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, Rosamund Pike

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 35 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
Michael Gor	...	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?

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Plot Keywords:

north korea | iceland | 007 | gadget car | british secret service | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for action violence and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

MGM [United States] Official Site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Korean Cantonese Spanish German Icelandic Italian Arabic

Release Date:

22 November 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

James Bond 20

Filming Locations:

Deepdale Farm, Burnham Deepdale, Norfolk, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$142,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$47,072,040, 24 November 2002

Gross USA:

$160,942,139

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$431,971,116

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 North Korean sequences were deliberately bleached of color to emphasize the inhospitality of the location.

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Goofs

The Bridge of No Return is 2 kilometers inside the DMZ straddling the Military Demarcation Line. The fence line in that area is more than 2 kilometers away. There are no "Do Not Enter DMZ" signs in that area as civilians would be prevented from going there by the civilian control line.

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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]

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Crazy Credits

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

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Alternate Versions

For the theatrical release, seven seconds were cut from the Jinx/Bond sex scene to secure a PG-13 rating in the US; this version was released on home video. All video versions released in or after 2006 are uncut. The main difference between the two is that Jinx moans loudly in the uncut version.

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Connections

Spoofed in Pray Another Day (2003)

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Soundtracks

James Bond Theme
Music by Monty Norman
Arrangement by John Barry

User Reviews

Better Than I Expected

DIE ANOTHER DAY is a unique Bond film for me because I had seen the other entries in the franchise before I discovered the IMDb . In other words my only knowledge of its reputation is down to the comments I have read on these pages and because many commentators are so loud in their condemnation ( Bad CGI , awful title track etc ) I was expecting a really bad movie never mind a really bad Bond movie , but DIE ANOTHER DAY wasn't as bad as I was expecting

It's interesting to note that the Bond series never really concerned itself with painting communists as bad guys . OCTOPUSSY ties in with the cold war very much as does THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS to a lesser degree but in no way can the series be criticised as being right wing or reactionary with GOLDENEYE wearing its heart on it's sleeve that Russian gangsterism is more of a worry than Russian communism so it's something of a shock seeing Bond battle Stalinist commies in North Korea . That is in no way a criticism either .

We're then treated to a bizarre title sequence composed of a torture montage with quite simply the worst theme tune ever devised for a Bond movie . I don't know what is about the Pierce Brosnan Bonds but they all have very poor title songs despite having all round superb production values and DIE ANOTHER DAY continues the high production values , a lot of people complain about the CGI and I must admit the cartoonish jet at the end does look like a cartoon but compare this sequence to all the action scenes in the 1980s which were composed of Roger Moore standing in front of some back projection and no matter how much you don't want to say it you must confess we've come a long way since then

Some people have also let rip that the film is ruined by post modernist self reference but I disagree . Come on chaps when you've seen one Bond movie since the late 1960s you've seen most of them . Plot wise DIE ANOTHER DAY is very , very similar to GOLDENEYE with a " British " villain in charge of a death ray in outer space with a fair amount of LICENSED TO KILL thrown in . It should be remembered both YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE and THE SPY WHO LOVED ME had the same identical plot with serious hardware being stolen from the USSR and America in order to start a nuclear holocaust . There is a ridiculous amount of humour though involving John Cleese as Q . I know you shouldn't take James Bond movies seriously but did we need an invisible car ?

The other thing I disliked was Jinx . Think about it , she's tough and kills without hesitation so how come she needs rescuing from Bond ? She's just a cypher there to create a love interest and it's amazing that the producers seriously considered starting a spin off series with Jinx as the heroine . It would have been as successful as CATWOMEN . There is a problem with a plot twist involving both Gustav Graves and Miranda Frost , the twist is good but unfortunately the surprise only works once which means on second viewing the shock value of the plot revelation is gone therefore DIE ANOTHER DAY doesn't have the same enjoyment second , third or fourth viewing unlike classic Bond movies

I'm not a big Bond fan but have been fairly impressed with the standards of the franchise from GOLDENEYE to DIE ANOTHER DAY , they've really come leaps and bounds from the Roger Moore debacles like MOONRAKER and VIEW TO A KILL . One aspect that is over looked in the series is the character interaction between Bond and M ( Convincingly played by Judi Dench ) and I hope to see this abrasive relationship continue when the series returns with a new actor in the lead role