DVD BOND REBORN IN 'CASINO ROYALE'.

Byline: Rob Lowman

Entertainment Editor

'I don't think people would buy Rambo anymore. That type of hero is long gone," says Martin Campbell.

Sly Stallone -- who's making "John Rambo," a sequel featuring his macho-macho man -- apparently didn't get the memo.

But that kind of thinking is why director Campbell and the producers of "Casino Royale" wanted James Bond to be reborn, or in a sense re-"Bourne," as in the two thrillers starring Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, a rogue agent.

"There's no question that kind of anti-hero ... is more cynical and tougher and harder -- and I think you believe them," says Campbell about the Bourne character, admitting he found the movies engrossing.

And there was another reason to give Bond a makeover. The filmmakers wanted to get the away from the fantasy world 007 films had become. Gimmicks like the invisible car that appeared (and disappeared) in the last Bond film, "Never Say Die," were the last straw.

So, to create a gritty, retro 007 -- as opposed to silky-smooth ones portrayed by Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan -- the Bond filmmakers went back to Ian Fleming's first book.

"It is his first mission, and he is a little rough around the edges," notes Campbell, who directed an early Bond film, "GoldenEye," with Brosnan.

"The arc of the character is in the book, particularly his relationship with Vespa, Eva Green's character. We changed the circumstances and locations, but essentially the emotional relationship is the spine of the movie. And that was the key element to get right."

While the Cold War background of Fleming's original was excised, the edge on Bond was sharpened, which you see in the first scene of "Casino Royale" when he earns his "license to kill" stripes. And they looked for a new Bond. The casting of a lesser-known actor like Daniel Craig as the sixth 007 was a plus, Campbell believes.

"One of the benefits of doing a Bond film is that you're not obligated to use stars, and it meant we could use European actors.

"Mads Mikkelsen (who plays the villain) is a Danish actor that nobody has heard of over here, and indeed Daniel Craig himself was a character actor up to this point. And I don't think a lot of people had a reference on him."

Box-office and critics' raves proved Campbell and the producers right for choosing Craig -- an immensely talented actor. Although there was tons of second-guessing long before the film opened, anyone who had seen Craig in the smart British crime film "Layer Cake" -- as Campbell did -- knew he had the goods to be a fantastic 007. (One of the extras on the DVD is a look at Craig becoming Bond.)

And they were right to return Bond to his roots. To me, someone who long ago became bored with the franchise, "Casino Royale" is simply the best Bond film ever -- and one that resonates more with our times.

"With the Iraq war, I think everybody is more cynical," says Campbell, who hopes to bring the nuclear thriller "The Edge of Darkness," a BBC mini-series he directed in the mid-'80s, to the big screen. "We all know the way it works now. No one man can save the world."

'The Holiday'

The great veteran actor Eli Wallach slyly plays a famed screenwriter named Arthur from Hollywood's golden age in Nancy Meyers' "The Holiday." The Tinseltown reference underlines the story. For Kate Winslet's Iris, a British journalist hopelessly in love with a man intent on marrying someone else, though he likes to keep her dangling, she has come to realize she's not even been the star of her own life. For Cameron Diaz's Amanda, who creates movie-theater trailers, her life is like one -- a serious of quick cuts, leaving the heroine imperiled.

When the two exchange houses to get away (mostly from themselves) during a Christmas break, movie magic and the potential of love take over (sort of). For Iris -- with the help of Arthur -- it's a film composer (Jack Black) with problems of his own. For Amanda, it's Iris' handsome brother (Jude Law), who has a secret of his own.

Meyers ("What Women Want," "Something's Gotta Give") clearly loves those great old Hollywood romantic comedies. "The Holiday," alas, isn't great -- too many speeches (about love), too unfocused, too sappy at times. That said, while they don't make them like they used to, they hardly make smart romantic comedies at all anymore. There is a twinkle in Wallach's eye, and there are some twinkles (and a likable cast) in "The Holiday."

New films

Someone please offer Christian Bale a comedy. With "American Psycho," "Batman Begins" and a host of other films, it's clear that, if you're looking for Mr. Intensity, it's Bale. In "Harsh Times," the directorial debut of David Ayer, who wrote "Training Day," Bale plays an Iraq war vet who is haunted by the past but was probably headed for trouble long before the military turned him into a killer. When rejected for a job with the LAPD, Bale's Jim Davis starts getting into trouble even as Homeland Security -- recognizing the type of craziness they need -- offers him a post in Colombia going after drug dealers.

Bale creates the perfect hollow man -- but that's the problem.

Neither Jim nor anything in Ayer's script give you much to grab onto.

It's a bleak picture. But you know that five minutes into the film, and there isn't much to stick around for.

John Cameron Mitchell's "Shortbus" is about sex -- or really the joys and freedom of sex. The film is not overtly political, clinical or commercialized. It's meant to take sex out of those contexts and pressures. It's not pornographic, though it is sexually explicit, but it's funny, liberating and surprisingly sentimental at times.

TV

As the BBC launches a new "Robin Hood," Acorn is releasing "Robin of Sherwood," a mid-'80s version of the man in green tights. "Sherwood" is a more out-there version of the story, with the title character not being an outcast nobleman, but a sort of a savior from among the people anointed by a wizard from the forest. This retelling tries to take the Hood story to a different level and mostly succeeds, being occasionally surprising with its twists. It seems a bit dated at times (mostly in production values), though. Still, you can enjoy this boy in the hood.

It was a thin premise -- a couple of guys dress up as women in order to score an apartment -- but "Bosom Buddies" helped make a star out of Tom Hanks. Yes, it was a dumb show, but Hanks was great.

Rob Lowman [phone]

[e-mail]

NEW FILMS

"Casino Royale" (Columbia; $28.96 and $38.96 for Blu-ray)

"The Holiday" (Columbia; $28.95 and $38.96 for Blu-ray)

"Shortbus -- Unrated" (Velocity/Think Films; $27.98)

"Harsh Times" (Weinstein; $28.95)

"Casino Royale" / "Layer Cake" (Columbia; $43.95)

"The Dukes of Hazzard -- The Beginning" (Warner; $27.98)

"Sublime -- Unrated Edition" (Warner; $24.98)

OLDER FILMS

"Burmese Harp" (Criterion; $29.95)

"Fires on the Plain" (Criterion; $29.95)

"Ghost -- Special Collector's Edition" (Paramount; $14.98)

"Layer Cake" (Columbia; 28.95 on Blu-ray)

"Hoosiers" (MGM; $39.98 on Blu-ray)

TELEVISION

"Robin of Sherwood -- Set 1" (Acorn; $59.99)

"Hard Times" (Acorn; $39.99 $29.99)

"Bosom Buddies -- The First Season" (Paramount; $31.99)

"I Love Lucy -- The Complete Seasons 7-9" (Paramount; $38.99)

"The Pretender 2001 / The Pretender -- Island of the Haunted" (Fox; $26.98)

"Without a Trace -- The Complete Second Season" (Warner; $59.98)

"I Will Fight No More Forever" (Questar; $19.99)

"Mile High -- The Complete First Season" (Koch; $49.98)

"Laguna Beach -- Complete Second Season" (Paramount; $38.99)

KIDS/FAMILY

"Lovewrecked" (Weinstein; $19.95)

"Eloise: Eloise in Hollywood" (Anchor Bay; $14.98)

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Original Series -- Season 4" (Lionsgate; $39.98)

"Easter With Max & Ruby" (Paramount; $16.99)

"Bridge to Terabithia" (1985 version) (Allumination; $9.98)

"Baby Einstein -- My First Signs" (Disney; $19.99)

"Baby Looney Tunes 3" (Warner; $14.98)

"Loonatics Unleashed -- The Complete First Season" (Warner; $19.98)

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

Daniel Craig is a grittier, rougher James Bond who returns to the core of the British spy character in "Casino Royale."