Reviews

In my opinion, this is one of the best James Bond movies in the series.

My love of Bond goes way back to the 1960s. I saw some of the originals at a very young age in the theater, brought by parents or grandparents-no videos in those days!!! Eventually, they came to network TV, and I got the videotapes when they finally hit that medium. For me, or someone like me, Sean Connery was the first (movie) and best James Bond. To this day.

I also read all the Fleming novels as a teen, and even a couple written by "licensed" authors after Fleming died. I didn't really care much for Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, or Timothy Dalton in the role. Even though I am staunchly a Connery fan, I think that the casting of Daniel Craig is actually a lot closer to the James Bond that Ian Fleming originally portrayed. Somehow, I remember him having blondish hair and a scar on this cheek, but I haven't been able to find that in any of the copies I still have. Craig has brought a gravity, seriousness, and coldness to Bond that really serves the role.

In terms of the films, nothing will ever compare to the seminal three: "Dr. No," "From Russia with Love," and especially "Goldfinger." It is somewhat of a pity that they can't go back (yet!) and retrofit Connery into "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" with CGI or some computer wizardry... not that Lazenby was bad-he wasn't-but he wasn't given a chance to grow into the role. That was one of the best screenplays/scripts.

I thought Craig's "Casino Royale" gave a rebirth to the series, and I must admit to liking "Quantum of Solace" very much, which most people and critics are not too fond of. I've been catching up on the Craig films with the release of "No Time to Die." I had seen "Skyfall" once when it came out, and only retained very little (I have a bad memory for film), though I did remember the ending. I was thrilled to sit down and catch it again the other night.

Craig plays a really fabulous world-weary agent in this one. It's a feat of acting to be so unemotional while expressing the emotions needed in this film. There has always been an intentional distance between Bond and M (Dame Judi Dench), though they grow closer through the three films until we are left with the climax in this film. Ralph Fiennes is a standout as Mallory, and I think he becomes comparable to a modern-day Bernard Lee. Naomie Harris beautifully notches up the "Bond girl" role as Eve, and *her* outcome is a pleasant surprise. Javier Bardem is just over-the-top enough as the villain; he's not a Goldfinger or Doctor No or Scaramanga or Stavros Blofeld-he's not out to conquer the world but, as he sees it, to settle a score. One of my prior favorite Bond villains was Klaus Maria Brandauer of the unofficial "Never Say Never Again," who straddled the line to insanity, and Bardem reminds of that character, minus the world domination. And I loved Ben Whishaw as the new Q ... who brings a bit of whimsey, especially with a specific line of a weapon they "no longer go in for."

The film ends up in Scotland, and I'm keeping details sparse so I don't give too much away. But this could have taken place in the 60s. They have definitely expanded Bond's backstory. Bond himself was not Scottish in the original novels and, in fact, Fleming did not want Connery in the role. But after he saw him, he "retrofit" the character to be Scottish. So we have a somewhat Batman-like origin story here, and Albert Finney, as Kincaide, is a really nice touch-though, considering the role, considering the "countryside," considering the time-warp nature, I do wonder if the producers had approached Connery to play it. That would have been beautiful closure. (I think Sir Sean was too elderly by this time).

For any James Bond fan, this is a must-see. Everything from the opening theme and titles to the sort of reboot ending was just perfect to me. I gave this a 9 because I give very, very few movies a 10. But this is at least a solid 9.5.

Can't wait to see Craig's final Bond outing.

I came across this about decade late on Netflix. Initially, I was very excited to watch what I imagined to be (and still do) kind of an off-brand sequel of the Sopranos. I must start out by saying that I have great respect and admiration for Steven Van Zandt. Who else could be a trusted partner to both bosses Tony Soprano and Bruce Springsteen, while having his own career on radio, in music, etc. He's very talented and versatile.

When I started watching this a couple of weeks ago, I didn't realize that it was Netflix's first co-production (in association with Norwegian TV), and that explains (and excuses) a lot. It was a milestone in bringing international programming to US streaming TV, from what I read.

This series is a great diversion. It's joyful and comedic (and sometimes painful) to watch Van Zandt as Frank Tagliano/Johnny Henricksen basically terrorize the good people of this small Norwegian town, which he was drawn to by having seen the Olympics there on TV and then choosing it for his witness relocation destination.

Sadly, in my opinion, the writing leaves a lot to be desired. Tagliano, to me, is often a one-dimensional parody and has only a little redeeming humanity in him, even though they attempt to make that so. His wig, his walk, his talk is straight out of the Sopranos, and, yet, in the Sopranos, I kind of imagined that he could step out of that image a little bit in his home life (on the show). Not here. There were a couple of references to The Three Stooges within the show, and there is quite a bit of Moe in him. By the third season, I couldn't help thinking of the impact "the Ugly American" often has on "paradise." Yeh, maybe I was taking that too seriously and looking at it through current politics. (Van Zandt does not shy away from political right-wing closed-mindedness in the show, though in real-life, he is the opposite.)

It's really hard to tell whether the supporting cast is actually *good* (I think that) or amateurish, which is probably the intention: Trond Fausa as Torgeir, Marian Saastad Ottesen as Sigrid, Laila Hovland as the police chief, Fridtjov Såheim as the very annoying Jan Johansen, Steinar Sagen as Roar stand out. Van Zandt is the music director (and even sings himself, a couple of times), so the music is excellent.

Now the spoilers: As you ponder whether he really is his character from the Sopranos, there is one single mumbled line by an incidental character ("It's all a dream, Silvio.") that is kind of a wicked joke but makes you think. (Apparently, Van Zandt and Sopranos' creator David Chase remain good friends.) In addition, Van Zandt's real-life wife, Maureen, who played his wife in the Sopranos, shows up in a couple of episodes as Tagliano's wife, and we are treated to Tony Sirico (formerly Paulie Walnuts) as Frank's brother in those same episodes. And the Boss himself (Bruce, not Tony) shows up in the finale as Frank's second older brother, someone not dissimilar to Léon in the Professional. Stay tuned to the very, very last scene for a light-hearted toast. There are also scattered Godfather, Goodfellas, etc., references, lines, and tips of the hat, which is fun.

That said, this was cancelled by Netflix after season 3 and it made me think: sometimes things are best to have a short run. I've watched many series that went on a few years too long. The last episode of season 3 could very well have been a finale.

So while I can think of a ton of things "wrong" with this show, I did enjoy it and binged it all the way through. It was a guilty pleasure. Apparently, it was very popular in Norway, though mostly I felt bad for the Norwegians in the series. The rating I gave it is really based on Van Zandt and the premise. Just perhaps keep your expectations low and enjoy the violent slapstick.

I was going to give this eight stars for being a brilliant parody of a terrible disaster flick, and looked at the genre classification here on IMDB, and, whoops, not a parody.

Stupidest movie I've seen in eons. Bad decisions, ridiculous sentimentality including overblown music; I truly laughed out loud more than a few times. Good effects, though.

Well, I gave it a three because I saw it to the end. But, frankly, only because I wanted to see these characters get wiped out by a burning chunk. I was hoping it might take out the writers, director, and music composer, too! Yikes. Truly a disaster (of a) film.

I do note this is a minority opinion and many people seem to like it....

I recently binged this and enjoyed much of the first season. And, coming to the end of that, and through the second season, it struck me that the main revision of this classic series is that Maureen is an uber Einstein, an expert at everything, and, except for Will (who needed his mother to cheat for him to make the mission!), all the men are either portrayed as morons or, worse, evil morons. Yes, I understand that in the old series the role of women was very different due to the times, Maureen basically serving up dinner, Judy as romantic interest for Don (and me-Marta Kristen was one of my first crushes), and Penny ... well, that character actually hasn't changed all that much. But now Don West is a crook, John has essentially abandoned his family and needs to be rescued a lot (by his wife and daughter), and, frankly, this version, by the end of season 2, got on my nerves. I enjoyed actress Molly Parker at first, but she is such a smug know-it-all by season 2 that there is a scene in the next-to-last episode where I was kind of wishing she'd burn up in the atmosphere of the ammonia planet. Parker Posey as Smith is exceedingly evil and has done a good job in that role. She has none of Jonathan Harris's warmth and campiness and does do psycho very well. And Taylor Russell brings Judy in the 21st century (or whatever century we're supposed to be in) as very compelling older daughter, though her skills and expertise seem pretty exaggerated as well. Mina Sundwall is a good Penny Robinson, very likable, and how do you follow Bill Mumy as Will, but Maxwell Jenkins makes the role his own. I do feel that the robot's role, as creative as it is, overwhelms the series too much. And the original really brought home (so to speak) the solitude of being stranded. There is no solitude in this one. So, the longer I've watched this, the lower my rating has gotten. It started out, like, a nine. I have never, in any "review" I've written, complained about political correctness, and wouldn't mind so much if the distribution of brilliance and idiocy was better balanced between men and women characters in this one. The special effects, however, are really good. That's worth a lot.