Casino Royale DVD: Review By CBF

A faithful adaptation of Ian Fleming's introductory novel, Casino Royale successfully returns 007 to his literary roots, providing audiences with all the dazzling thrills and excitement one has come to expect from a James Bond film. Director Martin Campbell, who successfully returned 007 once after a six-year hiatus in the form of the film GoldenEye and helped launch Pierce Brosnan in the role, returns to the series to introduce Daniel Craig as the new 007.

Not really the dark-haired, dark-eye-colored man we have come to know as James Bond, Craig possesses the will to make the audience believe that he is this character. Willing to do his own stunts and painfully bruise himself up just to prove this point, he earns credibility doing so, even if the skeptics say he's still a blonde-haired, blue-eyed gentleman. He earns my respect. Besides, that is not the only thing out-of-place in this movie anyways. There is the whole aspect of a post-9/11 world rather than a post-Cold War one, which contradicts the entire series. Also, Judi Dench. And the subtle fact that M stands for...Mom!!?! So if all you skeptics are still pissed about this movie's non-canonical feel, I'd say that those things would be the focus of attention then, and not the main actor's hair color.

Moving on, the film impressed me by how faithful it was to the novel. Whereas Die Another Day just felt like an anniversary piece, Casino Royale brought the series back to its original roots. The first half of the movie was impressive on how it built up to the Montenegro scenes, and the second half of the movie was pretty much the entire novel in that second hour's time, minus the scenes after Bond telling M, "the bitch is dead."

The story and directing were innovative. Being that this is chronologically (not canonically) the first Bond film in the series, I liked the idea of not starting off with the Gun Barrel, the pre-title sequence was Bond's elevation to becoming a 00 Agent, the titles were about Bond rather than women, and the fact that he earns his stripes throughout the course of the entire film. Just because he has been promoted to a 00 doesn't mean that he is the 007 that we all know and love yet. He is seen driving a Ford. He doesn't care about his martini being shaken or stirred. He struggles with killing a man. He is given and wears a tailored bowtie suit for the first time. He must be introduced to the Aston Martin (which we see him winning in a poker game, earning him his love for that car), invent his famed dry Vodka Martini (which he creates and breaks down the recipe to, directly from the book), and be broken as a man (which is the torture scene which was pretty much unchanged from the way Fleming wrote it). There is also the story of Vesper, his love interest, which tie that together with the torture scene and we may yet understand just why it is that Bond treats women the way he is known to. Campbell displayed excellent abilities with camera angles, on all sides of the movie, including, but not limited to, the poker scenes. By the end of the film we see the setup for Quantum of Solace and finally see him as the 007 we know, uttering the "Bond...James Bond" line and finally hear the 007 Theme for the first time. Superbly done.

The extras on this edition of Casino Royale are amazingly packed within. I held out on my copy of this movie when it came out back in '06 simply for the fact that I knew that they weren't done with it. For MGM to release all the Bond films in re-mastered, high quality Ultimate Editions, and then to skimp out on the features on the film that chronicles his origins and very first mission was almost a no-brainer to me. Either they would re-release it later included with the box sets and amp it up to an Ultimate Edition (with many more extras, making-of, etc.), or they would double dip it. Either way, I would hold out on the almost-barebones 2-disc and await the better version.

Disc 1

2 New Commentaries

A "Director & Producer" one, and a "Crew" one. Not sure if either were on the original, but the more, the merrier.

Disc 2 is the same as in the 2-disc version.

Disc 3

Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes

These play out nicely, and we get a deeper look into parts of the movie that were originally part of the storyboards. I, myself, found the scene in the beginning when he tails the contact very interesting as to Bond's strategic tactics as a post-war man.

The Road to Casino Royale

I do believe that this feature is mostly about the legalities of winning the rights back to the film, the ramifications that played out during the fifteen-year debacle.

Ian Fleming's Incredible Creation

An in-depth look into Bond's creator/muse/author, and what he was aiming for when he wrote this first Bond novel.

James Bond in the Bahamas

An intriguing look into the films' rich history, and what role the Bahamas play inside the world of 007.

Ian Fleming: The Secret Road to Paradise

Another Fleming tribute.

Death in Venice

A featurette that ties into the book, covering the romantic scenery of Venice, Italy, and the death of Vesper, not to mention the very location of that end scene, and how exactly they brought the old building down using the 007 Stage in Pinewood Studios and some other tricks.

The Art of the Freerun

An interesting look at Sebastien Foucan, the man from the beginning stunt sequences that practitions and has mastered this art beautifully. This guy seriously uses kinetic movement to its potential. An interesting look at the stunts and his tale of how it all started.

Catching A Plane: From Storyboard to Screen

The action sequence where Bond stops the terrorist at Miami International Airport.

Storyboard Sequence - Freerun Chase

Filmmaker Profiles

All in all, a well-rounded extras disc. Well worth the wait and the asking price.

Stunning.

Superior.

Sleek.

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The packaging comes with a Collector's Booklet spanning near 10-12 glossed pages, a unique fold-out in which the 3 discs rest upon, the opposite side of the fold-out represented with beautiful artwork of characters from the film, including Bond & Vesper, an innovative casing that employs the fold-out which has the shelf-space of two DVDs put together, and e-Movie Cash for the next 007 flick.

A well-rounded DVD. A worthy companion to the Bond Ultimate Edition box sets and looks very nice next to them on your DVD shelves. Worthy as in the casing/package design as well as the features. The use of color in the film is brilliant. The 007 Ultimate Edition sets come with every film having two discs and all the bonus features taken from the vaults to compile on each DVD, not to mention amazing looking interactive menus. The Casino Royale 007 Collector's Edition has three discs which contain enough of behind-the-scenes stuff to compete with the rest of 'em. And NO USELESS DIGITAL COPY! Not to mention the menus have a visually pleasing casino touch to them, and the casing is unbelievably done. Be careful not to scratch it however, as the texture of its material seems delicate and feels like it could be rubbed off if not treated properly. An outstanding companion piece to the 007 Ultimate Edition box sets. Worth the buy.