Skyfall

[impala454]

Anyone seen it yet? I saw it Wed night and thought it was pretty good. Very entertaining and a good "prequel" to the old Bond movies. It's an interesting dynamic for the prequel to come after the others in linear movie time (i.e. they don't try to make it look old, they keep with the present day technology). I didn't know much of the Bond back story (or if it was ever even "official" anyways) but I enjoyed it and may pick up the bluray when it comes out. As comparison to the other Daniel Craig Bond movies, I put this one on even keel or maybe even better than Casino Royale. I didn't care much for Quantum of Solace. IMHO Craig is a great Bond though. I put him third after Connery and Moore.

[Hdale85]

I'll wait for it to come out on blu-ray likely, our theaters out here are terrible. But I really like Daniel Craig as bond it comes off as so much more realistic, when you think of a spy of this caliber you really can't think of them as this super well polished man of perfection. Craig just fits the character so much better in my opinion.

[Chris D]

I've heard very good things about this one. I'm so glad to see the Bond saga continue to do well under Craig. It got rather ridiculous there at the end of Brosnan, as much as I liked him as Bond.

[mjb]

I saw it last week in the cinema... and its very, very good! I thoroughly enjoyed it! Craig is in my opinion the best Bond since Connery.

[George Bellefontaine]

I think Brosnan overlooked the poor quality of the scripts he was getting toward the end. I don't think Craig would allow that to happen. Craig's Bond has much more of an edge to him, much like many of the early Connery Bond films. I do look forward to more Bond films starring Craig.

[P-Dub]

Saw it yesterday. Good Bond flick, much better than the last. Craig is really good as Bond.

Going to put this in spoilers.
I had a tough time with the shooting on top of the train. M gives the order to shoot, we know this HD can't get out in the open and there's a good chance Bond is going to get shot. So what does the agent do? Takes one shot, hit's Bond and stops shooting. I know it's just a plot point to move things along but I thought it could have been dealt with differently. The next time the agent shows up, I keep wondering how is she still employed by MI6? Okay a desk jockey, but still. She shows up in the field again.

[audioqueso]

Just came back from the theaters. Very good movie! I really enjoyed how the director's role came together.
I still like Casino Royal better.

[impala454]

Paul- agreed that was a little strange. I never figured out if from him having the bullet fragments analyzed that they decided someone else had taken the shot? Meaning moneypenny actually hadn't? I didn't understand the point of that part.

[P-Dub]

Paul- agreed that was a little strange. I never figured out if from him having the bullet fragments analyzed that they decided someone else had taken the shot? Meaning moneypenny actually hadn't? I didn't understand the point of that part.

Going to do the spoiler thing again.

The bullet fragment was the one that the original killer shot and hit Bond in the right shoulder. The continuity point is that Bond pulled the fragment from his left shoulder. I did a quick IMDB search, and it didn't show up. But I am certain Bond was shot in the right shoulder, as I just looked at the train and digger clip. In the following scene when Bond is out of action, you see scar tissue on the left shoulder. He cuts out the fragments from his left shoulder, then the scar turns up on the right shoulder. So this continuity point bothered the heck out of me as well.

But aside from it, it really was a fun movie. I'll get the DVD/BR when it comes out.

[Ovation]

Saw this yesterday. Enjoyed it quite a bit (I'd rank it among the top 5 all time in my personal Bond list and I've seen them all, even the original Casino Royale with David Niven, Peter Sellers and Woody Allen).

Loved all the little nods to past Bond films (won't spoil any here).

[Chris D]

Saw it. Thought it was really good, although not as good as I had hoped. Not my favorite, but it's up there on the list. Yes, I really like Craig as a Bond, and the latest Bond flicks have been really good. OHMSS might still be my favorite.

Paul, yeah, I was bothered by that continuity point as well. I also think the assassin's auto-pistol in the opening sequence was rather ridiculous. That would have been way too heavy and unwieldy to be an effective weapon for an agent. And that's before you add depleted uranium bullets. On that note, the lights on the back of Bond's new Walther PPK are totally impractical too.

Was rather surprised that they killed off M in the end. I suppose Dame Dench had had enough. She really is a great actress. I enjoyed her performance, although the death scene was a bit stilted.

I guess I also didn't quite get the part where the girl is shot while the shot glass is on her head, and Bond shows no feelings at all.

But I LOVED the fight scene in the Shanghai skyscraper, back lit with the vivid neon colors while they fought in silhouette. I also enjoyed many of the previous Bond homages, particularly bringing out the old car (was it an Aston Martin?) and using the original Bond theme music, 1960's style. CLASSY!

:4: out of :5: for me.

[Ovation]

The car is an Aston Martin DB5.

[impala454]

Yeah Chris I thought that pistol was ridiculous too. He'd have been out of ammo after about 2 seconds if that was for real. Hell I'm sure you know as well as anyone our military doesn't even use much full auto, or even the three round burst mode on the ARs, because it's a waste of ammo. Especially in the "secret agent" world.

Clips like that guy had do exist though

[Ovation]

I believe (though I could be mistaken) the gunman at the cinema in Colorado last summer at the Batman film who opened up on the crowd had such a magazine (though I'm not sure he was actually using it).

[impala454]

I think you're right. I seriously doubt it was a full auto pistol though. Just large magazine.

[Ovation]

I believe full auto pistols are not allowed, even on your side of the border. But that wouldn't be much of an impediment for a Bond villain, no matter how minor.

[Chris D]

Could be. People don't necessarily realize that big "mega-drum" ammo magazines like that may look kinda cool, and full-auto operation might be impressive, but those things don't win gunfights and actually impede combat. One factor is weight--pick up any average loaded handgun and move it around. There's some heft to it, and that's with maybe 5-15 bullets. That ammo drum in the movie might hold 75 bullets as a guess. (rifle drums like that hold a MINIMUM of 50 rounds up to 150) That's an incredible amount of weight to be waving around with one outstretched hand, much less trying to keep under control while accurate firing.

And you don't win a gunfight with the number of bullets you shoot. You win by placing rounds ACCURATELY on your target. Full auto will cause your opponent to duck in instinctive fear, but your bullets will go flying all over the place. A full auto rifle is hard to keep accurate, using your whole body. A full auto pistol is just ridiculous. The only bullet you have any chance of firing accurately would only be the first one.

That being said, I don't have a problem with suspending some reality for the interest of movies. Sometimes it just goes WAY over the top. Not terribly egregious in this movie, but just a comment.

[Chris D]

(Oh, and Ovation, you posted that while I was drafting my reply) - yeah, in the US, fully automatic weapons of any kind are outlawed unless you get a specific license which is difficult and QUITE expensive. Many other countries are even more restrictive. The opening scene took place in Turkey, and in many parts of the world like that, you can get almost ANYTHING in a back market. But yeah, I would imagine villans and government operatives around the world have no problem getting whatever kind of weaponry they want.