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Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: Blu-ray
Brand: Sony
EAN: 0043396249233
Format: AC-3, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Label: Sony Pictures
Languages: EnglishOriginal LanguageEnglishSubtitledFrenchSubtitledSpanishSubtitledFrenchDubbed
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
MPN: COLBR24923
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Release Date: October 21, 2008
Running Time: 144 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Bluray Disc
Amazon.com:
The most successful invigoration of a cinematic franchise since Batman Begins, Casino Royale offers a new Bond identity. Based on the Ian Fleming novel that introduced Agent 007 into a Cold War world, Casino Royale is the most brutal and viscerally exciting James Bond film since Sean Connery left Her Majesty's Secret Service. Meet the new Bond; not the same as the old Bond. Daniel Craig gives a galvanizing performance as the freshly minted double-0 agent. Suave, yes, but also a "blunt instrument," reckless, and possessed with an ego that compromises his judgment during his first mission to root out the mastermind behind an operation that funds international terrorists. In classic Bond film tradition, his global itinerary takes him to far-flung locales, including Uganda, Madagascar, the Bahamas (that's more like it), and Montenegro, where he is pitted against his nemesis in a poker game, with hundreds of millions in the pot. The stakes get even higher when Bond lets down his "armor" and falls in love with Vesper (Eva Green), the ravishing banker's representative fronting him the money.
For longtime fans of the franchise, Casino Royale offers some retro kicks. Bond wins his iconic Astin-Martin at the gaming table, and when a bartender asks if he wants his martini "shaken or stirred," he disdainfully replies, "Do I look like I give a damn?" There's no Moneypenny or "Q," but Dame Judi Dench is back as the exasperated M, who one senses, admires Bond's "bloody cheek." A Bond film is only as good as its villain, and Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre, who weeps blood, is a sinister dandy. From its punishing violence and virtuoso action sequences to its romance, Casino Royale is a Bond film that, in the words of one character, makes you feel it, particularly during an excruciating torture sequence. Double-0s, Bond observes early on, "have a short life expectancy." But with Craig, there is new life in the old franchise yet, as well as genuine anticipation for the next one when, at last, the signature James Bond theme kicks in following the best last line ever in any Bond film. To quote Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin, now I know what I've been faking all these years. --Donald Liebenson
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
I did not read the movie promo so paid for something I had not seen or would like
I do not like james bond movies
chfancier
Rating:  -
Finally, a badass bond. No reliance on gadgetry or tricks. Just a cold, ruthless spy/assassin, willing to do whatever necessary to get the job done.
Beautiful transfer, this high def experience is something worth showing off.
Rating: -
It started out like the same old same old James Bond movies but after about an hour it began to develope into a descent movie.
I don't know what I was expecting from Bul-Ray but the quality didn't seem anymore impressive to me than a good HD movie on
TV. I'm fairly new to the Blu-Ray so that may not be a fair evaulation but, in any case it's mine, for what it worth.
Rating: -
Nothing personal, though I didn't like Pierce Bronson, the four James Bond films with has James Bond 007 are as bland as the Timothy Dalton and Roger Moore films. All three of these previous James Bond actors had films that never really amounted to much and sorry to say were always forgettable (with the exception of "The Spy Who Loved Me") Daniel Craig brings back the magic that Sean Connery originally sparked in these films and the choice of the studio to use the very first Ian Flemming book for Daniel Craig's debut greatly helps make you believe that he could have been James Bond before Sean Connery was (in move time line logic). Quantum of Solace is a different story all together (kind of weak for a follow up). But in both Daniel Craig proves he deserves to be called Bond...James Bond (with a license to kill and thrill)
Rating: -
Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman first brought James Bond to the cinema in Dr. No (1962). In the years that followed, with one exception, the two men adapted all of Ian Fleming's full length Bond novels into motion pictures. Now over forty years later, that omission in addressed, as Daniel Craig makes his debut as Bond, the MI6 agent, licensed to kill in Casino Royale, based on Fleming's very first Bond novel, originally published in 1953.
Each actor that assumes the role of Bond, is subjected to immense scrutiny and criticism. Being fair haired, and looking nothing like past Bonds, is a superficial gripe against Craig. What is hard to swallow is that someone as old as Craig (38), is supposed to be a newcomer to the double O classification. Craig, comes to the role of Bond, looking tougher and more weathered, than Pierce Bronsnan did leaving it at age 49. Craig being nervous about killing is a joke. This Bond doesn't need any of Q Branch's gadgets, he will just shoot you dead, or snap your neck with his bare hands.
In the film's first action sequence Bond engages in what is probably the most physically challenging, one on one, on foot pursuit in the history of the franchise. The deadly serious pursuit of Mollaka (Stebastien Foucan), on and across the crane arms is so demanding, that no previous Bond would have been physically capable of attempting it. Craig is overpoweringly masculine, and dominates the screen wherever the setting, be it Madagascar, the Bahamas, Montenegro, or Venice.
The key element from Fleming's original story remains the same (except that the original game was baccarat), but how plausible is it that in 2006 an international criminal, and the British and American governments, would do battle at a poker table? With the explosion in popularity of Texas hold 'em tournaments on television, watching the play here is pretty boring, regardless of how much the drama is forced. Gambling aside, Casino Royale works well enough. Head villain Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), goes through the movie with a sour expression, failing at every turn, and besides being a vicious ball slapper, doesn't really distinguish himself as a memorable villain.
The Bond women are also the subject of scrutiny. The exotically beautiful Caterina Murino makes a brief appearance in a sacrificial role. The casting of Vesper Lynd is critical, as like the Contessa Teresa (Tracy) Di Vicenzo, in `On Her Majesty's Secret Service', this is a woman who captures Bond heart. While Diana Rigg was an actress with considerable stature, it might be difficult to say the same for Eva Green (The Golden Compass), who apparently was a late selection to play Lynd. While her performance is serviceable, whether she was the ideal choice is a very open question. Some may not question what happens between Lynd and Bond, because the new Bond is such an unknown.
The remake of Bond into a harder edged character, was an opportunity for the producers to take the character into the R rated category. Surely teens have many others they relate to more than a middle aged, British spy, fighting the last war? Instead Bond remains in the PG-13 cage. The finale in a collapsing building in Venice is nicely done, and at the end of the mission, with M (Judi Dench) providing a little TLC, all the pieces have fallen in place, and Bond ends the film uttering his most famous line. It has flaws, but Casino Royale is quite nicely done.
The 2 disc version is an intermediate release, without the typically comprehensive Bondian special features. Maryam d'Abo (The Living Daylights) has taken up being a `Bond Girl' as a cause, and an updated version of her documentary `Bond Girls Are Forever' (48 minutes) is included. The somewhat curious selection does help pad the content, that also includes the featurettes 'Becoming Bond' (26 minutes), 'James Bond: For Real' (23 minutes), and Chris Cornell's music video for 'You Know My Name'. The two disc version has since been surpassed by the upgraded blu-ray version, which has commentary tracks, and additional extras.
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