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Bond 24 - Spectre

5K views 114 replies 35 participants last post by  Mr.G 
#1 ·
#12 · (Edited)
Sounds like it - "some sleepless, bong-fueled night by the four credited writers"
but he likes the last one - go figure

I could add - from the days of Shirley Bassey and Oddjob, Bond films were always a fantasy and nothing more than an escape. As silly as the series made itself, it's always been an excuse to watch a fashion show with a mild bit of action thrown in to wake you up. An Understanding between the makers and the audience. Nothing more is ever implied. It's an evening of cabaret, and in the modern versions - product placement galore.

The reviewer wants a story. Wrong place to look idiot!
 
#14 ·
SPECTRE - My thoughts on Bond 24

Let's get this out of the way, 'Spectre' is a very good movie, and a great Bond movie. Its nemesis, however, is that 'Skyfall' is an amazing movie and possibly the best Bond film ever made. What could act as a source of hardship for many is how very different 'Spectre' is than its predecessor.

If you're familiar with the 007 filmography, this movie is most akin to 'From Russia With Love' in that there is heavy focus on Bond and a companion, and it's done very well. No more details will be divulged.

There are a few stories to follow in the movie that all mesh together well. What the film could have used was slightly tighter editing to give the pace a little dash of throttle. Not a lot. Just a few sparse seconds trimmed here and there to give the ebb and flow extra momentum.

If this is Daniel Craig's final outing as Bond, I'll be sad to see him go. He delivers another excellent turn as the modern Bond that resurrected the franchise into the wonder it is today. Two time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz wasn't given the type of meaty roles he has received from Tarrantino, but he does deliver a real world villain (when compared to 007's history of adversaries) that has the right amount of eccentricity to keep him interesting. Léa Seydoux turned out to be one of the best female leads in a Bond film. She breaks the trope of inclusion for the sake of 007's carnal conquest. All of the other newcomers and returning players added to the sum of what made this film enjoyable.

Director Sam Mendes set out to make a different film from his highly acclaimed 'Skyfall', and he succeeded. I for one am happy he didn't go the easy route of giving us a retread of what worked the first time. Surprisingly, his action sequences are better than what he gave us in 'Skyfall'.

The cinematography does fall short of 'Skyfall', but is still pretty good. Shaky-cam only called attention to itself at the beginning, but was kept to a minimum for the remainder of the movie. The sound was great on all fronts, except for male voices, which were distinctly muffled compared to the female dialogue. The issue may have been caused by either the IMAX theatre, or by someone along the film's production chain who dropped the ball in a large way. However, the sound crew receives top marks for the incredible LFE during the right moments, which I hope make it into the Blu Ray, unfiltered.

I wholeheartedly recommend this movie to fans of the franchise. Just be aware that you will be seeing something very different from 'Skyfall', and you'll increase your enjoyment tenfold. If time allows, I'll definitely see Spectre again in theatres, and it already has a spot allocated on my Blu Ray shelf.

P.S. For those who know the Bond franchise well, there are tons of references and Easter eggs scattered throughout for you to feast on. And the Sam Smith song sounds much better with the film than it does alone. Much better!
 
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#16 · (Edited)
Spectre seems to lack visual snap. It looks more than OK, but I expected more. In AMC's Dolby Cinema there was no problem understanding male voices. The story line seems a bit weak, but after Skyfall, it is hard to create another knockout. Audio wise, it is very front loaded except for the occasional explosion. Some of the sequences could certainly be shortened. As it is, the opening sequence seems overly long and may have been a prologue of what to expect from the rest of the movie. Somehow the James Bond character never seems to be in dire straits where one has to wonder how is he going to get out of this one.

Saw Spectre a second time, the next day. Surprisingly, it looked better in a normal Pacific theater in Glendale than the dual laser of Dolby Cinema in AMC Burbank 16. In other words, it looked normal, although dark which is not a negative because the same could be said of the dual laser projection that I watched. There is something to be said about seeing a movie a second time in the theater. The movie seemed to flow a lot better and actually looked spectacular with a single 4K projector. Would not be surprised if this movie actually turned a profit, even with its $600 million production and PR.
 
#18 ·
Spectre WILL be a very decisive film I think for the very reason you warned against. This is very different than Skyfall, good, bad or indifferent.

I caught an afternoon showing today and greatly enjoyed it if for nothing else than it being a Bond film. DB's review pretty much gets you there so no need for me to repeat it.

Instead, I will add two additional thoughts (feelings) about Spectre. First, the "feel" of this Mendes offering to me seems he was very focused on trying to blend all of the Bond film styles together. At a few points during the movie it just changed in "feel". It's rather difficult to explain without revealing things but it opened with a classic Bond "sexiness" (filming reference, not actor reference) that later gave way to a hint of that "Bond humor" from decades ago, to a Casino Royale type urgency to a mellow dramaticism to a an almost porn like segue in one scene. It's almost as if different directors worked on each act of the film. I'm sure reading that makes it sound like a ruined film and IMO nothing could be further from the truth. As DB said, it's a very good movie and it will be a day one purchase for me.

Bautista's Hinx was pretty good but....well, just gonna leave it at that. And the opening credits was just weird if not creepy to me with the Octopus. But again, even that was as if different directors filmed different components of the opening credits.

Bond and M are very good together. Bond and Moneypenny are excellent together. Bond and Q are funny but developing and the villain is well played with just the right amount of over the topness to still make it work.

Not sure if I'll make it to see it again at the theater but I would certainly do so if the opportunity permits.
 
#19 ·
I saw this in the AMC Prime theater in Leawood today. The image was very washed out with generally high black levels. I really thought the brightness was adjusted wrong except the letter box bars top and bottom were much darker. Not sure what the problem was. It would definitely look better in a normal theater if the levels were correct.

The movie was good though. I really enjoyed it. Guess I'll just watch again at home since none of the theaters seem capable of setting up their equipment properly.

This problem at Leawood and the bright red lights at Barrywoods. Leawood has no stair lights though.
 
#39 ·
Too funny. I saw it in that theater the very same day. I was at the 8:00 showing. I just wrote up a tiny review in the KC enthusiasts thread and I will copy and paste it here. But, I also had problems with the video. I felt like parts of the screen actually looked great. But terrible in spots. They need to fix it. It was my first time in that theater and it was first rate for a commercial experience. Not many theaters can come close to my own dedicated room but this was the closest any have come.

Here is what I wrote.

"Went to the AMC Prime theater at AMC 20 on Sunday to see Spectre. It was my first trip to this theater. I can't believe it took me this long. I have been to the Atmos theater at Cinetopia called GXL for Hunger Games Mocking jay part 1. I liked it but it did not blow the doors off or anything.

Unfortunately Spectre was not mixed in Atmos and apparently there is no DSU up mixing equivalent in the commercial space. So it was just plain old surround sound being played back for me.

The audio was the best commercial audio I have ever heard. Especially the LFE. The effect was enhanced with the chair transducers but it was solid throughout. The highs might have been a touch too bright. Not uncommon in a commercial space. Overall very pleasing. I was very impressed with the dynamics. The bass was thunderous and had tons of impact. I knew from the very first notes that this was going to be awesome. The chairs are huge and they electronically recline so you have tons of leg room.

The video was another story. The fancy Christie projector was sadly out of focus on certain parts of the screen. It was obvious to me where it was blurring. Especially when subtitles would show up there. In the good areas it looked fantastic. The movie got out late and we had to get back for baby sitter but I really should have complained to someone. In fact I should call them to let them know. Simply unacceptable. Would be painfully obvious to any of us.

I bought tickets to The Force Awakens in the aforementioned GXL theater but the AMC Prime theater is better. I doubt I can get tickets to the AMC now but I will still try.

I will add that I did enjoy the movie as well. I know it is getting some poor reviews. It is being compared to better installments such as the excellent Skyfall (most recent). It offers many of the same Bond movie themes. For some people they roll their eyes when the bond girl comes into view or the villain carefully explains the details of his evil plan. But, I expect these things to be in a Bond movie and would be disappointed if they were absent. It is just a fun movie and does its thing in a very over the top fantastical way. I am all for it. But, yes it is true that the movie has problems especially near the end and it is the weakest of the Daniel Craig movies."
 
#24 ·
I liked the movie. I think as others have mentioned, that many people feel that Skyfall was the best Bond movie ever made, and thus Spectre could be considered a 'let down' but personally I thought it was equivalent.

With that being said, I usually like to watch these big movies at one specific theater close buy, called the Cine Capri (Harkin's chain) mainly because of Dolby Atmos. One of the biggest screens in town, and fantastic audio. Disappointed that this movie did not have Atmos. Still sounded great though.
 
#34 ·
Well, I watched all 3 DC 007 last week, including the Golden Compass and TGWTDT with Mara.

I got to watch the IMAX version by accident since the regular version was almost sold out. PQ wise, it was disappointing comparing to the MI3 version in different cinema. It was not sharp (DLP) at all to my eyes. As in Skyfall, the color of both films are dark and brownish. However, Skyfall is not the typical Bond story while Spectre is classic w/o Q's gadgets, sort of like Dr. No. In a way, this one also reminds me of Casino Royale.

As for the ladies, I've softness for Monica though age has not been kind to her. She is sexier than the 30 year old Lea. The stunt actions are super.

It's enjoyable as well as predictable. I'll rate it CR, Spectre, Skyfall and QOS in order.
 
#35 ·
Monica's screen time was painfully short. There is also a side story about Bond's background, as well as his arch enemy. It's like a quadrilogy starting from Casino Royale.

Will DC come back after doing 4?
 
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