Casino Royale Blu-ray Review

Daniel Craig) while bringing back the more realistic, low-tech approach of such early entries as Dr. No and From Russia With Love that die-hard 007 fans have been clamoring a long, long time for.

Royale opens with a terrific black-and-white sequence that shows Bond earning his License to Kill, which leads him to his first assignment: to track down the financier of international terrorists. His attempts to apprehend a bomber named Mollaka (Sebastien Foucan) don

This brings him back into semi-good graces with M (Judi Dench) and makes things very difficult for Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) the terrorist financier he was investigating.



To recover money which was lost on the foiled terrorist plot, Le Chiffre assembles a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro at Le Casino Royale. MI6 assigns 007 to play against Le Chiffre, knowing that another loss would destroy his organization (if Bond loses, the British Government will have directly financed terrorism). But there are strings attached to Bond playing in the game: treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), whom M pairs up with Bond in order to keep an eye on him (and the British government

Goldeneye aside, were lacking proper elements to make them truly memorable. The problem certainly had nothing to do with Pierce Brosnan, who made for a fine Bond. But iffy screenplays filled with weak villains and an overdependence of stunts and visual effects were to blame. Those deficits hampered both 1997

The only people who can answer those questions are producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Fortunately, as many discovered in the fall of 2006 (to the tune of $593 million at the box office), their gamble paid off handsomely. Royale, expertly directed by Martin Campbell (Goldeneye) and smartly written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Crash director Paul Haggis, is an exciting, intense and surprisingly involving espionage thriller that rarely misses a beat.

With Fleming

Daniel Craig (whom I never doubted would excel in this role), Casino Royale presents Bond as an arrogant, rough around the edges individual who has yet to evolve into the tuxedo-wearing, martini-swilling, double-entendre spouting agent we all know and love. Bond is fallible: he screws up, bruises, bleeds and makes a lot of mistakes, including the one of falling in love (a big no-no with secret agents). Darker, edgier and more human, this is a different sort of 007 that Craig perfectly conveys, taking one of the most known characters in cinema history and moving him in completely new and welcome directions.



Our hero isn

Dench, the sole holdover from the Brosnan series, excels again as M; Giancarlo Giannini is enjoyable as a local in Montenegro who helps 007, while Jeffrey Wright makes for a fine Felix Leiter.

If you are worried that Royale is nothing more than a dark character study, rest assured that there are still plenty of old-school Bond bits (exciting action scenes, explosions, beautiful women and fast cars) to be had. Not as much as before, but still delivered with the signature style and panache to which we

For all we know, the next one could turn out to be another Moonraker or Die Another Day. For now though, Bond fans should be ecstatic that the cast and crew of Casino Royale got this one right and did so in a big, big way. The end credits once again promise that James Bond will return. And for the first time in a very long time with this series, I am genuinely thrilled by that prospect.

In terms of home video presentations, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Black levels are rock solid, and flesh tones are spot on, the exceptions to the latter being some of the brighter scenes in the Caribbean and Madagascar. But I believe this to be an issue with the actual film and not the quality of its video transfer. The prints I saw in the theater of this film possessed the same blown out visual appearance in the exact same sections as the Blu-ray edition. Detail is also quite good for a majority of the film, although I noticed a bit of softness in facial close-ups and backgrounds every so often. As for the print itself, it is exactly in the shape you would expect for a five-month old, $150 million production: flawless. There are no scratches or nicks to be found anywhere. The same goes for compression artifacts, they simply do not exist.



Sony gives us two audio choices for our next-generation DVD viewing of the latest 007 adventure. And if you have seen any of the James Bond films in the theater since 1995

Goldeneye, you know one thing for certain: these movies are loud, sometimes a bit too loud for their own good (the opening action sequence of Die Another Day is a prime example of that). For Casino Royale, we are given an uncompressed PCM 5.1 track and a Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Both are quite good at getting the job done. The PCM track has a more spacious feel to it, while the Dolby Digital comes off as louder and more aggressive (perhaps because of the compression?). Both convey the vast array of bullets, explosions and other audio effects with great ease and feature excellent separation effects. Bass is also practically non-stop as well, which is always ideal for a big-budget action film.

The one place where Casino Royale, as a home video release in general, falls short is in the supplemental department (extras are the same on both regular DVD and Blu-ray). There is approximately two hours of bonus materials to be had, but that sounds a lot more promising than it actually is.

The first mini-doc is Becoming Bond (which runs approximately 27 minutes), is a brief but interesting look at how Daniel Craig stepped into the shoes of 007 and how the filmmakers went about adapting Ian Fleming

I enjoyed the second mini-doc on the disc, the 24-minute James Bond: For Real. This feature takes a close look at the stunts performed in the film and how the stunt team strived for as much realism as possible while setting a world record in the process. These two docs are presented in 1080p video (and Dolby 2.0 stereo) and look quite nice.

The third behind-the-scenes special is an updated 2006 version of the 50-minute American Movie Classics special Bond Girls Are Forever, which is presented in standard-definition full screen and 2.0 stereo. Hosted by Miriam D

Abo (The Living Daylights), this is a look at the female participants of the Bond franchise throughout the years and features interviews with actresses such as Ursula Andress, Halle Berry, Judi Dench, Maude Adams and Royale gals Eva Green and Caterina Murino. While their reminiscences are interesting (even if they make them out to be something more than they actually were), the special is sidelined by horrid voiceover narration and an overall aura of cheesiness. Like Becoming Bond, this is worth one viewing and that is it.



Closing out the extras is Chris Cornell

No theatrical trailer has been included, which strikes me as odd since a High-Definition version of it exists on the Blu-ray of the Will Ferrell film, Stranger Than Fiction.

When I first saw Casino Royale back in November, I thought that it was easily the best 007 adventure to hit movie screens since 1977

The rules of the game:

Caribbean Poker is a five card poker game, the sign face higher side won. First of all players in the box Dujin bet (the original bet). Players, the makers of the five licence, licence faces five players, four licensed bookmakers faces, faces on a card. Players can then assess their hands of the licensing, and, accordingly make the following choice.

1. Admission card (FOLD) - by the audience will be lost under the original bets.

2. To play cards (CALL) - Players must be in addition to other areas under the original bet, twice the Dujin.

Then the game continues, the bankers will turn the hands of the licence and the licence to compare players. But there must be a banker hands of A K licensing or better in order to be eligible to play. If the bookmakers are not eligible to play, players can win the bet with the same Dujin. If bankers have an A and K or better licensing, and licensing of the hands of the audience than the sign face, players will lose the bet and add the District Dujin. If the audience than the sign face of the card-makers, will win the bet with the same Dujin and calculated in accordance with the following rules to add the District of dividends Dujin.

Cumulative bets:

Players can choose to participate in exotic jackpot.

The current jackpot amounts will generally display on the screen.

Du Jin is the cumulative bet one dollar per hand. Whether winning or losing their licences outcome, any accumulated bets and bet big medal with the audience can be calculated in accordance with the following rules of the dividend.

Licensing the hands of the ratings:

With flowers Dashun

The highest level of licensing. All five licences, and even the same color. For example: A (red), K (red), Q (red), J (red), 10 (red)

With the flower -

5 licence, and even the same color. For example: 10 (box), 9 (box), 8 (box), 7 (box), 6 (box)

Bomb

4 with Haopai. For example: 5 (plum blossom), 5 (red), 5 (Spades), 5 (box)

Hyacinth

3 Haopai and another two with the same Haopai. For example: K (plum blossom), K (box), K (red), 4 (Spades), 4 (plum blossom)

With flowers

5 matched with the licence. For example: K (box), J (box), 9 (box), 6 (box), 3 (box), 2 (box)

Shunzai

Haopai total of five (A can as a maximum or minimum licensing), for example: 5 (plum blossom), 4 (box), 3 (red), 2 (Spades), A (plum blossom)

103

3 with Haopai. For example: 9 (plum blossom), 9 (box), 9 (red), A (Spades), 8 (plum blossom)

Two pairs

Two pairs with Haopai. For example: 4 (plum blossom), 4 (box), J (hearts), J (Spades), A (plum blossom)

A

For example, with two Haopai: 8 (plum blossom), 4 (box), J (hearts), J (Spades), A (plum blossom)

Big

If no one pair of hands with Haopai, while the largest going licensing identify the hands of the class licence. For example: A (Spades), Q (Spades), 9 (box), 6 (Spades), 3 (plum blossom)

We have to note that different networks in the Caribbean poker casinos on the odds are different, depending on what software they use. We are above the standards set out by the odds, all land-based casino is used.