Quantum of Solace Blu-ray Review

Movie Review.

Tech-at-a-Glance:

• 1080p
• 2:40.1 Ratio
• DTS-HD Master Audio

At 106 minutes, Quantum of Solace has the shortest runtime of any official James Bond movie and takes its name from an Ian Fleming short story, so it would be right to expect a snappy, adrenalin-fueled hour and three-quarters, yet it feels double this length and seems to take its story from a rambling 500-pager!   The story, such as it is, continues from where Casino left off, with Bond on the trail of a secret international group of powerful individuals, whilst also looking for revenge upon the killer of Vesper Lynd.  His search leads him to Dominic Greene, an environmentalist assisting with a Bolivian military coup in exchange for land, which he intends to exploit for profit.

The sequel to Casino Royale and the 22nd James Bond movie in the franchise is rather disappointing.  Prior to release, the freshly rejuvenated franchise had added plenty of new fans to its solid existing fanbase thanks to the excellent Casino Royale, thus Quantum was even more hotly anticipated than probably any James Bond movie before it.  After all, this was going to be Bond getting even more tough and emotional while facing his darkest moments, ready to exit the lean, mean superspy – but instead everything becomes muddled in amongst an unintelligible storyline, impossible-to-follow action sequences and the least menacing opponent since Elliot Carver.

The film opens with a three minute car chase, at least I presume it was a car chase, as all I could make out were close-ups of a gearstick, some peddles and clouds of dust.  The Bourne movies have reminded everyone that a kinetic camera could occasionally spice up an action sequence, but just like Supremacy and Ultimatum, Quantum of Solace takes it too far by endlessly shaking it about and zooming uncontrollably before, in a most annoying fashion, stopping moving when the action has gone off screen!  With an edit every five seconds, the end result is at best, confusing and at worst, boring.  Not what one wants from an action movie!

This being said, the central dogfight between Bond in an old DC-3 against a maneuverable single-seater plane is superb, with incredible stunt-flying and shot in a way we can actually see what's happening.  Daniel Craig is also excellent, however he isn't given much to say – of any worth – and admits in the documentary that Quantum is a far more physical affair than Casino.  Judi Dench stands out, as always, now she has settled into her more prominent role as M, plus she gets all of the best lines, and special mention should also go to the wonderful locations used, giving the film a refreshingly unique look.

But these positives cannot save what was unfortunately, a very mediocre Bond film.  Dominic Greene is an irritating, sweaty little tree-hugger who seems to have nothing but a hard stare in his arsenal, Camille the Bolivian Secret Service agent is forgettable, as is Fields, the office-worker sent to fetch Bond.  Quantum of Solace is as confused as it is confusing, with the audience struggling to pick up the plot – don't bother, there isn't one – and the mixture of characterisation and action not blending like they should, possibly because neither really works on their own.  Perhaps if the signature gun barrel sequence and the rousing James Bond theme had been used at the start of the film (instead of the end), then perhaps everyone involved would have remembered what they were supposed to be making.

2/5
Follow the link to read our comments regarding the video, audio and extras!

Video.

Quantum of Solace is presented in 1080p high definition, with its original aspect ratio of 2:40.1.  This is a subtle Blu-ray transfer and is difficult to mark because of it.  One of the movie's only strengths are the wonderful locations used throughout, with unique aspects always catching the eye as Bond travels the world.  For this reason, you not only forget the quality of the picture, but even feel it doesn't do it justice!  Once the film moves into the desert, the gorgeous blue skies against the silver hull of Bond's aeroplane look great though, as does the shimmering heat when they arrive for the final showdown.  However, the film does seem to have been shot with muted colours in some sequences, which doesn't lend itself well to creating a reference quality transfer.  Overall, it looks great at certain points and good the rest of the time.  I would be very interested to see an upscaled DVD version in comparison.

3/5

Audio.

For English speakers, your one and only option is DTS-HD audio, with Dolby 5.1 tracks for Spanish and Portuguese language.  The receiver used to review Quantum does not decode DTS-HD, so it is presumably down-mixed to a regular DTS mix, as the DTS symbol was still illuminated. 

Much like the movie, it doesn't seem to come alive until we get to the dogfight.  Prior to this it sounds suitably bassy and has some nice surround effects, but it does lack volume and features little to make you think you're actually there.  But, come the dogfight, you will feel like you're in the plane with Bond!  The deep thrum of the DC-3's engine shakes your windows as it struggles to evade the screaming Trainer, which darts around the room!  The climactic fires also roar nicely too. 

3/5

Extras.

The review disc was a Region B rental version and the main feature is the 24-minute Bond on Location documentary.  As the title suggests, this follows the production to all the major locations across the world and explores the trials and tribulations of shooting in these difficult environments.  The look at the aeroplane shoot is especially interesting, as is the technology involved in creating the opening car chase.  In fact, the raw footage they show is often better and more exciting than the finished product!

Then we have four featurettes between two and three minutes long: Start of Shooting, On Location, Olga Kurylenko and the Boat Chase and Director Marc Forster.  They contain some behind-the-scenes footage and the odd interesting factoid but the rest of the time, they repeat sections from Bond on Location or have sequences without any explanation of what we're looking at.  They're all worthy of a single viewing at the most.

With no commentary, no extended making-of and no Blu-ray exclusives, we can expect another 'Deluxe' edition in the same vein as Casino Royale, sometime in the future.  For now, Bond on Location is worth a watch, but leave the rest.

2/5

Conclusion.

Daniel Craig is a great Bond, Marc Forster is a good director, Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are all good writers and Roberto Schaefer is an experienced DP.  The ingredients are all there, yet Quantum of Solace is a mediocre Bond film and a poor follow-up to Casino Royale.  Just as the franchise needed a kick after Die Another Day, it finds itself in the unfortunate situation of needing another kick just one film later. 

The Blu-ray transfer and audio are good if not outstanding, while the extra features are sub-par aside from Bond on Location.  If you liked the movie, then you'll not be disappointed with the Blu-ray, however if you saw the film on release, didn't like it, and are thinking of giving it another try, sadly you'll find it hasn't got any better in-between time.

Overall: 3/5

Comments

[landoncube]

Read the review.

Watched it and all Bonus Features.

Finally went to bed at 4am.

LOVED EVERY MINUTE.

[robert miller]

Are you sure you had the blu-ray and not the sd disc? MY blu-ray looked superb - more like a 4/4.5 out of 5; and it didn't bother abit that they "only" had dts-hd for audio options. It sounds FANTASTIC! You did not evaluate this disc fairly, in my opinion.

[Andy Boxall]

Remember, a review is a personal opinion, with which some will agree and some won't.

I watched QoS back to back with Casino Royale on Blu-ray, then a few days later, I watched The Dark Knight, both of which are vastly superior to Quantum in terms of audio and video. My rating of a 3/5 - a 'good' rating - is fair as it didn't blow me away, but was perfectly acceptable.

My comment concerning the disc only featuring a DTS-HD track may not have been a worry for you, however when many other movies give a choice of a lossless HD, PCM and regular Dolby or DTS track (Spiderman 3 and 300 for example), I see no reason for others not to do the same. It's not as if they're stuck for room on the disc, is it?

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the Blu-ray and thanks for reading the review.

[PeterG]

Just purchased Blue-Ray Quantum and very disappointed with the surround sound. I always feel that in Australia we get the worst for our purchase in that the jewel box presentation is always poor and you just don't feel you have received you monies worth. The so called DTS audio is a big disappointment, while the all front speakers sound fine all surround audio is less than poor, oh theres sound there alright but as far as volune is concerned theres little to none. Just for record does anybody disagree with, maybe you have a good copy, please let me know.