James Bond film ‘better than Sean Connery classic’ on ITV | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV

Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig’s second outing as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond will be on television this weekend.

On ITV 1 at 8pm on Saturday, June 21, the 2008 spy thriller is a sequel to Casino Royale (2006) and stands as the 22nd film in the James Bond franchise.

Directed by Marc Forster, with a screenplay by Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade, Quantum of Solace also stars Dame Judi Dench, Mathieu Amalric, Giancarlo Giannini, Olga Kurylenko, and Jeffrey Wright in important roles.

Quantum of Solace was shot in six countries: UK, Italy, Austria, Chile, Panama, and Mexico. The film sees the return of David Arnold, the composer for the four previous Bond films.

The spy thriller first premiered at London’s Odeon Leicester Square on October 29, 2008, and saw Princes William and Harry in attendance. The proceeds from the screening event were then donated to two charities — Royal British Legion and Help for Heroes.

Quantum of Solace grossed a total of $589.6 million at the worldwide box-office against a production budget of approximately $230 million.

It is also ranked above the Sean Connery classic, Diamonds Are Forever, and Roger Moore’s Moonraker in Rotten Tomatoes list of Bond films.

However the Daniel Craig movie has a 63 per cent critics approval rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, with one critic calling it “one of the most listless Bond films” they have ever seen.

A cheeky critic’s review of the film said: “I’m so turned off by this, I don’t even have the energy to trash it. Why should I think of something clever to write? The authors clearly didn’t see that as a mandate.”

While another wrote: “Let’s hope this is a one-off aberration, because though it’s all very efficient it lacks heart and soul and substance.”

Appearing on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast in November 2024, Daniel Craig surprisingly called his second Bond film a “f–ng nightmare” as he recalled how the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike had interrupted the production of the movie.

Craig shared: “Paul Haggis did a pass on the script. Then, he went off and joined the picket line and we didn’t have writers. So, we didn’t have a script. We should never probably have started production, but we did. I ended up writing a lot of that film, which I probably shouldn’t say. I do not want the credit. It’s fine.”

Speaking about the reception of the film, Craig said: “There are some amazing stunt sequences in it. I’m still wearing the pins to prove it. In that sense, there’s a lot of great stuff in it, but it just didn’t quite work. The storytelling wasn’t there. That’s the abject lesson. Going to start a movie without a script is not a good idea.”

Craig’s second Bond film fared even worse with audiences, racking up a dismal 58 per cent audience approval score from over 250,000 ratings.

While one viewer wrote: “This film just feels like an extended post credit scene for Casino Royale. It is fun to watch but not enough story to make it interesting.”

Another claimed it was “Craig’s worst movie as agent 007”. 

Unhappy with the film’s director, Marc Forster, one viewer wrote: “This Bond film is truly groundbreaking for multiple reasons: the most poorly edited action sequences ever, the worst opening title song ever, and the absence of the James Bond action music until, get this, the credits roll at the end of the film! Beyond shocking after the brilliance of Casino Royale. Don’t ever let this director anywhere near another Bond film.”

Quantum of Solace will be broadcast on ITV 1 on Saturday, June 21, at 8pm.