Bond back in action
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Robin
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Adele's song is decent but its playing it really safe going for the Shirley Bassey with the Bond jingle built in angle. It's pretty generic Bond 'fare' and by no means one of Adele's best, I reckon will be pretty forgettable in years to come.
Also I don't really like it after the first minute (gets boring) and the backing singers bit near the end sounds naff. Also need more words other than 'Skyfall'
Interested to see what the official video and also the opening credits video will look like.
My favourite still is Madonna's Die Another Day, it was something different and perfect for the new millennium, the violin sections made that track. Plus the music video is epic (one of the most expensive ever made).
Robin.
Also I don't really like it after the first minute (gets boring) and the backing singers bit near the end sounds naff. Also need more words other than 'Skyfall'
Interested to see what the official video and also the opening credits video will look like.My favourite still is Madonna's Die Another Day, it was something different and perfect for the new millennium, the violin sections made that track. Plus the music video is epic (one of the most expensive ever made).
Robin.
, fair enough 
- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
You're not alone. It (and the film) are almost universally despised among Bond fans.
The problem was that EON signed away far too much creative control to Madonna far too early in the process. As a general rule, they go about getting the title performer in one of two ways: either they will open up submissions from interested parties, and use the demo tapes they provide to find someone they like; or they will decide in advance who they want to perform the theme and approach them directly. In the case of Die Another Day, they went with the latter. They had wanted Madonna for years, but had never been able to get her. With 2002 being the 40th Anniversary of James Bond films, and the film itself being the twentieth installment in the series, EON were considerably more flexible about the process, because they really wanted Madge. They basically gave her a blank cheque to do whatever she wanted, and nobody from EON - not even David Arnold, the composer - had any input in the song (which Madonna insisted had to fit in with the American Life album or else she would not do it) until she delivered it to them at the very last minute. They were then stuck with that piece of trash.
Still, if you want a farcical history of a theme song, look no further than Another Way to Die (in fact, the entire production of QUANTUM OF SOLACE was marked by mistake after mistake). EON wanted Amy Winehouse for the project, and David Arnold got her producer, Mark Ronson, involed very early on. But Winehouse couldn't get into the song and there were constant delays and then she had her meltdown on-stage in Serbia and the whole thing fell through. Arnold had to go to the back catalogue of demo tapes to find a workable theme, and while nobody will say anything one way or the other on the subject, the commercial sponsors - like Coke - got a huge say in which theme was selected.
Robin
Premium
- 16,799
- United Kingdom
I can't remember where I read it but apparently when polled about Bond themes 'Die Another Day' was voted the favourite song by most of those asked under the age of 21 (or around that age). Obviously a generation gap but there are quite a few people who do like it.
but there are quite a few people who do like it.
- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
I've noticed that most people who did like it moved on once they became exposed to the wider Bond canon. Those who still like it are those who did not respond positively to the older films.
DIE ANOTHER DAY was probably the first film that a lot of kids who grew up with gaming consoles were exposed to, as well, which might explain their liking it.
DIE ANOTHER DAY was probably the first film that a lot of kids who grew up with gaming consoles were exposed to, as well, which might explain their liking it.
- 2,690
- Titan
That's interesting to know. It's kind of shame the Jack White/Alicia Keys one was selected. I did like one part of the song, but it wasn't in the film version. I secretly do wish Shirley Bassey's theme for Quantum of Solace was chosen (even though it's not her best). I know she's too old and not marketable but it was still better than AWTD, in my opinion anyway. Part of me wishes that to celebrate 50 years of Bond, they have her sing the credits song to Skyfall. Too late now probably, but would have been a nice touch.
Adele's song is good, I think it's a bit..forgettable. The choral sections and deep brass are the parts I like the most. And I think it sounds quite restrained.
I actually don't mind DAD's theme that much. It's a silly film but the theme is not bad in a modern sense. It is very much of a change. It wouldn't be in my top 5, or even the top half probably, but not completely awful.
I'm reasonably young, probably in that generation you mentioned, but I do love the classic themes, and enjoy the older films.
- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
Some clips have been released on YouTube. You might find them spoilerific:
The Train
"Bond. James Bond."
"Take the bloody shot!"
London Catacombs
I particularly like what Javier Bardem is doing with the character. He seems to have rolled the psychopathy and drive of Max Zorin, the disarming playful-uncle stylings of Auric Goldfinger, the suppressed volatility of Emilio Largo and the cold and twisted professionalism of Emilio Largo into one, and then layered it over the character's own psychological ruthlessness and unsettling sexualism. A lot of early reviews are highly positive about the film, and most of them point to Bardem as being one of the film's strongest drawcards.
The Train
"Bond. James Bond."
"Take the bloody shot!"
London Catacombs
I particularly like what Javier Bardem is doing with the character. He seems to have rolled the psychopathy and drive of Max Zorin, the disarming playful-uncle stylings of Auric Goldfinger, the suppressed volatility of Emilio Largo and the cold and twisted professionalism of Emilio Largo into one, and then layered it over the character's own psychological ruthlessness and unsettling sexualism. A lot of early reviews are highly positive about the film, and most of them point to Bardem as being one of the film's strongest drawcards.
- 4,081
- Somerset
- Pagey279
I've seen reports on the news and stuff saying that critics believe Skyfall is one of, if not the best Bond movie of all time. I'm excited now.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19940764
There we go, thought I would be able to find it somewhere.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19940764
There we go, thought I would be able to find it somewhere.
- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
It's currently got 96% at Rotten Tomatoes (though the one dud review seems to come from someone who believes Bond films piqued with Pierce Brosnan), and 80% over at Metacritic, which has one mixed review (RT only allows for good and bad reviews, and so classified that mixed review as a good one since the reviewer gave it three out of five stars).
- 2,690
- Titan
It might be fan-service but it is the credits song. I'm not sure many people actually would care about it, except for people who sit through credits... or people who have an affinity for Shirley Bassey and her iconic Bond songs in celebration of Bond's 50th Anniversary. And it's not like Shirley Bassey is a truly awful singer.
As for the reviews, I remain cautiously optimistic. I always try to enter with as little expectations as possible. It does seem quite interesting. I agree about Javier, I thought he was a strong choice.
- 87,171
- Rule 12
- GTP_Famine
We remember the Goldfinger theme with rose-tinteds.
GOAD-FING-AAAAH
*shivers*
OWN-LEE GOAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa OhAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaD
*double shivers*
So anyway, Sky have been showing all of the Bond films (including both the other Casino Royales and Never Say Never Again) on a dedicated Bond channel recently, so I've had opportunity to watch them all again. Skipping Dr. No, which introduces the James Bond Theme, I've come up with a themes rank and a films rank:
Themes
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (We Have All The Time In The World - Louis Armstrong)
2. The Spy Who Loved Me (Nobody Does It Better - Carly Simon)
3. From Russia With Love (Matt Monro)
4. Live and Let Die (Wings)
5. You Only Live Twice (Nancy Sinatra)
6. The Man With the Golden Gun (Lulu)
7. The Living Daylights (A-Ha)
8. For Your Eyes Only (Sheena Easton)
9. Diamonds are Forever (Shirley Bassey)
10. Octopussy (All Time High - Rita Coolidge)
11. Casino Royale (You Know My Name - Chris Cornell)
12. Goldeneye (Tina Turner)
13. Goldfinger (Shirley Bassey)
14. Thunderball (Tom Jones)
15. A View to a Kill (Duran Duran)
16. Licence to Kill (Gladys Knight)
17. Moonraker (Shirley Bassey)
18. The World is Not Enough (Garbage)
19. Tomorrow Never Dies (Sheryl Crow)
20. Quantum of Solace (Another Way to Die - Jack White & Alicia Keys)
21. Die Another Day (Madonna)
GOAD-FING-AAAAH
*shivers*
OWN-LEE GOAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa OhAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaD
*double shivers*
So anyway, Sky have been showing all of the Bond films (including both the other Casino Royales and Never Say Never Again) on a dedicated Bond channel recently, so I've had opportunity to watch them all again. Skipping Dr. No, which introduces the James Bond Theme, I've come up with a themes rank and a films rank:
Themes
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (We Have All The Time In The World - Louis Armstrong)
2. The Spy Who Loved Me (Nobody Does It Better - Carly Simon)
3. From Russia With Love (Matt Monro)
4. Live and Let Die (Wings)
5. You Only Live Twice (Nancy Sinatra)
6. The Man With the Golden Gun (Lulu)
7. The Living Daylights (A-Ha)
8. For Your Eyes Only (Sheena Easton)
9. Diamonds are Forever (Shirley Bassey)
10. Octopussy (All Time High - Rita Coolidge)
11. Casino Royale (You Know My Name - Chris Cornell)
12. Goldeneye (Tina Turner)
13. Goldfinger (Shirley Bassey)
14. Thunderball (Tom Jones)
15. A View to a Kill (Duran Duran)
16. Licence to Kill (Gladys Knight)
17. Moonraker (Shirley Bassey)
18. The World is Not Enough (Garbage)
19. Tomorrow Never Dies (Sheryl Crow)
20. Quantum of Solace (Another Way to Die - Jack White & Alicia Keys)
21. Die Another Day (Madonna)
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- 4,464
- Azle, TX
- supermanfromazle
- SanjiHimura
And you also committed an error. You forgot "James Bond Has Returned" by John Barry. That theme was actually used in the opening of FRWL.
- 15,865
- wrexham
- jameskent86451
- Jamobomb86
Hey just thought id let you guys know that theres going to be a Top Gear special in a few weeks on the history of Bond cars..itll be presented by Hammond..(..and only Hammond!)..i dont know when its on exactly but i assume itll coincide with the Skyfall release..
- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
Technically, We Have All The Time In The World is the film's secondary theme (a bit like k.d lang's Surrender, which was intended to be the TOMORROW NEVER DIES title theme, but was moved to the back of the film).
The actual theme is this instrumental by John Barry, which is considered by many of his fans to be the finest piece of music in the series' history:
Shame it wa wasted on OHMSS. It's actually a fantastic film ... it's just dragged through the muck by George Lazenby, who simply couldn't act worth a damn. Given the underlying subplot of Bond falling in love and being willing to give up his career in the Secret Service for Tracy, it desperately needed an established, credible actor in the role. Instead, it got a hopped-up ponce whose happy-go-lucky Bond was completely ineffectual at best and downright incompetent at worst.
And it's a shoddily-made film, with plenty of amateur mistakes from Peter Hunt on his directorial debut - which was odd, considering that he was a highly-respected editor before getting the director's job.
- 87,171
- Rule 12
- GTP_Famine
Copypasta fail.
Opening schmopening. With few exceptions the "theme" is the song with the name of the film - some Bond films not actually having a song with the name of the film (Octopussy, TSWLM, QoS, Casino Royale). The theme to From Russia With Love is, thus, From Russia With Love.
Albeit with a misplaced euphonium.
I class We Have All The Time In The World as that film's theme simply because it's easier to sing. Technically it's the secondary theme, but if you hear it you know it's OHMSS. Good enough for me
I actually don't get the hate for OHMSS. Some aspects of the plot don't make much sense and there's weakness in the acting, directing, editing and effects, but for the most part it's reasonable Bond fare.
For me the worst part of the film isn't the line "This never happened to the other guy" but the combination of that line and Lazenbond clearing his desk of things Connerbond collected in the previous five films - the two things contradicting each other.
But then unlike most Bond fans, I don't treat the six actors as the same character in the same continuity. I treat "James Bond" as an honorific name given to any MI6 with the 007 rank - like Agent Lynch in the CIA of the A-Team, or the initialisms of MIB's agents. It's not the guy's real name, it's his status. Unless the 30-something guy who stopped a SPECTRE guy with robot hands from disrupting the Mercury launches in 1961 is supposed to be the same 30-something guy who helped capture a 1980s drug baron (who then escaped custody when his van fell off a part of the Overseas Highway that hadn't been built in 1961)... Lazenbond's "This never happened to the other guy" is merely an expression of that - though the desk clearing muddies those waters.
- 2,690
- Titan
Perhaps so, I personally prefer Diamonds and Forever by a fair margin. A large part of what makes Goldfinger great is John Barry's composition - which is fantastic. FRWL's opening theme is also quite good. My theme rankings would be quite different too...
While I have heard all the themes, I haven't actually seen all of the films. Most of them, but not all. I will have to see OHMSS, as it's one I have missed.
- 40,816
Because it's so boooring. Partially because I'm not sure Lazenby was actually awake when he did all of the scenes.
Plus the little winks it makes to the other, better movies that preceded it just rubs me the wrong way.
I agree with all of this though.
What's your opinion on Never Say Never Again? I know, unofficial and bleh and inferior to the original and so on, but I'm curious anywqay (even if you did put the best one all the way down in 16th).
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- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
I think OHMSS is actually a pretty good film. The plot is pretty good, the music is excellent, and most of the actors give good performances. The problem is George Lazneby. He simply cannot act worth a damn. He ruins just about everything he is in, and drags everything kicking and screaming down with him.
Take his first meeting with Tracy on the beach, for instance. He could not be less helpful if he tried. He sees two goons going after her, and decides that the best course of action is to leave her to the mercies of one of them while he uselessly traps the other under a rotted-out rowing boat that serves as an effective prison for all of five seconds before the redshirt escapes. Meanwhile, Tracy is off struggling to deal with the other goon all on her own, and it is only when she breaks free on her own that the fight ends. Bond has a licence to kill, and witnesses a woman in obvious distress trying to escape two armed thugs. His first thought is to separate them and place Tracy in danger while doing nothing of any kind of use.
See also Blofeld exposing Sir Hilary Bray as James Bond. I like that he is holding the world to ransom and demanding clemency for his crimes and the recognition of his title; it's one of the better elements of the plot and what elevates it about a fairly standard worldwide domination affair. But he is able to demonstrate that Bond is not who he claims to be by testing his knowledge of obscure geneology. I get that it's related to Bond's cover, but the straw that breaks the camel's back is that Blofeld catches him out on the tiniest detail. It would be like exposing Bond - who is posing as an ornithologist - by questioning him about the wind speed velocity of an unladen swallow, but then pointing out that the particular species of swallow is endemic to a certain part of the world where local climactic conditions follow an eight-year cycle, meaning that for three months, once every eight years, the swallow's wind speed velocity increased by 1.8%, which is something that an ornithologist clearly should have known.
And there's that bizarre scene where Blofeld makes a move on Tracy. He has absolutely no idea who she is, but hits on her anyway. In fact, I find the film to be rather dismissive of women in general - most of the Angels of Death are dimwitted girls who hang onto Bond's every word, and it is implied that he sleeps with all twelve of them using the exact same pick-up line. And then, less than twenty-four hours later, he is proposing to Tracy after she abruptly re-enters his life.
- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
I think you're reading far too much into those comments.
I've read the interviews with Mendes, and from what he has said, my understanding is that he would not have made a Bond film were it not for THE DARK KNIGHT. Until Nolan came along, films were either big-budget popcorn flicks or low-key, serious drama films, and the two were moving further and further apart with each passing day. Love him or hate him, Christopher Nolan proved that you could make a big-budget film that dealt with serious themes and explored darker characters. He demonstrated that audiences are a whole lot smarter than most studios and producers give them credit for.
Because Nolan had demonstrated this, Mendes was attracted to SKYFALL. THE DARK KNIGHT meant that Mendes could do things with Bond that weren't possible before THE DARK KNIGHT - he could explore actual themes and fill the world of the film with interesting characters. He wouldn't be making a vomit-inducing candy-coloured kaleidoscope that was essentially a glorified video game like DIE ANOTHER DAY. Nor could he make a schizophrenic pseudo-arthouse mess with political statements that undermined a lot of the characters like QUANTUM OF SOLACE (in a nutshell, Bond is critical of imperialism in South America; Fleming's original creation supported imperialist policies - having Paul Haggis write the screenplay was a mistake).
No, I haven't seen the film. I have to wait a month so that B-grade celebrities can have their fifteen minutes being seen attending the premiere. But I have been following production, and while I'm avoidng spoilers, I have noticed a correlation between what Mendes has said he wanted to bring to the film and what the critics have to say about the film. From the sounds of things, he has actually delivered what he promised, and I can't remember the last time a Bond director did that.
I've read the interviews with Mendes, and from what he has said, my understanding is that he would not have made a Bond film were it not for THE DARK KNIGHT. Until Nolan came along, films were either big-budget popcorn flicks or low-key, serious drama films, and the two were moving further and further apart with each passing day. Love him or hate him, Christopher Nolan proved that you could make a big-budget film that dealt with serious themes and explored darker characters. He demonstrated that audiences are a whole lot smarter than most studios and producers give them credit for.
Because Nolan had demonstrated this, Mendes was attracted to SKYFALL. THE DARK KNIGHT meant that Mendes could do things with Bond that weren't possible before THE DARK KNIGHT - he could explore actual themes and fill the world of the film with interesting characters. He wouldn't be making a vomit-inducing candy-coloured kaleidoscope that was essentially a glorified video game like DIE ANOTHER DAY. Nor could he make a schizophrenic pseudo-arthouse mess with political statements that undermined a lot of the characters like QUANTUM OF SOLACE (in a nutshell, Bond is critical of imperialism in South America; Fleming's original creation supported imperialist policies - having Paul Haggis write the screenplay was a mistake).
No, I haven't seen the film. I have to wait a month so that B-grade celebrities can have their fifteen minutes being seen attending the premiere. But I have been following production, and while I'm avoidng spoilers, I have noticed a correlation between what Mendes has said he wanted to bring to the film and what the critics have to say about the film. From the sounds of things, he has actually delivered what he promised, and I can't remember the last time a Bond director did that.
- 5,717
- England
Saw Daniel Craig and Judi Dench on the BBC tonight talking about the film and it's only heightened my excitement, as did the couple of clips they showed. That's in addition to all the reviews I look at saying things like 'Skyfall may bag multiple Academy Awards' and 'one of the best action films of all time'. I've always been a fan of Bond and Daniel Craig for that matter, so I'm glad that this film has (apparently) lived up to expectations.
Cannot wait to see this.
Cannot wait to see this.
Nolan's a very good director, and I think 'Prestige' and 'Batman Begins' were infinitely better than what he gets most credit for, namely TDK. The ambivalence of characters and their 'darkness' wasn't something Nolan invented. The desire for serious themes in action flicks was already there and there were movies that got the balance right as 'Casino Royale' showed. I think part of TDK's success was just being at the right place at the right time. It's just a pity that that's what put him on the map.
If anything, 'Casino Royale' should have encouraged Mendes to make a Bond film rather than TDK. CR showed how to get a Bond film right. (BTW, I re-watched Die Another Day recently and damn, is it a monumentally stupid movie. Brosnan deserved a better final script.)
So if Skyfall is in the same vein as CR and NOT TDK, then I'm really excited for it.
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