7 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

Now on the CBn main page...

Looking Back: 'Die Another Day'

Raymond Benson's third and final James Bond novelization

[Jack Spang]

I thought that the book was 10 times better than the film. I rather enjoyed the book. Well, it wasn't bad for a action packed Bond film novelization.

[00Twelve]

It was still a little funny to see the literary Bond trying to fit into very unliterary story, but I agree that things were handled much better than in the film. It helped Jinx immensely to have a semblance of a background, and Miranda's relationship with Moon made much more sense. Also, the lines weren't quite as clunky, and I distinctly remember Jinx' "Your mother," in the book sounding smoother than "Your mama" in the movie (and for the love of Pete, no race-baiting this time, just leave it alone). Oh, and there were some references to earlier Fleming/film adventures that hadn't been as apparent when I was just watching the movie! Definitely helped.

While it definitely felt like a film in its tone, the subtle ways that it filled in some gaps made it a considerable improvement upon the film. I only wish they'd have made the few extra steps to fill these gaps onscreen.

[HH007]

Did the invisible car make an appearence in the book?

[00Twelve]

Yeah, it's still there, but somehow when described in the book, it doesn't come off so .

[Qwerty]

The book benefits from having bits and pieces of the backstory not included in the film.

[deth]

It's been quite a while since I read this, but I think the intro (pretitle) was sequence given a lot more context in the book...

[Qwerty]

Benson also made a several comments in this CBn interview from a few years ago about how exactly how much other bits and pieces he could add in.