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Tomorrow Never Dies

For the video game see Tomorrow Never Dies (video game)

Tomorrow Never Dies is the eighteenth James Bond film made by EON Productions, and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. It was released in 1997, by producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and was also the first Bond film made after the death of veteran producer Albert R. Broccoli. The film is dedicated to his memory, and beginning with this production and in each subsequent Bond film, the first credit reads: "Albert R. Broccoli's EON Productions presents..."

Contents

Plot summary

The film begins at a terrorist arms bazaar somewhere on the Russian border. MI6 has sent 007 into the field to survey trades and purchases by the terrorists. One terrorist identified, Henry Gupta, has purchased an American GPS decoder. Upon viewing the evidence of these transactions taking place Admiral Roebuck orders a missile strike upon the position, however, it is later discovered that the terrorists have a Soviet nuclear torpedo setup on a plane. Bond, using diversionary tactics, steals the plane with the torpedo and escapes as does Gupta with the GPS decoder.

The decoder is later used by evil media mogul Elliot Carver, as an attempt to start a war between the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom as an exclusive marketing device to launch his new worldwide television network. The decoder is used to send a British frigate, the HMS Devonshire, off course in the South China sea where Carver's own stealth ship sinks it while also shooting down a Chinese fighter plane sent out to investigate the stray warship. When the survivors of the sunken frigate are found to have been killed using Chinese ammunition, the Royal Navy is sent to the region.

As tensions between the two countries mount, Bond is sent by M to investigate Carver after MI6 identified a spurious signal sent from one of Carver's communications satellites around the time the warship was sank. During the investigation, Bond seduces Carver's wife, Paris Carver, which leads to her death on the orders of her husband. Meanwhile, Bond is both rivaled and assisted in his mission by the Chinese secret agent Wai Lin.

Cast & characters

Crew

Soundtrack

David Arnold composed the score of Tomorrow Never Dies, his first, full Bond soundtrack. Arnold came to the producer's attention by the successful cover interpretations in Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project—which featured major artists performing classic James Bond title songs. Sheryl Crow sings the main theme, "Tomorrow Never Dies", and the end titles feature k.d. lang. singing "Surrender," a bold, classic-style James Bond theme song. Both songs have the phrase "tomorrow never dies", making this the only film with two, legitimate theme songs. Aficionados are split in opinion about which song would have been the better opening theme.

Track listing

  1. Tomorrow Never Dies — Sheryl Crow
  2. White Knight
  3. Sinking of the Devonshire
  4. Company Car ListenMusic
  5. Station Break
  6. Paris and Bond
  7. Last Goodbye
  8. Hamburg Break In
  9. Hamburg Break Out
  10. Doctor Kaufman
  11. *-3-* Send
  12. Underwater Discovery
  13. Backseat Driver
  14. Surrender — k.d. lang
  15. James Bond Theme — Moby

Vehicles & gadgets

Main articles: List of James Bond vehicles, List of James Bond gadgets
  • BMW R1200 motorcycle - Stolen in Saigon, Vietnam, for a chase, ridden by both James Bond and Wai Lin.
  • BMW 750i - Used in Germany, the car has a security system allowing access to no-one, without it first being disarmed via the mobile telephone; the glove box security system is fingerprint-controlled. Armament includes sunroof rockets, deployable tacks (out of rear bumper), re-inflatable tires, and a wire-cutter hidden under the BMW logo on the hood. The car may be remotely operated via Bond's mobile phone.
  • Ericsson mobile telephone - Has several functions: a stun gun, a fingerprint scanner, and a LCD remote-control screen for the BMW 750i, and for seeing the roadway when operating remotely.
  • Omega scuba diver's wristwatch - Taken from a Chinese safehouse, used to remotely break a glass jar holding a hand grenade.
  • Walther P99 - Taken from the same Chinese safehouse, Bond replaces his trademark Walther PPK with the Walther P99. Since Tomorrow Never Dies Bond has used the Walther P99 in every subsequent film.

Locations

Film locations

Shooting locations

  • Pinewood Studios
  • HMS Dryad, Royal Navy training establishment, for interior filming of Type 23 frigates.
  • IBM building, Middlesex, England, used as set for the headquarters of Elliot Carver's media group.
  • RAF Lakenheath, what was described as "U.S. Airbase in South China Sea" was actually filmed at the USAF base in Suffolk, hence the LN markings on the F-15s
  • Bangkok, Thailand, used as a stand-in for Saigon, Vietnam. The Vietnamese government refused filming in Vietnam, and Bangkok was used as a last-minute shooting location.
  • Phuket, Thailand, the chain of islands were used in a previous Bond film The Man With The Golden Gun - the location doubled for a chain of volcanic islands off the Vietnamese coast.

Trivia

  • It has been suggested that the character of Elliot Carver is (very loosely) based on a combination of Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation exerts power across many continents, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
  • When filming began the script wasn't finished.
  • The film was originally titled Tomorrow Never Lies, a reference to Elliott Carver's newspaper Tomorrow. However, it was then the subject of a typo and the producers liked the alternate title so much they adopted it.
  • This was the final Bond film-to-date to be released directly through United Artists; parent company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would assume co-production and distribution beginning with the next film.
  • Teri Hatcher's scenes had to be filmed quickly because she found out she was pregnant a few days after she got the part.

Novelization

Tomorrow Never Dies was the first of three Bond films to be adapted into books by then-current Bond novelist, Raymond Benson. Benson's version of Bruce Feirstein's screenplay is suitably expanded, and includes some nods to past Bond films, including the suggestion that Bond was lying when he said he had taken a course in Oriental languages in the movie You Only Live Twice.


External links

Last updated: 10-17-2005 14:19:33
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