Skyfall (2012)
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After a series of cyberattacks on MI6, James Bond must track down a rogue agent and recover a stolen hard drive.
The story
In Istanbul, MI6 agents James Bond and Eve Moneypenny pursue a mercenary who has stolen a hard drive containing details of undercover NATO agents. During a confrontation on a moving train, Bond is presumed dead and the thief escapes. Three months later, following a public inquiry into the security breach, M is pressured to retire. When MI6's servers are hacked and the building is attacked, Bond returns to service. He is tasked with identifying the perpetrator, recovering the hard drive, and neutralizing the threat, leading him into a dangerous investigation involving a mysterious organization and a former MI6 agent turned cyberterrorist.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After being presumed dead in Istanbul, James Bond returns to service to investigate a series of cyberattacks on MI6 orchestrated by Raoul Silva, a former agent turned cyberterrorist. Bond tracks the stolen hard drive through Shanghai and Macau, eventually encountering Silva's associate, Sévérine. After a series of skirmishes, Bond captures Silva, only for the villain to escape during a security breach at MI6 headquarters. Silva's motive is revealed: he seeks revenge against M for betraying him to the Chinese government in 1997. Bond eventually lures M to his childhood home, Skyfall, in the Scottish Highlands. There, they set up a series of traps to confront Silva's forces. In the final confrontation, Silva is killed by Bond, but M sustains fatal wounds and dies in his arms. Following her funeral, Bond is introduced to the new M, Gareth Mallory, and prepares to return to duty.
- First release year
- 2012
- Runtime (minutes)
- 143
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Sam Mendes
- Writers
- Neal Purvis · writer; Robert Wade · writer; John Logan · writer
- Cast and characters
- Daniel Craig · James Bond; Judi Dench · M; Javier Bardem · Raoul Silva; Ralph Fiennes · Gareth Mallory; Naomie Harris · Eve Moneypenny; Bérénice Marlohe · Sévérine; Albert Finney · Kincade; Ben Whishaw · Q
- Genres
- spy film; action
- Themes
- betrayal; loyalty
- Tone and mood
- action-packed; suspenseful
- Setting
- Istanbul, Shanghai, Macau, and the Scottish Highlands in the modern era.
- Premise and plot tags
- spy; cyberterrorism; revenge
- Franchise connections
- James Bond
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics and fans, with praise for the direction, cast performances, action sequences, cinematography, and musical score.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 92% · scale: percentage · review count: 388; Metacritic · score: 81 · scale: 100 · review count: 49
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Original Song · won; Brit Award · Best British Single · won
- Production trivia
- The film was the first Bond film to be shot digitally.; The title refers to the name of Bond's childhood home.; The film was the first Bond film to be screened in IMAX venues.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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