Recommended Posts

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

Craigs Bond is more like the original Fleming version from the novels compared to the ones we've had in the movies. A number of the later movies overdid it a bit while in the novels Bond is often less than perfect and shows more emotion iirc.

I still can't make my mind up about Daniel Craig, i think i like the more cheeky chappy appeal of bond. Will definitely watch it when it comes out in hopes that it's better than previous.

I like Craig well enough but I like Pierce Brosnan better as Bond.

IGN Has Seen the Skyfall

We visit the set of James Bond's new movie.

We were among several media outlets invited to Pinewood Studios in England last week to observe the filming of Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond movie. Here's what we saw, so be advised that there's some spoilerish material ahead.

Officially, Skyfall sees MI6 come under attack, revealing M's (Judi Dench) dark past and testing 007's (Daniel Craig) loyalty to her as he goes after the threat no matter the cost. Beyond that, the cast and filmmakers wouldn't reveal much more. In the sequence we witnessed being shot, Pinewood's famed 007 Stage had been transformed into the Temple Street station of the London underground for the climactic portion of an extended chase that takes place midway through the film.

Bond has pursued his quarry Silva (Javier Bardem) into a tunnel. After an exchange of gunfire, Silva, who is dressed as a Metropolitan Police officer, triggers an explosion in the wall behind Bond that will send the train traveling above crashing through the ceiling, nearly killing both hero and villain. Alas, we only saw the explosion and not the train derailment, which was scheduled to be shot the next day. This sequence is one of two major train stunt set-pieces in Skyfall (the other will be shot in Turkey in the coming weeks), both of which were designed by Oscar-winning special effects whiz Chris Corbould and his team.

In addition to the Tube station, sets at Pinewood have included an MI6 safe house, an abandoned Japanese island city, a Shanghai highrise and a waterfront casino in Macau. The two-story casino set, which was still being built with pieces from China, will see Bond (gasp!) meet a beautiful woman for a drink at the bar. The haunting abandoned city, inspired by Japan's Hashima Island, is where Bond meets Silva. It was an eerie, striking setting of dilapidated buildings, abandoned bicycles and a giant, fallen statue of a leader in the middle of the town center.

There are only about six weeks of filming left, with the production slated to finish at Pinewood within the next two weeks and then relocating to Turkey where filming will wrap in late May. Skyfall began shooting in early November and locations have included Shanghai, the Scottish Highlands, Surrey and London. With 2012 marking the 50th anniversary of Bond on film, it seems fitting that 007 should literally come home to London for it, but Craig was quick to caution us not to read too much into the role the capital city plays in the film.

"That's actually a little bit of a misconception. We're filming a lot in London, but it's only because we get photographed in London every time we go out into the streets. But the rest of the time we've been here in Pinewood on huge sets, which are based all around the world," said Craig during a roundtable interview.

"We're about to leave for Turkey next week, which will sort of double the number of locations. We're using London in a very particular way. Sam [Mendes, the director] and everybody, we were all very keen to capture the parts of London you wouldn't ordinarily see but that Bond would have access to. So it's partially very much about London and partially about lots of other things."

Then what exactly IS Skyfall about? That's a very good question we never really got answered. Unlike during our Quantum of Solace set visit in 2008, where Bond producer Michael G. Wilson pretty much spilled all the beans about the film on the record, the cast and filmmakers this time around were more tight-lipped than Christopher Nolan on a wiretapped phone. (That's probably why Wilson wasn't on set this time!)

So what do we know about the movie? Well, we now know that the "government official" played by Ralph Fiennes is named Mallory and that he has oversight over M and MI6 and, judging from the first photo of him, he's also handy with a gun. Mallory is also said to have a contentious relationship with M. "Yes, we do lock horns in this, but then I think I lock horns with nearly everybody this time," said Dench, who wrapped on the film the previous week.

"There's more to it [this time]," said Dench of how M and Bond's relationship is different in this film than in the prior two entries. "By nature of the fact that she has more to do and I think you see that she's an altered person a bit. ... There's more of her and she's not being kept in that shed in the back." (Dench also certainly wouldn't comment on those rumors making the rounds online.)

We know Naomie Harris plays an MI6 field agent named Eve who has a relationship with Bond. He also romances the morally ambiguous Severine (Berenice Marlohe), a character who the actress said also has a few scenes with Silva. "The terms we use to describe her are glamorous and enigmatic," said Marlohe during a roundtable chat. "Enigmatic is important because you can't really put her in one of the classic categories of good or a villain. This is very interesting and it is also what Daniel did with James Bond. His colors are not that obvious. So I like this word enigmatic. I like to give her the most complexity of a human being and not determine color."

Likewise, Oscar winner Javier Bardem enjoyed the opportunities presented by the role of Silva. "It's always about the material and when I read it, it was very strong, very well put together and very powerful in many ways and that the character that they were offering me had a lot of different possibilities to have fun doing it and also create a person," he recalled. "I didn't see a reason to say no to this and I'm glad I didn't because I'm having a lot of fun."

We also learned during our chat with the film's armorer Joss Skottowe that Bond not only fires his usual Walther PPK as well as a machine gun during the film, but also antique English flintlock pistols and one hell of an old school elephant gun. Pity the poor ****** who buys it from that beast! (And, yes, we got to hold Bond's Walther PPK and, no, that's not a euphemism.)

The film's title certainly has a doomsday-esque connotation to it with the idea of the sky falling. "We think it sounds like a Fleming title for that very reason, Skyfall. His titles always had many meanings. And when you see the movie, you'll understand," said producer Barbara Broccoli coyly.

  • 4 weeks later...
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • It sounds like you’re trying to rewrite a narrative to align this layoff with your political beliefs. Games can be horrible, whatever backwards notions you have don’t change that bungie has problems, mostly with just bad games, and arrogance. When they pushed Microsoft to let them be independent they lost their way. They hired on a bunch of people and they couldn’t justify the employee count consistent with their revenue.
    • Trying out Noctalia v5 on CachyOS  
    • Calibre 9.10 by Razvan Serea  Calibre is an open source e-book library management application that enables you to manage your e-book collection, convert e-books between different formats, synchronize with popular e-book reader devices, and read your e-books with the included viewer. It acts as an e-library and also allows for format conversion, news feeds to e-book conversion, as well as e-book reader sync features and an integrated e-book viewer. Calibre's features include: library management; format conversion (all major ebook formats); syncing to e-book reader devices; fetching news from the Web and converting it into ebook form; viewing many different e-book formats, giving you access to your book collection over the internet using just a browser. Calibre 9.10 changelog: New features Content server: A new "modern" interface with a sidebar to ease navigation Content server: When used with HTTPS allow installation as a PWA (Progressive Web App) Edit book: Saved searches: When filtering the list of saved searches match by keywords CSS parsing: Add support for CSS Level 4 selectors Cover grid: When using an image larger than the viewport as a texture scale it to fit the viewport Annotations browser: Allow restricting displayed annotations by custom annotation styles as well Edit book: Compress images: Add option to convert PNG images to JPEG or WEBP Bug fixes E-book viewer: Fix IME on Windows not working when typing in notes for highlights Conversion: Heuristics: Improve performance in some pathological cases SNB Input: Fix error on some input files Windows: fix rare crash when too many notifications are displayed at once Fix duplicating of books not duplicating value from enumerated columns when the column has a default value defined Fix a regression in 9.8 that caused errors from AI plugin providers to be silently swallowed and not displayed to user Fix CSV export invalid when exporting comments field Disallow Python templates when reading book metadata (CVE-2026-53511) Improved news sources The Week Economist Espresso Horizons Download: Calibre 9.10 | Portable | ~200.0 MB (Open Source) Download: Calibre for MacOS | 327.0 MB Download: Calibre for Linux View: Calibre Home Page | Calibre Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 5.6.1.257 by Razvan Serea Malwarebytes is a high performance anti-malware application that thoroughly removes even the most advanced malware and spyware. Malwarebytes version 5.**** brings comprehensive protection against today’s threat landscape so that you can finally replace your traditional antivirus. You can finally replace your traditional antivirus, thanks to a innovative and layered approach to prevent malware infections using a healthy combination of proactive and signature-less technologies. While signatures are still effective against threats like potentially unwanted programs, the majority of malware detection events already come from signature-less technologies like Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit and Malwarebytes Anti-Ransomware; that trend will only continue to grow. For many of you, this is something you already know, since over 50% of the users already run Malwarebytes as their sole security software, without any third-party antivirus. What's new in Malwarebytes 5.****: Unified user experience - For the first time, Malwarebytes now provides a consistent experience across all of our desktop and mobile products courtesy of an all new and reimagined user experience powered by a faster and more responsive UI all managed through an intuitive dashboard. Modern security and privacy integrations - Antivirus and ultra-fast VPN come together seamlessly in one easy-to-use solution. Whether you’re looking for a next-gen VPN to secure your online activity, or harnessing the power of Browser Guard to block ad trackers and scam sites, taking charge of your privacy is simple. Trusted Advisor - Empowers you with real-time insights, easy-to-read protection score and expert guidance that puts you in control over your security and privacy. Malwarebytes 5.6.1.257 changelog: Features and improvements Updated the sign-in section of the My Subscription page to clarify that users can activate their subscription by signing in with their Malwarebytes account. Updated the uninstall flow to collect more meaningful insights and address customer concerns. Refreshed the app's tutorial layout for a better look and feel. Issues fixed Fixed an outdated link when clicking Take action after running a Digital Footprint Scan. Miscellaneous bug fixes. Download: Malwarebytes 5.6.1.257 | 472.0 MB (Free, paid upgrade available) Links: Malwarebytes Website | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      xvvxcvv earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      xvvxcvv earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Enthusiast
      Xonos went up a rank
      Enthusiast
    • Conversation Starter
      Admir earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      The_Focal_Point earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      405
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      168
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      129
    4. 4
      neufuse
      69
    5. 5
      Xenon
      68
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!