Quantum of Solace (2008)

Director:

Marc Forster

Writers (WGA):

Paul Haggis (written by) and
Neal Purvis (written by) ...

Release Date:

14 November 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Plot:

Seeking revenge for the death of his love, secret agent James Bond sets out to stop an environmentalist from taking control of a country's valuable resource.

Plot Keywords:

Secret Agent | James Bond | CIA | Bolivia | Vengeance

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 4 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Daniel Craig	...	James Bond
Olga Kurylenko	...	Camille Montes
Mathieu Amalric	...	Dominic Greene
Judi Dench	...	M
Giancarlo Giannini	...	René Mathis
Gemma Arterton	...	Strawberry Fields
Jeffrey Wright	...	Felix Leiter
David Harbour	...	Gregg Beam
Jesper Christensen	...	Mr. White
Anatole Taubman	...	Elvis
Rory Kinnear	...	Bill Tanner
Tim Pigott-Smith	...	Foreign Secretary
Joaquín Cosio	...	General Medrano
Fernando Guillén Cuervo	...	Colonel of Police
Jesús Ochoa	...	Lieutenant Orso

Also Known As:

B22 (UK) (promotional abbreviation)
Bond 22 (UK) (working title)
QoS (International: English title) (promotional abbreviation)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sexual content.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Italian | French | Spanish | Swiss German | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44263) | Ireland:12A | UK:12A | South Korea:15 | Norway:15 | Australia:M | Germany:12 | Finland:K-13 | Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Denmark:11 | Netherlands:12 | Brazil:14 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Argentina:13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | South Africa:10M | India:UA | Hong Kong:IIB | Sweden:11 | Malaysia:U | Peru:14 | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Nova Scotia) | New Zealand:M | Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:12 (DVD rating) | Taiwan:PG-12 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Mexico:B

Filming Locations:

Antofagasta Region, Chile

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Screenwriter Paul Haggis described James Bond in this film as "a very human and flawed assassin, a man who has to navigate a morally complex and often cynical world while attempting to hold onto his deep beliefs of what is right and wrong." Daniel Craig further described Bond as "an unfinished article with a sense of revenge, who is still headstrong and doesn't always make the right decisions."

Goofs:

Factual errors: James Bond gets told on the phone that Greene's biz-jet is on a private charter to Bregenz, Austria, where he seems to land. However, Bregenz itself has no airport. Only St. Gallen-Altenrhein and Friedrichshafen are nearby (10 and 30 km, respectively).

Quotes:

[first lines]
James Bond: It's time to get out.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Quantum of Solace: Royal World Premiere Special (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Crawl, End Crawl

A good film ruined by appalling direction

This film could have been so good, but Marc Forster's clichéd and ham-fisted direction completely ruined it for me. To be fair, his handling of the quieter moments between the action was adequate, but he clearly has no grasp of how direct action sequences, which are clearly central to any good Bond. I'm afraid the 'shake the camera and cut at least once a second' school of action direction doesn't really cut it.

It's tragic really, as the setup and the stunts for the sequences looked pretty promising, but you had to look pretty hard to tell once Mr. Forster's hopeless direction kicked in. Such a waste.

I think I'll hold out for the special edition DVD - you know - the non-directors cut!