Throughout its first 25 years, Major League Soccer has seen players from all different corners of the globe, each with their own career story. Whether it be a guy like Tim Melia or Chris Wondolowski who were scrappy guys that came out of nowhere to be stars in this league, or world famous names such as Zlatan, Beckham, and Henry, the league's history of big names is as diverse as they come.
Let's take a look at the best player from each country around the globe. This will be based on national team allegiance. Today, we'll be leading with Europe!
Please note that this is my opinion, and in some cases the decisions were tough; I'll be sure to add in honorable mentions where I can, or add notes.
Albania: Shkëlzen Gashi ( COL 2016-18)
Short list to pick from here, as Gashi's only competition is Jahmir Hyka and Hamdi Salihi. Gashi gets the nod, if nothing else, for his huge 2016 season, where he scored 10 regular season goals (one of which was that year's Goal of the Year) as the Rapids damn near won the Shield. The madlad then went and one-upped that with his absurd equalizer in the playoffs against the Galaxy.
His last two years weren't as fruitful, but man, when he was on he could pull something out of nowhere.
Armenia: Yura Movsisyan ( KC 2006-07, RSL 2007-09 & 2016-18, CHI 2018)
Four choices here, although in the end it's Movsisyan winning out over Harut Karapetyan, who played a couple seasons in the 90s for the Galaxy, San Jose, and Tampa Bay. The fourth pick in a strong 2006 MLS SuperDraft out of Pasadena City College, Movsisyan is mostly associated with RSL, who acquired him in a 2007 trade. With the Claret and Cobalt, he would tally 15 goals in 53 regular season appearances, and in 2009 he'd hoist the club's first MLS Cup. That'd be his last game with RSL until 2016 after some time in Europe with Randers, Krasnodar, and Spartak Moscow (even sharing the Russian PL Golden Boot in 2012/13 with Wanderson). He'd put up a similar clip of 16 in 57 before being waived and finishing his MLS career with four scoreless games with Chicago.
Austria: Daniel Royer ( NYRB 2016-pres.)
The choice here was largely Royer vs. Andreas Ivanschitz, who was a regular starter for Seattle's first MLS Cup, but I can't say no to a man with over 100 MLS matches played and three straight 10-goal seasons. In all comps, the former Austria Vienna man is just two goals behind Thierry Henry for third on the Red Bulls' all time goal scoring list.
Belarus: Sasha Gotsmanov ( COL 2005)
Gotsmanov qualifies by default as the only Belarusian player in MLS history. The Minsk native (and son of former Soviet and Belarusian international Sergei Gotsmanov) played one (1) single game for Colorado in October 2005, against RSL.
Belgium: Laurent Ciman ( MTL 2015-17, LAFC 2018, TFC 2019-pres.)
Shouts to Roland Lamah, who had his moments in Dallas, and Jelle van Damme, who played a season and a half for the Galaxy, but Ciman is the obvious choice. While he's fallen off a cliff as he's gotten older, he's a three-time All-Star and won Defender of the Year in his first MLS season; in his second, he played for Belgium at Euro 2016. At 35, he's lost a step and probably should only be used in emergencies, but at his best he was an elite MLS center back that could also be deployed at right back.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Haris Medunjanin ( PHI 2017-19, CIN 2020-pres.)
The first one where I'm not totally confident in my pick, as Baggio Hušidić made this tricky (and as a Union fan I'm afraid of bias). But at his best, Haris is an assist machine (30 in four MLS seasons so far), and a threat on set pieces; the madlad even scored an Olimpico this year. His left foot is probably the best the Union have ever had. While his commitment to defense was nonexistent, give him the ball and he could spray a pass anywhere.
Bulgaria: Hristo Stoichkov ( CHI 2000-02, DC 2003)
One of three former Ballon d'Or winners to play in MLS (the others being Lothar Matthaus and Kaka, although "playing" is generous for the former), Stoichkov spent the last four seasons of his career in MLS, scoring 22 goals in 72 regular season matches for Chicago and DC. In his first season, a 9 goal in 18 match outing for the Fire, he also won the US Open Cup, scoring the opening goal of the final, a 2-1 win over Miami. (The winning goal, by the way, was scored by our old friend Owen Goal.)
Croatia: Damir Kreilach ( RSL 2018-pres.)
Mr. Miyagi's favorite MLS player for his crane kick equalizer in the playoffs, the former Rijeka and Union Berlin man has proven to be an excellent utility piece and core part of RSL throughout his time there, scoring 26 goals and chipping in 14 assists in 86 regular season matches and playing all over the damn place (naturally a central midfielder, he's probably still RSL's best forward). At 31, he still has a lot to give.
MLS has seen a huge influx of Croats lately, though; before Kreilach's 2018 signing there had only been four Croatian players in MLS history, two of whom barely played. Currently, there are five on active rosters.
Czechia: Luboš Kubík ( CHI 1998-2001, DAL 2001)
Czech players have had a good hit rate in MLS. In his lone MLS season, Bořek Dočkal led the league in assists, and Zdeněk Ondrášek was a very solid piece for Dallas, albeit one whose MLS time was brief.
But no. We have to go with Kubik. The sweeper was Best XI twice, in 1998 and 1999, and won Defender of the Year in 1998 helping Chicago to a MLS Cup-Open Cup double. He'd win another Open Cup two years later, before being traded to Dallas in 2001 and retiring due to injury.
So many lethal counterattacks started on the foot of this man, and he is rightfully seen as one of the greatest defenders the league has ever seen.
Denmark: Jimmy Nielsen ( KC 2010-13)
I debated going WAYYYYYYY off the board here and throwing out Miklos Molnar. His time in MLS was brief, just the 2000 season before he retired, but the man was the best attacking piece on a Cup winner. He could have balled out if he didn't retire early.
But nah. We're going with Casino Jimmy, one of the keys towards Kansas City's early 2010s turnaround. A two time All-Star, Nielsen was Goalkeeper of the Year in 2012, a year that also saw him win the Open Cup with the Wiz (on penalties, because KC and penalties, name a more iconic duo at this point). In 2013, he capped off his career by winning MLS Cup, again on penalties, while playing with broken ribs.
England: Bradley Wright-Phillips ( 2013-2019, LAFC 2020)
This league, man.
The list of English players to have represented in MLS is a long one, full of iconic names. Ashley Cole. David Beckham. Frank Lampard. Steven Gerrard. Jermain Defoe. Wayne Rooney. Hell, even Bradley's brother Shaun.
But nope. Many of those guys are the butt of many MLS jokes. BWP, on the other hand, is one of the greatest goal scorers the league has ever seen, with two Golden Boots to his name and well over a century of league goals. He was a part of 3 Shield winning teams, and made CONCACAF's Best XI in 2018.
And it all started with a quiet trial in 2013 after Charlton dumped him. This. League.
And This. Man. Even as a fan of Philly who doesn't care much for the Red Bulls, I respect this dude and everything he's done. I hope he gets another year after winning Comeback Player of the Year this year.
Estonia: Joel Lindpere ( NYRB 2010-12, CHI 2013)
The only other option here was Erik Sorga, who could dethrone Lindpere as he came to MLS at a very young age. But it's unlikely, as Lindpere was quietly very solid for the Red Bulls during his time. The Tallinn native was a two-time All-Star, and in 2010 he was named the Red Bulls' team MVP.
Finland: Alex Ring ( NYC 2017-2020, AUS pres.)
T O P I C A L
There's a few fairly talented Finns in MLS right now that could make this interesting (I really like Robin Lod's game, and Lassi Lappelainen would be excellent for Montreal if he'd stop getting hurt). Ring however has proven his worth across 4 seasons, including time as NYC's captain. Over 10,000 MLS minutes, mostly for good teams, as a defensive anchor, he will be a fantastic tone-setter for the new Austin team.
France: Thierry Henry ( NYRB 2010-14)
Oh man, as an Ireland fan I wanted to give this to literally anyone else. I am still bitter, dammit.
His best competition is probably Aurelien Collin, who has a closetful of trophies (including a Best XI and MLS Cup MVP). But no...it's Henry.
When a big name comes to MLS, what people want to see is someone who treats the league with respect. Henry did that. Not only was he dominant on the pitch, a three-time Best XI nomination, he also respected the history of the club he played for and gave 100%, even though he was getting up there in the years. He's a Red Bulls and MLS legend...as much as I curse that godforsaken hand
Georgia: Valeri "Vako" Qazaishvili ( SJ 2017-20)
It looks like the San Jose chapter of Vako's career is done and dusted. While the former Vitesse man struggled for consistency, he did put up 26 goals and 13 assists across four MLS seasons for the Quakes, including 10 while being coached by Mikael Stahre, which should probably get him and Wondo some sort of award.
We'll see what's next for him, if he leaves MLS or goes back to Europe. His only competition was Quakes teammate Guram Kashia.
Germany: Bastian Schweinsteiger ( CHI 2017-19)
I'm...actually not sure about this one. I actually changed this while writing, as I very nearly chose Julian Gressel; the former Rookie of the Year has two 10-assist seasons under his belt, and Kai Wagner has also been one of the league's better fullbacks for Philadelphia; Schweinsteiger was solid enough for Chicago in his advanced age for some very frustrating teams (and even moved positions to center back!)...but man, I don't know.
Germany is weird. For a country with such a great footballing tradition, the pickings are fairly slim. Arne Friedrich had one good year for Chicago before injuries claimed his career. Lottar Matthaus was as committed to this league as Schalke are to winning football matches. Stefan Aigner was stifled by Anthony Hudson going galaxy brain. Torsten Frings...existed.
I dunno.
Greece: Alexandros Tabakis ( ATL 2017)
The only Greek in MLS history...and our second one game wonder. Atlanta's FOURTH string keeper in 2017, he managed to sneak into a game against Minnesota with Brad Guzan on international duty, Alec Kann injured, and Kyle Reynish sent off during the match.
Atlanta lost 3-2. He's now in USL.
Hungary: Nemanja Nikolić ( CHI 2017-19)
Dániel Sallói and Krisztián Németh had their moments, but the winner is Nikolić, who came to MLS from the Ekstraklasa and immediately won the Golden Boot. His totals diminished in the three seasons he spent with Chicago, but 51 goals in 96 appearances isn't too shabby at all - it's second in Fire history behind Ante Razov.
Iceland - Guðmundur Þórarinsson ( NYC 2020-pres.)
Not much choice, 3 guys, all of whom were mostly bench guys. I almost went with Kristinn Steindorsson here on the merits of "he didn't have a penalty saved by Rodrigo Schlegel."
Israel: Gadi Kinda ( SKC 2020-pres.)
It was either him or Dedi Ben Dayan, really. And I nearly went with the former Colorado left back, but nah, Kinda is very much the superior player. The midfielder born in Ethiopia, Kinda shone brightly in his first season in KC, with 6 goals and 4 assists in his debut season. He'll be a DP next season.
Italy: Sebastian Giovinco ( TOR 2015-18)
A signing that changed an entire club.
Before Giovinco, the Reds were a laughingstock. He came in, won a Golden Boot and MVP right away, led the league in assists, made Best XI three years in a row, led them to their first playoff game, their first MLS Cup final, their first MLS Cup win, and a historic treble. And they damn near won CCL too.
The Atomic Ant was must-see from Day 1. It's not just because of him that Toronto is now one of MLS's elite...but he was a huge part of changing that culture. 83 goals in 142 games in all comps. And he dished out his fair share of assists too, with a telepathic partnership with Jozy.
Latvia: Raivis Hščanovičs ( TOR 2010)
Not much to write about here. 14 games for a bad Reds team. Gets in by default with no other Latvian MLS players.
Liechtenstein: Nicholas Hasler ( TOR 2017-18, CHI 2018-19, SKC 2019)
Another one by default. 66 games as a utilityman. Won MLS Cup and the Shield, though.
Lithuania: Vytautas Andriuškevičius ( POR 2016-18, DC 2018)
Only other choice was Edgaras Jankauskas, a forward who played 14 games for the Revs. Vytas played 37 for Portland and zero for DC.
Luxembourg: Maxime Chanot ( NYC 2016-pres.)
Another one by default but this one's an actually really solid player that finished fourth in Defender of the Year voting in 2019. We take those.
Malta: Etienne Barbera ( VAN 2012)
2 games in 2012. Only Maltese player in MLS.
Montenegro: Branko Bošković ( DC 2010-12)
Pretty much every other Montenegrin player played less than 20 games in MLS. Bošković played 43 before returning to Europe for family reasons. 7 assists in his final season though, which is technically something.
Netherlands: Johan Kappelhof ( CHI 2016-pres.)
Much like Germany, bright footballing tradition, very shaky MLS history. Which is weird because the Eredivisie exports a lot of guys to MLS.
Also, I'm excluding Kelvin Leerdam, as he is probably changing his international allegiance to Suriname.
So I'm going with 2017 All-Star Kappelhof, who I think is still fairly solid.
But really the choices aren't great. Dave van den Burgh? Roland Alberg scored a hat trick once I guess? Danny Koevermans was decent but injured all the time?
Maybe it's a hot take. It probably is.
North Macedonia: Oka Nikolov ( PHI 2013)
Never actually played, only in a friendly. Watch this space though as North Macedonia is apparently courting LAFC's Danny Musovski.
Northern Ireland: Johnny Steele ( RSL 2012, NYRB 2013-14)
Another case of shaky opposition, it was either Steele or Steve Morrow, who played 41 games for Dallas in the aughts.
Steele played regularly for a Shield winner, the 2013 Red Bulls. Easy peasy.
Norway: Vadim Demidov Ola Kamara ( CLB 2016-17, LAG 2018, DC 2019-pres.)
Adama Diomande is the main competition here. Kamara's first stint in MLS was a smashing success, scoring 48 goals in 90 regular season matches for Columbus and the Galaxy (he was traded for Gyasi Zardes before 2018). A brief foray to China followed, and while he's back in MLS with DC he hasn't quite been the same.
Still a good player on his day, maybe just the Bennyball effect.
Poland: Piotr Nowak ( CHI 1998-2002)
When I think of early Chicago, Nowak and the earlier-mentioned Kubik are the first two names that come to mind. Kubik held down the back while Nowak was the chief creator in the midfield. Three-time best XI, three-time All-Star, and MLS Cup MVP.
...can I drink my water now?
Portugal: José Gonçalves ( NE 2013-16)
Gonçalves fell off a cliff in his latter years, but in his first MLS season he won Defender of the Year and in his second he was a key part of a team that made the MLS Cup final and damn near won the thing.
Runner up here is Nani who is probably closing in.
EDIT: I also forgot to mention Pedro Santos, thanks to the Crew fans who pointed that one out. I still think Gonçalves pips him for his 2013 if nothing else, but Santos is probably closer than Nani.
Republic of Ireland: Robbie Keane ( LAG 2011-16)
A LOT closer than you think; Time Person of the Century Juventus legend Ronnie O'Brien was two-time best XI himself.
But nonono. This is Robbie freaking Keane. When we see these big name Euro guys interested in MLS, this is the man we want them to be.
Hypercompetitive and holding guys accountable on and off the pitch, and scoring for fun. 83 goals in 125 MLS regular season appearances. Best XI four times. 2014 MVP. MLS Cup MVP in 2014. A closetful of team awards including 3 MLS Cups.
This man was a baller, and frankly his departure was the beginning of the Galaxy decline into irrelevance, but that's a story for another time.
Romania: Alexandru Mitriță ( NYC 2019-pres.?)
Question mark because he's on loan and I have no idea if it'll be permanent, but he was punted out by the Pigeons just as he was really starting to break out. He scored 12 goals in his debut season last year but filled in nicely this year while Maxi Moralez was injured. EDIT: NYC fans have informed me he wasn't punted out, but was loaned out to be closer to his pregnant wife. My apologies.
Honorable mention: Alex Zotincă, who played for the Wizards and Chivas USA in the aughts. Brave man.
Russia: Igor Simutenkov ( KC 2002-04)
Not a lot to pick from here either. 49 games, 12 goals for this forward from Moscow, who now serves as an assistant coach at Zenit.
Scotland: John Spencer ( COL, 2001-04)
Give Johnny Russell another few years and he'll pass Spencer, but for now I'm leaning the latter. Spencer as a coach was frustrating as hell, but as a player he was Best XI twice and an MVP finalist once. Dude could score goals despite battling injuries in his time in MLS.
Just don't let him sign Kris Boyd. Then you lose to Cal FC. No one wants that.
Serbia: Aleksandar Katai ( 2018-19, 2020)
FROM A SPORTING PERSPECTIVE.
And mostly due to a weak pool. Runner up was probably someone like Miloš Kocić.
18 goals in 62 games for Chicago before getting yeeted back to Serbia for Bad People Reasons
Slovakia: Albert Rusnák ( RSL 2017-pres.)
He has tenure on Ján Greguš, who's the closest competitor, but Rusnák is also good. He followed up a 14-assist debut season (4th in the league) with back to back 10 goal seasons before struggling this year with injury.
Slovenia: Robert Berić ( CHI 2020-pres.)
Once he got acclimated to MLS, the goals came, and Chicago has its successor to Nikolić up top. He finished with 12 goals in his debut season, tied for second in the league with Ruidiaz and Zardes.
Also, from what I saw early on, seems like he's a dark-arts type of guy that gets in your head. That's fun.
Spain: David Villa ( NYC 2015-18)
I really didn't want to put him here due to recent allegations, and the fact that Pozuelo has already matched his MVP and two Best XI performances....
77 goals in 117 games though, that's tough to pass on.
Sweden: Zlatan Ibrahimović ( LAG 2018-19)
It's Zlatan.
He pretty much dragged a sorry LA organization to something resembling competitiveness.
What the hell did you expect?
(Anton Tinnerholm made this hard, though)
EDIT: Forgot Gustav Svensson as well in my honorable mentions.
Switzerland: Stefan Frei ( TOR 2009-13, SEA 2014-pres.)
Pretty self-explanatory, one of the most accomplished keepers in MLS history and with a closetful of hardware. And all it took Seattle to get him was a late first round pick that pinged around so much that it was eventually traded for a coach.
Turkey: Sercan Güvenışık ( SJ 2012)
5 games that year. No one else has flown the Turkish flag in MLS.
Ukraine: Dema Kovalenko ( CHI 1999-2002, DC 2002-05, NYRB 2006-08, RSL 2008, LAG 2008-10)
I'm afraid he'd break my legs if I didn't. One of the most physical and downright dirty players the league has ever seen. Made nearly 300 appearances though, and has one each of the 3 major US trophies (MLS Cup, USOC, Shield), all with a different team.
Wales: Andy Dorman ( NE 2004-07, 2013-15)
Dorman was a key part of that real good Revs team from the mid-aughts, and just beats out Carl Robinson. He made 112 appearances in his first stint, and played in 3 MLS Cup finals, though they famously lost all three. The Revs brought him back in 2013 after some time in Scotland and England, and was playing semipro in the area as recently as 2018.

Individual game with 36 players. Half men, half women, with the normal structure of both sexes doing the same daily/elimination in separate rounds. James bond theme, hosted preferably in Montenegro or somewhere else on the Adriatic.
For each of the daily challenges the contestants are gathered and explained the rules (and put into partners or trios if needed) before the daily begins each contestant is "given" $3,000 which they must bet at least $1,000 on male side and $1,000 on the female side for the outcome of the daily.
Bets are done in secret, everyone is given a tablet to place their bets on, and players are not allowed to talk about their bets until the challenge is over. They can root or jeer, but they can not make any reference or implication about who or what they bet on. Anyone who discloses their bets early forfeits all their money from that round and is automatically declared the loser of that daily challenge and placed into elimination.
Once they get back to the house, all the bets are made public so that the contestants can see who placed bets foagainst them.
They can bet multiple players/pairs/trios in increments of $100 with odds set by production or get some casino to sponser it and set the odds, but set a maximum of 500% and minimum of 50%. Production could also add other things the players could bet on relating to the daily challenge, for example in a trivia challenge you could bet on how many rounds it will go. You can not bet directly on yourself or your team.
After the daily is completed, whatever money the players won or that they didn't bet goes into their individual account.
The winners of the daily automatically gets $10,000 plus any money won on their betting added to their account and are immune from being placed into the elimination.
The losers of the daily challenge automatically goes into the elimination round.
The other players to go into elimination are chosen based on the rest of the house buying another player in using the money in their bank account. For example player "A" says they are willing to pay $12,000 to put player "B" into elimination, player "C" says they are willing to pay $5,000 to put player "B" into elimination, so player "B" is at $17,000. If no other players collectively bid more on a different player then player "B" is put into elimination. The bids are done in secret, but all made public after it is done.
The money that is used to buy the player into elimination is put into the Jackpot. The Jackpot has an opening balance of $250,000.
If two players are bid into elimination by the same amount of money, the winner of the daily of the opposite sex breaks the tie.
If no player is bought into elimination (everyone refuses to bid in a player of that sex) then winners of the daily challenge get to take $1000 from every player and must buy in a player using that money. (If a player doesn't have money their account goes into the negative, and thus during the next daily would only have $2,000 available to bet)
Eliminations are done like normal, the player who is eliminated has any money in their account added to the Jackpot.
14 dailies narrow the field down to 4 women and 4 men who compete in the final. Once you make it to the final you keep any money in your personal account. 1st place male and female each get 35% of the jackpot, 2nd place each get 15% of the jackpot, 3rd &4th only get whatever is in their account. But you must finish the final to get any money.

So, in honor of Pan's Labyrinth celebrating its 15th anniversary next year (Holy shit), I'd like to talk about its box office performance around the world.
So, domestically (in the United States and Canada), on its opening day (December 29th, 2006), the 20th highest grossing movie of that day. That day, the highest grossing movie was Night at The Museum.
In Spain (where the movie is set), on its opening weekend (October 13th-15th, 2006), by contrast, it was the highest grossing movie at the box office that weekend.
In the United Kingdom, on its opening weekend (November 24th-26th, 2006), it was the 8th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Casino Royale.
In France, on its opening weekend (November 1st-7th, 2006), it was the 6th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was a movie called I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single.
In Germany, on its opening weekend (February 22nd-25th, 2007), it was the 7th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Ghost Rider.
In Greece, on its opening weekend (February 8th-11th, 2007), it was the 4th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was a movie called A Bee In August.
In Italy, on its opening weekend (November 23rd-26th, 2006), it was the 8th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was a movie called Anplagghed al cinema.
In Poland, on its opening weekend (March 30th-April 1st, 2007), it was the 3rd highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was 300.
In Denmark, on its opening weekend (March 8th-11th, 2007), it was the 4th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was a movie called The Black Madonna.
In the Netherlands, on its opening weekend (April 26th-29th, 2007), it was the 7th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Mr. Bean's Holiday.
In Sweden, on its opening weekend (February 9th-11th, 2007), it was the 8th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Night at The Museum.
In Turkey, on its opening weekend (April 6th-8th, 2007), it was the 5th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Premonition.
In Finland (where it originally opened on December 29th, 2006, but they didn't really bother reporting the box office stats for its opening week), on its 14th week (March 30th-April 5th, 2007), it was the 20th highest grossing movie of that week. That week, the highest grossing movie was Mr. Bean's Holiday.
In Austria (where it originally opened on February 23rd, 2007, but they didn't really bother reporting the box office stats for its opening weekend, like Finland did), on its 8th weekend (April 12th-15th, 2007), it was the 28th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was 300. By contrast, on its 2nd week (March 1st-7th, 2007), it was the 6th highest grossing movie of that week. That week, the highest grossing movie was Ghost Rider.
In Norway, on its opening weekend (January 5th-7th, 2007), it was the 7th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Casino Royale.
In Belgium, on its opening weekend (November 22nd-26th, 2006), it was the 8th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was (once again) Casino Royale.
In Portugal, on its opening weekend (March 1st-7th, 2007), it was the 4th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Dreamgirls.
In the Czech Republic, on its opening weekend (August 9th-12th, 2007), it was the 9th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was The Simpsons Movie.
In South Africa, on its opening weekend (July 6th-8th, 2007), it was the 8th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Shrek the Third.
In Slovenia, on its opening weekend (May 17th-20th, 2007), it was the 2nd highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Spider-Man 3.
In Lithuania, on its opening weekend (January 19th-21st, 2007), it was the 3rd highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Night at the Museum.
In Latvia (where it originally opened on March 23rd, 2007, but they didn't really bother reporting its box office stats on opening week/day/weekend), on its 4th weekend (April 13th-15th, 2007), it was the 11th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Mr. Bean's Holiday.
In the United Arab Emirates, on its opening weekend (April 17th-20th, 2008), it was the 8th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was a movie called Street Kings.
In Bulgaria (where it originally opened on December 28th, 2007, but they didn't really report the opening weekend box office stats), on its 2nd weekend (January 4th-6th, 2008), it was the 8th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.
In Serbia and Montenegro, on its opening weekend (April 26th-29th, 2007), it was the 4th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Mr. Bean's Holiday.
In Romania, on its opening weekend (March 23rd-29th, 2007), it was the 7th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was 300.
In Mexico (which is where Del Toro is from and was one of the co-producers of this movie, and where it originally opened on October 20th, 2006, though they initially did not report the box office stats for its opening week there), on its 2nd week (October 27th-November 2nd, 2006), it was the 2nd highest grossing movie of that week. That week, the highest grossing movie was Barnyard.
In Colombia (where it originally opened on February 23rd, 2007, but they didn't really bother reporting its box office stats on opening weekend), on its 10th weekend (April 26th-29th, 2007), it was the 14th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Meet the Robinsons.
In Chile (where it originally opened on February 22nd, 2007, but they, like Colombia, didn't really bother reporting the box office stats on its opening weekend), on its 11th weekend (May 3rd-6th, 2007), it was the 20th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Spider-Man 3.
In Venezuela (where it originally opened on February 16th, 2007, but they also didn't really bother reporting the box office stats for the opening weekend), on its 9th weekend (April 13th-15th, 2007), it was the 12th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Meet the Robinsons.
In Argentina (again, they didn't really bother to report the box office stats on its opening weekend, even though it had originally opened on January 4th, 2007), on its 15th weekend (April 13th-15th, 2007), it was the 31st highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was 300.
In Bolivia (yet again, they didn't really bother to report the box office stats on its opening weekend, even though it had originally opened on February 22nd, 2007), on its 4th weekend (March 15th-18th, 2007), it was the 5th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was a movie called Los Andes no creen en Dios.
In Uruguay (and, yet again, they didn't really bother to report the box office stats on its opening weekend, even though it had originally opened on February 9th, 2007), on its 10th weekend (April 12th-15th, 2007), it was the 21st highest grossing movie at the box office that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Perfect Stranger.
In South Korea (where it had originally opened on November 30th, 2006, yet they didn't report the box office stats on its opening weekend), on its 2nd weekend (December 8th-10th, 2006), it was the 4th highest grossing movie that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was a movie called I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK. By contrast, on its 15th week (March 1st-7th, 2007), it was the 47th highest grossing movie of that week. That week, the highest grossing movie was a movie called Miracle on 1st Street.
In Australia, on its opening weekend (January 18th-21st, 2007), it was the 14th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Deja Vu.
In Russia, on its opening weekend (November 30th-December 3rd, 2006), it was the 7th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was a movie called The Power of Fear.
In Japan, on its opening weekend (October 6th-7th, 2007), it was the 14th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Hero.
In New Zealand, on its opening weekend (March 29th-April 1st, 2007), it was the 9th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Mr. Bean's Holiday.
In Taiwan, on its opening weekend (April 27th-29th, 2007), it was the highest grossing movie of that weekend.
In Hong Kong, on its opening week (March 15th-21st, 2007), it was the 7th highest grossing movie of that week. That week, the highest grossing movie was 300. By contrast, on its 5th weekend (April 12th-15th, 2007), it was the 22nd highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was Mr. Bean's Holiday.
And finally, In Thailand, on its opening weekend (April 12th-15th, 2007), it was the 11th highest grossing movie of that weekend. That weekend, the highest grossing movie was a movie called Bus Lane.
Hope you do enjoy that data! Thoughts?

What is ForgottenVision?
ForgottenVision is the Andra Chansen for Eurovision - a second chance for real entries form Eurovision, entries that weren't winners or haven't exactly become classics. Buit we all have those personal favorites we're fond of, and just maybe, they'll do better on a second go?
So, in ForgottenVision, everyone enters a contest that fits the above description, see exact criteria a few paragraphs later.
Well yeah lol, i just said early October. After some intense shady back room negotiations, it was decided to open ForgottenVision as soon as possible. I know, this is very sudden, but few people usually know in advance when a contest opens anyway, so i don't think it makes that much of a difference.
Now, this leaves us with the polls from this post. And we run into a problem - two polls, the questions of multiple entries from a single country and the time period, they ended dead even.
So, what do we do? I have to decide something, so, to keep it easy, but open: no entries from the Top 5 of each year (that poll was decisive), only one entry per country (should keep it simple enough), and NO YEAR RESTRICTION, as long as we're pre-2015. An entry needed a chance to become forgotten in the first place, after all. We can switch it up next year, depending on your feedback
So, what entries are eligible? An entry has to be

• a real Eurovision entry from before 2015, so between 1956 - 2014
  
• from the country you claimed with your sign-up
  
• must not have finished in the Top 5
  
• must have been an official entry, entries from a national final are ineligible
  
• entries that failed to go past the semis, or Kvalifikacija za Millstreet, or that 1996 audio-only pre-qualification ARE eligibe.
  
• please send in the according Eurovision video perfomance, so i can cobble together a videofile with my non-existing video editing skills (seriously, they're awful), if time allows it
  

Roadmap:

• Signups open NOW (just pick a country, you can send the entry later)
  
• Deadline for entries: October 9th
  
• Voting opens: October 12th
  
• Voting deadline: October 25th
  
• Results: TBA
  

This roadmap is only preliminary, as long as no semis become necessary.
Are former countries or contestants eligible? Yes, you can pick Yugoslavia (or Morocco, or Luxembourg) if you so desire.
So, without much further ado, i, u/Serupael, on behalf of SRF and RSI Television, am very pleased to announce and open the first edition of ForgottenVision, the Eurovision Andra Chansen for entries that just didn't make it. And what better place to stage the contest than the Teatro Kursall in the Casino of beautful Lugano, Switzerland! See and hear you soon! Unfortunately, we will not have the honor to hear Lys Assia singing her iconic "Refrain" once more...
So, i invite everyone to participate in a contest to give deserved credit to Eurovision entries that unfortunately go overlooked today! Who is your unknown favourite?
Contestants
Switzerland - u/Serupael
Albania - u/EggsInMyFace
Armenia - u/EurovisionStan
Belarus - u/ThatSlytherclaw553
Cyprus - u/phteven517
Estonia - u/Slytherclaw_12
Finland - u/Alltagsgeschichte / u/Palaeontologists
France - u/Calebmill2004
Germany - u/AuraManner
Greece - u/Kaick_Filipe47
Iceland - u/jafetsigfinns
Latvia - u/gulagholidaycamps
Malta - u/StardustCollided
Montenegro - upac2586
Morocco - u/YourLocalBirdLord
North Macedonia - u/Nenkendo
Romania - u/BeanziesBack
San Marino - u/las_facepalmas
Slovakia - u/Ma4a
Slovenia - u/Chief_Ping
Spain - u/mf_insomnia
Ukraine - u/Opha23
United Kingdom - u/notentitledparent

Randomly thinking back to Casino Royale...how exactly did the Lord’s Resistance Army member know Le Chiffre was playing poker in Montenegro with his money? Unless Le Chiffre told him, I have no idea how he gained that information.
Unless Mr. White ratted on Le Chiffre to Obanno, but that doesn’t make much sense since Quantum (SPECTRE?) intended to get all that money anyway.

I am a Macedonian from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Macedonia. The Macedonian Mafia is a term used to describe illegal gangs and criminal organisations operating in my country Macedonia and within the Macedonian diaspora.
Macedonian organized crime figures operate mostly in Europe and North America (countries such as Germany, Austria, United States, Canada, Monaco, Italy, France, Spain, Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Switzerland, England, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Bulgaria are primarily favored by Macedonian organized crime figures for operating in or for forming partnerships with local organized crime groups, primarily from other Balkan or Eastern European countries as well as Italian syndicates, for their cultural, linguistic, ethnographic and geographical similarities as well as because of existing mutual ties between the organized crime groups or their members abroad and in the home countries, or the use of countries such was Switzerland, Monaco, Luxembourg and Cyprus for off-shore banking and money laundering), as well as Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Macedonian organized crime groups co-operate with other Balkan organized crime groups including the Serbian, Bulgarian and Albanian groups, both in the Balkans and in other places around the world, as well as the Italian mafia and the Russian mafia (through Bulgaria). Macedonian organized crime is usually centered around all types of legitimate businesses alongside typical organized crime activities such as smuggling, import and export, drug trafficking, extortion, arms trade, fraud, auto theft, racketeering, gambling, human trafficking, murder, contract killing, bodyguarding, prostitution and money laundering. Macedonian organized crime is also involved in security companies like the Bulgarian mafia, as well as with them, especially operating out of cities in eastern Macedonia, such as Štip. They are thought to have ties with the Janev Clan and the Albanian Mafia when concerning the trade of tobacco. Macedonian organized crime in Australia and Toronto, Canada is predominant among youth.
Macedonian organized crime, similarly to Bulgarian, Serbian, Albanian and Russian organized crime, utilizes the concept of using security groups to protect their businesses, enforce their power and eliminate competition. These security groups are usually composed of ex military, special forces, martial artists/MMA fighters and bodybuilders. While most security groups are responsible for low level activities such as posing as nightclub bouncers(nightclubs are a Macedonian gangsters' favorite meeting and party place, along with the kafana). These security groups hide behind and operate mainly under a corporate structure, but some are more militarized than others and have been labelled as terrorist groups. It's also safe to say that the Macedonian military itself is also heavily influenced and involved in organized crime activities and is a breeding and training ground for some gangsters. Some well known and higher quality security groups usually possess Macedonia's best and most infamous enforcers, and aside having checkered backgrounds these criminals have gone to be the top ranking Macedonian politicians(presidents and prime ministers) and businessmen's personal security detail and bodyguards. They have even killed people on their behalf.
Same as the above, the banking system in Macedonia heavily relies on organized crime in order to flourish, with limited foreign funding from its umbrella banks in Western European countries, it's unable to flourish on its own. It's also safe to say that some Western European, Russian and Middle Eastern banks have set up money laundering centers in Macedonia in the form of banks, companies, religious and educational institutions. Recently, a growing trend in Macedonia used by organized crime groups to launder money(because of the country's poorly organized justice and financial system and widespread political corruption it's hard for law enforcement officials to find evidence highlighting any type of illegal activities in terms of financial crimes when the Macedonian legal statues on financial crime is still heavily based on the Communist Yugoslavian one which does not apply in any way to the modern Capitalist system) is through the use of gambling institutions such as sports betting and casinos.

Macedonian Mafia - Key People

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_ Marjan Tushevski (aka Bokser) (killed July 2001): head boss of the Macedonian underground. -Goran Georgievski (aka Mujo) (1969–2005) (killed April 2005): Former member of the Lions special police force. Georgievski, along with several ethnic Albanian criminals operating in the Republic of Macedonia, was listed on a black list issued by the European Union. - Nikola Mojsovski (aka Koljo) (killed July 2005): 2001 Macedonia conflict combatant who was involved in racketeering in Prilep. Head boss of the Prilep underground. - Zoran Manaskov (aka Skrseniot): The alleged leader of the Frankfurt mafia, a huge Macedonian led heroin ring operating in Germany and Austria based out of the city of Veles, Macedonia.

Favor for the GTA Reddit of the day.
Kudos to - www.wizardslots.com and various Redditors for input. I have removed those fields that are just for 'Land Based' as they should allow online gambling alright. Some have very odd laws and will need tested.
​

• Afghanistan
• Algeria
• American Samoa
• Argentina
• Azerbaijan
• Bahamas
• Bhutan
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Belarus
• Brunei
• Cambodia – gambling is illegal for natives, but land-based gambling is legal for foreign visitors
• Cayman Islands – land-based gambling is illegal, and online local casinos are banned, whereas foreign slots are not
• China
• Costa Rica
• Cuba
• Cyprus – online sports betting ok with a license
• Czech Republic – majority of online gambling is illegal (except online lottery and online sports betting)
• Ecuador
• Greece – some online gambling is illegal
• Iceland – online casino gambling and online poker illegal – offline gambling is legal
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Israel
• Jamaica
• Jordan
• Kuwait
• Lebanon
• Libya
• Liechtenstein
• Luxembourg – illegal online other than sports betting and online lottery
• Maldives
• Mali – only legal for foreign visitors
• Mauritania
• Malta - gambling services need a license from the government, this is up to R* to apply for
• Malaysia - note: seems to work for some and not for others. No clear reasons why so far.
• Montenegro
• North Korea
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Poland – everything but online sports betting is illegal
• Portugal - gambling services need a license from the government, this is up to R* to apply for
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Somalia
• South Africa - online gambling is illegal
• South Korea
• Sri Lanka
• Sudan
• Syria
• Thailand - everything but Horse Racing and the Government Lotto
• Tuvalu
• United Arab Emirates
• Vietnam
• Venezuela

​
Notable edits - Originally the USA was added to this, it is illegal to gamble in Hawaii and Utah for example but the casino seems to function as normal there. There are a few countries as well that have gambling laws but again GTA's seems to duck underneath these. I'm not an enforcer of the law, nor am I a solicitor but common sense would lead me to say if GTA is allowing you to do it then you shouldn't have to worry about anything. If you cannot access the Casino games, VPN's are a known work around but this could net you in trouble. I won't be assisting players on where to find those (various comments have so far) but be warned it is to be used at your own discretion.

I live in Montenegro and play on PS4 however Montenegro for some reason can't be chosen as a country of residence on the PS4 so I have chosen Croatia cause it's actually the only ex-Yu country that can be chosen. Now to get back to the subject. In Croatia online gambling isn't banned so I thought this was probably because I live in Montenegro ( also my friend who uses a different country on PS4 like me couldn't use the casino and some of people I know who play on PC can't).
I checked the online gambling laws of Montenegro and actually online gambling has been legal here since 2011 ( I found this information on Quora ).
So does anybody have any advice on what I should do with this information? Should I look it up a bit more or contact Rockstar to see if they could help me with this?

THE PATH OF SETTING UP THE ONLINE CASINO
Casino businesses are one of the best money-making industry across the world. There are lots of brick and mortar casinos, bookmakers, online casinos, and gaming arcades across the globe. It cannot be denied that gambling business is a profitable business that many entrepreneurs are seeking to involve in this industry. Gambling businesses are usually owned by many leading and well-known organisations.
Therefore, most of the entrepreneurs who involve in casino industry are always including in the Forbes lists in some regions. However, you can find that casino business is strictly regulated by many terms and conditions, therefore operators have to go through many process and paths to achieving the license.
In addition, the competition within gambling industry is extremely high that you probably challenge one of the top leading company in the world, and certainly one of the ‘money-burning’ challenges. This article will mainly taking ‘online’ casino platform as the topic for further discussion in licensing, website, software, marketing, technical support, and others which include in an online casino business. Drawing specifically from the online casino business, this article is attempting to take a closer look on how to set-up an online casino platforms and how much would cost for the business.

HFIVE5 – The Top Leading Online Casino In Singapore

https://hfive555.com/en/home
Before going through the details of setting-up the online betting business, herewith the recommendation of the best and reliable online casino website which operated in Singapore. The recommendations are coming from the local gambling community and also based on the reviews from internet within betting community.
As hfive555.com offers variety of casino games with best graphic and responsive speed to the players, and players would guarantee to experience the remarkable experiences while playing on Hfive5 online betting website. Live casino are also include in hfive555.com, where players can actually interact with the croupiers virtually through their screens.
All of the croupiers are highly trained by the local gambling authority before entering to the job, therefore players could definitely worry-free with hfive555.com services. Hfive5 guarantees that its professionalism would definitely satisfy their players and gamblers can safely enjoy any of their favour games with the reliable and licenses online casino in Singapore, Hfive5.
As above-mentioned, online gambling platform is one of the most competitive industry across the world, therefore it can be strongly believe that the leading online betting platform, Hfive5 is actually well-known and popular in Singapore.

What to Include or Prepare Before Starting-Up an Online Casino?

Licensing

Casino license is the most pivotal part and the most significant steps for those who planning to run a legitimate online betting platforms. Without doubt, ‘license’ is the document that allow the owner of casino to legally run an online betting platforms in some regions.
There are different license providers are available across the globe, therefore the owners can choose particulars licenses provider in order to operate their online casino businesses in specific regions. For instances, there are some popular countries that provides casino licenses for the businesses, such as Curacao, Malta, Philippines, United Kingdom, Montenegro and other nations.
Without business license, the online betting platforms would seem as illegal operates and it will be strongly condemned or even taking into the custody by the local authority. A license from offshore state such as Curacao or Alderney would be the best options for the person who seek for cheaper cost license, because of the low taxation within the states. On the other hand, those who need a reputable and higher status license, it is strongly recommended to opt for Swiss or UK licenses.

Benefits of having an online casino license

Once the organisation achieve the license to operate online casino is particular states, the company will possibly attract lots of well-known software providers. Most of the time, quality and popular software providers would not collaborate with fraud organisations which would probably ruin their business reputation.

Online Casino’s Website

Website is the most important and major platform for the businesses who involve in online casino industry. The website cannot be simply organised and managed because all of the revenue are coming from the websites. Therefore, the website should be well develop in order to bring the site to a perfect details.
For instance, those stages below-mentioned would be the necessarily steps for person who want to run a perfect website, such as the design & layout, programming & developing front-end web, offline & online marketing promotion, SEO & SEM, and integrating the site’s software.

Marketing

Importantly, giant networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Google usually not allow gambling advertisement, thus it is strongly recommended organisations should fully understand the rules and restrictions of the social media. Additionally, organisations is strongly recommended to hire an expert who is very familiar with marketing and legal requirements in the ‘sensitive’ industry.
In conclusions, the above statements have generally stated the most pivotal part while any person who decide to involve in online gambling industry. There are many steps and procedures involved, thus it is strongly recommended the person who interested in gambling industry should take serious consideration in initial steps before entering to the online casino industry, also could refer to hfive555.com as a perfect example.

Over the last week I read Ian Flemings first James Bond novel Casino Royale for the first time and later re watched the movie. Here are some thoughts on both, including a comparison of similarities, differences and the over all enjoyment I get out of both of these pieces.
Technical aspects:
Casino Royale (novel, 1953), written by Ian Fleming [27 short chapters, around 250 pages, depending on edition]
Casino Royale (movie, 2006), directed by Martin Campbell [144 minute runtime]
Before diving into further comparisons, there are two obvious, but also significant differences between the movie and the novel. The first being the time it is set in, both are contemporary to their release date. Meaning the novel is set in the Cold War whereas the movie is set in the 21 century. Because of the resulting differences in international relations historically speaking, you could transfer it (but you don't have to) to the second difference. Flemings novel is a political espionage thriller, whereas Campbells movie re-boot is basically an action movie.
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Structure:
The over all plot of the movie is very similar, nearly identical to its source material.
James Bond, a fresh 00, is set in a high stakes Poker game against Le Chiffre, a desperate (& near bankrupt) banker working for terrorist organizations. Bonds allies are Mathis, Felix Leiter & Vesper Lynd. Bond wins the money, Vesper & him get captured, following the torture, Le Chiffre being interrupted/killed by a member of a mysterious organization. After Bond & Vesper seek a happy life, the latter is confronted with her "real" identity/past & kills herself, leaving Bond emotionally broken & eventually cold.
As said in my first paragraph, Flemings novel isn't an "action" novel. There is an early assassination/botched bomb attempt in the early chapters (similar to the airport sequence) but it's nowhere near as action heavy as the movie, which follows parkour chases, knife fights & bus/plane explosions, stairway fights & the closing crumbling house set piece.
Narratively Bond meets his allies way earlier, in the movie Vesper & Mathis are introduced around an hour in, whereas in the novel already in the first few chapters, Felix Leiter is introduced very late in the movie and only after Bond is struggling in the Poker game. The whole Dimitrious, Ellipse stuff isn't in the novel.
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Main characters:
- James Bond:
Bonds portrayal is very close to the novel. He's described as a very tough man, perfectly shown by Craigs physical appearance, his hard & masculine face & the early corporal fight scenes & chases. His attitude fits the source material. Bond is smart & charming, but he can switch of in any moment to being a ruthless killer.
- Vesper Lynd:
A big part of Vespers character in the novel is her beauty. There are long passages describing everything about her body & face. She certainly is beautiful in the movie, played by the gorgeous Eva Green. Yet in the movie she comes across as much more independent & aware. She's smart in the novel, but much more worthy in a psychological duel with Bond in the movie. In both the movie & novel she is a double agent, who got blackmailed & had to take this identity in order to save her boyfriend, but then fell in love with James.
- Le Chiffre:
Le Chiffre, in both movie & novel is a scary fucking dude. There still is something a bit charming about Mikkelsen presence though. He's described as considerably ugly in the novel, and basically as the epitome of evil. In the movie he comes across as more "human", desperation etc (make no mistake he's a vicious bastard, but he's not the devil).
- M:
The obvious difference is the gender swap in M. In the novel, Bond respects & in some way even fears M. The Bond/M relationship of Flemings books never really translated onto the bigger screen (it's tough to find someone intimidating against the charisma of Connery to be fair) so the change is an interesting touch. While he certainly respects Judi Denchs M, there is more slick and clever dialogue coming out of the conversations.
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The Poker Game:
The Poker game in the novel, as basically all of it, is set in France, whereas the movie jumps around Madagascar, the Bahamas, Venice & Montenegro, the latter being the setting of the poker game.
Also, in the novel they play Baccarat, which was very popular at that time, in the movie they play Texas Hold 'Em, which (surprise) was popular in that time. The game itself is similar structured, back and forth until Le Chiffre wins a big one and Bond is in huge desperation but comes back in the last round winning all of it (with the help of Felix Leiters money).
In both movie & novel, Le Chiffre tries to prevent/"attack" Bond during the last hand. In the movie he gets poisoned, which nearly causes him to pass out. In the novel, he is directly physically threatened by a bodyguard of the Le Chiffre with a gun under the table/chair.
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Remarkable similarities:
- Practically the entire torture scene is directly taken out of the source material. Bond gets stripped naked and tied up to a chair, then punched to the balls multiple times until the near pass out. Only difference is that in the movie Le Chiffre uses a rope, in the novel it is a carpet beater.
- Some dialogue & lines are extracted out of Flemings novel. Such as the VespeMartini order.
>Three measures of Gordons, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?
Or the iconic line.
>The bitch is dead.
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Other differences:
- The whole Mathis alleged double cross plot point only appears in the movie.
- Vespers double cross, signaled by her seeing the man with the eye patch is left to a good bye letter in the novel that Bond reads after she'd poisoned herself. In the movie, she gives the man with the eye patch the money briefcase and after the shoot out in Venice, she traps herself in the elevator and drowns in the crumbling house.
- In the books, the mysterious organization is SMERSH, a russian anti spy organization. In CR it is still unnamed, though in the later Craig films revealed to be SPECTRE.
- The book ends very depressing as her betrayal letter is the last thing. The movie ends on a higher note with Bond capturing Mr White & ending the movie in his iconic introduction lines.
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I have certainly missed a ton of differences of both, but I feel like I have done enough to highlight most of them. Here are some of my personal thoughts:
The novel:
I had a ton of fun reading it for the first time. It's certainly colder & much more serious than a lot of James Bond movies but I liked that it felt more grounded and had espionage instead of thrills. There is a lot of political subtext added by Ian Fleming that reflects on the cold war and on spy agents themselves. It also features some great insight on the Poker game as Bonds mind is on full display with mathematical & stochastically relevant information throughout every hand. I think it ends on a very depressing and sad note, setting the tone for the character to come.
The movie:
I have always considered Casino Royale to be one of my favorite movies of all time. I think it's head and shoulders above every other James Bond film and every time I watch it I discover new things I love about it. The way the movie starts, with the cold blooded double-O earning in a noir fashion, then goes over to the gorgeous credit sequence with so much ingenuity sprinkled across it, is amazing. I'm also amazed by the action the movie has. The Parkour chase has some terrific stunt work & innovation. Or the airplane sequence is packed with enormous tension and suspense. Or the closing Venice shoot out is packed with bad ass moments by Bond. A lot of my love for the movie also comes from the cast. It does contain my a.) favorite Felix Leiter (played by Jeffrey Wright), b.) favorite Bond girl (Vesper Lynd by Eva Green), c.) the best M (played by Judi Dench) and one of my favorite Bond villains (played by Mads Mikkelsen, who is as terrific as ever). Martin Campbell has rock solid directing, focussing on the great stuff of the source material and just like in GoldenEye knowing how to introduce a new Bond & a new way of Bond into the franchise. Daniel Craig is relentlessly amazing. He has the charms, he definitely has the looks, he is believable in the kills, he has a soul, he has a heart, he has emotion. Only Connery is better. The movie also looks gorgeous. Not only its vast settings of exotic locations, beautiful women, high class restaurants, cafes or hotels, pieces of clothing and so on, but also its sharp image and cinematography, by Phil Meheux is astounding. Despite being literally written by three people it also contains some ingenious dialogue. Especially the Bond/Vesper interactions flow so crisply and soft. It's a joy to watch every second of it and I could be talking about it for hours.
​
All in all, Casino Royale is a great novel and in my opinion, an even greater movie which is a faithful adaptation but also adds many layers and new things to it, knowing that it already is part of a 20+ movie series and therefore adding nostalgia, references or treating its timeless main characters legacy with honor and self reflection.
What do you think about Casino Royale, both the novel & the movie?