Home :: DVD :: Art House & International :: Asian Cinema  

Asian Cinema

British Cinema
European Cinema
General
Latin American Cinema
Tomorrow Never Dies (Special Edition)

Tomorrow Never Dies (Special Edition)

List Price: $19.98
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 .. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 .. 26 >>

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: This isn't Bond....
Review: "Tomorrow Never Dies", the second 007 flick to star Pierce Brosnan, is one of the most action-packed Bond films, but is also one of the weakest. It would appear that the producers confused James Bond with Die Hard, as the film appears to concentrate solely on action sequences at the expense of good old Bond classicism.

As for the plot, it is just a remake of "The Spy Who Loved Me" with an attempt by a megalomaniac to inaugerate a nuclear war (this time between the UK and China) and the plot device about a top secret encoder is lifted directly from that film (where it is a submarine tracking system). Michelle Yeoh also appears to be a Chinese Triple X (but less pretty, obviously). For this reason, TND lacks originality.

But even worse is the fact that there's too much brutality. Rather than the normal dose of casual violence, we're treated to the appalling sight of the protagonists literally whacking each others' teeth out. More Die Hard reverence comes in the form of Carver's henchman Mr. Stamper, who first guns down a flock of stranded British sailors murderously, and then, at the film's climax, attempts to smash Bond in a scene that makes me retch....(especially the line "I owe you an unpleasant death, Mr. Bond).....

There is some saving grace in the villain, Eliot Carver, a Randolph Hearst-type media mogul who plans to spark a nuclear disaster that would see him benefit from the media coverage. Michelle Yeoh is a Bond girl that can deliver some, but her fight scenes are rather overblown and are not for Bond girls. Other high points include Vincent Schiavelli's performance as assassin extraordinaire Dr. Kaufmann, Sheryl Crow's title song, and there is plenty of entertainment. Pierce Brosnan pulls it off with flair. So in summary, TND works as an action film, but not as a Bond film. If you're looking for a good Bond film, watch Goldfinger or The Spy Who Loved Me as this is one of the weaker 007 efforts.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Bond yet!
Review: Pierce Brosnan has really breathed life into James Bond once again. Tomorrow Never Dies is one of the best Bond films to come out in a while. The action and story are absorbing from start to end. I can wait to get "The World Is Not Enough" on DVD. Cheers to Brosnan!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Wasted potential
Review: Well, here it is, finally a DVD Bond movie with decent extra features. It's just a shame that it had to be Tomorrow Never Dies, definately the weakest of the three Brosnan Bond movies. Goldeneye and The World Is Not Enough are classic Bond flicks and would be perfectly suited to DVDs capabilities, but Tomorrow Never Dies is just an average, mindless action adventure with a ludicrous storyline that Mike Myers could use for Austin Powers Three (stolen nuclear missiles sound at all familiar?).

The stunts and effects in this film are, admittedly very impressive, and are therefore worth checking out on DVD, but there's no need for a special edition, just buy the cheaper normal edition, unless you are dying to know how on earth they drove that car without a driver. Which I am not.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Oh Dear, What Happened Here?
Review: After proving that there was life after Dalton with the credible "GOLDENEYE", the follow up film falls somewhat short, as a stunt training video, its a masterpiece, but with only the videocover to remind you it is indeed a story, it is disappionting. The Evil press baron is more Ian Hislop than Robert Maxwell and Teri Hatcher looks decidedly pregnant a times (at the time of filming she was indeed). Pierce Brosnan tries to be more Roger Moore than Roger Moore, and fails. However, they all redeemed themselves with "The World Is Not Enough" which is in a different class alltogether.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best recent 007 films
Review: I am an avid 007 fan and I really enjoyed "Tomorrow Never Dies." I liked it better than "GoldenEye." Pierce Brosnan excels as Bond and he seems much more comfortable in the role. Michelle Yeoh makes this 007 entry even more exciting and interesting. As a Bondian heroine for the 90's, she seems every bit the equal of James Bond. Jonathan Pryce makes a great megalomaniac villain and Gotz Otto's Stamper reminds us of Red Grant from "From Russian With Love." The plot of the film is similar to "The Spy Who Loved Me." The pacing of the film is great and the actions sequences are well-done. I highly recommend this movie to 007 fans!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Brosnan is licked into shape
Review: I must say that Brosnan gorws into the role this time.He doesn`t give a perfect performance but is much better than in GE.The rest of the film is a mixed bag.The scenes between Bond-Carver/Kaufmann are great(the performances of Pryce and Schiavelli are truly gems),and we have an inspired Bond-girl,but although the film is a fast one,all this machine-gunnin without wounding any of Bond:s allies is just stupid.A great soundtrack by Arnold,a great teaser(really a mini-movie)and the Kaufmann-confronation saves this film.Otto plays Stamper with menace,however the part is a terrible orgie in cliches,and you want to puke over his "We die together,mr Bond!"

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Entertaining, but doesn't feel like a Bond movie..
Review: TND is good entertainment but not quite up to my expectation of what a Bond movie should be. For starters, there are simply too many action scene which caused this movie to be less classic or stylish than the pre-Dalton Bond movies.

A spy simply does not get into that kind of lenthy and destructive actions on the street, in the middle of a city, with that many by-standers so dangerously close by! Miss the Sean Connery touch a lot..

Brosnan, comparing with Connery is like Willies comparing with Bogart. Yeoh is different and fun.

The Bond ladies are definitely more atuned to contempory thoughts.

The special edition DVD, on the other hand, is quite good. The additional materials (Goldeneye is similar) are fun, and the interactive CD arrangement is good. Soundtrack is very good, of course. I made the mistake of viewing the special sections first before getting to the movie itself - never do that, I suggest..

It is good entertainment, just doesn't feel like a Bond movie to me. The plot is almost comic book like, and Brosnan is somewhat invisible due to all the actions. He is more natural, however, than he was in Goldeneye.

If you have good A/V equipment, The TND Special Edition DVD is worthhile, Amazon price also helps..

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Bond film
Review: For some, this film is the ultimate Bond film. For others, it is amongst the worst. For me, it was a decent film. It wasn't anything special, really. Amongst the great action sequences is a weak plot and underwhelming villains and henchmen. The whole time, I was thinking "how the hell could this plan work?"

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Tomorrow Never Dies:Special Edition DVD
Review: I'm no die-hard fan of James Bond, but I thoroughly enjoyed and still enjoy watching the DVD Special Edition of Tomorrow Never Dies (TND). I'll refer to characters in my description. I thought that Mr. Stamper was a pretty mean, cool and formula looking tough guy (see some Jackie Chan films, you'll see a resemblance). I couldn't wait to see Elliot Carver go. Bond's female counterpart, Colonel Wai Lin was the best I've seen for a while (partial to the eastern style of attack). The motorcycle scene was the best! Also, I liked Sheryl Crow's song; she may be yesterday's top entertainer, but I still thought it fit in well. Finally, Pierce Brosnan showed compassion that is needed in Bond. One more thing, it's worth the money to get a home theater (big screen, stereo, dvd, etc) when watching a movie like this one. VHS doesn't cut it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I Hope Tomorrow Really Isn't This Bad.
Review: Holy Moly this is a bad movie. The plot was not very interesting or even feasible. The Bond girls were horrible. If only Terry Hatcher's chest was as big as her ego, this matched might have worked. What was up with Michelle Yeoh? She's got to be the most unsexy bond girl ever. I take that back, Grace Jones (A VIEW TO A KILL), was the worst. I was hoping that TND would live up to GOLDENEYE, but I was sadly disappointed. Good Lord! Did they give him enough campy one liners? In the Bond films, you always accept a few, but this was ridiculous. The bright spots in the movie, and oh were there very few, were the decent at best car chase scene and the motorcycle scene. I hope for the Bond movies sake, that newcomers do not view this one first.


<< 1 .. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 .. 26 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates