Die Another Day - My quick review

[ReaperFett]

Let's cut to the chase. This is Brosnan's best, and probably a top three for them all.

Now, reasons :)


Film begins with a great sequence, leading up to the best credits sequence so far. The Madonna song does fit it, it actually made it sound good (Not as a song, just in the sequence :) )

First, acting. Brosnan was perfect for the role. He was inbetween the more serious Connery and the more jokey Moore. And it worked. We also saw a darker Bond.

The Bond Girls did well too. Halle Berry did good as Jinx, managing to be a strong character but not lowering Bond's status. Rosamund Pike also did great in a role which had less moments.

Special mention must go to John Cleese, who was a vast improvement to his character in TWINE. The jokes are free flowing, and there are references to previous films all the way through.


The action was a LOT better than most of the films. Bond films have a tendancy to work on the setpieces rather than the action. Not so in this one.

And the car. Oh BOY the car ruled! There's one gadget most of you probably wont have heard of yet. And it is great. And to double it, there's TWO gadget cars!


Special effects were both good and bad. As a whole, they were outstanding. But theres a scene later in the film that looks so fake it is stupid. And the director puts slow motion to good use, but sometimes it felt as if he was just bored and wanted something to do.


Overall, go see the film. NOW.

[Taylor Millard]

How was Michael Madsen?

[JMK]

Is the Aston Martin the main car used in the film?

[Master Yoghurt]

** is curious about the car **

[Sanis Prent]

Its an Aston Martin, yes.

I'm so stoked to see this :)

[ReaperFett]

Madsen was good, BUT miscast. Hopefully he'll imrpove if he returns.


And yes, its an Aston :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I...want...to....see.....this.....NOW!

But I have to wait two more days. Dammit!

[Sejah Haversh]

It's an Aston Martin, but in order to get some of those goodies under the hood, they had to yank out the V-12 and put in a V-8 instead. So it's actuially more powerful in real life than it was in the movie.

[ReaperFett]

Depends on your definition of power :)

[ReaperFett]

And now my top lists :)



BEST BOND

5. Lazenby
4. Dalton
3. Connery
2. Brosnan
1. Moore


BEST FILM

4. Moonraker
3. Die Another Day
2. Goldfinger
1. Live and Let Die

[JMK]

I knew it was the Aston Martin, but I was asking if that is the main car used over the second gadget mobile (which I think is another BMW?)

[ReaperFett]

it's a Jag.



And I wont go into details, but bonds car is the AM Vanquish (Think thats the name:))

[Sanis Prent]

LAZENBY?

I'm suddenly less confident in your opinion.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Notice, Sanis, that he is number 5, not number 1.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Never mind, actually read Sejah's post properly

[Sanis Prent]

oh whew! ^_^;

[ReaperFett]

You think Id put Moore and Brosnan last? :)

[Sanis Prent]

Well you ARE generally contrary, so I can't discount it :)

[Loki Ahmrah]

But in this case, he's just backwards and does his top five funny. :)

[Sanis Prent]

:lol!!

[Loki Ahmrah]

Time for my quick review. I left the theatre feeling unsatisfied, after a very fresh opening to the film and the plot that subsequently follows it immediatly all was fresh and exciting. Once Bond went to Cuba, which is particularly early, it all felt far too familiar for my tastes. Nothings new save for gadgets, girls and badguys. Nothing felt fresh to me and I hate to say this because I love the Bond series but when it gets to the point when I am immediatly able to point out the person who betrays him and secondly, the true identity behind the big, bad-guy the 007 franchise begins to lose it's appeal.

Redeeming factors: Halle Berry as Jinx; sexy, funny and sexy! The Q sequence was humerous. Then of course, there's the magnificent car chase, absolutely stunning which is only equalled by the movie's breathtaking climax. Finally, the most humerous scene comes at the end which involves Moneypenny.

Apart from that above, I left the Odeon with a dour mood. I was deliberately trying to pick out new and exciting components that made Die Another Day stand out over other Bond films only to realise there were none. That and I so much wanted to deny what I knew was true about the movie in order to be able to give it a glowing review like ReaperFett did. Ours are complete opposites and I'll allow you to make your own judgement on this latest installment. One word to sum up my review of Die Another Day: dissatissfied. That is all. :(

[ReaperFett]

One word to descrbe you: wrong ;)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I liked it!

Very extremely last sequence in the hut with the diamonds (I have been in SW too long, I spelled HUT, HUTT first, I admit it! :eek) the lines were achingly horrible and made me think of Austin Powers! However, TWINE was just like that too.

Over all, I loved the credits thing, and the cars, and the ...stuff. It was very fun. :)

[Marcus Telcontar]

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/DieAnotherDay-1118332/

Interesting review mix. I'll pass, I dont find Bond movies entertaining.

[Figrin D'an]

I just returned from a late showing of the film.

Good movie. Solid entry into the Bond series. One of the better recent ones, IMO. The Madonna song was... ehhh... there have been better, but it wasn't horrible. Halle Berry was entertaining as Jinx. Brosnan, once again, shows why he's perfect for the James Bond role. John Cleese needed more screentime... the "gadget intro" scene seemed rushed compared to other Bond films. The dialogue between Q and Bond was witty and humorous, I just wished there was a little more of it. Great car chase, one of the better ones I've seen in a Bond film. For the first time in many many years, I can say I would want the Bond car (Aston Martin Vanquish). The BMW's were okay, but I'm so happy they went back to Aston Martin. I agree with Reaper that slow motion was used pointlessly in a few spots. And yes, one scene in particular that had some bad blue screen and bad CG was painfully obvious.

I tend to grade Bond films on pure entertainment value, not whether they are necessarily innovative or not or do anything original. This one keep me entertained throughout. Yeah, it was predictable in spots... so are a lot of good action films.

I liked it. Fun movie to see in the theatre.

[Dark Lord Dyzm]

Just saw it, at a friend and I started pointing out some of the rip offs from other Bond Films...

1.) Dimonds are Forever: all the dimonds

2.) Jinx walking out of the water: Dr. No, Honey Ryder, same clothes, same knife, I was suprised she didn't start singing under the mango tree and claim to be searching for shells.

3.)The Lasers: Goldfinger.

I enjoyed the walk through bonds past, but why did he hold up the shoe with blade? It was that russian chicks shoe from: From Russia, with Love. Why would he jack that?

And making love in dimonds... seems painful

But otherwise, Great Movie. The mirror used as weapon, obvious, but the way americans fire only one missile and give up... tsk. A spread of missiles from different quadrents of the globe should of taken it down...
All the sword fighting also was cool, almost as much as Lord of the Rings.

[ReaperFett]

Dyzm, they had a reference to every one of the previous Bond films. Note the Jetpack too :)


And you want to decide if it's any good? Let's not look at the reviewers and the AWFUL good/bad ratings rt gives. Let's look what the most important think - IMDB and its fans

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0246460 (http://)


Currently, 350 voters give it 7.6, a very good score.

[Gurney Devries]

Rotten Tomatoes seems to be fairly accurate.

IMDB is a better source to judge movies by... after they've been out for a little while. Remember when FOTR came out? It was rated the best movie ever. Even ranked above the Godfather. ;) You have to give the IMDB voters a little time to get over the hype and whatnot before you can get a reasonable score.

I'm not really into Bond films. They're the definition of mindless action, in my opinion. Still, I'd heard good things about this one and considered giving it a shot. But now that I'm hearing mixed reactions, I think I'll wait until it gets shown on HBO, or somesuch.

[Figrin D'an]

I liked all of the references to previous Bond films. It was a nice bit of nostalgia.

I'll agree that Bond films are not for everyone. I like them for the pure escapist entertainment value. Even though some are better or worse than others throughout the series, they almost always seem to be better than the vast majority of action films that slate a given year. I've never been disappointed after seeing a Bond film in the theatre. Some of that is my perspective of the films, but some of it is also consistency throughout the years.

[Sanis Prent]

I dislike Dr. No and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The others are enjoyable.

[ReaperFett]

To a degree, I like them all Connery and Moore had some poor later ones though.

[Marcus Telcontar]

IMDB users also have deliberate campains to raise / lower films. Have a look at what happened when LOTR:FOTR was No 1 for some time - Godfather illumani came out and deliberatly voted FOTR down. Conversly, the reverse is true, films get unresonably voted up. And there is also ballot stuffing....

All in all IMDB is a popularity competition and You know my thoughts on popular contests by the lemmings called consumers?

WHAT A LOAD OF ROT!!!!!

I also note you took delight in putting an initial Fresh rating forward for DAD from RT.com. So now it's rotten, you have no credence in it? You have the appearence of someone jumping around looking for some rating to back your argument.

Look, you like it? Fine. Say so. Argue it for your own reasons. But dont trust arbitary ratings to decalr its good or not. Use your own judgement and taste. I, for example love LOTR to the point of pathetic fanboy, but my reasoning is not cause it has a high rating or whatnot - I believe its good for reasons like story, production, music.... I dont need 95% on the Tomato Meter, Large bucks at the B.O., No 6 at IMDB to confirm my view. Neither should you.

And neither conversly will similar pointing at favorable reviews and what not convince me I want to see another frelling Bond movie. No offense to the latest edition, but I just dont personally see the point and I wont spend my money.

In the end... you like, that's good. Your opinion. I'm comfortable you having one that differes possibly from mine. Got your reasons, thats cool too, I'ld like to hear. But dont be backign your argument up with polls and measurements that are arbitary or fixable.

[ReaperFett]

IMDB users also have deliberate campains to raise / lower films. Have a look at what happened when LOTR:FOTR was No 1 for some time - Godfather illumani came out and deliberatly voted FOTR down. Conversly, the reverse is true, films get unresonably voted up. And there is also ballot stuffing....
PPOR :)




I also note you took delight in putting an initial Fresh rating forward for DAD from RT.com. So now it's rotten, you have no credence in it? You have the appearence of someone jumping around looking for some rating to back your argument.
And I note my wording was "Looks like Die Another Day could be a corker", due to getting the quivelent of about 95%, before any normal people could see the film. See, the ONLY people I could look at were those reviews. WHen IMDB was getting votes, it became superceeded.

And to quote once more:

"the reviews there, plus the one just on TV. All except the German one possibly have been positive from slightly to MAJORLY. Normally youd have the review slating the entire series by now "

I never said the word fresh.


And if you actually tried looking at IMDB, you'd notice the top 100 votes are only for TOP 100 VOTERS, meaning that not everyones vote counts. You need to have done a certain amount I believe. So, your theory doesnt work.

[Marcus Telcontar]

I believe the Top 250 is not just based on top 100 voters. True, there is a top 1000 voters breakdown, butI believe the whole of the voting is taken into account, stirred, shaken, put in a blender, fed to a cat and otherwise made into a meaningless figure.

My point was, you like movies for your reasons. Not because of some number or rating. Figures / ratings are arbitary and well I know that. LIke it for your own reasons, place forward why the movie is good for those reasons. Not some figure or rating that to me means Jack.

[Oriadin]

If one person thinks a film is the best thing ever and everyone else thinks its rubbish, then this other film where one person thinks its rubbish and everyone else thinks its the best things ever... which is the best movie?

[Darth Viscera]

BEST (BOND) MOVIE EVER!

I must admit that I haven't tried to dissect the movie, nevertheless that was the absolute best 2 hours I've spent in a movie theater in years. I was enthralled the entire time. The minor plot failures can be forgiven, because they don't really detract from the level of awesomeitude.

After 12 months of nearly falling asleep in movie theaters without exception, this was a very welcome change.

[JediBoricua]

I really really liked the movie. My 2nd best movie going experience after AOTC this year.


Granted, i've only seen a handful of bond movies, and this one ranks as my favorite one yet. It might actually make watch the rest of them!

It was escapism at it's finest, i'm going again tomorrow!

[Sejah Haversh]

Saw it.

Loved it.

And the sound in that theatre kicked MEGA-BOOTY!

[Jedieb]

I saw it and enjoyed it. Although I thought the beginning was a bit out of character for a Bond film. I surely didn't want to see Bond captured and tortured for 14 months. It just doesn't fit the character for me. Funny how he can go right back to dashing and handsome after just a quick shower and shave? But then again, it's Bond. Berre was excellent. I wish she'd been in it more. The sword fight at the club was a riot. IMO the movie worked best when it wasn't afraid to be funny.

Favorite Bonds
1. Connery
2. Brosnan
3. Moore
4. Dalton/Lazenby (Because I didn't really like either.)

[ReaperFett]

JB just described Bond films perfectly :)


escapism at it's finest







Also, why is EVERYONES #2 Bond Brosnan? :)

[Sanis Prent]

He's my favorite...barely edging out Connery.

The way I see it, each Bond (except for Lazenby -- he sucks) is good at one thing in particular. Connery is the master of suave sophistication, Moore has wit and humor, and Dalton (I've no idea why people hate him) has a lot of angst and seriousness. Brosnan, however, can do each of these things so well that he creates cinergy, and is more than the sum of his parts. Thats why he's so good. I put him just behind Connery, only for the fact that Connery defined more about Bond than the others, and put the character on the map.

[ReaperFett]

Dalton had the bad scripts, IMO. He didnt really have a chance.



Useless fact for you. Each of the five Bonds so far was of a different nationality. Told you it was useless :)

[Jedieb]

NBC saved Brosnan from those wretched scripts. He was ready to sign the contract when NBC tried to capitalize on the publicity by renewing the recently cancelled Remington Steele. So Brosnan lost the gig, and it went to Dalton. At the time it seemed like a career killer. Remington Steele was only picked up for 3 2 hour movies and Bronsnan was soon wallowing in TV miniseries hell and straight to cable movies. He did do a decent turn in Doubtfire, but Goldeneye resurrected his career. The powers that be finally decided to take Bond seriously again and the films have returned to the heyday they had under Connery and Moore.
Best Moore flick
Man With the Golden Gun
Best Connery flick
Goldfinger

[Sanis Prent]

I loved the Living Daylights! :mad

[JMK]

I guess the discussion will now begin on who the next Bond will be? Or will Brosnan stay on?

[ReaperFett]

He accepted Bond #5

[Jedieb]

Brosnan is 49 and he looks great, lucky bastard! :shootin I think Brosnan has 1, maybe 2 more in him before he starts to look too old for the part. The ideal Bond should be in his 40's. Anything younger than that and you're kind of getting away from what the character is about. He's always been an experienced hero, not a young guy blowing bad guys out of the water.

[ReaperFett]

35-60 can do Bond well IMO

[Sanis Prent]

wow he's 49???

[ReaperFett]

You only realise when you see how long hes done films :)

[JMK]

I think Bond's age should always be between 40 and 55. Before that they look too young, after that, too old.

[Dark Lord Dyzm]

I need to buy those Bond DVD's... My friend has the entire movie collection, and we watch a bond a week, but DVD's!!!

Worst Bond Movie EVER: On Her Majesties Secret Service
I swear, Casino Royale was better. And Casino Royale IS a bond movie. It was written by Ian Flemmings, they just botched the movie... It is a funny Movie, just has no Plot Line, and major gaps in the story. See one of the 007 Agents jump into a Lutus Racing Car, and next scene, he is captured... AHHHHHHHHH!!!!

But many, many, many, many beautiful women. Even if most of them are old now... but back then, beautiful...


On a side Note: WHO is the Best Bond Girl?
Jane Seymour from Live and Let Die
Izabella Scorupco from Goldeneye

[ReaperFett]

Sollitaire and the Russian in Spy who loved me were favourites for me

[Mu Satach]

Ahhh yes... Casino Royal... I love that flick. :D

I've been raised on Bond films and this one had everything I want in a Bond flick and more. Excellent car scenes... excellent innuendo,.. great fights! melodramatic villians... and baaaaaaaaad puns. :D :D :D

Only grip is the one bad cgi scene. I want to see it again.... :)

best moment was when Bond sniffed the hagsters knife shoe from one of Connery's films. I can't remember which one it was... God I loved seeing all the old Bond gagets!!!

[ReaperFett]

From Russia With Love I believe. Russian lady

[Gav Mortis]

My Best Bond Girls:

1. Halle Berry - "Jinx"
2. Izabella Scorupco - "Natalia Simonova"
3. Teri Hatcher - "Paris Carver"

:smokin

[Lilaena De'Ville]

The bad CGI was..very bad. But when it was good, it was very very good. :)

[JMK]

I saw it and enjoyed it very much...but some of the effects were really awful. Still, it didn't take away from the movie. I think Sanis' explanation of his favorite Bonds is great. But Brosnan is my favorite Bond because he does everything so well.

[Oriadin]

Brosnan makes a decent bond but to be honest Im not all that happy the films he's done. I just dont get the feeling its a true James Bond movie with him in it. There just seems to be to many explosions and stuff. I dont know what it is really. I cant put my finger on it.

Id like to see Dugary Scott (Bad guy from Mission impossible) play the next bond. Get him back to being scottish for a start ;)
I really think he could do a good job as bond. On the subject of Dalton. I liked him as James bond. I thought he played the part very well. The only thing that went against him was that he didnt have the 'look' of sophistication that bond has.

[ReaperFett]

There was a story that Dougray was asked before Brosnan was intrested in a post-DAD film. He apparently turned it down.

[Oriadin]

Id heard that too actually. times change though so my fingers are crossed. I remember they wanted Brosnan to be bond but he said no (I think because he was busy at the time) and thats when Dalton got the part. Then as we all know, Brosnan got it a few years later.

[ReaperFett]

And Roger Moore was allegedly in the running for the first Bond. They have a pool of actors :)

[Jedieb]

I wonder if Moore's role on the Saint was a result of the Bond publicity or if his role eventually helped him become Bond. That old show was great and it was basically a weekly B&W dose of Bond. As I said earlier, Brosnan was chosen before Dalton, but NBC shafted him out of the role.

[ReaperFett]

I believe The Saint came before Bond

[Taylor Millard]

After seeing 'Die Another Day' I have one thing to say...

I WANT THAT CAR!!!! The Astin Martin.

I still like GoldenEye outta all of the Brosnon flicks, but I did like this one a lot.

And yes, Madonna's song did fit the opening credits. But it's still a terrible song.

[ReaperFett]

But if it fits the opening credits, it doesnt matter :)

[Sanis Prent]

I rather enjoyed this alot. After a lukewarm appraisal of the World is not Enough, I was thoroughly impressed with this one. Although the whole premise of a diamond-laden death ray satelite has been done before, it was done in a much more innovative manner, and I liked it. The cars were wonderful. Halle Berry was excellent. I especially loved searching through the film for references to other movies. I spotted the crocodile submarine from Octopussy, the trailer jet from Octopussy, the jetpack from Thunderball, the shoe blade from From Russsia with Love, and a few others. The plot was interesting and enjoyable...and I'm pleased to see a Bond movie that involves the North Koreans.