Casino Royale
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Released:19/03/2007
More Details
Studio:Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Director:Martin Campbell
Cast: Daniel Craig, Claudio Santamaria, Jesper Christensen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright
Running Time:144 minutes
Product Description
Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Claudio Santamaria, Jesper Christensen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey WrightDirector: Martin Campbell
Amazon.co.uk
When you get to a modern James Bond film, your expectations are surely that you’ll get expensive action sequences, expensive locations and a production that doesn’t skimp on anything. That holds particularly true for the Blu-ray versions of such films, where the hope is for a best-in-class transfer and sound mix. With Casino Royale, not only do you get that, but you also happen to get one of the finest 007 movies of recent times, too.
A reboot for the franchise that ushers in Daniel Craig as a rawer, younger Bond, Casino Royale works a lot better than its follow-up, Quantum Of Solace by simple virtue of having a much better story at its core, going back directly to an Ian Fleming novel for it. Furthermore, in the casino sequence itself, it has a tense event to glue everything around, and it’s only in the final sequence or two where Casino Royale starts to feel like a conventional Bond film. That aside, it’s a superb piece of modern action cinema.
The film also looks stunning in high definition. From the overhead shots of a glistening beach, to the darker, faster car chases and action sequences, Casino Royale is a fabulous workout for a home cinema rig. The audio mix punches hard, mixing in subtlety when needed with the bombastic subwoofer-workout you might well be hoping for. And the end result is pretty much demo material. Given the strength of the film too, this is surely one of the best Blu-rays of a modern-day film you can buy. And what a way to keep watching the film⦠--Jon Foster
Tags
Action/Adventure
Reviews
Rather than focussing on the film, which is well reviewed, here is a quick run-down of the extras on this "Deluxe Blu-Ray" version over the DVD Collector's Edition and original Blu-ray versions and the DVD Deluxe Edition.
Firstly, those interested in the Blu-ray version over the DVD will be keen to know that all of the extras are in high definition, with the exception of the "Bond Girls" and "Chris Cornell music video" extras which are DVD resolution. Obviously there are some shots within the other extras that aren't full HD quality.
Disc 1 extras:
- crew commentary
- picture-in-picture visual commentary (Blu-Ray only)
- James Bond quiz (Blu-Ray only)
Disc 2 extras:
1 deleted scenes (x4)
2 Road to Casino Royale
3 Ian Fleming's Incredible Creation
4 James Bond in the Bahamas
5 Ian Fleming: Secret Road to Paradise
6 Death in Venice
7 Becoming Bond Documentary (from original edition, HD)
8 James Bond: For Real documentary (from original edition, HD)
9 Bond Girls are Forever (from original edition, low definition)
10 Art of the Freerun
11 Catching A Plane storyboard to screen
12 Freerun Chase storyboard sequence
13 Filmmaker Profiles
14 Chris Cornell music video (low definition)
Of the new features, most fall into the category of interview-based documentaries with clips of the final film, although a few (items 6 and 10 in particular) are behind the scenes "how did they do it" material.
I would recommend this version if you have the earlier DVD version but have since bought a Blu-ray player, as the Blu-Ray quality is excellent and there are some good new features. If you have the original Blu-ray version, only buy it if you really want the extra documentaries and like watching people sitting talking! If you haven't bought any previous version and have a Blu-Ray player then the extra cost over the DVD Deluxe Edition is certainly worthwhile.
Since Amazon never publishes the full details here they are:
Audio: Czech 5.1, English 5.1, English PCM 5.1, English Audio description track 5.1, Hungarian 5.1, Polish 5.1, Russian 5.1, Turkish 5.1
Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, English (Hard of hearing), English, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Polish, Romanian, Slovene, Turkish
Casino Royale (Deluxe Edition) [Blu-ray] [2006]
Any review of this film must fall under two headings:
BLU RAY - The image quality is stunning, and the film material shows Blu Ray technology in its best light, Dark Knight and Batman Begins are technically as great, but in my opinion this beats them as a demonstration disc.
CASINO ROYALE - I consider most of the earlier Bond films as great for family viewing on Christmas afternoon or Boxing Day, otherwise there is always something better to watch (personal opinion of course).
However this is taking Bond to the realm of serious consideration. Daniel Craig leaves the tongue in cheek efforts of previous Bonds behind and is a far grittier and believable 007, still retaining a few well delivered one liners.
In Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) we are treated to a real feisty woman, a great foil to Craig's Bond.
However Bond needs better villains, Le Chiffre as played by Mads Mikkelsen has a certain menace, with so much time spent on the poker games maybe he doesn't get a fair chance.
Also the high tech weaponry is left behind (with Q) and instead we have breathtaking stunts on cranes 180 feet in the air, and the incredible Venetian palace self destructing into the canal, this must be one of the greatest pieces of construction for a stunt ever.
Definitely this Bond will not be relegated to the festive season in my home, cannot wait to view Quantum of Solace.
So as a film or Blu Ray demonstration disc this is a winner.
I suppose that you have to take this review with a small pinch of salt given that this is the first time I have purchased a blue ray disc having only just bought a player. It was of course no mistake that I chose this film and I was compelled to see if I would notice a real difference.
The clarity in this version is truly amazing and, yes, it really does add even more to what was already a great and gritty film. If anything I think that the blue ray version emphasises and lays bare all that is good and bad in Bond himself and the world that he occupies.
I found that in this viewing I was much more able to enter his world and see and feel the emotions much more clearly. This is quite a 'raw' bond who as Vesper suggests is perfect for M16 as they like 'dysfunctional' types. I think at times he is like that, brutally untrusting, wrestling with emotions that, when in doubt, he tries to drown completely (and fails).
There are some powerful scenes including the frightening fight scene in the stairway of the Casino where afterwards we see Bond wiping away the blood and shakily drowning a very large scotch. This is a brave version of Bond and much truer to Ian Fleming's original concept - warts and all. It's just that on blue ray you can see the good and bad much more vividly. Top marks - a great production.
Having bought a Blu-Ray player for x-mas, I was interested in seeing how the world of Bond would look in HD. I have to say I wasn't disappointed.
The details are so clear and crisp, the colours so vibrant. It really is the difference between vinyl and CD; VHS and DVD. Once you've seen a film in this way, who'd want to go back?
Given that this is the new bond, what better way to start your blu-ray bond collection, especially with Quantum of Solace about to hit the stores...
