Like any guy my age, I've committed several Bond films to memory. But I haven't really loved a Bond movie in many years. I probably have to go back to the overlooked "For Your Eyes Only" to find one that really excited me upon release (of course I was 21 at the time, which helped). It had the excellent Topol as Bond's pistachio-munching comrade in arms, and the lovely Carole Bouquet as the girl, which was a fascinating choice because her claim to fame theretofore was as a frequently featured player in Bunuel films, although I didn't know that until much later.
Anyway, I haven't seen the new one yet and may not bother. But I am sort of intrigued by this post from the eminent Juan Cole:
The reviews of director Marc Forster's "Quantum of Solace" have complained about the film's hectic pace (reminiscent of Doug Liman's and Paul Greengrass's Bourne thrillers), about the humorlessness of Daniel Craig's Bond, and even about the squalid surroundings, so unlike Monaco and Prague, in which the film is set (with many scenes in Haiti and Bolivia). They have missed the most remarkable departure of all. Forster presents us with a new phenomenon in the James Bond films, a Bond at odds with the United States, who risks his career to save Evo Morales's leftist regime in Bolivia from being overthrown by a General Medrano, who is helped by the CIA and a private mercenary organization called Quantum. In short, this Bond is more Michael Moore than Roger Moore.
Is this so? Might make it more interesting. On the other hand it won't necessarily alleviate the tediousness of watching all kinds of things get blown up, which our man Bradshaw noted in his review. I hate all these explosions. I like the early ones, when they could milk 20 minutes of drama out of a belly-dancing sequence. Or when Bond shot Dent in cold blood: "That's a Smith and Wesson. You've had your six." Bang bang bang. That, as aficionados will know, was quite controversial in 1962, and much debated by the film's makers.
And of course I'm predictably loyal to Connery, although I do love the scene from Buffy when Warren and Andrew and Jonathan are arguing about their choice for the best Bond portrayer, and Andrew, making the brave case for Dalton (whose two efforts weren't bad at all in my view), screams to Warren: "I wish Timothy Dalton would win an Oscar and hit Sean Connery over the head with it!"
