48 replies to this topic

[DanMan]

DIE ANOTHER DAY: Is It The Best Bond Movie Ever???

On November 22nd 2002 a new action movie opened in theathers against heavy competition. It was the 20th James Bond Adventure in 40 Years. The film became the highest grossing Bond film in the U.S. since You Only Live Twice which was released 35 years earlier and the highest grossing entry worldwide since Moonraker, relased 23 years earlier.

DAD has all the elemets that a Bond movie should have: Sex, action, violence, gadgets, locations, etc... and then some more. The movie has an unusually high level of drama in it for a Bond film. This added drama does not make the movie come across as soap opera-ish but rather makes us care about the plot.

The movie also contains many undertones that are usually not present in Bond films such as honor, trust, loyalty, identity, and purpose. For the first time in ages, Bond is a character with a meaning in the film. Yes he saves the world as usual, but he also feels attached to the mission in a great deal because he has to prove to himself that he can still get the job done. To quote Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, "The film is very much about him becoming James Bond again". The film also has a neo-cold war feel to it, with the North Koreans replacing the Soviets as the main baddies.

Also for the first time, Bond creates the two supervillians by his own doing. He transforms Zao, the pretty boy Korean army officer into the bald, albino, diamond faced thug that he later becomes in the film, and it is Bond that causes Colonel Moon to become Gustav Graves, the snooty billionaire that becomes knighted and tries to take over the world.

The action in the movie is also high above par. It includes the best hovercraft action ever filmed, a killer sword-fight that is considered by many to be one of the greatest in cinema history, and an amazing car duel in Iceland that was voted to be one of the greatest car chases in cinema history along side such greats as the famous chase from "The French Connection".

The gadgets also harken back to the old OTT days of Bond with technology that just around the corner. It includes a car that can camoflauge itself, making it as good as invisible and the simple Sonic Ring, which helps out more than once in the movie.

The score by David Arnold is also top notch. He incorporates heavy techo-bass beats making the score sound very modern and hip. He also incorporates special Korean bells and vocals, which add to scenes in the film. The bashed title-song "Die Another Day" by Madonna is IMO, the best of the series as well as the title sequence, which for the first time in the series, moves the film along.

It's funny that the film that brought Bond into the new millenium with a new style hsa all the same things that made the original film so successful. Bond smokes, drinks, flirts, and publically embarrasses his enemy. When the film was first released, the North Korean government said that the film was "evil with it's sadistic violence and perversive sexual acts." At first I thought it was a pretty stupid comment but then I realized that this is the same thing that Bond was called when the films were first released.

The second half of the film in Iceland successfully takes us to a different world, much like the old Bond's did. A world where villians throw glamorous parties in palaces of ice and our hero beds beauty in an ice swan bed. The film has a fresh feel to it. It feels new, hip, and modern in a way that the Bond films haven't been in a long time.

I hope some of these points will help those who don't like the film to watch it again and look at it a bit differently because IMO it is the best and most entertaining Bond film ever.

[Agent 76]

DIE ANOTHER DAY: Is It The Best Bond Movie Ever???

not the best , but close to that....somethings missing on the movie , in my opinion.
But I like it , it's by far better than TWINE.

[Jim]

No

[marktmurphy]

Looks cheap, feels cheap and flimsy. Is poorly written, hamily acted (by it's bizarrely small cast) and has no style, wit or subtlety. It is not the best Bond film by a long, long way.

[Loomis]

DIE ANOTHER DAY: Is It The Best Bond Movie Ever??? 

No - but it is pretty darn good.

IMO. For what that's worth.

Am longer sure whether there's even such a thing as "the best Bond movie ever". How does one sensibly compare, say, DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, GOLDFINGER, ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS.... (the list could, of course, go on and on)? At the end of the day, all we have are our favourites, but even then it's tough to pick a clear number one. My own faves include DR. NO, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, LICENCE TO KILL and NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, but quite apart from the question of which one of those is the "best", I'd be very hard pushed to decide on which one was my absolute top favourite.

Ah, heck, I guess if you stay on CBn long enough you end up liking the whole flippin' bunch! (I'm doing a great job of holding out against the dubious charms of THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, though. )

[Qwerty]

No, not the best. Enjoyable for sure, but not number one. The plot lowers it for me slightly, and at times, Jinx.

[SPECTRE ASSASSIN]

Why DAD DanMan!?

There are so many countless problems in this movie I don't know where to start.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

DIE ANOTHER DAY: Is It The Best Bond Movie Ever???

It's certainly the best Bond movie yet made in the 21st century! Seriously, I certainly would not call it the best Bond film ever. However, I think that the first 2/3 of DAD make for the most entertaining Brosnan Bond film yet(see my signature) thanks largely to the neo-Cold War aspects you mentioned and the swordfight sequence.

[Triton]

Sorry DanMan, you didn't change my opinion of the film. It still ranks as my least enjoyable experience watching a James Bond film and I still haven't warmed up to it after future viewings. Frankly if Bond XXI is like Die Another Day, I hope that MGM/UA ends the James Bond film series.

[00-FAN008]

I'll put it this way: DAD was excellent, but not the best. The best in my opinion is Goldeneye, although my personal favourite is AVTAK.

[Janus Assassin]

DAD is a solid Bond film IMO... Many reasons. First the action scenes. The Hovercraft chase.. sword fight (what other Bond film had a sword fight) Ice chase and the overdone ending which was ok. The acting was good but the story was too overdone, sometimes confusing.. For example... what was the point of destroying the DMZ. And Graves's superman suit was IMO Bullshat. But overall DAD was a solid Bond film. Hopefully in Bond 21 the CGI and over-the-top action will be taken down a notch.

[Jim]

Still no

James Bond...crayoned.

[[dark]]

Not the best in the series, but, in my opinion, it's up there with the greats [Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me and GoldenEye].

Probably Brosnan's best [though not, by extension, my favourite Brosnan flick].

That's why it pains me to consider him leaving after he's just given us his best film so far.

[Tarl_Cabot]

No comment.

[Tarl_Cabot]

"However, I think that the first 2/3 of DAD make for the most entertaining Brosnan Bond film yet(see my signature) thanks largely to the neo-Cold War aspects you mentioned and the swordfight sequence."

Agreed.

[Qwerty]

That's why it pains me to consider him leaving after he's just given us his best film so far.

Or his "biggest" so far. I'd like to see what he'd have in Bond 21.

[Bizzare8]

DAD is good, theres no denying that but it certainly isn't the best. It has some good aspects, the swordfight as you have pointed out. The villain however isnt nearly as strong when compared with other recent ones like Carver or even Renard. And I dont think that DAD is better than TWINE.

[Qwerty]

The villain however isnt nearly as strong when compared with other recent ones like Carver or even Renard. And I dont think that DAD is better than TWINE.

While I think Graves is a slightl improvement from The World Is Not Enough's slightly lacking Renard, I wonder now, in retrospect if having a much younger actor in the role was a good idea. Or if the part was simply not written well enough.

[SPECTRE ASSASSIN]

The villain however isnt nearly as strong when compared with other recent ones like Carver or even Renard. And I dont think that DAD is better than TWINE.

While I think Graves is a slightl improvement from The World Is Not Enough's slightly lacking Renard, I wonder now, in retrospect if having a much younger actor in the role was a good idea. Or if the part was simply not written well enough.

I would diagree a little bit. Renard, as a character, was underwritten, but the perormance boosted the film. Sure Gustav Graves is more balanced villian, but I found him very annoying and snobbish. His Icarus plot didn't impress me either.

[Qwerty]

The villain however isnt nearly as strong when compared with other recent ones like Carver or even Renard. And I dont think that DAD is better than TWINE.

While I think Graves is a slightl improvement from The World Is Not Enough's slightly lacking Renard, I wonder now, in retrospect if having a much younger actor in the role was a good idea. Or if the part was simply not written well enough.

I would diagree a little bit. Renard, as a character, was underwritten, but the perormance boosted the film. Sure Gustav Graves is more balanced villian, but I found him very annoying and snobbish. His Icarus plot didn't impress me either.

Robert Carlyle is indeed a strong actor, but I think there is only so much an actor can do with a role given to them. I really do not see a huge difference between the two upon which is a much stronger villain. They were both fair.

[Bizzare8]

Yes, but I think the character of Renard was well written it was interesting that he wasnt really the main villian but just following Electra. It was the touch of humanity that Stevens' Graves lacked that undermined his performance.

[Qwerty]

Yes, but I think the character of Renard was well written it was interesting that he wasnt really the main villian but just following Electra. It was the touch of humanity that Stevens' Graves lacked that undermined his performance.

Yes, I can agree with that fact that Elektra appearing (to me anyways) as the dominant force of that pair and him truly being at her disposure was a smart move. I just wanted to see more from his character.

[americanbond]

no its not the best bond film ever

[1q2w3e4r]

Defiantly No.

[Johnboy007]

Nope

[Turn]

Yes, but I think the character of Renard was well written it was interesting that he wasnt really the main villian but just following Electra. It was the touch of humanity that Stevens' Graves lacked that undermined his performance.

If he was a henchman, he wasn't nearly as interesting as Jaws, Oddjob, Fiona Volpe, Xenia Ontatopp or most of the other henchmen in the series.

Appearance aside, there is very little about Renard to make him interesting. Early in the film they try to make him appear like he's evil enough to be Blofeld's son or something, but doesn't come near showing us why we should see him destroyed other than we've been told he's bad.

Holding hot rocks and putting his hand through a table while getting mushy about his love life didn't make him a more interesting villain.

[Glor (009)]

DAD is entertaining and I like a lot of it, especially the pre-title sequence. What I can't figure out is why when I'm watching the DVD my TV always switches over to PlayStation video partway through the movie and then jumps back to the DVD. It's very disturbing.

[Jim]

Looks like you're on your own there, DanMan.

[Jack Bauer]

The CGI just murders the film completely. I mean, I will let some of the weird, over-the-top stunts by, like the skydiving in Moonraker...or all of Moonraker, actually, but the stuff just seems so fake and cheap. It is excusable in 1979, but not now, where they have the budget and technology to do so much more. Also, Halle Berry is too big for a film of this sort. Bond films have never been about huge names, and Berry is currently one of the biggest female leads out there. She brought too much urbanization to the movie, like her "Yo mama!" line. Just pathetic.

If Berry was removed, and they re-did some of those CGI scenes, you'd have a good film. I loved Gustav Graves, he was a cool bad guy. The opening was incredible, as well. The theme was horrible, but Madonna's cameo, or the entire fencing scene itself was not. I'd give it a 6/10, but that is just because it is a Bond film. If this were any other film without the Bond name tacked on, it'd easily be a few points down.

[Qwerty]

She brought too much urbanization to the movie, like her "Yo mama!" line. Just pathetic.

It just won't be looked back as a classy line, whereas many other lines are and will be.