Rating: 
Summary: Action at its Sexiest
Review: Action-packed as all installments of the James Bond series are, this was an excellent movie.This movie is darker than usual. Bond is betrayed and captured during a mission and spends 14 months being tortured for information. And, of course, the British government denies all knowledge of the spy and he is left on his own. Eventually Bond's captors are forced to trade him for another prisoner. Now, with his freedom, Bond vows to find the person who betrayed him and to exact his revenge. A lot of explosions, running, shooting and watching hot girls in tight clothing ensues. And always we see Bond at his sexiest! Fun and entertaining for everyone!
Rating: 
Summary: hackneyed
Review: I have been a Bond fan pretty much all my life, and while this is not the WORST film, it is close. Starting with the most trivial, Brosnan is wearing the ugliest haircut I've ever seen on him. Either he is older than I think, or the haircut ages him. Everty time I looked at him, i wanted to say WHO DID THAT HAIRCUT? FIRE HIM/HER! Now for the actual movie. The movie consisted of scenes strung together with even less finesse than usual. Part of this impression was attributable to the obvious derivative nature of many scenes. The viewer says, "OH, this is the bathing suit scene from Dr. No" "This is the laser torture scene from Dr. No", and so on. While some of these scenes were clever, they detracted from the cohesivehess of the film. The invisible car was hokey but could have been OK if used cleverly. It wasn't. In fact, the whole invisibility gag was ruined by the fact that the villain IMMEDIATELY spotted the car with his heat-detecting gadget. So what's the point of the invisibility? The climactic scene was, as another reviewer said, downright embarrassing. Instead of a coherent, if impossible, sequence, they appear to have strung together a bunch of unconnected snippets of ice, water, and car, added some "vroom" noises, and --voila! a really bad scene. I have been pondering why it was SO bad, and i think it has to do with the jumbledness. In a good Bond chase scene, things happen sequentially -- ski down mountain, jump of chalet roof, lose one ski, etc -- but here there were no "events" in the chase and no feeling of sequence. I think that matters - there was no thought put into it. Of course there was no plot to speak of, but I think we sign on for that . I really missed the format of hi speed opening sequence, credits, then seemingly unrelated story. Halle Berry was as great as she could be, given not much to work with. not the absolute worst, but down there.
Rating:
Summary: Bond Back to Basics
Review: I've avoided most of the installments of the James Bond franchise for several years now. I was very saddened by the reliance on sex and gadgets and just plain silliness to carry the movie rather than tell an interesting and feasible story. I've limited my viewings to just those premiering a new actor in the title role.
Having said that, I just viewed "Die Another Day" expecting the same, and was pleasantly surprised. The movie has its good and bad points, but its mostly good, and here's why.
Anyone who has read the Bond novels by Ian Flemming knows alot about the character - and it has little to do with sex, cars, and the like. Its more about duty and living with the knowledge that you are going to die and soon in the line of duty. In "Casino Royale" (the first Bond novel), Flemming tells us that Bond intends to die with as little money in his bank account as possible, which is why he spends it on wine, women, and song. This movie takes that to heart, showing a man more interested in doing the job rather than completing sexual conquests.
Second, the cheese has been kept to a minimum. There are the one-liners that are expected, but there is little cleavage and refrshingly absent are the "Bond Girls" - a term coined for the brothel of scantilly clad women that would appear in each new film. Even the ample Ms. Berry manages to keep covered most of the time.
Third, there are many references to the golden age of Bond. Holle Berry walking out of the surf wearing the trademark wide white belt and diving knife first brandishd by Ursula Andress in "Dr. No"; A tour by the new "Q" (John Cleese) where many old props are cluttered about - see how many you can spot. Then there are many plot elements borrowed from past Bond films, yet used in new ways. Its fun just to point them out. Note this is not done from a lack of ideas, the movie does stand on its own, tho at times it does play like a Bond Anniversary Special.
The plot is engaging from the first frame - and I'll not spoil it for anyone by mentioning any of it here. Its not the usual Bond movie - at least not since Flemming passed away - but I'm happy to say that Bond Is Back, and I'm looking forward to seeing the next installment at the theatre.
Rating: 
Summary: This is just terrible.
Review: As other reviewers have commented, the Bond films used to be trendsetters in dictating the shape of action films to come; now they just copy the formula of most of the recent big budget action films - over-reliance on special effects, ridiculously overdone stunts and exploits from the main character, and story very definitely taking a back seat. Now I like great special effects, but ever since CGI became an effective tool for filmakers, they've gone on a kind of adolescent FX wankfest. And I like great stunts too, but the action simply cannot be allowed to get so outrageous that it torpedoes suspension of disbelief, which is precisely what happens here. Remember when Bond was a very human character? Think back to films like "From Russia With Love". Remember Bond's fight with Red Grant on the Orient Express? There he was, disarmed, being held at gunpoint by a vicious psychopath who had killed his only ally on the train, and who just managed to get the drop on him, and there was no help in sight. Bond used his wits and a very low key gadget supplied by Q to get even up the odds. The ensuing fight on the train was not choreographed to depict the fighters with ballet like grace. It was not shown in super slo mo. There were no huge explosions and there was no FX tour de force. And it was one of the best fight scenes in the entire series. It was gripping and suspenseful. You felt like Bond was really in serious trouble, and he could get killed. It was believable. The whole film was believable. Sadly, you can't say that about this movie. It's all just... ludicrous. The weapons and gadgets belong in a Star Trek movie, not a James Bond film. Bond himself is no longer a human character, with whom audiences can identify; he's a superhero in a tux instead of spandex and a cape. Suspension of dibelief has gone straight out the window. The FX wanking and gadgets don't conceal the fact that the story and characters are pitifully weak. And what depresses me most of all is the large number of reviewers who seem to think this monstrosity is the best Bond film ever. Come on people, this movie is the very definition of all style and no substance. Fleming woudn't even recognize this character anymore. I almost don't either.
Rating:
Summary: Die Another Day - Are you sure??
Review: Seems dead already. Very disappointed with this Bond movie. Bad everything including very poor selection of Bond girls. I think GoldenEye was Brosnan's best and in my opinion the best made Bond movie so far but this one surely hurts Brosnan as Bond. Perhaps more appealing to the newer Generation of Bond fans but for older fans, this one [was the worst] big time.
Rating:
Summary: Creative, Exciting Action and Stunning Bond Girls
Review: While on a mission in North Korea, James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is betrayed by an unknown informant and imprisoned there. When he is released in exchange for a North Korean agent, he is suspected by his own intelligence service of having divulged sensitive information, and his "00" status is rescinded. Bond sets out to find the person who betrayed him by way of finding the North Korean terrorist who was traded for him. His search leads him to Cuba and then to England and to Gustav Graves (Toby Stevens), a publicity crazed diamond magnate whose gemstones are of suspect origin. Following the same trail is an American agent named Jinx (Halle Barry). Graves invites all the relevant parties and the international press to his Ice Palace in Iceland for the unveiling of "Icarus", a new satellite technology of his creation which will allow the sun's light to be focused anywhere on Earth at any time. James Bond and Jinx must discover Grave's true identity and purpose and find the mole who has compromised their agencies' security. And they must prevent "Icarus" from being used as a weapon of mass destruction. "Die Another Day" celebrates the 40th anniversary of James Bond films by placing little references to Bond history in the movie: Jinx' first appearance closely resembles that of Ursula Andress in "Dr. No". Many of Bond's old gadgets reappear in Q's storage room. And I'm sure there were a lot of references that I missed. This homage to past Bonds is neither fulfilling nor distracting, though. "Die Another Day" does quite well on its own and joins the list of thoroughly entertaining Brosnan Bonds, carrying on the somewhat modernized traditions of this great franchise. The action sequences are creative, original and entertaining. The "Bond girls" are actually very pretty. Halle Barry is a pleasure to watch as the plucky Jinx. And Rosamund Pike does a nice Ice Princess as Gustav Grave's publicist. Carrying on a long tradition, there are a lot of new half-plausible half-science fiction technologies that look really neat, anyway. "Die Another Day" is a special effects-driven movie, in contrast to Sean Connery's more character-driven Bonds. But, ironically, Pierce Brosnan's modern Bond is less of a super hero and more of a man than Connery's. This is particularly evident in this film. We see Bond's vunerability...which he then uses his charming personality, skill and great determination to overcome. A solid, well-paced, entertaining Bond. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Bond in the 21st Century
Review: I have watched Bond movies on and off over the last few years and have always come away with a shrug and the movie was out of my head ten minutes later.
This one was different for me and I think you have to thank a lot of creative people for that. Judi Densch was finally a real spymaster. Her attitude towards James after a year away was on point as was his reaction to it. No histrionics, no "I suffered torture over a year and you treat me like this!" It's his job and he knows if the shoe was on the other foot he'd react the same way. Thank you Alberta Watson from the tv version of La Femme Nikita for showing us how its done.
I like it that the story showed father against son against an Asian cultural ethos and that the father was loyal to his country and the son was loyal to himself.
It was obvious from the first time you saw her who the mole was. The only question was why.
Halle as Jinx was right on and believeable showing the cold hearted view of a covert op even while getting the "thrust" of things. She and Pierce have great chemistry on screen.
No more spoilers except to say Pierce plays James in this movie with a restraint that has made him start to nudge Sean Connery from my pedestal as best Bond.
A few notes to future movie makers. If you get Madonna to do your theme song don't let her appear in your movie. And after the great torture scenes how come no blood in the airplane when the psycho offs his dad? And the ice wave surf scene? Puh-leese, unless that was a plug for the video game.
All in all great movie, with the ability to make you think about it afterwards and actually remember the plot. Some newspaper reviews said this was the best Bond ever. I agree. The franchise has made a move a thirteen year old kid can get and a movie older people can think about despite the gee whiz.
Rating:
Summary: Quite boring...
Review: I am a casual fan of the James Bond character, even though the franchise has seen a couple of real stinkers in its existence. Many movies were good, a few were awful but this one is not among the best for sure. Pierce Brosnan is a great James Bond and, in my opinion, the only rival to the Sean Connery legacy. I loved Golden Eye and fairly liked Tomorrow Never Dies while I didn't care much for The World Is Not Enough. But frankly, TWINE is much better than Die Another Day and I must say, I was bored by this movie for many reasons. First, even though I seem to be one of the few, I really like Madonna's title track and the opening credits were quite well-done. But for me, the most disappointing thing is how the story sort of destroyed a big part of the character of James Bond. The man is a cool, sophisticated, macho yet charming spy who uses his wit and physical abilities to fight the bad guys in a slightly over the top but reality-based way. The fact that Bond gets captured right at the beginning and spends the first 25 minutes of the movie in captivity, being tortured and degraded, really took the fun out of his whole persona in my humble opinion. For me, the fact that Bond could never get captured before this was part of his legend. I was bored really quickly with all the violence and skipped to the point where he finally gets to act like the 007 I recognized. Well, I kept going for a while but couldn't bring myself to watch it all in real time and started to dissect the film in fast forward to avoid most of the action, even though I usually don't have anything against good stunts. Halle Berry as Jinx does a good job I guess but I just didn't click with her character and her performance seemed a bit forced and mechanical. And she didn't have much chemistry with Bond. Pierce Brosnan is good and he's not the problem here. I know that they wanted to celebrate the franchise by "winking" at every other Bond movie throughout but this got old pretty quickly. The invisible car was almost too much of a stretch to begin with but the final blow for me came when they started to use the slow-mo bullet time effect from the Matrix in a simulation scene. I mean, what's the point? I agree with some of the reviewers who stated that the action was too overblown. Much of it didn't really seem to serve the story (the sword fight for example had no purpose whatsoever) and went on for way too long. There was very little suspense, just non-stop action which gets mind numbing after a while. The ice palace was ludicrous if you ask me and none of the villains were remarkable. In conclusion, I gave it two stars because I know that with a film like this, it is definitely a question of taste. Die Another Day is not necessarily a bad movie all the way as there are some good elements, mostly through Brosnan's performance who still injects some wit into his character once he's back to his old self. But personally, I didn't like the film. It was just boring to me even though I had no expectations and watched with an open mind.
Rating:
Summary: Bond Shaken and stirred
Review: Many devoted fans of the Bond series may not fully apppreciate this one. It does take some risky departures from the standard Bond fare that we have come to know and love. For instance, the pre-title sequence is a little longer, and rather than the suave Mr.Bond getting out without a scratch, he is imprisoned and tortured for 14 months in a North Korean hell hole, and emerges looking more like Charles Manson on a bad day. The title song is not Bondish at all, as done my Madona, who is totally out of her enviroment in a bond film in any capacity. Now Halle Berry is much hyped and does a good job in this film, however, even Bond has to come up with some bar room pick up lines to bed her in the early part of the film, not what we normally expect. And of course, Holly's body is nice eye candy in a replica of the bathing suit worn by Ursula Andress that long 40 years ago to kick of the Bond series in Dr. No. No, this is not the typical Bond film, but then this is a new century, and nothing stays the same forever, but the question is
will Bond lovers accept the change or tune out in favor of the good ole days. The film is an entertaining one with plenty of action, and tongue in cheek humor, but may leave the viewer wandering ,"did I just watch a Bond film."
Rating:
Summary: Leave the Director and Screenwriter in North Korea too.
Review: I bought this movie thinking it'd be another Bond movie; worth watching, cool if you want thrills and classic one liners and innuendo laden names. I thought if it was a Bond movie, it'd rock even if it was mediocre. I was very wrong. Okay, the movie started sort of alright, but it got progressively cheesier and gadgety, and by the time I saw the invisible car and the ice castle (the heck?), I was wondering why the heck I bought this film. Let's face it, this is a Bond film to skip, and there aren't many of those around. For a 20th film, a landmark, this is a horrid, horrid mockery of what made Bond films great. My condolences to whoever invested in this flop. The creative talent in this movie should never work again.
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