Rent Casino Royale (2006)

The film that saved James Bond & launched Daniel Craig into the list of the greats. A brilliant film - Casino Royale review by Timmy B

Cast your mind back: Die Another Day has come out & despite doing massive business (becoming at that time the highest grossing Bond film ever,) it had also been received by many Bond fans in particular like a bucket of cold sick. After half an hour of fairly great world building, that stupid f***ing invisible car comes out. I so vividly remember sitting in the cinema & feeling from everyone around me the same thought: you can't be serious. Bond is meant to be silly, not stupid. But the film then nose-dived into a bloated, horrible CGI mess that made A View To A Kill look like a masterpiece. As much as Pierce was getting older, I am convinced that part of the reason he was let go from the role was due to the reception to this film and the need to start again. After all, you don't achieve the best box office numbers ever & then think "Everything needs to change," irrelevant of what Barbara Broccoli & Michael G Wilson may say in interviews. I do find it very sad that Brosnan wasn't given the opportunity to do one more film, which he talked about wanting to do, to complete his tenure with a good send-off. But Bond did need a change anyways and I am very glad we didn't get another Die Another Day.

When Daniel Craig was cast, there was a massive backlash to him. He wasn't what most people had in their head as Bond being like and to be fair, when he was first revealed to the press, he was half-way through making another film and REALLY didn't look like Bond. But I never joined in with the bile directed at him, because I had seen him in many other films, respected hugely the risks that he had taken and wanted to see what he could do. And it turns out, there was a huge amount...

His Bond is brand new to the service & had just been promoted. There is a huge arrogance about him, but you also see Bond making mistakes which humanises him. As much as we have always seen Bond never put a foot wrong in many ways, here he really does make mistakes. And that was something which Craig has said he insisted on being in his version of Bond. This pays dividends. As does his relationship with M, which really builds over the course of the films that he does. The other cast are also great. Eva Green is just perfect. I absolutely adored her. She is so much more than just a beautiful woman, she is every bit as smart as Bond, as well as seeing him for exactly what he is. Mads Mikkelson does brilliant work as Le Chiffre as well.

But the other person who needs enormous praise is Martin Campbell, the director. He saved Bond once before with Goldeneye and he has again ridden to the rescue, making this film every bit as good as that film, as well as carving its own way forward in the world. Thank you so much Mr Campbell, we couldn't have made it this far without you.

This film is a masterpiece. I love it. It may be a tad too long, but everything it does, it does brilliantly. A brilliant first film in Craig's take on Bond.

Return to form - Casino Royale review by CP Customer

My first blu ray and a real demo disk for the format. A return to form for Bond, receiving a new facelift in the shape of Daniel Craig. This film marks a new direction, taking onboard the lessons seen from the excellent Bourne series. A clear picture that really shows why blu ray is miles ahead of the standard DVD format. The only disappointment is the lack of extras, which was corrected in a recent special edition. Something that looks to be repeated in the latest Bond blu ray release. Shameful commercialism from the Bond producers! Just rent instead!

Best of the best - Casino Royale review by JD

In my opinion Craig is the best Bond actor, the chase through the building site is the best of any action adventure and the Bond series is up there with Mission Impossible as the best action series. Few will agree on all counts but you have to agree this is absolutely outstanding if spy action is your genre. The only aspect of this film that could be improved is the baddie who is better in Skyfall.

Most enjoyable. - Casino Royale review by CP Customer

To start with I thought it was going to be disappointing, much more violence than the early Bond films, but it improved and by the end my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Great 007 Action Thriller - Casino Royale review by GI

With the wisdom of hindsight this first 007 outing for Daniel Craig neatly sets up the series that followed. A wise decision to reboot the Bond franchise which had become tired and clichéd and to create an origin story of a sorts. From the black & white filmed prologue the film marks itself as a more serious action film and a turn away from the comic book style that the films had drifted into. Craig is not a naturally handsome man and so the smoothness of the character embodied by Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan for example was abandoned and replaced with a more ruthless version of the character. No longer the playboy but a man from more humble beginnings trained to play a violent part. And quite violent this film is too. To catch up with the action defining Bourne series this Bond is grittier and bloodier. The action if full on from the get-go with the fight scenes realistic and tough and of course there's a controversial torture scene. James Bond is an MI6 agent who is promoted to the 00 section after committing two officially sanctioned kills. The MI6 boss, M (Judi Dench) becomes disillusioned by Bond's gung-ho attitude but is assigned to play in a huge poker game against Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a banker to the world's terrorists and beat him so he will defect. But there's a traitor involved. The producers here have returned to the source novel, in fact the first Bond book, and the story does, in general, follow the book quite closely. The decision to have Dench return as M is a wise choice linking the film to the franchise and bringing in recognisable 007 tropes such as the Aston Martin DB5 and helps ground the film with the films that went before. The addition of Jeffrey Wright as CIA man Felix Leiter and Eva Green as the love interest make for a great Bond film, arguably Craig's best....maybe.

casino royale - Casino Royale review by CP Customer

craig bond??? no way rubbish..

how wrong can one be,avid bond fan from day 1 and this guys definatly a sean connery replacement,the first,yes the others where ok?| but now hes back, great film,not a bond in manyway but a bourne?

but still a great film,shame they keept m as judy dench,shes a great actress,but if they are to start again it doesnt fir well,old m and a young 007??but hey thats nitpickin,well worth the wait and expect the next one with excitement ...