The era of Daniel Craig as James Bond is almost over. Before he can say goodbye to the role of Agent 007 for good, however, he has another mission ahead of him. In “No time to die” we will se, in addition to the great actors known from previous films, the Oscar ® winner Rami Malek on the screen. Premiere is on 4K ULTRA HD Blu-ray ™, Blu-ray ™ and DVD on March 9th.
After his active service, James Bond tries to enjoy a quiet life in Jamaica. It doesn’t take long, however, and his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns to him for help. The mission entrusted to him to save the kidnapped scientist will turn out to be much more treacherous than it might seem and will lead Agent 007 into the trail of a mysterious villain with new, extremely dangerous technology.
With the fifth and final film in the role of James Bond, Daniel Craig crowns his era in style, giving the iconic 007 a completely new, more human face. For all its excellence, Bond Craig is not infallible. He is not an ancient hero, but a man of flesh and blood who has to learn a lot on his way. The contemporary Bond makes mistakes, bleeds and even loves.
In the nearly 15 years since Casino Royale ‘s launch , we’ve witnessed the hard path that Agent 007 has gone through. We’ve seen him get a killing license, grow up to his role and make mistakes. We have witnessed the painful experiences of the loss of Vesper Lynd and M. We have seen the suffering of a man who has so far been considered steadfast.
Ending this story in Don’t Time to Die was quite a challenge. Many threads had to be intertwined into one story , says Daniel Craig. I think we managed to summarize everything well and tell this story .
Issues of secrets, betrayals and trust have been extremely important in each of the last four films. They pushed the narrative towards the exciting finale of No Time to Die . Despite the emotional shock suffered by Vesper Lynd’s death at Casino Royale , the strained relationship with M and MI6, and the pain inflicted on him by Blofeld (Cristopher Waltz), James Bond once again decides to let his guard down. Madeleine (Léa Seydoux) makes Agent 007 try to love again.
When Bond is going to get involved in a relationship, he faces a lot of emotional challenges , says producer Barbara Broccoli. So this trust is the most important topic of this movie. Emotional commitment is very difficult for him because of his personal history and the experience of the loss.
Although Bond is committed to a relationship with Madeleine, No Time To Die begins by ending a much longer relationship and thus working for MI6. Another producer, Gregg Wilson, recalls that the main character’s departure from work was a completely new challenge for the creators:
Imagining Bond in retirement was a completely different starting point. What will it be like when she suddenly stops doing her daily work? When you have dedicated your whole life to service, what is left of it?
To tell this story, the creators turned to the visionary director Cary Funkunaga, who replaced Danny Boyl in this role. Both Wilson and Broccoli admired Funkunaga’s work and first met him shortly after the premiere of Specter . Thus, for the first time in history, a James Bond movie was made by an American director.
In No Time to Die on the screen alongside Daniel Craig, many actors from previous installments of the stories appeared, including Cristopher Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Jeffrey Wright, but also completely new characters, played by Rami Malek, Ana de Armas or Lashana Lynch.
Swedish cinematographer Linus Sandgren, awarded with an Oscar ® for La La Land , was involved in the filming . Together with Funkunaga, they developed the language of the film, ensuring that each sequence drives the narrative without losing the emotional involvement of the viewer.
It’s always important to put Bond in a dead end and watch him get out of there , says Fukunaga. But in action scenes it can’t just be Bond going from point A to point B. Something else has to happen in those sequences as well. Even I lose attention when the narrative does not develop, so for example in the Italian sequence there is something else that takes place during the chase scene – he adds. I’m not saying that we’re reinventing cinema, but we’re definitely putting Bond in situations in which he hasn’t been placed so far.
Together with Sandgren, they found a thread of understanding, and the fruit of their cooperation fully implements these assumptions.
Linus likes longer and more complex shots, which translates into action scenes as well , explains the director. Action sequences can be wonderfully assembled, for example a wide helicopter shot, a detail on the vehicle’s wheel and the moment of impact. But we wanted to shoot scenes that combine all these perspectives in one shot. This applied not only to action scenes, but also to dramatic sequences.
No time to die , like the previous James Bond films, it delights with the number of picturesque locations. Apart from London, we can admire Norway, Italy, Cuba, Jamaica and the Faroe Islands on the screen. The costumes of the characters are as delightful as ever, and the whole thing is crowned with the music of the award-winning Hans Zimmer.
The final product, Daniel Craig’s latest Bond-era film, is a perfect celebration of his nearly fifteen-year adventure as 007. Barbara Broccola also sees it as an extremely emotional story:
I believe that along with “In Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and “Casino Royale”, this is the most personal story. This is a very appropriate and emotionally satisfying goodbye to the character played by Daniel Craig. So it’s no surprise that No Time To Die has turned out to be an important project for everyone involved, and especially for Craig himself: When I think about what we achieved in these five films, it’s really touching , he says. It has been almost 15 years of my life! And I am sure we did it right. I am immensely proud of the amount of joint effort we put into making these films. It was a great honor to be just a small part of it all.
Gregg Wilson especially remembers the touching moment when the final scene of the film was shot:
It was late at night and as a rule everyone wants to go home as soon as possible after finishing the recording. That day, however, no one wanted to go out. We all wanted to stay there as long as possible. Sam is also extremely proud of what has been achieved in these five films – Daniel brought a lot of humanity to James Bond and made a character out of flesh and blood. He was constantly developing his hero and thanks to his perseverance, understanding of the characters and enormous talent, he created a unique version of the 007 agent.
Don’t Time To Die is the biggest blockbuster movie of 2021! The film was watched in Polish cinemas by over 1,600,000. viewers. On March 9, it will be released on BLU-RAY ™ and DVD as well as in collector’s editions with specials in the following versions: 2-DISK BLU-RAY ™ EDITION, 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY ™ and 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY ™ STEELBOOK .
Special features in the BLU-RAY ™ 2-Disc Collector’s Edition:
- Anatomy of the Scenes: Matera
- Realization: No Time To Die action
- Global Journey
- By creating Bond
Special features in the collector’s edition 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY ™:
- Be like James Bond
- Anatomy of the Scenes: Matera
- Realization: No Time To Die action
- Global Journey
- By creating Bond
You can find our review of No Time To Die here .