007 Countdown Part 7 - Casino Royale

Hello everyone and welcome to Some Like It Scott's latest Countdown miniseries: the 007 Countdown. This time, in honor of the upcoming release of the 25th film in the franchise, NO TIME TO DIE, Scott, Scott, and Jay will be revisiting an abridged selection of 007 films to see how James Bond has evolved across decades, storylines, directors, and actors. Starting with the legendary performances of Sean Connery in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and GOLDFINGER and ending with the full retinue of Daniel Craig's performances across the last decade and a half, the countdown crew will give their thoughts on 10 different Bond films. Join us each week as we dissect a different Bond film!

 

On the seventh episode of the countdown, Scott, Scott, and Jay revisit the first entry in the latest version of Bond: the Daniel Craig-starrer, CASINO ROYALE. Directed by Martin Campbell, CASINO ROYALE serves not only as a starting point for Craig's new version of Bond, but also as a soft reboot for the franchise as a whole. The outset of the film shows how Bond achieved his 00-status, and two kills later, the journey fast-forwards to Madagascar for an epic chase scene where Bond is tracking a bomb-maker connected to a terrorist cell plotting an attack on a yet-to-be-determined location. Bond follows a lead to the Bahamas, where he encounters a corrupt Greek official, Alex Dimitrios (Simon Abkarian), whom he believes is the key to discovering the planned terrorist attack. Bond's adventures continue from there and ultimately involve evolved Bond girl Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) and terrorist financier Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) with ties to a wider criminal organization. The countdown crew give their thoughts on all of it, including Craig's new "modern" version of Bond, the progress in the Bond girl department, and whether this different approach to a Bond spy film works.