No Time to Die, am I missing something

[kristiang85]

I am not a big fan of the cinema environment, so I'm gladly going to wait until the DVD/blu-ray release then I can watch it in the comfort of my own home.

I do think the Daniel Craig Bond films have been like marmite (love them or hate them) in comparison to the previous entries in the series. Casino Royale was a good one and went back to the roots of what 007 was really about in the Ian Fleming novels. Quantum of Solace was probably the 'turkey' out of Daniel Craig's era - it came quite quickly on the back of Casino Royale and it did feel a bit flat and too rushed. Skyfall and Spectre were both marked improvements but I did think that they were trying to push the boundaries wider and make the films somewhat 'noir' in their feel.

Personally, my favourites of the Craig era are in the order they were made (and I view this in the context of Bond films rather than the filmmaking itself):

1. Casino Royale - Almost the perfect film
2. Quantum of Solace - Very underrated I say; sadly a bit rushed due to writers' strike, but great action sequences and a gritty, exotic Bond adventure.
3. Skyfall - Looked great, but a bit too brooding in parts, and the plot was just silly. The whole film was a revenge mission on M and MI6, and Bond didn't succeed in saving it. It also pushed them into a hole in terms of changing Bonds by giving them the same codename James Bond, whereas in this the character was clearly Bond from birth. I'm not sure how they are going to write their way out of it when the new Bond comes in.
4. Spectre - Again the motiviation of the villain was flimsy; mostly about revenge against Bond, with a bit of global surveillance in the background. Overly long and drawn out and boring at times, but not too terrible on multiple watches. Decent action.
5. No Time To Die - I can't say my comments without giving away key points, but the more I think about it, the more I hated it. A promising first third was completely let down by the final two thirds.

 

[Red Onion]

I sadly must agree. The cinematography was great, and there were some decent action scenes, but it wasn't really a Bond film. If you want a bit of escapism, you won't get it.

And the ending left me very empty and unsatisfied.

I actually preferred Spectre, which is saying something.

Completely agree with this. I won’t say what, in order to avoid spoilers, but there were too many things that went away from making it a Bond movie. A lot didn’t seem to add much to the story and just dragged things out.

All in all it was a very deflating experience and it’s in my bottom three 007 movies with Die Another Day and Moonraker. I’m not sure where it fits in with them but it’s there.

 

[Scotrail314209]

I sadly must agree. The cinematography was great, and there were some decent action scenes, but it wasn't really a Bond film. If you want a bit of escapism, you won't get it.

And the ending left me very empty and unsatisfied.

I actually preferred Spectre, which is saying something.

I fell asleep during Spectre.

I do think the Bond films needed to be outstanding after coming off of Casino Royale and Skyfall, both of which were incredible.

I'm probably going to go see the new Bond film soon, but I've got reservations now.

 

[kristiang85]

All in all it was a very deflating experience and it’s in my bottom three 007 movies with Die Another Day and Moonraker. I’m not sure where it fits in with them but it’s there.

Moonraker is an absolute guilty pleasure of mine. It's so terrible and implausible it's actually enjoyable, up there with Sharknado. It has that escapist element which I enjoy. And the opening scene was pretty amazing, and filmed with no special effects in something like 80 skydives. That in itself is pretty impressive. The film was the right side of corny. But indeed I wouldn't put it above the bottom 25% of Bonds, but there are worse ones.

As for Die Another Day though... it was horrible. I caught the second half when channel hopping in lockdown and I had forgotten how truly terrible it was. There was no dialogue; just a mish mash of one liners interspersed amongst terrible special effects and physics-defying action scenes - but it seemed to be taking itself seriously, unlike Moonraker.

 

[Scotrail314209]

Moonraker is an absolute guilty pleasure of mine. It's so terrible and implausible it's actually enjoyable, up there with Sharknado. It has that escapist element which I enjoy. And the opening scene was pretty amazing, and filmed with no special effects in something like 80 skydives. That in itself is pretty impressive. It was the right side of corny.

As for Die Another Day though... it was horrible. I caught the second half when channel hopping in lockdown and I had forgotten how truly terrible it was. There was no dialogue; just a mish mash of one liners interspersed amongst terrible special effects and physics-defying action scenes - but it seemed to be taking itself seriously, unlike Moonraker.

I'm a big fan of Madonna, but Die Another Day just did not fit as a theme...

 

[Bungle73]

It appears to be doing rather well.....

Daniel Craig's final film as James Bond has notched up the highest opening weekend UK takings of any 007 movie.
Craig's fifth outing as 007 made £21m between Friday and Sunday, according to box office trackers Comscore.
It beat Skyfall's first weekend takings of £20.2m and Spectre's £19.8m. Those films sit at numbers two and three in the all-time UK box office chart.

No Time to Die scores James Bond's biggest UK opening box office weekend

Daniel Craig's final outing scores the biggest box office weekend ever for a Bond film in the UK.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[MikeWM]

I want to see NTTD with my brother, but I've just been away and he's already booked to go away from today for the next week. I want to go the IMAX,but according to the Odeon website the last screening is on the 14th. That means it's only on for 2 weeks! Surely that can't be right?? How can it only be on for a fortnight?? I thought this was supposed to be the big release to get people back to the cinema? It makes no sense.

I suspect it will be on the London Odeon/BFI/whatever-it-is-this-week IMAX for the following week too, and then will be replaced by Dune, though I also suspect it may reappear on that IMAX from time to time in the future for a while.

Film schedules tend to be updated for the following Friday to Thursday on the Tuesday of the week [1]. This gives the cinema a (short) window to plan the following week based on how the titles that are already open performed over the previous weekend.

No Time To Die is rather unusual already in having two weeks available 'up front' rather than one - I suspect that is due to (a) it being a very big release and (b) pretty much nothing new being out on its second week (The Addams Family 2 being pretty much the only release this Friday).


[1] There are exceptions where the programme is defined much more in advance - more specialist cinemas, eg. the BFI Southbank, or independent local cinemas.

 

[C J Snarzell]

Completely agree with this. I won’t say what, in order to avoid spoilers, but there were too many things that went away from making it a Bond movie. A lot didn’t seem to add much to the story and just dragged things out.

All in all it was a very deflating experience and it’s in my bottom three 007 movies with Die Another Day and Moonraker. I’m not sure where it fits in with them but it’s there.

Moonraker was dire. Back in 1979, the cinema was embracing the dawn of science fiction thanks to Star Wars, the first Star Trek motion picture and the original Alien film. Even Disney got in on the sci-fi theme with The Black Hole which wasn't best ever.

Unfortunately, even by the late 70's standards, Moonraker's space age world looked like something out of Logan's Run which has aged it really badly. The character of Jaws is merely brought back to provide some mild comedic relief.

Die Another Day, was probably one of those bond films that didn't really have any style or class to it. Pierce Brosman seemed to have become bored in the role and his final offering as Bond was a little too camp and tongue in the cheek.

CJ

 

[MikeWM]

It appears to be doing rather well.....

No Time to Die scores James Bond's biggest UK opening box office weekend

Daniel Craig's final outing scores the biggest box office weekend ever for a Bond film in the UK.

www.bbc.co.uk

Great news!

And I can believe it, given how full screens have appeared on a couple of random samplings I did over the weekend (using booking sites - I actually haven't seen the film yet. Maybe tonight...)

 

[Peregrine 4903]

I loved No Time To Die. I thought it was so much better than Spectre and Quantum of Solace. It wasn't a good as Skyfall and Casino Royale and did have some plot holes but it was an great film.

 

[Bungle73]

I actually like Moonraker - although maybe that's because it's a film I remember from my childhood. I don't think it's that unbelievable, given that at the end of the day it's a Bond. Bond, who runs around saving the world all by himself, and battles against some guy with a cat that wants to take over the world, and has been known to live inside a volcano. Not exactly true to life is it?

I did think they went too far with the invisible car on Die Another Day though. That's a very odd film though. It starts very dark with Bond being tortured, and then turns into some kind of comic boob cartoon.

I suspect it will be on the London Odeon/BFI/whatever-it-is-this-week IMAX for the following week too, and then will be replaced by Dune, though I also suspect it may reappear on that IMAX from time to time in the future for a while.

Film schedules tend to be updated for the following Friday to Thursday on the Tuesday of the week [1]. This gives the cinema a (short) window to plan the following week based on how the titles that are already open performed over the previous weekend.

No Time To Die is rather unusual already in having two weeks available 'up front' rather than one - I suspect that is due to (a) it being a very big release and (b) pretty much nothing new being out on its second week (The Addams Family 2 being pretty much the only release this Friday).


[1] There are exceptions where the programme is defined much more in advance - more specialist cinemas, eg. the BFI Southbank, or independent local cinemas.

Dune seems to be penciled in for the days after though, because it's already bookable. Although the Odeon does have several days in-between that aren't showing anything at all and aren't selectable atm. You think I should wait? Trouble is I don't want to wait too long lose my chance to select a decent seat at a decent cinema. The Odeon is fairly empty for the day I'm looking at fortunately atm though.

 

[MikeWM]

Dune seems to be penciled in for the days after though, because it's already bookable. Although the Odeon does have several days in-between that aren't showing anything at all and aren't selectable atm. You think I should wait? Trouble is I don't want to wait too long lose my chance to select a decent seat at a decent cinema. The Odeon is fairly empty for the day I'm looking at fortunately atm though.

Yes, my suspicion would be the 'inbetween' days will end up being mostly/entirely Bond screenings - though I'm not guaranteeing it

 

[Bungle73]

Yes, my suspicion would be the 'inbetween' days will end up being mostly/entirely Bond screenings - though I'm not guaranteeing it

I might just leave it to tomorrow and then book it.

 

[Berliner]

Personally, my favourites of the Craig era are in the order they were made (and I view this in the context of Bond films rather than the filmmaking itself):

1. Casino Royale - Almost the perfect film
2. Quantum of Solace - Very underrated I say; sadly a bit rushed due to writers' strike, but great action sequences and a gritty, exotic Bond adventure.
3. Skyfall - Looked great, but a bit too brooding in parts, and the plot was just silly. The whole film was a revenge mission on M and MI6, and Bond didn't succeed in saving it. It also pushed them into a hole in terms of changing Bonds by giving them the same codename James Bond, whereas in this the character was clearly Bond from birth. I'm not sure how they are going to write their way out of it when the new Bond comes in.
4. Spectre - Again the motiviation of the villain was flimsy; mostly about revenge against Bond, with a bit of global surveillance in the background. Overly long and drawn out and boring at times, but not too terrible on multiple watches. Decent action.
5. No Time To Die - I can't say my comments without giving away key points, but the more I think about it, the more I hated it. A promising first third was completely let down by the final two thirds.

I broadly agree with this, although I would rank QOS and Skyfall the other way round. I had never put much thought into your points about Skyfall and the back story, but it does present a glaring hole for future Bonds. I thought Skyfall was a return to the older style of Bond, with all the usual characters coming back and a familiar format, but updated for the modern audience. Spectre was a continuation of that too, and I was hoping NTTD would be that again, however, I was left very disappointed as was my mate with who I viewed it. Of course, NTTD will do well, it was always going to, and being the first huge cinema release for nearly 2 years was always going to guarantee it a large audience, but it doesn't detract from the fact that this Bond film, more so than others I can recall, has divided fans right down the middle. I do find that people who lean towards disliking it are people who enjoyed the older films and those who are raving about it and calling it the best ever haven't seen the original 20 and probably have no interest in them as people these days want more action, story arcs and emotional plots. The same people tend to shout about wanting to replace bond with a female actress as well, which Barbara Broccoli has ruled out time and time again.

Whoever replaces Daniel Craig, I hope we see a return to stand-alone films, perhaps a nod or two to previous stories, but none of this having the same story run for what was basically an actor's entire tenure or retrofitting the plot to suddenly make 2 previous films fit into an arc like we saw when Blofeld was introduced in Spectre.

 

[kristiang85]

ut it doesn't detract from the fact that this Bond film, moreso than others I can recall, ahs divided fans right down the middle. I do find that people who lean towards dislking it are people who enjoyed the older films and those who are raving about it and calling it the best ever haven't seen the original 20 and probably have no interest in them as people these days want more action, story arcs and emotional plots.

I totally agree with this. I'm certainly an 'old School' Bond fan, who watches the films for a bit of entertainment, excitement and adventure. There are plenty of other films and franchises for an emotional story arc, and Bond provided a respite from all that. Sadly that is no more the case.

 

[C J Snarzell]

I seem to recall that Spectre picked up a lot of threads from the previous three Daniel Craig films particularly around the network of villains who Bond had faced.

Blofeld was actually killed off in the opening sequence to 'For Your Eyes Only' when Roger Moore deposited him down a chimney stack. However, he was reincarnated for Christoph Waltz's role in Spectre.

Felix Leiter was left with life changing injuries in 'Licence To Kill' (being dunked in a shark tank), even loosing one of his legs, yet Jeffrey Wright has played a fully fit Leiter in recent Bond films.

Its fair to say, the Bond franchise will simply be regenerated for future films with plenty of flexibility to stretch back stories and reincarnate past characters. Maybe Mr Kidd and Mr Wint will put in another appearance in the next Bond?

CJ

 

[Peregrine 4903]

I seem to recall that Spectre picked up a lot of threads from the previous three Daniel Craig films particularly around the network of villains who Bond had faced.

Blofeld was actually killed off in the opening sequence to 'For Your Eyes Only' when Roger Moore deposited him down a chimney stack. However, he was reincarnated for Christoph Waltz's role in Spectre.

Felix Leiter was left with life changing injuries in 'Licence To Kill' (being dunked in a shark tank), even loosing one of his legs, yet Jeffrey Wright has played a fully fit Leiter in recent Bond films.

Its fair to say, the Bond franchise will simply be regenerated for future films with plenty of flexibility to stretch back stories and reincarnate past characters. Maybe Mr Kidd and Mr Wint will put in another appearance in the next Bond?

CJ

That was the thing I really didn't like about Spectre, the fact that apparently Blofeld was responsible for Silva and Le Chiffre seemed so forced and made utterly no sense whatsoever.

 

[Butts]

I totally agree with this. I'm certainly an 'old School' Bond fan, who watches the films for a bit of entertainment, excitement and adventure. There are plenty of other films and franchises for an emotional story arc, and Bond provided a respite from all that. Sadly that is no more the case.

One who likes to see Bond "Light his 70th Cigarette of the day" - Turkish of course.

 

[LOL The Irony]

I'm wondering how Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson intend to progress the Bond franchise further.

Some online commentators are saying the way they handled Craig's exit was so they could introduce an ethnically diverse Bond. I don't see why they need to pull things like that as I was completely fine with Idris Elba replacing Daniel Craig after Spectre, but now he's too old (Well done Barbara). So with that, I have created a list of Craig replacements;

Henry Cavill - Was runner up to Craig in 2005, right age range but may have a full diary.
Fionn Whitehead - Did a really good job in Dunkirk and Black Mirror, BUT, a bit too young and a bit too pretty boy. Also needs some meat on him.
Tom Hardy - Would be a similar Bond to Cavill, but like Elba, age is against him.
John Boyega - A bit young now but by the time fingers are pulled out, would be in the right age range. Also would help put disney SW behind him.
Chris Hemsworth - Made an excellent James Hunt in Rush, correct age range too and the best Bond was played by an Aussie.

 

[Ediswan]

In those days there was a thing called "barring", which meant that no other cinema within a specified area could show the film.

For barring, 'cinema' is a key word.

In the early 1980s I helped run a university film society* (16mm). Part of the deal with the copyright holders was strictly members only. Definitely no 'pay at the door' tickets.

The programme was mainstream student evening entertainment, not arthouse, mostly films that had been released in the previous year or two. We booked the prints many months in advance. One film on a Thursday, another on a Saturday.

Once, there was a commercial re-release of a film the same week had it booked. Barring did not apply. News got around outside campus (without Facebook). We had numerous dissapointed locals asking to be let in. Nobody turned away made a fuss.

* For the younger readers, there was a time before home video rental or on demand streaming. There was also a general rule that no film would be shown on TV within five years of release. Resolution of 16mm film is somewhere between DVD and HD. But our screen was measured in feet, not inches.

 

[XAM2175]

the best Bond was played by an Aussie.

Even he disagrees with you on that

 

[Mcr Warrior]

...the best Bond was played by an Aussie.

Never knew that Sir Sean was an Aussie!

 

[LOL The Irony]

Never knew that Sir Sean was an Aussie!

Lazenby was better than Connery and I'm willing to die on this hill.

 

[102 fan]

How did the Producers ever think that ending could be kept quiet after the first weekend?

 

[C J Snarzell]

One who likes to see Bond "Light his 70th Cigarette of the day" - Turkish of course.

If Bond did smoke as much on screen as he did in the Ian Fleming novels, I think he would be out of breath climbing the stairs, let alone running across the top of moving trains or scaling huge mountains. He would also be holding his Walter PPK with yellow fingers!!!!

CJ

 

[LOL The Irony]

How did the Producers ever think that ending could be kept quiet after the first weekend?

I mean it was already known about as it was the reason Danny Boyle was sacked. Craig wanted that ending, Boyle didn't.

 

[C J Snarzell]

I mean it was already known about as it was the reason Danny Boyle was sacked. Craig wanted that ending, Boyle didn't.

I have heard rumours that Daniel Craig is a very difficult actor to work with. Most actors command a level of professional behaviour when they are on set, but I am lead to believe Craig is like a male Diva towards anyone 'beneath' him or those he does not see eye-to-eye with.

CJ

 

[AlterEgo]

I mean it was already known about as it was the reason Danny Boyle was sacked. Craig wanted that ending, Boyle didn't.

Boyle was right, the ending was suitably terrible, which is a shame. The first half hour of the film was very good.

 

[LOL The Irony]

I have heard rumours that Daniel Craig is a very difficult actor to work with. Most actors command a level of professional behaviour when they are on set, but I am lead to believe Craig is like a male Diva towards anyone 'beneath' him or those he does not see eye-to-eye with.

That explains things.

Boyle was right, the ending was suitably terrible, which is a shame. The first half hour of the film was very good.

I haven't seen it and finding out about the ending really puts me further off, along with the runtime and initial trailers.

 

[MikeWM]

In the early 1980s I helped run a university film society* (16mm). Part of the deal with the copyright holders was strictly members only. Definitely no 'pay at the door' tickets.

The programme was mainstream student evening entertainment, not arthouse, mostly films that had been released in the previous year or two. We booked the prints many months in advance. One film on a Thursday, another on a Saturday.

Film societies in Cambridge colleges in the 1990s did this in a similar, though fairly clever, way - they held a raffle for something cheap and unexciting (usually a bottle of wine) and 'coincidentally' showed a film while you were waiting for the raffle to be drawn