Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Skyfall

 

This is, of course, the third Bond movie with Daniel Craig starring in the titular role. It is unique in a couple of ways. First, the opening sequence diverges a lot from the opening sequences of many of the prior Bond movies where Bond manages to successfully capture or kill someone, or execute some mission that he is on, usually separate from the main story. I have not seen every Bond movie, but the ones I have seen have all opened like that. Second, this movie, unlike Quantum of Solace, is not tied into the storyline from Casino Royale. Of course, anyone who has seen the rest of the Bond films knows that there is a return to that story arc after this movie. The story in this movie revolves as much around M (played brilliantly by Judi Dench) than it does Bond, and Javier Bardem is awesome as the main villain Raoul Silva, in a much different role than his other iconic villain character from No Country for Old Men.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the A/V quality is awesome, and the cinematography really pops in the HD. format. The extras include two separate commentary tracks on the film, one with the director Sam Mendes, and the other with the producers of the movie. Then there is an hour-long making-of documentary that is split into several parts that can be watched individually or all at once. Then there is a short feature on the world premiere of the movie, the theatrical trailer, and trailers for other movies. So, a lot of good material if you like watching the extras.

Overall, the movie is very good. Daniel Craig has really solidified his role as Bond and by this point all the griping and complaining about him as the lead had pretty much stopped. The movie balances the action scenes with the dramatic scenes very well, and the acting is spectacular. I have not seen all of the Bond movies, but of the ones that I have, it is definitely one of my favorites and well worth watching.

4k UHD Blu-Ray Review: No Time to Die

 

Rami Malek, Lea Seydoux, Naomie Harris, Michael G. Wilson, Lashana Lynch, Jeffrey Wright, Neal Purvis, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Ben Whishaw, Robert Wade, Daniel Craig, Barbara Broccoli

No Time to Die, released in 2021, is the 25th overall Bond film and the final film in which Daniel Craig will be in the title role. It stars the aforementioned Craig, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, Lea Seydoux, Naomi Harris, Ana de Armas, and Ralph Fiennes. The supporting cast includes Billy Magnussen, Christoph Waltz, and Jeffrey Wright. 

As has been the case with all of Craig's films, this one is tied to the others and is a direct sequel to Spectre. While Christoph Waltz does return as Blofeld, the main villain of the movie is Safin, played by Rami Malek, who has a direct tie to Madeline Swann (again played by Lea Seydoux). In fact, the opening sequence of this movie does not involve Bond at all but shows the death of Madaline's mother when Madeline was a little girl. Then the movie jumps to the present where at Madaline's urging Bond visits Vesper's tomb in an attempt to get closure. He is ambushed by Spectre agents which sets off the big opening action scene. Of course, he survives and the movie does a five-year time jump at which point everything else plays out. 

The main plot involves the use of nanobots, which can be programmed to target and kill specific individuals or groups of people. Safin intends to use them to kill millions of people. Bond has to take down Safin, but like everything stopping him comes with a price. All of the main cast returns for this installment, Including Jeffrey Wright. Ralph Fiennes, and Naomi Harris. Lashana Lynch is introduced as the newest 00, even taking up the 007 designation when Bond is retired. Ana De Armas is introduced as Poloma, a CIA agent operating in Cuba. She definitely fits the "Bond Girl" model, including the dress they had her fighting in. She was not in the movie for long, but the time she was in it was definitely memorable. I will not spoil anything, but as you can imagine not every character makes it out unscathed, but it is made clear that Bond will return in some form down the line. 

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a standard blu-ray disc. The movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format, and the A/V quality is at or near reference quality. All the bonus features are included on the UHD disc and start playing immediately after the credits (if you let the credits roll all the way to the end). The longest of the bonus features is a 45 minute or so retrospective on Craig's Bond from the controversy regarding the announcement that he got the role to his last day on set during No Time to Die. Then there are a few shorter featurettes on the making of the movie. Although it's not a ton of bonus material, what was included was of good quality.

Overall, I really liked the movie. Ultimately, the film serves as a fitting conclusion to this era of the Bond franchise, leaving open the possibility of a hard reboot or a continuation with at least some of the characters introduced in the last few movies coming back. It is definitely worth watching even if you are a casual Bond fan, or just want to watch a good action movie.

4k UHD Blu-Ray Review: Spectre

 

Spectre, released in 2015, is the 24th James Bond movie and the fourth with Daniel Craig in the role of Bond. It stars Craig, Lea Seydoux, Christoph Waltz, Monica Bellucci, and Ralph Fiennes. Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, and Andrew Scott have supporting roles. The film begins in Mexico City, where Bond, acting on a posthumous message from M (Judi Dench's version of M), is attempting to thwart a terrorist plot. He discovers that the plot involves an organization called Spectre, led by Ernst Blofeld (played by Christoph Waltz), who has been responsible for many of the tragedies in Bond's life. I will not go too much more into the plot, but the movie has ties to the other Craig installments. That said, it mostly stands on its own, and you can follow what is happening even if you have not seen Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall. 

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a standard blu-ray disc. The A/V quality is outstanding, and the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. The UHD disc contains only the film itself, while the regular Blu-ray disc includes the extras. The bonus content includes a featurette on the opening sequence (the longest of the extras at 20 minutes) and a series of video blogs, a photo gallery, and trailers for the movie. Although it's not a ton of bonus material, what's included is good. 

Overall, the movie is good, but not great. It does have a good mix of action and suspense, but I felt that it was not as good as the prior films, especially Casino Royale. I know Bond aficionados found it underwhelming, given that Blofeld was the "big bad" that ties all of the movies together, and found his reveal to be less menacing than it "should have been." I am very much a casual fan of Bond, so the fact that Craig's movies departed from the way the other movies were set up was not a big deal to me, and thus, the big reveal of the villain was not a letdown for me. I would say that if you are generally a fan of the Craig films, you will probably like this movie. If you have been lukewarm to them in general, then this movie is unlikely to convert you into a fan.