Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1876 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-03-13
• Format: NTSC
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Running time: 144 minutes

Customer Reviews

What a Surprise!
I thought I'd hate this movie and didn't see it till now because I felt Pierce Brosnan was my Bond. (Yes, Sean Connery's quite a man, but I laughed all the way through the now dated Thunderball) Actually, I've never thought much of the 007 franchise as Bond to me was an annoyingly unflappable lounge lizard. I'm an Indiana Jones gal.

I loved this movie because Bond just received his 007 status and hasn't achieved his cold, unruffled-though-bombs-are-detonating demeanor. He falls; he's frightened when he darn well should be; he sweats! Seeing that he's a human being makes the wild action scenes believable. He's still a handsome rake, but his leading lady was a real character. Every Bond woman seems like nothing more than a handful of crowd-pleasing attributes--She's gorgeous, she's a martial arts expert, or even she's a psychic! But what kind of person is she? A) Good or B) Bad. So boring. Despite lacking the typical flashy qualities, this woman had depth and I could see why Bond would care about her.

My only complaint is that Casino Royale was too intense and needed Q to lighten things up. I know Desmond died, but he did leave a replacement. I hope they'll inject a little levity into the next Bond. I'll definitely see it.

Bond Revitalized
For the original series of James Bond films, Sean Connery defined the part quite effectively. Since Connery other actors such as George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan have attempted to portray this persona with the same elan with varying degrees of success. In my opinion none have measured up to Connery in the qualities of an international British agent with unsurpassed physical skills, sophistication and attraction for women. None until now. Daniel Craig makes one heck of a Bond! He fits this role equally well. Thus this movie is quite successful. The locations-Italy, Montenegro, the Bahamas- are fantastic with wonderful photography. Some exotic, mind-dizzying technology is used but not too much. There are some exciting action scenes such as in Miami and particularly around the casino at Montenegro. Eva Green plays Vesper and provides some excellent verbal jousting with Craig such as on a train in Europe. Vesper also becomes the name of a drink (6 parts Gordons Gin, 2 of vodka, one of Kina Lilet all shaken until cool). Overall this is a wonderful movie.The Griffon Trilogy: Part I

Is this a James Bond movie or an action movie that has someone named James Bond?? You decide!!
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This movie is based on the book "Casino Royale" (1953) by the late Ian Fleming. It is the 21ST "official" (meaning EON Productions) Bond movie with Daniel Craig being the 6TH actor to play James Bond.

Before this movie came out, Bond movies covered a period of 40 years beginning with 1962's "Dr. No" and ending with 2002's "Die Another Day."

This movie is about James Bond receiving his "double oh" status and completing his first mission as "007."

The movie's strong point is that it has a lot of action and good special effects. In fact, before explaining anything to the viewer, there is a long chase scene with death-defying leaps and bounds. It is quite well done. There is another long chase scene that follows this chase. It, too, is quite well done.

Unfortunately, the story is difficult to follow and is somewhat complicated. In fact, I had to view this movie twice in order to completely understand it.

It is after about fifty minutes (that's right, fifty minutes!!) into this long movie that you actually learn exactly who Bond was chasing both times and you learn the details of Bond's first assignment.

You have to understand two things in order to understand Bond's first assignment, namely the basics of how stock options work and the basics of a poker game called "Texas Hold'Em" (a variation of the poker game called seven card stud). This, personally, is why I'm amazed that this movie has received such high ratings from others--I don't believe that all people who view this movie know such things. For the record, I know the basics of these things and, in fact, my interest increased at this point.

For Bond's first assignment we're told what he has to do. Oddly enough, we're not told why he has to do it. I found this frustrating and had to guess why he was on this assignment. It turns out I guessed right by reading some articles about this movie after I had viewed it. The point is that you will have to do some guessing while watching this movie.

You may need a brochure to figure out all the bad guys that pop in and out. The main villain seems to be someone called Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), "private banker to the world's terrorists." What I noticed is that this villain is not very villainous (except in his last few scenes).

The Bond girl has the name of Vesper Lyn (Eva Green). She's integral to the plot and especially to the movie's long, somewhat predictable, ending. The ending reminded me of the 1969 Bond movie called "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Sean Connery who was playing Bond at the time wisely did not perform in this movie.

When viewing this movie, don't expect to see the James Bond that you've seen in the last forty years. There is no Miss Moneypenny, no gun barrel walk, no Q and, thus no gadgets. (Apparently in the book, Q is not mentioned so there are no gadgets. Actually, there is a gadget that Bond in this movie uses extensively--a cell phone.)

In my mind's eye, I compared Daniel Craig to the other five Bond actors that came before him (namely Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan). In my opinion, he doesn't fit the mold of a James bond. Sure, he's physically fit but there's more to Bond than just being fit! (Actually, Craig does look like Bond in the last thirty seconds of the movie.)

I also missed the Bond music. The background music is good but does not compare to the distinctive music associated with James Bond movies. (Bond-type music is played when the end credits roll.)

The thing I missed most is the James Bond witticisms and snappy dialogue. For example, here is some dialogue from 1964's "Goldfinger" where Bond is tied down on a gold slab with a laser beam cutting the slab and slowly inching up threatening to cut Bond in half:

Bond says to Goldfinger: "You don't expect me to talk, do you?"
Goldfinger's priceless reply: "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to DIE."

Now, this movie is not entirely devoid of humor but it's not nearly as witty as expected.

Filming for this movie took place in the Czech Republic, Bahamas, Italy, and England.

Finally, the DVD (the one released March, 2007) I have is perfect in picture and sound quality. There are several interesting extras included on a second disc.

In conclusion, for those who are not James Bond fans and looking to see a good action movie, this is the film to see. However, many true Bond fans may ask themselves the following:

"Is this a James Bond movie or is this an action movie that happens to have somebody named James Bond in it?"

(2006; 2 hr, 25 min; wide screen; 2 discs; 28 scenes)

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