STEPHEN'S MOVIE GUIDE

Quantum Of Solace (2008)  

Perhaps to offset this, another somewhat surprising choice was made as the 2nd Unit director – the unit which traditionally does the action scenes while the main unit does the “character drama” with the main cast.. Dan Bradley. Bradley was the action co-ordinator on the Bourne movies, which were known for a particular kinetic style of action designed to make you feel a part of the action, and less a spectator. With him in place, it seemed the Bond movies could move closer to the Bourne style.

The movie had a major hurdle from the offset – the script had to be rushed through without the usual polishes and rewrites, since there was a Writers strike in November 2007. In fact, the script was finished just two hours before the deadline, and then in a departure from normal movie making routine, could not be altered other than by cast and crew, without the benefit of any of the screenwriters. However the important thing for the producers was that the movies production would not need to be delayed, with ad hoc changes made by Daniel Craig and Michael Wilson on the hoof. The long time Bond set designer Peter Lamont had retired, so Dennis Gassner was brought in to replace him, with the remit of creating something reminiscent of the glory days of Ken Adams designs. A few other regulars returned on the crew, notably David Arnold who by now had established himself as the sound of Bond, and the first composer who could legitimately claim to be a genuine successor to the late great John Barry. Titles had been done since Goldeneye by Daniel Kleinman, but this time someone new was brought in, the graphic design studio Mk2, who also did the graphics design for the worktable used by M.

As for the characters, Craig would continue in a similar vein to Casino Royale, portraying a bruised and damaged Bond. Indeed, his experience with Vesper means his relationship with the Bond girl (Olga Kurylenko) is singularly untraditional in Bond terms. The idea of Quantum on the other hand, seems a clear reference to the idea of SPECTRE, who provided the plot driving foes for most of the earlier Bonds. Mr Greene hardly seems on a par with Blofeld, Goldfinger, or other nemeses of that era, however.

Other than Quantum and Mr White, two other elements survive from Casino Royale – the character of Mathis played by Giancarlo Giannini, and Felix Leiter, played again by Jeffrey Wright. Gemma Arterton plays a more traditional Bond girl type role, as Strawberry Fields, whose demise in the movie also gives more than a nod to a previous iconic Bond movie scene.

Filming took place in Mexico, Panama, Chile, Italy, Austria and Wales before returning for interiors in Pinewood. One study, by the University of Otago in New Zealand found this to be the most violent Bond movie – Dr. No had 109 trivial or severely violent acts – whereas QOS had 250, the most in any Bond film. Speaking of their roles, Craig talked about the intense training he did to prevent the injuries he sustained when doing Casino Royale – though he still had stitches on a face gash he got in one of the fight scenes, and had a section of his finger sliced off. Kurylenko also relished the action elements, saying she was glad to be the Bond girl with no love scene, which she felt would have distracted from her role. She also went through some intense training, inspired by Michelle Yeoh from Tomorrow Never Dies.

Story goes she was hired because out of the 400 actresses auditioned, she came across as least nervous. The director gave her a box set of Bond movies to watch, since getting the movies was difficult in her native Ukraine. Product placement was as present as ever, and with this being the final in the massive 3 picture deal struck by Ford, as well as the Aston Martin being heavily represented, the Ford Ka had its debut here. There were 6 Aston Martins destroyed in the making of the movie, including the one that someone accidentally ran off the road in Lake Garda on the way to the set for shooting. The rather sheepish driver survived – and was charged 400 Euros for reckless driving. Heineken, Smirnoff, Omega, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Sony Ericsson all returned as promotional partners, with Coke also joining the fray – temporarily rebranding Coke Zero as Coke Zero-Zero-Seven.

Zero-Zero-Seven, and Heineken in some improbably unsubliminal advertising.

On release in 2008, Craig’s gritty performance was praised, but the film as a whole had mixed reviews. Forsters approach had lots of action, but was criticized for the way he had sharp, short edits, never letting the action develop into a set piece. The evil megalomaniac plot was somewhat downgraded to seeking to have control over a local utility contract – not quite the usual world domination. Jack White of The White Stripes had collaborated with Alicia Keys for the title song, replacing Amy Winehouse at the last minute due to her much publicized legal issues. The resulting song divided opinion, in much the same way Die Another Day had, moving further away from the Bond template. Composer Arnold decided on the same tactic of not employing the Bond theme too much, but shifted the tone from romantic to vengeful, in keeping with the movies subject matter. In any event, box office records were broken. Reviews were a bit mixed, but more positive than negative (64% positive on Rotten Tomatoes), with negative reviews being more due to comparison with the revered Casino Royale, and never due to Craig’s performance. I felt Roger Moore nailed it, when asked what he thought – he said that Craig was a "damn good Bond but the film as a whole, there was a bit too much flash cutting [and] it was just like a commercial of the action. There was no sense of geography.”. The Sunday Times were particularly damning, when they pointed out that the screenplay "is at times incomprehensible" and the casting "is a mess." The review concludes that "Bond has been stripped of his iconic status. He no longer represents anything particularly British, or even modern. In place of glamour, we get a spurious grit; instead of style, we get product placement; in place of fantasy, we get a redundant and silly realism.” In an apparently contradictory note, The Times listed the opening car chase as the tenth best car chase in cinema history (something I vehemently dispute..).

There were other reviewers though, who said it was a “rock solid” concept, and executed with intelligence, not falling into the usual trap of running out of steam before the end. So was this a brave sequel, effectively providing a much needed third act to Casino Royale? Or is it a messy scrappy movie hampered by the writers’ strike? Is the tighter editing in the action sequences a step in the right direction, modernizing Bond, or is it a copycat of other franchises, losing Bond’s signature touches? You’ll have to watch it yourself to make up your own mind…

Trivia

American fashion giant Tom Ford was personally commissioned by Daniel Craig to design exclusive clothing for his 007 character.

Gemma Arterton won the part of of Agent Fields over 1500 other applicants. The full name of her Miss Fields character is never revealed in the film and is only ever referred to as "Fields". Her full name is given in the film's closing credits and publicity documents as "Strawberry Fields," named after the 1967 song by The Beatles. She has red hair, like strawberries. Strawberry Fields can be considered a typical Ian Fleming-esque moniker. Arterton has reportedly based her character on a number of 1960s Bond Girls, particularly Pussy Galore and Tracy di Vicenzo, on whose hairstyle Arterton based Fields' hair.

For the film's explosive finale, the special effects team set-off fifty four controlled explosions in twelve days on the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios.

Dennis Gassner's production design in this Bond movie is a homage to the pioneering work of Bond production designer Ken Adam. Daniel Craig described this film as "a classical Bond movie, with a touch of Ken Adam." Art Director Adam was renowned for creating the lairs of the villains in the early 007 films. Michael G. Wilson also described Dennis Gassner's designs as "a post-modern look at modernism."

Whilst filming in the hot and humid town of Colon in Panama, the film crew drank over one thousand bottles of cold water per day.

The pre-credits car chase took months of preparation and eight weeks to film on location in Italy. It involved 40 stuntmen, six doubles for Daniel Craig, and seven 162,500 pound Aston Martin DBS's

Before and after – note the innovative filming rig employed by the second unit team to make the action feel more immersive.

Bond hands a Universal Exports business card to one of Greene's men in Haiti that shows the pseudonym R. Sterling. The same name was used by 007 in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) when he introduced himself as Robert Sterling to Stromberg, with Anya Amasova as Mrs. Sterling.

The scene where Bond stalks a double agent during Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" opera was shot at the floating opera stage on Lake Constance at Bregenz, Austria. The opera itself, dealing with deception and revenge, holds a parallel to the film. The fight ends when the double agent falls from the roof, mirroring Tosca's suicide at the end of the opera (by throwing herself off the castle ramparts).

Some interesting cameos!

Alfonso Cuarón: The Mexican film director as a helicopter pilot, credited for additional voices. Cuarón is a friend of the movie's director Marc Forster.

Guillermo del Toro: The Mexican film director provides additional voices in the film. del Toro is a friend of the movie's director Marc Forster.

Michael G. Wilson: As man reading newspaper whilst sitting in green-armchair whilst Daniel Craig as James Bond handles metal case over counter.

Robert Braithwaite: The Managing Director of Sunseeker International Powerboats (the boats are regularly seen in the James Bond movies of recent years) as a Speedboat Captain on a Sunseeker power boat carrying Daniel Craig as James Bond.