Here is his review.

There Is Nothing To Be Ashamed About "Shamelady"

It will be approximately another year before Eon Productions releases their next James Bond film and, if you are like me, the wait can seem like eternity. However, there is a quick fix that the average OO7 fan can enjoy until then. No, it is not a new video game or a rival film with Sean Connery reprising his famous role. It is none other than a ’fan film’. Constellation Films has finally released their epic production SHAMELADY. After three grueling years of production and post-production, this James Bond fan film to end all James Bond fan films has done more than blown away the bad guys. It has literally raised the bar for any other future OO7 fan film to be more stylish and slick.

SHAMELADY is directed by Eric Saussine, a professional musician who dreamt of producing his own not-for-profit OO7 film back in 2004. He founded his production company Constellation Films in order to produce fan films such as SHAMELADY.

In September 2004, Saussine, phoned his friend Pierre Rodiac, former president of the French James Bond fan club . Eric wanted to adapt Casino Royale, the only Ian Fleming James Bond novel that was not seriously adaptive by Eon, holder of the movie rights. Rodiac began writing a synopsis and the two worked alternatively on it for about a year.

Unfortunately for Eric and Pierre, Eon Productions announced that they were beginning pre-production on their newest Bond adventure Casino Royale starring Daniel Craig.

Saussine reacted to the news and decided to preserve the general casino plot, change the names of the villains, the bad guy’s plan, a few scenes and re-introduced SPECTRE and Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The new script was written in a couple of months and Eric changed its title to SHAMELADY. Filming began in 2005 and finished in late 2007.

Saussine brought in actors Serge Rotelli to play James Bond and Irina Bogomolova as Bond girl Anna Raykova. The actor playing villain Jacques Descarpes is George Kaplan. Kaplan is not his real name but Saussine changed his name in the credits to protect this actor’s real life profession.

SHAMELADY opens with evil terrorist organization SPECTRE sabotaging and destroying Western interest in Iraq and England. James Bond, who is first seen in the arms of a beautiful brunette by the name of Linda, is sent to meet with a double-crossing SPECTRE agent who is willing to sell top secrets to MI-6. Things go wrong with the exchange and Bond soon realizes that his arch rivals are back in business.

Sent to Normandy to square off against Descarpes in a winner-take-all roulette game, Bond meets up with two attractive female agents, Anna Raykova and Joan Jansen. One of them turns out to be a traitor who will lead our favorite spy into a clever car chase, with his famous Aston Martin DB5, and into the underground labyrinth of Descarpes mansion where he tortures Bond with electrical leads.

Without giving too much away, Bond and Descarpes face off against each other with a great fight scene that reminds the viewer of the opening pre-credit ’Thunderball’ fight. This eventually leads to an exploding ending involving a small aircraft and a land-to-air missile.

Is SHAMELADY entertaining and fun ? Absolutely and I will tell you why it is so entertaining.

Fan films have become a unique entertainment on the Internet within the last several years. Films such as BATMAN : DEAD END and GRAYSON have shown the public what every fan would like Hollywood to do. A film that is worth paying our hard earn money to see. When Hollywood falls short from this goal, the fan then picks up his home video camera, calls up his close friends, and begins to make the film he or she would like to see.

Call it a catharsis but the Internet is filled with artistic amateur filmmakers, and some of them are very good.

That’s not to say SHAMELADY does not have its technical flaws. Some camera shots are slightly out of registration and a few frame compositions with the actors tend to be jarring to the viewer when juxtapositioned, but these are miniscule compared to the rest of the film. This is after all a ’fan film’ produced on a shoestring budget and believe me the film does not look like it was done cheaply. Filmed on location in a casino in Luc-sur-Mer, Normandy is not your typical ’fan film’ basement set.

The chemistry between the main actors is also key to its success. Serge Rotelli who plays James Bond is very believable and Irina Bogomolova as Anna Raykova is very sexy. Alice Suzan and Claudia Baqué add to the Bond girl repertory with some memorable moments that will make most red-blooded males return to this film for repeat performances.

Saussine also knows how to have fun with his film. In an earlier scene, Bond meets his superior ’M’ played by Shirley Lambert and Chief of Staff Tanner played by Simon Hamilton. On the wall of ’M’s office is the portrait of the Duke of Wellington. That portrait was stolen long before the first James Bond film "Dr. No" was produced in 1962. As a joke, the portrait was seen in Dr. No’s underground lair. Now it graces the walls of MI-6. Later in the film, Bond does a double take of a Roger Moore/Wellington portrait hanging in the villain’s mansion.

Saussine also does his best to pay homage to Ian Fleming, Harry Saltzman and Albert R. (Cubby) Broccoli by having their names displayed during the opening gun-barrel icon. Reminding us where the real source of inspiration comes from.

There are scenes that will remind the viewer of classic scenes from ’From Russia With Love’ and ’Goldfinger’. Even sound effects lifted from ’Never Say Never Again’ echo as the villain whips a broken lamp stand at our hero. During the final aircraft scene, some shots from Octopussy were lifted to help fill in what would be impossible to film without refinancing Blofeld’s volcano lair. One can really see the love of the series that went into this production.

The opening credits offers up the talents of David Arnold and Björk with a myriad of beautiful women multi-layered over casino motifs but the best part of his homage is the background music by John Barry. Barry’s music graced the earlier OO7 films and his music in SHAMELADY adds that most important ingredient that sadly no one else can reproduce. Saussine lifted music cues not only from Barry’s ’A View to a Kill’, but ’Diamonds Are Forever’, ’Octopussy’, ’The Living Daylights’ and a cell phone ringtone from ’On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’. Non-Bond music cues such as ’Somewhere In Time’ are used for the love scenes with Joan Jansen and a cue from ’The Black Hole’ is used during the SPECTRE conference meeting.

The film runs just over 56 minutes and depending on your computer’s speed and Internet provider it could take up from approximately 20 minutes to several hours to download. You will need a Divx player or a Divx patch for your Windows Movie Player to see the film. But trust me, the wait is worth it. You can download the film from Constellation Films for free.

The following reviews are from the forums of the www.commanderbond.net and www.mi6.co.uk websites.

Shaken, Not Stirred 19 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

Well done everyone involved in this project it was amazing and very easily the best James Bond fan film ever made.

I loved the fight scenes and the editing was great ! Very cool car chase too.

Good acting too... I couldn’t get subtitles to work so I’ll probably have to watch it again to understand more of the plot.

But still, I can’t give this film less than 10/10. Great work !

Tubes 19 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

That has to be the single greatest piece of fan media this forum has ever seen and, likely, the best James Bond fan film ever made. Simply brilliant.

The entire cast is superb. Specific praise goes to Serge Rotelli for an excellent performance as Bond.

The action is great, with the fights having a real brutal energy.

Aston Martin ! Roger Moore !

There are a couple of faults, mostly in the English sections. The dubbing is hit and miss and the sound mixing isn’t perfect. But these are forgivable, especially considering that this is a fan film.

Again, a superb job. You should be proud of what you accomplished.

10/10

Commander Ambrose 19 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

that was AMAZING congratulations, and i really got the bond vibe there !!!!

Satorious 19 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

That plugged a the hole until November next year.

This fan-film is an absolutely awesome technical achievement. No budget, but with Aston Martins, Babes, Casinos, great locations, action scenes and perhaps most tricky of all someone who can act/look like Bond (reminded me of Lazenby quite a bit). This has raised the bar for what all Bond fan films should strive to achieve.

Frank 19 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

After 56 minutes I didn’t know what to think, was it bad or good. But I’ll start from the beginning.

The very first shots of the film were a bit strange for me but as soon as the story started to fold it got better. To be honest I can’t critize the script or the plot.

But the filming and camera. For the first 30 minutes or so I was dissapointed because the camerawork didn’t deliver what intense situation which were written. I think one thing to blame were the camera angles and that the image was to static in the beginning. The film needs to be dynamic, so the story would flow nicely without any rough parts.

Also there were some mistakes and I think you have noticed them yourself as well. In the scene where the drive by shooting happened the shadow of the cameraman was clearly in the wrong place. Also some parts had a bit rough editing.

When the film started to end I started to enjoy the film more. The fighting scenes were much better, I think the No.1 guy did a great job during the fight. So when the film progressed towards the end it actually got better, a lot better in fact. The camera angles were better and the editing as well.

I really liked the way the final scenes were filmed, especially the walking into the sea. The scarf shot was a great idea, tho when filming you doubted for a second about continuing filming or not. I think you should have cut there when the scarf for a moment goes out of the lens sight.

One more thing about the camera work, in some scenes the actors went out of the sight, you should had corrected the angle while filming. You never know what might happen.

Music would had helped you make it more intense where it should have been. Sometimes music can do miracles. Put a bit more emphasis on the music in Shaterhand.

In the end it was a effort which gave all of you probably new experience and ideas. No matter what other people think about the film, as long as you like it yourself. I will congratulate all of you for finishing the project. Good luck on the next one and may it be better than the Shamelady !

007 Nick Clay 19 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

Alright, it’s my turn to say something. First off, I had to watch it without subtitles. I followed the intructions on the site, and I put them both in the file, with the changes and it said it converted or something, but everytime I try to play the file it would freeze. So if someone could help, that’d be amazing.

But first off, it was the greatest fan film out there. Like everyone else said, you captured Bond with a small budget. I would really like to see what you could do, Shamelord, with an actual budget. Maybe one day you should try to direct an actual Bond film, and show them Shamelady and Shatterhand.

There were some things I did not enjoy, mostly small stuff not about the film. The special effects mostly, and the muzzle flashes. Eh, I did not like them, especially during the drive-by scene at night. You could not really see the machine gun shooting. Then there were some cuts and camera angles I did not like as well. Moneypenny spoke VERY quickly too, I could not really undertand her, but that’s alright.

Like what Frank said, I enjoyed the ending as well. The fight was perfect there, and your baddie felt a lot like Goldfinger to me for some reason. He was also powerful enough to lift Bond OFF the ground ! I loved that fight, and the plane ending was nicely done too ! I loved the ending, it was pretty tense.

What I thought was VERY well done was the mixing of sound and music. It fix right, just like a professional film. It was all put together well. You should post a new topic with like a film school sort of thing, showing all us young kids how to do this sort of thing. I thought it was all put together nicely.

My fav part would be the title credits. THOSE looked professional, and the music fit great.

Bring on SHATTERHAND !

BritishChap007 19 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

It was incredible. I can’t imagine any fan-film living up that ever.... except maybe Shatterhand.

It was very proffesional from the beggining. I love how you did the gunbarrel. Sure, it’s a common effect these days, but you guys got it right ! The credits were also amazingly proffesional. Plus, the Aston Mart DB5, locations, babes, and action !

The story was very well done, especially for a fan-film.

My only other minor complaint is that I didn’t much care for the one girl (not the russian agent), and thought that the relationship between Bond and her could have been more developed.

Superb work though. It is amazing. It really felt Bondian and I applaud you for this. You had all the proffesional touches you needed !

Definatly fan-film history here, and makes the wait for November 7th 2008 a little shorter !

chigawa 20 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

Wow ! To call this a benchmark achievement in Fan Media history, would be a massive understatement. I’m afraid I don’t have time to go into vivid detail, but I’ll just say that this is a must-watch for any bond fan. Congratulations Shamelord, and the entire production team. What you have done here is monumental.

For-Your-Eyes-Only 20 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

Speaking of playing nicely, Shamelord ? WOW ! All I can say is WOW ! I have only seen the first 15mins and I just had to log on here to tell you what I think so far. The opening sequence was awsome, very nicely coriographed, and I didn’t know what to expect to see w the opening credits, I have seen some bad ones before, but you have delivered the goods. Ahh... and using that song by Bjork, very good choice, she is one of my favorites. Also WELL coriographed was the opening credits, very traditional Bond. Ahh yesss... and speaking of traditionalm this movie is looking very traditional and Bondian. Don’t get me wrong, Casino Royale was a great movie, but I was a little sad to see the series revamped from the beginning, I was looking for somthing to continue on from DAD. You have given me somthing that Casino Royale didn’t deliver.. Thank you sir. I must commend you on your script and conversation thus far, OUTSTANDING, you have really spent time on this, and it shows, I love all the little quips and jokes from Bond. Made me alugh. Oh, last thing to note, it was a nice touch to pay homage to Tracy before the credits started, really brings us back to knowing how Bond feels about SPECTRE before he faces them again.

okokokok, I have spoken too much, I still have 45mins left to watch.

For-Your-Eyes-Only 20 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

Cheers ! Cheers ! Cheers ! Bravo ! (shakes Shamelord’s hand) Take a bow sir, very, VERY well done. Umm.. wow, honestly, I am speechless, I have no idea what to say. That film was incredable. The ladies were beautiful, the locations were exotic, the characters had life, the action was intense, the climax at the end w the missle was great ! You have done a very well done job. The story flowed very nicely, you spent the time finishing your shots, and having your actors act very realisticly, you didn’t just grab a quick shot then cut to another. The french/ english was a really nice touch, I have never seen a movie like that before. The jokes and one liners were great too. Ohh... and the tragedy at the end w Joan was very sad but beautiful. She would rather save the life of Bond then carry out her orders, but instead of dying at the hands of SPECTRE she has given her life back to the hands of her creater.

Hmm.. I can’t find any critisizms, umm.. I guess it would have been nicer to see more gadgets in use on the car during the chase scene, and after it said James Bond Will Return, it would have been cool too see "in Shatterhand". The special effects were well done, I like the screen dropping down. Just when it shows Jacques through the window his bottom half is missing, looks a little wierd. Other than that, no complaints. I am sure you will still find things you would like to tweak, or to maybe have done different, but I will leave it up to you. I have been MORE than satisfied. You have even given this story some awsome hidden jewels, like when Bond looks at the painting of Sir Roger, you took the time to place the SPECTRE octopuss on the papers Jacques was burning, I was also reminded of Necros from TLD when the rock music was playing in the headphones during the chase of the Station P Agent.

Please, send mine, and all the Shamelady fans’ gratitude and appreciation to everyone that was involved in this film. It was a masterpiece and in my opinion belongs right in between DAD and CR on the top of my entertainment unit.

Here’s a vodka martini to you.

Commander James Bond 20 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

Just finished watching it. Amazing. Truly amazing, Shamelord. Without doubt the single best fan film I have ever seen, and unquestionably, this is the best piece of fan media to ever grace these forums. This really sets the benchmark for any future fan film. How such an almost professional quality movie can be made with a small budget and some cameras is beyond me.

You’ve certainly captured the essence of the cinematic James Bond. I must commend your lead actor for his great portrayal of 007 (he also looks like a hybrid between Lazenby and Brosnan which is quite cool). The story was great, the action was great. I’m also impressed that you managed to get your hands on an Aston Martin DB5 !

Overall, it was superb. Shamelord, you must be a true Bond fan to put so much time and effort in creating this film. I applaud you, and look forward with great anticipation to your next film.

Disco Volante 20 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

Seen it ! Wow, I really enjoyed it ! Some comments... I thought it was quite difficult to understand the plot in the beginning. I’d love english subtitles throughout the whole film (even when they speak english) Some dubbing & acting didn’t work 100% The muzzle flashes weren’t great, nor some sound effects and some visual effects/add-ons. But overall no big deal. The title sequence was awesome except the cards flying around. And a very nice title song ! Serge was a great Bond ! Fantastic movie ! Congrats to everyone involved.

adog007 20 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

Ok...I watched it without subtitles and i thought it was pretty good.. ill watch it later with subtitles so i know what the hell is going on.

Serge (i hope thats how you spell his name) made a fantastic Bond ! He was believeable and it didnt seem hard for him to act like Bond !

The plot was alright, like i said i would have to watch with subtitles to understand it a whole lot better.

Now the best part of the film was the car chase ! Very well done !

It had some minor flaws... The dubbing, some of the acting from M... The muzzle flash’s and the sound effects for the guns could be better but for a fan film it was great !

Here is the final verdict

8.6/10

lazenby_no1 20 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

Excellent. No-one has mentioned the appearance of the Wellington painting in M ’s office, nice touch. I have watched Dr. No about 6 times in the last 2 weeks so I did a Sean Connery style double take when the scene started.

The main titles were very good and I also thought the end titles were worth a look.

Bonds dialogue was spot on. Of particular note was the line that went something like "I add a little spice to every game I play."

I can see the idea of "shooting" the tracker on to the villains car being used in an Eon film.

The end fight is very good, like a mixture of TB and OHMSS’s fight scenes.

A few questions. Do you have any idea how many effects shots there is ? The tank, real (stock footage) or model ? The view through the binoculars makes me think model.

This is not criticism but I noticed a couple of mistakes in the sub-titles. A girl mentions a "forsee-able evening" (or game I don’t remember), I think the word "predictable" would be better. Also there is a mis-spelling of "My" as "Ma". These are probably not worth fixing until the dvd is being made.

Thompson Colton 21 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

Excellent fan film, Shamelord. One of the best. Nice touch having Sir Rog as the Duke.

Doctor Shatterhand 21 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

Shamelord,

From one fan filmmaker to another - well done ! Now take a deep breath, relax and get some sleep. Your film belongs to the fans now.

I have been reading many of the critiques from this forum and I have to go on the defense for my fan film brother on the other side of the pond. Making an action film with this many actors, locations, special effects and stunts on literally a shoestring budget without anyone getting hurt is not easy.

For that matter any kind of film making is not easy.

But seriously, you deserve high praise and you are getting it.

Every fan film has technical problems whether it be sound, lighting, editing or even a camera shot that is out of color registration. The fact remains, we all can see the hard work and dedication you and your cast and crew put on the screen.

Even with your toughest critic in this forum you cannot deny the fact that Shamelady IS entertaining.

I share the same feelings at the end of the film - bring on Shatterhand !

BTW : I love the explosion of the airplane at the end. Nicely edited.

Stuart Basinger Dr. Shatterhand’s Botanical Garden http://www.shatterhand007.com/

Marketto 21 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

This is amazing, nice job you guys.

Loved the Main Titles, the Bond itself is really nice too. I’m wondering if Babs or G.Wilson has been told about it. If don’t, they should, cause this is the most perfect homage to Bond...

CASINOROYALE 21 November 2007, www.mi6forums.com

My review, Plot : Kinda hard to understand. Car : Very Nice Girls : They were good Bond : Please tell Mr. Serge he did excellent

Here is what happenend, I was 45 minutes into the movie and my mom said to goto bed.But I didn’t I had to wach it, so i got grounded while watching Shamelady...Thats how much I enjoyed your film and good-luck with shatterhand

Mkb 24 November 2007, http://debrief.commanderbond.net

Just watched it guys, and you really did a nice work. Of course it’s a fanfilm and can’t be compared with an official (= funded) production, but you did a quite professional job, with a nice cast, and the many references in the scenes make it a very entertaining movie. And by the way, I must admit that I have a little crush on Gizmo Keep up the good work ! I’m looking forward to watching Shatterhand !

ACE 27 November 2007, http://debrief.commanderbond.net

Shamelady est merveilleux ! Le meilleur Bond fan film a jamais fait, je pense.

I’ve seen a LOT of fan films but this one trumps them all. It is so cleverly made, with so much love and attention to detail. I particularly like the po-faced-ness of it all and the wonderful production values - the effects are incredible. A Gallic Bond is not the first thing on everybody’s minds (although, in real life, Lambert Wilson nearly made it), but Serge Rotelli has a sort of Michael Billington lean-ness that could have really worked in a parallel universe. I like how they treat the language too : Bond is a fluent French speaker, after all. Of course, the one thing this film does very well with is girls : Claudia Baqué, Irini Bogomolova and Alice Suzan play their scenes with red-blooded gusto : it’s worth a download for them alone. The assorted coterie of villainy (some humourously recognizable to certain viewers ) is topped by the stunning Luc Le Clech as SPECTRE’s Jacques Descarpes - his Blofeld-like entrance scene is worth the price of admission alone .

Director, writer, editor (well, everything-er), Monsieur Eric Saussine has created a minor masterpiece. No...really ! Even if the subtitles don’t work, download it anyway. You will marvel at what he has created. The effects and post production are terrific but ALL fans will love the superb Binder/Kleinman-esque title sequence. Cleverly using a non-Bond Arnold song, this sequence alone is indicative of the fun, passion and love that has gone into this project. Bond and non-Bond John Barry scores have been seamlessly edited to produce a score in keeping with the visuals.

You’ll have to pinch yourself to remember it’s only a fan film (well, you won’t really).

Rien ne va plus, M. Bond, indeed !

Spielberg, non ! Saussine, OUI !

B. Brown 3 December 2007, www.mi6forums.com

I’d say this is the best Bond fan film to be released here on Mi6.

Even better than that Casino Royale PTS remake / masterpiece I threw together.

Congrats to everyone involved, and good job.

Mr. Twilight 3 December 2007, http://debrief.commanderbond.net

A big thumps up for the film. I’m not so big fan of fan films in general but this one was in a class above all I’ve seen so far. Very professional if I may say so about a fan film. Congratulations !

ianintheuk 10 December 2007, www.mi6forums.com

Have to say for a start that I am really impressed ; this has the feel of a lost James Bond film or a pilot for a TV film at least. It seems like a continuation from OHMSS with Serge really fitting the role very well. The Acting for the most part is good, though it could do with a bit of tightening up. The casting is great, no one stood out as mis-cast. The cinematography is really spot on, with some fine angles and great use of editing during the car chase The plot even though it is obviously a re-write of Casino Royale is very workable and carries an internal logic with it. Use of Locations and sets is excellent, the Spectre set is really impressive and all the rest seemed to fit.

Now some thing that could have been better

kv007 10 December 2007, www.mi6forums.com

Best fan film out there I must say. Where did you get ahold of the filming equipment ? I loved the tracking shots you threw in there, but then again, I love any shot where the camera’s in motion.

1) The sub-titles are a bit exact at time as though someone has translated using a dictionary, I would suggest in future you get an English speaker to go over these before release. Also any chance you could issue a fully English dubbed version ?????

2) The opening sequence is too long, I think you got a bit carries away with the “gun fight” section. How many times can a leather arm chair save Bond from gunshot ?

3) ‘Tanner’ would never call the Queens palace just “Buckingham” its either “Buckingham Palace” or just “The Palace”

4) The meeting of Bond and Joan is stilted (Dialogue here is the poorest in the whole film) she never really introduces herself.

5) The section when Joan’s assistance is follows seems redundant, a bit of filler. Why is this included ?

6) The part in Bond rooms with the Russian woman could have done with a slight expansion and a few more lines for her.

PLEASE don’t take any of this wrongly I am really impressed. This among the best ever fan films and I am really looking forward to SHATTERHAND

Double-O-7 2 January 2008, http://debrief.commanderbond.net

Shamelord, Got all the bugs worked-out on using the English subtitles and was able to watch Shamelady without interruption. Very well-produced film - my congratulations and appreciation to all involved !