Eva Green Movie:

		List Price: $38.96		Label: Columbia Pictures Salesrank: 646 Released: March 13, 2007
		Our Price: $15.70
		Used Price: $14.88
		MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
Sony Pictures Casino Royale (Blu-ray)
"Casino Royale" introduces James Bond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond is no less dangerous, and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he iselevated to "00" status. "M" (Judi Dench), head of the British Secret Service, sends the newly-promoted 007 on his first mission that takes him to Madagascar, the Bahamas and eventually leads him to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre, a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clientele, who is attempting to restore his funds in a high-stakespoker game at the "Casino Royale." "M" places Bond under the watchful eye of the Treasury official Vesper Lynd. At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together. Le Chiffre's cunning and cruelty come to bear on them both in a way Bond.

Description of Casino Royale [Blu-ray]:
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

Stills from Casino Royale (click for larger image)

Beyond Casino Royale on Amazon.com

On Blu-ray	CD Soundtrack	Why We Love Daniel Craig
The Amazon.com James Bond Store	Where Have I Seen Daniel Craig?	Bond on Set: Filming Casino Royale Book

Casino Royale [Blu-ray] Reviews:
Dreadful, boring and disgusting
2008-09-07 - Thank God! I didn't buy the DVD. The most "un-Bond" of all Times! The story is long and boring. Craig mumbles along in the fashion of American Actors - one needs sub-titles to understand the lingo spouting out of his slack mouth. The girl is just about OK. The casino scene must be THE most boring scene in the history of all-time great boring movies. The much-touted bikini scene where Craig does a male Bo Derek looks ridiculous cause his face is much smaller than it should be compared to his buffed-up body - looks like a cartoon, actually!
This movie mustn't be allowed to remain in 007 series. Oh God! Gimme Sean Connery. I mean, really, watching those golden oldies is better time-spent than watching this ridiculous subterfuge. Even the action-scenes (were they any?) are of VERY poor Quality! Craig looked like he walked from his "Munich" set - same stupid brooding expression, shining blue eyes of an idiot, and that slack mouth with lower lip jutting out - MY GAWD.... what an ugly man...Yucksssss. He really looked sexy when he played Jolie's something in that computer-game inspired movie or whatever!! PLEASE DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE - do yourself a favour!


Rough and Ready
2008-09-05 - The new Bond is rough and ready with plenty of action. There are no silly graphics or cartoonish stunts. Bond has a raw attitude and gets the job done without checking his image in the mirror. Bravo to the new style.

BOND BEGINS
2008-09-05 - I haven't read the book or seen all the other Bond movies, but for me, CASINO ROYALE does an excellent job of showing the roots of James Bond.

From the very beginning, we see how green Bond is as he messily kills a man.

We also see how naive he is and his "I'm invincible" mindset as he chases a suspect in a breathtaking scene involving lots of jumps and crazy stuntwork.

We see how this attitude is able to get him any woman he desires underneath the sheets.

We see Bond laugh in the face of death (the torture scene is very amusing!).

Finally and most rewarding of all, we get to see James Bond transform from the aforementioned naive agent into one that trusts nobody.

He's Bond.

James Bond.

James Bond Film
2008-09-01 - Daniel Craig's blue eyes and body beautiful (and Eva Green's) are a draw...as well as the Bond storyline filled with action and romance. If you love British films, you should enjoy this one.

Craig, Brosnan, Dalton all great; the problem is the concept
2008-08-26 - The other reviewers here mostly seem to applaud the new, buff, hard-core Bond (shaken not stirred, though he doesn't seem to care). But what's really happened is that 007 has been grafted onto "Die Hard." If we really want to revivify James Bond, the challenge isn't finding the right actor -- Roger, Timothy, Pierce, Daniel -- all of them are perfectly fine. The challenge is in the formula. Why make 007 into the typical action movie, where the chase is less a chase than a physical combat?

The James Bond that the early films taught me to love was the suave hero who could vault the perimeter of an embassy and still emerge perfectly dressed for a black-tie evening, complete with the red rose in his lapel. His arrogance had to do with his intellect and his physical charm not his overbearing presence. He doesn't need to be able to leap from a toppling building or construction site; half the film needn't be devoted to the stunt men. The point of James is that he is professional; he makes do with the least amount of effort. Bond: You should never see him sweat.

I think it's in the film "Thunderball," 007 enters his hotel room, checks the audiorecording he has made (this is HIGH TECH in 1965), and realizes based on the echo of the steps that an enemy is hiding in his shower. He proceeds into the shower area, knocks the guy out, and leaning over gently pops his gun out of his hand, by hitting just this precise spot on the back of the wrist that causes the gun to drop. No effort even slightly over what is required to achieve the result he desires. As the intruder runs out of the room he shouts to James, "Aren't you going to kill me?" James's answer is to this effect: I'm a professional, I kill when I have to; and I don't kill the small fish if I don't need to.

When we are able to re-imagine this sort of hero, who is interesting to the extent that he is complex and not just a burly strong guy, then the makers of the James Bond films will be able to find their new James. In other words, all these choices to replace Sean Connery have been fine; it's the concept that remains lacking.

The new M, in contrast, she is the absolute bomb.