Re-viewing Bond - QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008)

I picked up the Blu-Ray disc of QUANTUM OF SOLACE recently because it was bundled with the Blu-Ray of FOR YOU EYES ONLY. Now, I had no desire to buy QOS after the intense disappointment I felt when I saw it theatrically, but………and I had no intention of re-buying the Bond films on Blu-Ray since I’m perfectly happy with the releases I have of them all on DVD, but……….the price tag for both of these discs was $17.88! Dammit! That’s less than $9 for each Blu-Ray Bond film! Someone knows my weaknesses too well! Of course, I was amused at this pairing since a major plot element of QUANTUM copies one from FYEO very closely. Surely linking these movies for sale wasn’t pure chance? Plus, I consider FYEO to be one Moore’s best outings as 007 with a solid story, few gadgets and one of the single most bad-ass scenes in Bond film history.

So when I broke out QUANTUM and watched it at home I was shocked to find myself liking it more this time. With the movie shrunk down to my television screen I could actually see what the hell was happening in the action sequences which was a big help. The action is still far too edited-to-death for the film’s own good but being able to see briefly where cars are, who is shooting guns, where people are in relation to each other and what the setting of the fights looks like was a big change from seeing QOS on the big screen where everything was a blur of movement with no context. I’d pay good money to have a different editing team re-visit those sections of the movie. There’s a really good film in there somewhere that got lost in post-production.

I haven’t played with FOR YOUR EYES ONLY yet but I bet I will soon. I’m curious to see how well that film holds up 28 years later.