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The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.
For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Quantum of Solace can be found here.
No, Quantum of Solace is based on an idea by co-producer Michael G. Wilson, stepson of the late Albert R. Broccoli (producer of the previous James Bond movies) and half brother to current producer Barbara Broccoli. The story was adapted for the movie by screenwriters Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis. The title was chosen from a short story in Ian Fleming's For Your Eyes Only, although the movie's relation to the story is remote and tangential at best.
Although the title was taken from one of the short stories in the book For Your Eyes Only, the story in the book has nothing to do with the film. In the short story, Bond is told a story by the colonial governor of Jamaica, with whom he had just had dinner. It is a brief tale about a failed relationship. The term "quantum of solace" means "a small measure of comfort amid sorrow or disappointment".
Yes. Quantum of Solace begins about 20 minutes after the final scene of Casino Royale (2006).
Casino Royale, the 21st Bond film, was a reboot of the James Bond film series. Whilst borrowing heavily from both the Bond film mythos and the Ian Fleming novel bearing the same name, it made significant changes to both in order to achieve its aim of re-inventing the long-standing character for modern audiences. As such, it is incorrect to assume that Casino Royale was a prequel to the already established James Bond film series. The events of Casino Royale were not designed to precede those of the 20 other James Bond movies. An example is that in Goldfinger Bond is given his gadget-laden Aston Martin DB5 by Q to complete a mission, however in Casino Royale Bond wins this Aston Martin in a game of poker.The producers and writers of Quantum of Solace have stated that the action of the film picks up "almost an hour after the close of Casino Royale". They have also said it is a continuation of the story established in Casino Royale. In this way it can be regarded as a true sequel to Royale and, like that film, is separate in continuity to any of the previous Bond films to come before. While sharing the same continuity of the character, the previous Bond films were more "stand-alone" adventures of the super spy than sequels that told one ongoing story. It is not clear how long the producers intend to continue this ret-con of Bond films in this manner, but they have already openly stated that they do not intend to re-visit or remake any of the material from the previously released series of Bond films.
The terrorist organization represented by Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) in the previous film is called Quantum. Unlike SPECTRE, Quantum seems to operate in anonymity, using pawns to carry out terrorist acts. In addition to a returning Mr. White, Bond is pitted against Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a businessman who runs a number of Quantum's shell corporations, his cousin Elvis (Anatole Taubman), and General Medrano (Joaquín Cosio), a corrupt military leader allied with Quantum. Yusuf, (Simon Kassianides) the previously unseen French-Algerian boyfriend of Vesper Lynd, has a minor villainous role in this film.
Yes, Mathis was in fact an ally of James. In dialogue it is revealed his current residence in Italy was a gift from MI6 when they realized they had wrongfully imprisoned and tortured him. When Mathis is dying in Bond's arms, Bond asks him "Is Mathis your cover name?" This was not Bond trying to discern his allegiance, rather Bond was merely distracting him and alleviating the situation that they both knew was going to end with Mathis' death. Bond was clearly comforting his friend in his last few moments, and asking about his name was his way of getting closer to his friend in the end. When Bond dumps the body in the dumpster, it is for mere ease and practicality and because as Bond says "he wouldn't care" Camille asks if this was how he treated his friends, if Mathis wasn't his friend more likely than not he would have said so. It's also worth noting that in the end of the movie Bond says he has no regrets. It is possible the writers never intended Mathis' character to be a clear cut good/bad guy.
Martin Campbell, although at first strongly tipped to direct Quantum of Solace, stated at the Chinese Premiere of Casino Royale that he was "unlikely to return to direct the 22nd film." No reason was given by Campbell but, in quick succession, he was signed to direct 2 new films, 36 and Unstoppable. Roger Mitchell, who has worked with Daniel Craig before on Enduring Love and The Mother, was briefly considered, but then decided not to direct the film, stating that, "I was very nervous that there was a start date but really no script at all. And I like to be very well prepared as a director." After Mitchell left, Sony Pictures then stated that 18 months was too short to produce a good film, so the release date was pushed back to November 7th, 2008.
James Bond once again drives an Aston Martin DBS, the same car he drove in Casino Royale. It has no gadgets. Well, Bond doesn't use any gadgets, anyway. Characters in the film also use Land Rovers, Alfa Romeo 159's, an old DC-3 airplane, a South American-built VW Beetle and even a very old Peugeot 404.
Greene wanted the area of Bolivian desert because it had natural water sources. (Remember, he says if Medrano turns the land over to Greene he "gets whatever they find there.") He used the idea that there was oil there in order to tempt the CIA into letting him install a puppet dictator. Once the General takes control, Greene intends to supply water at a massive cost and become very rich.
The "gun barrel" does return, although not right before the opening scene/theme song as is the Bond film's custom; it appears just before the end credits.
It is Giacomo Puccini's Tosca. The performance was filmed in the spring of 2008 at the floating stage of the Bregenz Festival, Austria, as performed in the festival's 2007 and 2008 seasons, directed by Philipp Himmelmann.
This would be the original ending: Bond confronts Guy Haines, one of the Quantum members seen at the opera house, at his private estate. Mr. White is also present, serving in a henchman capacity. Bond spins around to shoot White, mirroring the movements of the gunbarrel sequence, then captures Haines. This was cut so the producers would have more options, in terms of plot direction, for the next film.
The movie version: Camille has burn scars on her back from when General Medrano set fire to her house after killing her mother and sister. Camille was trapped in the house for a short time & was subsequently burned. The actual reason is that actress Olga Kurylenko had tattoo laser-removal surgery just before filming commenced, so they worked it into the story for the film.
Mr. White likely had a second infiltrator who helped him escape from MI6 custody, as it would have been difficult (though not impossible) to escape on his own with his injuries. When he reappears in the opera house, he manages to keep a low enough profile to escape Bond's notice, so he is still at large by the end of the film.
At the end 'M' says that Greene's body was found in the desert, his stomach full of oil and two bullets in the back of his head. He was shot by Quantum, the organisation he worked for. They did it because they thought he'd given away secrets to James Bond, and as punishment for his failure. It is doubtful that he actually drank the oil Bond had given him and that he was force-fed it before he was killed, a parallel to the way Agent Strawberry Fields is killed.
At the end of the credits you can read, "James Bond will return."
In May 2006 Activision acquired non-exclusive rights to develop and publish James Bond games. Quantum of Solace was released in late October 2008 (Europe) and early November 2008 (North America) to coincide with the simultaneous release of the motion picture. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game, developed by Treyarch Studios, utilizes the "Warfare Engine"- backbone for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and originally developed by Infinity Ward - for both the game's single player campaign and multiplayer modes. The game itself is a first-person shooter set during the course of the motion picture, with players controlling James Bond throughout the film's storyline. Activision also released licensed Quantum of Solace titles for PlayStation 2 (developed by Eurocom), Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Wii (Beenox), and Nintendo DS (Vicarious Visions).
The BBFC rated Quantum of Solace as a 12A for cinema release for containing "frequent moderate action violence".The BBFC originally saw the film in an unfinished version to advise on a likely rating. Their website states that "the film would most likely receive a '12A' as it was, but that care should be taken when finishing the film not to increase the intensity of certain scenes." It was after this that edits were made (the BBFC's site only mentions "reductions to one of those scenes"), before being submitted to the BBFC in its final form. At this point it was officially passed as a 12A (detailed notes can be found on the BBFC's site).It's not yet possible to be certain if these same cuts were made to the US or other international versions, but as the MPAA officially passed the film with a PG-13 rating on September 25th 2008 and the BBFC officially passed the film on October 15th, it's possible the film will be uncut overseas compared to the UK version. A similar case happened with Casino Royale, where international versions restored edits requested by the BBFC.
Both characters are rumoured to be returning in Bond 23.
A split second before he forces Slate out onto the balcony, Bond stabs Slate in the neck with his own knife. The scissors were just an added pacifying measure. Director Marc Forster and his editors, Matt Chesse and Richard Pearson opted for a quick-editing method that at times makes the action difficult to follow. Though it is possible he stabbed him in the femoral artery. However, it doesn't look like that's where the scissors went.
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