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Casino Royale
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment

Casino Royale reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 81 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.8 out of 10
based on 38 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 455 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action, a scene of torture, sexual content and nudity

Starring Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Caterina Murino, and Simon Abkarian

Published in 1953, Casino Royale was the first James Bond novel by Ian Fleming. The film, starring Daniel Craig as the legendary 007, introduces audiences to James Bond before he holds his license to kill and proceeds with a high-stakes adventure.


GENRE(S): Action  |  Adventure  |  Suspense/Thriller  
WRITTEN BY: Neal Purvis
Robert Wade
Paul Haggis
Ian Fleming (novel)
 
DIRECTED BY: Martin Campbell  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: March 13, 2007 
Theatrical: November 17, 2006 
RUNNING TIME: 144 minutes, B/W / Color 
ORIGIN: USA / UK / Czech Republic 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Relaunches the series by doing something I wouldn't have thought possible: It turns Bond into a human being again -- a gruffly charming yet volatile chap who may be the swank king stud of the Western world, but who still has room for rage, fear, vulnerability, love.
Read Full Review
100
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Casino Royale is fresh, actually fresh.
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100
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
This movie is NEW from the get-go. It could be your first Bond. In fact, it was the first Bond; it was Ian Fleming's first 007 novel, and he was still discovering who the character was.
Read Full Review
91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Flat-out one of the best Bonds ever.
Read Full Review
90
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
The script updates Ian Fleming's first Bond novel to a post-9/11 world and scales back the silliness that always seems to creep into the series; director Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro) contributes some superior action set pieces but keeps the camp and gadgetry to a minimum.
Read Full Review
90
LA Weekly Scott Foundas
What's appealing about Bond is precisely its unhip classicism -- its promise of clean, crisp excitement delivered without the interference of whiplash-inducing camera pyrotechnics, attention-deficient editing patterns, gratuitous color tinting and/or ear-splitting rock ballads.
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90
Village Voice Robert Wilonsky
Craig, excellent in both art house endeavors (The Mother, Enduring Love) and blockbuster think pieces (Munich), has both a nasty streak and a soft side never before seen in the series; Fleming would recognize him as most like his literary creation: damaged goods in a tailored tux.
Read Full Review
90
Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
This is Bond as we've never seen him, more naked, alive and mysterious than ever.
Read Full Review
90
Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
Casino Royale is quite possibly the best action movie of the year.
Read Full Review
88
ReelViews James Berardinelli
This is no longer the James Bond we know from the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s. Welcome to the new world of MI6's most storied agent.
Read Full Review
88
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Fans of anyone other than Sean Connery who has played James Bond may want to look away, because admirers of Ian Fleming's 007 novels are almost bound to agree that Daniel Craig is the best Bond since Sean.
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88
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Craig gives us James Bond in the fascinating act of inventing himself. This you do not want to miss.
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88
Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
Eleven years ago director Campbell made "GoldenEye," the first of the Brosnan Bond pictures. Casino Royale trumps it every which way.
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83
Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Craig makes you aware of something that the Bond series, in its pursuit of steamy sex and cartoon action, quickly lost sight of: 007 is a killer. That's what he's licensed to do.
Read Full Review
80
The New York Times Manohla Dargis
The latest James Bond vehicle -- call him Bond, Bond 6.0 -- finds the British spy leaner, meaner and a whole lot darker.
Read Full Review
80
Washington Post Stephen Hunter
Turns out to be cracking good entertainment, as well as a fresh start for the perdurable 21-picture franchise.
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80
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Daniel Craig isn't merely acceptable, but formidable. His Bond is at least the equal of the best ones before him, and beats all of them in sheer intensity.
80
Slate Dana Stevens
Martin Campbell (who also directed Pierce Brosnan's first outing as Bond in "Goldeneye"), has chosen to give us a Bond who's both metaphorically and literally stripped bare. Let me take this opportunity to thank him for both.
Read Full Review
80
Empire Kim Newman
Contrary to pre-release nay-sayers, Daniel Craig has done more with James Bond in one film than some previous stars have in multiple reprises. This is terrific stuff, again positioning 007 as the action franchise to beat.
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80
The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
What a relief to escape the series' increasing bondage to high-tech gimmicks in favor of intrigue and suspense featuring richly nuanced characters and women who think the body's sexiest organ is the brain.
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80
Variety Todd McCarthy
Craig comes closer to the author's original conception of this exceptionally long-lived male fantasy figure than anyone since early Sean Connery.
Read Full Review
80
New York Magazine David Edelstein
This Bond is haunted, not yet housebroken, still figuring out the persona. In Casino Royale, the reset button has been pressed in the manner of "Batman Begins."
Read Full Review
78
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
The good news is Craig, who was riveting as a London pharmaceutical salesman in the recent Brit import "Layer Cake," is equally mesmerizing here.
Read Full Review
75
Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Casino Royale marks a shrewd relaunching of a franchise. But Campbell and company show too much of their sweat. If these movies continue to follow Fleming's profane pilgrim's progress, the next Bond movies should be more emotional and funny, with a bit of brass-knuckled charm.
Read Full Review
75
New York Post Kyle Smith
Eva Green...Gaspingly beautiful, wouldn't you say?
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75
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
As M, Dench knows she has a tiger by the tail and isn't fazed in the slightest. Reservations aside, the film marks the beginning of a new phase in James Bond's history, and it promises to be a gripping one.
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75
Boston Globe Ty Burr
If you miss the old cliches, consider whether, after 21 Bond films and countless parodies, your response is simply Pavlovian.
Read Full Review
75
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
See Casino Royale for a Bond you've never seen before, and then imagine him in a film two-thirds the size. Here's hoping the writers of the next Bond movie employ the same personal trainer that Craig did to keep the script tight and lean.
Read Full Review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
The payoff is the revitalization of Bond by making him closer to what Fleming envisaged: a sociopath who, fortunately, is on our side.
Read Full Review
75
USA Today Claudia Puig
The film is about a half hour too long. The third act drags and an extended high-stakes poker game doesn't always keep our attention. But this is a superior Bond.
Read Full Review
75
Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Like Connery - but in different proportions - Craig is earthy and erotic, holding himself like a smoking gun.
Read Full Review
75
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
For the first time in memory, the film ends not just with the promise of more Bonds but without a firm conclusion.
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75
The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
In its overt attempts to balance high-spirited spy adventure with more realistic acting and actio--conveying the realities of government-sponsored murde--Casino Royale is a step in the right direction for the Bond franchise. But it's a small, tentative step.
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75
Premiere Jessica Letkemann
Surprisingly light on fab gadgets, there are, of course, double crosses, fast cars, and lots of gunplay.
Read Full Review
70
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Though the film's final break-the-bank action sequence in Venice is worth waiting for, Casino Royale's 2-hour, 24-minute running time is long enough to exhaust all but the series' biggest fans.
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70
The New Yorker Anthony Lane
Craig has the courage to present a hollow man, flooding the empty rooms where his better nature should be with brutality and threat. His smile is more frightening than his straight face, and he doesn’t bother with the throwaway quips that were meant to endear us to the other Bonds.
Read Full Review
63
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The movie is simply too long for its own good.
Read Full Review
60
Time Richard Corliss
This is a Bond with great body but no soul.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 455 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Gerdema gave it a9:
Cunning, great acting performance from Daniel Craig.

Tyler C. gave it an8:
Best Bond movie yet? I don't even know if this is a Bond movie, but I loved it.

James Cool gave it a10:
This is one of the best movies I've ever seen.

Allen T. gave it a10:
Yes! They resurrected the Bond franchise!

Kris K. gave it a10:
This was one of the best movies ever made! Thank God for Casino Royale!

Ryan S. gave it a10:
Best Bond film since Goldfinger.

Brian G gave it a9:
Perhaps the finest Bond film since Goldfinger. I have to agree that the Bond franchise was desperately in need of a "re-boot" given the ludicrous and wholly unsatisfying attempts of the recent films. Daniel Craig gives a superb performance, delivering intense, rugged sophistication. The scene on the train to Montenegro, in which Bond first meets Vesper and they quickly launch into their subtle verbal sparring provides fascinating insight into Bond’s psyche, background and motivations. I feel that more is revealed of Bond’s persona in this five minute scene than in the last 30 years of Bond films. The Bond “purists” that give this film a zero rating seem to be displaying a knee-jerk reaction to the departure of the usual effervescent fluff, and are clearly incensed by this new approach of gritty realism. Regardless, this film provided a much needed re-invention of James Bond.

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