Being the year of the 50th anniversary of the beloved super spy, the 23rd Bond installment had a lot to live up to. While Casino Royale was a worthy and thrilling reboot to the franchise, Quantum of Solace fell flat with critics and fans. To make matters more interesting, MGM has had financial woes over the last number of years and needed a hit to reinvigorate the studio. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Skyfall.Not only does the movie qualify as one of the most action-packed and entertaining movies of the year, it ranks on my list as one of the best Bond flicks to date. As has come to be expected, Craig is terrific as the British spy, portraying the character with charm and intensity. The action is top notch and the story is superbly written. Among my favorite moments were the blistering opening sequences, the introduction of the film's villain, and the intense final act, which finds Bond cornered yet unafraid. The real treat, however, is Bardem's role as the sinister Silva. Rivaling any villain in recent memory, save Heath Ledger's Joker, Bardem is intimidating, powerful, and irresistible to watch. You'll find yourself glued to the screen whenever he appears, and hoping he'll show up again soon when he's gone.
Another huge nod has to go to Mendes, who's vision of Bond is spectacular. The movie is tightly scripted and the director does a very fine job of bringing out great performances from his cast. The cinematography is some of the best I've seen in a film for a long time; the production crew did a remarkable job utilizing light, colors, and atmosphere to really draw the audience in. Another treat is the glimpse the audiences gets into Bond's past, which plays a crucial role in the film.
The transfer to Blu-ray is beautiful; the colors are pin-sharp and the picture is clear, crisp, and detailed. In a film that contains such vibrant colors and contrasts, this was immensely important for home release. All of the great cinematographic moments you saw in the theater look just as great here. The audio is equally perfect. The disc's DTS-HD MA 5.1 track contain all the intensity and clarity contained in the theatrical release so you can enjoy the crashes, explosions, gun shots, and dialogue in high definition.
By way of special features, there's just under an hour of behind-the-scenes featurettes that are an interesting watch, as well as the original action-heavy trailer for the movie, "Skyfall Premiere" feature, and two different audio commentaries; a detailed and information-rich feature from Mendes and a not-so-interesting one from producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson and production designer Dennis Gassner. The insight from Mendes is fascinating and any fan of the film will be sure to enjoy it. The commentary from the producers felt more like a promotion of the film and could have been left off the disc in my opinion.
Whether your a die-hard Bond fan or a casual observer, Skyfall has something for everyone. There are multiple references to past Bond adventures, yet enough new and innovative ideas to please newcomers to the franchise. I highly recommend this film. This BD set doesn't boast hours and hours of extra footage but it has enough to please fans that are curious about the making of the film. Overall a terrific movie, beautiful disc transfer, and engaging Blu-ray set.
I like Casino Royale, but it took me a couple of watches on DVD for it to grow on me. I didn't hate Quantum of Solace as much as others seem to, but then I saw Skyfall..... I love this movie so much that not one day has gone by when I haven't thought of it at least once. I saw it twice in one week, and I never do that when movies are in theaters. The writers of this film must be brought back for the next one, yes it has some minor similarities to The Dark Knight movies, but so what. I can not wait for the Blu Ray release. I hate to admit it, but this may just be my new favorite Bond movie. The only thing that would make it perfect for me would be if Connery were still young enough to play Bond. The opening sequence, the action, Javier as the creepy villain, the surprises in the end.. It's almost perfect. Bravo Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson. Now do it again for Bond 24....
Oh...and did I mention the awesome theme song by Adele?? How perfect for the 50th year! Slightly reminiscent of Goldfinger theme, the Monty Norman 007 theme, very well done. Nobody does it better these days. Pun intended....
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All the accusations of the Bond franchise ripping off the Jason Bourne series are overblown. If anything, this latest installment in Bond's new evolution takes the high art of murder to a beautiful new level. The theme throughout is light and shadow, and the director makes excellent use of both to illustrate how death isn't dealt only in the shadows.The other theme is old dogs in a world full of Internet-savvy young pups. Whether it's M (Judi Dench) or Bond (Daniel Craig) himself, they recognize themselves as relics of a bygone era in which satellites and video cameras do most of the spy work for them. And yet that's what makes Bond so important in this modern age -he goes "off the grid," where the real terror lurks.
Javier Bardem plays an embodiment of that terror, Raoul Silva, a brutally warped villain who has an understandable (if unreasonable) motive to kill M. Just as Bond has an unspoken duty to Queen and Country, the new world tests that loyalty by robbing first Bond -then M, then the entire organization -of its identity. When politicians drag their doings into the light of day, the franchise feels invigorated because it's finally facing up to the ludicrous issues of the past. Bond can no longer casually sip a martini without being reminded that he's drinking taxpayer's money.
And that's a good thing. "Skyfall" works so well because it's not just another installment in the franchise, it's a milestone. Things are changing for Bond, in a good way, and it gives me hope that we can expect more out of this old dog in a new world.
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Although I remain a loyal fan to the Bond of my youth (Roger Moore), Daniel Craig is, in my opinion, one of the very best of the rest. In Skyfall he demonstrated how he has matured into the character and the writing and execution of virtually every other aspect of this film are superior to his first two outings. Some viewers are finding this Bond outing a bit slow moving. I didn't, although it is admittedly more restrained than many other films from the series. Nevertheless, I found it engaging from beginning to end. I thought certain parts of the film packed an emotional punch seldom felt in other Bond films.It is interesting how the public's expectations for Bond have changed. When View to A Kill premiered critics blasted the level of violence and even Roger Moore said he thought at least one scene in that movie went too far. The current take on Bond is far more violent and the bad guys are often presented in a much darker light than the villains of old even if ultimately their dastardly deeds end up having similar effects. I'm looking forward to what comes next in this long running series and highly recommend this entry.
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There's not much to say about this film that hasn't been said. The movie is fantastic. Casino Royale is just a notch higher, but this one is right with it. This is what they should have done after CR, not QoS. Anyway, don't take my word for it, this is a AAA title, with all the goodness that a major movie studio puts behind a release like this. Looks great, sounds great, movie is great.I mainly wanted to write about the digital copy situation. There is a single code inside here that can be redeemed for multiple digital copies.
iTunes: The code will let you redeem for an SD version from the iTunes store. It requires you to put in the DVD disc from the package, but once that's done copying, go to your iTunes library and delete it (but don't delete from iCloud this assumes you are using iTunes in the Cloud, if you are not, you can skip all this). Once you've finished doing that, go to the iTunes store, select movies, and then purchased. In there, you'll find Skyfall with a cloud download icon (assuming you deleted it from before). Download it again. It will also download the iTunes extras with the movie. That's one of the nice features of iTunes in the Cloud with movies. It's still SD, but at least we're getting an iTunes digital copy from a studio that probably doesn't want to give you one in the first place.
Ultaviolet: While I'm not a fan of UV, I recognize it has some weight behind it studio wise. The same code will work here, and there's plenty of places you can redeem a UV code. The card gives you a URL to go to I suggest ignoring that, and going through the vudu site, as when I redeemed my code there, they gave me an HDX version of the movie, which is their "ultra High def" version a higher bitrate than regular HD. So that's a bonus.
But I can't recommend this movie highly enough, no matter what the digital copy situation is. There was some confusion about digital copies pre-release, and now that it's actually out (got mine a day early from USPS), I wanted to post something about really is going on with the digital copies.
UPDATE: Forgot to mention that the card inside the box says the digital copy redemption code expires on Feb 12, 2015.
UPDATE 2: You can redeem the one code inside the box for BOTH an iTunes copy *AND* a UV Digital Copy. You don't have to pick one or the other.
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