Die Another Day Review/Retrospective

An invisible car? A ring that can cut through glass? A palace made of ice? These are one of the many aspects that made the James Bond film Die Another Day a disaster for so many fans. Well, I'm going to talk about my personal aspect on this film and how I think there are some good and some bad aspects to the final film starring Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.

It all started when I was in 10th grade. My fandom for James Bond was at it's peak, and I was finally going to see a Bond film in the theater for the first time! It was going to be with my favorite actor to play the role, and my friend James and I were constantly checking up on what the title was going to be and who was going to sing the main song. Low and behold, it came out and the title for the film was Die Another Day. A pretty straight forward title, catchy, nothing special really. But we were still excited. Since the song was released a few months before the movie came out, I remember hating it with a passion. I have no problem with Madonna, but the song was just full of distortions and pauses and it was a lot of electronica that I couldn't stand. Over time, however, it grew on me and I began to enjoy it.

Now, for those of you who have not seen the movie, I suggest you stop reading now or continue at your own risk. Here we go...

James Bond escaping in a hovercraft in North Korea

James Bond is on a secret mission to North Korea to infiltrate an arms dealer who has enough weapons and tanks to run a small war. It is up to Bond to stop him and complete his mission. When Bond arrives, he captures and steels the identity of a man sent to ship African conflict diamonds to the dealer, Colonel Tan Sun Moon. Bond hijacks the helicopter, puts a package of C4 under the tray of diamonds, and then heads over to make the trade. Hoping that Moon would open the case, Moon's assistant Zao takes the case from 007 and then has someone inspect it. After doing so, Zao get's a message from an unknown sender that has Bond's cover blown and outs his entire mission. With nothing left to do, James Bond then triggers the diamonds to blow with Zao caught the middle of it and a major chase ensues. This is a spectacular chase and how the makers were able to use hovercraft

was amazing! Those things are hard to steer and are exactly made for their ability to float over minefields, rather than escape and getaway. Anyway, by the end of the chase, James Bond manages to fight Colonel Moon and then has him fall to his death...or so we think. After the battle is over, Bond, with his cover blown, is captured and tortured in North Korea for a year and a half! Brilliant story-telling! We've never seen Bond captured let alone tortured brutally ever in the series! He always manages to get away in the skin of his teeth and hurry back to jolly old England. But not this time.

Now, this opening of the movie is utterly entertaining. I loved it! After James Bond is freed in a prisoner exchange with Zao-who was captured in England during Bond's imprisonment-he is taken back to his superiors but not welcomed back. Injected with a sedate he passes out and is then on a ship for an analysis on the condition of his body. M comes in and asks that Bond's status as a secret agent is revoked (nod to Licence to Kill) and that James Bond no longer has his freedom and was only taken out so no more secrets or leaks would be revealed to the Koreans, believing him to have cracked under torture. The way Brosnan portrays the character is so dark and serious and you believe that he is a man who has gone through a lot. This being the forth movie, Pierce has mastered the character and has made it his own. Bond, being Bond of course, managers to slow down his heart rate, which is possible for some people to do, though not entirely sure if that's accurate, and then manages to escape the ship he's on. Not in England, Bond is actually in Hong Kong and he swims to get to the main land. Now, mind you, James Bond has been tortured for quite some time and has a full beard, so when he checks in to his usual Hotel in Hong Kong, he is not recognized at first. But right away, Mr. Chang, the manager of the hotel, knows who he is. Chang comments, "Mr. Bond! It's been a long time!" Now, after this, Bond shaves and is back to his usual self. Now, some say this is when the story begins to slow down, and I can agree with that aspect.

Tracking Zao, Bond discovers he is in a clinic in Havana, Cuba. When he arrives, somehow Zao is undergoing gene therapy to alter his appearance to look like a German. Bond interrupts this procedure and has a fight with him, who still has diamonds stuck to his face after the case exploded back in Korea. Now, Bond meets up with CIA agent Jinx Johnson played by Halle Berry. Her character is very generic and does not bring anything new to this movie. After Zao manages to escape, Jinx then jumps off a cliff in a very poorly done CGI shot to her contact waiting for her on a boat. James Bond then managers to grab one of the diamonds that Zao has onto his face. What was Zao doing in a gene therapy center? Now, there's an awesome character here by the name of Raoul that Bond meets up with and it's a shame we don't see much of him. He tells 007 where those diamonds and upon closer inspection, tells Bond they belong to the Graves Corporation in Iceland.

One of the best fight scenes in the entire series

Bond arrives in England, and eventually tracks down Gustav Graves: a man who has just discovered diamonds in Iceland a year or so ago and has become a major millionaire. Hidden behind the cameras of a press conference at Buckingham Palace, Gustave graves arrives after him in a ridiculous publicity stunt in a parachute and says, "What a wonderful day to be come a knight." Which is quite clever and you can tell that his persona and look upon life is pompous and careless. Now, this is where the story gets me thrown off a little. This man, Gustav Graves, whom nobody's heard of until a year ago, manages to get knighted by the queen? Come on! I can understand he discovered the diamonds in Iceland, but shouldn't 007 be knighted if anyone should be? Let's continue. Now, here we go with the cameo of Madonna as a lesbian fencing instructor. Now, I see how people think her acting is lame, but I didn't have much of a problem with it. She has a student by the name of Miranda Frost (Rosemon Pike), who acts cold, and sometimes rude to 007. There's a line where James meets Gustav and they ask if she wants to place a bet on the winner, to which she replies, "No thanks. I don't like cock fights." Classic Bond. Anyway, this innocent fencing fight begins to escalate to the most memorable and awesome scene again never before seen in a James Bond movie. Bond is having a sword fight! It is so cool! I loved this fight and Bond and Graves literally tare this club apart and then it escalates to outside. Now, this is one of the most overlooked scenes in the entire movie and it should be recognized for that. After Bond wins, naturally, Gustav asks him to join him to Iceland over the weekend for a celebration of something. Something called Icarus...

James Bond's new ride equipped with all the usual refinements

Arriving in Iceland, James Bond is equipped with his new Aston Martin V12 Vanquish, that is invisible...but it is explained and the idea is not all that far fetched. Tiny cameras on all sides of the car act as a reflection that is bounced back on the opposite side rendering the car practically invisible to the casual eye. Long story short, it's a cool car and I love it. But, it does take away some of the realism in this film from earlier. The car is also well-equipped and just like with the previous Aston Martin used by Sean Connery, it has an ejector seat! The car is also gorgeous and probably is my favorite Aston Martin used in the entire series of films. A close second would be the one used by Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights.

Gustav Graves' Ice Palace in Iceland

The Ice Palace...yes...a ridiculously spectacular mansion that is made solely for the demonstration. James Bond then meets up again with Jinx, and they both watch together as Gustav Graves enters the podium to demonstrate his new satellite, Icarus. Icarus is made from diamonds and the official reason for this invention is to help solve the world's crop and global warming issues. Why would a man who found a diamond mine all of a sudden get knighted, in addition to having the ability to create his own satellite?

After the demonstration, 007 takes a look around and bumps into Miranda Frost, and discovers that she is an MI6 agent after all. Bond comments, "Ah, that's why you tried so hard not to be interested in me." Ensuring that 007 is not screwing up with the mission at hand, Miranda and James go into a bedroom to "keep up the facade of being lovers." Good one, James! After Bond and Frost get it on, he then gets ready to do some more spying and check out the nuts and bolts of this palace and what Graves really has up his sleeve. Returning to a location he was in earlier, Bond is waiting for Graves and discovers that he is indeed Colonel Moon! Bond says, "So you live to die another day, Colonel?" "At last, I was beginning to think you'd never guess." As 007 is about to alert Miranda that Graves is indeed the man he thought he killed a year and a half ago, a twist of events occur. Miranda is not only working for Graves, she was the one that blew Bond's cover a year ago! Now it all makes sense why Zao was getting a gene change and Moon invited Bond for this demonstration.

Bond escaping in Grave's ice-dragster

CRINGE TIME

Now, sad to say this is probably the worst scene in 007 history. Stealing an ice-dragster, 007 escapes the wrath of the outed Graves and his henchmen. When Graves uses the Icarus satellite to pin point Bond's location, there is a beam of light that melts the ice and nearly reaches 007. When Bond's snow vehicle gets to the end of the cliff and a tsunami is about to hit, what more is James Bond to do? Has he finally met his match? No...he uses the parachutes as sails and the hood of the vehicle as a surf board. The scene is very poorly executed and just is in no way plausible. I remember watching this with my dad and hearing him say, "Oh, come on!" I mean, it's one thing to suspense disbelief...but it's a totally other thing to go too far. The producers did the latter. The James Bond films are known for their stunts being done for-real. This was just a major factor of poor CGI and one of the main reasons why the majority of people hate this film.

When Bond returns to the Ice Palace to get Jinx, an awesome chase ensues with his Aston and Zao's Jaguar XKR. This is a pretty neat sequence and my second-favorite of the movie. Now, the stunts here are done for real and there really is racing on ice. The producers had several models of the Aston Martin just in case it should sink or fall under the ice. In one case, it almost did and they managed to get it out. The ice had to be just right in order for them to have cars driving on it. It worked and the result for the movie good! Christian Wagner, the editor for the film, chopped it up here and there to make it more "hip" and it really didn't need to be. He sped up some parts of the movie and slowed down others. It was a bit distracting like with the Madonna theme song for this film. Anyway, afterward, Bond and Zao enter the palace and a pretty good death scene happens when Bond shoots one of the chandeliers, killing Zao instantly.

Ice Chase!

Then, after leaving Iceland, James and Jinx go to a military bunker to meet up with M and the rest of MI6, while she deals with her superior Damien Falco of the NSA. They infiltrate Grave's plane, and find out that the real reason for Icarus is to clear a mine path for his troops in North Korea. It's a bit convoluted but you get the idea. James Bond then manages to kill Graves and then the plane is destroyed, along with Miranda Frost. The films ends with Jinx and James enjoying some vacation time in Korea until they go back to their lives. The End.

Pierce Brosnan's forth and final outing as Agent 007

Now, I enjoyed this film for the most part. It is in no way my favorite James Bond film, nor my favorite film starring Pierce Brosnan. I don't despise it as much as other people do, but I can see their reasoning as to why they dislike it. I'd watch it over Octopussy or For Your Eyes Only, but that is just my opinion and I'm sure many of you will disagree with me on that. It is, just as worthy of being a Bond film as any other and even though it could have been better, it certainly could have been a lot worse. The first half of the film was brilliant, as I said countless times. It just took a turn for the worst and got very far fetched in the end. The movie was made in 2002 and was in the #1 spot in America for quite some time. It was also a hit financially, if not critically. After this film was released, James Bond was out of the picture until 2006 when Daniel Craig stepped in and started making his mark on the series. After the first Jason Bourne film came out in 2002, the producers wanted to take a more realistic approach and bring James Bond back to his routes as a spy. Daniel Craig is certainly a good actor to play the part, however not so much as a spy. But that's a whole other discussion for another time. Thanks for reading!!!

JINX WAS GOING TO HAVE HER OWN SPIN-OFF SERIES BUT LUCKILY THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN...