that idea was put on hold until a new Bond actor came along. A number of factors all came together for the film, the prequel aspect, the reboot, going back to basics removing the gadgets, a younger actor able to do more action. Also in the documentaries you will learn lots of little Easter eggs in the film, that normally go unnoticed.
It definitely shows the love and care of the filmmakers...
Casino Royale was the only movie I saw twice in theaters! The ending stuck with me forever that I even had to get the 3 piece navy pinstripe suit.
Martin Campbell does not get enough credit for visually telling great stories.
I remember seeing the trailer for Casino Royale and being so psyched. I was on their website often and had the wallpaper on my computer. I took a Caribbean cruise shortly before the movie and while in Saint Martin I saw the Persol 2244s in a store and had to get them. Walking around the Caribbean like Bond. 😉
I remember watching the trailer the night it came out. It was an awesome teaser.
It definitely set the tone for the Bond lifestyle...!
The director Martin Campbell is well known for relaunching good movies. In fact its probably one of the most important, but often overlooked aspects of these films as it can be a real make or break entry into a film franchise. He did the same with Goldeneye as well.
Simply put YES! To me its really the only excellent one out of Craig’s Bond outings...had all the classic Bin elements which all the others missed.
Best Bond movie ever imo. Performances, story, updating the book to modern times, cinematography, direction all perfect.
A really enjoyable and insightful conversation, even for a more casual Bond fan such as myself. Keep up the great work chaps.
Thank you,
Best regards,
TGV
Thanks so much!
Tatjana
Great video as always. One thing that sticks out every time I watch CR is Bond's relationship with M. Craig's Bond definitely had the deepest connection to M. I'm so glad they kept Judi Dench. Damn, I can still remember when I saw CR the the first time. It was exhilarating, it was emotional, and it was different. Like you guys touched on, the depth of the characters and purely classic source material made it really easy to embrace Craig as the new Bond.
Btw, I love these videos. I wouldn't mind if you guys did another set of videos about every Bond's second movie (minus Lazenby of course).
I also think the relationship works very well!
In all these years, no one I’ve seen but me seems to have noticed this.
Bond doesn’t run from anyone in this film. He’s never chased. He’s always moving forward, doing the chasing.
Yes he ducks into the stairwell, but he’s not running away. Not being chased.
No other Bond film has done that.
Love Casino Royale not just a great Bond movie, but a great movie period. Love seeing my American cousins geeking out over Bond. Great video guys!
We can't help it.... ;)
Excellent review mates! Casino Royale went back to basics, which was perfect timing in the Bond canon. Craig's interpretation of the character was spot on. Let's face it, Bond is less of a spy and more of an assassin with his license to kill. No actual international spy would be so well known under any circumstances, but an assassin could possibly get away with it.
I liked CR because we finally got a real reason for Bond's cold blooded attitude.
You guys covered it perfectly. Well done gents, very well done. Cheers!
David and Joe -- I can't agree with you more! Your tandem assessment is dead-on perfect. And so is 'Casino' -- IMO the best Bond film since 'Majesty's'. My three favorites are 'Goldfinger' (my first Bond film), 'OHMSS' and 'Casino', with the order being immaterial as, to me, they're all equally fine. 'FRWL' is also way up there but often feels as much Hitchcock as Fleming. I caught up with 'Russia' and 'Dr. No' on their later double-bill re-release, whereas the Bonds from 'Goldfinger' onward I caught on the big screen during their initial release. ('Thunderball' and 'YOLT' are faves too.) But after the super fun though lighter Moore era, the brief relief of the more Flemingesque Daltons, and the very uneven Brosnan era, I was blown away by the stunning excellence, depth and power of 'Casino' on every level, including its unexpected faithfulness to Fleming's seminal novel. Who would've thought that a 21st Century Bond film could be as good as the Connery era classics? And even though I adore Connery -- who was, after all, my first Bond -- Daniel Craig gave, in 'Casino', what I consider the single finest performance of any actor in that role. And when was any Bond actor ever nominated for a Best Actor BAFTA until Craig? 'nuff said.
I really, really REALLY wish they'd go back to Casino Royale. I honestly don't care about the goofy old stuff they've added back since. The gritty, hard-edged (somewhat)realistic tone, the music, the characters, everything was just about perfect.
Perhaps one day!
Check out the masterpiece Diamonds are forever
The fewer the gadgets, the better the Bond film.
The family and I watched Casino Royale literally last night! I chose it in our Family Film Club: the 22nd film as it was my 7th choice I thought I may as well go with a 007 film! Craig gave a tour de force performance in that film and in my opinion it his best performance and film of the Bond franchise!
Great family film....beats the Lion King!
TheBondExperience I think it's a great film: nothing against The Lion King but I much prefer Casino Royale! Sure it's edgy and badass, but it makes for a great flick!
Haha, this was my brother’s pick, Mum isn’t really into action films so it wasn’t really into her cup of tea and Dad wasn’t that impressed, saying it was “more stunts than story”, can’t say it was a winner with them, but I guess you can’t win ‘em all haha.
Casino royale is the perfect bond movie. My fav bond. The Car, the story, new take on bond, love story. The only film that beats it for style cues is skyfall
If the franchise never existed and this was a one off then it would go down as a modern classic of cinema
That would also mean the sequel would have been Live and Let Die.
I never liked 007 until I get a free Casino Royale Bluray when I bought my PS3, later I bought all the Bond collection and started to be a fan
The interval fighting between the card game was absolutely amazing. "You've changed your shirt, Mr bond"
Agreed, but there’s a few continuity errors between.
Casino Royale is in my top 3 favourite Bond films along with From Russia From With Love and The Spy Who Loved Me.
Great picks!
Totally agree!!!!!
Definitely
That was really cool and also very funny :-D Totally agree with you guys ... even I rate QoS and SF pretty high as well. To me the first 4 Connery and the first 3 Craig Bond movies form my gold standard for 007 films. Let‘s see what B25 will bring us ... thanks for this vlog series - really enjoyed it.
Glad you enjoyed!
Nice video! For me CR is such a good film, it reinvigorated my passion for Bond.
Yeah, it made us all a lot poorer! ;)
I just loved these videos (Best/ Worst) you two did. I completely understand your perpectives, and you really can enhance all the good (and bad) points in each movie. Thanks!
My 2nd favorite movie of all time
Craig's best Bond by a country mile and possibly the best one ever made 👌
casino royale is the batman begins of the bond franchise while die another day was like batman and robin
Yea
I actually watched this film late last night after watching OHMSS. It's really cool to wake up this morning to see you guys with a new upload reviewing it. Awesome Bond flick! One of the best for sure.
Good timing!
i was born in 1964 so my favorite Bond film throughout my entire life had always been the first i ever saw-Goldfinger.
That is,until I saw this one.
Like you guys,it just blew me away.
Craig was easily the best 007 since Connery-and the first since him that really looked like he actually could do all the action you saw him do.
Including actually being able to kick ass for real which only Connery was able to make us believe before.
It also features an incredible story,tons of exciting action,a fantastic villian and,of course,the best Bond girl of all time.
The bad part is that it was so perfect that they have not been able to equal it since!
Maybe No Time To Die will finally be the one!?!
John Rigs mmmm you were reading my mind on this.
I feel like Skyfall was a great follow-up for Daniel Craig after the phenomenon that is Casino Royale.
I feel like Joe is on something with a more accurate adaptation of live and let die would be awesome. The book version of Mr. Big. His shark like appearance. A return to New York. The underwater infiltration. Definitely elements that can be brought to the screen.
He is full of ideas!
Thanks a lot for this video series. Personally I was driven back to my first times to see all this movies. The funny thing is, that I saw every Bond movie always the first time in a Cinema. I am born 1967, but when I was twelve and started to see the movies, they still run in small cinemas in Germany and not on tv! The other funny thing is, that I found the books 77 in a small bookstore and started to read them with 10. So when I saw my first Bond movie with 12, I had read all the stuff from Ian Fleming and the first Bond movie I saw was „Dr. No“ and I waited the whole end with nearly closed eyes for the octopus! 😀.And it didn’t came... Greets from Germany!
I loved Casino Royale and it's probably in my Top Five but....I think what keeps it reaching the actual precipice of Bond canon is the pacing of the last 20 or so minutes. It's all compelling but it just feels like a fourth act tacked on the rest of the story - it's really charming to see their romance blossom but part of me wishes it was more integrated into the story up until that point....especially Vesper's betrayal which I think would have had more impact if it was set up earlier in the film. Still a great film but I would still have to put Skyfall at the top: I love the uniqueness of the climax and I love how it ends up being an emotional send-off to Judi Dench's M.
But overall....great discussion guys!
Thanks so much!
Thanks so much!
Spectre really pissed me off when Blofled basically said that Silva and Le Chiffere we’re taking orders from him, so dumb. It makes these two great villains weaker
My favourite Bond film ever made. Perfect. 10/10
This is what made me a Bond fan!
I remember back in '06, reading a newspaper article saying that "word from the set is that Craig nails the role." I went to TH-cam, watched the first teaser and it was like an adrenaline shot to my arm! This was the Bond film I'd been waiting for. I was over the moon about it.
Thats awesome!
The only one to compare is Skyfall but that falls down in the last 30 minutes . .
Always appreciate these discussions. And Casino Royale is truly a magnificent film and established Craig as the best (equal with Connery) Bond (with Lazenby close behind those two). Skyfall was just as magnificent though in different ways. I would not put Casino Royale above Skyfall. Only slightly behind these two is Quantum of Solace. As many of us have said, Quantum of Solace is an underrated film. Hard and tough and surprising all the way through. Should never be dismissed. I see the three of them as a trilogy. Only the fourth Craig film Spectre falls down in places (and yet still has some great sequences). The first three films of Daniel Craig are such a joy.
Skyfall was awful and highly inferior to CR. Like night and day.
I love Goldfinger, Thunderball and From Russia With Love but yes Casino Royal is the best Bond film of the entire franchise for all the reasons you say and because it's the most faithful to Ian Fleming's book.
Hardly most faithful, the first 45 minutes of the film aren’t even in the book.
Can you do an in-depth review of Skyfall similar to this?
What do you guys think of bringing David Arnold back but maybe just for like one track or two? It could play during a big chase sequence like the substitute score for the tank chase in GoldenEye. There's no doubt he is a genius at manipulating the Bond theme.
I want DA for the whole shebang!
I think so!!
First Bond I watched and I was hooked!
The Craig franchise has followed a peak and trough movement throughout. Spectre fell on a trough, but I believe (hopefully) that 25 (Shatterhand?) will leave on a good note. Just don't follow the spoilers.
Octopussy was the first one I saw in the theater too. It remains an all-time favorite. I grew up on the Moore films on HBO. Cheers.
Never thought about Bond having a Bond moment when putting on his tux or Bond’s first quip and laughing at it.
I can't unsee it!
You guys did a fantastic job with this dissection of the greatest Bond film of all time,"Casino Royale"..One Scene I thought you guys would talk about and by the way is personally my favorite in the entire film,,, is when Bond realizes his Vodka Martini is tainted and then he pays out to the table realizing he's going into cardiac arrest then just escalates with the editing and camera work,then it just keeps building to what climaxed as the most masterful most intense Bond moment in the history of the franchise.Well written,acted and shot to absolute perfection.In my humble opinion,Casino Royale is till now the best Bond film ever made in every possible way/Hands down!!!!!!Great commentary from the both of you✅
Thanks so much! Kind words!
It might sound controversial but I love Quantum of Solace...very raw
For me QOS is Casino Royal part 2
Quantum is one of those movies where you have to watch it a few times to appreciate it. It was made a bit too fast and the script was incomplete, which is obvious, and Amalric's villain just doesn't have "it" but the movie is much better than it was originally given credit for and certainly the first time I saw it. Forster probably was the most skilled camera director the series had in a long time, maybe ever (I'm not a fan of Mendes's directing).
grafiek best car chase scene ever but the ‘villain’ was SUPER GAY and weak
I actually think the action scenes are decent and it’s kind of a fun ride
I appreciated it more with Casino Royale very fresh in my mind, but the fast editing kind of made me sick. Really, it's not the general story or characters that make it hard to watch, it's technical stuff like editing/pacing.
Would you ever consider reviewing all of Flemings novels?
I probably wood...I have read them enough times... :)
Seeing these clips in black and white makes me think the whole film would have been great in Black and White. The black and white pre credit sequence was awesome so I think the whole film could have kept that
Would have been very impactful, but the general audience might have taken up arms! ;)
TheBondExperience that’s true
YES!.... considerably....
It’s his best, for sure.
I love this channel let me say that first! I have to agree with the title here and say it’s Craig’s best film. This movie really broke down to the fundamentals, what makes a man (Bond) a cold as steel Assassin become a human being in love (vesper) only to be betrayed by said love, which turns hims into a true trigger machine! The progression of this arc was magnificently done.
Thanks for the kudos!
Great video.
i love casino royale. it one of the greatest movie ever made.
Yep!
Great movie indeed. At the begining I would like some more references to Bond's naval service before beeing recruited as a 00 agent. Also, what bothers me with Casino Royale is that it totally ignores some basic things from the previous movies. For instance: 1) In Dr. No we see Bond and Felix Leighter meeting for the first time. Here we see them again meeting for the first time! 2) In Goldfinger the Service (Q) provides for the first time the DB5 to Bond, in replacement to his old Bentley. Here we see that Bond is winning the car in cards and it is his own. These things are a little annoying to me...
Casino Royale is the best bond film ever made
Joint best with Skyfall. I can never choose between them as they are both so good. Serious contender for my two favourite Bond films ever.
Agreed!
I feel exactly the same way.
Agreed.
The reason why people love this movie is because it has a powerful opera like ending. Many operas are considered masterpieces and when you take those opera like characteristics and put them in a movie, it can impress an audience if done right.
First time I saw Casino Royale, I thought "good movie but weird Bond movie" in a way that I was so used to the "screen Bond" (and not the book bond which I think people forget sometimes) that I thought something was missing of the older Bond movies and I thought "does this guy ever enjoy doing what he does ?"
I still think it's his best movie , Skyfall was good too but I didn't like the exploration of Bond's past and the vilain's plot kind of sucked if you think of it, he just wants to kill M, and Bond was supposed to be the new guy in CR and QOS but he suddenly becomes outdated in Skyfall ? )
The time line thing is definitely a hotly debated topic!
You should be reviewing all Bond movies, great team!
Thanks so much....watch this spot!
Great review. I agree with David - I was not super impressed the first time I saw it. Multiple viewings later it has grown on me and I better appreciate it. Oh, did you feel that Connery moment at the beginning when Bond shoots the operative in the office? Reminds of the Dent kill. I think that Joe hit in on the head with his comment about no lasers and such. So true. I done with orbital lasers, diamonds, nuclear explosives, or mass destruction of the human race.
It grows on you quickly!
Michael Poplawski I never thought of it that way before...but you’re right.The sitting there talking,The way Dent pulled the trigger on the empty S&W and Connery said you had your 5 or 6(I forget)To Craig saying “I found your Gun” or Something.Very good Catch👍🏻👍🏻
I mght disagree with your first claim.The First movie of 007 actors is the best (your claim) . I think as a character Sean Connery in Thunderball suits the best character in his movies.I only mention the bond character not the whole movie.Note : I am a fan of these discussions !!! Keep up the good work !
The first Bond film I saw at the cinema, brilliant movie. Definitely Craig's best.
Great episode and I am blown away by Casino Royale...wish I could have gotten my hands on more of the tech and cars over the years.
That car.....oh that car!
I agree with them doing Live and Let Die as the sequel. Had the same thoughts after seeing this and after Quantum and them doing their own thing again, I knew that Casino was going to kind of be viewed as a beautiful fluke instead of the start of something great.
Agreed. Casino Royale is one of the best. All starts with a simple, compelling story and a villain that is believable and desperate.
I became a Bond fan after Casino Royale, the film blew my mind.
Casino Royale is the best Bond IMHO, followed by Gold Finger. Quantum in very underrated as you have mentioned previously and I totally agree.
It is SHAMEFUL what they have done to this franchise. Broccoli must be rolling in his grave. Absolutely disgusting. One can only hope the pendulum will swing and Bond, the real Bond will live again some day.
"Casino Royale" had me waiting for the home video release just so I could see the title sequence again.
You should bring in Calvin Dylan to talk about each Bond’s worst movie
This very well might be the only TH-cam video I've ever seen that doesn't have a single thumbs down. wow. I guess anything IS possible.
Yes, Casinò Royale is the best Craig movie and also the best Bond movie. I like ALOT Skyfall, but Casinò is the champion. BTW, very good discussions and videos on this channel. Congratulations, keep up the good work.
Casino Royal was perfection straight out of the gate. Best Bond movie ever. Still love the Opening of Spectre though. Brilliant.
Really good movie. But what if tarantino did casino royale with brosnan. I wouldve loved that.
This is what Dalton would've done had he debuted in FYEO.
Nash F I cant imagine Dalton in that Movie...That was Moore’s 2nd Best film IMO.Dalton was a Good actor to play Bond,But “Living Daylights”Was slow,Boring and Politically Correct Nonsense.License to kill was very Good though.
I agree that Dalton would have definitely made FYEO possibly the best bond film ever.
I really enjoyed all of Craig’s Bond films, but when I first saw Casino Royal, I thought oh they’re going with the Jason Bourne shtick.
Damn you uploaded early. Gonna have to wait after school to watch this bad boy
LOL!
This movie is mostly excellent, but there are still TONS of problems with it. Watch "everything wrong with Casino Royale" for some obvious examples. CR is disqualified for contention as the best Bond movie for not having a Q scene or really any gadgets at all. Also you're right that Daniel Craig is a brute, not James Bond. Bond isn't supposed to be a brute, in fact Fleming was concerned that Connery was going to be too much of a brute for the role. Craig isn't suave/elegant enough; especially after this one, he hardly ever smiles or even talks. He's bland and eternally pissed until NTTD, which has it's own large set of problems. I think Craig was a horrendous miscast by the producers. Cubby would not have approved of him, nor anything they've done after Casino.
Casino Royale has a solid plot. M.
Did anybody know that Daniel Craig was in The Young Indiana Jones and Jeffrey Wright was in it to as a Blue Jazz player in the Young Indiana Jones tv series.
Casino royale is a diamond in the rough. One and only. I’ll take Daniel Craig for bond any day. But my favorite Moore. Hands down.
Moore is a charmer!
Totally agree. They all have there thing that works for them and not for other bond actor. But Moore made bond relatable.
One of my favourite films. M.
I'm halfway through this episode, and I honestly have to say...I can't really tell if you guys liked this movie or not! ;)
Yeah, we really sugar-coated it... ;)
It's strange as Craig is one of the better actors to take the role and given better scripts, although I generally don't find his films as fun or enjoyable as say, Connery's or Brosnan's.
Pierce Brosnan is my fav Bond! He's the one i grew up with. And the first Bond movie i saw was Goldeneye!
@ItalianBrownsFAN We agree to disagree.
@ItalianBrownsFAN Brosnan is my fav. Dalton & Craig are both equal.
@@unlimitedayoproduction2452 What's wrong with Roger Moore ? if you were around in the 70s you would appreciate Moore a lot more.
Better scripts perhaps. But he is a actor that no one will remember 10 years in the future.
Brosnan was good for one more. Espescially as a 2 year gap was possible after DAD. This turned into 4 years & a new Bond. But Brosnan couldn't have made a CR type film. He had a great body, but blue swimming trunks....
I have a lot of heart for Brosnan....
I love Brosnan in GoldenEye. Possibly the most cool and confident Bond. What every kid aspires to be like... or at least me.
He could have done another for sho. I honestly don't have HUGE problem with Die Another Day other than I do not like the ending. I like it up until Bond saves Jinx in the ice palace. I just don't dig that whole plane ending...
Enjoyed DAD pre title sequence. Madonna's song didn't sound too bad when merged with Brosnan getting tortured. The car chase would have been fun for 9 year olds. Brosnan was super confident & the villians were a match for Bond. But the CGI, oh dear.
Thanx, guys! While I agree that Casino is a wonderful product, I feel that Craig was the best of his Bond in Skyfall. He was totally Being James Bond & most completely demonstrated The Bond Experience there! :-)))
Skyfall was the perfect blend - it had the emotion of Casino Royale but a more compelling cat-and-mouse story and villain - LeChiffre was very good but Silva was amazing.
And yes it did get criticized for being very "Dark Knight-ish and Nolan-like but folks forget that it's Bond canon that inspired movies like The Dark Knight in the first place.....Skyfall was taking it full circle as if to say, "Hey ok you did a great job with the Joker and made him into an awesome Bond villain......cool, but HERE' how you do it even better!"
And this is coming from some one who loved the Dark Knight Trilogy (Batman Begins is my personal favorite) but Batman still isn't Bond. :)
Skyfall was amazing.
Skip Trace It’s a perfect film
Now review each 2nd movies 😊
Watch this space in May... ;)
I love Casino & Skyfall but I think Craig is miscast as Bond. Great actor but Bond shouldn’t be on steroids, I feel like Daniel would make a better Bond villain honestly. Timothy Dalton or Daniel Day Lewis always seem to fit Fleming’s descriptions in my mind. The novels would adapt better into a series on HBO or Netflix. Love EON & MGM but they have never properly reflected the source material.
probably the best film of the series. certainly in the top 3.
Indeed!
Casino Royale is the best Craig film by far, but sadly, like Brosnan they never got it quite right after that. But this has the best title song of the modern era, best villain, best Bond action and best Bond opening credits. It's not even close with the other movies.
Best Craig bond film by a mile, it's not even close
So good it's one of the best Bond films and stands among other films outside that franchise too
As one of the all time best Bond movies, CR is clearly the best Craig - but it set a standard that the following films fell well short of unfortunately.
I am surprised you both took LD over LtK - LD was good but faded badly in the last 3rd - License to kill was absolutely fantastic.
Casino Royale is phenomenal (and my overall 4th but really my top four.. maybe five with Goldeneye are almost interchangeable) but Skyfall just speaks to me. I only wish Sean Connery had been up to play Albert Finney's caretaker character Kincade-- then that movie would be perfect. My Craig order is: 1. Skyfall (3rd overall) 2. Casino Royale (4th overall) 3. Spectre (19th overall) 4. Quantum of Solace (24th overall).
IT IS Craig’s best.
100% casino Royale is craigs best bond movie, certainly far from the best 007 film but Martin campbell did a great job with goldeneye does a terrific job here,but I'm not impressed with the other 3 efforts
My two main criticisms of Casino are sort of petty but relevant within the larger Bond mythos. One, which drove me slightly nuts from the beginning, was using Texas Hold'em as the table game. I get it was 2006 and everyone thought they were Matt Damon in Rounders and it's probably more narratively rich than baccarat, but still, it's not a European thing and it's not "sexy." There was a Fleming-ness that was lost by changing the game -- Fleming was a British chauvinist, and I don't know he'd approve of an American casino game (and yes, poker is as American as jazz) being the mcguffin of the plot.
And my second was touched on in the video: Craig just wasn't comfortable enough yet in the tux. I don't know if they made him too jacked (I do think they added too much bulk to him in general) or if he just didn't have enough experience in them or was just nervous or whatever it was. But he definitely wasn't wearing the tux like he was able to later on. Also his hair just wasn't right -- it was like they were worried about volume since Craig is thinner on top but they still wanted a more athletic cut than Brosnan, and I also wonder if in the intervening years he's had "treatment" of some sort to maintain and even thicken his hair.
And yes, it is Craig's best. Easily. Especially compared to Spectre. But that could be another idea for a video series: look at the clunker films and go "what went wrong?"
Spot on, gentleman. Every bit - I concur!!!!
Sweet!
The good guys are always chasing the bad guys so Bond is unnecessary unless there is a bad guy. I agree, starting with the intentions and motives of the villain is probably the most effective way to make a good Bond film.
"When one's young, it seems very easy to distinguish between right and wrong. But, as one gets older, it becomes more difficult. The villains and the heroes get all mixed up."