Having heard so many positive things I could not wait for the new look James Bond movie Casino Royale. Many people had claimed to have been to the cinemas two, three and even four times to see this "The best Bond yet!" So as me and my other half settled down on a Saturday night to watch this ... Read review
Casino Royale introduces James Bond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond is no ... more
less dangerous, and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he is elevated to 00 status. M (Judi Dench), head of the British Secret Service, sends...
In his first mission agent 007 James Bond must neutralize a Russian agent known as "Le ... more
Chiffre" by ruining him at the baccarat table thus forcing his "retirement". However a beautiful female agent leads him to disaster - and an unexpected saviour.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Introducing James Bond: charming sophisticated handsome; chillingly ruthless and very ... more
deadly. This the first of Fleming's tales of agent 007 finds Bond on a mission to neutralize a lethal high-rolling Russian operative called simply 'Le Chiffre' - by ruining him at the baccarat table and forcing his Soviet spy masters to 'retire' him. It seems that lady luck is taken with James - Le Chiffre has hit a losing streak. But some people just refuse to play by the rules and Bond's attraction to a beautiful female agent leads him to disaster and an unexpected savior.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
A dry martini ' Bond said. 'In a deep champagne goblet. Three measures of Gordons one of ... more
Vodka half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice cold then add a thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?' 'Certainly monsieur.' Introducing James Bond: charming sophisticated handsome; chillingly ruthless and very deadly this the first of Fleming's tales of agent 007 finds Bond on a mission to neutralize a lethal high-rolling Russian operative called simply The Cypher' by ruining him at the Baccarat table and forcing his Soviet spymasters to retire' him. It seems that lady luck is taken with James. The Cypher has hit a losing streak. But some people just refuse to play by the rules and Bond's attraction to a beautiful female agent leads him to disaster and an unexpected saviour.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Casino Royale is the first of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and sees the British agent ... more
dispatched to France to ruin an enemy agent at cards ...Introducing James Bond: charming sophisticated handsome; chillingly ruthless and very deadly. Spymaster M has sent Bond on a mission to neutralize a lethal high-rolling Russian operative called simply 'Le Chiffre' -- by ruining him at the baccarat table and forcing his Soviet spymasters to 'retire' him. It seems that lady luck is taken with James -- Le Chiffre has hit a losing streak. But some people just refuse to play by the rules and Bond's attraction to a beautiful female agent leads him to disaster and an unexpected saviour ...
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Things are looking decidedly bleak for British Intelligence, in both senses of the term. ... more
SMERSH has begun to sabotage global stability; no less than 11 agents have been lost; and to make matters worse, our greatest secret agent, 007 is languishing in stately retirement.M - together with the heads of the CIA (from Washington D.C.) and KGB (from the U.S.S.R.) - have only one hope: to bring Sir James Bond (David Niven) out of retirement and into the field. Finding himself pitched against an opposition of fiendish intensity - an array of female secret agents armed with explosive grouse; a baccarat-playing illusionist (Orson Welles) and a neurotic megalomaniac (Woody Allen) - Bond launches his brilliant plan... 'from now on, all agents will be known as James Bond, including the girls'.
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Advantages: A new look Disadvantages: Back with the old now please
...new look James Bond movie Casino Royale. Many people had claimed to have been to the cinemas two, three and even four times to see this "The best Bond yet!" So as me and my other half settled down on a Saturday night to watch this movie we had high expectations; two hours and twenty minutes later one question rang through my head "Did I miss something?"
The thing as I understand it that pleased the new Bond fans ... .../>
Another disappointment is that Casino Royale appears from the trailer to be "The Beginning Of Bond"; this deception, yes deception is the right word lasts little more than five minutes and is taken in one scene, and in dialogue only. There is no past history, no action, and no hint at getting to discover the darker side of Bond as illustrated in other previous movies. Also rather annoyingly there is no presence of Q in any shape or ... more
Having heard so many positive things I could not wait for the new look James Bond movie Casino Royale. Many people had claimed to have been to the cinemas two, three and even four times to see this "The best Bond yet!" So as me and my other half settled down on a Saturday night to watch this movie we had high expectations; two hours and twenty minutes later one question rang through my head "Did I miss something?"
The thing as I understand it that pleased the new Bond fans was the realism of the movie. If new Bond Daniel Craig is in an explosion he gets up covered in scars, however previous bonds would get up and dust themselves off and look just the same. In honesty although I understand this point of view, I feel those with this image might not have seen a Bond movie for some considerable time. One employee of mine got quite angry when I knocked the realism of this movie. I feel that on one side while the Bond franchise has gained a little "reality" on the other side it has lost the plot. In one of the first action scenes of the movie Bond chases a man from a gambling den (involving animals) through the streets and onto a building site. From the building site he tears through an Embassy before creating a massive explosion. While some claim this is real to life I have to ask is it? Bond having not only developed the ability to jump massive leaps (I believe this new sport of jumping from rooftop to rooftop is popular in France), but he happens to know the intricate and fundamental details of a variety of tools and machines he encounters. Having spent little more than a second with said devices he manages to cut cables, shoot gas pipes, and create winches from things most normal people would not spot; that includes old Bond too.
The second big issue was the action scenes, scorching trailers to promote the movie showed blistering action scenes making this movie look like an absolute spectacular. In reality there are only three main action scenes, there is allegedly a forth action scene; but this depends on your depiction of action I guess as this scene takes place around a card table. I'm not a poker player, and I don't really understand Poker; so the impact of this said action scene leaves me cold. And I have to ask myself if I'm the only one that has no understanding of Poker? The key part of the movie is based around a Poker table, the price a hefty sum of around 124 million dollars. There is a little action going on around this time as Bond leaves the table for various breaks and gets involved in a number of scrapes and near death experiences. But Bond always returns to the table and engages in some a little play acting and analysis of "tells".
Another disappointment is that Casino Royale appears from the trailer to be "The Beginning Of Bond"; this deception, yes deception is the right word lasts little more than five minutes and is taken in one scene, and in dialogue only. There is no past history, no action, and no hint at getting to discover the darker side of Bond as illustrated in other previous movies. Also rather annoyingly there is no presence of Q in any shape or form; Q was the gadget man in previous Bond movies and was played by Desmond Llewelyn until just prior to his death and then John Cleese. No reference I even given to this incredibly popular character in the Bond franchise. Not much focus is paid to the toys either, they are simply just introduced like they are no big deal. I deeply missed the introduction of the gadgets and the common line "Oh do pay attention 007". While M played by Judi Dench makes a return; also missing in any form is Moneypenny.
On the plus side there is a carefully sculpted love story in the final quarter of the movie; in which Bond falls for the stunningly beautiful Vesper Lynd (played by Eva Green). The two say goodbye to their past lives and head off into the sunset or so it appears before the final action scene kicks off. At this point of the movie however you really pay attention to the beauty of the filming locations Montenegro and Venice have never looked so beautiful the blues so blue, and the greens of the plant life so real you could reach out and touch them. Venice in particular really stood out to me, as I'm examining Italian movies at present and the big difference between the real Venice and the side we see on screen.
One last shock to deliver is the lack of the familiar Bond theme as the action rolls into the opening credits, instead the James Bond theme is saved until the closing credits of the movie. I was mortified at this sacrilege of the one thing that James Bond fans expect to see. After all in order to stay popular the movie should appeal to the old fans as well as the new ones.
Controversially I move on to Bond in the form of Daniel Craig, was he the right choice? I guess perhaps he is, a lot rougher around the edges than any of the five Bonds that preceded him. The whole but he's blonde argument really does not work because on screen I see him as having dark brown hair, and not being blonde. The one thing which is unusual for me to pick up on but I have to after hearing fleets of women say how wonderful he looks, is that I strongly disagree. When I look at Daniel Craig, (in Bond not his previous works as he scarcely registered on my attention scale) I am reminded of the 1989 movie Johnny Handsome starring Mickey Rourke. Craig does seem to have a certain cat like appearance about him, and certainly looks like he had one to many fights as a child. Although in terms of physique here he is certainly a much "fitter" Bond than all that past before him, either that or CGI has moved into realms I had not realised it could.
The movie itself with the exception of Eva Green (who's career I will follow with some passion now) for me was a washout. I say for me I also include several of my work colleagues and my other half, who illustrated her distain for the movie by holding her hand out in a confused gesture while uttering the words "What the F***?" All the charm of Bond was missing , the spectacular final battles, the humour, the big base that the bad guy generally has his final battle with Bond in. it's a long arduous movie, the Poker game being prominent to the story takes a lot of the fun out of the adventure. Twenty minutes clipped off would have improved my viewing of the movie quite considerably. One very important issue however I need to bring up is that this movie has left me with one of the most striking lasting memories of the Bond franchise. And this involves a scene in which Bond finds Vesper Lynd after recently having a fatal encounter with two thugs, sat in the shower fully clothed. She is trying to wash herself clean from her encounter, Bond joins her on the floor of the shower and attempts to comfort her "Are you cold?" he asks, to which she replies she is. Bond reaches up and turns the hot tap a little further on. The camera pulls back leaving them sat on the shower floor both clearly shaken after their recent encounter. This is the most beautiful image of not just the movie, but of any movie I have seen for some time.
One final point, having seen this version not the 60's comedy movie; I fully understand why the producers of the Bond movies chose to miss this movie out and go straight to Dr. No; because I feel had this had been the first Bond back in 1962 it possibly would have been the last.
Special Features:-
Becoming Bond (30 mins) A look at how Daniel Craig embraced his new role of Bond.
James Bond For Real (30 mins) This is quite simply a rehash of 100 James Bond documentaries that feature on other movies in the series. 5 minutes in I realised this had nothing new to offer so simply moved on to the next.
Death in Venice (30 mins) A look at the large special effects in the final segment of the movie.
Bond Girls are Forever ( 50+ mins) James Bond girls past present and their input on the movies.
5 News wraps - A series of reports on the movie during production stages.
Music Video - Tedious the first time round, why listen too it again with a different video.
I purchased my DVD from play.com priced £14.99 though I am told some better offers may exist on the high street especially if you joint invest in some older Bond movies.
Advantages: New Gritty Bond, Much darker and exciting than previous outings Disadvantages: You may miss the gadgets
...Batman.
And that’s what Casino Royale did, it rebooted the popular franchise, giving it a fresh face in the form of the much-criticised Daniel Craig. Something, which bothered me somewhat as most people, didn’t even give him a chance before condemning him. The franchise is now much grittier, the gadgets, the women with funny names (Holly Goodhead) are now gone, as is the glitz and the glamour that previous Bond’s relied on. In its place is a colder, ... ...game is to the plot. Casino Royale is where the game takes place and coincidently is the name of the casino in the first Bond film “Dr No”. It’s at the casino that Bonds character really evolves; he shows his animal side as he kills two henchmen in a very dark and graphic way for the series. Its Vespers reaction to the killings that really shows the audience how little Bond has left in terms of spirits and compassion, whilst he wipes the blood away ...
SecretLemonadeDrinker 23.05.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Casino Royale (Collector's Edition) (DVD)
Advantages: Great performances from all actors. Fresh and gritty. Disadvantages: Some may be disappointed because of the lack of gadgets/humour.
...speaking, I feel as if Casino Royale is the best Bond film and has the greatest James Bond character to date. This is because Daniel Craig's performance is utterly fantastic, and he thoroughly deserves the praise he has been receiving. The DVD goes fantastically with the film, and I would only recommend the Collectors Edition, as it provides some excellent special feautres that are definitley worth viewing.
At first, I was sceptical about the new ... ...poker game, held at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. If he loses this game, he's finished. MI6 decided to enter Bond into the tournament, because 'M' thinks he is the best player in the service. However, Bond fails at first to win the game, with Le Chiffre gaining his pot. Vesper Lynd (the official Bond girl who controls 'the money') refuses to put more money back into the game. This makes James angry, making him almost kill Le Chiffre with a dinner ...
luke_001 18.07.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Casino Royale (Collector's Edition) (DVD)
Advantages: Great effects, a 'mortal' Bond, pretty ladies and a fast car! Disadvantages: No camp names for the girls, no cliched moments
...with the latest Bond movie, Casino Royale, taking us back to the start of Ian Fleming's epic and notorious special agent's career.
This time, however, it's done with twenty-first century gusto and special effects and we're introduced to a Bond who's a little grittier, a little darker, and a little more mysterious than anything Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan or, indeed, the original Casino Royale James Bond, Peter Sellers, ... ...hero…
This version of Casino Royale sticks loosely to the plot of the 1967 original, but while the first one shows Bond as a retired Special Agent dragged back in to service to topple Le Chiffre's Baccarat ring, this one shows Bond as a new recruit. The characters are loosely similar, sharing names and so on, but the background story and twist in the tale towards the end are different.
In all, I think this is probably one of the best Bond's ever, ...
markd_uk 13.04.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Casino Royale (Collector's Edition) (DVD)
Advantages: great cast and brilliant stunts - best bond yet Disadvantages: none
I purchased casino royale a while ago now but when originally buying i was so excited as obviously this was the 'new bond' that had been talked about for months and also our first blonde bond!! I was never keen on peirce brosnan so was quite chuffed at the new choice of bond that had been chosen not to say the least that he's a much better peice of eye candy in my opinion!! a more modern bond with a look of the tough guy who actually looks like he ... ...played a bond and the casino royale movie is based on the story of bond just receiving his 007 status and his first assignment from this. As i also mentione dhios character seems more 'real' somehow than other bonds before him as we see him get injured and actuallly fight as a real man would! He also doesn't tend to have as many gadgets like other bonds and tends to use his own skill and cunning to get what he wants. We actually also see him very ...
frankiecesca 30.09.2007 (26.09.2007)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Casino Royale (Collector's Edition) (DVD)
Advantages: Daniel Craig, great scenery Disadvantages: None
...better than ever! Casino Royale is Daniel Craig's first outing as the super secret agent, James Bond. He has now made another movie that sort of follows on from this one but I much prefer Casino Royale. What I like about this film is that they were not afraid to how a gentler side, a romantic side and also a side of Bond where he actually gets hurt and injured and ends up with a few scars on his face. In other Bond movies he generally escapes from ... ...There are some really great casino scenes in this film and if you like watching that you will definitely enjoy the high stakes involved. The action of course is great with a great scene near the end in Venice where a whole building falls into the water with people still inside. There are also some great scenery scenes in this movie, just like in every James Bond film from the beach to the coast, just stunning places where you would absolutely love ...
Spottydog11 21.02.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Casino Royale (Collector's Edition) (DVD)
Contains one scene of torture and strong action violence
Video Category
Feature Film
Plot
In CASINO ROYALE, James Bond goes to a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro to square off against terrorist banker Le Chiffre, an international loan shark who gambles with the money of his equally dangerous clients. Beautiful British Treasury representative Vesper Lynd supplies Bond’s own funds, appearing on his arm in Montenegro, while M keeps a close watch on the action from headquarters.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Becoming Bond featurette, James Bond For Real featurette, Bond Girls Are Forever featurette, Chris Cornell music video
Aspect Ratio
2.35 HD Widescreen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 Czech English Hungarian Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish
Professional reviews
Review
CASINO ROYALE, the most exciting Bond film since ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, has everything you want in a pop entertainment: physical audacity, intrigue, romance, but also a charge of personality (Entertainment Weekly, 31/01/2007)
Craig is very good indeed: everything about his performance shows cunning and grace (Sight And Sound, 31/01/2007)
There's no disputing the icon is re-energised by Craig....Vibrant, vital and violent, when he utters the immortal final line, your neck hairs spike and your pulse pounds (Total Film, 31/01/2007)
DVD Description
After a great deal of discussion--on the part of fans and producers alike--over Daniel Craig’s (THE MOTHER, MUNICH) suitability for the role of James Bond, he more than proves himself in this explosive revamping of the franchise. Under the direction of Martin Campbell (THE MASK OF ZORRO) and with Paul Haggis (CRASH) helping with the re-writes, this addition to the Bond canon manages to hold true to the essence of the stories--the villainous villains, the fabulous sets, the beautiful women, the fast-paced action--while updating the formula with subtlety and humanity. Trading in the Cold War era for a new, post-9-11 landscape, the tale unfolds in locations that span the globe, including the Bahamas, Venice, and the Czech Republic. It opens in Madagascar, where Bond pursues a guerilla bomb-maker in one of the most breathtaking chase scenes ever--and it all takes place on foot. Botching that assignment, Bond goes to Montenegro to square off against terrorist baddie Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelson), an international loan shark who gambles with the money of his equally dangerous clients. Beautiful British Treasury representative Vesper Lynd (Eva Green, THE DREAMERS) supplies Bond’s own funds, appearing on his arm in Montenegro, while M (Dame Judi Dench, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE) keeps a close watch on the action from headquarters. The extravagant poker game forms the centre of the action, with Jeffrey Wright (SYRIANA, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE) putting in an intense appearance at the table; interrupting the game are assassination attempts, poisoning, and other dramatic events that keep the adrenaline pumping. The flirtation that unfolds between Bond and Vesper Lynd is only in keeping with the spy’s M.O. as a ladies’ man. What differs here, however, is what sets this Bond apart from the rest: the romance is taken seriously, and it exposes a vulnerability in Bond that he’s never shown before. This, however, only makes him the tougher, as Craig's Bond is darker, less campy, more brooding and mysterious, than his past incarnations ever were.
Compare Casino Royale (Collector's Edition) (DVD) to other similar Action & Adventure »
![Casino Royale [2006]-DVD](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/103256754.jpg)
![Casino Royale [1967]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/97380711.jpg "Casino Royale [1967]")
