Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

James Bond sets out to stop a media mogul's plan to induce war between China and the U.K in order to obtain exclusive global media coverage.

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writer:

Bruce Feirstein

Stars:

Pierce Brosnan, Jonathan Pryce, Michelle Yeoh

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pierce Brosnan	...	James Bond
Jonathan Pryce	...	Elliot Carver
Michelle Yeoh	...	Wai Lin
Teri Hatcher	...	Paris Carver
Ricky Jay	...	Henry Gupta
Götz Otto	...	Stamper
Joe Don Baker	...	Wade
Vincent Schiavelli	...	Dr. Kaufman
Judi Dench	...	M
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Q
Samantha Bond	...	Moneypenny
Colin Salmon	...	Robinson
Geoffrey Palmer	...	Admiral Roebuck
Julian Fellowes	...	Minister of Defence
Terence Rigby	...	General Bukharin

Storyline

Agent James Bond 007 (Pierce Brosnan) is on a mission which includes a media tycoon, his former lover and a Chinese Agent. Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) wants to complete his global media empire, but in order for this to work, he must achieve broadcasting rights in China. Carver wants to start up World War III by starting a confrontation over British and Chinese waters. Bond gains the help of Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) on his quest to stop him, but how will Bond feel when he meets up with his former lover, Paris (Teri Hatcher), who is now Carver's wife.

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Plot Keywords:

megalomaniac | official james bond series | 007 | media tycoon | world war three | 

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Taglines:

Tha Man. The Number. The License...are all back.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence, sexuality and innuendo

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the novelization, James Bond revealed that Natalya Simonova from GoldenEye (1995) married a hockey player. This happened to Izabella Scorupco in real life.

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Goofs

After the chase, under the shower, Wai Lin opens the handcuffs with her earring in a fraction of a second. This begs the question why she didn't do so *before* the chase, like immediately after their jump through the window before they even tore down that banner, or after that on their way down to street level through the rest of that office building.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Charles Robinson: Our man's in position on the center camera. It's like a terrorist supermarket. Chinese Long March Scud, Panther AS-565 attack helicopter, a pair of Russian mortars, and the crates look like American rifles. Chilean mines. German explosives. Fun for the whole family.

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Crazy Credits

James Bond will return.

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Alternate Versions

The UK terrestrial television broadcast by ITV in October 2001 included the "shuriken" and "face stamping" shots that were removed from the UK VHS and DVD releases.

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Connections

Follows Dr. No (1962)

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Soundtracks

Surrender
Performed by k.d. lang
Music by David Arnold & David McAlmont
Lyrics by Don Black
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records

User Reviews

It's kind of like a Fast Food Burger. You consume it, enjoy it, but forget all about it as soon you are finished

A far cry from Goldeneye, but It doesn't necessarily deserve all the hate it receives either. Tomorrow Never Dies is a fast paced affair, and an easily agreeable time-waster, but it's not the follow-up Goldeneye deserved, either. It's much too daft for the heavy plot that it has. The main reason this movie is entertaining is the spectacular stunts. It has some great action set pieces, which managed to make the time pass nicely. Michelle Yeoh makes for a refreshingly unique Bond Girl, due to her actual Martial Arts background. I dug the chemistry with her & Brosnan. Speaking of Brosnan… He is very good as Bond. He has charisma and wit to spare. He's not quite as good as Timothy Dalton, but he is excellent nonetheless. Johnathan Pryce is decent as the villain. He is fitfully menacing and did the job overall. Teri Hatcher's character is a bit disposable, but she was good in her role. Desmond Llewelyn & Judi Dench are as classy as ever

Final Thoughts: Instantly forgettable stuff, but it manages to be an effective time-waster. It's not a great Bond film, but it is an OK action film. I didn't mind it at all.

5.6/10

Details

Official Sites:

MGM [United States] Official Site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English German Danish Mandarin Cantonese

Release Date:

19 December 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tomorrow Never Dies

Filming Locations:

Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$110,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$25,143,007, 21 December 1997

Gross USA:

$125,304,276

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$333,011,068

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eon Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), United Artists

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

DTS 70 mm (70 mm print) DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1