Casino Royale - Are you stupid?

[Djamila]

Well, I was so excited to watch Casino Royale. One of the actresses, Ivana Milicevic, is from Sarajevo - and part of the movie is set in Montenegro.

But, my God... do they really think they're fooling anyone?

The scenes in Montenegro are filmed somewhere in Central or Western Europe - my guess would be Slovenia, Austria, Czechia or Slovakia. The architecture is completely different than in Montenegro, which has Dalmatian (think Venice) or Communist architecture.

The signs are in Cyrillic, which is rare in Montenegro - most people, and certainly a vast majority of all businesses, use the Latin alphabet.

It's so... obviously wrong... to anyone who knows anything about the Balkans in general and Montenegro in particular... that it's annoying.

I haven't yet seen Ivana Milicevic. Hopefully she'll bring some realistic Balkan quality to the movie.

Okay, back to the film. lol

 

[Mike182]

The scenes in Montenegro are filmed somewhere in Central or Western Europe - my guess would be Slovenia, Austria, Czechia or Slovakia.

glad you narrowed it down

 

[Djamila]

glad you narrowed it down

Well they're hard to tell apart, really. It's just very obvious central European architecture. I'd guess Ljubljana or Prague, judging by the bridge they showed.

 

[Djamila]

Oh I found it:

Principal photography for Casino Royale commenced on January 30, 2006, and concluded on July 21, 2006. The film was primarily shot at Barrandov Studios in Prague, with additional location shooting in the Czech Republic, the Bahamas, Italy and the United Kingdom. Production returned to its traditional home of Pinewood Studios to complete the shooting schedule.

I don't know what was shot in Italy, but it wasn't the Montenegro scenes. lol That would've made more sense though. Venice looks more like Montenegro than Prague does.

Prague (Czechia):

Venice (Italy):

Kotor (Montenegro):

 

[nutshell]

I guess the movie was made for an American audience.

 

[Djamila]

A James Bond movie? Really? They're so popular around the world.

Well, I have an update. They got the word for "exit" in the hotel right. lol... and they wrote it in Latin alphabet. This must be when Ivana came on board. lol It was her first scene.

 

[Djamila]

There is a hospital scene near the end that is practically identical to the far side of Kotor Bay, opposite the town of Kotor. Perhaps it was CGI added, it is just the distant background - but my God, it was dead-on. It could be in Italy, of course - the green coastal cliffs all look more or less the same - but Italy tends to have very colorful houses while in Montenegro they tend to be just natural stone in color - these were just natural stone.

If they filmed one scene in Montenegro, though... firstly I'm sure Wikipedia might've mentioned it, and then secondly they might as well have filmed the whole set of scenes there - or at least they would've known, hey Prague doesn't look much like anything south of Slovenia... lol

Oh well, good movie! Typical bond film. Ivana Milicevic had the smallest part I've ever consciously noticed in a movie... LMAO If I didn't know who she was, and was looking for her, I'd never have even noticed her. lol

 

[darkpenguin]

I guess the movie was made for an American audience.

Actually I would say more for British audiences seeing as Bond has always been shuned by the oscars etc.

 

[CaptainXeroid]

...But, my God... do they really think they're fooling anyone?...

If the film industry in Europe is anything like it is in America, movies are not always shot where they are supposed to be taking place.:cover: Sometimes they get perks from local governments that make it less expensive to shoot the movie in one locale over another. Several movies were filmed in Atlanta recently because they needed a lot of young people for extras, and with several college around the area they had plenty of people show up.

I haven't seen Casino Royale yet, so after I do, maybe the scenery questions will make more sense.

 

[Mike182]

If the film industry in Europe is anything like it is in America, movies are not always shot where they are supposed to be taking place.:cover:

Lord of the Rings was clearly shot in Middle Earth, it said so in the credits!

 

[James the Persian]

Well, I was so excited to watch Casino Royale. One of the actresses, Ivana Milicevic, is from Sarajevo - and part of the movie is set in Montenegro.

But, my God... do they really think they're fooling anyone?

The scenes in Montenegro are filmed somewhere in Central or Western Europe - my guess would be Slovenia, Austria, Czechia or Slovakia. The architecture is completely different than in Montenegro, which has Dalmatian (think Venice) or Communist architecture.

The signs are in Cyrillic, which is rare in Montenegro - most people, and certainly a vast majority of all businesses, use the Latin alphabet.

It's so... obviously wrong... to anyone who knows anything about the Balkans in general and Montenegro in particular... that it's annoying.

I haven't yet seen Ivana Milicevic. Hopefully she'll bring some realistic Balkan quality to the movie.

Okay, back to the film. lol

Try picking any film - any film at all - that's supposedly set in Romania and you'll see the same sort of thing. I've long since ceased caring. The really peculiar thing about that, though, is that Romania seems to be used for filming all sorts of things nowadays, so you'd think it would be easy to get right.

As a couple of examples, Van Helsing's scenary looked about as much like Transylavnia as my back garden does (and yes the architecture was way out) and don't even get me started on Bram Stoker's Dracula. Then when they actually do get one thing right (like the spot on church exterior in that horror film where they go down into a cave system under the Carpathians) they go and ruin the good point but putting something utterly stupid in to compensate (in the aforementioned film, statuary inside the church and some ridiculous story about the Teutonic Knights - who aren't even the right religion for the church they supposedly built in a country they never went to).

It's just the film industry. I'm sure that for every error I see in a film, there are countless others that I'm completely taken in by. They just don't care too much so long as enough people are willing to buy into it.

James

 

[Scuba Pete]

Being a Bond film, a departure from reality is not only the norm: it's expected. I remember those underwater fight sequences in Thunderball! Bwahahahahahahahahaha!

 

[Djamila]

I've seen that horror movie where they go into the cave! Hahaha. I remember thinking - wow? That's not bad! For the scenes where the truck was driving through the mountain gorges.

 

[Scuba Pete]

I've seen that horror movie where they go into the cave!

No cave diver I have ever met would dive like that. Wrong equipment, wrong style, no safety procedures. All in all, the exact OPPOSITE way one would want to explore a cave. However, if you were just interested in killing yourself even without the monsters, they showed you how to do it! I find that presenting technical diving in such a cavalier fashion only invites the uninitiate to experiment and die. This is a horrible example of putting the "art" ahead of the greater well being of who the art is all about.

My issues with the Bond film had nothing to do with the safety of the divers in question, but rather how they fought. It looks OK to the non-diver, but anyone with a half hour or more on the equipment could see the flaws. In other words, it does not suggest taking chances to an open water diver, nor does it openly flaunt safety procedures.

 

[Djamila]

No cave diver I have ever met would dive like that. Wrong equipment, wrong style, no safety procedures. All in all, the exact OPPOSITE way one would want to explore a cave. However, if you were just interested in killing yourself even without the monsters, they showed you how to do it! I find that presenting technical diving in such a cavalier fashion only invites the uninitiate to experiment and die. This is a horrible example of putting the "art" ahead of the greater well being of who the art is all about.

Hehehe... natural selection at its best if you ask me. What would make someone want to go climb through a hole in the ground is beyond me. I certainly couldn't do it in heels, and that means I wouldn't be doing it at all. lol

 

[Quiddity]

I just wish we had such architecture in the US...

 

[sandy whitelinger]

It seems to me that the Casino was the same hotel that was used in the Queen Latifah movie Last Holiday.

 

[Scuba Pete]

Hehehe... natural selection at its best if you ask me. What would make someone want to go climb through a hole in the ground is beyond me. I certainly couldn't do it in heels, and that means I wouldn't be doing it at all. lol

A woman NEVER looks so good as when she is wearing neopreme. BTW, you can by stilletto fins.

 

[Hope]

Oh well, good movie! Typical bond film. Ivana Milicevic had the smallest part I've ever consciously noticed in a movie... LMAO If I didn't know who she was, and was looking for her, I'd never have even noticed her. lol

Was Ivana the blond girlfriend of the creepy bad guy?

 

[James the Persian]

No cave diver I have ever met would dive like that. Wrong equipment, wrong style, no safety procedures. All in all, the exact OPPOSITE way one would want to explore a cave. However, if you were just interested in killing yourself even without the monsters, they showed you how to do it! I find that presenting technical diving in such a cavalier fashion only invites the uninitiate to experiment and die. This is a horrible example of putting the "art" ahead of the greater well being of who the art is all about.

My issues with the Bond film had nothing to do with the safety of the divers in question, but rather how they fought. It looks OK to the non-diver, but anyone with a half hour or more on the equipment could see the flaws. In other words, it does not suggest taking chances to an open water diver, nor does it openly flaunt safety procedures.

This just goes to prove what I was saying. You presumably missed the architectural and historical gaffs that annoyed me and I was oblivious to the diving issues. Of course as I tried to learn to dive only to find that it caused me immense pain in my ears and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it, I doubt I'll ever get acquainted with the errors that you refer to. It's a shame, though, because I love potholing and caving and also snorkelling - but diving with tanks and me don't mix.

James