Casino Royale 4k Review
- Casino Royale on 4K offers a decent improvement over the Blu-rayand definitely worthyou money. The color grading is a major improvement but that's to be expected on a 4K releasethat alreadyhad a good blu-ray. If you're looking for a total makeover you won't exactly find it, but those seeking a slightly better image should enjoy this on 4K.
- Casino Royale appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This became a fine presentation. Sharpness almost always seemed strong. A smidgen of softness impacted some wider shots, but those elements occurred infrequently, so the majority of the flick looked detailed and well-defined.
| Review by: Matt Brighton |
| Posted on: February 16th, 2012 |
– Daniel Craig 007 Collection (4K Blu-Ray Review) Published on: by Chris Gelderd. The Daniel Craig 007 4K Blu-ray collection. Casino Royale goes back to the roots of. Casino Royale 4K Blu-ray Release Date February 25, 2020. Blu-ray reviews, news, specs, ratings, screenshots. Cheap Blu-ray movies and deals.
Jump to Disc ScoresPlot: What’s it about?
In 1967, producer Charles Feldman had the urge to make a James Bond film. In the early days before Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were in the picture, Ian Fleming’s first Bond title had been sold to Feldman for a substantial sum. The bad news that it would take fifteen years to make it to the big screen. By that point, five Bond movies were already out and there seem to be no hope to make an alternate Bond picture. The filmmakers in their infinite wisdom decided to scrap the storyline, keep the title, and make a spy spoof which had been making lots of money at that time with the success of the Matt Helm and Flint movies. With Feldman’s agent connections, he established an all star cast not to mention five directors to make the ultimate wide spy spoof with the number of 007 attached to it. The result was Casino Royale.
It’s a dark time for the spy world. Five agents go to a remote spot to one car to seek out bringing Sir James Bond (David Niven) out of retirement for his assistance. Unfortunately, Bond has been living a modest life and does not much care about the spy world as he used to. That is, until an attempt on his life at his residence claims the life of his former boss “M” (John Huston) who’s only remains happen to be his toupee. After some careful thought at his former boss’ residence, he takes over his superior’s position to counteract on the mysterious deaths within the organization using his moniker for recruits to use in order to confuse the organization known as SMERSH and its chief enemy Dr. Noah. This includes a handsome country boy (Cooper) resistant to the urge of lovely young ladies, a baccarat expert (Peter Sellers) and his long lost daughter with Mata Hari named (). Together they infiltrate their main hideout which is under the cover name “Casino Royale”.
It was best that a familiarity with the Flint series and the Austin Powers movies are enough to satisfy with this all star vehicle. The wackiness plus the use of the kind of jokes that you don’t know whether to laugh or not happen to be used to a great extent. A lot of the craziness going on in this movie makes a viewer wonder if the filmmakers were all on something during the production. Nonetheless, it’s a psychedelic spy spoof with a nutty sense of some of the previous Bond films as well as brandishing its own brand of cool, thanks to a solid score by Burt Bacharach and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
The look of the sets in this movie is quite breathtaking full of color and uses a wonderful stained glass palette that let all the colors explode out sixties style. As for the performances, they all range from being in the movie a little while to a glorified cameo to some uncredited that do surprise and make me grin at their use in this film.
All is different in this incarnation of 007, and this multi-directed film came with much criticism and was not looked on too highly at the time. It was also not a box office success. However in this day in age when spoofing the sixties is a happening, it does freak me out in a way that spreads it away from the traditional Bond series and into its own groovy mold.
Video: How does it look?
Previously this title was limited to being a Best Buy exclusive release, but it’s now been released to the masses. The 2.35:1 AVC HD image is about the most inconsistent that I’ve encountered on Blu-ray, then again I’ve never seen a movie with half a dozen directors, either. Image quality varies from scene to scene, but it’s a reflection of the source material I’m sure. I will say that Ursula Andress looks as good as ever. Though the detail has been improved over the previous DVD release, there’s still a bit of edge enhancement that I noticed. Still, it’s what I believe to be a step up from the previous DVD and if this kind of movie floats your boat – should find a nice home next to the “real” Bond movies in your collection.
Audio: How does it sound?
The disc does contain a DTS HD Master Audio track, but let’s not get too excited, shall we? Audio has been cleaned up a bit and though this title in no way competes with the newer soundtracks, does have a moment or two of greatness. Take “greatness” with a grain of salt, if you please. Dialogue sounds nice and natural with little to no distortion. It’s about as close to a mono track as you can get without actually being mono. Still, it’s not a horrible or unlistenable mix and for that, I’m pleased.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This Blu-ray contains the same supplements as the previous standard DVD and nothing is more special than the original Kinescope of the show “Climax” and it’s presentation of Casino Royale starring Barry Nelson as James Bond and Peter Lorre. It’s a fifty minute, 3-Act live television play and it is quite intriguing, The condition of the Kinescope is a decent full frame transfer and the audio is ok when it comes to the dialogue and the limitations of fifties sound systems of television, but the result is a great addition on this disc.
Adding to that is the nineteen minute featurette, Psychedelic Cinema, that goes into the back story of shooting seen mostly through the eyes of the only surviving part of the five directors, Val Guest. He’s a wonderful interview subject so much so that I wish he did a commentary track along with that. Thanks to the great quality of the featurette with all its materials, there’s no need and is a wonderful extra.
Finally, there is the theatrical trailer that was as clueless to sell this movie than the viewing audience the studio was gearing toward. It’s even better that MGM didn’t edit for their own logo by having it in full length with the Columbia credits. (this was also well handled on the other unofficial 007 movie Never Say Never Again with the trailer with the old Warner Red White and Black “W” logo).
Overall, Casino Royale is a unique viewing experience that gets better on multiple viewings thanks to its sixties mood that recalls the recent Austin Powers movies and the right amount of recommended extras.
MOVIE INFO.YEAR RELEASED
1967
RATING
Not Rated
DIRECTOR
Val Guest, Ken Hughes, John Huston, Joseph McGrath, Robert Parrish and Richard Talmadge
STUDIO
MGM
RUNNING TIME
131 min.
TECH SPECS
Casino Royale 4k Review
- BLU-RAY
- (2.35:1)
- Video Codec: AVC
- Audio: DTS HD Master
- 1 Disc Set DISC FEATURES
- Theatrical Trailer
- Audio Commentary
- Deleted Scene(s)
- Featurette
- Documentary
- Digital Copy
Casino Royale (2006/Theatrical Film Review)
Stars: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Jeffrey Wright
Director: Martin Campbell
Critic's rating: 4 out of 10
Review by Chuck O'Leary
Although box office has remained strong worldwide, even some of the most ardent fans of the James Bond series felt the series reached a creative low with the last two films starring Pierce Brosnan as 007, 1999's The World Is Not Enough and 2002's Die Another Day. For me, though, the slump goes back to 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, but that one seemed to go over better with Bond aficionados.
The last film I liked in the series was the first of the Brosnan Bonds, 1995's Goldeneye, which happens to be the last film original Bond producer Albert R. 'Cubby' Broccoli had any input on (although uncredited) in any shape or form. But after Cubby died in 1996, the quality of the series headed south quickly despite remaining highly profitable. Cubby was clearly the major creative force behind the Bond franchise who made it work.
All the subsequent Bond films after Cubby's death have been produced by his stepson, Michael G. Wilson, and his daughter, Barbara Broccoli, who both collaborated on several of the films with their father dating back to the late 1970s and early 1980s. But with Cubby gone, the magic is gone as well.
Casino Royale was Ian Fleming's first 007 novel published in England back in 1953 and it was previously made into a god-awful 1967 all-star comedy spoof that went through five directors and 10 (not all credited) screenwriters, but also featured a great musical score by Burt Bacharach.There is even an earlier TV version from 1954 (when the book was published in the U.S.) where actor Barry Nelson (the man who hands the keys to the Overlook Hotel to Jack Nicholson in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining) plays “Jimmy Bond” and Peter Lorre plays the villain.
Not counting the '67 comedy version of Casino Royale and 1983's Never Say Never Again, the new serious interpretation of Casino Royale is the 21st 'official' James Bond film produced by EON Productions, the company Cubby co-founded with his production partner, Harry Saltzman, who left the series in 1975.
Casino Royale 4k Blu Ray
After the lackluster previous three Bond entries starring Brosnan, I had high hopes for the new Casino Royale because it was being billed as a 'grittier' Bond film, and the last two times Bond 'returned to basics,' it resulted in what are possibly my two favorites of the entire series, 1989's Licence to Kill and 1981's For Your Eyes Only. Furthermore, Casino Royale had Martin Campbell returning to direct, and in my estimation, his first Bond film, Goldeneye, was the last enjoyable entry in the series.
Campbell's Casino Royale is indeed grittier, but unfortunately, it's only marginally better than the last three. Unlike Licence to Kill and For Your Eyes Only, I think filmmakers got a little too down to earth for their own good this time, and, in turn, squeezed out a lot what's fun about these movies. Licence to Kill and For Your Eyes Only had just the right balance of grit, wit and spectacular action. The latest Bond, however, is overlong (its 144 minutes makes it the longest Bond to date), often sluggish and lacking in the kind of big, exciting action we've come to expect in Bond movies.
But on the plus side, Casino Royale contains no digital effects, which is refreshing after the previous two Bonds became overwhelmed with digital effects.
For those who thought Timothy Dalton's demeanor was too serious as Bond (I thought Dalton was just right for the role), Dalton is practically Roger Moore as compared to the latest Bond, blond-haired, blue-eyed Daniel Craig (Layer Cake, Infamous), who plays the role with a stone-faced intensity more reminiscent of Charles Bronson. Craig, though, isn't the problem. The problem is that he's the centerpiece of an inconsistently paced film that goes on way too long and doesn't have enough action or suspense.
Furthermore, the latest Bond theme song, 'You Know My Name' by Chris Cornell, may very well be the most instantly forgettable in series history.
Since this is based on Fleming's first Bond novel, Casino Royale, like Batman Begins, is a return to the origins of the character in an attempt to revitalize a creaky franchise. In the film, Craig's Bond has just recently been made a double 00 agent by his superior M (Judi Dench) and 007’s first assignment is to neutralize a money launderer for terrorists named Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen). Bond's mission takes him from Uganda to the Bahamas to Miami to the Balkan States to Venice as he tracks the one-eyed, asthmatic, and, of course, sadistic Le Chiffre.
After joining forces with a fellow British agent (and eventual love interest) named Vesper Lynd (Eva Green of Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers), Bond and Le Chiffre finally come face to face during an international poker game where the British government stakes Bond in an attempt to bankrupt Le Chiffre by having Bond beat him at the gambling table. This is also where Bond first meets his future long term CIA friend and contact Felix Leiter (played here by Jeffrey Wright) and gets introduced to what will become his signature drink, a martini, shaken not stirred.
It not until the very end that we first hear 007 utter his famous, 'Bond, James Bond' line, and not until the end credits that we hear Bond's famous theme music.
Casino Royale has a couple of decent chase sequences, and Craig does have a strong screen presence, but just like the Cornell's theme song, most of what happens is instantly forgettable and nothing we haven't seen before.
From the results of EON’s last four Bond films, this is clearly a worn-out franchise ready to be put out to pasture. The man with the license to kill has become the man with the license to bore.