SPECTRE - Press reviews and personal reviews (BEWARE! Spoiler reviews allowed)

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  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    To be honest, I have to admit I thought in the first trailer it was Scott,
    I think they either cleaned up the sound or used a different take on the second
    Trailer, as it was more obviously not him, in that one.
    Still it all helped to keep ( some of us ) guessing. ;)
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    edited October 2015 Posts: 5,080
    I'm going to have to watch this many times to process this film. I was left dumbfounded upon leaving the cinema, my thoughts, emotions were quite literally all over the place. I hated it. I admired it. It was awesome. It didn't quite work. But for now, these are my initial thoughts:

    I eat my words. After SKYFALL, I was one of those people who was an advocate for a more back to basics Craig film. I wanted Craig's Thunderball. A more of a traditional outing for Craig's Bond. And that is exactly what we got. It's most certainly Craig's "biggest" film yet. And yet I was ultimately left disappointed. Most of the gags and humour didn't work, with some scenes fitting for a Moore film (and that's coming from a Moore fan) - the Mickey Mouse line, the Aston radio gag, the OAP driving slowly cliche, the couch gag, Bond talking to a rat (reminscent of DAF). I felt it jarring that these scenes had made it into a Craig film - I now realise that this is what I don't want to see in a Craig film.

    Not a fan of the story, either. The surveillance subplot distracted from proceedings most of the time, and Denbigh being a member of SPECTRE I saw coming miles away. It doesn't help that Denbigh's ultimate scheme felt far-fetched. After the destruction of Blofeld's lair in Morocco, the subsequent scenes in London felt tacked on and unecessary. The action in the ruins of MI6 HQ just left me bored, and felt cliche. As for ESB - this is where my greatest issues lay. I'm going to say it outright that I don't like one bit ESB's backstory, nor do I like the fact that he was behind the events of CR-SF. It's all too convenient, even contrived. Disappointing.

    The love story was rushed and cack-handed. It was unecessary and felt too soon after Vesper. Their relationship on screen isn't a touch on what we saw in CR. I felt that both Bellucci and Seydoux were wasted - we saw too little of Bellucci, and Seydoux was handed some poor material to work with (that drunken scene was a bit odd, also). Swann positively pales in comparison to Vesper Lynd.

    The elements of Skyfall that I didn't like are turned to eleven in SPECTRE. M, Q, Moneypenny are in this film far more than they should be. Add to that Tanner who makes an inexplicable appearance in the denouement. Dench makes an appearance, which I felt was gratuitous and failed to explain how she knew of Sciarra and his operations. And of course, the DB5 had to make an appearance (I mean, it just had to) - granted, it's in the closing seconds of the film, but still...

    The score was literally a cut and paste job from SKYFALL, with the theme song being shoehorned in once and not woven in like it should. Newman's contribution was a phone-in, lazy to the extreme.

    That's enough harping on about the negatives. These are the elements that I thought were great:

    -The PTS is the best part of the film. It's beautiful. That tracking shot was absolutely sublime. The action was draw-dropping. A PTS second to only TSWLM.

    -The title song works so much better with the titles, and has made me finally dig Smith's song.

    -The fight with Hinx on the train was absolutely enthralling and is without doubt one of the best fights in the series. It was marred only by Hinx's "oh shit" line.

    -The SPECTRE meeting was excellent, a 21st century version of the scene we see in THUNDERBALL. Great stuff.

    -The action in Austria is outstanding and features some of the very best stuntwork in the series.

    -The scene with Mr White is excellent, and Christensen's performance is a standout.


    When all is said and done, I think SPECTRE had potential to be one of the greats- it had an excellent cast, great action sequences, a talented crew. I think the basic premise of the film is what hurts the film most for me, and it is something I can see I'm not going to warm to in the future. I think the negatives far outweigh the positives at the moment - it's not as offensive as DAD, not as OTT as MR, no where near as drab and lifeless as TWINE. But I don't like it better than the rest. There are elements of this film that just bug me to no end, and for those reasons, it's my least favourite Craig film.


  • SirHilaryBraySirHilaryBray Scotland
    edited October 2015 Posts: 2,138
    I think I have been quite down about the film in my own selfish disappointment that its not as gritty.A lot are saying Newmans score is copy and paste Skyfall stuff. I agree to an extent. However it is worth pointing out that this movie for me had the best PTS of any Bond movie. Some say the opening credits are the best they have seen. I preferred Skyfalls PTS however Spectres are are incredible all the same. And Newmans cues of SS - WOTW are amazing and play in my head like Arnolds cues of YKMN in CR.

    I really need to see the film again without the Imax screen so I can focus more on the dialog and not be distracted by the bangs and whistles. I think this will be the last film I see in Imax as I always feel it distracts my attention from the film as I am too busy thinking about how glorious the imagery is on a big screen.
  • edited October 2015 Posts: 6,601
    Hm, it does LOOK like some rather meh reviews here, but it also seems, that those, who already said, they loved it, don't repeat themselves, so it seems, they are in the minority. I think, that's not true.
    Still going through the tweets, almost all are very positve! And the audiences are what count. The everyman, who already say, he is going to see it again soon.

    Many like this:
    #SPECTRE, absolutely incredible. Just superb
  • Lancaster007Lancaster007 Shrublands Health Clinic, England
    Posts: 1,874
    Have to say I enjoyed the humour, didn't think there was too much and most of it worked. Bond and Swann's relationship didn't develop well, and Monica Bellucci was criminally underused. Will have to see it again, as there is a lot of personal shit going down in my life at the mo that I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I could have.
    I did think that for a moment Mr Hinx (don't think his name ever came up) might have been a Jaws type can't-be-killed character - thankfully not!
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I loved the name of the safe house ;) nice little nod to the Fleming books. :)
  • Posts: 6,601
    Still going on with lots of love really. Guess its all a matter, of what you expect. Can you embrace the lighter touch or not? I guess, that settles it.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I think this is the first of Craig's Bonds, in which I could imagine Brosnan or
    Moore doing it. :) Whether that's a good or Bad thing is up to the viewer. ;)
  • Posts: 4,599
    Thanks for all the reviews, there is a pattern forming that all or most of the faults seem to fall on the shoulders of the script writers (and Mendes for not sorting it), so are we saying that with the great cars, great cast, great location, great PTS, great photography etc it had the potential to be a cast iron classic but the scriptwriters have failed to deliver?
  • Posts: 3,164
    I think I need to watch this again because I had the script far too much in the back of my head last night. Sorta like when all the Hunger Games fans would have their respective books.....
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    patb wrote: »
    Thanks for all the reviews, there is a pattern forming that all or most of the faults seem to fall on the shoulders of the script writers (and Mendes for not sorting it), so are we saying that with the great cars, great cast, great location, great PTS, great photography etc it had the potential to be a cast iron classic but the scriptwriters have failed to deliver?

    Absolutely.
  • I guess that settles it @Germanlady, settles what? haha
    I just think @DrGorner, Moore does humour very well, as much as i don't rate his bond films, he is very good with humour. Personally, of the four Craig film's i have seen, in my opinion CR was the funniest, but i think my sort of humour is different to other peoples.
  • Posts: 6,601
    Actually, I don't think, this is the case. many, many more then not liked it as it is.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    :)) So long as you have one. ( a sense of humour, that is) :D
  • very good comeback @DrGorner, very good :D
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    ;) You'd be surprised how some people on some Forums, Don't. :))
  • OnlyManWhoCanOnlyManWhoCan Greater London
    Posts: 202
    With only a few hours past since seeing the film I have not had the opportunity to overthink the film (as some seem to be doing here). My initial impression is that it's just as loosely plotted as Skyfall (but then a great many Bond films suffer this).

    However, the acid test is whether I left the film with a big old smile on my face, and I must admit that I did. It's common knowledge that as each Bond actor gets further into their tenure their films become more fantastical and SPECTRE is no exception, although it is done with far more grace than it did with the films of Brosnan, Moore and Connery.

    I was happy for SPECTRE to embrace the cheesier aspects of the franchise, and Craig still appeared to be happy in the role (indeed, I felt he seemed far more at ease here then he did in Skyfall, with fewer puns that caused me to wince!)

    Christoph Waltz was just being Christoph Waltz so I'm not sure if he really had an impact on me yet as he was precisely as expected. I'm not sure the 'author of your pain' aspect really works because it rather makes SPECTRE seem like an organisation devoted to making Bond miserable and little else!

    Anyway, I'm sure like all recent blockbusters the internet will be full of people moaning about what it isn't, and how it didn't make sense, but for me the film contained so much of what I had been wanting to see (gadget car! evil lair! gun barrel!) that I could not be disappointed!

    I can't wait to see it again!
  • I hadn't expected to say this, but I was disappointed with SPECTRE. That said, the pre-title section was truly spectacular and fully matched the hype. Then came Sam Smith's dismal theme song, which only succeeded in defusing the excitement and anticipation the opening sequence had built up. From there on I found the film overly long, ponderous and even confused in places. The action sequences fully delivered, but the attempts at witty one-liners were embarrassing. Craig lacks the lightness of comedic touch so exemplified by Connery, Moore and, especially, Brosnan. However, there was an unintentional laugh-out loud continuity blooper (at least in my cinema!), when Madeleine (Léa Seydoux) fell asleep in her white dress and woke up in her slip! And what on earth were the British Board of Film Classification thinking in awarding SPECTRE a 12A certificate? Where was the "moderate violence" in the bloody eye-gouging scene or where Bond is being drilled in the head? Such scenes are not what draws audiences to the Bond films; indeed, between them, these two scenes saw the exiting of three families from my cinema last night. The immediate aftermath of the helicopter crash on Westminster Bridge and the arrest of 'Franz Oberhauser' was a complete anti-climax, leading to a very low-key end to the film. Audiences have come to expect more. Perhaps the screenplay writers had also lost interest and direction at this point?
    I have habitually seen every Bond film (commencing with Dr No) six times upon its release. I shall not be watching SPECTRE a second time.
  • Posts: 1,661
    I have the leaked screenplay. I don't recall a torture scene. Bond drilled in the head? Wowzers - that sounds rather grim and gory.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Oh, it's very creepy. Would make you cringe.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Sorry forgot to add, I loved Mr Hinx's added extra. Knew nothing about it
    and it added to my enjoyment of the spectre board meeting. ;)
  • Posts: 6,396
    I was one of the few to defend Newman's score for SF, which I really liked but I just found the re-use of so many of the cues in SP to be extremely lazy. Definitely my least favourite aspect of the film. I hope Newman only received a half fee considering we only got half a new score.

    And a small bug bear of mine that whilst it was great to have the GB back at the start, why could we not have had the immediate reveal to the Day of the Dead parade as opposed to the fade to black of "The Dead Are Alive" caption? It seemed utterly pointless.
  • Posts: 158
    As much as I've enjoyed Daniel's previous 3 films,all the angst,pain and emotional stress he'd gone through left me a bit deflated. He himself has said numerous times that he slowly wanted to bring back all the elements and characters (Q,MP) that made Bond...BOND! I wanted a lighter touch this time. Gadgets on cars and watches,great humour. And finally he gets to drive off with the girl instead of cradling another dead one close to him. Sorry Vesper & M (yes I know M wasn't a love interest haha). All in all I loved SPECTRE.
  • TokolosheTokoloshe Under your bed
    Posts: 2,667
    As an aside, the Agatha Christie novel "The Pale Horse" centres around thallium poisoning; coincidentally the fate of our Pale King.
  • Posts: 582
    DrGorner wrote: »
    To be honest, I have to admit I thought in the first trailer it was Scott,
    I think they either cleaned up the sound or used a different take on the second
    Trailer, as it was more obviously not him, in that one.
    Still it all helped to keep ( some of us ) guessing. ;)

    I have to say I always thought it was Waltz. Now I've seen the film I've been trying to track down what info was leaked in those hacks at Sony. Sony people at one point made a suggestion that C become Blofeld and possibly then have Waltz play C.
  • Posts: 582
    I've given my thoughts above, and have noted some of the film's flaws. I have seen the last 6 Bond films in the cinema and these have been my reactions

    TWINE - loved it as an impressionable 13 year old, was disappointed first time after seeing it in the cinema.

    DAD - Appalled, what are they doing?

    CR - Exhilarated, why can't the next Bond film come out now!?

    QoS - Okay, that was ok, but quite disappointing

    SF - Underwhelmed overall, but Craig was brilliant and Bond's past, wow!

    SP - Big grin on my face, disappointing that there wasn't a better more believable connection with Bond and Swann, but hey this makes me want to watch all the Bond films again and read all the novels again!

  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    DrGorner wrote: »
    I think this is the first of Craig's Bonds, in which I could imagine Brosnan or
    Moore doing it. :) Whether that's a good or Bad thing is up to the viewer. ;)

    It's a good thing because it's definingly Bond.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    In my opinion, it has more good points than bad, and I'll be watching it
    again this afternoon.
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