I liked it better than CR because there's only so much action in a casino, and there more emotional impact at the end of this one.

It was hard to buy the Bond-Vesper relationship. I mean was he really that broken up over some broad he had known for a few days?

Great story. Kind of boring movie. Not really what I think of as a Bond movie at all.

Doesn't even touch CR.

Very rare that I agree with you but you nailed it. This isn't just a great "Bond" movie.. it is a legitimately great film. I went into it with reasonable expectations and was blown away.

Take all the fun things you love about Bond movies, add in a healthy dose of nostalgia and place them inside a film with fantastic acting (Albert Finney!), solid plot and great dialogue and you have Skyfall.

Until this movie I thought of Bond movies as guilty pleasures. (even Casino Royale)

This felt like "the" movie that officially reboots the franchise with all the pieces in place for a solid run of 3 or 4 more films.

It's better than CR because:

1. The emotional impact is greater.

2. The villain is better.

3. Technical stuff like cinematography and choreographed fight sequences are mind-blowingly good.

And then they went in and threw fanboy bones all over the place and my balls were drained.

emotionally the movie did basically nothing for me. I did like the villain, only because i liked No Country for Old Men. The cinematography was nothing special. In the end, all i got from the movie was a sore ass. and this was a theatre with leather recliners.

i'll give it a second viewing when it comes out on disc, just in case i'm out of my mind on this one.

Arguing over whether Casino Royale or Skyfall is the better film is like arguing over whether it is better to see the Broncos lose or the Raiders lose.

The wife and I went and saw Skyfall yesterday. It's certainly the best Bond of the Daniel Craig era, I've no clue if it's the best overall. The biggest difference for me between Skyfall and Casino Royale, is CR is barely a Bond film. It's a great movie, and I love it. But it's no more Bond than in name. For all intents and purposes, it's an origin story. For Pete's sake, we don't even hear the Bond theme until the very end. Skyfall was very much a Bond movie.

For me, this trilogy has been more about getting Bond to where we recognize him as Bond. CR and QoS was getting him to this point. Now we're at Skyfall, and we see everything we know about Bond up until CR: M, Moneypenny, Q, the Aston Martin, the shaken martini, the gadgetry, Adele's 'Skyfall' as a throwback to the older themes...

Its no Moonraker

You have to be kidding. The scenes in Scotland are a visual feast. Especially at night.

The same goes for the stuff at night in the high-rise building chasing the assassin. Just gorgeous to look at.

As the movie's plot was evolving, I was expecting Skyfall to be among my favorites of the year. However, it's as if the movie detached itself from the intensity of its rising actions, and I never felt the suspense I did when Silva stormed the courthouse.

Overall it was a solid 8.5, and I'll likely watch it again in a couple of weeks.

There wasn't much suspense because it was very, very predictable. That didn't make it unlikable, though. At least for me.

Theres always very little suspense in any 007 film because its not like they are going to ever let Bond die.

More thoughts...

You're aware this is a Bond movie, right? This is the same series that cast Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist and gave us Grace Jones as a girl baddie.