There were multiple scenes from Casino Royale filmed on Lake Como in northern Italy. After his torture from Le Chiffre, Bond spends time recovering at the exclusive Villa del Balbianello. The final scene where Bond finds Mr. White was shot in Villa la Gaeta.
- During the casino scene, Bond beats the lovely (but deadly) Russian agent, Xenia Onatopp, at a game of baccarat. Unlike previous films, the casino game is actually featured prominently over several minutes. The game is important to the scene, creating suspense and highlighting the tension between the two characters. Casino Royale (2006).
- 007, Casino Royale, filming location, Italy, James Bond, James Bond location, movie location, travel, Venice James Bond (Daniel Craig) and Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) sailed to Venice in Italy. While Vesper was standing at the helm of a yacht, Bond was writing a resignation letter on his laptop.
- Touching scene from Casino Royale where we get to see Bond's compassionate and loving side. This scene always gets me.
10 Jan
How difficult can it be to make a good poker scene in a movie? According to James Bond director Martin Campbell the ‘Casino Royale’ remake poker showdown was as elaborate as any stunt 007 was involved in!
The 2006 movie grossed a monster $606million at the box office, with Daniel Craig’s ‘Bond’ and Mads Mikkelsen’s blood-eyed villain ‘Le Chiffre’ involved in the highest stake poker game of all time.
For poker fans, of course, seeing their beloved game depicted on the big screen is almost always more ‘miss’ than ‘hit’, so how did director Campbell manage to produce such an intense facsimile of a real highstakes game?
Casino Royale James Bond Scene 2
“What you realize is, it’s not just the card games — it’s the stakes. It’s also two guys eye-fucking one another, basically. That was the secret,” explained to Polygon.com.
With No Limit Hold’em replacing the Baccarat Chemin de Fer of the Ian Fleming book version, and the 1967 movie version… Casino on tour.
…the cast and crew had to be taught the game basically from scratch to ensure everything from continuity to poker tells would come across as realistically as possible.
Not an easy task for poker consultant Tom Sambrook, the 2002 winner of the European Championships explaining:
“I’d just basically tell them what the absolute bare minimum was that they needed to know to look like they had been playing this game.”
Sambrook also admits to making a bit of money on the side, taking the actors for their ‘per diem’ in hastily-arranged games in the studios.
The Englishman, who finished ahead of Hendon Mobster Barny Boatman and EPT legend John Duthie to win his title, explained:
“We’d be playing games constantly between takes,” adding cheekily, “I saw it as their privilege to learn by paying me this money.”
Director Campbell somehow pulled together all the elements of the game in an almost believable series of poker scenes, mixed in with the usual action-packed adventures of a typical Bond movie.
He believes the 30 minutes of gameplay that made the final cut, showing three massive hands, was critical to the success of the film, admitting:
“It was the thing I sweated on more than anything else.”
After discovering Le Chiffre’s ‘tell’, Bond has to survive two assassination attempts in his bid to end the villain’s hopes of winning the $130million poker game.
“From a dramatic point of view, each of the card games has a good climax,” says Campbell, and if the final scene still grates with some poker fans, there is a reason.
The four-way all-in sees Le Chiffre’s full house lose to Bond’s straight flush, with most fans expecting a Royal Flush to win the day for the movie hero.
“He wins with an inconspicuous straight flush, rather than the royal flush,” Sambrook says, adding to Director Campbell’s vision of a “new Bond” , a less flashy, more believable hero.
Check out the finale yourself!
- Want poker news as it breaks? Join the Poker News and Gossip Telegram channel!
The Le Chiffre-Bond torture scene remains one of the most powerful scenes in Casino Royale (2006). After Bond wins the Poker tournament at Casino Royale, Le Chiffre faces financial ruin. He kidnaps Vesper Lynd and uses her as bait to capture, then torture 007. The plan goes perfectly but 007 refuses to give him the password to access the account holding the winnings. Before Le Chiffre can kill Bond, enigmatic terrorist Mr White murders Le Chiffre, leaving Bond alive.
…the cast and crew had to be taught the game basically from scratch to ensure everything from continuity to poker tells would come across as realistically as possible.
Not an easy task for poker consultant Tom Sambrook, the 2002 winner of the European Championships explaining:
“I’d just basically tell them what the absolute bare minimum was that they needed to know to look like they had been playing this game.”
Sambrook also admits to making a bit of money on the side, taking the actors for their ‘per diem’ in hastily-arranged games in the studios.
The Englishman, who finished ahead of Hendon Mobster Barny Boatman and EPT legend John Duthie to win his title, explained:
“We’d be playing games constantly between takes,” adding cheekily, “I saw it as their privilege to learn by paying me this money.”
Director Campbell somehow pulled together all the elements of the game in an almost believable series of poker scenes, mixed in with the usual action-packed adventures of a typical Bond movie.
He believes the 30 minutes of gameplay that made the final cut, showing three massive hands, was critical to the success of the film, admitting:
“It was the thing I sweated on more than anything else.”
After discovering Le Chiffre’s ‘tell’, Bond has to survive two assassination attempts in his bid to end the villain’s hopes of winning the $130million poker game.
“From a dramatic point of view, each of the card games has a good climax,” says Campbell, and if the final scene still grates with some poker fans, there is a reason.
The four-way all-in sees Le Chiffre’s full house lose to Bond’s straight flush, with most fans expecting a Royal Flush to win the day for the movie hero.
“He wins with an inconspicuous straight flush, rather than the royal flush,” Sambrook says, adding to Director Campbell’s vision of a “new Bond” , a less flashy, more believable hero.
Check out the finale yourself!
- Want poker news as it breaks? Join the Poker News and Gossip Telegram channel!
The Le Chiffre-Bond torture scene remains one of the most powerful scenes in Casino Royale (2006). After Bond wins the Poker tournament at Casino Royale, Le Chiffre faces financial ruin. He kidnaps Vesper Lynd and uses her as bait to capture, then torture 007. The plan goes perfectly but 007 refuses to give him the password to access the account holding the winnings. Before Le Chiffre can kill Bond, enigmatic terrorist Mr White murders Le Chiffre, leaving Bond alive.
On April 24, the first unit filmed scenes in the opulent lobby of the Grand Venetian Hotel, then moved to its polar opposite: a two-day shoot on an abandoned barge where Le Chiffre hands out the gruelling torture. Daniel Craig recalled Le Chiffre’s unique means of interrogation: “He strips me naked, puts me in a Bentwood chair that has no seat in it, then tortures me very hard with a piece of rope.”
James Bond Casino Royale 123movies
The chair was fitted with a fibreglass screen to prevent any unwanted injuries to the leading man. The scene made it past the censors because the eye-wincing action is kept off-screen and its inclusion was vital in informing Bond’s character.
Casino Royale James Bond Poker Scene
“It’s essential to the story because it sets up Bond’s vulnerability,” said Producer Michael G. Wilson. “Also Vesper is responsible for him falling into the trap, so her motivation to heal him and be with him comes from the guilt over complicity. Not having the torture scene would damage the story.”
