Die Another Day (2002)

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.

Director:

Lee Tamahori

Writers:

Ian Fleming (characters), Neal Purvis,

Stars:

Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Toby Stephens

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 29 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pierce Brosnan	...	James Bond
Halle Berry	...	Jinx Johnson
Toby Stephens	...	Gustav Graves
Rosamund Pike	...	Miranda Frost
Rick Yune	...	Zao
Judi Dench	...	M
John Cleese	...	Q
Michael Madsen	...	Damian Falco
Will Yun Lee	...	Colonel Moon
Kenneth Tsang	...	General Moon
Emilio Echevarría	...	Raoul
Mikhail Gorevoy	...	Vlad (as Michael Gorevoy)
Lawrence Makoare	...	Mr. Kil
Colin Salmon	...	Charles Robinson
Samantha Bond	...	Miss Moneypenny

Storyline

Pierce Brosnan gives one last mission as James Bond. Starting off in North Korea, Bond is betrayed and captured. 14 months later, Bond is set free, but traded for Zao who was captured by MI6. When back in his world, Bond sets off to track down Zao. Bond gets caught up in yet another scheme which sends him to millionaire Gustav Graves. Another MI6 agent known as Miranda Frost is also posing as a friend of Graves. Bond is invited to a presentation held by Graves about a satellite found in space which can project a huge laser beam. Bond must stop this madman with a fellow American agent, known as Jinx. Whilst Bond tries to stop Graves and Zao, will he finally reveal who betrayed him?

---

Plot Keywords:

north korea | cuba | laser | colonel | escape | 

---

Taglines:

Pierce Brosnan as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 [USA Poster]

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for action violence and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

jamesbond.com [us] Official site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Korean Cantonese Spanish German Icelandic Italian

Release Date:

22 November 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

D.A.D.

Filming Locations:

Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$142,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,235,418 (Japan) (7 March 2003)

Gross:

$7,463,693 (Japan) (11 April 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eon Productions, Danjaq, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES Dolby Digital EX SDDS

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The painting that gets slashed during the swordfight between Bond and Graves is a reproduction of Thomas Gainsborough's famous "Blue Boy" from 1770. The original "Blue Boy" hangs in the Huntington Library (San Marino, Calif.) The reproduction was hand-painted by Lyons Corner House Fine Art Reproductions in London.

---

Goofs

During the hovercraft scene in North Korea, Bond shoots the land-mines and they eject into the air before exploding. Though this is correct, the mines were shown exploding close to head height whereas in reality the mines would explode a waist level or lower so as to cause the most crippling injuries to soldiers.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Mr. Van Bierk: [stepping out of helicopter] Look, what is this? I'm supposed to...
[Bond puts a gun to Mr. Van Bierk's head and takes his sunglasses]

---

Crazy Credits

At the end of the credits, Madonna can be heard saying "I need to lay down."

---

Connections

References Vertigo (1958)

---

Soundtracks

"London Calling"
Performed by The Clash
Courtesy of Epic Records and Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.
by arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Fun but tries too hard to it's detriment

On a mission in Korea, James Bond is captured and tortured for 18 months. He is swapped with Korean agent Zao for his freedom. However M has swapped him not to save him, but because she believes Bond has cracked and is giving away information. However Bond knows there is another mole in the area and escapes to uncover what Zao is up to and to uncover his Western ally.

I looked forward to this film because I like Bond and easily get caught up in the hype. I think it is just down to the success of the formula and the fact that it feels comfortable to know you're getting a slightly different version of reliable product. For me, familiarity has yet to breed contempt in this series. I wanted to like this film more, although I did enjoy the vast majority of it. It's biggest problem is simply that it tries too hard and wants to do too much. The plot is OK and is a brave start showing our hero broken and in prison, but from there it does try and do way too much. It was good to relate the pre-credits scene to the rest of the film but the film seems restless unless it is having a major bit of plot happening - too many little twists or new bits of plot that stopped the film flowing. The plot is OK at heart but the little additions of diamonds, ice palace, weapons in space, DNA alteration, electrical suits all gets a bit much.

The film's direction is also a bit frantic. A little bit of Matrix creeping in and sudden rushing cameras etc. It isn't needed, indeed they make the cake feel over egged, like the director didn't trust himself enough to a good job and needed gimmicks etc. On top of this there are three or so cgi shots that are really poor (and I mean Mummy Returns poor). It doesn't help that the theme song is one of the worst ever but I could get past that as the action under the credits helped distract from it. The action is all good on the whole but there didn't seem enough room for them and all that plot - also everything was overdone. We don't need matrix type effects in Bond - all we need is a certain amount of flair and well designed shots etc. I sound negative but I still enjoyed this despite the weaknesses cause at the end of the day the formula still works even with the monkeying around.

One of the main reasons is Brosnan himself. he is getting better every film. He does some bad puns but never to the mocking extent of Moore and he also does the dangerous element of Connery. Even when the film starts to get silly he remains strong in the lead. Berry is wasted and is a distraction more than a good addition. From the cringe worthy first scene with Bond (trading smutty one liners) onwards she has no character worth speaking of. Her dialogue is innuendo and not lines, her acting is all in the twitch of her lips as she flirts and that's it. To look at, she does the job, but i thought we'd gotten past Bond girls that are eye-candy and nothing more. Pike is given a more frosty role and does pretty well despite being very cold when viewed beside the flirtatious Berry. Stephens hams it up as Graves. He starts well but the plot spin on his character (esp. the electric suit stuff) takes away from his credibility as a bad guy and he ends up as a cartoon type rather than a real threat. Yune on the other hand is a real good villain - a gimmick (his face) but also presence and real menace without hamming it up. I had hoped he would be the focus but alas no. Dench is good and Madsen is an interesting addition - but perhaps he wasn't the best choice for the head of NSA given the type of roles he is best known for

• how many other people could only see Mr Blonde? Cleese does well as the

new Q and brings his comedy into the role well, making it similar to the spirit of Q without being a copy. Madonna's cameo is as bad and as pointless as her theme song.

Overall let me stress I enjoyed this film but couldn't help but see the many flaws. It simply tries too hard in almost every area - plot, writing, action, direction. The formula is all there but it feels like they want to up the ante in every way, only at the basic level does the film feel comfortable in it's own skin and relaxes, for most of the time you'd think this was a new film desperately trying to start a franchise as opposed to a long running series.