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Tomorrow Never Dies

Tomorrow Never Dies

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the Best Bonds
Review: In some ways this superb Brosnan Bond is the opposite of the entertaining yet disappointing Die Another Day (DAD). Superbly filmed, imaginative action sequences mix with two great examples of different "Bond Girl types", high production values, and Brosnan at his best.

The stunts here in Tomorrow Never Dies (TND) are the best of modern stuntwork with nonintrusive CG enhancement, while in DAD they just completely overdid it with the CG. What's more, Brosnan obviously enjoys the action in this one (the joy exhibited in piloting the remote control BMW is priceless), and Michele Yeoh gets a chance to exhibit her capacity for martial arts.

Yeoh completely eclipses the erroneously suggested "Equal" of Bond in DAD, Halle Berry. Whereas Berry tiptoes gingerly, confused about how to hold a gun, Yeoh simply gets in the action and dominates. Yeoh also mixes better with Brosnan, with better chemistry. For what is essentially the same character--another country's spy working alongside Bond--Yeoh defined the standard, while Berry doesn't even qualify.

Teri Hatcher also does a great job as an old flame of Bond's, allowing both her character Paris and Brosnan's Bond to evidence previous and current emotional ties. She is a source of information, not an action element, the opposite of Yeoh's character by design. Hatcher does a great job with this type of Bond girl, and is frankly under-rated by some Bond fans.

Finally, the story is absurd yet entertaining, and Pryce does a great job as the main villian. For someone familiar with Pryce from Brazil, his later Infiniti ads did not unfairly taint my perception of his acting fitness as it apparently did for some other reviewers.

All considered--discounting the nostalgia that sometimes grants older Bond movies favor--this is my second favorite Bond, after Goldeneye (you still can't beat the combo of 006, Izabella Scorupco, Tank-lunacy, the vice grip of Onatopp, "I am Invincible!", etc).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pierce Brosnan's Best Yet
Review: Out of Brosnan's Bond movies (Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, and Die Another Day) this one is the best overall. Everything about this movie is very well done and is worthy to be part of this great series. The soundtrack by David Arnold is a huge step up from Eric Serra. From start to finish this movie was filled with intrigue that showed the character Bond doing a lot of spy work which reminded us what his job is other than pleasing women. The use of the media as an enemy is extremely plausable today and added a sense of real life to the movie. Brosnan is also more comfortable in the role, one of the best bonds I would say under Connery.
Personally I would recommend this movie to anyone, especially if you have never seen any Bond movie. Acting, locations, script, soundtrack, direction and the overall story make me rate this movie 5 stars.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great second effort by brosnan
Review: Rank 12th of 23. A stunning movie that challenges Bond. Brosnan is just a great James Bond! It is hard to rank this 12th because it is a great action movie and a great BOND movie. It is just that there are 11 Bond movies I like even better.

Conservatives think the bad guy is modeled after Ted turner and CNN, and liberals think the bad guy is modeled after Rupert Murdock. Since 92% of journalist, including movie reviewer are liberal, guess what most of the reviewer tell you.

Truth is that this bad guy is a combo of the worse of both Murdock and Turner and the movie is great. Newspapers today do invent news.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: There's no news like bad news!
Review: After resurrecting the Bond franchise singlehandedly with a bang in 1995's Goldeneye, Brosnan hits the big screen for his sophomore outing as the larger-than-life superspy James Bond 007 in 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies. Despite the hype of commercial endorsements and Teri Hatcher's highly anticipated appearance as a Bond girl, Tomorrow Never Dies was a rather surprising setback to the Bond series.

In this eighteenth Bond flick, Bond is off to investigate an incident off the South China Sea, where a British ship appeared to have crossed Chinese waters, eliciting a warning from the Chinese military, which amounted to retaliation on both sides. Deducing that one of the media sources, the Carver Media Group had released the news of the incident in question suspiciously earlier, Bond deduces that Eliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), the media magnate and owner of the Carver Media Group, had something to do with this international incident. It turns out that Carver is manipulating the news, in some way, shape or form to start a World War III for astronomical worldwide television ratings. Bond must stop further escalation of war by thwarting Carver's plans.

Tomorrow Never Dies is not exactly up to par with the Bond movies of the past, as a rather incompetent cast, an extremely over-the-top storyline, and a horrifically dull screenplay drag what could have been a solid Bond film into a forgetful disaster. Brosnan is probably the only saving grace of the film, as he turned in a decent Bond outing, although his performance in Goldeneye was far more superb. The blame does not lie squarely on Brosnan's shoulders as his supporting cast was a big letdown. Michelle Yeoh of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame is a solid martial artist, but rather static in personality, making her lines corny in the process. Teri Hatcher portrays the forlorn, tragic Paris, Eliot Carver's husband and Bond's old flame and it is quite disappointing that she is not only not the leading lady, but that she will go down as an uneventful Bond girl, since she does not get a whole lot of screen time in this film. As for Eliot Carver himself, he is the most disappointing character of the film as he is quite undeveloped and he winds up being a wimpy, whiny control freak megalomaniac. His henchmen aren't that much better either. Carver's main henchman, Stamper (Gotz Otto) relies too much on his machismo, hence more unimaginative and plastic in his dialogue and portrayal. The short-lived Dr. Kauffman comes across as a formidable henchman, but becomes nothing but comic relief villiany fodder.

As for the story itself, it is rather complex, in the sense that it alienates the viewer into ever being involved in the film's purpose. The screenplay and dialogue are surprisingly poor and they drag on. However, Tomorrow Never Dies scores points for ingenious gadgets, in particular the trackpad-controlled, voice-activated BMW 540i and Carver's boat drill. The action sequences are solid, with the pre-title sequence and the motorcycle chase standing out as highlights. In summing Tomorrow Never Dies up, it is not a bad film to watch and relax to on a Saturday night, but there are even better Bond flicks to not only sit back and enjoy, but to get you involved in the film.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: They'll be running out titles to "die" for pretty soon
Review: The 18th Bond entry doesn't have quite the invigorated feel of Goldeneye but still manages to thrill. The plot is a bit contrived (but aren't all Bond films)with a villan that isn't as threatening as others because he doesn't do much in the way of his own dirty deeds. Still, it's an interesting comment on the globalization of the media when the bad guy can be a Rupert Murdoch type zillonaire.

Tomorrow works best when Brosnan and co-star Michelle Yeoh are on screen together. While they don't always boast the best chemistry, their stunt and action sequences together are quite dazzling. Bond fits Brosnan like a well tailored suit in his second appearence. He inhabits the role and makes it his own. There isn't quite as much depth or angst evident in the bulk of the film to compare to meeting his ex-lover (Terri Hatcher), his discovery of her fate and his own execution of "The Doctor".

The commentary by director Roger Spottiswoode wasn't half as interesting to me as that provided by the second unit crew. Spottiswoode shows that he does have a knack for action films which is surprising given his background as a director of character driven films. That background, though, comes to the fore during several important scenes and his ease with the actors is evident by the performances turned in by Jonathan Pryce.

The stunts are dazzling particularly the impossible one pulled off when Yeoh and Bronsnan must leap from the top of a skyscraper. Their ingenius (and highly unlikely) solution to escape works due to deft editing and photography. Although not the best of the Brosnan Bonds (and, yes, it's going to be just as hard to replace him as it was Connery), it has its moments.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pierce....U are now THE MAN!!
Review: After his superb performance in Goldeneye, I had high hopes for his next film.... And I wasent dissapointed one bit!!! I cant remember many bond films that had so much action in it. A very interesting villin in Eliot Carver who wants to start WW3 just to cover it for his news company. What a Freak!! And his assitant Mr.Stamper was really cool because he reminded me of Ol' Red Grant from "From Russia With Love", he acted, looked and felt like him. Really cool sceans, action, and for once, a female in the series that met bond pound for pound in Wei Lin. She was cool being she RARELY needed or wanted Bonds help cuz she could take care of herself . They looked like Roger Moore did with Barbra Bach as xxx, as both of there goverments The UK and the USSR were trying to stop WW3 in (The Spy Who Loved ME) like Pierce Brosnan and Wei Lin were doing For The UK and China. Coencedence??? U decide. Overall great movie, A MUST HAVE!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Action Packed Bond!!
Review: After a tremendous rebirth of the James Bond franchise with "Goldeneye" in 1995, the series was back on a roll with the best Bond since Connery. While "Goldeneye" seemed like a classic Bond film that was a bit more serious, this one seemed to revert to other Bond films that relied on a silly storyline and over the top action. Good for us. In my opinion, those were always the most fun and entertaining of the 007 films, and this one is no exception. Pierce Brosnan returns to the role that seemed tailor made for him. He is so good and right for Bond, that you immediatley think of him as Bond and not as the 'new guy'. As for the plot of the film, well, it's silly, but here is what this Bond film serves up. The main villain is Elliot Carver(played very nicely by Jonathan Pryce), who is a megalomaniac man behind the Carver Media Group, who own satellites that are used to launch his own television news network that can be seen all over the world. Carver plans to start World War III between the UK and China, which would propel Carver's broadcasting rights into China. Okay. Bond meets up with two women in this latest adventure. Carver's wife Paris(played by Teri Hatcher), who was a former lover of Bond's, and agent Wai Lin(Michelle Yeoh), who works for China's security force. Pryce is a great villain. He definitley looks like the evil business megalomaniac with his standing white hair, and wire rimmed glasses. He is an enigmatic presence to watch. Too bad he isn't given more to do than punch buttons on his keypad. Not much is made of the Paris role, but she does give Bond some information. It's a pity Hatcher didn't have a better role. Yeoh is a [awesome] actress who can hold her own against Bond. It's tough to decide who is better at it, her or Hallee Berry. This entry is a real testosterone, action packed film. It seems to be non stop action and it never lets up. It's a great thrill ride that is made so fun and entertaining because of the wonderful eye of director Roger Spottiswoode. Some people complain that the 007 films are not action packed films. Some long for the days of the 60's with Bond doing his investigating with a mild action scene here and there. That was all great. For the day. Nowadays, I think it would be somewhat boring for the audience. Keep in mind that this is the era where we have "XXX" and other CGI fueled blow 'em ups. I'm not saying Bond needs to be that way, but we do need a bit more excitement in these modern times Bond films than just 007 wearing cool suits and golfing with the villain. I love it, but not for today's times. Great character actor Vincent Schiavelli also pops up as an intriguing character named Dr. Kaufman. It would of been great if his role was bigger, because he is fun to watch and has a bit of comedy in his all too brief scene. Another familiar face, CIA agent Jack Wade, played by veteran actor Joe Don Baker, also returns. He was first introduced in "Goldeneye". The main theme song here is okay. It was done by Sheryl Crow, and it isn't one of the better songs from the recent films. It's alright, but it doesn't hold your interest much. The main title design isn't one of the best either. All in all, "Tomorrow Never Dies" is a rip roaring piece of action packed entertainment that is destined to please any viewer. Nobody does it better than James Bond.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A very crazy villian with an extremely silly line
Review: Elliot Carver, the main enemy of this movie, is very funny. He even mentions about a cheerleader in a Chicago motel room, imagine that! This is my favorite line of the entire James Bond film series (because I'm from Texas and in high school), and it's as nonsensical as the Three Blind Mice song from Dr. No (one guy hated that movie for that reason!)

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not the best of Bond...James Bond
Review: I have one question for the people who wrote the plot for this movie: What were you thinking? This is James Bond Agent 007 On Her Majesty's Secret Service. And he's off chasing this Media mogul who wants to start World War 3 to boost his ratings? Maybe 007 can get to be the same-old same-old, but when you break down the movie and seperate the plot from the thrilling action sequences and beautiful women what have you got? A madman by the name of Elliot Carver trying to boost his ratings of his world-wide popular newspaper. I think they were trying to do what License to Kill did successfully-put Bond in a modern world with modern situations. Terrorists, South American druglords, hackers-all modern. Ego-maniac newspaperman: stupid. And the theme song was as many put it-trying to do what Shirley Bassey did in Goldfinger. Stamper, the prime henchman was too unoriginal. A seemingly invincible guy protecting a rich employer=yawn.

Now to the positive stuff: Awesome gadgets, good-looking girls, and thrilling action scenes. I mean, driving a car in a parking garage, being shot at by hench men, with a cell phone in the backseat. And the opening sequence in the Arms Bazarr-modern and good. Anyway, I accepted it, but it followed and was followed by much better movies.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 007 Goes For A Head Shot - And Is Right On Target
Review: There is just not enough room here to praise the 18th Bond film to the greatest extent. Pierce Brosnan is in his second outing as the British superspy, on the trail of madman Eliot Carver, a media tycoon out to achieve the greatest news story of them all- extensive coverage of a worldwide nuclear war with China! 007 is aided by the beautiful (naturally) Chinese agent Wai Lin, and they are the only two standing in Carver's way of creating global chaos! But with a handful of highly skilled and equally evil villains, it's going to be tough- but Bond of course comes through with the goods. Played for the second time by Irishman Brosnan, it is a good, solid performance that proves that he has clearly broken into the role and adds his own mixture of charm, suavity, and cool to the character. With a riveting storyline, explosive action sequences, numerous locations around the world, and even an Ericsson mobile phone controlled BMW 750iL with re-inflatable tyres and bullet-proof frame, this film quite simply has it all, and does the James Bond franchise a great deal of justice. Definitely a thrill-a-minute film (or more accurately a thrill-a-second film), Tomorrow Never Dies is a worthy successor to GoldenEye, possibly the last great Bond film before the creators seemed to dry up slightly on ideas. Any fans of the series or even of the action genre are openly recommended to see this film- over and over and over. If you do not own Tomorrow Never Dies (more so if you don't own it on DVD), you are doing yourself a great disservice. As soon as you finish reading this sentence, go out and buy it, and treat your senses to one of the greatest Bond flicks ever created. At least do it for me.


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