Daniel Craig's $1.1B James Bond Film Overdoes Counterterrorism Scenes (But Expert Praises Javier Bardem's Villain Performance)

Pick up the mantle after Pierce Brosnan said goodbye to the franchise with Die another day in 2002, Daniel Craig's first appearance as James Bond
came with Royal Casino in 2006. Craig's debut film, 007, marked a new era for the franchise, defined by grittier action and a lack of over-the-top gadgets. Royal Casino was a critical and commercial success, receiving rave reviews and grossing US$606 million worldwide.

Craig has starred in a total of five title films, coming out in 2021 with There's no time to die. Although its final release received positive reviews and was a box office success, it was not its highest-grossing entry in the franchise. In addition to being one of the highest rated by critics, it was his 2012 performance as 007 that remains his best performance in terms of worldwide box office, grossing an impressive total of US$1.1 billion.

Skyfall Gets Mixed Accuracy Scores From Counterterrorism Experts

Raoul Silva is surprisingly accurate

A former CIA officer evaluates scenes from Fall from the sky for its realism, praising one villainous moment but questioning another. Directed by Sam Mendes, Craig's third Bond film following the disappointing reception of Quantum of Solace (2008) sees the British spy trying to take down terrorist Raul Silva, played by Javier Bardem. Fall from the sky was a huge success, earning praise for its action and styleincluding a tense sequence in London in which Bond tries to stop Silva from killing M in the parliament building.

In a recent video for Insidercounterterrorism expert and former CIA officer John Kiriakou analyzes elements of Fall from the skyThe subway and parliament scenes, questioning how exaggerated the courthouse shooting is. Although this part of the sequence receives a terrible accuracy rating, Kiriakou points out that the explosion in the tube and Raoul himself are elements that are actually true to life in many ways.. Check out Kiriakou's review and scores for the film below:

Literally none of this is true, but that's what makes you love James Bond. First of all, I will say that almost no officers carry weapons. You have to be in a position classified as a high or critical threat for terrorism. The only posts where I carried a gun were Athens and Pakistan. Otherwise I was always unarmed. And you're not going to go into Parliament just by opening fire, it's just not real life.

I adore. That as part of this film was absolutely believable. In this James Bond film, Raoul is considered what we call a lone wolf terrorist, someone who is not a member of an organized group. He acts alone. They are more common than you might think and the person who comes to mind most immediately is Carlos the Jackal. This is a guy who successfully kidnapped all of the OPEC oil ministers in one fell swoop, but for all intents and purposes, Carlos was a lone wolf.

Attacking public transport is quite easy. Transportation is probably the weakest link in our infrastructure. In Tokyo there was an attack a few years ago by the terrorist group Aum Shinrikyo – it was more of a cult, actually – which adopted terrorism as a policy where they spread poisonous gas through the ventilation system and killed a lot of people. So while we haven't seen something like this happen, it's possible that it has.

So, shooting at Parliament? No, sorry, one. But the transportation threat, while it's not crazy action packed like we saw with Raoul, blows a hole in the ceiling, that's not going to happen, but that threat is real, so I would say seven or eight.

What Skyfall's Accuracy Score Means for the Film's Legacy

Is it Daniel Craig's best Bond film?

Generally speaking, both Quantum of Solace and Spectrum (2015) are considered minor entries in Craig's 007 mandate. However Royal Casino had a higher score on Rotten Tomatoes, as can be seen in the graph below, Fall from the sky is still a favorite of many as it mixes the gritty action of Royal Casino with more of the smooth Bond-ness of classic starters in the franchise.

Ultimately, the Bond franchise does not appeal to audiences for its realism, and entertainment value is really where films need to succeed. Still, it remains an interesting exercise in seeing where the film gets it right and wrong, and how Bond's experience as an MI6 agent compares to his time as a real counterterrorism officer in the field. However Fall from the sky may fall short of realism, it remains a highlight Connection film, and perhaps Craig's best.

Source: Insider