Simply A Masterpiece

Good concept, poorly executed.

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Movie Review: "007: Die Another Day" (2002)40 years after the initial Bond production "Dr. No" (1962) produced by Albert R. Broccoli (1909-1996) and Harry Saltzman (1915-1994) with just 1.1 Million Dollar in their pockets comes the twentieth installment of the all too famous MI6-Spy, portrayed with classic charms and high points for elegance by actor Pierce Brosnan at age 49, who encounters a fierce, unusual 13 minutes long pre-title sequence in a gritty North Korea exterior location confronting an hard-boiled martial arts-approved Military General about to get the best of James Bond aka "007".The film production, handled by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson for the final Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer affliate "United Artists" distribution before moving to Sony Pictures in season 2005/2006 for "Casino Royale", punches with a major Hollywood budget of 142 Million U.S. Dollars, newly acquired Computer-Generated-Imagery (CGI) with Bond getting car-chased over a frozen lake under constant spitfire from machine-gun-mounted vehicles to smooth ice wave surfing and an interior-destructing fence-fight with original written "007" antagonist Gustav Graves, who's character has become in the hands of screenwriting duo Robert Wade & Neal Purvis, far-out sketched to such an extent that even the most faithful recurring target group of "The World Is Not Enough" (1999) had to swallow the pill of given-in to an high-end almost comic spectacle over suspenseful thrills.Nevertheless the supporting cast including Halle Berry as U.S. American spy Jinx Johnson builds concrete homages to actress Ursula Andress in "Dr. No" (1962) coming out of the ocean engaging James Bond with light-hearted charms and pin-pointed dialogue lines in order to team up for an over-the-top showdown of a flying kind-of-gunship fortress, antagonist Graves wearing a misconceived metal armor active suit and a well-choreographed cat fight between Agent Jinx and villain-sidekick Miranda Frost, performed by actress Rosamund Pike with hostile convictions of sword-swinging to knife-throwing proportions.The worldwide audience did not bother on the issue of trading sophisticated espionage plot twists over to closing-in science-fiction action themes directed by Lee Tamahori supported by "Star Wars" approved cinematographer David Tattersall with a breaking-out-of-tradition manner. "Die Another Day" marks the most successful "007" installment since the 1970s, at least in terms of box office attendance, giving Pierce Brosnan as the fifth actor to engage the legendary role James Bond a fair send-off by ranging from a torture-close-to-death scenario in a stand-out opening sequence, with a phenomenal theme song by Madonna, to conclusions of diamond-pouring moments of leisure.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

James Bond is sent to investigate the connection between a North Korean terrorist and a diamond mogul who is funding the development of an international space weapon.There are some cheesy moments in this Bond film. Mostly the strange use of CGI or green screen or whatever makes Brosnan look like he is floating in places he obviously is not really. Or Halle Berry's dive into the water. If you cannot find a stunt person and cannot make good effects, why do it? Beyond that, this is a pretty good film. I really enjoyed the focus on North Korea, which is not your usual Bond nemesis. I am not at all convinced that the real North Korea has technology as good as is shown in the film, but I suppose that is part of the Bond fantasy.

Well You Can't Say that Pierce Brosnan, in His Fourth and Final Film as James Bond, didn't go Out Without a Bang. Some Say that there were Way Too Many Bangs in this the 20th Bond Movie.But for all the Complaining Coming from Bond Purists, and others, this was the Highest Grossing James Bond Movie. That is until Daniel Craig's Debut. It's also Not Fair to Blame Brosnan.He Voiced His Objections to the CGI Laden Film and Begged to have the Series Return to a Darker, more Down to Earth Style. But it was not to be. That is until Daniel Craig's Debut.This Movie can be Enjoyed by a Wide Audience. Bond Fan's and Cultists can Revel in the References to the Previous Films, as All are Given a Nod. One of the Funniest is When "Q" is Doling Out Gadgets and says..."Must you touch EVERYTHING?"...Bond Spots the Jet Pack from "Thunderball" and Flips the Switch while Saying..."Does this thing still work?."...as it Roars and Shoots Flames.Audiences in 2002 were becoming Excited with the New Technology of CGI and its Unlimited Applications and the Film's Producers wanted to Take Bond to the New Millennium Riding a Wave of SFX. They might have Gone Overboard.The Bond Girls are a Prominent Sidekick Role for Halle Berry (who gets a lot of bad ink for this one) as She Shares Screen Time with Bond and Spouts One Double Entendeur after another, and the Film Debut for Rosamund Pike who would go from a "Bond Girl" to a "Gone Girl" in a Few Years. The Bond Villain (Toby Stephens) is Badly Acted and Lacking Charisma despite the Hyper-Activity.The First Half of the Movie is the Best, before Things Get Out of Hand, and is More Spy Bond Stuff, with Weapons Dealing and Imprisonment in North Korea. From there Madonna's Song starts the Title Sequence. Then Things are a Grab Bag of One Liners and Over the Top Action Scenes Non Stop.Overall, Not the Worst Bond Film and Far from the Best. The Series would Change Direction and Brosnan was Unsuited for the Next Movie "Casino Royale" (2006) as it was Meant to be "007: Year One". The Rest is for the (History) Books of Bond, James Bond.

Strange Pierce Brosnan finale this was. A 140 m $ show that was meant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the James Bond legacy, but failed in my opinion. Yes, it's a 007 movie all right, but runs with an unnecessary roaring V8 muscle engine. A solid, faithful 4-cylinder was all that was needed. Makes an attempt to run on champagne, when it could have been in a reclined way, with a nice cold beer instead. Nice opening scene and some fun flashbacks is not enough for this kind of event.The makers fools away the good 007 spirit with too much "make-up" and flashy, garish scenes in such speed that a good seat belt was needed when you entered the cinema chair at your local theater in 2002.The use of flashbacks to the old movies is way too obvious and silly. Diamonds and lasers was already expended stuff, and the cast of Halle Berry was strange to me even back then. A good actress that wasn't really Bond stuff to me. Acted tough and cocky in a most annoying way, just getting along to the end. (Dr. No bikini scene rip-off is spoofed many times since.) Musician lady Madonna's cameo part is just there to fill up her ego. Of course, she had to spoil the good theme song tradition too, by performing a "modern" hard core dance track that isn't Bond material at all. (The worst 007 track that was, since Duran Duran's 1985 "A View To A Kill.) Why couldn't Robbie Williams been asked at the time, to do a soft tune instead?The cast is, by the way, quite good anyway. I think Rosamund Pike is one of the best villain girls in the Bond history, an elegant beauty with the ordinary lethal skills. A woman to be close to, rather than the opposite. Head villain Toby Stephens does it good too, but lacks of some aura to make a full-filled 007 evil enemy.And the running time of 133 minutes is way too much. Some action scenes could have been cut in half - instead of hitting the brakes unnecessary - for a better flow. (The Icelandic chase scene which ends up quite silly is one example.)So, do I think this 007 flick is the most bad of them all? Some days, yes....but none of the Bond movies is an absolutely disaster. Brosnan was not sacked because of this, he was just running out of James Bond fuel, and got the leave message by rumors, I've read. (Not directly from the office of Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.)It just was time for a change in the James Bond calendar. The basic stories of one Ian Fleming was ended long time since, and the responsible crew was to think things over. What to do for pushing the 007 legacy forward, once again?Former Bond actors Sean Connery and Roger Moore was questioned about their opinion, where to go with the MI6 agent. Connery said that he cared quite deeply about the whole Bond package, and what things that would happen to a thing that he was part of creating in the beginning. Moore was more of easy going - as always - and was hankering for a villain part in a James Bond movie. (Why did they not listen to the man? Make it happen before he's gone; he deserves it better than any other former Bond actor, coming back three times when he was already condemned, because of his respected and sometimes criticized age, last appearance 57 years old.)Timothy Dalton was professionally modest, and proclaimed that the Bond machine was to run for several ages to come, surely. I think he was the most "awake" Bond actor of them all.One-timer George Lazenby (1969) seemed not to care that much, once spoiling his chances as an immortal Bond actor because of bad decisions, and some wrong advisers at the time. Once the Brosnan era was over, plans for a continuation began to take shape... The Bond fans of the world was held on the gridiron for four long years.