Casino Royale (2006). Blond, James Blond.

#casinoroyale #jamesbond #jamesbond007
Stam Fine Reviews looks at the 2006 James Bond film, Casino Royale, a reboot of the official Bond films and the first to star Daniel Craig as James Bond as he starts out his career as a Double-O agent.
Casino Royale leads up to a card game and some new uses for rope. Directed by Martin Campbell and also stars Eva Green, Jeffrey Wright, Judi Dench, and Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre.
A blond Bond. Or is that a blonde Bond? While we're getting all French about it... It's a bon Bond.

[@mr.g.streams3435]

The idea of Bond playing Magic the Gathering in high stakes casino is something I NEED to see.

[@TheDrugOfTheNation]

Do you expect me to swampwalk? No Mr Bond, I expect you to scry!

[@fatcat8033]

The 15 flip car roll in the third act is still one of the best car stunts on film .

[@JagoHazzard]

This is the only Bond where I read the novel before seeing the film, and I was not disappointed by the adaptation. It's still my favourite Bond movie.

[@mcrazza]

I love, love, LOVE Casino Royale. It's my favourite Bond film followed by Skyfall and GoldenEye, another Martin Campbell-directed Bond film. It's one of those films where if it's playing on the tele and I happen to catch it I will sit down and watch through to the end. Campbell's direction is *chef's kiss*. Daniel Craig plays Bond so very well. Special mention goes to Eva Green who has such a great presence on the screen. She's.Just.Gorgeous. By far the best Bond girl - and best written and performed.

[@americansupervillain4595]

The best thing about Bond movies, Stam Fine videos.

[@williamwyke5624]

I always enjoy your reviews. The "Who discovered fire" joke made me spit-take my coffee. I love the references that most people won't get but are gold to those who do.

[@TheDrugOfTheNation]

This was my first Blu-Ray too. Because of the black and white cold open, the animated titles and the green-heavy jungle scenes, it was not until the free-running scene I realised my PlayStation cables were incapable of outputting a blue component.

[@biffbamboo]

I loved this movie. The parkour scene perfectly sums up the character of James Bond. He was able to relentlessly keep up with a man far quicker and athletic than himself by compensating and balancing his own physicality with his far superior intelligence and wits. The bomber was running for his life, 007 was playing chess.

[@jamesabernethy7896]

Although I like all the Bonds. I grew up with Moore too and he's my Bond. Surviving more on his wits than his brawn. Fantastic and funny review, your sense of humour never fails to land.

[@bensneb360]

I remember in 2006, everyone was talking about that construction chase scene, when I finally saw it I was surprised it happened so early on, they made it sound like it was the climax

[@grandslapper]

I thought the hook, and opening credits for that film were just the best in decades. Proper Bond stuff.

[@loftlegacy]

After a wonderful debut, Craig’s Bond films lurched from the woefully unfinished (Quantum of Solace), to the overrated (Skyfall) to the amazingly dull and self indulgent (No Time to Die).

[@rrtycoon2]

You forgot the forgettable one...uh...hang on...I know there was another one. Oh well, at least No Time to Die had Christoph Waltz as Bond's brother.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

I like Skyfall but it blew it with that weak finale. Home Alone meets Bond.

[@xtraspecialmango]

Bond. Bond Bond.

[@eyesofpicasso]

am i the only one who likes quantum of solace? it had the best scheme

[@KarlSmith1]

Quantum of Solace is the only one of Craig's films that is watchable. Skyfall is completely nonsensical. Spectre is just tedious. People commenting that they dislike Quantum of Solace are just victims whose heads exploded at the sight of a modern Bond film wherein the plot actually made sense.

[@vincenzollamas]

i watched that last, of the Craig Bond films, because everyone seemed to think so little of it - couldn't believe it! it's fantastic! perfect follow up and counterpart to Casino Royale. i would even say a near perfect Bond film, a near perfect film, and i think even better than Skyfall. what i noticed with Quantum, you had to pay attention the whole time, very smart action film.

[@Terry.W]

Daniel Craig's first and only good Bond film...he looked bored in the other movies...but I could watch Judi Dench all day..

[@TheDukeofMadness]

I always consider Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace to be the best four hour James Bond film ever made.

[@SamnissArandeen]

Casino is doing a *lot* of the heavy lifting there, both in establishing the characters and stakes, and in overall cinematography and polish.

[@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV]

I do just like looking at the 1967 Casino Royale! It just looks nice, even if it doesn't have parkour or Magic the Gathering....

[@Scimarad]

I love the theme song and opening titles to this one.

[@Halbared]

I love the ‘67 version.

[@damienkakoschke3099]

I look forward to you doing the rest of Daniel Craig's Bond films. Absolutely love your reviews, you have my sense of humor. :)

[@mikesands4681]

The level of humor have hit a new high. Great episode.

[@jasonulane7360]

Did a silent yesssss, when Craig said "The Bitch Is Dead" which is the last line in the book. Also loved the fact they had the balls (geddit) to use the carpet beater torture scene, which I'm sure no other Bond actor would agree to - so kudos to Craig for going for it. Sadly Quantum would squander a very good diabolical plan (control the world's water supply, a topic very timely now) for a gruel thin narrative 0:07 sidetracked by a writers strike and an awful director who had no clue how to direct action and used manic seizure provoking editing to cover up this fact.

[@doctorlolchicken7478]

This is a good film but it’s a bit slow for me. If it wasn’t for Eva Green in that dress I’d never have got through the 45 minutes of poker.

[@yesspazsmith9895]

Gave it a thumb's up with out even watching it yet.

[@kali3665]

The initial trailer sold me totally on Daniel Craig, and I maintain that this is still Craig's best Bond film. For the first time since Connery, we had a believable Bond and not a clown. Those who objected to Craig's casting may not remember that the first person Ian Fleming suggested for the role was ... Hoagy Carmichael. Craig resembles Carmichael far more than than he does Cary Grant (whom Broccoli first considered). While I still maintain that Connery is the ultimate Bond, Craig comes close in my mind (and would be even higher if his films were better).

[@igrok__1]

For the first time since Connery, we had a believable Bond and not a clown. - This is just not true at all. We had at least Timothy Dalton, and Brosnan was pretty serious at the start of his tenure.

[@RighteousBrother]

Not to mention Fleming's description of Bond as a 'blunt' instrument. Craig and Connery all the way for me got time for Dalton too!

[@kali3665]

@@igrok__1 True. In fact, you can consider Dalton to be a proto-Craig, but we weren't ready for him after a decade of Moore. I never really saw Brosnan as serious, except maybe a more serious version of Moore's approach. That didn't last long.

[@agl1138]

The Blu Ray point is dead on. When the PS3 came out I had a 32inch Samsung HD (only 720) and this was the first big release on disc. I think almost everybody who got the PS3 at launch bought this movie

[@Alkeeros]

Great jokes as always! I try to watch all of them, even if I haven't seen the movie show (which is almost all of them)

[@mrwomby5007]

It was a bit of a shock to see Bond driving a Ford Mondeo in this movie. I’m afraid it made me laugh out loud in the cinema.

[@brotherkellymatthewbarnes8882]

I thought I saw the Padishah Emperor Shaddam the Fourth. I DID I DID (Giancarlo Giannini)!!

[@OK-hl6qd]

Glad you called out Layer Cake

[@colinwatt9387]

Would that be a bordeaux collie? Thanks, I'm here all week, try the fish, it's great.

[@rohankilby4499]

My favourite bond film ever

[@torchwood00]

Sliders Royale

[@adampoll4977]

This truly was the defibrillator the franchise needed (see what I did there) - it brought back a realism and grittiness and made Bond a multi-layered human being. It gave Bond a modern makeover that only added to the value while stripping away some of the now cringe baggage of the past.

[@ZeusAmun-pt9dc]

I love the Craig era. I love all James Bond movies

[@Insanir]

What format/decks do they play in "The Die with the Golden Kill"?

[@StamFine]

Viewmaster

[@SamnissArandeen]

@@StamFine A Viewmaster To A Golden Kill?

[@kettchuk918]

The only good Bond film, especially with its sequels resembling Austin Powers scripts.

[@richardgadberry8398]

Craig Fingersuck has entered the conversation.

[@listerofsmeg884]

Great review. But I'm pretty sure the two rich dudes that think Bond is a valet are meant to be German, not French. Why else would Bond say 'guten abend' later on at the bar? Interesting how the criticism of DaD was that it was 'too bloated ' yet CR was the longest in the franchise till the last one. Personally found it a bit too long. Think it would have been better ending on a cliffhanger when Mr White shoots Le Chiffe . Then QoS could start with the Vespa betrayal and Venice scenes as the pre title sequence. Would bulk that film out a bit more and make it more relevant.

[@afrancis1582]

Well done on a good review. However, I have to pick you up on one thing. Your caption at the beginning, says mild spoilers, but I think you spoiled every plot point in the film. If anyone watching this hasn’t seen the film (unlikely) then there will be no surprises left.

[@TheToonMonkey]

Sadly Craig peaked in his first film.

[@TreborPaulson]

That’s usually the case

[@t7489]

@@TreborPaulsonnot for Connery or brosnan

[@yulejbaylock103]

Il say Skyfall

[@BenCanucklehead]

He was still great in Quantum of Solace!

[@petergivenbless900]

​@@yulejbaylock103yes, 'Skyfall' was the best of the Craig Bonds, and kept the tradtion of each Bond actor's 3rd film as their best.

[@fredbloggs5902]

I’ve slowly come to think that it’s actually the best Bond film, unfortunately they went downhill rapidly after that.

[@torchwood00]

Come On Pal

[@joshpinchuk7061]

Quantum of Solace not as good as Casino Royale? That statement makes sense if you are talking about the one with Woody Allen. Q of Sol is nearly unwatchable

[@SamnissArandeen]

"Nearly?" Dude, there's 255 cuts in a four minute stretch, averaging a cut every 22.5 frames, ain't nobody watching that!

[@Ringothetankengine-qy1vl]

SECOND!

[@crappycrapcrap9490]

I think Craigs tenure as Bond was fantastic. They took far more risks with Bond than at any other time in the whole of the franchise's history. For that I am so grateful. You'd have to go back to george lazenby to see Bond actually having some emotions about a love interest. We got an M actually die for crying out loud - an Mi6 under attack not just because some guy was planning on building some doomsday device that threatened the whole world. And an aging bond that was past his prime and a franchise that I felt actually matured. Will miss blue eyes.

[@TheBeird]

My fave Bond film. Maybe tied with OHMSS. It led to two more that I really liked - Quantum and Skyfall - and two I think are amongst the worst big budget movies ever made - Spectre and No Time To Die. In fact, so much was my dislike of those last two, I’m kinda over Bond. Still, doesn’t change this one being great.

[@jsentman]

OMG do the David Niven, Peter Sellars and Woody Allen Casino Royal :) PLEASE! I love that as much as I hate the darker more modern Bond films. So YES, THAT ONE.

[@tomster95]

Thanks god they chose Craig not Cavill

[@l.a.gothro3999]

Is it just me, or does the main villain of this piece bear more than a passing resemblance to Elon Musk?

[@kettle_of_chris]

"...besides, the only people who wear tuxedos in casinos - are magicians! BILL MAHER, _Real Time with Bill Maher_ HBO (2005)

[@darcyj19]

I won't watch anything after ... this movie. No apology.

[@Hawkeye26]

0:45 "The only film that they had not yet adapted into a movie" - Guessing this was a scripting error, darn ChatGPT...

[@StamFine]

ChatGPT would have picked that up. Human error, but then there's a lot of that going around.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

The film is good but it isn't as compelling as the novel. In the book, Fleming was more concerned about how merciless fate is and finding meaning in a world that appears to be meaningless. The novel was very much a psychological journey. The movie is more about everything Vesper did to shape Bond.

[@l.a.gothro3999]

Roger Moore was blond, wasn't he? And Daniel Craig looks like Steve McQueen, IMNSHO.

[@thelovelyseamus]

Mostly dislike the Craig era, but thank god Cavill wasn't cast

[@thefonzkiss]

Craig had a pretty bad batting average. Two good movies (CR, Skyfall), two forgettable ones (Quantum, Spectre) and one terrible one (No Time To Rewrite). Wouldn’t be so bad if we got one every couple of years but this is over fifteen years!

[@deogiriyadav8399]

Have u ever heard about.... Sardar udham.... Movie????

[@tskmaster3837]

I still haven't seen most of the Craig Bonds. It's Bourne without what makes Bourne interesting and Bond without what makes Bond fun. What's the point then?

[@americansupervillain4595]

@tskmaster3837 The Craig Bond movies are the best of the Bond movies, but Bond movies were never that good, just ok. IMO

[@tskmaster3837]

@@americansupervillain4595 They were fun. Casino Royale, the NEW one, was not fun. Quantum of Solace was not fun. "But testicular torture!" I'll take Bambi and Thumper over that.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

​@@americansupervillain4595 Um, you are dead wrong. From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, Dr.No light-years beyond tedious superheroe movies.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

​@@tskmaster3837 I don't dislike Craig Bond as much as you do but I could have done with a Bond that was more sure of his self. Craig's Bond brooded far too much.

[@RighteousBrother]

Yes - an alcoholic, government sanctioned, assassin whom everyone he's ever loved ends up dying - sure sounds like a recipe for a 'fun' character.

[@KarlSmith1]

Just look at the view count and the comment count on this video compared to Stam Fine's other videos, that will tell you how unpopular this awful movie is.

[@brotherkellymatthewbarnes8882]

James Bond playing Magic The Gathering Might Pogs be funnier though🤔?