Casino Royale

This DVD was better than I expected. Not only was it digitalized delivering a sharp clear picture, ( especially important when checking out Ursula Andreas's cocktail dress in the casino footage), but as an extra- it included a copy of the 1950 era TV production of Casino Royal starring an American actor as James Bond! Grainy, true, but that was television in the 1950s. At least I didn't have to adjust my rabbit ears.

First of all, forget all other Bond movies. This is a funny comedy. They use several smart jokes and none of them is grotesque or in a disgusting humor. It is also interesting to see the interpretation of the actors in the late 60's and early 70's. The girls are beautiful and sexy but the erotic appeal is intended as there is no explicit nudity, the elders will enjoy and will not be shocked. Although it is a Bond movie telling a classic story, it has nothing to do with the recent version; no violence, no blood and many laughs !!!

Enjoyed the first half more … 2nd half got a bit too slapstick for me but a nice contrast yo the 007 Bond super action computer generated scenes. Overall, a lot of fun. And the main plot roughly followed the Daniel Craig version.

ok

I was 11 years old when this movie came out and never saw it. I decided to watch it and this seller, had a very competitive price. Not to mention that it appears that an official US release of this is out of print. Movie played flawlessly, and had a good pictures for DVD. Would definitely order from this seller, again.

The psychedelic technicolor on this DVD was worth waiting for. It's worth keeping for the pictures alone, but then there's the fabulous music (including the immortal Audiophile wet dream "Look of Love" sung by Dusty Springfield playing while Ursula Andress seduces Peter Sellers, and also the equally immortal Tijuana Brass and Burt Bacharach), and the incredible star actors who do a fine job under the circumstances, especially Niven, Sellers, Allen, and Andress. There isn't much of a plot, almost zero continuity, loose ends galore, and total chaos in parts, but in the end the goodness of the parts makes the whole worthwhile. It's a miracle, maybe, but it works. Oh, and I need to mention the sexy girls, the macho guys, the incredible costumes, the gags, the props, ad infinitum. Apparently part of it was filmed below the Playboy club in London from which they got lots of extras. While worth keeping, this is obviously not a "great" movie in any sense, so I'm surprised at all the 5 star ratings. Fortunately they tend to balance off the unfair 1 star ratings. I enjoyed this more than both "Austin Powers International Man of Mystery" (which kept me wincing) and "Our Man Flint" (which seemed rather short, hollow, and cheap...low budget obviously...). I'd actually give Casino Royale 3.5 stars if I could. It's easily better than the other spoofs, and ALMOST a great movie in its own right. When you understand what the producer was doing, and how the film was made, that's a miracle. If you want to see the "real" Casino Royale plot, the TV version from the 1950's is included, unfortunately cut a few minutes short I've read here. The documentary by the director who ultimately got the unenviable job of glueing this all together (Val Guest) was instructive. It's a miracle this movie was ever finished. The producer (an ex-agent) simply hired a number of top directors and ordered them each to do their thing. There was no "book" (the actual book was to be ignored since almost all the material in it had previously been used in "serious" Bond films). To make it worse, Orson Wells refused to do any significant amount of acting with Peter Sellers (who he considered an "Amateur"), so their scenes had to be spliced together. Though Val doesn't explain this, that might have led to Seller's sick-out, when then led to having Sellers fired, so they had to figure out how to complete the movie without Sellers. That's really a pity, because Sellers is actually an outstanding actor and does outstanding work here (much better than Wells, in fact). He's only topped by Niven. (And despite what Wells seemed to think of himself, I consider even Casino Royale better than any of his "serious" movies...Orson Wells is the most overrated actor and director in history IMHO, but he does a adequate job here as a bit part actor.)

This video was delivered 2 days after I ordered it and it played perfectly due to the mint condition it was in.

Quick delivery, Excellent condition, COVER and DISC. Would Recommend.