Die Another Day

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Die Another Day-480P

Die Another Day-360P

Die Another Day_360P

Another Day

Pis*-poor, Ill-conceived, soulless, mindless, horrifying - and thats just the title track in this 40th Anniversary defunctular - proof positive that the series is in terrible terrible trouble. In fact, based on the this exercise in self-parody (even the title sounds like a parody), devoid of any new or exciting elements, it might be worth pondering whether its time for the super-spy to take a sabbatical while all concerned contemplate a wholesale reinvention of the Francaise; a full-scale rebuilding from the ground up with absolutely no return to the cut and paste methodology that rots this one from the inside out. It isn't even worth discussing the story to this anniversary entry because there isn't one but it might be worth pointing out the contrast between this and the last anniversary story The Living Daylights (1987) for therein lies the clues to what's gone wrong with 007's exploits. Whereas Dalton's film used the anniversary as a sort of reaffirmation of principles and a throw back to the series dramatic and literary roots, a new dawn if you like (and frankly even if you don't), Die Another Dies goes the other way and represents the zenith of the Pervis/Wade era of Brosnan Bonds that has seen the action and budgets scale upward while the substance has conversely dipped and with the arrival of an invisible car, evaporated. This is about a trillion miles away from the 25th anniversary Bond in which familiar elements made the odd cameo appearance - the Astin Martin for example. Here the familiar is everything - in fact its the building blocks of the story (such as it is) and the characters and, well everything really. The tone is pure fantasy - deadly lasers in space, an evil ice palace lair for the villain, Madonna etc... Characters with silly names trade puns and insipid dialogue while Brosnan goes through the motions. If it was the intention of all concerned to make a companion piece for Austin Powers then they should consider DAD a roaring success. For those of us expecting a serious Bond movie however, its a minor travesty - Bonds have been lazy before (Moonraker, naturally) but this one completes the post-Goldeneye trajectory toward total self-parody and in doing so arguably takes its place along other genre greats such as Rocky 4, Star Trek: Nemesis and Batman and Robin in the 'film that crashed the series' category. Bond films have also been looking down the business end of oblivion before but 'tis no exaggeration to say that this time the martini loving super-spy is fighting for his life. Bond is a great character but unless the powers that be start to take him seriously again and refrain from this derivative fluff, they might as well call it a day.

I've seen every James Bond film, including the original TV version of Casino Royale and Die Another Day manages to make it into the bottom of the mediocre pile. It's nowhere near as bad as the embarrassing Diamonds are forever, the painful Moonraker, or the nearly unwatchable Man With A Golden Gun, but it's still pretty bad and is probably the worst entry since Octopussy. For one thing, Bond is thoroughly incompetent throughout the movie. He fails in his mission objectives, he gets captured, he doesn't escape, and he remains clueless as to the identity of his adversaries. Sure, he can surf and handle a sword, but he's a lousy spy. Most Bond movies have relatively weak plots but this one seems totally rambling and inconsequential. What exactly were the scorpions meant to symbolize? Do we care? And why Iceland? Apparently just because it was cool, since it had no intrinsic meaning to the villain. Then again, this villain is one of the least fleshed out I've ever seen in a Bond movie. In some ways this was almost a retrospective of Bond movies, as the director tried to lift a scene from all the previous ones. I was slightly reminded of the homage scenes in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but at least there the retrospectives had a narrative point. Here it just feels heavy-handed. Nobody is going to get any awards for acting in this movie. Halle Barry is miscast as Jinx and serves more as a distraction than a partner. The villain seemed like a pale imitation of John Malkovich's character in Johnny English. Judi Dench can play M in her sleep and it looks as if she's doing so this time. The obligatory Q scene felt forced. And I'm still trying to figure out why they felt the need to humiliate poor Moneypenny at the end. If Brosnan is going to make another Bond film before he retires the role I hope they get a director who understands the Bond mystique, because this one seems to think it's all about blowing things up while making jokes about your genitals.

Although it has now become the "in" thing to deride Pierce Brosnan's swan song as James Bond as being too unbelievable and gadget-oriented, it was well-reviewed and the most successful Bond film at the time of release. Bond: Brosnan was still fully invested in the role at the time of his departure. Unlike Sean Connery, whose boredom with the role was starting to show, Brosnan went out with class. In each film, he was looser and more comfortable with the part than its predecessor. The women: Halle Berry makes a breath-takingly sexy entrance a la Ursula Andress rising from the sea. Unlike Andress, she actually has some role to play in the subsequent action. Her banter with Brosnan seems a bit forced to me and the comic timing slightly off with the double entendres. Also, for an experienced secret agent the writers make her awfully easy to capture, but even with all of that she still ranks as one of the more memorable of the Bond women. Rosamund Pike is also effective as the aptly named Miranda Frost, whose aloofness allows her to resist Bond for much of the film, while she is on her own apparent mission. The villain: I must admit that I quite enjoyed the villains in this piece. Toby Stephens, sneer almost surgically in place, is terrific as an arrogant showboater who taunts Bond at every opportunity and is one of the rare main villains to be physically young and robust enough to give Brosnan a run for his money. His back story is unlikely, but fairly interesting for a Bond villain. Rick Yune is also effective and striking as a co-hort with diamonds embedded in his face due to an accident earlier in the film. Some of the visual effects in the film are easy to tell that they are matte screens, but the film moves like lightning and manages to remain consistently inventive throughout. Additions like the invisible car and assorted gadgets seem far less improbable during the course of the film than they do in retrospect, but add to the overall sense of fun. The plot is fairly straight-forward and coherent, although the identity of a mole is obvious enough that one wonders why neither Bond or M figure it out before they do. Intense action scenes, jaw-dropping gadgets, a fine cast and exotic locales all add to the successful concoction. The only drawback: the bizarre title song by Madonna does not really fit the crummy mold of "wailing diva" numbers that the series had sunk to, but instead defines an entirely new level of crap.

This is without doubt the one of the very worst James Bond movies. In fact this is a b- movie, plain and simple. The Storyline is crap, the acting is crap and the special effects are especially crap (the die cast car models cast thrown out of the "airplane" at the end). Brosnans acting is as wooden as ever, and the story is just laughable. Let's face it, there is noting left that distinguishes a James Bond movie form any other action movie. They have run out of ideas.

Look, let's be clear about it...it's the year 2002, not 1962. This franchise of movies has evolved over the years from a cool and clever spy series to an over-the-top slam bang action series. When you go to see a James Bond film, you should EXPECT any or all of the following: 1) A completely unrealistic, contrived plot 2) Unbelievably cheesy and corny one-liners (almost all of which are sexual in nature) 3) A supervillain seemingly brilliant and mad enough to quest for world domination, but is somehow stupid enough to let Bond get close enough to spoil the whole thing 4) A female counterpart (or several) that looks good, gets captured, and ultimately gets saved by our hero 5) Gadgets, cars, and weapons that do fantastic, unbelievable things 6) Action sequences and stunts that defy fundamental laws of physics and logic Having said all of that, and knowing what I knew, I was so excited to see this movie, and I loved it. Why? Because I got to escape for a couple of hours in a fantasy-spy world. Because I've seen the other 19 movies and I got to see what other directions they went with the characters. Because I love the characters and have gotten to know them over the course of the last 19 movies. Of course it has its shortcomings (the CG was weak in parts) but it has everything that makes the franchise successful. It pays homage to the older films while pleasing younger fans with it's incredible action sequences. Like it or not, this is what the series has evolved to. Personally, I like it, but having seen Dr. No, From Russia With Love, etc, I know that the newer movies don't really appeal to many of the fans of those movies (my dad hates the new movies) because they have completely moved away from reality (not to mention the novels). So understand that before you go and see this movie. If you can just sit back and enjoy the ride, you will. But if you're looking for the magic of 1962 to return, than you might be disappointed. But I will bet on this...judging by the reaction of the theater I was at, James Bond isn't going away anytime soon. Oh by the way, what's with the comment "Look out Bond, xXx is taking over." Huh? When xXx has 20 successful movies under his belt, then we can start comparing the two.