#btw i definitely know there's problems in qos other than with fields but it was just.

[capaldiera]

i think quantum of solace's biggest pitfall is that it doesn't look good. and also that it's short for a bond film. if it didn't have that yellow-orange filter over everything and had better use of cinematography (the editing is so jumpy it's genuinely difficult to follow the action) and took up a little more time. maybe then people would think it was good. if it didn't get stitched up by the later movies making it basically superfluous rather than a notable part of the overall story.

i think it's such a shame that camille and fields were in the same movie. the way they wrote fields was probably the worst part of the movie and it sucks that her death wound up being one of the most memorable visuals in the film. the fact that camille has her own story and motivations and doesn't revolve around bond is unfortunately rare for the series. and i think it's nice that there are multiple scenes where bond connects with her emotionally and shows respect for her experiences and it's not all a part of a seduction plan.

i do feel like this movie was at least trying to say something about something, much more than the others? how successful it was is a different matter but it Thought it was having meaningful discussions. (i mean i guess some of the others were at least exploring james' feelings lol. spectre was just nothing lol) but like qos seems - to an extent - interested in engaging with the problem of treating "for queen and country" as a worthy cause? not that it's uncommon for bond to defy orders (and i'm aware his motive for doing that in this movie was mostly personal revenge) but in the other movies you don't really get exchanges as critical as "I was wondering what South America would look like if no one gave a damn about coke or communism. It's always impressed me the way you boys have carved this place up." "I'll take that as a compliment, coming from a Brit", or both a cia section chief and the british foreign secretary openly admitting they're fine working with the people backing a military coup in bolivia if it means their countries get oil, "morals don't come into it"

(i'll note here that spectre also features the main characters working against orders and the government's wishes but that's.... completely different. aside from the fact that the whole plot comes off as a handwavy "this is just like 1984" concept (which is pretty much a line they have mallory say), both skyfall and spectre spend a lot of time defending the righteousness of... sending guys out there to kill people?)

none of this is to say that qos is a successful deconstruction of the bond series (you only have to look at fields' body laying on that bed to see that when this movie dropped the ball and fell back on doing classic bond shit, it really did), or that it's a consistent critique of imperialism—or really any of the issues it engages with, but it does seem to want to actually engage with something rather than just give the impression of it

of course the movie ends with basically bond's answer to the film's questions being to get back to work (for an empire that sees to it's own interests at great cost to innocent people worldwide). on a personal level for bond this is essentially a repeat of the end of casino royale – getting back to work and putting vesper behind him – which probably contributes to people seeing the whole movie as forgettable and insignificant. the thing is that this sets the tone for the rest of the series. skyfall and the rest proceed from that point. but they don't really show the kind of self-awareness about it that this movie does (at times). skyfall makes some half-hearted attempts to criticise m and mi6 (mostly in terms of the emotional impact on her agents) that are immediately undermined by giving her heroic inspirational speeches, and spectre and no time to die both just sort of have some things happen so there'll be a plot.

quantum of solace feels like about half of it had actual thought put into making it a story with something to say, and the other half was just umm this is what happens in a james bond film right? (i think skyfall had thought put into making it a good movie but the only thing it wanted to explore was james' feelings. and also propaganda i guess.) anyway imagine if qos was edited well and didnt suck half the time