What's the secret to making a film for a franchise that is still going strong in its 46th year? It's taking the very familiar and the completely unexpected and putting them together into a satisfying cocktail that is best shaken, not stirred. "Quantum of Solace," which opened No. 1 at the box office this weekend, earning an impressive $70.4 million in North America, is the 22nd entry in the James Bond franchise, and the follow-up to 2006's"Casino Royale." Daniel Craig is back as the most haunted and sinewy version of the British spy, but the director this time is Marc Forster, who is operating well outside expectations by taking on an action blockbuster after making his name with dramas such as "Finding Neverland," "Monster's Ball" and "The Kite Runner." The 39-year-old filmmaker did not come to the project as a major Bond fan, but he said that actually gave him the freedom to make his choices based on the present, not the past.
Brushing up Bond
-- Geoff Boucher
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Gadgets
Exploding pens and flame-throwing bagpipes, camera rings and rocket-launching boomboxes, even a razor-edged tea tray -- the Bond franchise has been a sort of kooky Sharper Image for spies through the years. Not this time. "People might say there are no gadgets in this movie, but to me the idea of carrying around five or six gadgets, that seems very old school to me," explained Forster. "People have iPhones now and we are all accustomed to devices that consolidate different technologies. A suitcase full of gadgets seems odd and also reminds me of all these superhero movies now. We wanted Bond to be more believable and realistic." So 007 has to settle for a sweet Sony Ericsson C905 phone and a non-exploding Omega Seamaster wristwatch.
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Music and credits
This time around, Jack White and Alicia Keys team up for the Bond theme song, "Another Way to Die," a curious combination of menacing rock thunder and slinky spy themes. But Forster looked to the visuals of the opening credits to signal his affection for the old Bond films -- unlike "Casino Royale," "Quantum" returns to the classic montage of silhouetted women in varied states of undress. "We wanted those iconic images, the women and the guns, the retro look," he said. "The design company MK12 did the work and it is in the tradition, but it's also new and bold."
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Martinis
