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Quantum of Solace

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This article is about the 2008 film. For other uses, see Quantum of Solace (disambiguation).

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Quantum of Solace (2008) is the 22nd James Bond film by EON Productions, released in the United Kingdom on 31 October 2008 and due in North America on 14 November. The sequel to the 2006 film Casino Royale, it is directed by Marc Forster, and features Daniel Craig's second performance as James Bond. In the film, Bond battles Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a member of the Quantum organisation posing as an environmentalist, who intends to stage a coup d'état in Bolivia to take control of its water supply. Bond seeks revenge for the death of Vesper Lynd, and is assisted by Camille (Olga Kurylenko).

Producer Michael G. Wilson created the film's plot while Casino Royale was shooting. Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Paul Haggis and Joshua Zetumer contributed to the script. The title was chosen from a 1960 short story in Ian Fleming's For Your Eyes Only, though the film does not contain any elements of the original story. Location filming took place in Panama, Chile, Italy and Austria, while interior sets were built and filmed at Pinewood Studios. Forster aimed to make a modern film that also featured classic cinema motifs: an antique aeroplane was used for a dogfight sequence, and Dennis Gassner's set designs are reminiscent of Ken Adam's work on several early Bond films. Taking a course away from the usual Bond villains, Forster rejected any grotesque appearance for the character Dominic Greene to emphasize the hidden and secret nature of the film's (and society's) modern day corporate villains.

Plot

The film picks up where Casino Royale left off as Bond is driving from Lake Como to Siena, Italy, with the captured Mr. White in the boot of his car, when he is attacked by chasing henchmen. After evading his pursuers, Bond, along with two agents and M, interrogate White at a secret safe house regarding his organisation, Quantum. M's trusted bodyguard Craig Mitchell betrays M, shooting a colleague and allowing White to escape. Bond chases Mitchell across Siena and kills him. Through forensic investigations involving tracked banknotes, Bond then heads to Haiti to find Mitchell's contact, Edmund Slate. Bond kills Slate, who was set to meet with Camille. Bond instead meets Camille, who believes that the man she is meeting is a geologist when in fact Slate was set to kill her at the behest of her partner, Dominic Greene. Bond is ejected from Camille's car and pursues her by motorbike. He sees her meeting with Greene, a ruthless businessman and chairman of Greene Planet, who is also a member of Quantum. Greene is helping General Medrano – who murdered Camille's family – to stage a coup d'état in Bolivia in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of desert land.

Greene introduces Camille to Medrano as a 'sweetner' for their deal and has her escorted away on Medrano's boat. Bond commandeers his own boat to rescue her (though she is unwilling) and leaves her in local care. Bond then tracks Greene, through the cellphone of Greene's henchman Elvis, to a private jet, which flies to Bregenz, Austria. Greene is accompanied on the flight by the CIA's Felix Leiter and Gregg Beam, who are brokering a deal to make the impending coup benefit America. Bond then follows Greene in Austria to a performance of Tosca at Lake Constance, which is being used as a clandestine site for members of Quantum to plan the coup, each member communicating through special earpieces concealed in gift bags. Bond himself obtains an earpiece and disrupts the meeting. He then sends MI6 cellphone photos of various Quantum members as they flee the arena. As Greene abruptly departs from the opera, he is intercepted by Bond and a gun fight ensues in a restaurant. Bond confronts a bodyguard, who has links to an advisor of the British Prime Minister, on a rooftop, but the ensuing struggle causes him to fall on the hood of Greene's vehicle. Greene apparently does not recognize him and has him killed.

Believing Bond killed yet another potentially vital source of information, M has 007's passports and credit cards revoked. Bond is still able to travel to Italy by boat, where he reunites with his old ally René Mathis, who now lives in a hilltop villa awarded to him by MI6 as compensation. Both immediately relocate their efforts to La Paz, Bolivia. They are greeted by Strawberry Fields, an MI6 field operative from the local British Consulate. Although she explains Bond must return to the UK on the next available flight, he disobeys and seduces her in their hotel suite. That night, they attend a fund raiser being held by Greene, where Camille reappears. The Bolivian police attempt to set up Bond by putting a beaten Mathis in his car boot. As Bond picks Mathis up from the boot, the policemen open fire and fatally injure Mathis. Bond disarms and kills the policemen and comforts the dying Mathis, who asks Bond to forgive Vesper Lynd, and forgive himself for what happened to her. Bond then places Mathis' body in a dumpster and empties his wallet.

Bond and Camille then drive to the location of Greene's intended land acquisition, surveying the area in a Douglas DC-3 propeller plane. They are intercepted by a chopper and a fighter plane sent by Medrano and subsequently shot down. Before crashing, both Bond and Camille jump from the crippled plane and then freefall/parachute into a sink hole. There, the duo discover Greene is not interested in oil, but has been blockading supplies of fresh water, hidden in underground rivers. After this revelation, they return to La Paz, where Bond meets M and discovers Quantum murdered Fields by symbolically drowning her in oil. M orders Bond to disarm and end his activities in Bolivia, but he escapes by overpowering several MI6 operatives accompanying him in a lift. After this escape Bond encounters and speaks to M, stating he is not finished with his operation. Bond then meets his CIA ally Felix Leiter at a local bar.

Leiter informs Bond of where Greene is set to complete his deal with Medrano. Bond and Camille thus go to an eco-hotel powered by hydrogen fuel cells, located in the Bolivian desert, where Greene is indeed finalising the coup. As the various parties depart, Bond infiltrates the hotel, killing the departing Colonel of Police for killing Mathis and sets off a chain of explosions when a hydrogen fuel tank is destroyed. Camille shoots Medrano and Bond captures Greene. After interrogating him, he uncharacteristically leaves Greene stranded in the middle of the desert with only a can of oil. Bond and Camille drive to a train station, where they finally kiss before she departs.

Bond goes to Kazan, Russia, where he confronts Vesper Lynd's former boyfriend, Yusef. Yusef is a Quantum henchman who specialises in seducing high-ranking women to get them to give up government assets as he stages his kidnappings, and is doing the same with Canadian agent Corinne Veneau. Bond has Corrine alert the Canadian Security Intelligence Service as he confronts Yusef. Later, Bond leaves Yusef's apartment and is confronted by M who is surprised that Bond did not kill Yusef. M reveals that Leiter has been promoted at the CIA, and Greene was found in the desert shot dead with oil in his stomach. Bond sets out into the cold night, aware that Mr. White and Quantum are still on the loose. In the final shot we see Bond throwing Vesper's Algerian loveknot necklace into the snow signifying his acceptance of the past and also the beginings of a more cool and collected Bond.

Cast

See also: List of James Bond allies in Quantum of Solace and List of James Bond henchmen in Quantum of Solace

Daniel Craig plays James Bond. Craig noted Quantum of Solace required a different performance from him because it is a revenge film, not a love story like Casino Royale.[1] The actor advised Haggis on the script and, as a fan of Marc Forster's films, helped choose him as the director.[2] Craig's physical training for his reprise of the role placed extra effort into running and boxing, to spare him the injuries he sustained on his stunts in the first film.[3] Craig felt he was fitter, being less bulky than in the first film.[1] He also practised speedboating and stunt driving. Craig felt Casino Royale was [physically] "a walk in the park" compared to Quantum of Solace,[4] noting the film was not a love story. While filming in Pinewood, he suffered a gash when kicked in his face,[5] which required eight stitches, and a fingertip was sliced off. He laughed these off, noting they did not delay filming, and joked his finger wound would enable him to have a criminal career (though it had grown back when he made this comment).[1] He also had minor plastic surgery on his face.[6]

Mathieu Amalric plays Dominic Greene, a leading member of Quantum posing as a businessman working in reforestation and charity funding for environmental science. Amalric acknowledged taking the role was an easy decision because, "It's impossible to say to your kids that 'I could have been in a Bond film but I refused.'"[7] Amalric wanted to wear make-up for the role, but Forster explained that he wanted Greene not to look grotesque, but to symbolise the hidden evils in society.[5] Amalric modelled his performance on "the smile of Tony Blair [and] the craziness of Sarkozy," the latter of whom he called "the worst villain we [the French] have ever had [...] he walks around thinking he's in a Bond film."[8] He later claimed this was not criticism of either politician, but rather an example of how a politician relies on performance instead of a genuine policy to win power. "Sarkozy, is just a better actor than [his presidential opponent] Ségolène Royal – that's all," he explained.[9] Amalric and Forster reconceived the character, who was supposed to have a "special skill" in the script, to someone who uses pure animal instinct when fighting Bond in the climax.[10] Bruno Ganz was also considered for the part,[11] but Forster decided Amalric gave a pitiful quality.[10]

Olga Kurylenko plays Camille Montes, a Russian-Bolivian agent with her own vendetta regarding Greene and Quantum. Forster chose her because out of the 400 women who auditioned, she seemed the least nervous.[12] When she read the script, she was glad she had no love scene with Craig because it would have distracted viewers from her performance.[13] Kurylenko spent three weeks training to fight with weapons, and she learnt a form of indoor skydiving known as body flying.[7] Kurylenko dislikes stunts,[14] but overcame her fears because she found Craig helpful.[15] She was given a DVD box set of the films since the Bond franchise was not easily available to watch where she grew up in Ukraine.[7] Kurylenko found Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies inspiring "because she did the fight scenes by herself".[12] The producers had intended to cast a South American actress in the role.[11] Kurylenko trained with a dialect coach to perform with a Spanish accent,[16] which was easy as "I have a good ear, so I can imitate people", and because her accent was not made heavy.[14] When reflecting on her experience as a Bond girl, she stated she was most proud of overcoming her fears in performing stunts.[17]

Gemma Arterton plays MI6 Agent Strawberry Fields, who works at the British consulate in Bolivia. Forster found Arterton a witty actress and selected her from 7000 candidates.[17] One of the casting directors asked her to audition for the role, having seen her portray Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost at the Globe Theatre.[18] Arterton said Fields was "not so frolicsome" as other Bond girls, but is instead "fresh and young, not [...] a femme fatale".[19] Arterton described Fields as a homage to the 1960s Bond girls, comparing her red wig to Diana Rigg, who played Tracy Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Rigg, alongside Honor Blackman, is one of her favourite Bond girls.[18]

Judi Dench plays M. Forster felt Dench was underused in the previous films.[20]

Jeffrey Wright plays Felix Leiter, Bond's ally at the CIA. This marked the first time the same actor played Leiter twice in a row, as well as the second time Leiter was played by the same person. Only David Hedison had played him in both Live and Let Die (1973) and Licence to Kill (1989).[7] Early script drafts gave Leiter a larger role, but his screentime was restricted by on-set rewrites.[21]

Anatole Taubman plays Elvis, Greene's second-in-command. He has a bowl cut. His name was chosen by Paul Haggis,[14] which Taubman liked, though he said he avoided making Elvis Presley jokes to not lose the role. Amalric and Taubman improvised a backstory for Elvis: he is Dominic's cousin and once lived on the streets before being inducted into Quantum. He called Elvis "a bit of a goofball. He thinks he's all that but he's not really. [...] He's not a comic guy. He definitely takes himself very serious, but maybe by his taking himself too serious he may become friendly."[22]

Giancarlo Giannini plays René Mathis, Bond's ally who was mistakenly believed to be a traitor in Casino Royale. Having been acquited, he chooses to aid Bond again.

Joaquin Cosío plays General Medrano, who is Bond's enemy in Latin America. Greene is helping the exiled general get back into power, in return for support of his organisation.

Jesper Christensen plays Mr. White, whom Bond captured after he stole the money won at Casino Royale in Montenegro.

Rory Kinnear plays Bill Tanner, M's aide, and Tim Pigott-Smith plays the British Foreign Secretary. Glenn Foster plays Craig Mitchell, an MI6 double agent. David Harbour portrays Gregg Beam, the CIA Section Chief for South America and a contact of Felix Leiter. The Bolivian Chief of Police is played by Fernando Guillén Cuervo while Medrano's Lieutenant Orso is played by Jesús Ochoa. Neil Jackson plays Edmund Slate, a henchman who fights Bond in Haiti. Simon Kassianides plays Yusef, who has a confrontation with Bond in Kazan towards the end of the film, while Stana Katic plays his associate Corinne Veneau. Oona Chaplin, granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin, cameos as a receptionist at the Perla de las Dunas Hotel.

Directors Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón are friends of Marc Forster and while filming he asked them to cameo, providing voices in the Spanish language. Cuarón appears as a Bolivian helicopter pilot, while del Toro provides several other voices.[23]

Production

Development

"If you remember in Chinatown, if you control the water you control the whole development of the country. I think it's true. Right now it appears to be oil, but there's a lot of other resources that we don't think about too much but are all essential, and they're very limited and every country needs it. Because every country knows that raising the standard of living (and populations are getting bigger) is the way we're all going."

–Michael G. Wilson on the plot[21]

In July 2006, as Casino Royale entered post-production, EON Productions announced that the next film would be based on an original idea by producer Michael G. Wilson.[24] It was decided beforehand the film would be a direct sequel, to exploit Bond's emotions following Vesper's death in the previous film.[25] Just as Casino Royale's theme was terrorism, the sequel focuses on environmentalism.[9] The film was confirmed for a 2 May 2008 release date, with Craig reprising the lead role.[26] Roger Michell, who directed Craig in Enduring Love and The Mother, was in negotiations to direct, but opted out because there was no script.[27] Sony Entertainment vice-chairman Jeff Blake admitted a production schedule of eighteen months was a very short window, and the release date was pushed back to late 2008.[28] Neal Purvis and Robert Wade completed their draft of the script by April 2007,[29] and Paul Haggis – who polished the Casino Royale script – began his rewrite the next month.[30]

In June 2007, Marc Forster was confirmed as director.[31] He was surprised that he was approached for the job, stating he was not a big Bond film fan through the years, and that he would not have accepted the project had he not seen Casino Royale prior to making his decision. The film changed his outlook. He felt Bond had been humanised 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 Germany and raised in Switzerland, Forster was the first Bond director not to come from the Commonwealth of Nations, although he noted Bond's mother is Swiss, making him somewhat appropriate to handle the British icon.[32] The director collaborated strongly 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," the director said, "otherwise, I have been able to realise my vision."[11] The director found Casino Royale's 144 minute running time too long, and wanted his follow-up to be "tight and fast [...] like a bullet".[33]

"Every corporation realized they can make money by being green so let's be green. So I think it's something one has to look at very carefully. Yes, I think we are going through an environmental crisis and if we don't wake up we're going to destroy ourselves, but I think one has to be really wary of people like Greene because they're pretending to be something they're oft-times not. Personally, I know a lot of people who say, 'I'm riding my bicycle.' But then they have their private jet at the airport. 'I have my Gulfstream, but I'm using my vegetable fueled Hummer.'"

–Marc Forster on Dominic Greene[34]

Haggis, Forster and Wilson rewrote the story from scratch.[35] Haggis says he completed his script two hours before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike officially began.[32] For a change in perspective, Forster said he created Camille as a strong counterpart character to Bond rather than a casual love interest: being a woman she would openly express similar emotions to that Bond was experiencing, but ones that he would not state because of his masculine stoicism.[36] Haggis located his draft's climax in the Swiss Alps,[37] but Forster wanted the action sequences to be based around the four classical elements of earth, water, air and fire.[38] The decision to homage Goldfinger in Fields' death came about as Forster wanted to show oil had replaced gold as the most precious material.[39] The producers rejected Haggis' idea that Vesper Lynd had a child, because "Bond was an orphan [...] Once he finds the kid, Bond can't just leave the kid."[40]

Michael G. Wilson decided on the film's title Quantum of Solace only "a few days" before its announcement on 24 January 2008.[19] It was the name of a short story in Ian Fleming's anthology For Your Eyes Only (1960), although the film is otherwise unrelated.[41] Daniel Craig admitted, "I was unsure at first. Bond is looking for his quantum of solace and that's what he wants, he wants his closure. Ian Fleming says that if you don't have a quantum of solace in your relationship then the relationship is over. It's that spark of niceness in a relationship that if you don't have you might as well give up."[7] He said that "Bond doesn't have that because his girlfriend [Vesper Lynd] has been killed",[41] and therefore, "[Bond is] looking for revenge [...] to make himself happy with the world again."[19] Afterwards, Quantum was made the name of the organisation introduced in Casino Royale.[42] Craig noted the letter Q itself looks rather odd.[1]

During filming, after the strike ended, Forster read a spec script by Joshua Zetumer, which he liked, and hired him to reshape scenes for the later parts of the shoot, which the director was still unsatisfied with.[35] Forster had the actors rehearse their scenes, as he liked to film scenes continually.[9] Zetumer rewrote dialogue depending on the actors' ideas each day.[9] Quantum of Solace marks the first time since 1967's You Only Live Twice that Bond does not introduce himself with the catchphrase "Bond, James Bond." The line was shot for several different scenes but was completely cut out as Forster and the producers found it unnecessary.[43] Overall, only 45 seconds worth of screentime was cut out of what was scripted.[33]

Filming

Second unit filming began at the Palio di Siena horse race on 16 August 2007:[44] at this point Forster was unsure how it would fit into the film.[38] From 23–29 August, they shot at Madrid.[45] They spent three weeks (up until 15 February 2008) in Baja California, Mexico, for shots of the aerial battle.[46][47] From 15–21 March, they filmed at Malcesine and Limone sul Garda in Italy,[48] and at Talamone during the end of April.[49] The main unit began on 3 January, 2008,[11] at Pinewood Studios. The 007 Stage was used for the fight in the art gallery,[7] and an MI6 safehouse hidden within the city's cisterns,[50] while other stages housed Bond's Bolivian hotel suite,[51] and the MI6 headquarters.[50]

File:Quantum Of Solace Shelter Bay.jpg
Marine shooting being carried out at Fort Sherman

Shooting in Panama City began on 7 February 2008 at Howard Air Force Base. The country doubled for Haiti and Bolivia, with the National Institute of Culture of Panama standing in for a hotel in the latter country. A sequence requiring several hundred extras was also shot at nearby Colón.[52] Shooting in Panama was also carried out at Fort Sherman, a former US military base on the Colón coast. Officials in the country worked with the locals to "minimise inconvenience" for the cast and crew, and in return hoped the city's exposure in the film would increase tourism.[53] The crew was going to move to Cusco, Peru for ten days of filming on 2 March,[52] but the location was cancelled because of bad weather predictions.[54] Twelve days of filming in Chile began on 24 March at Antofagasta. There was shooting in Cobija, the Paranal Observatory, and other locations in the Atacama Desert.[55] Forster chose the desert and the observatory's ESO Hotel to represent Bond's rigid emotions, and being on the verge of committing a vengeful act as he confronts Greene in the film's climax.[56][42]

Marc Forster chose the Atacama Desert to represent Bond's vengefulness in the climax

On 1 April, while filming in Chile, mayor Carlos Lopez (who was suspended from office five months beforehand) drove his car into the filming location in the village of Baquedano and almost ran over a policeman. He was angry at the filmmakers portraying Antofagasta as part of Bolivia, when Chile conquered it in 1883, and criticised security measures such as "special forces and water cannons preventing people from walking in the street" in the small town, which reminded him "of the worst of the Pinochet years". He was arrested, detained briefly, and put on trial two days later. EON dismissed his claim that they needed his permission to film in the area.[57][58] Michael G. Wilson also explained Bolivia was appropriate to the plot, because of the country's history of water problems,[56] and was surprised the two countries disliked each other a century after the War of the Pacific.[59] In a poll by Chilean daily newspaper La Segunda, 75% of its readers disagreed with Lopez's actions, due to the negative image they felt it presented of Chile, and the controversy's potential to put off productions looking to film in the country in the future.[60]

From 4–12 April, the main unit shot on Sienese rooftops. The next four weeks were scheduled for filming the car chase at Lake Garda and Carrara.[49] On 19 April, an Aston Martin employee driving an DBS to the set crashed into the lake. He survived, and was fined £400 for reckless driving.[61] Another accident occurred on 21 April, and two days later, two stuntmen were seriously injured, with one, Greek stuntman Aris Comninos, having to be put in intensive care. Filming of the scenes was temporarily halted so that Italian police could investigate the causes of the accidents.[62] Stunt co-ordinator Gary Powell said the accidents were a testament to the realism of the action.[37] Rumours of a "curse" spread among tabloid media, something which deeply offended Craig, who argued that Comninos' accident made something like his finger wound insignificant. Comninos recovered safely from his injury.[1]

File:BregenzToscaBühnenbild4.JPG
Preparations for the Bregenzer Festspiele's performance of Tosca

Filming took place at the floating opera stage at Bregenz, Austria from 28 April–9 May 2008. The sequence, where Bond stalks the villains during a performance of Tosca, required 1500 extras.[63] The production uses a large model of an eye, which Forster felt fitted in the Bond style, and the opera itself has parallels to the film.[64] A short driving sequence was filmed at the nearby Feldkirch, Vorarlberg.[65] The crew returned to Italy from 13–17 May to shoot a (planned) car crash at the marble quarry in Carrara,[66] and a recreation of the Palio di Siena at the Piazza del Campo in Siena. 1000 extras were hired for a scene where Bond emerges from the Fonte Gaia. Originally, he would have emerged from the city's cisterns at Siena Cathedral, but this was thought disrespectful.[49] By June, the crew returned to Pinewood for four weeks,[64] where new sets (including the interior of the hotel in the climax) were built.[51][35] The wrap party was held on 21 June.[67]

Design

Production designer Peter Lamont, a crew member on eighteen Bond films, retired after Casino Royale. Dennis Gassner, who worked on Road to Perdition (2002) and The Golden Compass (2007), both of which also featured Daniel Craig, was hired in Lamont's stead.[68] Craig said the film would have "a touch of Ken Adam",[69] while Michael G. Wilson also called Gassner's designs "a postmodern look at modernism".[51] Forster said he enjoyed the clashing of an older style with his own, and in turn it created a unique look.[70]

Louise Frogley replaced Lindy Hemming as costume designer, though Hemming remained as supervisor. Hemming hired Brioni for Bond's suits since her tenure on the series began with 1995's GoldenEye, but Lindsay Pugh, another supervisor, explained their suits were "too relaxed". Tom Ford was hired to tailor "sharper" suits for Craig. Pugh said the costumes aimed towards the 1960s feel, especially for Bond and Fields. Prada provided the dresses for both Bond girls. Jasper Conran designed Camille's casual clothes and gold necklace, while Chrome Hearts designed gothic jewellery for Amalric's character, which the actor liked enough to keep after filming.[71] Sophie Harley, who created Vesper Lynd's earrings and Algerian loveknot necklace in Casino Royale, was called upon to create another version of the necklace.[72]

The film returns to the traditional gun barrel opening shot, which was altered into part of the story for Casino Royale where it was moved to the start of the title sequence.[73] In this film the gun barrel sequence was moved to the end of the movie. The opening credits sequence will be created by MK12, having worked on Forster's Stranger than Fiction and The Kite Runner. They also worked on scenes with graphical user interface, including the electronic table MI6 use.[74]

Effects

Dan Bradley was hired as second unit director because of his work on the second and third installments of the Bourne film series, so the film would continue the gritty action style begun in Casino Royale.[75] Fourteen cameras were used to film the Palio di Siena, footage which was later edited into the main sequence. Aerial shots using helicopters were banned, and the crew were also forbidden from showing any violence "involving either people or animals".[44] To shoot the foot chase in Siena in April 2008 four camera cranes were built in the town, and a cable camera was also used.[48]

To film the aerial dogfight, a "Snakehead" camera was built and placed on the nose and tail of a Piper Aerostar 700. SolidWorks, who provided the software for the camera, stated "pilots for the first time can fly as aggressively as they dare without sacrificing the drama of the shot". The camera could turn 360 degrees and was shaped like a periscope.[76] The crew also mounted SpaceCams on helicopters, and placed cameras with 1600mm lenses underground, to cover the action.[46] Forster wanted to film the planefight as a homage to Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, and chose planes like the Douglas DC-3 to suit that.[77][70] To shoot a free-fall scene, Craig disliked the idea of being blown by a large fan, so stunt co-ordinator Gary Powell suggested filming the scene in a wind tunnel. Seventeen small digital cameras were used to shoot the scene, while Craig and Kurylenko wore wind-resistant contact lenses that enabled them to open their eyes as they fell. For safety, they only shot for thirty seconds at a time.[73]

Quantum of Solace was the last in Ford Motor's three-film deal that began with 2002's Die Another Day. Although Ford sold over 90% of the Aston Martin company in 2007, the Aston Martin DBS V12 returned for the film's car chase around Lake Garda;[78] Ford GTs,[79] and an Alfa Romeo 159 were also used.[80] Six Aston Martins were destroyed during filming, and one of them was purchased by a fan.[1]

Music

Main article: Quantum of Solace (soundtrack)

David Arnold, who composed the scores for the previous four Bond films, returned for Quantum of Solace. He said that Forster likes to work very closely with his composers and that, in comparison to the accelerated schedule he was tied to on Casino Royale, the intention was to spend a long time scoring the film to "really work it out". He also said he would be "taking a different approach" with the score.[81] Arnold composed the music based on impressions from reading the script, and Forster edited those into the film.[82] As with Casino Royale, Arnold kept use of the James Bond Theme to a minimum.[38]

Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse recorded a demo track for the film,[83] but Ronson explained Winehouse's well-publicized legal issues in the preceding weeks made her "not ready to record any music" at that time.[84] It was announced Jack White of The White Stripes and Alicia Keys would collaborate on "Another Way to Die", which is the first duet in Bond music history, on 29 July 2008.[85][86] They had wanted to work together for two years beforehand.[87] The song was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee; White played the drums while Keys performed on the piano.[88] The Memphis Horns also contributed to the track.[87] White's favourite Bond theme is John Barry's instrumental piece for On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and he watched various opening credit sequences from the series for inspiration while mixing the track.[88]

Release

The film premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square on 29 October 2008. Princes William and Harry of Wales attended, and proceeds from the screening were donated to the charities Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion.[89] The film was scheduled to be released in the UK and North America on 7 November. EON pushed forward the British date to 31 October during filming,[90] while the American date was pushed back in August to 14 November, after Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had been moved to 2009, thereby allowing the distributors to market the film over the Fall blockbuster Thanksgiving holiday weekend.[91] In Australia, the film was moved a week to 19 November, after 20th Century Fox chose to release Australia on its original date of 26 November.[92]

Marketing

Returning product placement partners from Casino Royale included Ford, Heineken Pilsener, Smirnoff, Omega SA, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Sony Ericsson.[93] Avon are creating a fragrance called Bond Girl 007 with Gemma Arterton as the "face" of the product.[94] Coca-Cola became a promotional partner, rebranding Coke Zero as "Coke Zero Zero 7". A tie-in advert featured the orchestral element of "Another Way to Die".[95] Sony held a competition, "Mission for a Million," enabling registered players to use their products to complete certain tasks. Each completed "mission" gives consumers a chance to win $1 million and a trip to a top secret location.[96]

Corgi International Limited will release 5-inch action figures and gadgets (such as a voice-activated briefcase), as well as their traditional die-cast toy vehicles.[97][98] They will also release 7-inch figures of characters from the previous films.[99] Scalextric will release four racing sets to coincide with the film.[100] Activision will release their first James Bond game, also titled Quantum of Solace, which is based on both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. It is the first Bond game to feature Craig's likeness and the first seventh generation console game in the series.

Though there was no novelisation, Penguin Books has published a compilation of Fleming's short stories entitled Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories, with a UK release date of 29 May 2008[101] and a North American release date of 26 August 2008.[102] The book combines the contents of Fleming's two short story collections, For Your Eyes Only - including the original "Quantum of Solace" short story - and Octopussy and The Living Daylights.

Reviews

77% of 30 reviews listed on Rotten Tomatoes were positive.[103] Critics generally preferred Casino Royale, but continued to praise Craig's depiction of Bond, and agree that the film is still an enjoyable addition to the series. The action sequences and pacing were praised, but criticism grew over the serious and gritty feel that the film carried over.[104] Kim Newman of Empire gave it 4/5, remarking it was not "bigger and better than Casino Royale, [which is] perhaps a smart move in that there's still a sense at the finish that Bond’s mission has barely begun". However, he expressed nostalgia for the more humorous Bond films of the past.[105]

The Sunday Times review noted that "[f]ollowing Casino Royale was never going to be easy, but the director Marc Forster has brought the brand’s successful relaunch crashing back to earth — with a yawn"; the screenplay "is at times incomprehensible" and the casting "is a mess." The review concludes that "Bond has been stripped of his iconic status. He no longer represents anything particularly British, or even modern. In place of glamour, we get a spurious grit; instead of style, we get product placement; in place of fantasy, we get a redundant and silly realism."[106]

The Guardian review was more positive, giving 3/5 stars, particularly about Craig's performance, saying he "made the part his own, every inch the coolly ruthless agent-come-killer, nursing a broken heart and coldly suppressed rage" and calling the film "a crash-bang Bond, high on action, low on quips, long on location glamour, short on product placement"; it concludes "Quantum of Solace 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."[107]

Screen Daily says "Notices will focus - rightly - on Craig's magnetism as the steely, sexy, murderous MI6 agent, but two other factors weigh in and freshen up proceedings: Forster's new technical team, led by cinematographer Roberto Schaefer and production designer Dennis Gassner. And the ongoing shift of M, as played by Judi Dench, to front and centre: the Bond girls fade into insignificance as she becomes his moral counterpoint and theirs is the only real relationship on screen.", and remarks that "Bond is, as has been previously noted, practically the Martin Scorsese of the BAFTAs: 22 films later, with grosses probably close to the GDP of one of the small nations it depicts, it's still waiting for that Alexander Korda award. The best Casino Royale could achieve was a gong for sound. Will this be the year that changes its fortunes?"[108]

Box office

Upon its opening in the UK, the film grossed £4.9 million ($8 million), breaking the record for the largest Friday opening (31 October 2008) in the UK.[109] The film then broke the UK opening weekend record, taking £15.5 million ($25 million) in its first weekend, surpassing the previous record of £14.9 million held by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It earned a further £14.2 million in France and Sweden – where it opened on the same day – which altogether equated to $38.6 million. The weekend gross of $10.6 million in France was a record for the series, surpassing what Casino Royale made in five days by 16%. The $2.7 million gross in Sweden was the fourth-highest opening for a film there.[110][111]

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