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Tags: espionage thriller adaptations action c
Published : 8 months, 1 week ago (Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:20:04 PDT)
Searched: action
http://consumerfangirl.livejournal.com/14906.html 0 links
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film was released in Nov 2006, dvd released in Oct 2008, purchased by me in Oct 2008
The curious thing about the Bond movies is that they have been a staple of my childhood, yet I couldn't be bothered with them for years. Unlike, say, Poltergeist, Aliens or Big Trouble in Little China, that were part of my growing up process and sucked me into their awesomeness as a wee tot, the Bond movies failed to do just that despite my equal exposure to them. My father is an unabashed Bond fan who collected the Bond movies on video one by one (including Never Say Never, but not the 1960s Casino Royale), and then purchased the whole frickin' series on Special Edition DVD from Dr. No to Die Another Day when they came out. I, however, find all those very same Bond movies unbearably boring, even the ones that are sort of tolerable (Goldeneye, Never Say Never, Octopussy, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough).
The obvious was then pointed out to me: Bond movies are the ultimate male escapist fantasy. I could find nothing to relate to in the Bond movies, and often I wanted to slap James for being a perfectly unbeatable cartoon character who sacrificed nothing in his saving of the world. (Okay, except in Her Majesty's Secret Service, I'll give them that.) I understand that that's part of the character's appeal, but awesomeness without cost rings hollow with me. Why should I care about a character that is so detached from anything I understand, and would never ever admire?
Brosnan made James more likeable, but during his stint he had the unfortunate tendency of playing across a Bond girl that claimed to be his "equal" in - every - single - movie. It was such heavy-handed injected "feminism" thanks to the 90s political correctness that it threw the characterisation of the James over his head. I don't mind that James gets stronger Bond girls, but damn it, when every single girl that comes his way claims to be Uber Special, it rather makes them Unspecial and makes me annoyed. Why can't there be a place in-between?
My utter disinterest in the Bond franchise meant that when Daniel Craig was announced as the next Bond, I just shrugged. I was more interested in laughing at my gf Jean, a true-blue Bond fan who was beyond horrified at the casting decision. Just as I didn't pay attention to the Brosnan movies beforehand, I saw no reason to watch Casino Royale, especially when another friend told me that the movie was "soooooo bad". (Note: I no longer trust his opinion on movies.)
It's embarrassing to explain why I finally chose to watch Casino Royale, so I won't. Suffice to say that I did, and after a slightly frustrating false start, I got swept up and then blown away. A humanised Bond! Who makes mistakes! But is badass anyway! Free running! Adeptly paced action scenes! Thrills, spill, and all those frills! TEXAS HOLD 'EM POKER! (I love competitive games, it's a kink, what can I say?) That said, I didn't warm up much to Eva Green as Vesper because although her dialogue is snarky and her delivery perfect, I'm shallow and just couldn't get over the fact that that woman suffers a serious lack of curves. I'd tell her to eat moar, but then I'd have to start shouting at the rest of Hollywood, which would be like screaming into a black hole. Daniel Craig is also oddly attractive, and I have no idea why.
I made it my mission to get Casino Royale on DVD. My Bond fanboy father did have a DVD, but it's sadly a pirated copy that someone gave to him (I vaguely remember my father reporting to me that the movie was "so violent! o.O") and lacking in specials. I dropped by a movie+music store, and though it had almost every other edition of the Bond film franchise, it didn't have the Casino Royale 2-disc DVD. When I asked the saleslady, she told me that the 3-disc collector's edition would be out the following weekend. A friend I was with at the time cackled at the way my face (according to her) changed expression when I was told the news.
The 3-disc Collector's Edition of Casino Royale comes in a beautiful sleeve case reminiscent of hardback book covers, with a dramatic picture of Craig!Bond in a tux and sitting at a poker table. I love this kind of simple, tasteful covers (the Special Edition of The Company of Wolves and the Collector's Edition of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe being other favourites), though I am annoyed that the back sleeve touting the DVD's content is a loose piece of paper that I had to stuff inside the actual folded DVD case inside the sleeve.
Then there's the content. There's plenty of comprehensive featurettes in the two bonus discs that are clearly tailored for fans of the Bond franchise as a whole. As I'm not a fan of the franchise -- just of this one movie -- almost all of the featurettes didn't ping my Fangirl-Glee Bone and left me wanting more about this one movie that I do actually really like. The ones that did deliver on this account are "Becoming Bond" (a surprisingly short behind-the-scenes look on the movie, nowhere near enough), "James Bond: For Real" (about the awesome stunts) and "Free Running" (which was lovely), and though all of these had some interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, they were overall not enough to satisfy what I'd really wanted.
A featurette I did enjoy was "Bond Girls Are Forever" that looks back on some of the famous Bond Girls who'd been, and though it does discuss the more iconic women (Honey Rider, Pussy Galore, Holly Goodhead and Octopussy), a great many of the memorable Bond girls aren't included, the biggest omission being Tracy Bond, which is just sad. The interviews and discussions they had are fabulous, pointing out the overblown misogyny of Bond's earlier days, how it's balanced out with the fantasy aspect of the film series, and how the women have evolved. It's painfully obvious how EVERY SINGLE Bond girl claims to be "Bond's match", and how the Bond girls have been getting "stronger" in each film (seriously, every single Bond girl says this about their movie), and all the tooting of their own horn repeatedly gets pretty annoying. My problems with Eva Green aside, Vesper Lynd is a pretty damn awesome Bond girl, and she doesn't do the whole omg I'm strong and Bond's match in every way, which, if you take away the issue of gender, is much like the unpopular kid repeatedly trying to show up the jock while screeching "I'm your equal! Now I'm equal! No, no, now I'm your equal!" I'm also surprised that they didn't include any footage of Xenia Onatopp, Paris Carver and Dr. Christmas Jones; I'd thought it would be easier to include the more modern Bond girls, I don't know.
The rest of the featurettes tailor for fans of the Bond franchise. "The Road to Casino Royale" discusses the history of the Bond books and the adaptations that came before the Craig version, "Ian Fleming's Incredible Creation" that talks about Fleming's inspiration and actual writing of the Bond books, "James Bond the Bahamas" which looks back on previous Bond films that had been set/filmed in the Bahamas, "The Secret Road to Paradise" that goes deeper into the Bahamas connection, and "Death in Venice", which goes back to the shooting of Casino Royale but focuses on the Venice scenes. And that's... it.
I'd set my standards too high for a "Collector's Edition", perhaps. I wanted stuff that really looks into the making -- the story choices, the casting (besides Craig and Lynd), the rehearsals, the set pieces, the filming, on and on and on. If you were to look at the extras alone, the movie consists of a free running sequence, some bits in the Bahamas, some bits in Venice, and that's it. What about the airport scene? The grooming of Craig as Bond? I could go on and on.
Glee Factor: Shaken, yes. It was originally going to be a 10, but then I watched the extras. (9 out of 10) |
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