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:

CIA | Vengeance | James Bond | Secret Agent | Bolivia

Awards:

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

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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:

The meaning of the film's title according to different sources. The Governor character in the Ian Fleming short story of the same name defines it as "... a precise figure defining the comfort, humanity and fellow feeling required between two people for love to survive. If the quantum of solace is 0, then love is dead." He then introduces the Law of the Quantum of Solace as follows: "I've seen flagrant infidelities patched up, I've seen crimes and even murder foreign by the other party, let alone bankruptcy and other forms of social crime. Incurable disease, blindness, disaster - all of these can be overcome. But never the death of common humanity in one of the partners. I've thought about this and I've invented a rather high-sounding title for this basic factor in human relations. I have called it the law of the Quantum of Solace." In the same story James Bond comments on the Law of the Quantum of Solace as follows: "That's a splendid name for it. It's certainly impressive enough. And of course I see what you mean. I should say you're absolutely right. Quantum of Solace - the amount of comfort. Yes, I suppose you can say that all love and friendship is based in the end on that. Human beings are very insecure. When the other person not only makes you feel insecure but actually seems to want to destroy you, it's obviously the end. The Quantum of Solace stands at zero. You've got to get away to save yourself." In an interview, the producers explained: "It means that a relationship cannot be salvaged unless there is a 'quantum of solace' between the two parties - 'Quantum' meaning 'measure' and 'solace' meaning 'comfort' - so if they are not willing to share that then their relationship is not redeemable. In our case, it is a couple of things: Bond is looking for a 'quantum of solace' after his experiences in Casino Royale (2006), and QUANTUM also happens to be the name of the villainous organization in the film.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Though the film is seen to follow on almost immediately after the events of Casino Royale (2006) and yet things such as M's office at MI6 HQ are completely different, it is clear than the final scenes of the previous film take place some considerable time after Bond finds Vesper's clue to lead him to Mr White. M has come to Italy and the sting has been set up, with a new Aston Martin and the safehouse in Siena, and White's extreme rendition arranged.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Top Gear Australia: Ford vs. Holden! (#1.2)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Another Way to Die

Good, but not good enough

I went to see this on Sunday, thinking that it would be the same amazing picture that was Casino Royale. Sadly, it wasn't. Quantum of Solace still has the action, the girl and the explosions that you'd expect, but it is still missing something. By removing the gadgets, the car (only around for the first 5 minutes) and the improvisation that you'd expect a Bond flick to have, it has removed essentially what is a Bond film and what you are left with is the story. And the story was not that thought out. Many moments left me thinking: "what was the point of that?". The film is a lot darker, focusing mainly on the character seeking "revenge" but was not the film I expected it to be. A good watch, better than anything else at the cinema now, but not as good a film as I thought, and I felt a bit disappointed walking out. At most 7/10 but probably 6/10