![]() Unlike the majority of the franchise, this film begins with a flashback to Madeleine’s ( Léa Seydoux) past and her connection with the man who becomes the primary villain of the film, Lyutsifer Safin ( Rami Malek). No Time to Die has the longest pre-credits sequence in James Bond history and it packed in a lot. There’s nothing wrong with a simple car chase, but it still has to be a good one. At one point one of the black cars crashes and you don’t know if it’s Bond who’s crashed until he reappears. The quick cuts also made it impossible to contextualize what was going on. We all love a good shot of a gorgeous Aston Martin, but that’s not what a Bond film in 2008 should have been focusing on. ![]() And a chaotic, haphazardly edited one at that.Ī lot of this sequence looks like a car ad. But these are also the reasons the film’s opener is last on the list-a chase is all it was. Bond is in a cool car, he’s got villains on his tail, and there’s seemingly no end to the frenzy and stunt work on display. Quantum of Solace is universally considered the poorest entry in the new era, and the opening sequence is indicative of that.Ĭlocking in at only four minutes, this short teaser was a quintessential, heart-thumping chase scene. RELATED: Every Daniel Craig Bond Villain, Rankedĭaniel Craig’s sophomore turn as James Bond was unfortunately the least successful. This ranking is based on how memorable each sequence was, what worked, what didn’t, and most importantly, how exhilarating the action was. So how successful were the Craig pre-credits sequences? We take a look back at all five films and rank the openings. Craig’s swan song as Bond was the longest film in the franchise’s history, and the pre-title sequences set the stage by clocking in at a whopping 20+ minutes. But the Daniel Craig films, and especially No Time to Die, have tried something a little different. While the Sean Connery era established these cold opens as a franchise trademark, the Roger Moore films turned them into the action set pieces we’ve grown to expect. No, which was the very first adaptation of the Ian Fleming novels, all the other films in the franchise have had a pre-credits sequence. "Spectre" is a movie that wants to have fun but simply doesn't know how.One of the norms of James Bond films has been the opening teasers. As if subtlety is what anyone has ever wanted from a Bond film. He even muffs the appearance of a certain talismanic house pet, staging its appearance with something close to subtlety. But Craig has never handled the series' humor well and Mendes can't decide whether he's making a straight 007 movie or inviting us in for a goof. In the hands of filmmakers with a sense of play, this could be a pop hoot, as witty and cruel as the Connery films and as effervescent as the Moores. There's even a secret villain's complex out in the desert and not one but two countdown-to-kaboom clocks at the end. Moneypenny is back (Naomie Harris looks a little glum to be a glorified secretary this go-round), and the strict Bondian catechism of bad girl/good girl is observed, with Monica Bellucci to bed and Léa Seydoux ("Blue Is the Warmest Color") to say things like "Don't think for a moment that this is when I fall into your arms," and then bed. "Quantum of Solace" (2008) was as busy and as meaningless as its title, but 2012's "Skyfall" was a rebound: The stakes felt global even as Bond and villain Javier Bardem grappled with their Mommy issues.ĭaniel Craig and Léa Seydoux in “Spectre.” Jonathan Olley/SPECTRE/MGM, Danjaq LLC, and Columbia Pictures Things started off so well, didn't they? "Casino Royale" in 2006 debuted a rougher, grimmer, more grounded Bond that felt in line with the new world disorder, and the movie effectively jump-started the franchise back to life. That uncertainty - are the filmmakers putting us on? Are we meant to be taking our martini seriously or with a wink? - permeates "Spectre," the 24th official Bond movie and the fourth, and least, with Daniel Craig. If it's not intended as camp, well, then, it is. If the sequence is intended as camp, it's just too weird to work. A shirtless Daniel Craig is surrounded by a troop of extra-nubile interpretive dancers who subsequently appear to have sex with gleaming black octopi while the whole thing is varnished over with gold filters, black ink, and Sam Smith's industrial-strength falsetto. ![]() I know the opening credits for a James Bond movie are supposed to be silly, but the start of "Spectre" achieves almost orgasmic levels of kitsch.
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