Die Another Day

[Morrus]

I watched the latest Bond flick the other day. I enjoyed it, but just as an action movie, and not as a Bond movie. I was trying to figure out what the nagging problem at the back of my head was, and then it hit me.

This isn't a Bond flick; Halle Berry in the movie is pretty much his partner. She's a co-star. That's not right for a Bond movie, which should be all about Bond. The moment that Bond isn't the best there is is the moment it's not a Bond film any more. In fact, it veers dangerously close to being a Buddy movie.

Bond, in this film, just came across as a "typical agent"; Halle Berry's character was just as competent, and you didn't get the impression that Bond was anything special.

Plus - what's with the bad guy having a car as good as Bond's? And being pretty much as good a driver as Bond? Bond shouldn't be engaged in a long duel with an enemy of equal skill and with equal gadgets halfway through the film - he sjhoulfd be offing numerous lesser enemies by use of skill, gadgets and luck. That chase should have been 5 baddie cars chasing Bond in his cool car.

Anyway, rant over.

 

[John Crichton]

I have a question: Is this movie worth my $9? I like the Bond films in general, but the last one stunk, IMO. Should I just wait for this one to come to cable or see it now?

 

[KnowTheToe]

I am waiting to rent this because I feared as Morris had stated that Bond is dead. I saw few promos for this movie hyping Bond. They were all about Halley. I always believed you had to have an up and coming actress for the Bond girl or you will have to share too much of the credit/story. Too bad, I was hoping to hear otherwise.

My wife will make me go anyway. Three weeks until TTT

 

[Velenne]

I saw it last night and greatly enjoyed it....as an action movie. If you're a hardcore Bond fan (as Morrus apparently is), you may wish to wait for it at Blockbuster.

To me, the Bond movies were getting stale and they needed to change something or it would die. They've had dozens of movies based on the same formula, but I'm not sure it's connecting as well with today's moviegoers (see, Tomorrow Never Dies).

The opening musical sequence was absolutely brilliant. Artful, colorful, elegant...if I go on much longer I'll run out of positive adjectives.

Suffice to say, there were enjoyable scenes, witty one-liners, sexual innuendos, and cool gadgets in abundance. An obvious (only because it's based on a formula -a forumla so rigid people get upset when you deviate from it) plot, stunt scenes so far-fetched they're laughable, and slightly stale acting were also just as plentiful. But again, it's Bond; it's to be expected.

I give it 4 stars out of 5.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Spoiler warning...
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Hard to call. It is an action movie and it is Bond but there are some issues.

Bond as movies go is getting old (20th) and the producers wanted to make sure they had new viewers. More women than men went to see it, sure it may been to see a good looking guy but a lead female helped sell the film, that has a lot to do with it. This Bond film targetted women with a relationship.

You also see Bond getting captured and interogated, not your normal beginning for a Bond movie.

Now I liked it because it was Bond and the story and plot remained true to what I see a Bond movie being. Sure, he had a buddy in the movie but he had to save her how many times?

The villian, imaged himself after James Bond (after he came back from the dead, while Bond was held for 14 months). It was interesting to see how Bond handled himself while facing the gagits that made him Bond. Plus Miss Frost had access to those files.

Eastereggs - Enjoyed the way they named the Bond movies in the dialog! I don't know if they did it for all of them but I did hear a few.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Another thing that I think hurt Bond with this movie is the number of copy-cats and spoofs. Just too many!

 

[Chain Lightning]

I'm huge Bond fan, but I don't count myself one of those fans that's purist (spelling?) and that only the old formula should be used.

*MINOR SPOILERS BELOW*


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But, I was disappointed in "Die Another Day". I like shaking and adding new things to the formula, but it still has to make sense. I think what I mean to say is, when it comes to writing the story....go ahead and deviate from formula. But when it comes to the 'Bond universe'....don't deviate.

Example: In the Bond universe, his gadgets are fantastical. However, they always maintained a level of possible realism. You looked at them and thought, "yeah I could see that being made in about 5-10 years" or "yeah, I could see someone building one of those if they had enough money and motivation to do it." But Bond gadgets were never....never....never so far Sci-Fi into the future like they have been in this movie.

An invisible car? A perfect virtual reality simulator? If the car changed colors, I'd buy it. But it doesn't...it perfectly resembles the abilities of the Predator and the Klingon cloaking ability. That's way too far into the future. Even for Bond I can't buy it. Then there's the virtual reality simulator which looks and feels (obviously from Moneypenny's evidence) like the real thing. Too holo deck for me. I don't imagine any computer producing so many polygons per second to simulate 'perfect' reality for a LONG time. Okay....I know what you're gonna say. Bond is spy fantasy. And I agree, but the amount of fantasy mixed in has always been established. In this instance, I don't want them to go beyond previous established formula.

Yes, Bond has never been captured before....that breaking of formula I like. Break story formula, but don't break the estabished universe.

After all that, I would still be willing to enjoy the film had the directing and editing been better. And some of the story too. Great premise though. Love it. The execution however....ugh.

I did enjoy it more that "The World is Not Enough". But only slightly more. Even that didn't break the Bond reality barrier.

Oh, and the credit sequence I thought was unimaginative and boring. Ever credit sequence should be an artistic exercise of adding something new to the family of previous sequences. This one didnt' add anything new. Girls made to look like other materials? This time ice and fire, been there already. "Tommorrow Never Dies" had circuit women, and "World" had oil women. I liked the GoldenEye sequence best still. It took the old, and made it new. And it least it had real women in it.

With the characters, I thought Gustav and Frost were great. I found Jinx to be uncharismatic and didn't really connect with her. Maybe something to do with her lines or her performance. Halle doesn't seem to move like an agent. Pierce moves through a scene with his gun ready so suave and convincingly.

But I did like Rosamund Pike as Frost. She was a nice fresh addition to the Bond girls. I thought I would walk into the film going ga ga for Halle (cuz she is gorgeous) but I ended up falling for Rosamund instead. Very charming.

I'm hoping the next Bond film (if there is one) will be better.

 

[Hand of Evil]

An invisible car? A perfect virtual reality simulator? If the car changed colors, I'd buy it. But it doesn't...it perfectly resembles the abilities of the Predator and the Klingon cloaking ability. That's way too far into the future. Even for Bond I can't buy it. Then there's the virtual reality simulator which looks and feels (obviously from Moneypenny's evidence) like the real thing. Too holo deck for me. I don't imagine any computer producing so many polygons per second to simulate 'perfect' reality for a LONG time. Okay....I know what you're gonna say. Bond is spy fantasy. And I agree, but the amount of fantasy mixed in has always been established. In this instance, I don't want them to go beyond previous established formula.

But I did like Rosamund Pike as Frost. She was a nice fresh addition to the Bond girls. I thought I would walk into the film going ga ga for Halle (cuz she is gorgeous) but I ended up falling for Rosamund instead. Very charming.

I'm hoping the next Bond film (if there is one) will be better.

The tech to make an invisible car is not that far away, they have been working on it for a little while, mostly with body armor. Sure it may not work just like the car but...

The VR was too Trek to me also.

Mmmmm Frost (Rosamund) she is a hottie and did stand out same with the NSA/CIA guy. I guess it is a screen personage (does that make sense?).

By all accounts $47 million of them it looks very good that there will be another Bond movie but it also looks like it will be much like this one. I just wonder how as it cost $125 million to make, still has to do $78 just to breakeven. They must be making a profit somewhere (video/DVD rental & sales).

 

[Goodsport]

 

[EricNoah]

I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, it was one of the better ones I've seen. I liked that he had a "partner" and wouldn't mind seeing a similar pairing in the future.

A friend and I were, however, counting every time a gadget mimicked a D&D spell (shatter, invisibility, shocking grasp, flamestrike, polymorph, etc.). We got kind of a laugh out of that.