Die Another Day | | Cast : | Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Rosamund Pike | | Director : | Lee Tamahori | | Studio : | MGM/UA Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound | | Released Date : | November 22, 2002 | | DVD Released Date : | June 08, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 02, 2005 | | Summary | Shaken *and* Stirred! | Content
 | "Die Another Day" is not only easily the best Bond outing with Pierce Brosnan as the infamous Agent 007, but it also ranks up there with the best of the Bond films, including From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, and Dr. No. Though not written by Ian Fleming, "Die Another Day" harkens back to the basic ingredients that made Bond an interesting character to begin with. Let's see:
Brutality? Check!
Efficiency? Check!
Rampant womanizing, scourge of the casinos, demon-in-a-tuxedo to global supervillains, effortless master of High Style? Check, check, check, and double-check, skipper!
Some claim the Bond films have sold out their pedigree---in targeting a younger demographic, the series has sacrificed tradition to sleek techno-hustle. They also criticized Bond partnering up with Halle Berry, since the 007 of yore preferred to work alone, and they even fussed about Madonna's techno theme song and cameo appearance.
Let's set the record straight: "Die Another Day" returns to the classic Bond, and like Buckminster Fuller director Lee Tamahori reinvents the secret agent from the inside out, retaining all the old trappings---vodka martinis shaken not stirred, the penchant for Aston Martin sports cars (with machine guns, naturally), the effortless nonchalance in the jaws of death, the voracious womanizing---but improving on the original.
First off, America---and Bond movies---needs a good enemy. A good Enemy keeps us on our toes, brings out the best in us. The collapse in 1989 of the Soviet Union may have been good for world peace and freedom, but it was murder on America's self-discipline and the kiss of death for the Bond movies. Suddenly James Bond, bereft of a good nasty villain (c'mon, SPECTRE had been over for nearly two decades by the time Timothy Dalton took up the Bondian Walther PPK), is sent off to wrangle with South American druglords? Please.
Now, happily, the bad guys are back in black, in the form of goose-stepping militaristic North Koreans and a renegade Colonel Moon (played to sneering, toady-bashing perfection by Will Yun Lee), who may be a zealot for Kim Jong Il, but has been educated at Oxford and Harvard with a "master's in Western Hypocrisy" and has a taste for exotic supercars.
Bond has been sent on an assassination mission, using the delivery of embargoed 'conflict diamonds' as his cover. Things quickly get out of hand, and after the thrilling opening sequence Bond is captured, disavowed by the MI5, and brutally tortured at the hands of his North Korean captors.
Revenge, slaughter, brutality, and cheeky fisticuffs ensue.
The movie is uniformly brisk, exciting, gorgeous to behold (kudos to cinematographer David Tatersall, who worked on Phantom Menace and Con Air, and brings much of the latter to this movie), exotic, and loads of fun.
It's also very much in the spirit of Ian Fleming, with everything you want from a Bond film: Bond being thrown to the wolves and tortured brutally (check out Dr. No for evidence), Bond in a vicious and bloody swordfight with the leering evil super-industrialist, plenty of Bondian bombshells to seduce and be stalked by, and cars! cars! cars!.
Also blessedly welcome are the villains, who are nasty evil wicked types and deliver the goods in spades: from Lee's sadistic Colonel Moon to Toby Stephenson's sneering diamond tycoon to the facially amorphous Zao to Rosamund Pike's aptly named Miranda Frost, "Die Another Day" offers some of the best villains since the glory days of Goldfinger and Blofeldt.
Classic Bond movies are like exotic travelogues, and this flick is no exception: "Die Another Day" races quickly and lushly from one exotic locale to the other: from the brutally mined and trapped North Korean DMZ to sultry Cuba and on to London and the arctic wastes of Iceland.
Brosnan *is* James Bond, by the way, turning in a note-perfect, sweatless, British cool performance that ranks up there with the best of the Connery outings. It's all about quick, effortless violence, shot through with impeccable manners, anyway---and Brosnan has it. To say nothing of the way this Bond pulls himself up out of Hong Kong bay, dripping wet, and saunters casually into the Rubyeon Royale Hotel as if he owns the place---and the devious (but dapper!) Mr. Chang is happy to receive him.
And finally, Halle Berry is superb---in so many ways. For all the criticism, though, "Die Another Day" is certainly not a buddy movie, and the inclusion of Berry adds a nice touch and gives Bond a brave and stoic sparring partner. I even liked Madonna's cameo and cover song, though it would have been fun to see her and Brosnan tangle. Watch out for the lady's brassiere, 007!
So park the invisible Aston Martin, grab a vodka martini (shaken, not stirred), keep an eye on the blonde bombshell in the corner (yeah, the one with the spikes in her go-go boots---she's one of ours), and pop "Die Another Day" on the hopper for some classic Bondian goodness.
Is that DVD ticking?
JSG |
| Rating | | | Date | July 29, 2005 | | Summary | Copycat Movie | Content
| This movie is just copying from the original Bond Movies.
#1.Jinks rising out of the water in a bikini (Dr.No)
#2.The Fight in the plane (Goldfinger,The Living Daylights)
#3 Bond quitting the MI6 and becoming a rogue agent (License To Kill)
They Even Copy a line from Goldfinger!
"You Must Be Joking, I Never joke about My work |
| Rating | | | Date | July 21, 2005 | | Summary | Another killer Satellite! | Content
| After Tommorrow, and World is not enough I though this would be a great film, wrong. The CG effects were terrible. I am also getting tired of a satellite being in the plot line(remember Goldeneye), Bond going rougue is another rehash. Halle Berry was under used in this film. Lines like yo mamma just make her character sound silly. IMO the worst Bond Film. Although he is good in this film, Pierce hasen't had a good film to work with since Goldeneye. Here's hoping Bond 21 is better. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 14, 2005 | | Summary | I wish I never saw this | Content
| I love the series and I love the novel's as well, but this turns Bond into a generic action hero and the celebrity guest spots make this even worse. Brosnan plays the character well, but the writing has been extremely hit or miss. Consider this one a miss, and I can actually say that out of everything, this is the worst film I have ever seen. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 24, 2005 | | Summary | Just die today | Content
| This was the first James Bond that I ever watched, and sadly my last. James Bond is nothing more than a womanizer, and not a good spy to boot. The two and half hours on this movie are definantly a waste as James Bond seduces girl after girl, and tries to capture a man who is as poor an enemy as he is spy.
I thought the movie was full of acting, acting you can tell is acting which made the movie longer. Besides, the chase scenes where just as boring. The hover crafts promised to be cool, but only managed to become drab and uninteresting after the first five minutes.
In short, James Bond will never win my heart nor my vote of popularity in this review.
Oh, well, he'll just have to try another day. |
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