All Bond actors who did multiple films had stinkers. This is Craig's. A few good scenes, but overall a complete mess. Just makes Casino and Skyfall look even better
Diamonds Are Forever would be Sean's. Roger has more than one, neither of Dalton's are that bad but I think Living Daylights is the weaker, Brosnan has TMND or Die Anither Day, Craig had QOS
+Tomas Jamieson I thought You Only Live Twice was very terrible, Sean had put weight on, the story was grey, the action incredibly poor and commerical and no real serious threat to Bond or danger or pain or even cold and gritty like Thunderball. Diamonds Are Forever was Sean's worst Bond it was about as dissapointing as Quantum Of Solace for Daniel Craig except Daniel worked very hard in looking very physically fit and perfectly right for Bond plus his hair style was the best of his four films. It looked very traditional and stylish. Diamonds Are Forever Connery looked 15 years older than he did from You Only Live Twice. Even bigger and aged so badly I've never seen an actor age that fast in just over 5 years. plus diamonds was so weak and childish. 3/10
Connery's first three are really the ones of his worth watching. Thunderball and You Only Live Twice have some throwing moments but they aren't on the same level. When Connery did Thunderball he'd had 3 out of 4 good outings as Bond, now Craig's at 4 and he's been pretty solid through out. Even though QOS was a mess he was still good in it. If Spectre is good and then Craig goes on to have another classic or 2, he'll have a better average then any of the Bonds
Spectre was like I was watching a Bond movie from the 1960's. For me 10/10 it's almost too good to be true. Thunderball was excellent 9/10 it was for me surprisingly dark and Terence Young who was responsible for Introducing Bond to the world and forming the biggest most successful longest runnning film series came back from having taken a break from Goldfinger which was a blockbuster fun flanboyant glitzy bond to make Thunderball dark, firm, and sinister. Totally different to Goldfinger. Thunderball is the highest box office smash of any bond film in a newly read article with the INFLATION RATE adjusted from the mid 60's to today. Thunderball set off the Bond phenomenon. You only live twice ended it. Fight sequences were so poor and scenes I could have fallen asleep. Oh wait Bond turns Japanese...
If you want to talk about a BAD BOND FILM, it couldn't be worse than OHMSS,it was just plain BAD.what was IT'S STORYLINE? 1st you would sent Bond UNDERCOVER to say that HE DON'T LIKE WOMEN and about half way through the movie he's in bed with over 4 women. 2nd Bond says "I HAVE A STIFFNESS COMING ON" SERIOUSLY every one knew darn well what that meant; HE WAS GETTING A HARD-ON so AGAIN that broke HIS COVER right then 3rd HE has gotten busted BIG TIME by BLOFID, so clearly in this Bond at least he didn't do his homework. Don't get me wrong OHMSS had a great score, but it was STILL BAD, cause NO ONE WOULD EVER believe to send him undercover that way.And I don't want to even start on GL. He was just wrong for the part of Bond.I did had a hard time following QUANTUM OF SOLACE the 1st time, but I had to see it 2 or 3 times to get it.Every Bond film can't be knocked out of the park like Sean Connery,in fact, people didn't liked NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN,but I did and it had a plot,which OHMSS didn't. NOT ALL BOND theme has words you could sing to,like the before said, OHMSS no words, but it sounded great
All I can think is that Mark Kermode has completely forgotten Die Another Day, which is not just the worst Bond theme, it's one of the worst songs from any movie ever.
I loved casino royale so much and still do and when I heard that this was a sequel to that I couldn't wait.When I saw it it was absolute garbage and I was so disappointed I can't tell you.This movie is second from the bottom in my list of favourite bond movies.The worst being die another day complete and utter muck that movie was and this is not far behind it.The song is the worst ever bond song for a movie.I hated this movie not just it's bad but also because I was so looking forward to seeing this after casino royale and my expectations were so high that I felt cheated.Mark kermode his review is so spot on.
@@mortyp473 I was literally about to comment that. It's weak, derivative of other films that were recently out, even a bit gross, and badly written tosh. Directed well, looks pretty, but tosh.
Mayo's interrupting/mickey taking is why this partnership works so well, lightens the mood and answers some basic questions (not everyone knows what a second unit does for example). Kermode knows Mayo's on a wind up and being a pro takes it in good heart.
"Quantum of Solace" refers to the lack of solace Bond gets from avenging the death of his girlfriend from Casino Royale, a woman he fell in love with... and the fact that "Quantum" was the organization in this movie.
Quantum means “a small amount”. Solace is “to take comfort from something”. Bond takes a small amount of comfort from the revenge he enacts against those who led the woman he loved to her death.
Hm it does make sense now you explain it. But its still supposed to be a play on words with 'quantum'. And in that case, it doesnt work. So it works on one interpretation.
All I remember about this movie is that I fell asleep in the cinema (never happened before or since) and my dad couldn't even explain what had happened when I woke up. Stuff I already knew plus explosions, apparently.
A shame Quantum of Solace wasn't on the same level as both Casino Royale and Skyfall which are fantastic. If judging those Bond movies as a trilogy, Bourne has got them beat due to this let down.
i do not know who this guy is, but i love him. let me put it this way: i felt asleep in the theater. and i totally agree, i did not at all care about the plot, because it seemingly was too busy with the action
It's the weakest entry in Craig's tenure (or maybe Spectre?) but having rewatched it just the other day it's a lot better than people give it credit for. Sure it's not up to the same quality as Casino Royale or Skyfall but it's still pretty good. And for everyone saying they don't understand the plot, they clearly weren't paying attention. It's a direct sequel for starters and if you watch Casino Royale before Quantum of Solace it's actually pretty logical.
A brilliant hatchet job by the good doctor showing, once again, why he's the greatest and most entertaining film critic out there. These two work so well together - in this review I particularly like Simon's pitiful retort to Mark's question about explaining the story at around 1:30 ... "Well, can you do it?" :( First class !!!
I keep thinking Clive Owen would been better as Bond, since he really looks like Fleming's description of the character and he looks good in a tux (witness a movie called Croupier), but he's busy doing stuff in Hollywood these days.
Quantum of Solace is an Ian Fleming story title, that's why they used it for the film. It just sounds stupid because it has nothing to do with the plot, but the with the short story, it makes sense.
LOL! This review is funny....but sadly true. This Bond film will go down in the franchise like Licence to Kill; some will like it and other will hate it. They'll be no middle ground.
I agree with the review completely. And yes, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the most interesting Bond film. I beg to differ about Duran Duran's "View to a Kill" tune: it was great. Watch "Fate Fatal"; it's much better.
One of the wrost things in Quantum of Solace is that the action scenes are very blurry, very badly edited, regardly if it's because it was on the silver screen or it was intended.
Mark talking about being brought out of the atmosphere reminds me of Saving Private Ryan. I was completely immersed in that film until Tom Sizemore said the film's title.
I don't actually have a problem with this movie. Always watchable it also doesn't feel like a 90 minute movie. So much going on that it feels longer - and not in a bad way. I used to hate that theme tune but even that grew on me. And Duran Duran's View To A Kill was quite good I thought.
@MercyBlowz In a way it's an incredible achievement. Never has something, so very loud, so frenetically shot, and so short in actual run time, felt so dull, slow and long. The worst thing is that it cheapens Casino Royale by association. A waste of a good debut for Craig. My own hunch is that they were all too aware of MGM's financial difficulties approaching like a hurricane, and quickly wanted to get another one in the can before the studio's long awaited collapse.
@GerbilEssences I actually think it was a real waste of Olga Kurylenko too. She's supposed to have this amazing backstory with her family getting burned alive, and being a Bolivian agent who's infiltrated the villain's circle - and most of all that stuff is just passing exposition, cos you barely get to see her do anything in the entire film. The plot is mostly incomprehensible, what can be made out is completely trivial, the action all falls flat, and tonally its all over the shop. Ugh.
Quantum of Solace summary: PROS: Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench makes good performances Exotic Locations (Italy, Bolivia, Chile) Good soundtrack by David Arnold The scenes between Bond and Mathis CONS: Although some stunning action-scenes, they were to excessive (terrible editing) Mediocre acting, underplayed characters, not enough character development
Burntwood76 I agree wholeheartedly. I don't like die another day either. And I'd of much preferred Connery in OHMSS. Even though by that point his performances as bond had become lacklustre to say the least
his actually quite right.. whether you like it or not, you got to admit that some scenes were illogical... like how they kill Agent Fields without leaving oil slick on the hotel floor.. then why did they kill Mathis... they did not really explain.. then how did Bond when to Cairo while his cards were freeze
And a mistake was Mathieu Amalric(Dominic Greene). He is a brilliant actor but his role in Quantum odf Solace was very similar(his mercantile duality) with the one beautifuly played in "Munich" from 2005! In wich also played Daniel Craig and what a bad ass he was! When I saw both of them in QoS, all that dark feeling from "Munich" was all over again! No more James Bond!
I agree with the review. Went to see it today expecting it to be as good as casino royal but it wasnt. At times i felt like they put alot of action in it just for actions sake. They also lacked tension. I would give it 7 out of 10
Watch Live and Let Die or Moonraker. Then watch Casino Royale or Skyfall. There is no comparison. Bond films had a winning formula. Great opening scene, wonderful theme tune over great opening credits, great story, over the top unforgettable bad guys, Hilarious one liners, out of this world gadgets & Special Effects. The formula? Why fix something that wasn't broken?
All this guy says is so true but I still think he has only scratched the surface of all that is wrong with this film. Quantum of Solace may very well have destroyed the Bond revival that came with Casino Royale. I'm telling you, Hollywood and western film in general is deeply broken if they could spawn a film like this out of CR. Something needs to majory shake up how films are made, especially concerning release dates, scripts and so on.
The big problem is not the absence of gadgets/cheesy lines (some of the best Bonds underplayed these elements). The main problem is the lack of an engaging storyline and the traditional Bond eligance. Part of the reason CR worked is because it was based on solid source material (one of Fleming's most sombre novels). This time round none of the supporting characters were particularly memorable and most of the action scenes were frankly rather dull.
Also, even if I thought the film was bad, this one certainly wasn't the worst. It definitely wasn't as bad as Moonraker (Okay, it had some camp fun value, but it shouldn't have been a Bond film, adapt the novel). This film, unfortunately, wasn't a character film like the last one. I feel they probably sacrificed that to try and make this one more fast paced and action packed, thereby screwing up the story a bit. "Casino Royale" was miles better, but this one still wasn't bad.
@navylaks2 I just think that a lesser known auteur like Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In), Rian Johnson (Brick), Nicolas Refn (Valhalla Rising, Drive) or Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) should get the chance to make a Bond film--bringing arthouse edginess to the blockbuster franchise. Sadly, the Brits wouldn't allow anyone but Duncan Jones to do it.
...I think he nailed the review. Really, they should hire him on as a consultant for the next Bond film; and in a hurry. Let's just forget about QOS and hope the next Bond is much, much better...!
I disagree and I agree. First of the all the film wasn't bad. It wasn't brilliant either though. The plot was too compressed and quick so you couldn't figure out what was going on, and there was too much action. Despite this, it was well directed and the action sequences were well done (if not somewhat generic). As for the title, I couldn't give a shit and I agree that the theme song was shite. However Duran Duran's one wasn't shite at all. The actors did a good job as well.
story/plot; 1hour after casino royale ends. Vesper's 'kidnapped'dead bf-the reason 4her betrayal is alive&a trick Bond goes after him'blinded by inconsolable rage'.Greene is who he has to get to.The action sequences are a metaphor for how he feels.Olga wants vengeance2,mirroring his pain. They kill more of his friends.More revenge.There's a background story of simply one of many complex operations Quantum are up to. Bond finds the bf,hence Solace; comfort/consolation in time of sadness gd film x
Bond finds at the end when he discovers first hand that Vesper was entrapped by her boyfriend, when he stops another girl from being used by the organization. So he realizes M was right about Vesper, and finally has a small amount of solace. What's so hard about this?
The one problem I have with Bond movies lately is that they try and cash in on popular movie trends to be commercially successful without focusing on the actual story (Live and Let Die = blaxploitation, The Man With the Golden Gun = Kung Fu, Moonraker = Sci-fi, Quantum of Solace = Bourne movies). The best era for Bond movies are the 60s; I was going to say all of Connery's, but Diamonds Are Forever sucked as a follow up to OHMSS.
It hasn't for Christ's sake, it's a tale of revenge. Of course there's going to be plenty of action, but each scene which took place - it helped the move the plot to move forward, it wasn't simply - oh here's some boats lets have a boat chase. He was rescuing her from a Bolivian dictator, which then moves the plot on to dominic greene.
I totally agree, I prefer the Quantum of Solace theme to Adele warbling Serkyferall we will sterand terall...... The Duran Duran theme was way better than the movie that absolutely wasted the best actor in a Bond villain role at that point.
I’d always considered the title to infer ‘incredibly scant consolation’ or ‘a cloud with an incredibly thin silver lining’ in what, I assume, is a smart (ish) way. I haven’t the spirit to re-watch it, tho’.
Is that a Rolex?? I don't remember that. I thought someone asked if it was a Tag, and he said Omega. Maybe wrong Bond film, I haven't put this blu-ray back in since the 2nd attempt to enjoy it.
So wrong about this movie. Quantum; minimum amount of energy used in an interaction. Solace; comfort or consolation. What does this mean? Bond didn’t know how to deal with loss. He was broken, ruthless, an enemy to himself. That was the plot. Btw the song is one of my favs and the frenetic style is mirrored throughout (fight scenes, car chases) because Bond was erratic, it was like stepping into his mind. The bad guy, Dominic Green was just a footnote, not important, this film was about Bond’s struggle and he was a pawn for Bond to release his anguish and anger. So so wrong Kermode
I agree, however, that's not the plot, that's the story. Plot is “this happens and then this happens and then” whereas story is what the character goes through. Story is always more important than plot. I also love the theme song.
@uptilthesky: The Bond movies only became silly and light because of the direction the films were taken in over the first few years. The Roger Moore years were fun but made the characters little more than cardboard cutouts. Before Craig the best Bond was Timothy Dalton because he took the character right back to the Fleming originals. The problem is not that Bond is going dark, the problem is that Bond as a character is outdated.
I’ve just watched this movie for the first time and it’s an absolute mess of a movie. I also think Duran Duran had a much better theme than Madonna’s awful theme song
I totally agree with Mark! Well except for the theme music for A View to a Kill which is ace. I watched QOS yesterday and what a disappointment! It's a 'chick flick' Bond movie! All about his feeling which was covered in Casino R. Daniel Craig is great as Bond but the director and script writers need shooting-a poor effort. They tried to do a 'Bourne' but failed. The theme and title sequences were boring. The amount of bullets fired at Bond that missed I think even the A-Team would have shot him
The balance in Quantum of Solace isn't good, no. But I didn't think it was terrible. But maybe I'm just too fond of Daniel Craig as James Bond to care much about what they actually have him do :p As for getting the name, it's really not that difficult and the way they talk about it is exaggerated. The organization that's uncovered is called Quantum and it's referred to multiple times in the movie. He finds his quantum of solace towards the end of the film, so it's a play on words of sorts.
Sorry but what about: Bond healing a wound after a fight in Haiti? Bond with his arms around the girl in the exploding building, while she's afraid of the fire? Bond drunk on a flight to Bolivia, talking over Vesper's death with Mathis? Bond holding Mathis's dead body in the alleyway? All of those sound like credible, realistic events.
I agree. All my friends say, "well thats all James Bond is" but its not! Bond doesn't like to fight, but in this movie, there isn't a 5 minute talking scene that isn't followed by a 30 minute fight scene. I was really disappointed by this movie!
''High school musical 3 is a better film'' should have put that on the poster.
"Pond of Wood" and "Fish of Trees" would be great names for two halves of a prog rock double album. With a Storm Thorgerson style cover.
"Where's the Solace?" lawl.
Pond of wood. Fish of trees.
Duran Duran's A View To A Kill was great.
Kermode and Mayo are getting me through a tough time
All Bond actors who did multiple films had stinkers. This is Craig's. A few good scenes, but overall a complete mess. Just makes Casino and Skyfall look even better
Diamonds Are Forever would be Sean's. Roger has more than one, neither of Dalton's are that bad but I think Living Daylights is the weaker, Brosnan has TMND or Die Anither Day, Craig had QOS
+Tomas Jamieson I thought You Only Live Twice was very terrible, Sean had put weight on, the story was grey, the action incredibly poor and commerical and no real serious threat to Bond or danger or pain or even cold and gritty like Thunderball. Diamonds Are Forever was Sean's worst Bond it was about as dissapointing as Quantum Of Solace for Daniel Craig except Daniel worked very hard in looking very physically fit and perfectly right for Bond plus his hair style was the best of his four films. It looked very traditional and stylish. Diamonds Are Forever Connery looked 15 years older than he did from You Only Live Twice. Even bigger and aged so badly I've never seen an actor age that fast in just over 5 years. plus diamonds was so weak and childish. 3/10
Connery's first three are really the ones of his worth watching. Thunderball and You Only Live Twice have some throwing moments but they aren't on the same level. When Connery did Thunderball he'd had 3 out of 4 good outings as Bond, now Craig's at 4 and he's been pretty solid through out. Even though QOS was a mess he was still good in it. If Spectre is good and then Craig goes on to have another classic or 2, he'll have a better average then any of the Bonds
Spectre was like I was watching a Bond movie from the 1960's. For me 10/10 it's almost too good to be true. Thunderball was excellent 9/10 it was for me surprisingly dark and Terence Young who was responsible for Introducing Bond to the world and forming the biggest most successful longest runnning film series came back from having taken a break from Goldfinger which was a blockbuster fun flanboyant glitzy bond to make Thunderball dark, firm, and sinister. Totally different to Goldfinger. Thunderball is the highest box office smash of any bond film in a newly read article with the INFLATION RATE adjusted from the mid 60's to today. Thunderball set off the Bond phenomenon. You only live twice ended it. Fight sequences were so poor and scenes I could have fallen asleep. Oh wait Bond turns Japanese...
If you want to talk about a BAD BOND FILM, it couldn't be worse than OHMSS,it was just plain BAD.what was IT'S STORYLINE? 1st you would sent Bond UNDERCOVER to say that HE DON'T LIKE WOMEN and about half way through the movie he's in bed with over 4 women. 2nd Bond says "I HAVE A STIFFNESS COMING ON" SERIOUSLY every one knew darn well what that meant; HE WAS GETTING A HARD-ON so AGAIN that broke HIS COVER right then 3rd HE has gotten busted BIG TIME by BLOFID, so clearly in this Bond at least he didn't do his homework. Don't get me wrong OHMSS had a great score, but it was STILL BAD, cause NO ONE WOULD EVER believe to send him undercover that way.And I don't want to even start on GL. He was just wrong for the part of Bond.I did had a hard time following QUANTUM OF SOLACE the 1st time, but I had to see it 2 or 3 times to get it.Every Bond film can't be knocked out of the park like Sean Connery,in fact, people didn't liked NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN,but I did and it had a plot,which OHMSS didn't. NOT ALL BOND theme has words you could sing to,like the before said, OHMSS no words, but it sounded great
what? A View To A Kill's theme is great.
With you on that. Great song for an 80's bond! Great song in general. I agree with Kermode about the QOS theme though
Well, I think you have to be a bit of a 80s synthpop fan...
A View to a Kill is a great song.
All I can think is that Mark Kermode has completely forgotten Die Another Day, which is not just the worst Bond theme, it's one of the worst songs from any movie ever.
I loved casino royale so much and still do and when I heard that this was a sequel to that I couldn't wait.When I saw it it was absolute garbage and I was so disappointed I can't tell you.This movie is second from the bottom in my list of favourite bond movies.The worst being die another day complete and utter muck that movie was and this is not far behind it.The song is the worst ever bond song for a movie.I hated this movie not just it's bad but also because I was so looking forward to seeing this after casino royale and my expectations were so high that I felt cheated.Mark kermode his review is so spot on.
Yeah, but Olga Kurylenko was seriously hot.
Ted Striker agreed
Teletubbies bouncing around in a padded cell? Hilarious
Quantum of Solace is a tragic entry in the Bond franchise, sandwiched between two gems
i really don't understand people who don't like I thought it was one the better bond films
@@ep5019 you must like boring movies.
@@jhenning499 its a good film that's just true
Skyfall is tremendously overrated.
@@mortyp473 I was literally about to comment that. It's weak, derivative of other films that were recently out, even a bit gross, and badly written tosh. Directed well, looks pretty, but tosh.
Mayo's interrupting/mickey taking is why this partnership works so well, lightens the mood and answers some basic questions (not everyone knows what a second unit does for example). Kermode knows Mayo's on a wind up and being a pro takes it in good heart.
Yeah poop on me
to this day I still don't know what a quantum of solace is
the smallest bit of comfort from grief
Duran Duran "A View To A Kill" song was good.
"Quantum of Solace" refers to the lack of solace Bond gets from avenging the death of his girlfriend from Casino Royale, a woman he fell in love with... and the fact that "Quantum" was the organization in this movie.
I thought it was just rubbish like evrything else in the film.
Someone watched 'Why Quantum of Solace is A perfect movie'... 😉
It literally means little comfort, sums the film up perfectly.
Quantum means “a small amount”. Solace is “to take comfort from something”. Bond takes a small amount of comfort from the revenge he enacts against those who led the woman he loved to her death.
Hm it does make sense now you explain it. But its still supposed to be a play on words with 'quantum'. And in that case, it doesnt work. So it works on one interpretation.
Mark is definitely right about the film. But A view to a kill is definitely one of the best Bond theme tunes.
loving you was a view to a kill
Y3ah
You just reminded me of Adam Buxton's mock theme song for it there :) "I know they do big bags of solace, but I don't want 'em" and so on.
All I remember about this movie is that I fell asleep in the cinema (never happened before or since) and my dad couldn't even explain what had happened when I woke up. Stuff I already knew plus explosions, apparently.
“Do we not know what’s going on because it is incomprehensibly told, or do we not know what’s going on because we don’t care?”
Kermode is the best film reviewer ever.
Hes the most inciteful, eloquent, fair. He gives each film its day in court. I love him for that.
A shame Quantum of Solace wasn't on the same level as both Casino Royale and Skyfall which are fantastic. If judging those Bond movies as a trilogy, Bourne has got them beat due to this let down.
Mark Kermode is the best movie reviewer on this planet.
first review iv ever seen from this man, we have come a long way mr kermode
i do not know who this guy is, but i love him. let me put it this way: i felt asleep in the theater. and i totally agree, i did not at all care about the plot, because it seemingly was too busy with the action
Mark “Why don’t I understand it? Is it incomprehensible or don’t I care?” Both.
The orchestral treatments of View to a Kill during the actual movie sounded fantastic, and were on the b side of the single.
"Like Teletubbies bouncing around in a padded cell" Lmao!
It's the weakest entry in Craig's tenure (or maybe Spectre?) but having rewatched it just the other day it's a lot better than people give it credit for. Sure it's not up to the same quality as Casino Royale or Skyfall but it's still pretty good. And for everyone saying they don't understand the plot, they clearly weren't paying attention. It's a direct sequel for starters and if you watch Casino Royale before Quantum of Solace it's actually pretty logical.
Fantastic review, agree with everything apart from View to a Kill.. Killer tune!
I was an extra for Quantum of Solace so I'm heavily biased in it's favour - even so I think it's one of the worst ones!
I know this is an 8 year old comment but what scene(s) were you in and what was your experience being involved in the film
1:37
"Well can you do it?"
"NO BECAUSE WE ALL SAT THERE!"
A brilliant hatchet job by the good doctor showing, once again, why he's the greatest and most entertaining film critic out there. These two work so well together - in this review I particularly like Simon's pitiful retort to Mark's question about explaining the story at around 1:30 ... "Well, can you do it?" :( First class !!!
sounds like a self important whack job to me
Mark's absolutely right in all his comments, except the one about 'A View To A Kill'.
Tellytubbies bouncing around in a padded cell...incredible
I keep thinking Clive Owen would been better as Bond, since he really looks like Fleming's description of the character and he looks good in a tux (witness a movie called Croupier), but he's busy doing stuff in Hollywood these days.
Still one of Mark's best reviews in the past couple years.
Still is
Quantum of Solace is an Ian Fleming story title, that's why they used it for the film. It just sounds stupid because it has nothing to do with the plot, but the with the short story, it makes sense.
Man it's not like Kermode literally says this verbatim within the first few minutes of this video or something...
This review is the reason I became a fan. Well put, sir.
LOL! This review is funny....but sadly true.
This Bond film will go down in the franchise like Licence to Kill; some will like it and other will hate it. They'll be no middle ground.
What he's saying is, Craig is a great bond but the script and direction is bad, that makes the film bad, not him.
I agree with the review completely. And yes, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the most interesting Bond film.
I beg to differ about Duran Duran's "View to a Kill" tune: it was great.
Watch "Fate Fatal"; it's much better.
One of the wrost things in Quantum of Solace is that the action scenes are very blurry, very badly edited, regardly if it's because it was on the silver screen or it was intended.
Best review ever in the history of cinema; golly, I value you two SO much:)
ohhhh if only I'd had the smarts to watch this before I rented the DVD. I
even the action was un watchable extreme close-ups of things moving fast..
just blurs.
I like this guy, he tells the truth with no shame
A lot of things changed after this came out!
Mark talking about being brought out of the atmosphere reminds me of Saving Private Ryan. I was completely immersed in that film until Tom Sizemore said the film's title.
I love that the last line of this video is a quickly blurted out "High School Musical 3 is a better film".
Play Dead by Bjork and David Arnold should've been a Bond song..
I don't actually have a problem with this movie. Always watchable it also doesn't feel like a 90 minute movie. So much going on that it feels longer - and not in a bad way. I used to hate that theme tune but even that grew on me. And Duran Duran's View To A Kill was quite good I thought.
I think it's totally unwatchable the edition is atrocious.
@MercyBlowz
In a way it's an incredible achievement. Never has something, so very loud, so frenetically shot, and so short in actual run time, felt so dull, slow and long. The worst thing is that it cheapens Casino Royale by association. A waste of a good debut for Craig. My own hunch is that they were all too aware of MGM's financial difficulties approaching like a hurricane, and quickly wanted to get another one in the can before the studio's long awaited collapse.
Saw what you want about Spectre, still way better than QOS.
@GerbilEssences
I actually think it was a real waste of Olga Kurylenko too. She's supposed to have this amazing backstory with her family getting burned alive, and being a Bolivian agent who's infiltrated the villain's circle - and most of all that stuff is just passing exposition, cos you barely get to see her do anything in the entire film.
The plot is mostly incomprehensible, what can be made out is completely trivial, the action all falls flat, and tonally its all over the shop. Ugh.
The fact is, Jack White is not a bad musician, but he's clearly not the right choice for a BOND theme song.
Just from that clip...I swear the whole film looks brown?
"Where's the solace?"
Amusing.
Quantum of Solace summary:
PROS:
Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench makes good performances
Exotic Locations (Italy, Bolivia, Chile)
Good soundtrack by David Arnold
The scenes between Bond and Mathis
CONS:
Although some stunning action-scenes, they were to excessive (terrible editing)
Mediocre acting, underplayed characters, not enough character development
I'm a big bond fan and I haven't watched QOS since its release. I don't even consider it a bond film.
Burntwood76 I agree wholeheartedly. I don't like die another day either. And I'd of much preferred Connery in OHMSS. Even though by that point his performances as bond had become lacklustre to say the least
his actually quite right..
whether you like it or not, you got to admit that some scenes were illogical... like how they kill Agent Fields without leaving oil slick on the hotel floor..
then why did they kill Mathis... they did not really explain..
then how did Bond when to Cairo while his cards were freeze
And a mistake was Mathieu Amalric(Dominic Greene). He is a brilliant actor but his role in Quantum odf Solace was very similar(his mercantile duality) with the one beautifuly played in "Munich" from 2005! In wich also played Daniel Craig and what a bad ass he was! When I saw both of them in QoS, all that dark feeling from "Munich" was all over again! No more James Bond!
I agree with the review. Went to see it today expecting it to be as good as casino royal but it wasnt. At times i felt like they put alot of action in it just for actions sake. They also lacked tension.
I would give it 7 out of 10
Casino Royale was an almost impossible act to beat. Roll on Bond 23.
Watch Live and Let Die or Moonraker. Then watch Casino Royale or Skyfall. There is no comparison. Bond films had a winning formula. Great opening scene, wonderful theme tune over great opening credits, great story, over the top unforgettable bad guys, Hilarious one liners, out of this world gadgets & Special Effects. The formula? Why fix something that wasn't broken?
All this guy says is so true but I still think he has only scratched the surface of all that is wrong with this film.
Quantum of Solace may very well have destroyed the Bond revival that came with Casino Royale.
I'm telling you, Hollywood and western film in general is deeply broken if they could spawn a film like this out of CR. Something needs to majory shake up how films are made, especially concerning release dates, scripts and so on.
The big problem is not the absence of gadgets/cheesy lines (some of the best Bonds underplayed these elements). The main problem is the lack of an engaging storyline and the traditional Bond eligance. Part of the reason CR worked is because it was based on solid source material (one of Fleming's most sombre novels).
This time round none of the supporting characters were particularly memorable and most of the action scenes were frankly rather dull.
Also, even if I thought the film was bad, this one certainly wasn't the worst. It definitely wasn't as bad as Moonraker (Okay, it had some camp fun value, but it shouldn't have been a Bond film, adapt the novel). This film, unfortunately, wasn't a character film like the last one. I feel they probably sacrificed that to try and make this one more fast paced and action packed, thereby screwing up the story a bit. "Casino Royale" was miles better, but this one still wasn't bad.
The first thing he said had me in tears
@navylaks2
I just think that a lesser known auteur like Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In), Rian Johnson (Brick), Nicolas Refn (Valhalla Rising, Drive) or Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) should get the chance to make a Bond film--bringing arthouse edginess to the blockbuster franchise. Sadly, the Brits wouldn't allow anyone but Duncan Jones to do it.
Can anyone tell me what the point of Strawberry Fields?
...I think he nailed the review. Really, they should hire him on as a consultant for the next Bond film; and in a hurry.
Let's just forget about QOS and hope the next Bond is much, much better...!
This bloke is spot on!
The plot is perfectly clear! Someone wants to steal the water from Bolivia!
Unfortunately, understanding the plot means I care about it even less...
Quantum of Solace is not a Bond movie. It just isn't.
I disagree and I agree. First of the all the film wasn't bad. It wasn't brilliant either though. The plot was too compressed and quick so you couldn't figure out what was going on, and there was too much action. Despite this, it was well directed and the action sequences were well done (if not somewhat generic).
As for the title, I couldn't give a shit and I agree that the theme song was shite. However Duran Duran's one wasn't shite at all. The actors did a good job as well.
story/plot;
1hour after casino royale ends. Vesper's 'kidnapped'dead bf-the reason 4her betrayal is alive&a trick
Bond goes after him'blinded by inconsolable rage'.Greene is who he has to get to.The action sequences are a metaphor for how he feels.Olga wants vengeance2,mirroring his pain. They kill more of his friends.More revenge.There's a background story of simply one of many complex operations Quantum are up to.
Bond finds the bf,hence Solace; comfort/consolation in time of sadness
gd film x
"The new Bond movie: Pond of Wood" lmao
Bond finds at the end when he discovers first hand that Vesper was entrapped by her boyfriend, when he stops another girl from being used by the organization. So he realizes M was right about Vesper, and finally has a small amount of solace.
What's so hard about this?
The one problem I have with Bond movies lately is that they try and cash in on popular movie trends to be commercially successful without focusing on the actual story (Live and Let Die = blaxploitation, The Man With the Golden Gun = Kung Fu, Moonraker = Sci-fi, Quantum of Solace = Bourne movies). The best era for Bond movies are the 60s; I was going to say all of Connery's, but Diamonds Are Forever sucked as a follow up to OHMSS.
but "durrran durrran"'s view to a kill is fucking awesome
It hasn't for Christ's sake, it's a tale of revenge. Of course there's going to be plenty of action, but each scene which took place - it helped the move the plot to move forward, it wasn't simply - oh here's some boats lets have a boat chase. He was rescuing her from a Bolivian dictator, which then moves the plot on to dominic greene.
I totally agree, I prefer the Quantum of Solace theme to Adele warbling Serkyferall we will sterand terall...... The Duran Duran theme was way better than the movie that absolutely wasted the best actor in a Bond villain role at that point.
I’d always considered the title to infer ‘incredibly scant consolation’ or ‘a cloud with an incredibly thin silver lining’ in what, I assume, is a smart (ish) way. I haven’t the spirit to re-watch it, tho’.
Is that a Rolex?? I don't remember that. I thought someone asked if it was a Tag, and he said Omega. Maybe wrong Bond film, I haven't put this blu-ray back in since the 2nd attempt to enjoy it.
So wrong about this movie. Quantum; minimum amount of energy used in an interaction. Solace; comfort or consolation. What does this mean? Bond didn’t know how to deal with loss. He was broken, ruthless, an enemy to himself. That was the plot. Btw the song is one of my favs and the frenetic style is mirrored throughout (fight scenes, car chases) because Bond was erratic, it was like stepping into his mind. The bad guy, Dominic Green was just a footnote, not important, this film was about Bond’s struggle and he was a pawn for Bond to release his anguish and anger. So so wrong Kermode
I agree, however, that's not the plot, that's the story. Plot is “this happens and then this happens and then” whereas story is what the character goes through. Story is always more important than plot. I also love the theme song.
@uptilthesky: The Bond movies only became silly and light because of the direction the films were taken in over the first few years. The Roger Moore years were fun but made the characters little more than cardboard cutouts. Before Craig the best Bond was Timothy Dalton because he took the character right back to the Fleming originals. The problem is not that Bond is going dark, the problem is that Bond as a character is outdated.
I’ve just watched this movie for the first time and it’s an absolute mess of a movie. I also think Duran Duran had a much better theme than Madonna’s awful theme song
Oh totally. The QoS theme is one of the worst but it’s not as bad as Die Another Day.
I totally agree with Mark! Well except for the theme music for A View to a Kill which is ace. I watched QOS yesterday and what a disappointment! It's a 'chick flick' Bond movie! All about his feeling which was covered in Casino R. Daniel Craig is great as Bond but the director and script writers need shooting-a poor effort. They tried to do a 'Bourne' but failed. The theme and title sequences were boring. The amount of bullets fired at Bond that missed I think even the A-Team would have shot him
Damn. I was really looking forward to this movie after the excellence that was Casino Royale but now I'll be going in with lowered expectations.
The balance in Quantum of Solace isn't good, no. But I didn't think it was terrible. But maybe I'm just too fond of Daniel Craig as James Bond to care much about what they actually have him do :p
As for getting the name, it's really not that difficult and the way they talk about it is exaggerated. The organization that's uncovered is called Quantum and it's referred to multiple times in the movie. He finds his quantum of solace towards the end of the film, so it's a play on words of sorts.
Quantum of Solace is a great title because it's unique sounding and enigmatic.
classsic kermode and im suprised of the review for HSM3 didnt think it wud be as good as it was
@opmike343 Was it mainly people running really fast whilst talking into mobile phones?
I love this film. I’d rather rather watch this than Skyfall.
The View to a Kill theme is awesome!!
Sorry but what about:
Bond healing a wound after a fight in Haiti?
Bond with his arms around the girl in the exploding building, while she's afraid of the fire?
Bond drunk on a flight to Bolivia, talking over Vesper's death with Mathis?
Bond holding Mathis's dead body in the alleyway?
All of those sound like credible, realistic events.
I agree. All my friends say, "well thats all James Bond is" but its not! Bond doesn't like to fight, but in this movie, there isn't a 5 minute talking scene that isn't followed by a 30 minute fight scene. I was really disappointed by this movie!