“Quantum of Solace” would be a good action-drama, if only it weren’t a Bond film.

Daniel Craig’s second performance as James Bond picks the up the action from the moment “Casino Royale” leaves off, and that’s the problem.

Director Marc Forster (“Monster’s Ball”) correctly assumes that viewers of “Solace” already saw the previous film and know what’s going on. He seems to forget, however, that fans of “Casino Royale” who are sitting for “Quantum of Solace” are looking for James Bondish elements to the movie. There are none. Except for the good-as-always performance of Judi Dench as “M,” you would never know this was a Bond film.

SPOILER ALERT

That alone is enough to ruin a supposed 007 film. No MI6 headquarters moments. No Moneypenny. No Q Branch. No new watch. No cars with machine guns and missiles. No sex scenes (the redhead didn’t count). Was this a Bond movie or not? Was this the British import we Americans have come to love and honor, or has the series finally succumbed to the reality of American film stupidity where explosions and kill-shots rule supreme over plot?

There wasn’t even a decent Bond villain. The so-called and so-dead “bad guy” was a hapless little dweeb who never really posed much of a threat. Even the boilerplate evil general seemed vapid and undeveloped.

He doesn’t even say “The name’s Bond, James Bond” in the entire movie.

END SPOILER ALERT

It seems to me that you could have tacked this movie onto the special features of “Casino Royale” and bottled it down to a half hour.

Ukrainian beauty Olga Kurylenko is the latest Bond girl, Camille. Kurylenko slept through her role and failed to sell her revenge-driven rage character line. She may be the worst bond girl ever.

The real Bond girl in this movie was Miss Fields, (the redhead) wonderfully portrayed by 22-year-old Brit, Gemma Arterton, who should have had a much more prominent role in the movie. She gives the best performance in the film and gets about five minutes on screen for her troubles.

The movie is driven by the subplot of a far-reaching evil organization, reminiscent of early Bond films, but we never truly get a picture for what that organization is. It, like most of the movie, gets swept under the rug to make room for someone getting killed in every other scene.

There is an interesting scene where Camille and Bond try to parachute out of a falling plane and end up walking in the desert in a tuxedo and black cocktail dress. You almost get the hint that you’re watching 007 in action, but then you shake your head and wake up. No.

Cinematography-wise, “Quantum of Solace” is a very good movie and well-made, even with purposefully jerky camera moves.

It’s just not a Bond movie, and if it’s really to be billed as such, then “Quantum of Solace” is the worst Bond movie ever made.

In anticipation of the November 14 release of Quantum of Solace, MGM released on six James Bond movies on Blu-ray on October 21.

So we sat down and watched them all.

The flicks included “For Your Eyes Only,” “From Russia with Love,” “Dr. No,” “Live and Let Die,” “Thunderball” and “Die Another Day,” — Pierce Brosnan’s last Bond run.

Our generation grew up with Pierce, and “Die Another Day” his second best of the four he did, but don’t miss “From Russia with Love,” and “Thunderball.” They’re a bit different than we’re used to, but they’re very good, classic 007 titles.

The films have been remastered for Blu-ray, and play in DTS surround sound.

They join “Casino Royale,” which was Daniel Craig’s first Bond role, which came out on Blu-ray last holiday season, and it has been one of the best, and best-selling Blu-ray titles.

There are more special features than movie minutes. They really pack the 50 GB dual-layer discs. There are image galleries, behind the scenes features, documentaries, featurettes on the various Bond actors, making-of features, profiles of the villains, and TV/radio spots

The films can be purchased individually, or on an Amazon.com exclusive six-pack.

Be warned, you’ll probably have to upgrade your firmware if you have an older DVD player. That has been a problem for a lot of late, great Blu-ray releases, and it was a problem when DVD first came out as well. Do your homework, but realize that this is one of those holiday “must haves.”

James Bond video games have had their peaks and their valleys.

Goldeneye became a staple in the first-person shooter genre as a good way to balance a FPS while keeping the plot interesting and inviting.

However, Goldeneye was the first and last bond game to really revolutionize a genre and/or just be itself a good game.‚  Subsequent games have been lackluster since then, and we didn’t even see a Casino Royale adaptation.

The next bond game, Quantum of Solace, could prove beneficial for the franchise and for first person shooters in general.

Developed by Treyarch, the Call of Duty developer, QoS combines the same intense combat found in those games with a unique third-person cover system.‚ Using the Call of Duty 4 engine, enemy A.I. will be smart and responsive.‚ The weapons, graphics and overall combat this time around are bound to garner some intense moments often seen in the Call of Duty franchise.‚ 

Likewise, using a cover system, which is lacking in CoD, could prove to make QoS as revolutionary as Goldeneye was.‚ It feels as if Treyarch looked at two recent and incredibly popular first person shooters and combined them both. It’s like Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six Vegas merged.

On top of a reliable engine, QoS offers players the ability to not only play as Bond in Quantum of Solace but also in Casino Royale.‚ I know, you were asking yourself, “Where is the video game?” after you walked out of Casino Royale two years ago.‚ And, of course, the original screen actors are in the game for added realism.

It’s about time the 007 video game franchise made its way out of the gutter.‚  It’s been a long time since Goldeneye, and it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a good Bond game.‚  Let’s hope for the best; let’s be shaken, not stirred.