Casino Royale

Outside of Goldfinger, Casino Royale is the greatest James Bond movie ever made. It has absolutely EVERYTHING you could possibly ask for in a James Bond movie and even more. Of course the initial controversy was that a blonde actor was going to be portraying 007 for the first time ever, those skepticisms soon died after the release of Casino Royale.Martin Campbell (director of Goldeneye) returns to helm this multi-layered, action packed, story-driven Bond experience and pulls out all the stops. In something of a soft reboot, we finally get to see what it was like for 007 just starting out. We see an array of emotions and reactions that we are not used to seeing in the other entries that feature a more seasoned agent.Casino Royale set the new standard of greatness after the series had just come off of it's worst movie of the franchise with "Die Another Day", and laid out a path of what the Bond for a new generation would be like. Craig proved to be worth his weight in gold as an actor of James Bond and someone willing to do many of his own stunts to provide an added element of realism.Bond Element Ratings:Intro/Title Sequence/Theme Song: 5/5Bond Girl: 5/5Car/Gadgets: 4.5/5Villain: 5/5Locales: 5/5

If you like action packed movies that do not make much of any sense at all then this movie is for you. The story line is not clear at all but guess what? It is action packed. No, it is not about some communist blood suckers or Muslim fundamentalists or even the mob the way we have come to learn who they might resemble to be... It is about a few European and perhaps America secret agents who are into gambling... And, believe it or not, there is a group of Africans whom you will never why they are there, except that they are portrayed predominantly as bad guys... They kill each other and then there is gambling scenes and then they kill each other and then again there is gambling... This is what the James Bond movies have been degraded to... A bunch of nonsensical violence and ambiguous trash...

I, like many, feared for the future of the 007 franchise. When I saw Daniel Craig cast as the next James Bond I was less than optimistic. None the less I can definitively say that Daniel Craig's performance in this movie may very well be the best Bond ever on the big screen. He hits a much needed reset in the series and the focus departs from the gadgets and the girls and more so on the man and the struggle to adapt to his new "Double Oh" status. Starting off with plenty of action it strikes a perfect balance in the course of the movie. Masterful acting by Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench (The best "M" ever), Jesper Christensen, Simon Abkarian, and of course Eva Green, who is arguably the most influential Bond Girl in 007's life, all stack the movie with one great scene after another. Add some perfectly choreographed fight scenes, a record breaking car roll-over scene, and the mental game between he and Mads Mikkelsen over the tables, and there is simply nothing not to love about this film. The closing scene where 007 proffers forth his first utterance of the iconic "Bond. James Bond." line is classic and yet boldly new at the same time. This collectors edition is packaged nicely and includes some nice extras to help one grasp the depth that Ion Productions took to modernize the Bond series and make Daniel Craig the new face of MI6.

Casino Royale is my favorite James Bond movie and even though, at the time of purchasing this blu - ray, I already had it on DVD, I just had to get it in high - definition to complete my collection as I had the other Daniel Craig Bonds on blu - ray. The movie looks fantastic. The color saturation is incredible, especially upon my first watch. One thing in particular that stood out to me upon watching it for the first time in HD was Bond's arrival at the Ocean Club. When he approaches the receptionist to check in, I noticed her name tag said "Catherine." I never noticed this on the DVD, but it clearly stands out in HD. It's little details like this that make watching a movie in HD so special. The menu design is nice too, with playing cards flipping out towards the screen, showing moving images from the movie. Very well thought out. I also enjoyed the audio commentary by director Martin Campbell and producer Michael G. Wilson, who gave some nice insights into the movie, such as why it took so long to properly adapt Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel to the screen (legal issues). The special features include a "Know Your Double - 0: The Ultimate James Bond Trivia Quiz," in which you can test your James Bond knowledge. Disc two has a trove of special features, including deleted scenes, several documentaries on Ian Fleming and the making of the movie, the casting of Daniel Craig, Chris Cornell's music video, "The Art of the Freerun," with Sebastian Foucan, who founded parkour and how they incorporated it into the movie, which went on to become one of the most famous foot chases in cinematic history, and "Bond Girls Are Forever," which covers the women of the Bond movies, hosted by Maryam d'Abo (Kara in "The Living Daylights") and includes interviews with Eva Green (Vesper Lynd) and Catarina Moreno (Solange Dimitrios). All in all, Casino Royale is a must for Bond fans wanting the high - definition experience.

冒頭シーンを観ただけで、シリーズ全作を観てきたからこそ本作の凄さが解る。これは“本物”だと。初代ショーン・コネリーの余裕綽々の男の色香、ロジャー・ムーアのお惚けかつ優雅なフェロモン全開、ティモシー・ダルトンの戸惑う実直な正義、ピアーズ・ブロスナンの生真面目なムーア弟版を経て、Ｍ:Iやボーンシリーズ等の新興アクション映画の急速なレベルアップを意識して大幅リニューアルを施したのが、この2006年公開、ダニエル・クレイグ主演でシリアス路線に転換した「カジノロワイヤル」だ。それまでの核兵器や地球壊滅を目論むスペクターの圧倒的なスペクタクル犯罪ではない、極めて現実的な戦争マネーのロンダリングと利殖請負業と言う現代的な地に足のついたテーマに加え、此れまでにない肉体派ジェームス・ボンドのドライな自己統制や行動はハードボイルド的で、殊に根っからの女好きじゃないボンドはそれだけでもかなり衝撃的だった。ボンドガールもイケイケ・アクションの金髪美女じゃない、黒髪の知性漂う英国財務省金融活動部のエリート官僚役、エヴァ・グリーンなのだ。自分は彼女のファンだが本作のヴェスパー・リンド役は異様に嵌まっていて、彼女の憂いのある眼差しと微笑を湛える口許、優雅な佇まいは最高に魅力的で忘れ難い。最初は反目するボンドと彼女との間が急接近する展開は毎度お約束だが、次作「慰めの報酬」への伏線を兼ねたラストの展開には正直唸らされた。本作の凄さとは、此れまで築き上げた歴史を踏まえつつ、あらゆる既成概念を大胆に破壊して再創造しに行った制作方針の挑戦に尽きる。人気シリーズにとってはどう見ても冒険なのだが、旧作ファンから若者層に広がらないマーケティングを踏まえた結果とは言え、その勇気に驚きと賛辞を禁じ得ない。ボンドをとことん一人の人間として掘り下げた試みこそ本作最大の醍醐味だろう。ダニエル・クレイグとエヴァ・グリーンの好演だけでなく、悪役ル・シッフルを演じたマッツ・ミケルセンのアフリカ軍事政権の資金洗浄屋と言う微妙に弱い業者の立ち回り演出が素晴らしい。圧倒的な巨悪ではない、株の空売りとテロの組み合わせで資金利回りを稼ぐ投資家の禁じ手、インサイダー手法を活用する闇金融的な知的犯罪者の策謀シナリオに痺れた。米ＣＩＡ諜報員とポーカーで真剣に共闘する破天荒な脚本には驚いたが、Ｍが初の女性設定でドライテイストなのも現代的で良い。ボンドの危機一髪もちゃんとスリリングに挿入され、無駄の無いクールな台詞回しも相俟って全編にわたり完成度が高いので、何度観ても飽きない。悪にはタフだが、愛には餓えたボンドの人間的側面にこれほど感情移入するとは正直言って意外だが、ダニエル・クレイグだからこそ可能だったのだと思う。彼がスパイとして闘い続ける理由を想像しながら観るのが愉しかった。脚本、映像、演技、アクション、冴え渡る主題歌を含めた音楽の完璧なアンサンブルは、シリーズ過去の名作達を堂々と上書きした筈だ。失敗の許されない元祖スパイ映画のフルモデルチェンジを成功させた製作には、ビジネスパーソンとしても拍手喝采しかない革新的な傑作です。

Out of all of the modern Bond films, this is my favourite. I wasn’t keen when I saw that Daniel Craig has been cast as James Bond but this film changed my mind on that. It’s fast, tense and suitably cool.The actual card game in the Casino is my favourite part. Very tense and the poisoning part was just mind blowing!Great, great film and my favourite Bond film of the modern era.

Arrived in prompt time. Seen on dvd before which urged me to buy blu ray version. watched many bonds,not the best compared to some others. This story a little weak,distinctive effects, it was notable inconsistant image quality. good bonding movie despite the flaws as bond faces off with ruthless terrorist financier hinges on a poker game. grown tired of this romantic,passionate spy vision heroics,instead the purposeful,on the job hero. some over the top. Actions set pieces okay.

When this was first released I wasn't at all sure that I liked Daniel Craig as the new Bond. It seemed then that he didn't look the part. Well, he still doesn't, but I've come to like his Bond all the same. Craig is a very decent actor and he handles himself well in action scenes. His Bond is similar to that of Dalton in that here's a ruthless Bond with very little humour. Very much the way he was conceived by Fleming.As to the film, it's right up there with the best in the franchise. The story is great, the locations are glorious, sets and costumes are lavish and there are breathtaking action scenes and moments of great suspense. As to the cast, Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre makes for a worthy villain, Eva Green as Vesper Lynd is a very memorable Bond Girl, and Judi Dench makes a welcome return as M. What's not to like?

This is a fairly average james bond film.It's quite a different kind of a film from the previous films in the series,it feels like a prequel more than anything else.