The film remains exceptional but quibbliable (some nitpick at the central, drawn-out poker game, while I cavil at the dispassionate off-screen dispatching of the main henchmen, to be hastily replaced by some generic thugs for 007 to slaughter at the climax). Naturally, everyone knew that a big special edition would eventually appear, and, following record-breaking grosses and a Blu-ray release that really put the medium on the map, this is it. The only thing I wasn’t a big fan of was the original, cautious, DVD release that didn’t even include an audio commentary.
The New York premiere at the great Zeigfeld Theater was the best experience I’ve had in cinemas for the last few decades - and it was there that I ate humble pie because, to my shame, I had been dead set against Daniel Craig in the role prior to that (I had been rooting for runner-up Henry Cavill, and anyone who’s seen him as “Charles Brandon” in the second season of Showtime’s ]] can see why). Nor am I particularly dispassionate about ]].
]] was the first “grown-up” movie I ever saw, and I’ve been writing about 007 in magazines and my books ever since.
I’m not objective when it comes to James Bond.
