Casino Royale [Blu-ray]

Casino Royale [Blu-ray]
by Martin Campbell

Casino Royale [Blu-ray]

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DVD details

Actor: Daniel Craig, Isaach de Bankol?, Jeffrey Wright, Jesper Christensen, Judi Dench
Director: Martin Campbell
Brand: CRAIG,DANIEL
Cinematographer: Phil Meheux
Composer: David Arnold
Editor: Stuart Baird
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.40:1
Running Time: 144 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-03-13
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Columbia Pictures

DVD Reviews of Casino Royale [Blu-ray]

DVD Review: Casino-Blu-Royale
Summary: 5 Stars

Really love this Bond movie, certainly one of the best. Craig is surprisingly great as Bond and Dench as M. Loved the action sequences, the script, and the sports car. It's great on blu-ray, video/audio quality - EXCELLENT !!!. Every Bond fans should own this movie. Highly recommend it. ENJOY !!!

DVD Review: Different kind of Bond and different kind of Bond film.
Summary: 5 Stars

When was the last time you were wowed by a Bond film?

Mine was the first Bond film I watched when I was 7 and it was The Spy Who Loved Me. Since then, I have watched all the Bond films, and none seem to have the depth nor character development usually required in a real film.

This Bond movie is different. This is a different kind of Bond and a different kind of a Bond film.

Daniel Craig plays a Bond with a actual psyche. Yes, Bond has feelings now! He even has psychological vulnerabilities!

Vesper Lynd, played so skillfully by Eva Green, pokes at Bond's vulnerabilities by guessing, presumably correctly, "you are an orphan!....you did not come from money and your friends at Oxford never let you forget it!".

The fight sequences has Bond getting hurt and even getting a few scratches on his face. Yes, Bond gets hit and gets hurt too. Whoever thought that was possible? Bond is far from mythical, he is all too human. And that makes him far more interesting than ever.

Daniel Craig portrays Bond as an angry, almost psychotic, man willing to do anything to achieve his mission. Sometimes, he lets his anger get the better of his judgment and he even unravels.

Did I also mention this is the best casino gambling film I have ever seen?

Overall, this is a masterpiece that will be remembered by Bond fans for a long time to come. It will be hard to beat this one.

DVD Review: The new James Bond oh yeah!
Summary: 5 Stars

I like this James Bond. This DVD held my interest all the way through.

DVD Review: Not the old movie Bond, but not the book Bond either
Summary: 3 Stars

Set prior to the previous Bond movies, James Bond (Daniel Craig) is sent on a mission to partake in a high-stakes poker game with the aim of bankrupting Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), the banker to a major terrorist organization.

There are two ways that you can look at "Casino Royale": as an entry in the James Bond series of movies or as an adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel of the same name. As a Bond movie, "Casino Royale" is in many ways a far cry from its predecessors. Gone are the clever quips and the gadgets, yet the makers of this film were smart enough to retain the action sequences (and lots of them), Bond girls (although Eva Green is by no means great) and Judi Dench as M, so there are enough parallels between "Casino Royale" and the earlier films to keep fans happy.

As an adaptation of the novel, on the other hand, the success of "Casino Royale" is less clear. "Casino Royale" is far more faithful to its source than any of the Roger Moore Bond films, but not as faithful as the earlier Sean Connery films (in particular, "Dr No" - probably the most faithful of all of the Bond movies to its origins). The central elements of the story are taken from the novel, but a lot of extra scenes are added in around them. Almost the entire first hour of the film comprises original material. These extra scenes, however, are, more or less, in the spirit of the novel. The biggest departure from the novel is in the character of Bond himself. The Bond of this movie is an immature, disrespectful loose cannon, while Fleming's Bond is the exact opposite. Several scenes have Bond acting against the direct orders of M, which the Bond of the books would never do.

As for whether Daniel Craig makes a good James Bond or not, that will largely depend on your personal tastes. In my opinion, Craig is not a bad actor, but he is nowhere near as effective a Bond as Sean Connery or even Pierce Brosnan.

Overall, "Casino Royale" is worth watching, and I am glad that someone has finally made a proper film version of this novel (the earlier, David Niven film of the same name bears little resemblance to the book and is one of the worst films I have ever seen), but it doesn't quite live up to the high standards set by some of the earlier Bond films, in particular "Dr No" and "Goldfinger".

DVD Review: High Stakes
Summary: 4 Stars

Not too shabby if you're into English "eye-candy". More focus on the High Stakes Game would've given the plot even MORE substance.

Description of Casino Royale [Blu-ray]

Casino Royale introduces James BOond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond is no 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 the newly-promoted 007 on his first mission that takes him to Madagascar, the Bahamas and eventually leads him to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre, a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clientele, who is attempting to restore his funds in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale. "M" places Bond under the watchful eye of the Treasury official Vesper Lynd. At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together. Le Chiffre's cunning and cruelty come to bear on them both in a way Bond could never imagine, and he learns his most important lesson: Trust no one.

The most successful invigoration of a cinematic franchise since Batman Begins, Casino Royale offers a new Bond identity. Based on the Ian Fleming novel that introduced Agent 007 into a Cold War world, Casino Royale is the most brutal and viscerally exciting James Bond film since Sean Connery left Her Majesty's Secret Service. Meet the new Bond; not the same as the old Bond. Daniel Craig gives a galvanizing performance as the freshly minted double-0 agent. Suave, yes, but also a "blunt instrument," reckless, and possessed with an ego that compromises his judgment during his first mission to root out the mastermind behind an operation that funds international terrorists. In classic Bond film tradition, his global itinerary takes him to far-flung locales, including Uganda, Madagascar, the Bahamas (that's more like it), and Montenegro, where he is pitted against his nemesis in a poker game, with hundreds of millions in the pot. The stakes get even higher when Bond lets down his "armor" and falls in love with Vesper (Eva Green), the ravishing banker's representative fronting him the money.

For longtime fans of the franchise, Casino Royale offers some retro kicks. Bond wins his iconic Astin-Martin at the gaming table, and when a bartender asks if he wants his martini "shaken or stirred," he disdainfully replies, "Do I look like I give a damn?" There's no Moneypenny or "Q," but Dame Judi Dench is back as the exasperated M, who one senses, admires Bond's "bloody cheek." A Bond film is only as good as its villain, and Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre, who weeps blood, is a sinister dandy. From its punishing violence and virtuoso action sequences to its romance, Casino Royale is a Bond film that, in the words of one character, makes you feel it, particularly during an excruciating torture sequence. Double-0s, Bond observes early on, "have a short life expectancy." But with Craig, there is new life in the old franchise yet, as well as genuine anticipation for the next one when, at last, the signature James Bond theme kicks in following the best last line ever in any Bond film. To quote Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin, now I know what I've been faking all these years. --Donald Liebenson

Stills from Casino Royale (click for larger image)

Beyond Casino Royale on Amazon.com

On Blu-ray
CD Soundtrack
Why We Love Daniel Craig

The Amazon.com James Bond Store
Where Have I Seen Daniel Craig?
Bond on Set: Filming Casino Royale Book

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