Casino Royale

[Ignacio Aguilar]

I agree about the 2K, but it was still miles better than the one used on DIE ANOTHER DAY, which incidentally was also an anamorphic picture.

 

However, I don't agree with the notion that anamorpic would have solved all of the aesthetic problems. Check out the gritty LONG GOOD FRIDAY or WHO DARES WINS that were shot spherically with hard light mixed with available light by Meheux back in the early 80s. You can tell that is the look Meheux and Campbell were after ith CASINO ROYALE, a real camera over the shoulder, fast zooms approach, while also paying attention to Ted Moore's spherical work on DR. NO and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE.

 

I'm a big anamorphic supporter, but Casino Royale's DI was good enough to make me forget -most of the time- that it's a Super-35 & Cooke S4 effort. The film is very sharp -perhaps the sharpest 2K DI I've seen so far- and pretty much free of unwanted digital artifacts. Only a few instances where they added or reduced grain in post revealed the digital grading. Today I've seen too another Super 35 film, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (dir: Tom Tykwer, DP Frank Griebe) and it also looked very sharp (they used the new Zeiss Master Primes), but the DI was overdone and introduced unnatural colors. The colors and skin tones were much more natural on Casino Royale.

 

Phil Meheux's work easily is the best in the series since... GoldenEye. And it's not a coincidence that both films were directed by Martin Campbell, a director who really understands the series. I agree with Adam about Meheux's hard keys and overuse fill, but his lighting style also makes Casino Royale much more classical and lush. Eva Green has some gorgeus close-ups, something Meheux also did for Catherine Zeta-Jones on the first Zorro film. The B&W segments are so-so, but I find Meheux's overall work to be really nice, so I hope he'll back for the next film.

[Bernhard Zitz]

Hated the look of the prologue though, if you want black & white shoot black & white, don't shoot color film, desaturate it and digitally add grain, it always looks fake!

 

The B&W in the office with the guy looked like ugly desaturated color, but the stuff where bond beats off the guy in the toilettes looked like real B&W, although a little soft... I found it already strange having B&W in a bond-movie but with two different B&W-looks I got completely confused...

 

I liked the retro-look it had on some night scenes on the bahamas(almost like the old bonds with connery), but it was somehow strange how the movie jumped between looks. Some shots in the first half where rather grainy with 70ies kind of colors, followed by less grainy modern looking etc... The copy I saw had a lot of white dust and hairs... for a production of that size one could expect a better release print...

[Mark Allen]

SPOILERS:

 

This was actually my favorite bond film in a long time. I'd pretty much written the franchise off as a loss. Previously my favorite Bond film was For Your Eyes Only. I've read many of the flemming books and people need to realize there are huge liberties taken with the stories. The books are much more pensive - but I don't think movies should be judged against their books, it's a different creature.

 

As for Casino Royale, It's stongest asset was that the action felt motivated and integral into the plot. This is one of the things most lost in the recent movies where the action was huge yet still boring. I loved the opening action scene - the high energy, no holds bared nearing the impossible, constantly unexpected and moving.

 

I liked Craig as Bond, wasn't sure I would. Didn't really know who he was.

 

The weakest part I thought was that there was no real chemistry between Craig and Eva Green. I don't blame it on the actors, I think the plot didn't lend itself for that. Unfortuntely, a lot of screentime was spent on this which dragged the movie down a great deal once they hit the casino. I think a lot of consolidation could have helped the second act. I think the relationship would have been much better served by a single moment of absolute paradigm shift rather than trying to do a series of "armor breaking" scenes which never really showed any armor breaking. We needed to see some weakness in Bond, not just hear him say it.

 

so - action was strong, the tenderness was lacking - but overall a good film. Had the romance come through and with a little 2nd act consolidation, I think it could have been a home run , but it was a fun movie to watch none the less.

[Vedran Rapo]

what is 2k DI?

 

i saw film today... not that bad...

[Chris Keth]

Was it just me or did some of the shots seem to be off focus? There were several CUs where Craig's ears were sharp and his eyes were soft. There were also a couple of times where a foreground person was slightly soft and a background person was sharp, but it really felt like they were both meant to be sharp. Am I nuts?

[Vedran Rapo]

Was it just me or did some of the shots seem to be off focus? There were several CUs where Craig's ears were sharp and his eyes were soft. There were also a couple of times where a foreground person was slightly soft and a background person was sharp, but it really felt like they were both meant to be sharp. Am I nuts?

 

 

yup i saw the same thing... there are about 20 -25 shots out of focus... that i caught ...

[Shawn Martin]

Hated the look of the prologue though, if you want black & white shoot black & white, don't shoot color film, desaturate it and digitally add grain, it always looks fake!

According to the new issue of AC, it was shot black & white (Double-X 5222).

[Bernhard Zitz]

According to the new issue of AC, it was shot black & white (Double-X 5222).

The flashback-thing in the toilettes looked very Double-X, it had that B&W nouvelle vague feeling, but the thing in the office didn't look like real B&W at all...

[Guest]

I really enjoyed the entertainment! Some nice mixing of cinematic DOP styles. Overall it was excellent - there seemed to be some soft shots in the casino but otherwise very nice work.

 

Any ideas on stock and lenses?

 

Recommended!

 

thanks

 

Rolfe

 

Finally saw this tonight, ok seems my eyes are not going, some one else saw the soft shots. I counted at least a dozen soft close ups. You'd think at this level they'd get it right?

 

When Bond was being tortured his ear was in perfect focus on the close ups, too bad about the rest of his face.

 

Other than that, decent movie. But on a side note, Roger Moore was the best Bond and always will be :)

 

R,

[John Carreon]

But on a side note, Roger Moore was the best Bond and always will be :)

 

 

 

 

Anybody who says that Roger Moore was the best Bond never read any of the books...

 

Roger Moore as the best Bond is like saying your favorite Beatle is Ringo Starr...

 

I'm sorry...I apologize...nobody is as Bad as Ringo...I crossed the line...

 

John Carreon :D

[Guest]

Book? What is this "book" of which you speak? Some ancient form of communication?

 

Moore brought humour to 007, some thing no other Bond actor has been able to do.

 

R.

[Mark Williams]

Some lovely well thought out images with artistic use of colours it really worked technicly Daniel craig looked very cool but to me his acting was more like someone who acted and looked tough but actually more pretence than real.. Even the muscles didnt look right.. someone working out to attain that degree of muscle would look more fitter healthier with a vascular rosy cheeks etc.. Just didnt look real.. The fast paced editing lost me in some action sequences and I didnt know what was happening or whether the end rsult had been portrayed acurately may have all been quick flashes of the wall.. BUT I was impressed with the standards characterisations and plot some very nice touches and twists..

 

BUT

 

Bond having his nuts wacked and laughing as he asks him to scratch the other?? The overdone love scenes attempting to introduce more sex OR the copycat defibraltor ripped of from MI3 The girls giving him the eye when he didnt have the sex appeal that would stop women in the street.. OR his almost yobbish behaviour.. Yes I realise Its Bond before he became the swarthe sophisticated 00 Agent And I dont think its closing to ian flemings version MORE closer to what the producers think is up to date and another film other than bond and it would have been BUT he is supposed to be larger than life someone with a high sense of morality and a role model.. He seems more in keeping with being a villain..

 

I liked it but not as a bond movie

 

The one thing that put this film firmly in the trash bin for me though was the use of body world there is a morbid fascination with this exhibition of dead people and I for one would certainly not visit a place like that THESE were living real people being used for pure entertainment with there organs skeletons etc on display.. Perhaps some may like this? Perhaps others will be sickened perhaps some kids will have nightmares..

 

THAT is the lowest of the low and for that reason I would ask the producers to have a rethink in there moralistic aproach as the real james bond persona would and not just about the money

[Christian Appelt]

The one thing that put this film firmly in the trash bin for me though was the use of body world there is a morbid fascination with this exhibition of dead people and I for one would certainly not visit a place like that THESE were living real people being used for pure entertainment with there organs skeletons etc on display.. Perhaps some may like this? Perhaps others will be sickened perhaps some kids will have nightmares..

 

THAT is the lowest of the low and for that reason I would ask the producers to have a rethink in there moralistic aproach as the real james bond persona would and not just about the money

 

Mark, you're absolutely right. I saw the first Body World exhibition some years ago and was not disturbed by it because it was done with respect and dignity. Since then, Gunther von Hagens has come to see himself as a pop star of medicine. And back then, no one knew he used to "import" bodies from China, mostly people that had been executed by the government.

 

Very sad thing that von Hagens gets more free advertising through the Bond film. :angry:

[Bernhard Zitz]

Roger Moore as the best Bond is like saying your favorite Beatle is Ringo Starr...

 

But Ringo is my favorite Beatle :D

 

With Roger Moore, Bond got an ironic side that wasn't there before, although it's hard to say if it was on purpose or not. With Moore bond-movies shifted from pure entertainment to comedy that had an auto-reflexive ironic view on its own genre... so I'd say with Moore bond-movies became suddenly art...

 

 

The question around the B&W prologue hasn't been solved yet. Is it all Double-X or just the flashback-shots?

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Hey all,

I recently saw the film on a new DLP digital projection system that has been set up at one of our local theaters. I noticed that in some of the shots, the digital noise was minimal to none, and the sharpness of the image was quite spectacular, i also did enjoy the lack of scratches and dirt. However, perhaps about half of the shots in the film, or maybe 1/3, there was a LOT of digital noise. i'm talking, ant race across the screen digital noise. It tended to be in darker scenes, or close ups. Any one know why this might be? Extra DI work for thos particular shots? Anyways, it was my first digital projection experience, and i thought it was ok. To me, i would still rather see a film print, but to an average joe, hey, they probably will love the sharpness and lack of dust and scratches. hard to tell.

Cheers

 

[bob head while reading]

I sat through an entire screening projected on film with the gate sync a little off. The only thought running through my head was "I sure wish I was watching this on a digital projector." It's nice to hear the story from the cow on the other side of the fence. Still sounds greener though, even if it's not gourmet.

[/bob head while reading]

[Max Jacoby]

I sat through an entire screening projected on film with the gate sync a little off.

Why didn't you go complain and ask for your money back? With today's ticket prices I've become very intolerant of projection problems and in the few instances where they have happened, I've complained. But in general I only go to cinemas that have good projection. There's one in my neighborhod in particular that has great scope projection. I saw 'Memoirs of a Geisha' and 'Casino Royale' on their biggest screen and they looked amazing.

[Rupe Whiteman]

Hated the look of the prologue though, if you want black & white shoot black & white, don't shoot color film, desaturate it and digitally add grain, it always looks fake!

 

... The prologue was shot on black & white neg - 5222 Double-X.

 

Personally I didn't mind the look of the prologue (but it didn't wow me by any means) and overall it was a pretty well made action movie. I think the producers have been heavily influenced by the form and success of the Bourne identity/supremecy pictures. They've tried to update a deeply tired and cliched franchise and have done so pretty successfully but it's still an old yarn told half-differently to me. Daniel Craig is probably the best thing about it...

 

Rupe Whiteman Uk

[Guest]

[bob head while reading]

I sat through an entire screening projected on film with the gate sync a little off.

[/bob head while reading]

 

Yeah tell the manager the gate synch was a little off, the response will be, what are you talking about?

 

It's like telling them you want your money back because persistance of vision does not work in your brain and all the movement looked jittery to you.

 

R,

[Bernhard Zitz]

... The prologue was shot on black & white neg - 5222 Double-X.

 

Please some-one tell us if the whole prologue was 5222 or only the flashback-part in the toilettes? There are two very distinctive looks in the prologue. I can't believe that both where 5222. If so they did a hell of a job in post to make one look like desaturated colorneg...

[Max Jacoby]

I read the AC article today and it seems that they shot both scenes on the 5222. The scene in the office was apparently lit high-contrast and then later in the DI they made it look flatter, which together with the softening that a 2K DI gives, probably accounts why it looks like more color neg.

[Riku Naskali]

I have to say I really enjoyed it, although the ending was too forced as some of you have already said. The cinematography was brilliant, I especially liked the lighting and didn't mind the hard light at all. And the opening chase scene, wow awesome stuntwork.

 

I too have some gripes about projection...

 

I don't know if the gate sync was off, but the image was unsteady horizontally. I've never seen something like that in theaters before and it was unfortunate.

[J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR]

I thought it was a great film and when I saw the prologue I thought "Wow real B&W for a change." Glad I can still see the difference. The scenes in the office had a velvety feel that must be from the DI though, but I liked it. Reminded me of Agfa Scala.

Edited December 6, 2006 by J. Lamar King

[Bernhard Zitz]

I read the AC article today and it seems that they shot both scenes on the 5222. The scene in the office was apparently lit high-contrast and then later in the DI they made it look flatter, which together with the softening that a 2K DI gives, probably accounts why it looks like more color neg.

 

hmmm, that might proove the power of DI, respect to the colorist who managed 5222 to look that low-con, even if some people don't like it...

[Robert Aldrich]

I saw the film last night on a 60 foot screen, and kept saying to myself, "What is wrong with this picture?" It seemed to me the resolution was down, I wondered the whole film if they'd shot it on HD or something, or if the focus puller wasn't doing his job. I looked and looked to see if I could find anything truly in focus. Most of the time I failed! Possibly it was the projection system there at a small theater in Pasadena. Could this have been a bad print? Also, to me, the colors were flat, dull.

 

As for colors, maybe I'm spoiled by the more colorful Bond pictures.