Quantum of Solace: Bond’s Revenge

Overall I enjoyed this edit and I think it helped the movie. There's not a lot to work with, so only so much can be done.

First, the good. Adding in the gun barrel Bond trope fits--it is kind of odd to not have it. Replacing the theme song was a decided improvement; I'm not 100% convinced of the P!nk song but it fits overall and is a massive improvement over the awful original.

Trimming the action sequences works. This is a Bond film, not a Bourne film, so the chases and fights shouldn't be the focus. In particular the opera sequence is fantastic IMHO. Going slow motion with just the music track get across the brutality of the fight without getting in the viewer's face about it. The Vesper flashbacks generally works. Same goes for the final hotel fight, though it isn't quite as effective. The technique helps to highlight Bond's state of mind.

Having a callback montage at the beginning is a good idea since this is a rare actual sequel film. Which segues me into the criticism. The initial sequence felt overlong. Probably picking up a couple of short clips then right to the sinking elevator and aftermath would be enough--not a summary of the entire Casino Royale.

Moving the Sienna chase to before the opening credit sequence also didn't work for me. It moved the credit sequence too far into the film--15 minutes or so in? It felt wrong.

As mentioned, some of the flashbacks to Vesper were a bit abrupt, even if appropriate.

With the cutting, the thin story and weak villain became almost secondary. It started to become more of Bond ignoring M's orders and avoiding getting caught by her and the other agents. Again, not much to work with here.

In the end I did enjoy the edit and it works, it's just not my favorite work by Last Survivor.

Interesting! There is something good to be found in QoS, as LS proves. This is one of the best "saving a film"-edits I've seen. QoS is actually good now. The inserts from Casino Royale are a nice idea and the opening takes a different path, to say the least. The only time the flashbacks disrupted me (though only for a second) was at the final fight at the desert hotel. Once I realized what it was, it immediately fell into place.

The editing in the original is one of its bigger faults to me, and LS manages to make them less obtrusive. Audio and video-wise, this edit is perfect. Great work, I'd love to see a HD-version. Recommended!

Quantum of Solace is a bit of a thorny issue when it comes to Bond. It was rushed, there was a writers strike and therefore the plot was extremely thin. The action scenes were done with shaky cam and very fast editing that left the viewer a little confused at times. Still, for a Bond fan it had many great moments, but it needed more of plot to hold the film together.

I didn't know how one could improve on this film without access to the original footage and deleted scenes to make something more cohesive. But then, if there wasn't much in the script in the first place...

This edit opens with the gun-barrell inserted into the beginning rather than the end which is a good thing as it really jars at the end, coming as it does after an emotional pay-off scene. Bizarrely the gun-barrell opens into a flash forward of Bond and Camille in the desert before cutting to the aerial shot over the water that leads to the car chase opening, which didn't really work for me. The car chase is intercut with flash backs from Casino Royale, which is a good idea to re-establish Bond's motivation and anger, but doesn't quite come off. The slowed down shots of the action is most welcome as in the original it's nigh on impossible to follow what's happening. We then have the interrogation scene followed by the roof-top chase BEFORE the opening titles which works so much better - good move!

Not sure about the Pink tune as the title music, I would have gone with Shirley Bassey's theme that was rejected when they heard they could get Jack White (bad move) - hear it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCX4SxhpPwE

I like that the place name titles have been replaced with a sensible font, but I did miss Bond's final scene with Greene, and the slowed down fight scene felt like a bit of an anti-climax.

Good job though - I still enjoyed myself, but I'd probably still reach for the original.

After the very good Skyfallen edit, I am picking up the other Bond edits and would like to give my impression.

Other than Skyfallen, "Bond’s Revenge" does indeed change the tone of the movie and I'd consider it rather an alternative "FanMix" than a "FanFix" which simply is out to make a better movie with the original intention like done with "Icarus".

Having said this, this edit is a success as it proves what the "Skyfallen" edit expands on: Bond movies need a strong villain to shine. By cutting away the mediocre eco story and making the chase personal, it doesn't matter anymore that the Greene character is just small fry and not very threatening to begin with. I felt with Bond and his drive to go after him.

Necessarily, the movie feels a bit shorter, but as it's consistent the fast paced cuts don't really give the impression of "fanedit", but of determination and energy. Well, the technical quality of the flashback scenes cannot really compete with a major Hollywood production, but what can you expect :-) and it shows that the story matters, never mind cgi or polished editing.

Last not least, I really missed the audio commentary on this one! Maybe you'll go back and add one, saying in retrospect after editing move Bond outings how you feel about Quantum?

Review by WyndorfDave — July 16, 2011 @ 10:58 pm

*This rating was given before reviews were required*