Die Another Day (2002)

DIE ANOTHER DAY is a unique Bond film for me because I had seen the other entries in the franchise before I discovered the IMDb . In other words my only knowledge of its reputation is down to the comments I have read on these pages and because many commentators are so loud in their condemnation ( Bad CGI , awful title track etc ) I was expecting a really bad movie never mind a really bad Bond movie , but DIE ANOTHER DAY wasn't as bad as I was expecting

It's interesting to note that the Bond series never really concerned itself with painting communists as bad guys . OCTOPUSSY ties in with the cold war very much as does THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS to a lesser degree but in no way can the series be criticised as being right wing or reactionary with GOLDENEYE wearing its heart on it's sleeve that Russian gangsterism is more of a worry than Russian communism so it's something of a shock seeing Bond battle Stalinist commies in North Korea . That is in no way a criticism either .

We're then treated to a bizarre title sequence composed of a torture montage with quite simply the worst theme tune ever devised for a Bond movie . I don't know what is about the Pierce Brosnan Bonds but they all have very poor title songs despite having all round superb production values and DIE ANOTHER DAY continues the high production values , a lot of people complain about the CGI and I must admit the cartoonish jet at the end does look like a cartoon but compare this sequence to all the action scenes in the 1980s which were composed of Roger Moore standing in front of some back projection and no matter how much you don't want to say it you must confess we've come a long way since then

Some people have also let rip that the film is ruined by post modernist self reference but I disagree . Come on chaps when you've seen one Bond movie since the late 1960s you've seen most of them . Plot wise DIE ANOTHER DAY is very , very similar to GOLDENEYE with a " British " villain in charge of a death ray in outer space with a fair amount of LICENSED TO KILL thrown in . It should be remembered both YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE and THE SPY WHO LOVED ME had the same identical plot with serious hardware being stolen from the USSR and America in order to start a nuclear holocaust . There is a ridiculous amount of humour though involving John Cleese as Q . I know you shouldn't take James Bond movies seriously but did we need an invisible car ?

The other thing I disliked was Jinx . Think about it , she's tough and kills without hesitation so how come she needs rescuing from Bond ? She's just a cypher there to create a love interest and it's amazing that the producers seriously considered starting a spin off series with Jinx as the heroine . It would have been as successful as CATWOMEN . There is a problem with a plot twist involving both Gustav Graves and Miranda Frost , the twist is good but unfortunately the surprise only works once which means on second viewing the shock value of the plot revelation is gone therefore DIE ANOTHER DAY doesn't have the same enjoyment second , third or fourth viewing unlike classic Bond movies

I'm not a big Bond fan but have been fairly impressed with the standards of the franchise from GOLDENEYE to DIE ANOTHER DAY , they've really come leaps and bounds from the Roger Moore debacles like MOONRAKER and VIEW TO A KILL . One aspect that is over looked in the series is the character interaction between Bond and M ( Convincingly played by Judi De

Fmovies: After being captured, imprisoned and tortured in North Korea for 14 months, Bond (Pierce Brosnon) is released in exchange for a recently captured ZaoÂ… Unfortunately, MI6 and the American NSA believe the mission was compromisedÂ… They think their super agent has cracked under tortureÂ… So Bond's license to kill is rescinded along with his freedom by M (Judi Dench) and is ordered to be send to an evaluation center in the FalklandsÂ…

Determined to clear his name and find out who really betrayed him in North Korea, Bond soon escapes and tracks Zao to Cuba, who was undergoing a 'D.N.A. transplant,' in a strange clinic, to heal his ravaged faceÂ… There, he finds someone else after the Korean, a capable secret agent, called Jinx...

After having proved himself to MI6 and to the NSA, Bond returns to London and has a spirited fencing match with Graves at the Blades ClubÂ… There he meets his publicist the gorgeous Miranda FrostÂ…

In "Die Another Day," Brosnon is wild, and ready to light the fuse on any explosive situationÂ… His methods are to provoke and confrontÂ… His Aston Martin is loaded with high tech gadgetry that renders his vehicle invisible to Zao's sporty JaguarÂ… There's an amazing chase between the two across the frozen waters of IcelandÂ… There's also an interesting battle inside Graves' treacherous fortress; and two battles to the death aboard Graves' airplane Â…

Halle Berry is one of the Bond girls who looks so stunning especially when she emerged from the Cuban waters in her bright orange bikiniÂ… This Oscar-winning beauty matches 007 in intelligence, sophistication and toughness, leaving Bond in the island in an explosive situationÂ…

Toby Stephens as the psycho billionaire Gustav Graves appears determined to use his unique satellite the Icarus using its power to 'bring light and warmth to the darkest parts of the worldÂ… or to clear the minefield creating a highway for his North Korean's troopsÂ… Rosamund Pile plays the fencing master with breathless beauty Miranda FrostÂ…

Rick Yune plays Zao, the dangerous Korean arms dealer and sports-car aficionado who works for Colonel Moon (Will Yun Lee), the renegade North Korean army officer who was determined to invade the southÂ…

Michael Madsen plays Damian Falco, NSA spy master and Jinx's boss who's tough on BondÂ…

The comical British character actor John Cleese takes over the role of Q...

Madonna was hired to record the title tune and appeared in a cameo role as a fencing instructorÂ…

"Die Another Day" is the 20th in the series, and is arguably a fun movie to watch delivering a great sword fightÂ… so don't miss it!

Pierce Brosnan has returned to the role of James Bond which has made any actor a household name. Halle Berry plays an attractive female spy who gets caught up with Bond. The whirlwind adventure takes place in England, Hawaii, Iceland and more. If you don't question the flaws, you will enjoy the film immensely. It's adventurous, fun and exciting at times. The film has plenty of special effects as well. Pierce Brosnan might very well be my favorite Bond of all. Dame Judi Dench has returned as M and John Cleese was cast as Q.

Die Another Day fmovies. Come back George, all is forgiven: At lease "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was recognizable as a Bond film. The latest installment in the franchise, the 20th installment in fact, should have been a cause for celebration. Instead, I have to rate it a solid 1, and that only because the system won't let me rate it lower. When did James Bond morph with Rambo? What happened to the wit and charm that was evident in the best of the series, films like 'Goldfinger" and "The Spy Who Loved Me"?

There is nothing in this film that feels original or fresh. And the John Woo influenced cinematics have no place in a Bond film. And what's with the use of CGI in place of real stuntmen doing the impossible, as they did in every other film? Sure, it may look "super cool" in concept, but in fact it looks fake and out of place. They didn't use CGI to make trucks act like race cars in "License To Kill".

I'm afraid that on his 40th anniversary, the cinematic James Bond is looking every bit his age, dressed up like a 70 year old hustler trying to pick up teenagers. Forget the snazzy trappings and the flashy action scenes and get back to the basics.

On a mission in Korea, James Bond is captured and tortured for 18 months. He is swapped with Korean agent Zao for his freedom. However M has swapped him not to save him, but because she believes Bond has cracked and is giving away information. However Bond knows there is another mole in the area and escapes to uncover what Zao is up to and to uncover his Western ally.

I looked forward to this film because I like Bond and easily get caught up in the hype. I think it is just down to the success of the formula and the fact that it feels comfortable to know you're getting a slightly different version of reliable product. For me, familiarity has yet to breed contempt in this series. I wanted to like this film more, although I did enjoy the vast majority of it. It's biggest problem is simply that it tries too hard and wants to do too much. The plot is OK and is a brave start showing our hero broken and in prison, but from there it does try and do way too much. It was good to relate the pre-credits scene to the rest of the film but the film seems restless unless it is having a major bit of plot happening - too many little twists or new bits of plot that stopped the film flowing. The plot is OK at heart but the little additions of diamonds, ice palace, weapons in space, DNA alteration, electrical suits all gets a bit much.

The film's direction is also a bit frantic. A little bit of Matrix creeping in and sudden rushing cameras etc. It isn't needed, indeed they make the cake feel over egged, like the director didn't trust himself enough to a good job and needed gimmicks etc. On top of this there are three or so cgi shots that are really poor (and I mean Mummy Returns poor). It doesn't help that the theme song is one of the worst ever but I could get past that as the action under the credits helped distract from it. The action is all good on the whole but there didn't seem enough room for them and all that plot - also everything was overdone. We don't need matrix type effects in Bond - all we need is a certain amount of flair and well designed shots etc. I sound negative but I still enjoyed this despite the weaknesses cause at the end of the day the formula still works even with the monkeying around.

One of the main reasons is Brosnan himself. he is getting better every film. He does some bad puns but never to the mocking extent of Moore and he also does the dangerous element of Connery. Even when the film starts to get silly he remains strong in the lead. Berry is wasted and is a distraction more than a good addition. From the cringe worthy first scene with Bond (trading smutty one liners) onwards she has no character worth speaking of. Her dialogue is innuendo and not lines, her acting is all in the twitch of her lips as she flirts and that's it. To look at, she does the job, but i thought we'd gotten past Bond girls that are eye-candy and nothing more. Pike is given a more frosty role and does pretty well despite being very cold when viewed beside the flirtatious Berry. Stephens hams it up as Graves. He starts well but the plot spin on his character (esp. the electric suit stuff) takes away from his credibility as a bad guy and he ends up as a cartoon type rather than a real threat. Yune on the other hand is a real good villain - a gimmick (his face) but also presence and real menace without hamming it up. I had hoped he would be the focus but alas no. Dench is good and Madsen is an interesting addition - but perhaps he wasn't the best choice for the head of NSA given

Creating new, exciting adventures for 007 after 20 feature films in forty years is a difficult task at best, particularly as public tastes change, and the character of James Bond has to maintain at least a degree of the 'persona' created by Ian Fleming. While the heirs of Albert Broccoli, his daughter Barbara and son-in-law Michael G. Wilson, have done a remarkable job in keeping the series 'fresh', if DIE ANOTHER DAY is any indication, the creative forces surrounding them seem to be losing 'touch' with James Bond, and his world.

After an astonishing pre-title sequence, climaxing with Bond being captured by the North Koreans, the film offers a horrendous montage of torture, with Bond only surviving due to a timely prisoner exchange (with an unsympathetic M remarking, "If it had been up to me, you'd have stayed in North Korea...", obviously forgetting that 007 had saved her life in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH). Pierce Brosnan, at fifty, is superb in this sequence, vulnerable yet defiant, and to this point, DIE ANOTHER DAY has all the makings of a first-class Bond entry.

Then Bond jaunts off to find the agent who betrayed him, becoming involved in an investigation involving diamonds, solar power, and a 'too-good-to-be-true' industrialist (smarmy Toby Stephens), and all of the creativity of the opening is lost, with the film becoming an uneasy mix of references to past films and silly, unbelievable situations, sets and gadgets (culminating with an 'Ice Palace' and an 'invisible' Aston Martin).

As she had won an Oscar prior to filming DIE ANOTHER DAY, sexy Halle Berry, 36, was publicized extensively as Bond's latest leading lady, CIA agent 'Jinx'. Unfortunately, after a spectacular 'rising from the waves' introduction (borrowed from Ursula Andress, in DR. NO), and a few nicely choreographed fights, she spoke...and lost all of her credibility in the role. While much of the problem was certainly in the script, she was never believable as Bond's 'counterpart' in the American intelligence community. On the other hand, Rosamund Pike, 23, was both sexy and duplicitous as British double agent Miranda Frost, as chilly as her name, but capable of igniting under 007's gaze. In a part equally poorly written, she made far more of her scenes than the writers gave her.

The most interesting character in the film was certainly Rick Yune, as Graves' 'enforcer', Zao. Charismatic, ruthless, and nearly unstoppable, Zao was nearly a primal force, far more menacing than Graves at his worst.

While a sword-fight sequence between Bond and Graves provided a rare film highlight, and certainly ranks as one of the film series' more memorable sequences, much of the rest of the production was silly, with the story set at a break-neck pace to 'hide' the absurdities. The climax, as a solar 'ray' destroyed the minefield between North and South Korea, allowing an 'invasion' to occur, as 007 and Jinx attempted to commandeer the aircraft controlling the 'ray', stands as one of the most ludicrous finales to a Bond film since MOONRAKER.

Although DIE ANOTHER DAY would become Pierce Brosnan's highest-grossing Bond, to date, the film, despite heavily promoting Halle Berry's presence, failed to crack the 'Top Ten' box office attractions in the U.S., and disappointed many fans, worldwide.

With the purchase of MGM by Sony, which has wanted to produce a Bond film fo