When Casino Royale was first released onto Blu-ray it was cut down in the US and the UK, but not in the same places. We lost a line of dialogue whilst they lost some violence. Very happily, both territories now have the full version as part of this 50th Anniversary James Bond box set.
Ahh, Mr. Blu-ray Bond ... I've been expecting you.
It is tempting to think that Daniel Craig's debut in the tux has already rocketed way beyond the confines of the franchise that kick-started it all, leaving the Connerys, the Moores, the Daltons and especially the Brosnans way behind. That still leaves out the odd Lazenby, though, doesn't it? Well, we'll come to that later. So, for those of you who have got the stamina, let?s indulge ourselves once again and explore the many reasons why Casino Royale was able to put James Bond back at the top of the Action Hero League, propelling the home-grown...
[Read the complete movie review]Picture
I?ve reviewed this transfer of Casino Royale twice before. Apart from being uncut, there is no difference between those editions in terms of video quality and this essential entry in the lavish Bond 50 box set. So, what I said back then still stands.
Casino Royale is presented here on a BD-50 in full 1080p AVC MPEG4 video, and it looks absolutely stunning. With a pristine source print that the transfer keeps very filmic, the 2.40:1 image is alive with colour and vibrancy. As a reproduction of the film I saw at the flicks five times in a row, this is extremely accurate.
Colours, which if I'm honest, do look artificially bright and vivid, are incredibly rich and strong. From the lush scenery of the Bahamas - splendidly green foliage, scintillating azure seas - to the amazing primaries that throb with life - the yellow of the fuel truck, the reds of the Body Exhibition and the blues of Craig's eyes - the picture is constantly spreading the spectrum across the screen with a palette that is robust, deep and entrancing. Flesh-tones, though, can come over as little too flushed and orange, although, personally, I didn't find this a distraction. Scenes set around the picturesque clinic retreat in which Bond recuperates look utterly magnificent, with wide panoramic views, a deep sense of distance and marvellous colours.
Blacks are sumptuously deep and incredibly strong. Night-time scenes and the interiors of the dinner-jacket-rife Casino Royale bathe the image in shadow, allowing the lit portions and the colours of the screen to shine through with a visual coherence that is especially embracing. This heavily contrasted framing is well-maintained with some moments, such as Bond striding towards the Casino effectively cutting the image in two - darkness at the bottom, light and colour filtering through the upper half - with the dappered-up Bond cutting through the black foundation into an, otherwise, glittering image. The infamous torture scene is, perhaps, the best example of how deep and dramatic the black level can be - with only a few shafts of sickly light and Bond's battered torso and Le Chiffre's glowering countenance to break up the gloom. One sequence, however, is too dark. The fight on the stairwell with African bad-boy Obanno (Isaac De Bankole) loses a lot of detail in the impenetrable shadow of the tussle, which is a little disappointing.
Besides that sequence, detail is thoroughly excellent throughout most of the film. Depth of field is impressive and provides that all-important three-dimensionality, with the collapsing house in Venice, the crowded plaza and the cobbled streets of Montenegro looking phenomenal. But the building site chase and the gun-blazing destruction in and around the embassy offer tremendous levels of finite visual information packed into a busy, fast-moving frame. Close-up detail is also extremely good. At the flicks I remarked - somewhat anally, I admit - that you could see the tiny spots of Daniel Craig's shaving rash and that this would be a good thing to reveal the clarity of the disc transfer. Well, worry not, zit-fans, for they are still perfectly rendered here, too. In fact, every crag, crevice, cut and graze that Bond has are lovingly captured in glorious hi-definition.
On the digital front I did, sadly, detect some slight motion-drag and aliasing, and there was a very small degree of noise in the image from time to time. Though, and let me stress this, none of these factors conspired to take much away from what is, essentially, a truly warm, engrossing and spectacularly colourful and vivid picture that is a joy to watch again and again. And again.
Picture score : 9
Sound
Previously, we have heard Casino Royale in PCM, but now the blistering soundtrack has been encoded with DTS-HD MA 5.1, to go alongside all the other titles in the box set. I was quite enamoured with the soundmix when I first discussed it. I see no reason to deviate from the opinions I put forward back then.
Perhaps even better than the image transfer, folks, this lossless track really lifts the experience right up into a different zone altogether. To put it quite simply, this is has always been a favourite track of mine, and is certainly one of the best produced soundtracks around.
Casino Royalehas a nigh-on faultless audio mix that seems to go further in terms of detail and power than the mix I heard at any of the cinemas I saw the film at originally. For a start, David Arnold's score and even Chris Cornell's song have been bestowed much more in the way of surround activity, really bringing the music into play in a much more dynamic and surprising manner by pumping out lots of little incidental notes and sundry elements from the rears that I, for one, had never heard before. Just listen out for the echoing guitar effect that warbles its way around your ears during the moment when Bond gets off the plane in Nassau.
The bass levels are astonishingly deep and full-on, rooting every impact, big or small - from rampaging fuel trucks and whooshing jet engines to the clanging of a steel door and the rolling thuds of a spinning Aston Martin - with strength and a realistic reverb thrown at you with enough aggression to press the ribs. The high ends are well held and scintillatingly sharp and clear, and the mid-range is constantly warm and enveloping, leading to a track that is thoroughly and comprehensively detailed.
Steerage is impeccable, with bullets, cars, explosions and voices all channelled perfectly around the set-up. Panning is always seamless and the film features many sweeps back to front, front to back and from every which way but loose around the speakers. There is activity taking place around you at almost all times and it is delivered with nothing short of total realism and a full-flowing naturalistic sound that is the realm of only the most intelligently thought-out and produced mixes. Even the quietest scenes have perfectly integrated ambience to keep you immersed in the film. For all the bombast that rocks the room, the dialogue is never swamped or submerged and delivery is always first class, from the eerie accent of Vesper to the gloriously growly, smoke-filled voice of Giancarlo Giannini's Mathis, and from the starched-yet-warm commands of M to the strong and layered tones of Bond, himself.
But, for a second, let's just revel in the juicy stuff that the soundmix provides. Listen out for Mollaka's gunshots during the crane-sequence - we hear the rounds firing front and centre and hear the wonderfully metallic snap of the ejected cases issuing out from almost behind us. The fantastic moment when Bond drags Mollaka down machine-gun alley in the embassy has glass, bullets, wood-splinters and ricochets engulfing the room with pin-sharp precision and devastating directionality. The terrific bit when the police vehicle is swept up in the draught-blast of the plane's engine and the earlier deluge in the airport when the sprinkler system goes off. The sound of the big air bags supporting the floating house hissing when raked by bullets and the awesome sinking of the building, itself, with masonry tumbling, stairs and landings giving way and, of course, the incessant gunfire and fist, knee and foot impacts. Listen out for the lift as it plunges into the water and the resultant surge around the speakers when Bond dives under. And then there's the crystal clear presentation of every gunshot in the film that literally poke through the air with a crunching thump. Extremely well-designed, folks, and enormous fun to become immersed within.
Sound score : 9
Extras
We have had the original release, which was extremely disappointing when it came to supplements. And then we had the Deluxe Edition that came out a couple of years later and, really speaking, we now have the best of both worlds with this release, although it does, rather perplexingly, miss out the Bond Girls Are Forever documentary and several featurettes.
So, what have we got then?
Audio Commentary with the crew.
There are four Deleted Scenes that are really just scene extensions.
The Road to Casino Royale (26.34 mins) takes a gander at how Fleming?s original novel has eventually found its way to the screen in a proper adaptation that is part of the celebrated canon.
Ian Fleming's Incredible Creation (21.14 mins) Pretty much the obvious overview of the character and his creator that most of us would expect. Nothing new here.
James Bond in the Bahamas (24.16 mins) This is quite a decent look at why the franchise has returned to the exotic location time and time again. Interesting to see how things have changed over the years, and to hear from inhabitants who have contributed to the films.
Ian Fleming: Secret Road to Paradise (24.28 mins) Yet more discussion about the character of James Bond came to be, told from the viewpoint and recollections of the people that new Fleming.
Death in Venice (27.24 mins) is a great chronicle of how the film?s elaborate Venetian action finale was filmed.
Becoming Bond (26.16 mins) fills in the background on Daniel Craig's transformation from respectable jobbing actor, perpetually bobbing about just beneath the radar of fame, to media-lashed superstar-in-the-making. Featuring interviews with Craig, Martin Campbell and Judi Dench, this is a pretty decent look at how the franchise took a gamble in its new re-imagining. Great to see Craig making his debut before the media by zooming up the Thames under escort from the Royal Marines. Shame about that lifejacket, though. As he, himself, remarks, he'd have come across better if he'd worn arm-bands. A good little scene-setter, folks, that even makes reference to the anti-Craig canvassing that took place.
James Bond: For Real (23.32 mins) is a look at how this production aimed for a grittier feel in it depiction of the action and the stuntwork - less outrageous and more authentic hands-on stuff, without the use of CG to cheat. The major set-pieces are covered, such as the awesome building site chase and the Miami Airport sequence - the truck was originally supposed to plough on through the belly of the plane - the record-breaking rolling of the Aston Martin and the collapsing of the house in Venice. All good stuff, if a little technical at times.
And finally, there is the Chris Cornell video for ?You Know My Name? (4.06 mins)
Overall, this is a very decent selection, but it feels somewhat dry and repetitive compared to some of the older releases.
Extras score : 8
Verdict
Well, in case you haven't already guessed - I love Casino Royale and rate it very highly, even when held up against the best of Connery and Moore. And Lazenby?s OHMSS, which remains my all-time favourite Bond film.For me, it just did about everything right, from the catchy black and white prologue and the wildly different title sequence, through the decidedly low-key mission and traumatic denouement that sees the full birth of 007. It is violent, realistic, bereft of the cheese that mired the franchise and focuses on a Bond who is resilient rather then refined, brutal rather than urbane. Like I said about Christian Bale's portrayal of Batman so long ago now, this is a hero that could exist and should exist. The daftness is gone, the edge is back. Throughout three films he has been consistently strong, even making the lame elements of QoS all the more palatable, and completely coming to dominate the character with the triumphant Skyfall.
Long live Daniel Craig's Bond.
This debut marks him out as possibly the best Bond ? though only time will really tell - and certainly the biggest hook to ensure the longevity of the series into this new age of techno-terrorism and ever-more shady politics. Despite a couple of very minor flaws, Casino Royale is fast, cool and aggressive, making 007 rock like never before, proving quite conclusively that nobody does it better.
On Blu-ray, the film positively shines and the sound, now DTS-HD MA, is absolutely amazing. We lose some extras with the edition in this box set, but it seems churlish to complain when we now the film fully uncut.
With Casino Royale, James Bond returned with a vengeance and stamped his authority on the action genre.
Overall score : 9
2,191 word review written by Chris McEneany.
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