This movie starts with Bond needing two kills to qualify and become a 00; thus granting him a licence to kill. This all happens in the opening sequence were he is sent on a mission to Prague to make those kills. Amongst these are the MI6 section chief, Dryden, who has sold British secrets, and his contact, Fisher.
The basis of the story unfolds when he sent on his first mission as a double-0 to Madagascar in pursuit of international bomb-maker Mollaka. He kills the bomb maker, and to survive he also takes down a part of the embasy. Bond obtains the bomb-maker's mobile phone and finds out it has been receiving calls from a location within the Bahamas. He find Dimitrios (linked to Chiffre). The story then develops as Bond wins him in a poker game a later seduces his wife. From doing so he gathers information that her husband his flying out to Miami. Bond tracks him down and kills him. In this sequence Bond foils Le Chiffre's plan to destroy the prototype Skyfleet airliner and thus leaves Le Chiffre with a major loss. This sets the film up for the rest of the film were Le Chiffre sets up a high stakes poker game to make up for his clients losses and Bond enters the game to bankrupt him.
Before I start I have to say that the die hard Bond fans out there may be surprised about how different this film is in comparison with the others. It is definitely a change of direction for this popular franchise, most notably the film appeals to a different type of viewer than the previous Bond films. There are a few things that I noticed was; Bond isn't a ladies man, there are no significant car chase scenes, the film lacks that little bit of humour which often associated with the series and ultimately, throughout the film he is extremely vulnerable and lacking the element control all the bonds in past which was part of who Bond was.
However, this being said, it was not neccesarily moved in a bad direction and in someways it instilled a bit of unpredicability in the film which was previously lacking in the series. One major problem with this move however, is the gaping plot holes. For example; When the CIA was going to pick up Mr One Eye. Felix Leiter tells Bond it's all set. The next thing we know Mr One Eye is not only free from the CIA but has his crew of thugs able to kidnap people and take them away without any CIA tail. I just could not understand it.
Overall the film is entertaining with good action sequences, it does not follow the usual Bond franchise; this could be a good or a bad thing, it depends on how you view it. However in my opinion it falls short because of it; the bond franchise was popular for a reason, this film seems to ignore all of that.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1992 - Comedy - Director: Luis Mandoki - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Melanie Griffith, Don Johnson, John Goodman
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Re-rated based on Ciao's insistence that such reviews are no longer considered "Off Topic"
Soho_Black 05.06.2007 10:48
I see you've posted this as a DVD review, but you've not mentioned the DVD. Are there any extras? If so, what are they and are they any good? If you add to this, or if you change it to be posted as a "Film Only" review, which can be done by accessing "edit review" above the review and changing the drop down menu under the "Which format are you reviewing?" question at the bottom, please let me know and I'll re-rate.
mummy2harry 31.05.2007 16:09
Just a tip...if you are reviewing the DVD as opposed to FILM ONLY, make sure you comment on features on the DVD i.e. added scenes, featurettes etc. Good review on the film though
John Huston was only one of five directors onCasino Royale, the expensive, all-star 1967 ... more
spoof of Ian Fleming's 007 lore. David Niven is the aging Sir James Bond, called out of retirement to take on the organised threat of SMERSH and pass on the secret...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Awesome action, emotional depth, believable story and characters. In a Bond movie! Disadvantages: No Q, no Moneypenny, fewer gadgets, fewer laughs
MBC16 27.09.2008 (27.09.2008)
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