Michael C. Smith says:

Review by Michael C. Smith for Quantum of Solace [Blu-ray]
Rating:
Some reviewers and fans of the Bond films have complained that this film is a lesser effort in the series and pales in comparison to “Casino Royale”. They have missed something important in their assessment of the film. When Dominic Green says to Bond that he and Camille Montez have something in common, that they are both “Damaged goods” he has clearly put before the audience the crux of the film that is “Quantum of Solace”.

The film picks up only minutes after the end of “Casino Royale” and we are presented with a very damaged and changed James Bond. As revealed in the first film by Vesper Lynd’s assessment of him upon their first meeting on the train, James Bond is a man who came up from humble beginnings and was given a privileged education but never allowed to forget his low origins. This has made him a very guarded loner with a chip on his shoulder, a perfect candidate for recruitment by MI6. In his words to her later on in the film, Vesper has “stripped me of my armor.” But by the end of that film he is a man scarred by the death of his love, the armor is back on never to be penetrated again. He is now becoming the Bond of legend and a man bent on revenge.

So in “Quantum” there is no reason for the old fashioned quips or much humor in this man. Yet if you pay attention the character of James Bond as played by the incomparable Daniel Craig he lets us see that there are cracks in the armor. Something of a human heart still exists in him. This is played out in the scene after the plane crash where Camille asks him about his past. Craig shows it in his eyes in the most marvelous example of his layered and subtle acting style. Craig builds and molds a deeper, darker more complex Bond than we have ever seen before, a character more true to the books than in previous incarnations of Bond.

The action in the film is superlative and stylish. The opening car chase is indeed a nail biter only surpassed by the Sienna chase moments later. This too is then topped by the DC10 aerial battle towards the end of the film. The stunts are breathtaking and propel the film at top notch speed. But perhaps the most stunning and original sequence is the gun fight in the restaurant at the Opera house. This is played without sound effect as the score of “Tosca” commands the ear and heightens the emotion of the scene. This is inspired and brilliant film making taking in account all aspects of editing, cinematography, score, and acting. And since I mentioned music I cannot leave out the incredible delicious score by David Arnold who has infused his Bond scores with the much need taste of John Barry. He captures the glorious Barry sound and builds brilliantly upon it.

All the principle players give superlative performances. Judi Dench command attention as she always has as “M”. Giancarlo Giannini redeems himself and is truly touching as Mathis. Mathieu Amalic is appropriately slithery and devious as the villain Green. As Agent Fields, Miss Gemma Arterton brings a light and fun light to the film. Finally in the role of Camille Olga Kurylenko holds her own opposite Daniel Craig. This is no mean feat and she is wonderful, athletic and touching in the film.

In the end Bond does find a quantum of solace and ends the film in a telling way. A small gesture that lets us know he is now moving on but not without a tinge of sadness. This beautiful sad ending is a refreshing and moving way to end a Bond film.

“Quantum of Solace” is a fast paced film that demands attention to the small details and respect for superlative performances by all involved from the director Marc Forster to the entire cast and crew.

Terence Allen says:

Review by Terence Allen for Quantum of Solace [Blu-ray]
Rating:
“Quantum of Solace,” the latest James Bond film and the second featuring Daniel Craig has its flaws, but is still a pretty spectacular film. The series is in full retooling mode, hardly recognizable when compared to the films of Sean Connery and Roger Moore. While closer to the darker sides of Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan’s Bonds, it does have more in common with the popular Jason Bourne series starring Matt Damon, which is not a bad thing.

This Bond pickes up right after the end of Casino Royale, as Bond takes a prisoner for interrogation to M, again played by Dame Judy Dench. The interrogation and subsequent events uncovers a global conspiracy named Quantum, with members of prominence and power, including an admired environmentalist who is obviously up to no good. The rest of the film plays out as Bond races to find out and foil the villain’s scheme, partnered with a revenge-minded woman, played by Olga Kurylenko.

The negatives – This film is much shorter than most Bond films, which isn’t good or bad by itself, but the film plays in parts like it had a bit too much cut out, most notably the scenes between Bond and Strawberry Fields, a female agent played by Gemma Arterton. Like many women, she tries to resist Bond’s charms to no avail, but as events unfold, it is obvious that Fields and Bond had quite a bit of time together, which is not reflected in the final cut. The villain, played by Mathieu Almaric, does not convey much in the way of danger or menace. He doesn’t need to be the kind of kitschy, cartoonish villain that the old Bond films are famous for, but he should at least raise the audiences hackles, but he does not. Finally, the tension between Bond and M is understandable, but every film shouldn’t have Bond being stripped of his license and having him act any more of a free agent than he already does. It would be more realistic to show the continued development of their relationship with disagreements and dialogue rather than rely on a plot device that has been used numerous times in the Bond series.

The positives, which far outweigh the negatives – Daniel Craig continues to prove that his Bond is like no other. His Bond is nuanced, troubled, and truly, truly dangerous. This Bond seems like someone who has a license to kill and is more apt to use it than any other Bond save Dalton’s Bond. His acting talent gives Bond the gravitas and good humor that provides a balanced character. The action scenes have been updated and are breathtaking, and the potential for future films seem limitedless.

Quantum of Solace bodes well for the future of the series since even though it is flawed, it is at the same time a very remarkable film.

Frank Rhee says:

Review by Frank Rhee for Quantum of Solace [Blu-ray]
Rating:
To me, Quantum of Solace was a complete and utter letdown ! I saw and liked its direct predecessor Casino Royale, so my expectations were high. But I found some parts of QoS to be almost unwatchable. Did the editor go mad or was he doped up when he cut this movie? The action sequences comprise of extremely short, blurry images that pass with machinegun-speed. They produce an almost stroboscopic effect that literally hurts your eyes and numbs your mind and leaves you unsure of what’s happened. At home, you can rewind the DVD player to watch it again. In the movie theater, you’re hopefully lost. The result is a physically exhausting film experience after a mere five minutes of play. I almost switched the DVD-player off there and then. I know that the pace of (action) movies has picked up considerably since the nineties, and in general that is a good thing. But the pace of the action sequences of QoS is ridiculous and an insult to moviegoers. My young adult children (18 and 16) complained about this too, so thankfully I am not alone in this respect. Just lately, I began to fear that I have trouble coping with the increasing pace of today’s movies because I have turned middle-age. Clearly this is not the case, then ! The action and violence in QoS is gritty and realistic, almost clinical. And I love Daniel Craig as the new JB. Five stars for him. But QoS the movie seems to have no discernible plot and what little plot there is is enigmatic (not in the positive sense), vague, illogical and lacks coherence. This quickly becomes annoying to the extreme. You never have an idea what’s going to happen next and –most important–why. I am very happy with “the new JB” as portrayed by Daniel Craig, but QoS is definitely not the way forward with the JB-franchise.

Barbara Rose says:

Review by Barbara Rose for Michael Jackson: This Is It (Two-Disc Limited Edition with 3D Backstage Pass version 3) [Blu-ray]
Rating:
I was in the movie theater and watched with awe the entire premiere of this phenomenal movie just after midnight October 28.

THIS IS IT the Movie is extraordinary. Rarely am I so gripped by a movie that I did not want to blink! I was hoping the movie would be made available in DVD – buying this DVD is a MAJOR GIFT!

During each rehearsal Michael Jackson was passionately hands on regarding every facet of the concert experience he was creating. The energy Michael and ALL who were involved in these rehearsals created an experience that is almost indefinable in words – it transports you with awe INTO the soul behind the creation of the music.

The movie Director, producers, special effects, make-up, costume, musicians, the dancers who performed with Michael during these final rehearsals before his passing are all PHENOMENAL.

I feel we owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to the special people who filmed the rehearsals that made this movie. What a GIFT you have given humanity!

Michael Jackson will forever be a gift to humanity. When you see this movie you will understand why.

{An Update} Tonight, December 3, 2009, I saw the final showing of this amazing film for the 5th time. I was just as glued to the screen as I was the first time. I never cried before for what I could only describe as a poignant ending, but I did tonight. THIS IS IT is so much more about the care Michael Jackson had for humanity, and our planet.

He said, “I’ve always loved trees, I get upset at the mismanagement of our planet, that every minute trees the size of a football field is cut down in the Amazon rain forest… It’s up to us to fix this and we only have four years left before it’s irreversible. People say the government will fix this, “they” will fix this, “they”, they who? It’s up to us. This is it…That’s why I write these songs, to inspire people, to give them hope, I’m so glad I can give that to the world.”

When he spoke to all of the people involved in the rehearsals he said, “This is an adventure, a great adventure. To take people places they’ve never been before, to show them talent that they’ve never seen before.”

This precious soul named Michael Jackson leaves us with an awareness to take responsibility for the changes we must make. I feel one of the best ways we can pay tribute to him is to start planting trees in his name in honor of each person who wants to keep his memory alive.

Each of the five times I was glued to the screen watching the movie THIS IS IT moved my heart in ways I’ve never experienced before. The loss is HUGE, but I know he’s watching, so I’d like to say, Thank You Michael Jackson for giving us a lifetime of your heart that will remain in our hearts forever.

Tommy Morais says:

Review by Tommy Morais for Michael Jackson: This Is It (Two-Disc Limited Edition with 3D Backstage Pass version 3) [Blu-ray]
Rating:
When Michael Jackson died on June 25th 2009 it seems a part of the world died with him. It made many people sad all over the world and it seems that for once everyone was being nice to this man who had always been abused by the Medias; journalists, interviewers and others. When I heard of the “This Is It” movie concert I didn’t know what to think. I knew it was rehearsal footage from the 50 concerts he was to perform at the O2 arena but I didn’t know what was going to come out of it or what they were going to do with it. When I saw the trailers I knew I had to see this and that “This Is It” was going to be something special like I’ve never seen. And that’s precisely what I got, I even bought my ticket in advance for the movie and feel like it was much worth it.

It amazed me how good MJ still was, the dance moves were great and fascinating to me. He was clearly the one in charge of the whole thing. He gave precise instructions of what he wanted, made sure everything was right and did everything that needed to be done. The film shows just how much Michael was respected, there were parts of it where they asked him if he wanted anything or what he thought and if he liked something, it seems no one assumed anything at all. When he talked the crew would listen and he asked things in the nicest way, never to hurt anyone. There’s not a part that doesn’t make him look like the nice guy he always was. There are mixed feelings about him after all the bad things that have been said about him but after watching this I don’t know one could possibly believe them.

To be honest I loved every minute of it, every song was special and was great to watch. Right from the beginning of “Wanna Be Startin’Somethin’” it was amazing. No matter how many people surround him he’s always the one who does things better than anyone else and the one you’re watching. This Is It was really a unique experience, I felt they chose the right footage parts for the movie and made him look great in every sense. They could truly have messed things up but they didn’t and came out with an amazing documentary, it’s sort of a testament to his fans, it’s just very special. I really liked the Thriller 3D part, it was a 3D video shoot and afterwards you see MJ coming out onstage from a spider, the show would have looked awesome. They Don’t Care About Us was amazing, The Smooth Criminal part was very interesting, so was the Earth Song which had a beautiful video of a little girl in a forest, waking up to see that all of it has been destroyed. I won’t go further but every song had something about them.

The stage show would have been grandiose, the fireworks, the “fireball” (quite impressive I won’t spoil anything), pyrotechnics, the videos that accompany the songs are all very impressive. This could very well have been the best show ever had he lived to perform them. In the end I was quite amazed by the 1: 48 minutes I watched, I can’t wait to see it again and the message Michael gives at the end is very inspiring. From the auditions of the brilliant performers to the credits with the “This Is It” song I was captivated.

The said special features will feature more of the rehearsal and a two part documentary on Michael’s history and his comeback along behind the scenes. I can’t wait to see more of the rehearsal and hopefully the extras will be great and there will plenty to watch.

It’s hard for me to describe what watching this movie was like and what I felt about it. I know this is rehearsal footage but it’s truly brilliant and while it main not catch Michael at his best it certainly catches him at his most honest. I don’t have anything bad to say about either this movie or the man himself, This Is It is a must see. It doesn’t matter if you watch in its theatrical run or on DVD/Blue Ray when released, this is amazing and his fans just have to see this. I will certainly be amongst those who buy it and watch it over and over again. This man gave his life to music and his fans and I don’t remember where I heard or read this but I do remember that someone said: “He was a gift of god, he was a kind human being who’s been mistreated by many opportunists, he’s been taken advantage of but he was the nicest person and could never harm anyone” or sometime like that. These words are very truthful and really mean something to his fans.