Skyfall is the highest grossing James Bond film in the series’ fifty-year history, currently sits at #7 on the highest grossing films worldwide list, and has been nominated for more Oscars than any other Bond film. At this point, I’m not sure what I can add to the heaps of praise for the 23rd entry in the James Bond series now that it has been released on Blu-ray.
Ultimately Skyfall is the best proof that Bond is a timeless character. It wasn’t always thought to be that way. In 2002 alone — the 40th anniversary of the Bond franchise — there were two films released touting that they would be the Bond of the 21st century — The Bourne Identity and XXX (trust me, I remember the hype). It didn’t help that the Bond film released that year, Die Another Day, was one of the worst films of the series. While it celebrated the Bond series, it made too many nods to the past (and the dated aspects of that past) and not nearly enough to the future. Thankfully the following film, 2006’s Casino Royale, essentially rebooted the franchise with new Bond Daniel Craig and had many declaring it the best Bond film ever, though the follow-up, 2008’s Quantum of Solace, was a big letdown and seemed to try too hard to emulate those Bond imitators. But just because the Bond character was created during the Cold War doesn’t mean that Bond is a relic. Similar to the blockbuster character Batman, there is no shortage of ways to make Bond contemporary without losing the essential aspects of the character, and no Bond film of the last few decades has done that as well as Skyfall.
The plot of Skyfall unravels slowly, so I don’t want to ruin too much of it for the handful of people who haven’t seen it yet. Bond is seemingly killed on a mission when M (Judi Dench) orders Bond’s fellow agent Eve (Naomie Harris) to shoot at a villain stealing information regarding sleeper agents in terrorist groups but hits Bond instead. Bond, being Bond, survives (of course), and is none to happy with M’s decision. Another one not pleased with M is Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), a bureaucrat who thinks Bond and M are too out-of-touch with the modern world of espionage. But Bond is soon back on the case tracking the mastermind behind the theft, Silva (Javier Bardem), who has a personal grudge against M. The film builds to an amazing climax that reveals aspects of both M’s and Bond’s pasts. In the end, Skyfall sets up Bond with the classic Bond status quo that has been missing from the franchise for a decade. It was wonderful for the franchise to take a breather, but it’s good to see that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Director Sam Mendes is the only Oscar-winning director to direct a Bond film, and the quality he adds to film can be seen in spades. There is more of a story structure in this entry than in any other Bond movie, and Skyfall is filled with foreshadowing to a degree never seen before in a Bond movie. Longtime Bond scriptwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade were joined by Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan who seemed to bring out the more intricate parts of the story. Much like The Dark Knight was more than just a great Batman movie — it was a great film — Skyfall is more than just a great Bond movie and was one of the best films released in 2012.
Sure, there are parts of Silva’s master plan that could never have worked, and Bérénice Marlohe is one of the weaker Bond girls in recent memory, but Skyfall does little wrong. Craig is reportedly signed for two more Bond films and I’m sure I’m not the only Bond fan who can’t wait to see what comes next.
The Disc
Like most 007 films, Skyfall is filled with excellent bonus features. Being that Skyfall is the fiftieth anniversary Bond film, I would’ve liked to have seen a chronological retrospective of the series, but I am sure most of those features appeared in last year’s complete series box set (and appropriately so). As a side note, in the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack the special features are only on the Blu-ray disc.
Shooting Bond — An hour-long in-depth documentary about the making of the film covering the major sequences and all the major characters. There is particular focus on the opening sequence and the difficulty shooting it, but it covers the production from the casting announcement press conference. It’s one of the best “making of” docs I’ve ever seen as a bonus feature.
Commentary by Director Sam Mendes
Commentary by Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson and Production Designer Dennis Gassner
Both commentaries are extremely informative about the film’s production, though the better of the two is Mendes’. As I said in my above review, Mendes is the most acclaimed actor to make a Bond film, and he goes into great detail about his directing decisions while trying to remain faithful to the conventions of Bond movies. He’s also very open about his influences, both Bond and non-Bond (including his deliberate callbacks to Mendes’ own Road to Perdition, which starred Daniel Craig). The commentary by Broccoli, Wilson, and Gassner isn’t quite as good, and it covers the same ground as Mendes’ commentary does is less detail.
Skyfall Premiere — This four and a half minute feature shows glimpses from the world premiere of Skyfall at the Royal Albert Hall. It shows just how incredible Bond premieres are in the UK, and it’s nice in hindsight to hear the cast and crew talk highly about the film and their hopes that it will do well at the box office and with audiences. Little did they know…
Theatrical Trailer and Soundtrack Promotional Spot — Self-explanatory, I think!
Movie Rating: Not only is this one of the best Bond films, it was one of the best films of 2012 (9/10).
Disc Rating: Eon Productions doesn’t disappoint with several in-depth features (8.5/10).
Skyfall is now available on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack and DVD from 20th Century Fox/MGM.
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