Most notably, it was the first to be produced by someone other than Eon Productions, with that duty falling to Charles K. The film is (once again) Casino Royale, a 1967 release that marked several firsts for the series. It’s a contender for the best film in the series, and remains the greatest example of the franchise’s unparalleled ability to reinvent itself to ensure its continued relevance in the everchanging cinematic landscape.Īnd then there’s the other film… that one whose presence has lingered over this series like an unpleasant smell for almost sixty years, and which these days seems to exist solely as the answer to annoying trivia questions designed to trick anyone but diehard fans. 2006’s Casino Royale was nothing short of a triumph – a stunning return to form that weaponized its stripped-back approach to craft not just some of the most exhilarating action sequences in the entirety of cinema, but also molded them with a surprising amount of thematic depth that (when combined with Daniel Craig’s excellent performance) made its version of Bond a truly fleshed out character in a way we hadn’t seen since 1969’s On Her Majesty's Secret Service. There aren’t many examples where two separate films with identical names in the same franchise exist on opposing ends of the critical spectrum, but much like its title character, the James Bond series has never been one to play by the rules.
