Spectre (2015 film)

Spectre (2015 film)
Directed by	Sam Mendes
Produced by	Michael G. Wilson Barbara Broccoli
Story by	John Logan Neal Purvis Robert Wade
Starring	Daniel Craig Christoph Waltz Léa Seydoux Ben Whishaw Naomie Harris Dave Bautista Monica Bellucci Ralph Fiennes
Music by	Thomas Newman
Cinematography	Hoyte van Hoytema
Editing by	Lee Smith
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Columbia Pictures
Release	26 October 2015 (United Kingdom) 6 November 2015 (United States)
Running time	148 minutes
Country	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$300 million
Gross revenue	$880.7 million
Preceded by	Skyfall

Spectre (2015) is the twenty-fourth James Bond film produced by Eon Productions. It features Daniel Craig in his fourth performance as James Bond, and Christoph Waltz as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, with the film marking the character's re-introduction into the series. It was directed by Sam Mendes as his second James Bond film following Skyfall, and was written by John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Jez Butterworth. It is distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and Columbia Pictures. With a budget of over $300 million, it is the second most expensive film ever made.

The story features James Bond's first encounter with the global criminal organisation Spectre, marking the group's first appearance in an Eon Productions film since 1971's Diamonds Are Forever. Many recurring James Bond characters return, with the new additions of Léa Seydoux as Dr. Madeleine Swann, Dave Bautista as Mr. Hinx, and Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra.

Spectre was released on 26 October 2015 in the United Kingdom on the same night as the world premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in London, followed by a worldwide release. The film has received mostly positive early reviews from critics.

Plot

On a mission in Mexico, unofficially ordered by the previous M, James Bond kills two men arranging to blow up a stadium; in doing so the building they are in explodes and collapses. Bond gives chase to Marco Sciarra, who survived the blast and, in an attempt to escape, boards a helicopter. Bond follows and in the ensuing struggle he throws both Sciarra and the pilot out of the helicopter, stealing Sciarra's octopus ring as he does so. On his return to London Bond is indefinitely taken off field duty by the current M, who is in the midst of a power struggle with C, the head of the newly created Joint Intelligence Service, which consists of the recently merged MI5 and MI6. C also wants to create the "Nine Eyes" intelligence co-operation agreement between nine countries, and close down the '00' section in the process.

Bond disobeys M's order and travels to Rome to attend Sciarra's funeral. That evening he visits Sciarra's widow Lucia, who tells him about a criminal organisation to which her husband belonged and where they are meeting that evening. Bond enters the meeting by showing the ring, where he sees the head of the organisation, in shadow, chairing a meeting. The head mentions the events in Mexico, and mentions Bond by name, turning to face him as he does so. Having been recognised, Bond escapes the meeting and a car chase through Rome ensues, with Bond pursued by Mr. Hinx, an assassin for the organisation. Moneypenny acts as a source of information for Bond, and informs him that a reference he heard in both Mexico and the meeting will lead to Mr White, a former member of the Quantum organisation which is revealed to be a subsidiary of the Spectre organisation. Bond also asks for a check on the name Franz Oberhauser.

Bond travels to Austria to find White, and finds him dying of radiation poisoning. White tells Bond to find his daughter—Dr Madeline Swann—who will take him to L'Americian, which will in turn lead him to the organisation. Bond finds Swann at the clinic where she works, but she is snatched by Mr. Hinx. Bond chases the kidnappers by plane, and forces their three cars to crash, before he makes his escape with Swann. The pair then meet with Q, who reveals that Sciarra's ring contains digital files linking Oberhauser, the leader of the organisation, and Bond's three previous missions. Swann then informs them about the name Spectre, and that L'Americian is a hotel in Morocco.

The couple travel to the hotel and stay in the suite her father used to stay in every year. Bond discovers White had built a secret room full of videotapes, charts and photographs, as well as maps and co-ordinates of where they should go next. They travel to the nearest point a train will go, but are again attacked by Mr Hinx; Bond throws him off the train. At the end of the journey, they are transported to a facility in the desert, where they are met by Oberhauser, the son of the man who looked after the younger Bond when he had just been orphaned. While torturing Bond, Oberhauser also informs him that C is part of the Spectre organisation, and he feeds all the intelligence data straight to the criminal organisation. Oberhauser then tortures Bond and reveals that he now goes by the name Ernst Stavro Blofeld; he changed his name to one from his mother's bloodline after faking his death 20 years ago. Bond and Swann escape with the help of Bond's exploding watch, destroying the facility in the process.

Back in London, Bond and Swann meet M, Bill Tanner, Q and Moneypenny, and they travel to arrest C and stop the launch of the Nine Eyes programme. En route they are ambushed and Bond is kidnapped. M and the others escape and proceed to wait for C in his office, arrest him and shut down Nine Eyes before it launches; in an ensuing struggle, C is killed. Bond has meanwhile been taken to the old MI6 building—derelict since the attack in Skyfall—but he disables his captors before entering the building. He meets Blofeld, who tells him the building is rigged to explode in three minutes and that Swann is hidden somewhere within it. Bond finds her and the couple escapes by boat out onto the Thames. They chase Blofeld—who is in a helicopter—and shoot it down; the helicopter crashes onto Westminster Bridge. Bond leaves Blofeld to be arrested by M and leaves with Swann. The next day Bond retrieves his old Aston Martin DB5 from Q and drives off with Swann.

Cast

James Bond
Daniel Craig

Lucia Sciarra
Monica Bellucci

Madeleine Swann
Léa Seydoux

Mr. Hinx
David Bautista

Franz Oberhauser
Christoph Waltz

Denbigh
Andrew Scott

M
Ralph Fiennes

Eve Moneypenny
Naomie Harris

Bill Tanner
Rory Kinnear

Q
Ben Whishaw

Mr. White
Jesper Christensen

Estrella
Stephanie Sigman

• Daniel Craig as James Bond, agent 007. The director Sam Mendes has described Bond as being extremely focused in Spectre, likening his new-found dedication to hunting.
• Christoph Waltz as Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Previously known as Franz Oberhauser, a man believed to be dead. His father helped raise Bond after his parents died. As Blofeld, he is the mysterious mastermind behind Spectre, as well as puppeteer of Bond’s recent life.
• Léa Seydoux as Dr. Madeleine Swann, a psychologist working at a private medical clinic in the Austrian Alps, and the daughter of Mr. White.
• Ben Whishaw as Q, the MI6 quartermaster who outfits Bond with equipment for use in the field.
• Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny, a former agent who left the field to become M's assistant.
• Dave Bautista as Mr. Hinx, an assassin and a high-ranking member of Spectre.
• Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra, the widow of an assassin killed by Bond.
• Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory, also known as M, the head of MI6 and Bond's superior.
• Andrew Scott as Max Denbigh, a member of the British government, who is also known by his code name, C.
• Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, the MI6 Chief of Staff.
• Jesper Christensen as Mr. White, a fugitive from MI6 and a senior figure in the Quantum organisation.
• Alessandro Cremona as Marco Sciarra, a criminal and the husband of Lucia Sciarra.
• Judi Dench as the posthumous M in a video message, recorded prior to her death in Skyfall and delivered to Bond afterwards with instructions to kill a known terrorist.

DB10 & other vehicles

Release and reception

Spectre had its world premiere in London on 26 October 2015, the same day as its general release in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Following the announcement of the start of filming, Paramount Pictures brought forward the release of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation to avoid competing with Spectre. In March 2015 IMAX corporation announced that Spectre would be screened in its cinemas, following Skyfall‍ '​s success with the company. In the UK it received a wider release than Skyfall, with a minimum of 647 cinemas including 40 IMAX screens, compared to Skyfall‍ '​s 587 locations and 21 IMAX screens.

Box office

In the United Kingdom the film grossed £4.1 million ($6.4 million) from its Monday preview screenings. It grossed £6.3 million ($9.2 million) on its opening day and then £5.7 million ($8.8 million) on Wednesday, setting UK records for both days. In the film's first seven days it grossed £41.7 million ($63.8 million), breaking the UK record for highest first-week opening, set by Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban's £23.88 million ($36.9 million) in 2004. Its Friday–Saturday gross was £20.4 million ($31.2 million) compared to Skyfall‍'​s £20.1 million ($31 million). The film also broke the record for the best per-screen opening average with $110,000, a record prevously held by The Dark Knight with $100,200.

Critical reception

Spectre has received generally positive reviews. Critics praised the film's opening scene, action sequences and stuntwork. The film received favourable comparisons with Skyfall. Rotten Tomatoes sampled 39 reviewers and judged 79% of the critiques to be positive, saying that the film, "... nudges Daniel Craig's rebooted Bond closer to the glorious, action-driven spectacle of earlier entries, although it's admittedly reliant on established 007 formula." On Metacritic the film has a rating of 69 out of 100 from 11 critics, indicating broadly favourable reviews.

External links

• Spectre at the Internet Movie Database

Naomie Harris films

Skyfall (2012)  · Spectre (2015)

Ben Whishaw films

Skyfall (2012)  · Spectre (2015)

Léa Seydoux films

Spectre (2015)  ·