Die Another Day is the twentieth James Bond movie made by EON Productions and the fourth and final film to star Pierce Brosnan as Ian Fleming's James Bond. It was released in 2002 and produced by Bond veterans Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. It is the first movie to not feature Desmond Llewelyn as Q since Live and Let Die. The film was distributed by MGM.
Die Another Day, being the twentieth Bond film and also being released the year of the Bond film's "40th Anniversary", pays homage in some sort of way to every previous official James Bond film [1]. It also additionally references several Fleming novels as well as novels by other official Bond authors.
Overview
The movie departs from the usual Bond formula in several ways. The movie starts with an action set-piece which, instead of a comic ending, ends up with Bond captured by the North Koreans, after which he is tortured for fourteen months, depicted in a stylized manner through the title sequence, ending only when he is released in a prisoner-exchange deal. However, the psychological consequences of this torture are not explored in the rest of the movie. The movie also shows some attempts to improve the appeal of Bond to younger people, featuring two separate scenes of Bond surfing, a more contemporary soundtrack (by David Arnold), and extensive use of The Matrix-style slow-motion pans.
Plot summary
The plot, reminiscent of Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever and GoldenEye, involves billionaire businessman Gustav Graves, who through genetic engineering, is actually a North Korean Colonel (Colonel Moon) who in the pre-title sequence was supposedly killed by Bond. The film's title, Die Another Day, refers to Colonel Moon surviving his first encounter with 007. Upon meeting later in the film Bond exclaims, "So you live to die another day."
Graves' scheme involves the contruction of an orbital mirror system made of diamonds that will supposedly focus solar energy on a small area to light the Arctic nights, however, in truth the orbital mirror system is actually a superweapon designed to destroy the demilitarized zone that separates North Korea from South Korea.
Bond, with the aid of NSA agent Jinx (played by Halle Berry), defeats Gustav Graves, whose other major technotoy is an exoskeleton equipped with a high-voltage electric weapon, and prevents global catastrophe, along the way bedding both Jinx and Graves' assistant, the blond "ice queen" Miranda Frost. Frost, in a succession of twists, is first revealed to be working for MI6, then later as a double agent for Graves.
Cast & characters
Crew
Soundtrack
The theme music to Die Another Day with the title of the same name was written and sung by Madonna. Madonna also had a small cameo as a leather-clad fencing instructor Verity in the movie.
The soundtrack was composed by David Arnold; this is his third time composing for a James Bond movie. The soundtrack also used The Clash's "London Calling" in one sequence.
Although the Bond films have a longstanding connection with the pop music world, the choice of Madonna's song, coupled with the use of "London Calling", proved wildly controversial with some fans who felt the two pieces of music were somehow inappropriate for a Bond movie. Regardless, the title song, "Die Another Day", was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Conversely, the song was also nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song (2002).
Track listing
- Die Another Day - Madonna
- Bond Vs. Oakenfold - (Oakenfold mix)
- Gun Barrel / On The Beach
- How Do You Intend To Kill Me Now, Mr. Bond?
- Hovercraft Chase
- Kiss Of Life
- Peaceful Fountains Of Desire
- Welcome To Cuba
- Jinx Jordan
- Wheelchair Access
- Jinx And James
Vehicles and gadgets
- Main articles: List of James Bond vehicles, List of James Bond gadgets
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Aston Martin Vanquish V12 - The car is equipped with all the usual refinements including front-firing rockets, hood mounted guns, and passenger ejector seat that was a homage to original Aston Martin DB5 that Bond drove in Goldfinger. The car was also equipped with an adaptive camouflage device, that allowed it to become invisible at the push of a button.
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Jaguar XKR - While not technically a Bond car, this car was driven by the criminal Zao. Like Bond's car, it came equipped with guns mounted on its hood, missiles, and it could launch mortar shells.
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Ford Thunderbird - Although only in the movie for a short period of time, the vehicle was marketed as a Bond car. Jinx drives the 2002 Ford Thunderbird up to Graves ice palace. It's unknown what type of gadgets, if any, were installed.
- Glass Shattering Ring - This ring, given to Bond by Q-Branch, emits a high pitch sound that shatters any glass it's near.
Locations
Film locations
Shooting locations
Novelization
The novelization to Die Another Day was written by the then current official James Bond writer, Raymond Benson based on the screenplay by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. Like the movie, the novel also featured many references to past Bond movies and novels. A few months after its publication, it was announced that Benson was retiring as the official James Bond novel writer, and Ian Fleming Publications (owners of the Bond literary franchise) announced that the series was going on hiatus. A new series of Bond novels is scheduled to begin in 2005, however these books will focus on Bond's adventures as a teenager. As result, Die Another Day, the novel, is for the time being the final literary adventure featuring Bond as originally conceived by Ian Fleming.
Reaction
Critical reaction to the film was mixed, even allowing for the typical disdain of action films (and of sequels) held by many reviewers. Many felt that it was merely a tired retread of old ideas, and the attempts to appeal to a younger audience were unsuccessful; supporters of the film counter that the so-called "retread of old ideas" was simply the film paying homage to earlier Bond films, adding that Bond's incarceration and torture at the start of the movie sufficiently broke the pattern of recent Bond films. Berry's performance was heavily criticized by many reviewers and fans, though ironically she won the Academy Award for Best Actress (for Monster's Ball) in the midst of filming, making her only the second actor after Christopher Walken to be an Oscar-winner at the time of their appearance in an official Bond film (Judi Dench also won an Oscar in 1999, but this was after her debut in the series). Some also felt that the extensive use of CGI special effects detracted from one of the major appeals of the older films—that the stunts, however preposterous, were actually performed. The quality of the CGI effects in some scenes was also criticized.
Trivia
- It has been suggested that Richard Branson was the inspiration for the Graves character.
- The film united opinion across the Korean peninsula for once, with the North unhappy with its portrayal as a brutal, war-hungry state, whilst many South Koreans were offended by a romantic scene conducted in a Buddhist temple and a scene where an American officer issues orders to the South Korean army in their defense of their own homeland.
- The character Wai Lin, played by Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies was originally supposed to make her return, aiding Bond in Hong Kong, but no arrangement could be worked out with the actress and she was replaced by Chinese Intelligence agent (and hotelier) Chang. Wai Lin's presence is confirmed by an extra on the DVD release concerning the writing of the script: Barbara Broccoli is shown leafing through an early script, and it clearly contains lines for Wai Lin.
- On Bond's flight to London, the flight attendant who serves him a vodka martini is played by Roger Moore's daughter, Deborah Moore .
- The magazine with the picture of Gustav Graves that Bond reads on his flight to London is actually the real November 2002 in-flight magazine for British Airways. The magazine does in fact have an interview with Toby Stephens about playing the role of Graves.
- The book A Field Guide to Birds of the West Indies by James Bond, the ornithologist whose name inspired Ian Fleming, is picked up by Bond with a pair of binoculars in a scene that takes place in Havana. Bond also calls himself an ornithologist when Jinx asks him what he does.
- Although the basic plot and the title do not derive from any James Bond novel, this is the first film since 1989's Licence to Kill to include notable elements from the Bond books, In particular, the Korean villain has a similar name to that of Colonel Sun, the villain in Kingsley Amis's Bond novel of the same name. Plus, a number of elements from Fleming's original novel Moonraker are included, in particular the club called Blades. The character of Miranda Frost was originally named Gala Brand, the same name as the Bond girl in the original Moonraker book.
- The character of Jinx, though controversial to some fans, was nonetheless popular enough that MGM announced plans for the first-ever James Bond spin-off movie based upon the character and starring Halle Berry. Production was abruptly canceled in late 2003. Stephen Frears was attached to direct.
- A few weeks before the film was released, TV news reports broke the story that Sean Connery had filmed a cameo appearance in this movie, possibly as Bond's father. The producers of the film strongly deny any such appearance had been considered, let alone filmed, so the origin of this news report remains a mystery.
- The title is taken from a poem by A. E. Housman: "But since the man that runs away/Lives to die another day...".
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