Plot
Pierce Brosnan makes his fourth appearance as suave super-spy James Bond in this espionage thriller, the 20th film in the official Bond series. While on assignment in North Korea, Bond is captured by government agents, where he's imprisoned and tortured for over a year. When Bond finally wins his freedom, not everyone is certain 007 is still capable of doing the job, but after Zao (Rick Yune), the North Korean operative who snared Bond, is discovered to be in cahoots with unscrupulous entrepreneur Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens), Bond is back on the case, and he finds the two men have sinister plans which could decide the fate of the world. As Bond hops from England to Cuba to Korea to Iceland in pursuit of his quarry, he (as usual) makes the acquaintance of two beautiful and mysterious women, Jinx (Halle Berry) and Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike). Judi Dench and John Cleese return in Die Another Day as, respectively, Bond's superior M and gadget-master Q; Madonna contributes the film's theme song and makes a cameo appearance as a fencing instructor. ~ Mark Deming, RoviReview
The 20th entry in the James Bond spy thriller franchise, this fast-paced film is a slick, expensively mounted effort to hang onto the shrinking audience for 007 pictures without straying too far from the formula of guns, gadgets, and girls. Director Lee Tamahori and screenwriters Neil Purvis and Robert Wade mostly succeed in this attempt, presenting a stylish and furiously paced yarn that moves seamlessly from one set piece to the next, with a few sly winks at their protagonist's past (Bond's masquerading briefly as an ornithologist is a clever bit of business, named as the character is after a famed bird expert). Unfortunately, it all feels a bit too tailor-made for die-hard Bond fans only. Like the central characters in so many long-running film series and TV shows before him, Bond's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness: he never really changes. A prologue that hints at the creation of a tougher, meaner Bond never really bears fruit, and the character is quickly brought into line with fan expectations of a suave, imperturbable ladies' man. Inhabiting his role like a second skin, Pierce Brosnan is a terrific Bond -- arguably the best since the original -- but isn't given enough to do beyond smirking and trying to match action with his stunt double. Halle Berry has some impact as the memorably beautiful Jinx, the best "Bond girl" in a long stretch and, at long last, the hero's feminine equal in physical bravura and swaggering attitude. But even a gorgeous corporate spokesmodel in an orange bikini and brilliantly staged, elaborately captured action sequences are dulled without the sense of urgency and imminent danger that derives from emotional involvement -- and it's this crucial element that the Bond series still lacks after 40 years. Like many of the characters played by John Wayne in his heyday, Bond's appeal lies in his impenetrable superiority, but it's exactly this same cartoonish quality that dooms him to endlessly loop variations on the same theme. Bond has become a granite rock of storytelling against which the breathless thrill of surprise -- that frisson that can only come with a character's evolution -- has been too often dashed. Die Another Day (2002) is by no means a bad Bond film, but it's proof yet again that this series badly needs to be both shaken and stirred. ~ Karl Williams, RoviCast
- Pierce Brosnan - James Bond, Agent 007
- Halle Berry - Jinx
- Toby Stephens - Gustav Graves
- Rosamund Pike - Miranda Frost
- Judi Dench - M
Credit
Fred Hole - Art Director, Jim Morahan - Art Director, Stephen Scott - Art Director, Alan Tomkins - Art Director, James Hambidge - Art Director, Mark Harris - Art Director, Simon Lamont - Supervising Art Director, Debbie McWilliams - Casting, Callum McDougall - Co-producer, Lindy Hemming - Costume Designer, Gerry Gavigan - First Assistant Director, Lee Tamahori - Director, Vic Armstrong - Second Unit Director, Arthur Wooster - Second Unit Director, Shaun O'Dell - Second Unit Director, Don King - Second Unit Director, Christian Wagner - Editor, Anthony Waye - Executive Producer, Bob Anderson - Fights Choreographer, David Arnold - Composer (Music Score), Peter Lamont - Production Designer, David Tattersall - Cinematographer, Michael G. Wilson - Producer, Barbara Broccoli - Producer, Simon Wakefield - Set Designer, Chris Munro - Sound/Sound Designer, Vic Armstrong - Stunts Coordinator, George Aguilar - Stunts Coordinator, Chris Corbould - Special Effects Supervisor, Neal Purvis - Screenwriter, Robert Wade - Screenwriter, Arthur Wooster - Additional Cinematography, Jonathan P.B. Taylor - Additional Cinematography, Shaun O'Dell - Additional Cinematography, Don King - Additional Cinematography, Mara Bryan - Visual Effects Supervisor, Don Lusher - Musical Performer, Martin Evans - Supervising Sound Editor, Madonna - Featured Music| Die Angst des Tormannes beim Elfmeter (1971 Film), Die Andere Seite Der Welt (1984 Film) | |
| Die Anstalt (1979 Film), Die Antwort Kennt Nur der Wind (1974 Film) |
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