James Bond Franchise

Movie Review – Licence To Kill

August 3, 2016June 4, 2016 Rodney Twelftree

Director : John Glen Year Of Release : 1989 Principal Cast : Timothy Dalton, Carey Dowell, Robert Davi, Talisa Soto, Anthony Zerbe, Frank McRae, Everett McGill, Wayne Newton, Benicio del Toro, Anthony Starke, Pedro Armendariz, Desmond Llewelyn, David Hedison, Priscilla Barnes, Robert Brown, Caroline Bliss, Don Stroud, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. Approx Running Time : 133 Minutes Synopsis: James Bond goes rogue and sets off to unleash vengeance on a drug lord who tortured his best friend, a C.I.A. agent, and left him for dead and murdered his bride after he helped capture…

Movie Review – Living Daylights, The

August 2, 2016June 2, 2016 Rodney Twelftree

Director : John Glen Year Of Release : 1987 Principal Cast : Timothy Dalton, Maryam d’Abo, Joe Don Baker, John Rhys-Davies, Art Malik, Jeroen Krabbe, Andreas Wisniewski, Thomas Wheatley, Robert Brown, Desmond Llewelyn, Geoffrey Keen, Caroline Bliss, John Terry, Walter Gotell, Virginia Hey, Julia T Wallace. Approx Running Time : 130 Minutes Synopsis: James Bond is living on the edge to stop an evil arms dealer from starting another world war. Bond crosses all seven continents in order to stop the evil Whitaker and General Koskov. ****** A new Bond…

Movie Review – Spectre

November 23, 2015November 18, 2015 Rodney Twelftree

– Summary – Director : Sam Mendes Year Of Release : 2015 Principal Cast : Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Monica Bellucci, Naomi Harris, Dave Bautista, Ben Wishaw, Andrew Scott, Rory Kinnear, Jesper Christensen, Judi Dench. Approx Running Time : 138 Minutes Synopsis: A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE. ********** Casino Royale,…

Movie Review – Skyfall (Blu-Review)

September 23, 2013March 15, 2018 Rodney Twelftree

To date, Skyfall remains the highest grossing Bond film ever, and rightly so. A stylish, handsomely mounted production sees Daniel Craig’s third outing as the famed superspy return to his beginning in the triumvirate origin story of his history. We’ve already reviewed the film itself, and you can read our thoughts here. Reflecting on those thought with the BluRay edition of Skyfall, I’m pleased to say that not a lot has changed – the film is excellent, and easily one of the top 3 or 4 Bond films made thus…

Movie Review – Skyfall

March 17, 2013March 15, 2018 Rodney Twelftree

Is Skyfall the best Bond film ever? No, not quite. But it’s still a terrific film. A darker edge to the relationship between M and Bond, forged from a botched mission to recover stolen intel, gives Skyfall its dramatic propulsion, and while it sags a tad in the middle, the ripping opener and the devastating final act – all which set Bond up for the future – are dynamite. For all its flaws, Skyfall is terrific entertainment, and a solid entry into the Bond canon.

Movie Review – Quantum of Solace REDUX

March 16, 2013March 15, 2018 Rodney Twelftree

Breakneck pacing and a dearth of generic Bond tropes ensure Quantum of Solace is a genuine roller-coaster ride of a film. Where Casino Royale introduced Bond, and gave us a rather leisurely paced affair interspersed with high octane action, Quantum goes for broke in the action department, often at the expense of character development and subtlety. Initial critical reception (my own included) had this as a messy, convoluted and shallow Bond film entry – upon reflection, I’m prepared to stick my neck out and say that this is a top-notch action film that just happens to have Bond in it.

Movie Review – Casino Royale (2006) – REDUX

March 15, 2013March 15, 2018 Rodney Twelftree

One of the best Bond films ever, Casino Royale remains as potent an action-packed and revitalizing entry to grace the franchise in its long history. Daniel Craig brings a brash, bruising Bond to the screen, keen to do less talk and more punching as he scours the globe fighting the good fight. Martin Campbell, who also rebooted the series with GoldenEye back in the 90’s, delivers a gritty, stylish film filled with humor, thrills and a genuine sense that Bond could quite possibly be killed. This film, perhaps more than any other in the entire Bond canon, deserves a place in any movie collection.

Movie Review – Die Another Day

March 14, 2013March 15, 2018 Rodney Twelftree

Of the four Bond films to star Pierce Brosnan, Die Another Day is easily the worst. In fact, it’s highly possible it’s among the worst Bond films ever, and that’s saying something. A director the caliber of Lee Tamahori, no slouch behind the camera, and a cast of (Madonna excepted) decent actors, should have produced a film of a much higher standard than what ended up crossing the big screen back in 2002. Instead, we get Bond driving an invisible car, a giant death-ray from space (which shouldn’t be surprising in a Bond film, I’ll admit) and a massive amount of CGI effects including a jetliner managing to stay aloft even when it’s collapsed structurally – Die Another Day is the Moonraker of Brosnan Bond, a gargantuan, convoluted, pointless mess of a film with so many flaws it beggars belief. There’s money to burn on this movie, it’s just a pity nobody thought about making a film people might like to watch.

Movie Review – World Is Not Enough, The

March 13, 2013March 15, 2018 Rodney Twelftree

The rebooted Bond franchise began to show cracks in its impeccable facade, with some terrible puns, a sense of trying too hard and a somewhat belabored plot ruining what might have been a thoroughly enjoyable Bond romp – the addition of then-popular Denise Richards, and her inexplicably bouncy gait, merely topped off one of the least impressive Bond outings since Tim Dalton took over as the main star, back in the 80’s. The World Is Not Enough is too clever by half, too convoluted, and lacking in any real tension. Compared with both GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies, this film floats on the surface like a turd that won’t flush. Compared to Die Another Day, it’s positively a masterpiece. Take from that what you will.

Movie Review – Tomorrow Never Dies

March 12, 2013March 15, 2018 Rodney Twelftree

Solid Bond outing is upset by a overly-flamboyant villain in Jonathan Pryce, who slimes his way across the screen but seems to be a little over the top. Brosnan is excellent, Yeoh makes a terrific female foil for his stiff-upper-lip spy, and one of the late Vincent Schiavelli’s best roles last about five minutes but is eternally memorable – not so for Desperate Housewife Teri Hatcher, who sticks out like a sore thumb in this. The plot becomes nonsensical, although the enthusiasm shown by director Roger Spottiswoode overrides any feelings of niggling negativity I have about that. Action packed and thrilling, Dies is a cracker.

Category: James Bond Franchise