Main | Other Bond Films | Fast Facts | Novel | Community Reviews | Pics & Clips

Release Date: November 17, 2006

Box Office Results: $594.2 million

Running Time: 2 hours, 24 minutes

Gadgets:

• Sony Ericsson K800
• AED - Automated External Defibrillator
• Microchip Implant
  

Director:

• Martin Campbell

Starring: Daniel Craig as James Bond

Villains:

• Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre
• Jesper Christensen as Mr. White

Henchmen:

• Simon Abkarian as Alex Dimitrios
• Sebastien Foucan as Mollaka
• Claudio Santamaria as Carlos
• Isaach de Bankole as Steven Obanno
• Ivana Milicevic as Valenka
• Clemens Schick as Kratt
• Emmanuel Avena as Leo
• Richard Sammel as Gettler
• Leo Stransky as Tall Man
• Malcolm Sinclair as Dryden
• Daud Shah as Fisher

Bond Girls:

• Eva Green as Vesper Lynd
• Caterina Murino as Solange

Supporting Cast:

• Tobias Menzies as Villiers
• Tsai Chin as Madam Wu
• Joseph Millson as Carter
• Ludger Pistor as Mendel
• Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter
• Giancarlo Giannini as Rene Mathis
• Judi Dench as M

Filming Locations:

• Prague, Czech Republic; Lahore, Pakistan; London, UK; Uganda; Madagascar; Bahamas; Miami, USA; Trieste, Italy; Montenegro

Best Quote: (According to mi6.co.uk)

• Bartender: "Shaken or stirred?"

Bond: "Does it look like I give a damn?"

Best Mistake: (According to imdb.com)

• When Bond enters his personal code at the casino, the code he enters does not spell "Vesper", the second last button pressed is clearly the "4" button which would map to characters GHI.

Distinguishing Feature: (According to mi6.co.uk)

• For the first time in the series, the film does not open with the traditional gunbarrel, which only appears after a stylised black and white sequence that shows how Bond earned his double-0 status.
• First appearance of Daniel Craig as James Bond after succedding Pierce Brosnan.
• First time a title sequence does NOT have a silhouette of a woman (only men)
  

Vital Statistics:

• Conquests: 1
• Martinis: 4
• Kills: 11
• "Bond, James Bond": 1

Issued Sidearm

• Walther P99, with suppressor

Trivia:

• All you of guys and gals are probably wondering what Le Chiffre had in his inhaler. In the novel, he had Benzidrine in it: a stimulant.
• This is the first time a Fleming title was used since 1987's The Living Daylights.
• As of the release of Quantum of Solace, this film has the longest running time in the series.
  

Detailed Synopsis

MI6 section chief, Dryden, is cornered by Bond in Prague. Dryden has been presumably selling MI6 secrets to an unknown source. Flashbacks show Bond engaging Dryden's contact, Fisher, in hand-to-hand combat; Bond kills him. After a short conversation, Bond kills Dryden, earning his "00" license.



In Uganda, civil war has broken out, and two men, both from a mysterious organization, meet with the rebel leader Steven Obanno. Obanno needs a secure place to keep his war funds. Mr. White assures his money is safe with Le Chiffre, a private banker for international terrorists. Le Chiffre assures Obanno there "is no risk in the portfolio." Le Chiffre actually invests in stocks, and bets against those companies in the market enlisting terrorists to sink their stock value considerably through bombings and other acts.


James Bond returns in pursuit of an international bomb maker, Mollaka, whom he and his assistant Carter have been tracking. They manage to track him to the island-African nation of Madagascar, where he is attending a mongoose and snake fight. Mollaka, seeing he is being followed, runs. Bond now is in hot pursuit of Mollaka. Mollaka runs through a construction site, then through the Nambutu embassy where Bond captures him, breaching diplomatic protocol. Bond kills Mollaka and obtains his backpack, which contains his cellphone and a bomb. Bond discovers a message on the phone, which after sneaking into M's apartment, he is able to decode and trace the message, which came from the Bahamas. M returns to her home finding Bond. She reprimands him harshly for killing Mollaka and for invading the embassy, a major violation for an MI:6 agent. Not wanting to decide on a punishment for him, M orders him to go on leave.


Arriving in the Bahamas, Bond travels to the Ocean Club where the signal was traced to. Using the Ocean Club's footage and the timing of the message on Mollaka's phone, Bond discoverers the man who messaged Mollaka; Alex Dimitrios. Dimitrios is an associate of Le Chiffre. Meanwhile, Dimitrios meets with Le Chiffre aboard the latter's yacht. Le Chiffre, concerned about the stock he has invested with Obanno's money, tells Dimitrios to not fail. Dimitrios assures Le Chiffre that his new henchman, Carlos, while not fail.

Back at the Ocean Club, Bond finds Dimitrios' wife, Solange, and pressures her for information about her husband. She tells him he is on his way to Miami on business, and so Bond leaves the Bahamas in pursuit of him.

At Miami Airport, Bond manages to kill Dimitrios but not Carlos. Bond pursues Carlos to the new proto-type of the Skyfleet Airliner. Le Chiffre's plan is simple: since he invested all of Obanno's money against Skyfleet Airstock, if the new prototype if destroyed, Le Chiffre would make millions.


Bond pursues Carlos and is able to disable the bomb that would have destroyed the plane. Subsequently, Carlos is killed. Under pressure, Le Chiffre now must now recover Obanno's. In a desperate attempt, Le Chiffre sets up a high stakes poker tournament at Casino Royale in Monternegro.


MI6 knows that if Le Chiffre loses, he would have no where to turn, and his clients would hunt and kill him. Le Chiffre would then take MI6's offer of protection in exchange for information. To make sure Le Chiffre loses, MI6 enlists Bond in the Casino Royale tournament. M sends Vesper Lynd, a British banker, to look after MI6's funds. Rene Mathis, an ally in Montenegro, also aides Bond. As the tournament moves onward, Bond is flushed out, or 'loses all of his money', to Le Chiffre himself. Outraged, he asks Vesper for the 5 million dollar buy-in. She says 'no' stating that his methods are reckless, and the government cannot afford more failures.


Disappointed at Vesper and outraged at Le Chiffre, Bond prepares to assassinate Le Chiffre, when Felix Leiter stops him. He tells Bond that he works for the CIA, and he is ''bleeding chips.'' He says he won't last much longer, and gives Bond the 5 million dollar buy-in. With new fuel and life, Bond quickly re-enters the tournament. He makes up ground, and makes up for most of his loses; however, Le Chiffre, feeling threatened by Bond, tries to kill him by having Valenka poison his martini. With the help of MI6 and Vesper, Bond is able to pull out of Cardiac Arrest.

Bond returns minutes later to the table, and prepares for the final showdown against Le Chiffre. Le Chiffre manages to lay down a full house. Bond counters with a straight flush. Bond and Vesper celebrate, and go out to dinner. Following the dinner party, she states that the Americans have made contact with Le Chiffre. She bids Bond good night and leaves. Bond, realizing something is wrong, quickly follows Vesper outside, just in time to see her captured by Le Chiffre.

In pursuit, Bond follows Le Chiffre and his men to the outskirts of Monternegro. As he approaches a hill, he sees Vesper lying in the road and swerves, narrowly missing her, rolling his car several times. Le Chiffre captures and tortures Bond using a knotted rope, striking him in the testicles, demanding Bond reveal the password to the account with the poker winnings. Bond refuses. Le Chiffre then intends to castrate Bond with a knife.


Mr. White arrives moments later, killing Le Chiffre and all of his men. Bond blanks, and wakes at Lake Como. There, he has Rene Mathis arrested and resigns from MI6, stating "before it strips me of my humanity." Vesper and Bond leave together to Venice on holiday. Bond soon learns, when Vesper is away on business in Venice, that the money was never deposited. He knew only Vesper could possibly have the money, and pursues him throughout Venice. He finds her at a renovated building, handing the money over to an unknown agent at the time. Bond, outraged, begins to fire at the men. After killing the henchmen in the building and the mysterious man, Bond sees Vesper trapped in an elevator, sinking underneath water. As he dives and tries to rescue her, she merely looks at Bond. She then dies, drowning.

Mr. White watches from the balcony.



M tells Bond that Vesper had a French-Algerian boyfriend who was kidnapped and held for ransom by the organisation behind Le Chiffre and White. Bond learns that she agreed to deliver the ransom money (his winnings) only if they would consent to leave Bond, as well as her boyfriend, alive. M tells him the case is closed; there are no more leads to follow. However, Bond discovers that Vesper has left Mr. White's name and number in her mobile phone. White, arriving at a palatial estate near Lake Como, receives a phone call and is shot in the leg. Bond appears, with a UMP in hand, and says, "The name's Bond. James Bond."