Bond is Back!

Skyfall hits DVD this coming Monday in the UK, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again after being blown away in the cinemas. I still feel that Daniel Craig is not right for James Bond but this time out he was excellent, and gave a performance that did feel Bondian. It also helped that the blackness of his first two Bond movies was lightened with the reintroduction of Q and Moneypenny - prior to Skyfall the Daniel Craig Bond movies were miserably bleak. Of course Craig's first Bond, Casino Royale is hailed as being the closest the franchise has managed to get to the spirit of Ian Fleming - it's not, though and the Bond of Skyfall is closer to Fleming's creation and it's also a far more enjoyable film than the vastly overrated Casino Royale.

I loved Skyfall which surprised me since I am not a fan of Casino Royale and I walked out of the cinema half way through Quantum of Solace. As far as I was concerned Pierce Brosnan's last stab at the part, for all its faults,was the last real James Bond movie I'd seen and the two Craig movies that followed were merely Borne derivatives. That was until Skyfall and by ten minutes into the movie I felt like cheering, at last James Bond was back.

The special features on the UK DVD are listed thus:

Special Features:

• Title Sequence--Working Titles
• Women--The Good, The Bad and the Beautiful
• Locations--License To Travel
• DB5--Behind the Wheel
• Soundtrack Promotional Spot

And no doubt there will be an extended edition out later in the year - this seems to be the way DVD works these days, so fans may want to consider this when buying Skyfall. I'll be buying one this week, though and won't bother with the inevitable special edition. I've got far too many DVD's as it is.

Still Skyfall is pure Bond and I'm looking forward to seeing Craig's next Bond movie - ain't that a turn up for the book! I was one of those who maintained that Daniel Craig was not James Bond, but after Skyfall I think he finally fits the tux.

The Sky is the limit for Skyfall

With Skyfall we finally have Daniel Craig in a Bond movie that actually feels like a James Bond movie - eat, your heart out Bourne. And it's been a massive success.

EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment are delighted to announce that SKYFALL has taken an extraordinary £37.2 million in its opening week, overtaking Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 to secure the biggest 7 day gross of all time in UK box office history.

SKYFALL, the 23rd James Bond adventure, continuing the longest running and most successful franchise in film history, opened in 587 cinemas across the UK and Ireland on Friday 26th October. It will release in the US on November 9th.

“We are very grateful to the Bond fans and all UK cinema audiences for making SKYFALL the biggest opening week ever during our 50th anniversary year.” Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

“The continued record-breaking success of this film is a true testament to all involved and the global power of this 50 year old franchise” Gary Barber, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MGM.

At last I feel as if I've seen a real Bond movie. I was never a fan of Casino Royale since I felt the movie didn't feel like a Bond movie at all,  and I hated Quantum of Solace, but with Skyfall I have a Bond that stretches back through the entire franchise and can sit comfortably alongside all the other Bond movies.
It's been a long time but Bond is most certainly back. From the Skyfall Tainted Archive review -  Check out the Archive's Skyfall Review HERE

Skyfall smashing box office records

Given that Skyfall has taken $77.7 million worldwide in its opening weekend, and that it doesn't open in America, easily the biggest market for the movie, until Nov 9th it looks like Skyfall may become the first Bond movie to cross the $600 million mark. The makers must be delighted and in the UK the film had the second biggest opening weekend in UK box-office history coming in second to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

It's good new for the evergreen franchise and not only financially but critically too,with Skyfall gathering mostly positive reviews. It's a better movie that both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, and is arguably the first Daniel Craig Bond movie that actually feels like part of the long running franchise. Top marks to all concerned - we've still got that tougher edge, but instead of all that brooding we've now got a new Q and Moneypenny to provide the classic ingredients missing from the previous two Bond movies.

The franchise is now is fast forward with the next Bond adventure already being scheduled for 2014.

Skyfall Review: Well well, James Bond is actually back!!!

What a surprise - after the dire Quantum of Solace Eon have now given us what is not only Daniel Craig's best Bond movie, but maybe the best Bond film in years. I've never been a fan of Daniel Craig's Bond and yet at the climax to Skyfall, when we have all the components in place - a new Q, a new Miss Moneypenny and even a new M-  I had tears in my eyes. Yep, the real Bond is back and dare I say it but Daniel Craig is Bond. There was another emotional moment when Bond loses his temper after the iconic Aston Martin is destroyed and the Bond theme swells up in the background, I was ready to punch the air and shout, 'Go get em, Bond.'

Skyfall continues the harder edge of the Bond movies but it brought back a lot of the good nature and humour that's been missing ever since Craig stepped into Bond's shoes - Skyfall delivers with  emotional weight, characterisation, astonishing action sequences and sly humour. And it's a welcome return with Craig even delivering several one liners that hark back to the old style 007. Make no mistake about it Skyfall will both please those who like the new harder egde and also Bond purists like myself who believe that first and foremost Bond should be escapist. There was one moment I could have done without and that is the scene where it is suggested Bond has experienced homosexual sex but thankfully this is downplayed and only a small moment in a film that rarely puts a foot out of place. Though why this scene was included is beyond me - what are they trying to say here? Danial Craig's got a large gay fanbase and maybe they are trying to give a nod to this demographic. That's just fine and dandy but just remember James Bond, the pussy magnet, is far from gay.


Silva, the baddie, is excellently acted by Javier Bardem and reminded me a lot of Christopher Walken in A View to a Kill, and his ultimate demise at the climax is stunning - often the old ways are the best. Judi Dench in her last Bond movie goes out in style and newcomers Q and Miss Moneypenny are superbly brought in. Skyfall is set more firmly in the real Bond universe than any of the previous Craig Bond movies - the pre-credits sequence is the best since the boat chase in The World is not Enough, and the film that follows is tightly scripted and doesn't meander too much. The changes in location are also quite logical and it's great to see a Bond movie with so much of its action set in the UK - London comes across as a high tech metropolis and Scotland looks absolutely gorgeous. It was also nice to see Bond's boyhood home and the graves of his parents - "I always hated this place,' Bond says as his ancestral home is blown to the high heavens.

At last I feel as if I've seen a real Bond movie. I was never a fan of Casino Royale since I felt the movie didn't feel like a Bond movie at all,  and I hated Quantum of Solace, but with Skyfall I have a Bond that stretches back through the entire franchise and can sit comfortably alongside all the other Bond movies.


It's been a long time but Bond is most certainly back.

WELCOME BACK 007 AND IT'S GOOD THAT YOU'VE BROUGHT Q AND MISS MONEYPENNY WITH YOU.

Countdown to Skyfall - it's here

Ahh well I'm off to the cinema to see Skyfall..........