Jan 14, 2008
Casino Royale
Click to Watch
Click to Watch 720p HD Version
Direct Link | Format: QuickTime H.264, 848×352 | Size: 35.1 MB | Running Time: 3:20 | Year: 2006
720p HD Version | Format: QuickTime H.264, 1280×528 | Size: 74.6 MB | Running Time: 3:20 | Year: 2006
Created by Daniel Kleinman
I really didn’t like this. What with the rest of the film pretty much succeeding at the whole franchise-reboot thing, it’s as if nobody bothered to try anything new with the opening credits. It was just all a bit “is that it?”. Fortunately it gets a LOT better.
I always loved the intro sequences of the 007 movies and I was actually glad that they kept the style in this sequence. Nothing was ever wrong with the titles so why change it.
I count three of Danny Kleinman’s James Bond titles sequences as being amongst the very best in the series — in order, GoldenEye, Casino Royale, and Tomorrow Never Dies. That’s just my personal opinion, of course, but I was concerned about the increasing use of grotesqueries in his work. The imagery of oil-coated women in his The World Is Not Enough piece, and the “Fire” and “Ice” female…[i] creatures[/i] he created for the Die Another Day titles sequence were, I felt, extremely offputting (if otherwise extremely well-accomplished).
I was hugely relieved by, and ecstatically happy with this piece he created for Casino Royale. The almost 100% animation of it brings a vague recall of Maurice Binder’s work on Dr. No, while the complexity of it points to a whole new direction for the Bond picture titles. As is the case with all of Kleinman’s work, he continues to honor the history of the tradition, without slavishly aping his celebrated predecessor.
Plus, I loved the Mandelbrot Set-like exploding “clubs” sigils — just too damn cool!
I thought this was an interesting direction for the Bond titles, and glad that it didn’t leap straight into the girls ‘n’ guns motifs that had dominated the franchise for so long.
Eva Green’s face appearing was, I thought, a bit superfluous and doesn’t sit so well with the rest of the imagery. It’s the one part of the sequence that irks me. I would have loved to have seen the whole done as animation without the actors appearing at all – except for that last moment of Craig stepping towards the camera as the credits end and the music hits it’s crescendo.
On the other hand, I can understand a production house wanting to get it’s money on the screen as soon as possible.
What I like most about this sequence as the 2 dimensional opening, alluding to past Bond credits, then the move through Mandelbrot graphics to really iconic 3d vector visualisation to suggest the reboot (and thus the extra dimension) of the franchise!
Oh my god. This is one of the saddest titles ever. It is so unengaging, slow and without any kind of drama or punch or relation whatsoever, that I remember hoping for something to happen the whole title sequence… “Please, please - could this really be the worst Bond title ever? Can it? Come on! Do something about it!”.
The 2d/3d action sequences are somewhat cool, but nothing in this vignette really gives any clue of anything, and the idea-base seems being planted on dry ground. Yes there are some references to cards here, and the characters are somewhat pointy, but thats it. Oh yeah, and there is a guy that fires a gun. Cool.
Even the bullets seem bored of being fired, and when Eva Green appears, it has just gone totally mental for me. Are you kidding me?! Who let that detail pass?!
The only good about this title sequence is at the end. Where it ends.
I, too, was very disappointed when I saw it for the first time. There’s no mystery, no ominous feel, no ‘darkness’, and funny enough, despite the graphics, not really a strong graphical feel, except maybe for the 3D fight sequences, who look a bit cheap and flat. The music also sounds quite uninspired. It’s well-executed, but perhaps wrong movie…
Maybe I excpected too much?
Am I the only one that see’s the connection between the setting, plot, characters, and the whole theme of the movie within these titles?
These titles are modern, sleek and sophisticated. The creativity uses the main theme superbly. Being a game of cards at a casino, the patterns and symbols provide the perfect backdrop.
When James Bond finally appears, that in itself was the perfect visual anecdote for the new actor playing Bond — almost a reintroduction to Bond perhaps.
And when Eva Green appears, it is very subtle. Especially when so much is happening around.
I love this sequence. Kudos to Mr. Kleinman.
I’ve always found Daniel Kleinman’s heavy handed CGI work pretty overblown. It was nice to see them pull it back for this film but it could have been even sparcer I think. I saw Quantum of Solace last night and MK12 have taken over and the titles look great. It’s nice to see the designers paying attention to the typography too. It would have been nice to see what Logan would have done with it… http://www.logan.tv/
These credits are some of the weaker ones in the Bond series. Quantum of Solace easily fixes that.
I know, I know — de gustibus non est disputandum, and all that, but I fail to see how the QOS titles sequence is in any way superior to Kleiman’s CR work. Quite the opposite, in fact. It looked to me like MK12 was doing a fannishly slavish copy of Kleinman, with fannishly amateurish results. I saw very few connections between the imagery used and the theme/plot/story of the movie itself. The typography was reasonably cool, as was the “camera” tracking the path of the bullet, but, for me, the overall effect was “meh.” Not the worst titles sequence in the series; better even than Maurice Binder’s 70s and 80s output; but mediocre just the same.
I think these credits look quite good. Far better than the ones for the previous three films (just women with fire and ink effects…). Goldeneye’s where good too.
The thing that saves these credits for me is Chris Cornell’s awesome song and singing voice. I have been a huge fan of his since Soundgarden. He is a very underrated singer in my opinion. I think the credits do tie into to what the film is about too though.
I loved this introduction. One of the best Bond intro sequences.
Although, the Quantum of Solace titles are well done too!
I thought that these were some of the most artistic opening sequences to date. I loved the animation, especially the constant casino-theme. I do, however, wonder how it was done? I would love to make something like that…
The best title sequence of the entire Bond series. MK12’s work on Quantum of Solace is good but not up to Daniel Kleinman’s standard. Here’s hoping he’s back for Bond 23.
I really like this one, especially the fight sequence!
Mandelbrot rules!
I’m just sorry for the Quantum of Solace title sequence. That was a boring, repetitive and monochromatic experience!
i thought that the Quantum of Solace opening sequence was a whole lot better than the Casino Royale one. its kind of disappointing that it isnt on the list here.
but when speaking about the casino royale, i’m going to agree that it was a good turn in that it didn’t leap to women posing with guns.
i also loved the song that went with the opening sequences (in both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace).
“You Know My Name” was the opening song for Casino Royale, which was performed by Chris Cornell, and i thought it played along with the opening titles very nicely. i dont think there could have been a better choice. also the incorporation of a recent artist with a new “generation” so to speak of a classic series of films was a great way of saying ‘this will be a completely new experience for all you 007 buffs and fans alike.’ my only beef with the opening titles for this one was that it was a little busy at times, too much was going on. i almost got dizzy.
However, i liked (not loved) the opening song and loved (not liked) the titles themselves for Quantum of Solace. “Another Way to Die” was the song, written by Jack White and performed by Jack White and Alicia Keys. the reason the song wasn’t particularly good was that it seemed that Keys and White totally switched singing styles. also the tempo seemed off with the rate at which the titles were going. they weren’t synced. White went low and Keys went high, so to speak. but, when talking about the titles in and of itself, i dont think it could have been better. i mean the color schemes, amount of activity, transitions, the typography, everything was absolutely flawless. (yes, even the beautiful ’sand’ women swimming around in the desert)
I feel the 3D graphics will date reeeeally quickly
I’m really surprised that the “Quantum of Solace” titles haven’t shown up on this site yet; the DVD’s been out for a month, and I think those titles are a fantastic piece of work from MK12!
If you look at the film title sequence for “Casino Royale” more closely you will find several things that have changed, for example Kleinman didn’t use the usual ladies in bikini’s, which in my opinion has brought the credits for bond into the 21st century.