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Die Another Day

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Die Another Day (2002)

November. 22,2002
|
6.1
|
PG-13
| Adventure Action Thriller
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James Bond is sent to investigate the connection between a North Korean terrorist and a diamond mogul, who is funding the development of an international space weapon.

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Reviews

Perry Kate
2002/11/22

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

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GazerRise
2002/11/23

Fantastic!

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Stellead
2002/11/24

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

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Francene Odetta
2002/11/25

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

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FountainPen
2002/11/26

Madonna! It was Madonna "singing" the atrocious title song? Good Grief! Truly, it was one of THE very worst songs I have ever heard in my several decades. Next to impossible to understand for starters, and a forgettable "tune". Ugghhh!! The opening action scenes were a joke. Apparently Brosnan can hit anything and everything he points a weapon at, without aiming... while his adversaries fire dozens of rounds and always miss him. Yeah, right. You know from the start that any semblance to reality has gone: you're watching a cartoon movie. OK, fair enough, the producers are being honest with you. Things have sure dropped down to a sad level since the first Bond flicks with their clever and nuanced plots, witty lines, entertaining action scenes (without computer-generated overkill). Brosnan is barely passable as Bond, barely, comes across quite wooden, stilted. I've given this movie a 4. It's not a total waste, but way, way, way below average. A shame.

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praestans
2002/11/27

The first 25 minits is promising and forgivable: Bond languishing and of tricks? Bond can make mistakes. Yes, all right, all right but there'd better be some stupendous compensation. A flashback t put things in context? Or perhaps he's been sabotaging North Korean Kim sperm bank? Alas, none of that...quite the opposite.Then like a bad case of diarrhoea, it's all over the shop. Just as in TWINE, Brosnan tries so hard...but very unevenly so. He isn't helpt by the inept direction, inept script, inept chipboard acting, inept cgi...CGI?! It adds a silly plastic cartoonish element - quite obvious in the more outlandish stuntwork. So many nails in the coffin being self-hammered. Plot less, clueless, no real villainy, No searing intrigue, no characterisation, no STORY... Yet more badly sewn patchwork quiltiness. High on astro-boyish gadgetry...the odd line sparkles amongst the thickly wooden acting. Cleese should not be in Bond film. Samantha Bond....is she Munnypenny owing to her name? I can't think of any other reason. Rosamund Pike ought to have cast is the bond girl... Halle Berry - is good t look at all right (ante/post cosmetic surgery) but her acting, well, welcome the woods. I see Tomahori directed 'once we were worriors' he's made this 'once this was James Bond'. Daniel Craig has not helpt - he simply cannot act. He thinks 'one' rhymes with 'gone' - not 'fun'. Bond will be back. Still awaiting his return as is a martini. we yet remain unstird and unshaken.

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Leofwine_draca
2002/11/28

Bond is brought smack-bang into the 21st century with DIE ANOTHER DAY. It's a long way from the likes of Sean Connery and DR. NO, but still holds true to the formula that made the films work in the first place: a powerful and creative hero, not superhuman but just very very good; lots of attractive female companions who can hold their own against the guys; some truly memorable villains, and a thin storyline over which plays out tons of action and excitement. Forget the non-excitement of the passable but uninteresting THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH and instead sit down to watch an action-packed ride through danger, thrills, spills and fun.The story isn't the best that Bond has seen but it will do for the film. The first hour is the main set-up whereas the last is the payoff, basically consisting of one long set-piece that unfolds into another, altogether more gripping set-piece. Nothing wrong with that in my mind. True, things start off a little oddly. First is the title song, this time some ridiculous techno-funk nonsense performed by a down-on-her-luck Madonna (who cameos pointlessly later on in the proceedings). It wins the award for worst theme song hands down and doesn't bode well for the rest of the movie. But things pick up for the opening, which sees Bond expertly extract himself from a sticky situation and engage in another ferocious chase, this time on hover crafts. Expect to see plenty of heavy weaponry and firepower in this splendid opening battle which follows the classic Bond trend. After this things go a little strange again, with Bond incarcerated for over a year in prison and systematically tortured and beaten. A first for the series, scenes which attempt to give some grit and darkness to the franchise. Why, I'm not too sure.Thankfully things straighten out soon afterwards as a go-it-alone Bond tries to find an enemy to extract some very personal revenge. Judi Dench is back as M, this time sharing some heated arguments with a Bond whom she now feels is useless. There are some other returning faces, including John Cleese who has now taken over the role of Q since the sad demise of Desmond Llewellyn, as well as a few new ones – it's nice to see Michael Madsen in a major film role again, even if he is totally wasted as the American adviser. Bond finds himself caught up in the clutches of Halle Berry and Rosamund Pike to spread more of the witty one-liners and suggestive double-entendres which are more cringe-worthy than ever. Nothing new on that front, then. Sadly, both actresses are at their very worst here. Pike seems frightened and unsure of herself, while Berry is just irritating and a definite contender for 'worst Bond girl' award.The one thing that DIE ANOTHER DAY has over its predecessors is the villains. Two of them to be exact. Succeeding where Robert Carlyle failed in the last film (and who really remembers his scarred, bald villain?), Rick Yune plays an unstoppable bad guy in the same class as Oddjob and Jaws. His bald, blue-eyed, diamond-scarred Asian is a superior villain, a powerhouse of brimming muscle and sheer evil and one of the best bad guys we've had for a long time. Hooray then that Bond has some exciting battles with this undefeatable foe, including an incredibly tense fight in a hospital and a fantastic car chase later on in the movie. Toby Stephens is the lead villain Gustav Graves, younger and more athletic than the likes of Curt Jurgens and Donald Pleasence. He gives the best performance in the movie, and with his smug smirking and unlikable face he more than succeeds at creating a villain you love to hate. Watch out for that classic fencing scene he has with Brosnan, the best scene of the film.Bond films are primarily about the outlandish action and stunts more than anything else and here it succeeds. Fun is had with a laser satellite capable of protecting the rays of the sun down to a specific point on Earth. There are surfing spies, violent punch-ups between villains, lasers, face-swapping technology and more firepower than is decent for one movie. The car chase in the melting ice palace is original and the special effects used to create the illusion are passable. As is the final ruckus on board a damaged aeroplane that provides a setting for the fraught and hectic (although a little too conventional) climax. The only negative side is some majorly dodgy CGI work (including a CGI Bond surfing a CGI wave – not too realistic then) that takes the viewer out of things amid the sheer destruction, violence and excitement.

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pyrocitor
2002/11/29

GoldenEye inspired a video game. Tomorrow Never Dies had Bond playing one. Die Another Day celebrates Bond's 40th by going the whole nine yards, and finally completing the metamorphosis: here, Bond fully becomes a video game. Hell, he even gets to play his own first person shooter of his own life, complete with the ultimate cathartic fantasy of "shooting his own boss". The son has become the father; the self-referential-cycle is complete. Appropriately, it's also one of the most dated entries into a franchise replete with antiquated ear- sores like "That's like listening to the Beatles without earmuffs" and "Man talk". Here, director Lee Tamahori not only curbs to the insufferable topicality of notoriously shaky CGI, but an obnoxious overuse of slow-mo, a Matrix-inspired wall-flip, and Halle Berry uttering the phrase "Yo momma". If that isn't a sign that things have gone amiss for the man so debonair he sniffed out a Soviet for ordering red wine with fish, nothing is. Still, Die Another Day's greatest sin is its unchecked excess. Granted, Bond is not normally known for subtlety, but Tamahori pushes it to the extent of an Austin Powers parody, careening from steadily outlandish plot point and stunt with the "and then...and THEN!" giggling of a sugar-high toddler. It's a shame, as the story at the core has substantial potential - North Korea brokering terrorism deals to finance internal reform, and Bond working with the Chinese government rather than his own to stop them. Regardless, the film's gaudiness is still, more often than not, hugely (daft) fun. The opening act is particularly slick - Bond sleuthing around in Havana is classic 007 skullduggery, and the pre- credits hovercraft chase is delightfully demented, while Bond being tortured and functionally abandoned by MI6 in North Korea adds a welcome dark streak (particularly when revisited after Skyfall). Sadly, this grimmer, more cohesive start is quickly jettisoned aside. Before you know it - give or take a few sword fights, an Icelandic ice palace and (yes) that invisible car - we've fully committed to some dubious 'racial rebranding' amidst a bizarre retread of Diamonds are Forever's 'diamond satellite sun-laser' MacGuffin (already silly in 1971), complete with smug 'global warming' crack. And you thought Quantum of Solace's environmental commentary was crude. We never drift into fully unsalvageable Batman & Robin territory, but it's only a few puns shy of it. Tamahori's deranged abandon when orchestrating a pulpy action sequence can be fun in satisfying the basest 007 escapist pleasures. It wears thin quickly though, and the film's pace is so zippy it becomes exhausting rather than exhilarating. Bond's missile-hemorrhaging glacial car chase with Zao, in particular, is a video game overkill snore-fest. Thankfully, the (subtler) nods to the past 19 Bonds are cute, and add an extra level of treasure hunting for aggravated diehards. And hey - Tamahori worked in a tune by The Clash, which is never a bad thing...right? But then there's that infamous paragliding scene, now fondly referenced in every "how NOT to integrate CGI" feature since. Yeah. I'm just going to leave that there. Brosnan's Bond is too inherently breezy and suave not to love, but even he's on automatic pilot here. He goes through the motions, but delivers particularly dire puns and unacceptably leery come-ons with such detached disdain that he may as well have been replaced by a robot (which would explain how his Bond has suddenly acquired powers like the ability to stop and start his heart at will and casually swim through arctic waters without hypothermia). Halle Berry buys into the campy proceedings gamely enough, and her spunky 'AmeriBond' is independent and competent enough to buy some patience with her too-frequent obnoxious posturing. Toby Stephens' Gustav Graves is the perfect blend of sneering and good in a fight, and equipped with more competent scriptwriters he could have made a far more credible and memorable foe. Such is also the case for pre-fame Rosamund Pike, who grins and bears the worst of the film's sexism, and is talented enough to emerge with dignity and steely charisma after sword fighting in a bra (barely). Rick Yune's diamond-pockmarked Zao makes for one of the better henchmen of the post-Jaws era, even commandeering some quips of his own (I'm a fan of "how's that for a punchline"), while Will Yun Lee is entertainingly wily in the film's Korea prelude. In spite of the unprecedented camp surrounding her, Judi Dench's M remains a paragon of class, sparring well with Michael Madsen's growly bureaucrat, while John Cleese's solo outing as Q is so supremely enjoyable, replete with dazzling wordplay, impeccable double-takes and a "flesh wound" gag shouldered with impressive restraint, that it's almost a shame the Brosnan era didn't span one film longer, if only to spend more time with Cleese. Finally, while Madonna's prancing techno theme tune barely scrapes by on the right side of tolerable, the less said about her fencing cameo, the better.I've probably trod out enough defensive synonyms for "fun" by now. Die Another Day has its adolescent joys and a certain nostalgic cheeriness which can prove stupendously entertaining for those with the right temperament, but Tamahori shoves thrills down our throats with such demented desperation it's no wonder they catch and choke along the way. Such a bloated barrage of tropes too often becomes simply noise, and noisily boring at that - and Bond should never be boring. None would deny that 007 had here fallen too far down the rabbit hole, requiring a rather hasty "kiss of life". Enter the new 'Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'. His name is Craig. Daniel Craig. And he is very welcome.-5.5/10

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