Finally got around to watching the epic 1967 Bond satire, 'Casino Royale', last night after receiving it from Netflix over a month ago. As i've stated earlier, my love of both the vintage 007 flicks/novels knows no limits...but I have to be in the right kind of mood to really get into watching/reading them. The fact that this version is a completely surrealistic mind trip of a satire of all things Bond and the entire spy genre made getting motivated to sit down and watch it all the harder.While it proved to be entertaining and funny in a retro-kitschy sort of way, it was definitely an exercise in paying attention. With a HUGE ensemble cast of some truly classic actors, a script that is technically comprised of 5 different chapters/directed by 5 different directors and clocking in at a little over 2 hours...it's a lot to bite off in one sitting and the whole thing ended up coming off pretty bloated/indulgent.
The flick stars David Niven as the original Bond. Forced out of retirement to head British M16 in the investigation of the deaths/disappearances of international spies, 007 goes toe to toe w/ various agents of SMERSH and mysterious Dr. Noah. The film's famous slogan: 'Casino Royale is too much ... for one James Bond' refers to the ruse to mislead SMERSH, in which six other agents are designated as '007: James Bond' as well. The other 007's include Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, Barbara Bouchet, Joanna Pettet and Terence Cooper...w/ Woody Allen and Orson Welles thrown in for good measure.
What struck me about half way through the film, was just how much Mike Meyers cribbed from this spy satire to create his own spy satire in 'Austin Powers'. Some of the characters, scenes/shots and even the Bruce Bacharach conducted score ended up being almost carbon copy homages to 'Casino Royale'...yet, proved to be a much superior satire of the genre.
Regardless, it had enough laughs, psychedelia and sexy chicks to keep me interested...the final scene may even be reason enough to recommend checking it out. If you do decide to take a stab and 'Join the Casino Royale Fun Movement', go into it w/ no other purpose than having a retro-groovy good time. 'Too much', indeed...check out the trailer if you still don't believe me:
1 comment:
Great write-up. It's a movie I've seen countless times over the years. I definitely think it was a huge inspiration for Mike Myers. You do have to be in the right frame of mind. Some of it might have you scratching your head or even rolling your eyes. But it's good campy fun.
Post a Comment