Meurs un autre jour

To its credit, "Die Another Day" starts out reasonably well, even the much maligned title song actually isn't terrible. Then it gets worse, and worse, and worse. You know, there's ridiculousness that's enjoyable, like in "GoldenEye", then there's "Die Another Day", a movie so caught up in its complete silliness it forgets to realize it, thinking its overzealous use of gadgetry, its hilariously bad Robo-villain (cut me some slack, I couldn't think of a better nickname), and Halle Berry. Miss Berry is easily among the very worst Bond girls, and the fact that she's alongside Rosamund Pike, who manages to do such a good job with what little she's given, doesn't really help at all.

In "Die Another Day", there's not a second of humor that works. All the one-liners will have you cringing, albeit less than any attempt at actual serious dialogue this pathetic mess makes, as the script is completely ludicrous from start to finish, which is a continuation of the 'good writers writing terribly' theme in Bond history, where genuinely good writers write horrible messes like this, mainly because it seems they're lazy. I do find it humorous that the biggest fans of "Casino Royale" who claim it is by far the best Bond film conveniently ignore the fact that it was written by the same writing crew (with the addition of script-polisher Paul Haggis) which gave us the last three installments of the Bond franchise. Writers do what they're asked to do, and my guess is that "Die Another Day" is as much the producers' fault as the writers'.

Lee Tamahori is a completely bizarre choice for director, and a terrible one at that, seeing how he has never made an especially good film. David Arnold's score is again very good but he can't save the film and though I really like Brosnan's Bond the direction the series was going in at this point was truly dangerous and could've resulted in the end for Bond if allowed to go on. There was no reason to stop- "Die Another Day" was a massive financial success, the highest grossing of Brosnan's films and actually about as well-reviewed by major critics as the last two films in the series, but audience feedback and hopefully common sense led to the reinvigoration of the franchise in "Casino Royale". Thank heavens for that.

3/10

It's the 20th Bond film and premiered on the 40th anniversary of the series, and, in many ways, it is really a tribute to the entire series itself. This film's strength and its weakness both lie in the fact that it is a blend of the classic Connery films, the outlandish Moore films, and the grittiness of the Dalton films. It's rolling the entire series into a single two hour adventure and the result is actually pretty entertaining. The first half is definitely stronger than the second; a more serious adventure with a classic feel to it, before taking a nose dive down into utter camp territory. I didn't mind the idea of making some scenes a little over-the-top, but I think they went overboard at times. Throughout the movie, the filmmakers toss in little references to previous Bond films. I suppose it's a fun idea to stop and consider how far these films have come over the last 40-something years, and a long time Bond fan can find amusement in finding these subtle, but long remembered treasures that poke their head in this film for one last time. As for the technical aspects of the film: The special effects are a little too ambitious and don't always come across convincing. The dialogue goes back and forth from excellent to atrocious. The ensemble of actors is pretty strong, except for Halle Berry, who in my opinion was completely wrong for a Bond movie. The villains are a little more dynamic. The action sequences are an improvement, in my mind. Granted, there are some instances where the filmmakers push the envelope a little too far, as mentioned above. However, they also show a certain amount of creativity that seemed to be lacking in the previous two films. Overall, this film is really a mixed bag. At moments there is potential for one of the greatest Bond adventures. At other moments you're thinking, "What the heck am I watching." Personally, I feel the positives balance out the negatives, but if anything, this film is a good popcorn movie. All in all, it wasn't a bad way to close out the series before rebooting it again with Casino Royale.

I first saw this in the early 2k on cable tv.

Revisited it recently.

This is the twentieth in the Bond series and the fourth and final film to star Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.

This time Bond infiltrates a North Korean military base but his true identity is exposed by an unknown source. Bond is captured by North Korean soldiers and imprisoned but after fourteen months of captivity and torture, Bond is traded for a prisoner in exchange but is shocked to learn that his status as a 00 Agent has been suspended under suspicion of having leaked information under duress to the North Koreans.

This one has an action filled pre credit scene and shockingly this is the first film where Bond doesn't get to escape but is captured n tortured by a foreign power.

Some may rejoice when a sexist, misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War is tortured via scorpion venom.

This time Bond faces a hot tempered Colonel Moon and his loyal henchman Zao.

Bond also faces Gustav Graves and his bodyguard Mr. Kil.

This time Bond gets to cool off with Samantha Bond via virtual reality simulations but the real cool off is with Halle Berry n with the blonde babe Rosamund Pike way before her Gone Girl days.

I saw this film on it's release in 2002 and several times since, and on a recent viewing in 2021 I was pleased to see it has aged quite well, with this being Pierce Brosnan's 4th film as Bond which he had comfortably grown into by this stage.

It has been knocked by critics and fans a like over the years for some questionable CGI effects and fantastical ideas, like Bond using an invisible car for instance, but on the whole it is hugely entertaining and along with Goldeneye this is Brosnan at his best.

This was the 20th Bond film released 40 years after Dr. No (1962) and the filmmakers clearly decided to pay homage to previous films with the gadgets of Connery's Bond, the playfulness of Lazenby & Moore and the grittiness of Dalton's outings. For fans there are plenty of references to previous Bond films, the most obvious being Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and New Zealand director Lee Tamahori uses some slick visuals to bring Brosnan's Bond bang up to date and throws everything in but the kitchen sink.

Halle Berry is an above average Bond girl who is introduced by rising out of the water in homage to Ursula Andress in Dr. No but it's a shame Michael Madsen isn't given much to do. Judi Dench plays M with dignity once again and there's light relief with John Cleese stepping into the role as Q. Pop star Madonna makes an appearance in one scene after providing the disappointing theme tune, with an awful remix that appears over the end credits, but David Arnold's score is on par with his other Bond scores, although this lacks any thematic qualities to give Die Another Day an identity of it's own and seems to totally ignore the main song which usually gets referenced.

This certainly isn't the best Bond but it is not the worst either as some would like you to believe, although the criticism the film received made the producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson take notice as they let Brosnan go after only his 4th film and decided to reboot the franchise with a much harder edged Bond 4 years later with Daniel Craig.

I always felt Brosnan had at least one more Bond left in him and that his tenure was prematurely cut short. For me he has the best Bond 'look' out of all the actors who has played him but didn't necessarily get the best directors or scripts he deserved to fully flesh out the role. He may have been 47 when this film was made, and fans were quick to allude the initials of the film's title spelled out DAD, meaning the character was no longer hip or relatable to a younger audience, however Daniel Craig was 52 when he filmed his last Bond so age should not have been an issue.

Die Another Day deserves another look and to be re-evaluated, sure it's loud, flashy, full of explosions with some outlandish concepts that pushed fans too far but seen as a tribute to the previous 40 years of Bond it does a fitting job whilst being great entertainment.

Creating new, exciting adventures for 007 after 20 feature films in forty years is a difficult task at best, particularly as public tastes change, and the character of James Bond has to maintain at least a degree of the 'persona' created by Ian Fleming. While the heirs of Albert Broccoli, his daughter Barbara and son-in-law Michael G. Wilson, have done a remarkable job in keeping the series 'fresh', if DIE ANOTHER DAY is any indication, the creative forces surrounding them seem to be losing 'touch' with James Bond, and his world.

After an astonishing pre-title sequence, climaxing with Bond being captured by the North Koreans, the film offers a horrendous montage of torture, with Bond only surviving due to a timely prisoner exchange (with an unsympathetic M remarking, "If it had been up to me, you'd have stayed in North Korea...", obviously forgetting that 007 had saved her life in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH). Pierce Brosnan, at fifty, is superb in this sequence, vulnerable yet defiant, and to this point, DIE ANOTHER DAY has all the makings of a first-class Bond entry.

Then Bond jaunts off to find the agent who betrayed him, becoming involved in an investigation involving diamonds, solar power, and a 'too-good-to-be-true' industrialist (smarmy Toby Stephens), and all of the creativity of the opening is lost, with the film becoming an uneasy mix of references to past films and silly, unbelievable situations, sets and gadgets (culminating with an 'Ice Palace' and an 'invisible' Aston Martin).

As she had won an Oscar prior to filming DIE ANOTHER DAY, sexy Halle Berry, 36, was publicized extensively as Bond's latest leading lady, CIA agent 'Jinx'. Unfortunately, after a spectacular 'rising from the waves' introduction (borrowed from Ursula Andress, in DR. NO), and a few nicely choreographed fights, she spoke...and lost all of her credibility in the role. While much of the problem was certainly in the script, she was never believable as Bond's 'counterpart' in the American intelligence community. On the other hand, Rosamund Pike, 23, was both sexy and duplicitous as British double agent Miranda Frost, as chilly as her name, but capable of igniting under 007's gaze. In a part equally poorly written, she made far more of her scenes than the writers gave her.

The most interesting character in the film was certainly Rick Yune, as Graves' 'enforcer', Zao. Charismatic, ruthless, and nearly unstoppable, Zao was nearly a primal force, far more menacing than Graves at his worst.

While a sword-fight sequence between Bond and Graves provided a rare film highlight, and certainly ranks as one of the film series' more memorable sequences, much of the rest of the production was silly, with the story set at a break-neck pace to 'hide' the absurdities. The climax, as a solar 'ray' destroyed the minefield between North and South Korea, allowing an 'invasion' to occur, as 007 and Jinx attempted to commandeer the aircraft controlling the 'ray', stands as one of the most ludicrous finales to a Bond film since MOONRAKER.

Although DIE ANOTHER DAY would become Pierce Brosnan's highest-grossing Bond, to date, the film, despite heavily promoting Halle Berry's presence, failed to crack the 'Top Ten' box office attractions in the U.S., and disappointed many fans, worldwide.

With the purchase of MGM by Sony, which has wanted to produce a Bond film for years (the studios were entangled in a legal suit that ended just as DIE began production), surprising changes were in store...CASINO ROYALE, the only Fleming title NOT owned by Eon Productions was named as the next 007 adventure...and Pierce Brosnan was FIRED (a sad finish for an actor who'd worked so hard to make 007 viable in the new millennium!) While Broccoli and Wilson are still 'in charge' of Bond productions, they have to answer to new bosses, with definite opinions of their own on where the franchise should go...Can 007 survive THIS?

We can only wait and see!