38 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

From CBn's Main Page...

CBn Reviews 'Die Another Day'

Forum members review the twentieth James Bond film

[killkenny kid]

For one hour, Pierce Brosnan was giving his best performance as James Bond. Arrogant and full of self-assurance. Then the movie took a left turn, and Brosnan could never recover from it. And for that reason alone, at best that was just another middle of the road Bond movie from the Brosnan era.

[Tarl_Cabot]

What a surprise! I didn't expect my review to be on that list. I'm embarrased for using the word 'like' twice in one sentence.

Ace should get a PHD for his article.

[moorebond82]

It's a middle ranked bond film for me. I gave it a 6

[Loomis]

I still stand by what I wrote, more or less, although I will say this: CASINO ROYALE is thirty times the film that DIE ANOTHER DAY is (and Craig thirty times the Bond that the Brosmeister gives us in DAD - I'm sorry, but I revisited DAD the other day on DVD, and of all the things that can be said in its favour "Brosnan really put a lot of effort into his performance" ain't one of 'em). Looking back on my praise of DAD, it seems rather quaint, like the writings of someone in the 1980s who thought that VHS and the Sony Walkman were unsurpassable technological milestones.

Still acceptable entertainment, though, if you're in the right mood. (I'm really trying to have my cake and eat it here, aren't I?)

ETA: I wonder whether DAD would have been a better film had Craig been in it (was he looked at by Eon back then?), and whether he'd do well in that kind of Bond outing.

[Qwerty]

Gave the film a 5 in the poll.

[Tarl_Cabot]

but I revisited DAD the other day on DVD, and of all the things that can be said in its favour "Brosnan really put a lot of effort into his performance" ain't one of 'em).

I recall Jim's classic line form the AZ thread: " For god sakes man, try " I'd be pretty uninspired too if I was him. It was on Spike a couple times this holiday...Brosnan really looks terrible.And maybe the boredom on his face added to that, I don't know but he's looked alot better in recent public appearences, the 04 Golden Globes comes to mind.

[sharpshooter]

Gave the film a 6. I liked the first half immensely - then it turned into THAT.

[Scottlee]

4/10

(which for me makes it the worst of the EON Bond films to date)

[Loomis]

but I revisited DAD the other day on DVD, and of all the things that can be said in its favour "Brosnan really put a lot of effort into his performance" ain't one of 'em).

I recall Jim's classic line form the AZ thread: " For god sakes man, try " I'd be pretty uninspired too if I was him. It was on Spike a couple times this holiday...Brosnan really looks terrible.And maybe the boredom on his face added to that, I don't know but he's looked alot better in recent public appearences, the 04 Golden Globes comes to mind.

Thing is, Brosnan's actually okay in some parts of the film - when he's at his most relaxed and Moore-ish, instead of trying to be all "gritty" and "serious"; but he's absolutely deadly in the first half (yep, that same first half that, oddly, everyone seems to think is the good half).

It doesn't help that he's shot in such a way that he looks as old as Donald Rumsfeld when we first see him, or that the false beard really does look terribly false, but, seriously, Piercey-boy, come on, man. "Tell it to the concierge", "Let's get the unpleasantries over with", "UN conflict diamonds", "I'm being traded.... *loooooooong pause* ...for you", "Your time will come", "And they think it's me?", "I'd rather die than let him loose".... It's like a flat delivery festival. And that hospital ship scene with M - he's so wooden as to make Lazenby look like Craig at his most powerful.

As for Jim's review, I still chuckle when I recall his description of Madonna in DAD. "Looks like a particularly whiskery ferret peering through a mophead", I think it was.

[The Richmond Spy]

ACE, thats a terrific review!

[Double-Oh-Zero]

A 5 (ish) from me. A genuinely interesting premise of having Bond captured and tortured is presented to the audience, but the idea and it's subsequent effects/character development (*cough*) are clumsily swept under the carpet after the titles. And whilst I'm sure a third reference to Jim's fantastic review (which can be read in it's entirety here) will look pretty tacky, he was spot on with this comment:

"The grotesque product placement of the Philishave box in the Hong Kong hotel scene prompts the susupicion that the only reason Bond is captured for as long as 14 months is so that he could grow a beard so that he could use one of these wonderful new shavers to shave it off with."

Still, Loomy got it right when he suggested that it's an acceptable fillum if you're in the right mood. On the other hand, it's astoundingly dreadful if you're in the wrong mood. Furthermore, it's damn good entertainment when smashed out one's skull.

As for CraigBond's inclusion in the film: um...no. I'm reminded of the story he told in Esquire wherein he expected to read the script and think "...Well, Okay, I'll get through it and throw it against the wall and go, 'It's a piece of sh**, and I'm not touching that'..." Tend to think he would've done so with the DAD script after the seventeenth or so mention of AFRICAN CONFLICT DIAMONDS.

[Forward Look]

For one hour, Pierce Brosnan was giving his best performance as James Bond. Arrogant and full of self-assurance. Then the movie took a left turn, and Brosnan could never recover from it. And for that reason alone, at best that was just another middle of the road Bond movie from the Brosnan era.

Great first hour, but bad CGI effects and implausible climax doomed the remainder of the film.

[RazorBlade]

I just saw DAD again, I got the JB DVD vol 2 collection for Christmas yea me, and really enjoyed watching it. I like the film. I agree with what so many people are saying. And while CR is the Bond film I've been waiting for for years, there is a unique pleasure to watching DAD that is hard to describe. For all of that, I gave it a 4.

[BoogieBond]

Gotta say this is my least favourite. But I still think it is adequate entertainment(in small doses)
The good stuff is the swordfight and Bonds initial capture.
The bad stuff. Well, where do I start. The ice palace, the direction, the characters, the story. And the CGI.

I do have a soft spot for the car chase on ice though. And the meeting with Quartermaster.
4/10(being generous) will still watch it and enjoy it once in a while though, as with all bonds.

Edited by BoogieBond, 07 July 2008 - 02:39 PM.

[DaveBond21]

Yes, it is certainly down the bottom of my list along with DAF and AVTAK, but I still gave it a 6, because it's a Bond film!

Things I like:-

The PTS, and Bond's capture. I even love "Saved by the bell"

Hong Kong hotel scenes, and meeting Raoul in Cuba.

The sword fight with Graves

The underground station meeting with M and Q.


To me, it all goes downhill once we get to Iceland. The fake palace, the Robocop suit, Star Wars-style speeders and Darth Vader-like breathing & cloak (Zao's appearance), a giant laser cutting through ice, a traitor, Jinx and the awful CGI surfing and invisible car.

In the end, Bond barely uses the car for its invisibility function - indeed it's broken through most of the car chase. That's just as well as we wouldn't be able to see it!! That would save some money on cars, effects and stuntmen - just get Bond and the Bad Guy to both have invisible cars and just film a road!

In addition, after all the space-age weaponry and gadgets, Bond and Jinx use ordinary wire cutters to get to the runway to board Graves' plane!!

[Jim]

AFRICAN CONFLICT DIAMONDS

[killkenny kid]

AFRICAN CONFLICT DIAMONDS

Ok mate, did I miss something today?

[Major Tallon]

AFRICAN CONFLICT DIAMONDS

Ok mate, did I miss something today?

I think Jim's getting worked up for the reissue of "The Diamond Smugglers."

[Simon]

It is true to say that Audiences Miss Stuff. So there is a possibility that this was mentioned one or two times more than it should have been.

However, that said, We are a different audience to the basic Friday Nighters whereby they won't be coming to the film with a by heart memory of the synopsis. We will.

There was a Making Of programme for Crimson Tide and the focus group highlighted that they didn't know what EAM meant; they had to have these Marine pros shouting out Emergency Action Message every time one of these were required as opposed to the more probably used, EAM.

So even though they iterated the meaning once at the beginning, they didn't pick up nor follow through for the rest of the film.

So there we go.

So how many of us will tire still further upon repeated viewings of DAD whenever ACD is mentioned?

[Johnboy007]

2/10.

It's manic depressive/bipolar. It takes itself incredibly seriously with a lot of unnecessary psychological mumbo-jumbo before collapsing into chasing around in an ice palace and battling a genetically modified villain with a glove aboard a plane. Brosnan's old and wheezy, Jinx is so bad it hurts, and Zao is forgettable. I don't mind Rosamund Pike. The villains are incredibly lame. The plot doesn't make any sense, the ACDs are annoying (as Jim pointed out in his A-Z review, how do no other jewelers in the world notice that the diamonds are ACDs?)

I can buy James Bond operating just about any machine, expertise and lepidoptry, but that's ridiculous.

I actually like the score to this one, but I imagine I'll hate it in about 10 years when it's really dated.

Madonna's song is unquestionably the worst the series has ever had. I thought the theater's speakers had broken during the song. I really, really, really, really hate this song. I'd rather listen to the most drugged up/incomprehensible performance Amy Winehouse has ever given instead of this.

[DamnCoffee]

4/10

First of all when I saw this movie back in 2002 I loved it. Now I dislike it.... but... It's a great movie to watch on a Saturday afternoon.

[Aris007]

4/10

First of all when I saw this movie back in 2002 I loved it. Now I dislike it.... but... It's a great movie to watch on a Saturday afternoon.

It's good when you're around 12 years old! Iwas fascinated too. It's too flashy, though! A sattellite that produces light and destroyes a minefield? No, thanks! A 5 for me.

[ChrissBond007]

I vote a 5/10. When I first saw it four years ago, I liked it, but now it's different of course. There are many problems with the film: the horrible CGI action, weak acting, the invisible car and the weak story. Because it's a Bondfilm, I can watch it, and there are some good points:

-Rosamund Pike

-Hong Kong hotel scene

-Scenes at Cuba

-Bond's exchange

-Underground scene

It's good when you are younger than 12, but I think DAD is the weaktest Bondfilm ever.

[HH007]

1/10

To me this was the BATMAN & ROBIN of the Bond films. A pudgy, aging Pierce basically sleepwalks through the role of 007. Halle Berry's character is a joke and her performance was terrible (a believable tough chick she is not). The gadgets and sets are ing ridiculous (invisible car...? ice palace...? COME ON!!!) The plot twist involving the villain is absolutely absurd (Korean has "DNA Therapy" to turn himself into a white, English billionaire ). And last but not least, we have a excruciating cameo by Madonna to go with her equally excruciating title song!

Brosnan got off to a good start with GOLDENEYE, but TOMORROW NEVER DIES was dull, uninspired, and generic. Each of his films became progressively worse, and with DIE ANOTHER DAY, it hit rock bottom for me. I was ready to give up on Bond for good after this... thank God for CASINO ROYALE.

In other words... I didn't like DIE ANOTHER DAY.

[Mister E]

1/10

The abortion of the series. If you can only name one Bond film that can't distinguish itself from a video game at all, this is it. The fans of this film always rave the torture and Bond going rogue, those were both gimmicks that are basically forgotten the minute Bond shaves his beard at the yacht club. A club which was convinetly close to where Bond was being held in MI6 custody. This film also was literally just a cut paste job of the previous nineteen films. You think it sounds bad yet ? That was just the tip of the iceberg: More lasers then all six Star Wars films combined, Halle Berry, the holodeck from Star Trek, an invisible Aston Martin, DNA replacement technology, a dream machine, a 12 year old in a Robocop suit as the main villian, and a henchman who looks like a reject from The Matrix films. I can go on but I have made my point.

[HH007]

1/10

The abortion of the series. If you can only name one Bond film that can't distinguish itself from a video game at all, this is it. The fans of this film always rave the torture and Bond going rogue, those were both gimmicks that are basically forgotten the minute Bond shaves his beard at the yacht club. A club which was convinetly close to where Bond was being held in MI6 custody. This film also was literally just a cut paste job of the previous nineteen films. You think it sounds bad yet ? That was just the tip of the iceberg: More lasers then all six Star Wars films combined, Halle Berry, the holodeck from Star Trek, an invisible Aston Martin, DNA replacement technology, a dream machine, a 12 year old in a Robocop suit as the main villian, and a henchman who looks like a reject from The Matrix films. I can go on but I have made my point.

You forgot Madonna. ....

[Mister E]

1/10

The abortion of the series. If you can only name one Bond film that can't distinguish itself from a video game at all, this is it. The fans of this film always rave the torture and Bond going rogue, those were both gimmicks that are basically forgotten the minute Bond shaves his beard at the yacht club. A club which was convinetly close to where Bond was being held in MI6 custody. This film also was literally just a cut paste job of the previous nineteen films. You think it sounds bad yet ? That was just the tip of the iceberg: More lasers then all six Star Wars films combined, Halle Berry, the holodeck from Star Trek, an invisible Aston Martin, DNA replacement technology, a dream machine, a 12 year old in a Robocop suit as the main villian, and a henchman who looks like a reject from The Matrix films. I can go on but I have made my point.

You forgot Madonna. ....

Yeah it's bad enough see sang the title song but was it enough to make your ears bleed ? Hell No ! She had to ruin your vision by being in the film !

[broadshoulder]

I once did a posting on Absolutely James Bond on twenty reasons why DAD stinks like an old mans jockstrap. It got 150 replies before the mods shut it off.

Zero out of ten.

I dont think we'll see anything as bad again unless Russell T Davies becomes the franchises' producer.

[HH007]

I once did a posting on Absolutely James Bond on twenty reasons why DAD stinks like an old mans jockstrap. It got 150 replies before the mods shut it off.

Zero out of ten.

I dont think we'll see anything as bad again unless Russell T Davies becomes the franchises' producer.

Or they hire Uwe Boll to direct.