only thing that bothered me about it was the greenscreen work, but that's a nitpick at best. then again I liked the QoS opening car chase, so there ya go.
Yeah, there's a few rear projection shots that looked fake and one shot of from outside the helicopter where it looked like bad CGI of Craig's face superimposed over the stuntman. But c'mon, that opening was amazing. For all the complains I have about the rest of the film, that part was outstanding.
BTW, speaking of that opening shot, did anyone else think that they masked a couple of edits when Bond and the girl entered the hotel and then when Bond stepped out onto the ledge? Sure looked like it to me. Again, not complaining(Birdman did this for the entire movie and Snake Eyes did it at one point in its opening shot), but it did appear that way to me.
One of the edits was definitely when Bond and the girl enter the hotel and there's a brief close-up of the Day of the Dead poster on the door. It was unnatural. I honestly couldn't tell where any others were, but there had to have been one at some point around when Bond left the room to walk along the rooftops.
One of the edits was definitely when Bond and the girl enter the hotel and there's a brief close-up of the Day of the Dead poster on the door. It was unnatural. I honestly couldn't tell where any others were, but there had to have been one at some point around when Bond left the room to walk along the rooftops.
I thought there might've been an edit when Bond walked out onto the ledge from his hotel room.
Yeah, there's a few rear projection shots that looked fake and one shot of from outside the helicopter where it looked like bad CGI of Craig's face superimposed over the stuntman. But c'mon, that opening was amazing. For all the complains I have about the rest of the film, that part was outstanding.
BTW, speaking of that opening shot, did anyone else think that they masked a couple of edits when Bond and the girl entered the hotel and then when Bond stepped out onto the ledge? Sure looked like it to me. Again, not complaining(Birdman did this for the entire movie and Snake Eyes did it at one point in its opening shot), but it did appear that way to me.
I really don't get how people can call the story incomprehensible or hard to follow. If anything it was a little too predictable.
I agree. Though I personally don't really care about it's predictability, since I still enjoyed the hell out of it.
I like that it had a little bit of everything in it and scaled it back to be a more simple and bombastic Bond adventure. Would I have liked it more if it had a more invested story with a purpose more to the likes of Casino Royale or Skyfall? Probably, but this is kind of like Age of Ultron for me. That I simply had too much fun to care about the details.
The new James Bond 007 film, Spectre, kicks off with one of the most spectacular pre-credits sequences of any film in the series, a tracking shot that begins on the crowded streets of Mexico City during the Day of the Dead parade. The scene is wonderful in its fluidity, where any cuts or edits to the shot are seamless enough not to be noticeable, and it sets the stage for a riveting entry to the franchise.
From there, James Bond, played with characteristic cool imperturbability by Daniel Craig, embarks on adventures that take him to Rome, Austria, Morocco, and back to the London cityscapes. Bond is embroiled in car chases through city streets, airplane chases through snowy mountains, a tough-as-nails hand-to-hand fight aboard a train, and even a shudder-inducing torture scene. For a change, he even hooks up with an age-appropriate woman, played by the forever gorgeous Monica Bellucci. Another lovely lady, an adversary's daughter played by Léa Seydoux, whom I loved in the 2013 movie, Blue is the Warmest Color, is Bond's ticket to catching up with Spectre, a ruthless underworld organization led by none other than Christoph Waltz, who is best known for his role in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film, Inglourious Basterds. Dave Bautista, who plays Hinx, gives us one of the most awesome henchmen of the franchise, and his role conjures fond memories of Oddjob and Jaws. Meanwhile, back at base, M, played by an amazing Ralph Fiennes, works with Q, played by the endearingly witty Ben Whishaw, to counter a shady international intelligence organization that threatens to shut down the "00" operations for good.
Spectre, which clocks in at 148 minutes, is the longest Bond film to date, and it is not without its share of flaws. I would have preferred for Spectre to have worked as a stand-alone story that did not reference the previous three movies, since I believe that Skyfall did a great job of closing the door on Bond's past, but the influence of the recent Marvel films on this particular entry is all too apparent, and the writers seem to have felt a need to connect all of the dots into a shaky house of cards. Bond's relations with the two leading ladies come off a somewhat forced and jarring. The references to older Bond films, namely a gadget car in the vein of the Aston Martin from Goldfinger, a snowy mountaintop structure like the one from On Her Majesty's Secret Service, a villain lair resembling the volcano from You Only Live Twice, and a train fight resembling the one from From Russia with Love, are fun to watch, but this film lays on the nostalgia a little too thick. Finally, Spectre is too dark in a literal sense, with its over-abundance of nighttime action scenes and often dimly-lit cinematography that makes me long for the older Bond films that featured stunts and action scenes in glorious sunny daylight.
If I had to rank all of the Bond films in order of preference, then Spectre would probably fall into the lower middle rungs. The good news, however, is that even the middling Bond movies provide nonstop entertainment, and this latest title is no exception. Despite its narrative imperfections, I have no hesitation about giving Spectre my enthusiastic recommendation, because it hits the mark more often than than it misses, and, all the while, there's plenty of eye candy to enjoy. I look forward to seeing Spectre a second time at the theater in the near future, and I cannot wait to add the upcoming Blu-ray to my shelf along with the other 23 Bond films for marathon viewing sessions for years to come.
After seeing Spectre last night, I decided to go see it a second time this afternoon after work.
I liked this movie much much better the second time. This usually happens with Bond films and me.
Part of this was that I was not nitpicking as much (as indicated in my above-quoted review). My complaints above are still valid, but I found that I warmed up to the dark cinematography of the film a lot more this time. I was also able to catch a couple of snippets of dialogue that I had missed during the first viewing, because the speakers were better in a different screen room at the theater down the street.
Christoph Waltz's hammy mannerisms did not bother me as much the second time around, and, in fact, I quite like him as the main villain.
Léa Seydoux is gorgeous...just gorgeous. I love everything about her in this movie.
I'm giving Spectre five stars in the poll, just because, despite its flaws, it's so darn entertaining. It's more entertaining than pretty much anything else I've seen this year.
I still think that this is a middling Bond movie, but even the middle-ranking Bond movies get five stars in my world.
Last edited by The Great Owl; 11-06-2015 at 11:20 PM.
[Show spoiler]When Bond was strapped in that chair near the end of the movie the first needle Blofeld was torturing him with went in. Why did it not have the effect on Bond that he said it would (I believe it would effect his precision or something)? Bond escaped and shot down Blofeld's henchmen without an issue.
I had a pretty full bladder by that point so I may have missed some details.
[Show spoiler]When Bond was strapped in that chair near the end of the movie the first needle Blofeld was torturing him with went in. Why did it not have the effect on Bond that he said it would (I believe it would effect his precision or something)? Bond escaped and shot down Blofeld's henchmen without an issue.
I had a pretty full bladder by that point so I may have missed some details.
[Show spoiler]I'm thinking that it was a short-term effect, because Blofeld was toying with Bond little by little during that scene and making each needle prick gradually more severe.
Either that or Daniel Craig's Bond is just one tough mofo.
Can't wait to see this tomorrow. Trying to avoid any reviews on here.
@Great Owl, despite not really spoiling anything plot related you kinda gave away the whole experience of the opening pre-credits scene. Now I know how its gonna go down
[Show spoiler]I'm thinking that it was a short-term effect, because Blofeld was toying with Bond little by little during that scene and making each needle prick gradually more severe.
Either that or Daniel Craig's Bond is just one tough mofo.
[Show spoiler]Maybe these were newer torture methods so they haven't perfected it yet.
Can't wait to see this tomorrow. Trying to avoid any reviews on here.
@Great Owl, despite not really spoiling anything plot related you kinda gave away the whole experience of the opening pre-credits scene. Now I know how its gonna go down
The tracking shot he described is less than half the pre-title sequence. You should be fine.
@Great Owl, despite not really spoiling anything plot related you kinda gave away the whole experience of the opening pre-credits scene. Now I know how its gonna go down.
I did not give away much of the pre-credits sequence, but I did go back and edit my review just now after reading your post.
Last edited by The Great Owl; 11-06-2015 at 11:27 PM.
I did not give away much of the pre-credits sequence, but I did go back and edit my review just now after reading your post.
Maybe, but you still did. Too late for me anyways, but at least others won't come across it. The pre-credits sequences are usually the most fun and now thanks to you I know half of it.
Maybe, but you still did. Too late for me anyways, but at least others won't come across it. The pre-credits sequences are usually the most fun and now thanks to you I know half of it.
The sequence in question has been spoiled in a great many reviews that I read before seeing the movie myself, but I still appreciate your bringing it to my attention. My review should be pretty safe now (not that that helps you now, but you know what I mean...).
Still gave away half the experience then. Or at least the first half of the pre-credits sequence.
Ah, fair enough. FWIW I knew going in there would be a long tracking shot to start the film off, and it did nothing to lessen my enjoyment. Hopefully you'll still have a good time, it's a ridiculously entertaining sequence (not as much as Skyfall's, but close).
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