I agree too- they were accurate- and Dalton remains a favorite of mine. I was favorably disposed to liking and rooting for Brosnan prior to seeing Goldeneye at the theater (11 yrs ago already, wow) but I was very disappointed in the way he essayed the character, it just rubbed me the wrong way and I never warmed up to him.
Dainel Craig has me as excited as I've ever been for a Bond movie.
The way I see it, this is my reward for suffering thru the Brosnan era.
Finally a Bond onscreen again thats a real mans man.

So far Daniel Craig looks to be definitely better than Brosnan, who i think played the character the weakest of all the official Bond actors, sans the water-thin plots of his last 3 movies (GoldenEye was a Dalton movie and it shows the more brutal feel Dalton's Bond had)

I didn't say that they weren't. I loved THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, and I loved Dalton as Bond...but history shows that a leaner, meaner Bond ISN'T what the moviegoing public as a whole wants.

Well, the leaner, meaner reboot of Batman was a big hit.

Today's moviegoing public seems to like their movies a lot grittier and realistic than the moviegoing public of the 80's.

Look at the success of the "torture-porn" horror movies. Sin City, Batman Begins, the Bourne movies, the Saw movies...I am sure there are other examples of recent majorly successful gritty movies. And movies seem even more tied to being an "event" than ever before.

I think if the Dalton movies were released now, they would be more succesful today than back then.

Anyway...I am getting pumped for Casino Royale. I am almost finished with the novel and can picture Craig while reading it. I have a feeling a lot of people are going to be eating their words on their remarks bashing Craig before they gave him a chance.

Let's keep in mind that there isn't many big budget action films coming out this Winter. Eragon, Deja Vu, The Fountain? So a lack of competition should help Mr. Craig's debut.

Finished the book last night. I have to be honest, I liked it a lot! I have read two others : Live and Let Die and Doctor No. , but I think this one really gave a lot of insight into the psyche of Bond and why he acts the way he does. The only weak spots were involved in reading about the game of baccarat. However,
Having seen the previews, I think Craig will be a great Fleming style Bond, but I still don't think that's what audiences want. While I thought it cool on first viewing, the last two Bond movies have done a better job of eliciting groans from me rather than a sense of awe and coolness. Everything got too CGI and far fetched IMO.
And FWIW, I will be very disappointed if the last words of the movie are not the same as in the book:

Judging from the trailer, Craig looks to be an excellent Bond. He just has that certain something. He really looks like he could be a cold-blooded assassin.

Here is Variety's positive review:

There are a few spoilers

http://www.variety.com/VE1117932077.html

Never have I seen a uglier guy that "Daniel (horse face) Craig)" to play the bond character. Very bad choice indeed.

Seriously? I've NEVER seen a bond movie at the theater, but am definitely planning on checking this one out, just because Craig is so damn sexy! :drool:

Be sure to take a plastic bag to throw up in.

Anyone see Craig on Letteman Friday night? Craig is a likable guy. :up:

He also has that cool deep voice. :up:

Anyone know if they are doing midnight screenings for this one?

I'm excited for Casino Royale but I'm also a little worried. I just hope the movie doesn't have alot of over the top Transporter style action. Granted, I enjoyed the Transporter movies, but I see Bond as a different breed of action movie.

Don't worry - this is a Bond movie, not xXx or The Transporter. While there will be plenty of action and fight scenes, it's not going to be over the top. Just really, REALLY good action.

And the novel was one of Fleming's best, so they had some great material to work with.

A late 30's Timothy Dalton would have been great in Casino Royale (I know he would have been phenomenal in Goldeneye), but I have a feeling that Daniel Craig has done a really good job. We'll find out for sure at the end of the week....

I actually loved the baccarat section and found it to be the most interesting part. I was glad to finally learn about what I had seen in the movies so many times before but never fully understood. For those wanting to learn the game, it was surprisingly simple and reads as good as a "Baccarat for Dummies" chapter.

As far as the

And another thing about Bond

Also...for those that read the book...did you find it strange to read the word "gay" in the book so often. I know it was used quite a bit with a completely different meaning way back but it must have been a very popular word at the time. Has there ever been a word to so drastically change it's meaning and now does not even get used for its original meaning?

It's kind of hard not to snicker a little when Vesper says (chapter 26):

If you're going to say all those, you have to add a fifth: Dr. No

I am looking forward to seeing this movie friday. I assume daniel craig is one heck of an actor because he doesn't look like james bond at all. I miss pierce brosnan. He was good in the all the movies. the problem was the scripts stunk and got dumber as time went by with invisible cars and ect. it's funny that they dump him when he was the one saying to make the movies realistic and wanted to make casino royale ( as did quentin t) .

Rebooting the franchise is a brilliant idea but i would have liked a little younger actor than craig ( the guy isn't even as young looking as brosnan who is 15 years older than him. Like i said i assume he is a brilliant actor, he better be).

The problem with james bond is that jason bourne in a way has replaced him as the ultimate spy assassin for this time. bourne is american, america rules the world britain is a bystander. so bond is out of touch somewhat with that part. Bourne is disenfranchised (bad spelling) with the spy world. unlike the early 60's we all now know that killing spying is not glamorous or fun. but ugly, cruel and dangerous. bond is still a product of a system people no longer trust to make life and death decisons.

All right enough of that garbage I'm looking forward to a kick ass movie. I can't wait to see bond again and i'm very curious how he will do at the box office with this movie. and how realistic and vicious (as bond should be he is an assassin after all) is bond going to be.

Jeffrey Wells was pleasantly surprised.

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archi.../best_bond.php

From the article...

Wow...!

I just saw it - one benefit in respect to films of living in the Czech Republic is massive int'l releases get released a day ahead of most of the rest of the world.

I would say, given the right script for the next movie, Daniel Craig has the potential to be my favorite Bond - yes, better than Connery and any others. I love the Dalton films for their <em>more</em> realistic approach to the character, but this film takes it to another level. If the next film maintains this one's intensity and throws in a <em>little</em> more humor (not a <em>lot</em>), then I'll probably give Craig the crown.



The movie has a lot of emotion in it and Craig is the only actor to be given a script as raw as this.

True, Craig is not as physically perfectly shaped to the "suave" spy role that's been overdone in this series too many times in the past, but he makes it his own.

Eva Green is not the stereotypical Bond girl either... Basically, the script was excellent because it gave almost every main character motive and emotion closer to par with reality.

Thumbs up from this guy.
-ringding-

It's at 92% at rottentomatoes.com and is based on 52 reviews. Awesome.

Look forward to this movie due not only to Daniel Craig, but the darker tone of the film. I personally like Craig as an actor and was very impressed with his performances in Road to Perdition, Munich, Sylvia, & Layer Cake.

I saw it today as well and loved every minute of it. Craig and Green have great chemistry together and liked Judi Dench was so unlike her character in the previous Bond films. She was finally playing the real M (albeit not as a male) and she nailed it.

And, although there were many great bits of dialogue, the audience really went wild when Craig exclaimed

My only fear is how can they possibly follow this up. I know the action can be done again but this is really the story of Bond shutting down altogether and I fear we wont see any more of the man inside until they choose to (if ever they do) remake On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Anyhoo, I can't wait to see it again.