From Deseret News archives:

'Casino Royale' DVD will excite fans of 007

Published: Friday, Nov. 14, 2008 12:21 a.m. MST
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He's Bond, James Bond. And with "Quantum of Solace," he's back in theaters today for his 22nd film in the official 007 series — his 24th if you count the "Casino Royale" parody and "Never Say Never Again."

And to get you excited ... as if you weren't already ... new DVD editions of both versions of "Casino Royale" have been in video stores for a couple of weeks now.

Daniel Craig's reinvention of the British secret agent with a license to kill in the 2006 "Casino Royale" has been reissued in a triple-disc "Collector's Edition" (MGM/Columbia, PG-13, $29.95) with deleted scenes, new featurettes, new audio commentaries, a glossy 24-page booklet and all the extras that were on last year's double-disc release.

And it's just fun watching the movie again, with Craig terrific as a 21st century Bond in a popcorn flick that offers an exhilarating ride. (Gotta love that foot chase at the beginning.)

It's fair to say that — however fond you may be of Pierce Brosnan — "Casino Royale" provided the franchise with an injection of much-needed Adrenalin. And the buzz on "Quantum of Solace" ensures that Bond will top the box office again this weekend.

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As a film buff, however, it was the one-disc reissue of the psychedelic 1967 "Casino Royale" — also subtitled "Collector's Edition" (MGM, not rated, $19.98) — that I found even more fascinating.

An off-the-wall spoof, the film boasts an incredible all-star cast and no less than five directors (including John Huston, who also makes an on-screen appearance). Of course, five directors on a movie is not necessarily a good thing.

This "Casino Royale" is a huge, bloated farce akin to many other big-bigger-biggest comedies of the era, such as "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" and "The Great Race" — all expensive films that are flaccid and overlong.

But each of those is also occasionally hilarious.

Sadly, the same cannot be said of "Casino Royale," which is more unwieldy than funny. The story is thin at best, incomprehensible at worst, and the stars come and go with no rhyme or reason.

There are some amusing set pieces but many more that fall flat in this yarn about "replacement" Bonds for David Niven's aging 007 — most notably Peter Sellers and Woody Allen (who worked out his own material but seems to be in a different movie).

Others who come and go include Orson Welles, Deborah Kerr, William Holden, Jean-Paul Belmondo — and the first "Bond girl" Ursula Andress (from "Dr. No").

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