Skyfall [2012] (1 disc)

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• The film deals with James Bond's Scottish ancestry. Bond's family history was created by Ian Fleming in the [Bond] novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service, first published in 1964. Fleming was inspired to add the back-story of Bond's genealogy into the book after seeing the character played by Sean Connery (a Scotchman) in 1962's Dr. No. Skyfall is the second time in the official [James Bond] film series that James Bond discusses the death of his parents, the first time was in GoldenEye. Clan of Bond names created by the production for the plaques and headstones at the chapel and graveyard include Andrew Bond, Robert Bond, Monique Delacroix Bond, Celia Bond, Kathleen Bond, Elsa/Elsie Louise Bond, Ramsay William Bond, and Margaret Jean Davidson Bond.
• First [Bond] film in which the villain is successful in completing his primary objective (the death of M).
• The film introduces three new actors to play three recurring roles in the series. They are Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw as Q and Ralph Fiennes as M. In each case, each of the three actors is the fourth person to play their respective character in the official [James Bond] series.
• Judi Dench played the role of M in this film at the age of 77. The performance is also Dench's 7th time playing M. This is Dench's largest ever on-screen role playing the M character, the most significant [James Bond] film ever to explore a relationship between the M and [James Bond] characters. Producer Barbara Broccoli says that 'Skyfall' explores this relationship perhaps more than in any of the 22 previous films. She has said, "We wanted to really mine the relationship between Bond and M, because it is the most significant relationship he has in his life. M is the only person who represents authority to him. You have two extraordinary actors, and we just thought - let's go all the way. It's worked extremely well. It's a very emotional story."
• Bond Girls in the movie are played by Naomie Harris as Eve; Bérénice Marlohe as Severine and ^[?] Tonia Sotiropoulou as Bond's Lover. Actresses Freida Pinto, Olivia Wilde, Rachel Weisz, ^[?] Esti Ginzburg, ^[?] Margarita Levieva, Alice Eve, ^[?] Ana Ventura, Emilia Fox and ^[?] Ebru Akel were rumored and/or considered to appear as Bond Girls in the movie. Reportedly, Skyfall is the first ever [James Bond] film in the official series where production notes and publicity materials generally refer to the leading actresses in the film as 'Bond Women' and not as 'Bond Girls'.
• With the use of Quantum of Solace, an original Ian Fleming [James Bond] story title, there now remains only four unused original Fleming titles that could possibly have been used as a title for this film. These are The Property of a Lady, The Hildebrand Rarity, Risico and 007 in New York (aka Agent 007 in New York). However, none of these were used in favor of the original title, Skyfall.
• First Daniel Craig [James Bond] movie where Bond kills the lead villain. The main villains in both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace were killed by their own people.
• Judi Dench has more screen time in this film alone than Desmond Llewelyn had in his 17 films as Q, making her portrayal of M the most common character in the series after Bond himself.
• The role of Kincade played by Albert Finney was originally written with Sean Connery in mind. Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson originally wanted Connery to come out of retirement and make a surprise cameo. Director Sam Mendes told {The Huffington Post}, "There was a definite discussion about [Connery playing Kincade] - way, way early on. But I think that's problematic. Because, to me, it becomes too... it would take you out of the movie. Connery is Bond and he's not going to come back as another character. It's like, he's been there. So, it was a very brief flirtation with that thought, but it was never going to happen, because I thought it would distract."
• For the first time in the famous gun-barrel sequence Bond is seen wearing a grey suit rather than a black one.
• Daniel Craig performed the stunt of leaping and sliding down the escalator rail himself.
• ^[?] Adele's "Skyfall" is the first Billboard Top 10 hit to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song since ^[?] Eminem's "Lose Yourself" from 8 Mile, ten years earlier.
• The movie does not feature any American actors or characters, which is unusual for a big budget English language film.
• Kevin Spacey was considered for a role, but declined due to scheduling conflicts. It is believed that director Sam Mendes originally offered the role of the villain to Spacey, the part in the film played by Javier Bardem. Spacey worked with this Mendes on American Beauty, in which Kevin Spacey's character complains to his wife about missing a [James Bond] marathon on television.
• A number of the actors playing smaller parts in the movie never received a script to work with due to the production's strict secrecy protocols, so stringent and tight, that they reflect real life intelligence espionage. Greek actress ^[?] Tonia Sotiropoulou did not know what she would be doing on the film until the time her scenes were shot. She commented, "I was one of the people who never had a script. I just got told what I'd be doing on the set by the director. They have to be so careful. You have quite strict contracts that say you can't say anything about the plot. And everyone respects that."
• This marks the third consecutive [James Bond] movie which ends with James Bond alone, where most other films in the series he is seen with one of the leading Bond Girls.
• In the film, James Bond (Daniel Craig) is given a Walther PPK/S 9mm short firearm by Q. The Walther PPK is considered the most popular and widely known Bond gun, since it is the one he has used the most. Originally, Bond used a Beretta, but that was later replaced with the Walther PPK. The hand-gun he has in Skyfall is uses hand recognition coded to his palm prints. Timothy Dalton's Bond used a weapon with the same feature in Licence to Kill.
• At two seconds shy of 143 minutes, this is the second longest Bond movie of all time, the longest being Casino Royale at 144 minutes. The third longest running time for a Bond movie is On Her Majesty's Secret Service which runs 142 minutes.