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Quantum of Solace (film)

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Quantum of Solace (BW Small)(2) Short Story — Film — Game — Soundtrack — Song — Characters — Releases


M: "Bond, I need you back."
James Bond: "I never left."
―M and James Bond[src]

Quantum of Solace previously known by its working title Bond 22, is the 22nd spy film in EON Productions' James Bond film series, which released in the United States on 14 November 2008. It is the sequel to the 2006 film Casino Royale, which rebooted the series. It is directed by Marc Forster, and Daniel Craig reprises the role of James Bond. Bond is tracking down the organisation that caused the death of his lover Vesper Lynd. He comes across a member of the organisation named Dominic Greene (played by Mathieu Amalric), who intends to stage a coup d'état in a South American country. Bond is assisted by Camille (played by Olga Kurylenko), who also wants revenge for what misdoings Greene did to her family.

The sequel's storyline was created by producer Michael G. Wilson while Casino Royale was shooting. The film was originally scheduled for a 2 May 2008 release, but was pushed back to allow more time when Roger Michell dropped out as director. Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade returned as writers. Second unit filming began in August 2007, with principal photography beginning in January 2008. Locations include the United Kingdom, Panama, Bolivia, Italy, Austria and Spain. The film does not involve production designer Peter Lamont, who had retired after being a veteran of eighteen Bond films. The title was chosen from a short story in Ian Fleming's For Your Eyes Only collection.

Plot

The film continues immediately after the events of Casino Royale with Bond driving from Lake Garda to Siena, Italy. With the captured Mr. White in the luggage compartment of his car, Bond is attacked by chasing henchmen. After evading his pursuers, Bond and M interrogate White regarding his organisation, Quantum. M's bodyguard, Mitchell, is revealed as a double agent and a traitor, attacking M and allowing White to escape; Bond chases Mitchell across Siena and kills him. Following a forensic investigation into Mitchell's apartment, Bond heads to Haiti to track down and kill Mitchell's contact, Edmund Slate. In carrying out his objective, Bond learns that Slate was sent to kill Camille Montes at the behest of her lover, Dominic Greene, the chairman of an ecological organization called Greene Planet. While observing her meeting with Greene, Bond learns that Greene is helping the Bolivian general Medrano – who murdered Camille's family – overthrow his government in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of desert.

Greene has Camille escorted away on Medrano's boat to "sweeten" their deal, but Bond rescues her. Bond then follows Greene to a private jet, which flies him to a performance of Tosca at Lake Constance, Austria. Bond infiltrates Quantum's meeting at the opera, and a gunfight ensues in a restaurant. A bodyguard of Guy Haines, an advisor to the British Prime Minister, is killed, and M, assuming Bond is the killer, has his passports and credit cards revoked. Bond travels to Italy to reunite with his old ally René Mathis, whom he convinces to accompany him to La Paz. They are greeted by Strawberry Fields, an MI6 field operative from the British Consulate, who demands that Bond return to the UK on the next available flight. Bond disobeys and seduces her in their hotel suite.

Bond meets Camille again at a fund-raiser being held by Greene, and they leave hastily together, but are pulled over by the Bolivian police. The police order Bond to open the luggage compartment of his vehicle, revealing a bloodied Mathis. As Bond lifts Mathis out of the vehicle, the policemen open fire and fatally wound Mathis, who dies in Bond's arms. After Bond subdues the police and deposits Mathis' body in a waste container, Bond and Camille drive to Greene's intended land acquisition and survey the area in a Douglas DC-3 plane. They are intercepted and shot down by an Aermacchi SF.260 fighter and a Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter. They escape from the crippled plane by parachuting, landing in a sinkhole. While escaping the cave, Bond and Camille discover Quantum is blockading Bolivia's supply of fresh water, normally flowing in subterranean rivers, by damming it.

The death of Strawberry Fields

The death of Strawberry Fields.

The duo return to La Paz, where Bond meets M and learns Quantum murdered Fields by drowning her in crude oil. Believing that Bond has become a threat to both friend and foe, M orders him to disarm and end his activities in Bolivia, but he defies her and escapes. Bond meets CIA agent Felix Leiter at a local bar, who discloses Greene and Medrano will meet at an eco-hotel in the Bolivian desert. Tipped off by Leiter, Bond evades American special forces attempting to kill him.

Bond then sets out to the hotel where Greene and Medrano make the change in the Bolivian leadership. Bond kills the departing Colonel of Police for betraying Mathis, and sets off a chain of explosions in the hotel when a hydrogen fuel tank is hit by an out of control vehicle. Camille kills Medrano, and Bond captures Greene. After interrogating him, he leaves Greene stranded in the middle of the desert with only a can of motor oil. Bond drives Camille to a train station, where they kiss before she departs.

Bond goes to Kazan, Russia, where he confronts Vesper Lynd's former lover, Yusef Kabira. Yusef is a member of Quantum who seduces high-ranking women with valuable connections, getting them to give up government assets as ransom for himself in fake kidnappings where he is supposedly held hostage. He is attempting to do the same with Canadian agent Corinne Veneau, even giving her the same kind of necklace he gave Vesper. Surprising them at Yusef's apartment, Bond tells Corinne about Vesper and advises her to alert the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. As Bond is leaving Yusef's apartment he is confronted by M, who is surprised that Bond did not kill Yusef, but rather left him alive for questioning. M reveals that Leiter has been promoted at the CIA, and that Greene was found in the desert, shot dead and with motor oil in his stomach. Bond doesn't volunteer any information on Greene, but tells M that she was right about Vesper. M then tells Bond that MI6 needs him and fully reinstates him as an agent. Bond walks off into the night telling M that he never left. As he leaves, he drops Vesper's necklace in the snow.

Cast & Characters

Although imagery of her character is seen, Eva Green did not film any new footage as Vesper Lynd for the film.[1] Barbara Broccoli said at the very least, "[Vesper is] certainly on Bond's mind."[2] Broccoli has also said that Miss Moneypenny and "Q" would not be in the film.[3]

Production

Development

In July 2006, as Daniel Craig's debut as James Bond, Casino Royale, entered post-production, EON Productions announced Bond 22 would be based on an original idea by producer Michael G. Wilson. Roger Michell was being negotiated with to direct.[4] A backstory had been written for Casino Royale and its potential sequel, regarding Vesper Lynd and her Algerian boyfriend, who was intended to be one of the antagonists.[5] The film was confirmed for a 2 May 2008 release date, with Craig reprising the lead role.[6] Michell, who previously worked with Daniel Craig on Enduring Love and The Mother, decided not to direct the film, stating, "I was very nervous that there was a start date but really no script at all. And I like to be very well prepared as a director."[7] Sony Entertainment vice-chairman Jeff Blake admitted that a production schedule of eighteen months was a very short window. The release date was eventually pushed back to 7 November 2008.[8] Eventually the release date was moved to 31 October 2008 for the UK, and 14 October 2008 for the US.

Neal Purvis and Robert Wade completed their draft of the script by April 2007.[9] Wade said that the film would continue Bond's arc from Casino Royale: "It can't just be he's tough and he's tempered steel and totally impervious. There are things he still has to resolve."[10] The following month, Paul Haggis, who had polished the Casino Royale script, began his re-write.[11] Haggis turned down directing the film because, "It's [already] a two year commitment basically to do it. If you do that on top of writing, it's almost a three year commitment."[12] In writing the script, Haggis drew inspiration from Bond creator Ian Fleming, and author John le Carré.[13] In September 2007, Haggis began his second draft,[14] and he completed his script two hours before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike officially began.[15]

In June 2007, Marc Forster was confirmed as the director of the then untitled Bond 22.[16] He was surprised that he been approached for the job, stating he was not a big Bond fan as a child and that he would not have accepted the job before he saw Casino Royale. He felt Bond had been humanized in that film, explaining, "People travel a lot more now, and with the Internet they’re more aware of what the rest of the world is like. In a way the most interesting place for a James Bond movie to go is inward — deeper into Bond himself." Born in Switzerland, Forster is the first Bond director not to come from the Commonwealth of Nations, although he slyly noted that Bond's mother is Swiss, making him somewhat appropriate to handle the British icon.[15] The director got on well with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, but they had to block two very expensive ideas he had. "Financially, there are limits — even on a Bond film", he said, "otherwise, I have been able to realise my vision".[17]

In January 2008, Quantum of Solace was confirmed as the title. It was also the name of a short story in Ian Fleming's anthology For Your Eyes Only (1960). Michael G. Wilson said that the title had been decided upon only "a few days" before its announcement.[2] Other names considered for the film included The Royal Creed, Risico Quessi and Agent in Risico.

Filming

Dan Bradley was hired as second unit director because of his work on the Jason Bourne films, so the film would continue the gritty action style begun in Casino Royale.[18] In July 2007, the crew visited the Stelvio Pass in Italy for potential location filming.[19] The town council of Siena gave permission to shoot at the Palio di Siena horse race on 16 August 2007. Fourteen cameras were placed around the arena, for shots which would be edited into the main sequence, shot during 2008. Aerial shots using helicopters were banned, and the crew were also forbidden from showing any violence "involving either people or animals".[20] Afterward, scouting took place in Craco, the Montecotugno di Senise dam, and the road around San Biagio and Maratea.[21] From 23-29 August, the second-unit shot at Madrid,[22] and were scheduled to be in Panama during early November.[23]

Principal photography was going to begin on 10 December, 2007,[24] but was pushed back to 3 January 2008.[17] The shoot was scheduled to last six months.[25] Filming will be based at Bond's spiritual home of Pinewood Studios in the UK, including the newly rebuilt 007 Stage.[26] Three of the soundstages at Pinewood were being used to replicate Siena, including an art gallery used for a fight scene.[27]

A week of shooting was planned for Panama City in mid-February, where the National Institute of Culture of Panama and some private buildings would be used. A sequence requiring several hundred extras was also shot at the nearby Colón. [28] Bolivia and Chile were other South American locations.[17][29]

QoSPublicity3

Director Marc Foster on set.

The crew planned to spend ten days during the end of April at Lake Garda, Italy. Paul Haggis had written part of the script there while visiting it in late 2007. Filming also took place at the nearby villages of Torbole, Limone sul Garda, and Tremosine.[28] Filming took place at the floating opera stage at the lake in Bregenz, Austria from 28 April—10 May 2008. Around 1200 to 1500 extras were required to watch a performance of Tosca as the crew shot Craig as Bond prowling the area. A short driving sequence was shot at the nearby Feldkirch, Vorarlberg.[30] Forster had expressed interest in the Swiss Alps as a location,[31] but the location was written out of the final draft.[17]

Production designer Peter Lamont, who has been a crew member on eighteen Bond films, will not be continuing with Quantum of Solace. Dennis Gassner, who worked as designer on Sam Mendes' Road to Perdition and the Daniel Craig fantasy epic The Golden Compass.[32] In addition, London-based tailors Alfred Dunhill, Ltd will be providing Bond's suits. The Italian Brioni had provided the costumes for the film series since GoldenEye (1995). Dunhill had tailored suits for Daniel Craig to wear at various publicity events.[33]

Reception

Reaction to Quantum of Solace was mixed among critics. The film holds a 64% rating, based on 244 reviews, on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus, "Brutal and breathless, Quantum of Solace delivers tender emotions along with frenetic action. Not as good as franchise reboot Casino Royale, but still an impressive entry to the Bond canon." The film holds an average score of 58 out of 100 on Metacritic, signifying "mixed or average reviews". Roger Moore, who praised Daniel Craig's performance in Casino Royale, continued to feel Craig was a "damn good Bond but the film as a whole, there was a bit too much flash cutting [and] it was just like a commercial of the action." 

The Guardian said the film "isn't as good as Casino Royale: the smart elegance of Craig's Bond debut has been toned down in favour of conventional action. But the man himself powers this movie; he carries the film: it's an indefinably difficult task for an actor. Craig measures up." Many viewers criticised the title choice of Quantum of Solace.

Well-respected film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times disliked the film after praising Casino Royale. He said the plot was mediocre, characters weak and that Bond lacked his usual personality. He did, however, praise Craig's interpretation of the role. Many critics and fans also noted the similarity between the plot of Quantum and the Timothy Dalton Bond films The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill. 

Quantum of Solace was successful at the box office, earning $586,090,727 worldwide. The film broke the record for  the largest Friday opening in the UK, grossing 4.9 million pounds on the day of its release. 

Vehicles and Gadgets

Ford has a three-film deal that began with 2002's Die Another Day. The Aston Martin DBS V12 will return in the film,[34] and Ford GTs will also be used.[35]

Sony Ericsson is launching a limited edition Titanium silver C902 Cyber-shot™ phone as used by James Bond in the film.

Video game adaptation

See for Main Article: Quantum of Solace: The Game In May 2006 Activision acquired non-exclusive rights to develop and publish James Bond games; an exclusive deal with Activision took effect in September 2007. During an earnings report, Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision, announced that their first Bond game would be released in May 2008.[36] Previously it was reported by Variety that Activision's first game is expected to be a tie-in to Quantum of Solace.[37]

Videos

Trailers

File:Quantum of Solace (2008) - Open-ended Trailer (e41858) File:Quantum of Solace (2008) - Open-ended Trailer 2
Trailer 1 Trailer 2


Opening Title Sequence

File:Quantum Of Solace Opening Credits

Clips

Behind-the-scenes

Videoswiki For more James Bond videos check out Wikia's video library

Images

Posters

Publicity Photos

External links

References

  1. ↑ All about Eva The Observer, 2007-12-03
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 New Bond film title is confirmed BBC News Online, 2008-01-24
  3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Variety070906
  4. ↑ Roger Michell in Talks for Bond 22 Tatiana Siegel and Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter 2006-07-17
  5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named three
  6. ↑ 22nd James Bond Coming May 2, 2008! Columbia Pictures, Superherohype.com, 2006-07-20
  7. ↑ Roger Michell Explains Dropping Bond 22 MI6.co.uk, 2007-06-04
  8. ↑ Bond 22 Targeting Nov. 7, 2008 Superherohype.com, 2006-09-01
  9. ↑ 'Barbarella' back in action Michael Fleming, Variety, 2007-04-11
  10. ↑ Film writers who 'rebuilt' Bond BBC News, 2006-11-17
  11. ↑ Paul Haggis onboard to work on Bond 22 script, but turns down directing role MI6.co.uk, 2007-05-23
  12. ↑ Writer & Director Discuss Bond 22 MI6.co.uk, 2007-07-05
  13. ↑ 'Casino Royale' Writer Paul Haggis Talks Next 007 Flick: 'My Bond Is Different' MTV, 2007-08-29
  14. ↑ Interview with a Haggis David Walters, Esquire 2007-09-11
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 A License to Pursue the Inner Bond Terrence Rafferty, New York Times, 2007-12-09
  16. ↑ Forster back in action with 'Bond 22' The Hollywood Reporter 2007-06-20
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named diary22
  18. ↑ Bradley tapped to aid Bond stunts The Hollywood Reporter, 2007-09-04
  19. ↑ Bond 22 Pre-Production Diary (13) MI6.co.uk, 2007-09-27
  20. ↑ Bond has activists on his tail over new film's 'brutal' horse race finale Richard Owen,The Times, 2007-08-13
  21. ↑ Bond 22 Pre-Production Diary (7) MI6.co.uk, 2007-08-19
  22. ↑ Bond 22 filming takes place in Madrid, Spain during last week of August MI6.co.uk, 2007-08-31
  23. ↑ Production team in Panama finalising Bond 22 arrangements, shooting expected in early November MI6.co.uk, 2007-10-02
  24. ↑ With Forster's 'Kite,' he shoots, film soars Carolyn Giardina The Hollywood Reporter, 2007-09-27
  25. ↑ Lead "Bond 22" Babe to be ¡Muy Caliente! Edward Havens, FilmJerk.com, 2007-09-14
  26. ↑ Bond checks out of Czech Will Tizard, Variety, 2007-07-16
  27. ↑ James Bond is out for revenge in new film Mike Collett-White, Reuters 2008-01-24
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Bond 22 Production Diary (4) MI6.co.uk, 2008-01-16
  29. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named plot
  30. ↑ Bond 22 Production Diary (1) MI6.co.uk, 2008-01-03
  31. ↑ Bond 22 Director Hints At Swiss Alps MI6.co.uk, 2007-06-24
  32. ↑ Peter Lamont bows out from Bond 22, Dennis Gassner to be Production Designer MI6.co.uk, 2007-07-23
  33. ↑ James Bond to Switch Tuxedo Makers DNR, 2007-09-24
  34. ↑ Aston Martin DBS to star in new James Bond film Aston Martin, 2007
  35. ↑ Dan Bradley interview Bourne Stunt Simulator
  36. ↑ New Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, and 007 coming in 2007-8
  37. ↑ Bond, Superman games on the move Ben Fritz, Variety, 2006-05-03
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