No Time to Die |SPOILER OT| Enter at your own risk

[Blader]

I know Craig has often lamented about how they couldn't finish writing Quantum in time, and it fell on him to write some stuff on set, to which he protested about not being a writer. BUT I think he does a really great job in that movie communicating some vital character details about where Bond's headspace is with, like, just a fucking look.

Take this scene for instance:

Quantum of Solace fight scene [Daniel Craig]

www.youtube.com

This is, imo, one of the best Craig Bond fights and low key one of my favorite parts of the movie. Largely because of how cool the choreography is, but it also communicates just how brutal and callous Bond is in the moment. He can't even be bothered to look at the guy he killed as he's bleeding out.

When Bond was in the poison facility there was a shot where he was at the end of a long circle shaped hallway, looked intentional like the gun barrel sequences

That had to be intentional but I was the only one in the theatre who reacted to it

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My theater's audience sucked but this was one of the few things I heard some people react to.

 

[Ocarina_117]

Yeah that ending sequence had me tearing up.

Loved this one.

 

[Rainy]

Yeah I actually cried when he died.

 

[TheGummyBear]

Got around to watching it this morning. It's good to see the return of some of the camper, fun loving moments, which offset the generally climactic tone of the whole outing. Personally, it felt Craig was more relaxed and having more fun in the role this time around, even while there was this sense that a lot of the story decisions made were directly related to Daniel Craig making it clear he's done with this franchise, and wanting to leave no room for being pestered about any kind of return.

So while it's one of the sadder, climactic Bond movies, it's also one of the more fun loving ones too. It's certainly the most self-aware of the silly elements of the franchise history in the Craig era

 

[Loanshark]

Was just now able to catch a screening, and Im a bit torn about this movie. Most of it is really good, but in my opinion its brought down by the final island segment and what seems to be some muddy story beats. I know that its a very typical Bond trope to end the movie in a bad guy lair with spartan aesthetics where everything is finally laid bare, but it doesnt stop it from feeling really worn out. Why was Safin suddenly obsessed with Madeleine? Why did he go business as usual despite knowing that the English goverment now know where his secret base is? He just disappears after his inexplicable actions only to appear when its already game over. Its all well and good when the villain attempts to be profound, but the crescendo there really isnt built up well. It feels like the movie just goes through the motions with certain plot points to get to where it wants to go, but it undermines the whole experience. The whole open air Spectre party is just another absurd example of that, even though that segment was great from an action perspective, and I loved Ana De Armas cameo. It just feels like these parts highlight a certain sloppiness that represents the worst aspect of Bond movies, something we got too much of already in the Moore and Brosnan films.

Everything besides that was great. It was Bond at his globetrottning best, and I really enjoyed the idea of him working as a free agent and having to compete directly against MI6 and the new 007, who I also liked. Wish their rivalry had been a little more fleshed out. The vistas were great, Craig was great, the action was good, etc.

Overall Its a 7/10 for me, but would have been a lot better if not for the island segment.

 

[EQLibriM]

Alright, so i just finish watching this movie. So perhaps my opinion will still change.

Overall, Id give this movie a 6/10.
Somehow the movie with its runtime of 2hrs and 45min still feels too short. Half of the conclusion came out of thin air with Malek's character somehow being madly in love with some girl he saved 30(?) years ago.
the set pieces were nice and there were some nice proper Bond-moments. Craigs performance was good, and there were a lot of funny moments.
But it felt like the movie was catering to be a jack-of-all-master-of-none movie. James Bond in my eyes is a movie about the ultimate bachelor spy. I understand giving him some background, but what worked in Casino Royale and Skyfall, failed to work for me in this movie. How am I to believe Bond suddenly cares for this girl he met five minutes ago, when he was set up in 5 previous movies to be a cold-hearted bastard.
The whole Blofeld piece was overdone and drawn out too long as well. Why set up the movie about being about Madeline being a spectre spy and not concluding it properly. It just did not work for me.

maybe a second watch will mellow my thoughts, but it felt like a very average movie to me and a sub-average Bond film

 

[TheGummyBear]

Alright, so i just finish watching this movie. So perhaps my opinion will still change.

Overall, Id give this movie a 6/10.
Somehow the movie with its runtime of 2hrs and 45min still feels too short. Half of the conclusion came out of thin air with Malek's character somehow being madly in love with some girl he saved 30(?) years ago.
the set pieces were nice and there were some nice proper Bond-moments. Craigs performance was good, and there were a lot of funny moments.
But it felt like the movie was catering to be a jack-of-all-master-of-none movie. James Bond in my eyes is a movie about the ultimate bachelor spy. I understand giving him some background, but what worked in Casino Royale and Skyfall, failed to work for me in this movie. How am I to believe Bond suddenly cares for this girl he met five minutes ago, when he was set up in 5 previous movies to be a cold-hearted bastard.
The whole Blofeld piece was overdone and drawn out too long as well. Why set up the movie about being about Madeline being a spectre spy and not concluding it properly. It just did not work for me.

maybe a second watch will mellow my thoughts, but it felt like a very average movie to me and a sub-average Bond film

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Because she wasn't a Spectre spy at all. She never betrayed James, he broke his own heart because he was totally unable to let his guard down. Happily married, out of the spy game, but right off the bat still looking over his shoulder at the slightest loud noise.

It's why Blofeld would talk only to Madeline and James. To bask in the emotional distress he caused James, using James' own nature against him.

That's kind of the point of the final act. He's trying to be softer, make up for what he missed out on, both as a husband and father. Even then, he is portrayed slightly out of his depth, cutting the little girl's apple not with a perfectly good kitchen knife but a flick knife he presumably has on him for protection when a gun isn't to hand.

 

[Azzanadra]

Thoroughly OK movie. I feel like the ideas in the movie were great, but the execution never quite met the potential. In the Craig era, they've increasingly tried to retrofit the more outlandish elements of Bond into the realism of Casino Royale, and I don't think it always worked out. Which is why Casino Royale remains the best Craig-era film, and really my favorite Bond movie fullstop.

Still, I enjoyed my time with the movie. No time to Die is a worthy and fitting sendoff to Daniel Craig's Bond.

 

[APOEERA]

Just got back from the movie this afternoon and Hideo Kojima deserves a writing credit. I'm kidding, but it felt more like a Metal Gear Solid movie than a James Bond movie if that makes any sense. The only difference was the main villain targeting Madeleine specifically and James Bond's daughter (?, film didn't exactly explain how Madeleine and Bond had a daughter other than Madeleine having her secrets).

Part of me wished they didn't go with the ending that Bond died. I'm inclined to believe his earlier infection from Madeleine and the infection from Safin counter-acted each other and he will get amnesia/facial surgery for the next person as Bond.

Either that or Nomi will continue the series as 007 and they'll delineate James Bond from MI:6/007.

 

[Mabase]

Watched it finally yesterday. Not a huge Bond fan, but enjoyed it mostly, the first half more than the second one.

- absolute standout moment for me was the passive aggressive James Bond during the Italy car chase scene. Using the villains and their shotguns hammering onto the car window to terrify Madeleine, whom he has immediately lost any trust in, was sadistic, but brilliantly done. Great way to characterize how completely lost Bond is in that moment. Followed by the brilliant goodbye at the train station and the title credits. Awesome direction, by that time I was ecstatic.
- great soundtrack
- I was betting beforehand that Paloma wouldn't survive the movie, in that typical James Bond, often misogynistic, "let's kill the first hot woman Bond comes across" way, but to my relief, she not only survives but it an awesome character. So funny, so much fun.
- I didn't really understand the bad guy. Felt like the movie suffered from re-cuts, rewrites and such. Meh.
- Considering the many well-directed sequences in the movie, Bond's death was underwhelming, especially visually.
- Nomi was great, and should have been used even more.

Biggest petpeeve: M doesn't deserve to toast Bond at the end. Motherfucker develops a perfect genocide weapon IN THE MIDDLE OF LONDON, that is laughingly easy to be stolen, then repurposed and abused. God damn you screwed up! And in the end poor James Bond has to come back from retirement and sacrifice himself to the rockets THAT M FIRED to cover up another UK fuckup. And the movie clearly doesn't see a problem with that.
No amount of individual cases of gender diversity will greenwash the monumental systemic corruption and failure of MI6. AGAIN, individual acts of rebellion by Q, Moneypenny, Bond etc were needed to save the day. SMH!

At least the filmmakers had the decency to show Britannia breaking apart in the title credits. :D

 

[APOEERA]

WatchedBiggest petpeeve: M doesn't deserve to toast Bond at the end. Motherfucker develops a perfect genocide weapon IN THE MIDDLE OF LONDON, that is laughingly easy to be stolen, then repurposed and abused. God damn you screwed up! And in the end poor James Bond has to come back from retirement and sacrifice himself to the rockets THAT M FIRED to cover up another UK fuckup. And the movie clearly doesn't see a problem with that.
No amount of individual cases of gender diversity will greenwash the monumental systemic corruption and failure of MI6. AGAIN, individual acts of rebellion by Q, Moneypenny, Bond etc were needed to save the day. SMH!

At least the filmmakers had the decency to show Britannia breaking apart in the title credits. :D

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Considering that Skyfall's first act of the film was Judi Dench M's having to testify about a stolen hard drive (which contained intelligence secrets and the names of agents) and Mallory (the current M) pressuring her to retire, I'm surprised there wasn't a similar scene at the end where Moneypenny, Q and Nomi watch Mallory having to testify about the biological weapon on TV while they toast to James Bond.

Mallory would be under the jail for even developing such a weapon and the public outcry would have been worse.

Sadly there was a lot that was rewritten and it is obvious.

 

[winjet81]

Got around to seeing this last night at the drive-in … and what a mess!

The movie looked good enough when scenes were lit (every other location was too dark, even daytime scenes were super dark), but the writing and general character motivations were absolutely embarrassing - the Bond franchise has never been known for tight plot lines and story-telling, but NTTD really takes the cake.

My wife and I were laughing at all the absurdity:

- for years and years, Blofeld refuses to talk to anyone but his daughter: yet he talks to Bond, no problem. OK.
- Safin has his very own island poison factory and, for who knows why, plots to poison the world… such a huge and complex operation: but Bond just flies (and then subs in) to the island with zero resistance.
- in fact, Safins island military detail are nothing but a bunch of bumbling clowns throughout the last 45 minutes of the movie - Fukinaga clearly gave no shits about the factory action sequences, they were super weak.
- so many unbelievably boring and monotonous monologues throughout the movie - vehicles at the drive-in were leaving during some of the more painful and unnecessary periods of exposition in the middle of the movie.

The first movie at the drive in double feature was Ron's Gone Wrong which was mindless fun. NTTD was just a complete drag after that movie.

 

[jett]

Casino Royale is conceivably the biggest fluke in cinema history.

I don't really want to waste any words on this.

 

[Irmavep]

I can't believe Bond really died! I still remember the rumors about Danny Boyle leaving the project because he was against it. Never thought EON would actually do it.

Still processing my overall opinion, but wow, that Cuba setpiece was so good.

 

[Irmavep]

Casino Royale is conceivably the biggest fluke in cinema history.

I don't really want to waste any words on this.

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I still appreciate on some level all the entries of the Craig era (even Quantum and Spectre), but none of them lived up to the promise of Casino Royale

 

[Pat]

It was fine, not as good as Casino Royale and Skyfall... But I didn't expect its end lol.

 

[dancingphlower]

Yeah this movie was great. I think it's not just my favorite Craig Bond film, it's my favorite Bond film period. Just pure fun.

 

[take_marsh]

Having finally watched Spectre and completed seeing all the Craig entries, I'd say Spectre is by far the most boring entry in the series.

1. No Time to Die
2. Casino Royale
3. Skyfall
4. Quantum
5. Spectre

 

[carlsojo]

I'll never understand why Casino is so highly regarded. Like it's alright.

 

[duckroll]

I'll never understand why Casino is so highly regarded. Like it's alright.

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Well choreographed action, clear wide shots, gritty feel that was very much in style at that particular time, refreshing take on Bond physically - less suave and more rugged. It was a film that really spoke to the sensibilities of that exact window of time it was released in, and subsequently stands the test of time because as you said, it's also an alright movie, which is quite a rarity overall in the Bond franchise.

 

[carlsojo]

They better make Ana de Armas a recurring character like Felix, M, Moneypenny, Q etc. going forward.

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Honestly just give her her own spinoff, I'd watch the shit out of it.

 

[Friskykillface]

Poker is still king so that's why casino royale is held with high regard

A l l
I n

finally saw no time to die and thought it was alright, that random dude that got crushed with the car felt like a waste of time though

 

[UltraMagnus]

I think the inevitable Bond reboot, it's time to go less gritty. Don't get silly but the action could be better, Mission: Impossible really does a better job in that respect, they should go back to the Roger Moore style of over the top action like extreme heights, just done in a more modern way. Bourne series is not the hot thing anymore.

 

[Alyx]

Not sure any new bond is going to live up to his legacy. Really enjoyed Craigs portrait of James Bond.

 

[Darkmaigle]

1. Quantum
2. Quantum
3. Quantum
4. Quantum
5. Quantum

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

I think the inevitable Bond reboot, it's time to go less gritty. Don't get silly but the action could be better, Mission: Impossible really does a better job in that respect, they should go back to the Roger Moore style of over the top action like extreme heights, just done in a more modern way. Bourne series is not the hot thing anymore.

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I think Goldeneye level is the good target to return to personally

 

[ElephantShell]

A lot of this movie is kind of dumb but it fully satisfied me in what I was looking for as an end to the Craig era of Bond.

I go to these movies for very specific things and this hit almost all of them. Looking forward to getting some kind of 4K boxset and rewatching the whole run probably multiple times over.

 

[Kuro]

I still can't get over how messy the second half of the film is. I really liked the cinematography and action though (minus the island outside of that tunnel shot).

I think I even enjoyed Spectre more than this one. Blofield was a better villain and it landed the finale better. They tried to fit too much shit.

At least it wasn't as bad as Quantum.

 

[rude]

tired of the quantum hate...

CR >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> NTTD = Quantum > Skyfall > Spectre

for me

 

[WinFonda]

i had a few issues with the writing and how it sort of ratcheted up the stakes to ridiculous doomsday levels just to to drive home the finality of Craig's tenure but fuck me if Cary Joji Fukunaga didn't direct the shit out of this.

 

[Gernau Morat Gurgeh]

I enjoyed it but it was kind of a mess. Felt like they tried to cram to much in, even given the long runtime. Also, they built a genocide level bioweapons lab in the middle of London at the top of a skyscraper? What?

 

[Sidewinder]

It was pretty decent, but alas not nearly as good as Casino Royale and Skyfall though. My Craig Bond List:

1. Casino Royale
2. Skyfall
3.
4. No Time to Die
5. Spectre
...
10. Quantum of Solace

 

[The Unsent]

Agree it was quite good, decent. Saw it in the cinema last week. First film in the cinema I saw for about 2 years. Had a nice feeling when the Bond Intro begins, Billy Eilish theme plays. Alwaya Gets me a bit excited like the Star Wars opening scroll, whether the film is good or not

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

tired of the quantum hate...

CR >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> NTTD = Quantum > Skyfall > Spectre

for me

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That's about my rating, without the huge gap.

I like Quantum a lot, I've championed it since it came out. It's has its issues like all Bond movies, but it also has the best character development for Bond ever.

 

[rsfour]

Enjoyed it a fair bit, even though I missed the first 5 mins or so because I was wrapping up the end credits scenes in Eternals lol.

Wasn't happy that Felix got Vesper Lynd'd :(

Anyway, CR > NTTD

 

[Sargerus]

I will never look at this movie's title again and not think it should be No Time to FOXDIE, lol.

 

[The Unsent]

I think the inevitable Bond reboot, it's time to go less gritty. Don't get silly but the action could be better, Mission: Impossible really does a better job in that respect, they should go back to the Roger Moore style of over the top action like extreme heights, just done in a more modern way. Bourne series is not the hot thing anymore.

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No Time to Die is pretty silly. Bond blows up someone's eye up at one point and makes a a joke. Craig's Bonds only tried to be gritty at first.

 

[Fezan]

Loved the movie it is a really good movie and I think it was perfect length. Villain was definitely weak and last act was underwhelming but every thing else was really really good. This is the second best bond movie.

Also one thing I lived was that action had sense of weight behind them unlike spectre of most modern action movies. Like compare this to black widow and it comes out amateurish in comparison.

Also marvel should take some pointers on how to handle jokes in series situation not every situation needs a quip.

Over all second best James bond movie and caring and establishes caring as best James bond.

CR>NTTD>>QOS>SKYFALL>>SPECTER>>>GOLDEN EYE>>>>>>>REST OF THE CLASSIC CRAP

 

[ThorHammerstein]

Rather would have Nomi stay behind and Bond take his lady n girl off the island. Nomi was the new 007 so she was more than capable to finish the mission. And she likely would have listened to Q about properly opening the blast doors so they would have stayed open and she still could have bailed.
It still feels weird having them kill off Bond but of course, James Bond Will Return.

 

[Xun]

I saw it last night and I loved it.

Much better than Spectre which soured me a bit on the franchise.

I need to rewatch them all again, but I'd rank the Craig films as follows:

Casino Royale > Skyfall > No Time To Die > Quantum of Solace (this film gets far too much hate IMO) >>> Spectre

Also I knew it was coming, but the ending teared me up a fair bit.

 

[Miss Piggy]

Nomi was the new 007 so she was more than capable to finish the mission. And she likely would have listened to Q about properly opening the blast doors so they would have stayed open and she still could have bailed.

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Ah is that why the blast doors closed? That's a shame it was his downfall. I thought the bad guy came back and did it.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Ah is that why the blast doors closed? That's a shame it was his downfall. I thought the bad guy came back and did it.

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I thought the blast doors reclosed because Safin or somebody closed them.

 

[Timu]

Ah is that why the blast doors closed? That's a shame it was his downfall. I thought the bad guy came back and did it.

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I thought the blast doors reclosed because Safin or somebody closed them.

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I would say it was Safin since there was no one else there(besides Bond, but he wanted them open).

 

[darkwing]

Ah is that why the blast doors closed? That's a shame it was his downfall. I thought the bad guy came back and did it.

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it was the bad guy

 

[Bony Manifesto]

I liked it in the moment, but I suspect it won't hold up particularly well on repeat viewings. Even with its truly epic running time, it feels like there's too much stuff crammed into it, and things that should be a major focus of the film are barely touched upon, just so they can fit more awkward scenes with Bond and Madeleine. Like the main villain (the one who finally succeeds in killing Bond!) shows up in the pre-pre-title sequence, then isn't really seen again until the final showdown (I think the very first time he and Bond actually meet is in that final scene). And the new 007 -- which was what everyone was talking about pre-release -- is barely a character at all; she makes it clear throughout the film that she has zero respect for Bond, then suddenly changes her mind at the end for no reason.

The one thing that I thought really did work was Ana de Armas's character. I know people hate that she's only in one scene, but it's one of the best scenes in the film, she gets her personality across, and it leaves you wanting more. It sets her up perfectly to be a new recurring character in the future (and even potentially the star of a spinoff). If the next film doesn't have Q and Paloma working together for some reason, they're making a huge mistake.

 

[Timu]

I liked it in the moment, but I suspect it won't hold up particularly well on repeat viewings. Even with its truly epic running time, it feels like there's too much stuff crammed into it, and things that should be a major focus of the film are barely touched upon, just so they can fit more awkward scenes with Bond and Madeleine. Like the main villain (the one who finally succeeds in killing Bond!) shows up in the pre-pre-title sequence, then isn't really seen again until the final showdown (I think the very first time he and Bond actually meet is in that final scene). And the new 007 -- which was what everyone was talking about pre-release -- is barely a character at all; she makes it clear throughout the film that she has zero respect for Bond, then suddenly changes her mind at the end for no reason.

The one thing that I thought really did work was Ana de Armas's character. I know people hate that she's only in one scene, but it's one of the best scenes in the film, she gets her personality across, and it leaves you wanting more. It sets her up perfectly to be a new recurring character in the future (and even potentially the star of a spinoff). If the next film doesn't have Q and Paloma working together for some reason, they're making a huge mistake.

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He also shows up in the hour mark where he meets up with Madeleine again, but yeah his screen time is so little sadly.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I liked it in the moment, but I suspect it won't hold up particularly well on repeat viewings.

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I'll share my experience

I absolutely loved it as I watched it, but as I thought about it a lot of the shine wore off, and the plot weaknesses and such bothered me.

Then I saw it again a few weeks later and absolutely loved it again while watching.

 

[Bony Manifesto]

He also shows up in the hour mark where he meets up with Madeleine again, but yeah his screen time is so little sadly.

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Ah yeah. I just remembered that as I hit send! It's such an unnecessary scene too (as is the whole Blofeld subplot).

I'll share my experience

I absolutely loved it as I watched it, but as I thought about it a lot of the shine wore off, and the plot weaknesses and such bothered me.

Then I saw it again a few weeks later and absolutely loved it again while watching.

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That's my trajectory so far, so hopefully I'll end up loving it if I do watch it again!

 

[TCB]

Poker is still king so that's why casino royale is held with high regard

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Casino Royale deserves credit for a making a poker game one of the best parts of the movie.

 

[stn]

It was okay, definitely better than Spectre. There were quite a few plot holes though. Doesn't touch Casino, which I still think is a 10/10 action movie, but is not bad at all.