Movie Info:
Writers: Ian Fleming, Neal Purvis
Director: Lee Tamahori
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike, Rick Yune Judi Dench, John Cleese, Michael Madsen, Will Yun Lee, Kenneth Tsang
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Fox/MGM
Release Info:
Theatrical Release: November 22, 2002
DVD Release Date: October 21, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $23.95
Ian Fleming’s books about the infamous James Bond were favorites amongst my late father. He was the one who introduced me to 007. I’m certain he’d seen nearly every James Bond film, and he never made it clear exactly who his favorite Bond was, though I’m sure he liked both Connery and Moore. The first Bond film my father never saw was Die Another Day. It was released over a year after his death in May of 2001. I didn’t miss it though, carrying on the tradition of watching Bond films for him.
I favor Connery in the role he originated more than any other Bond, but I can’t say I dislike Pierce Brosnan. He brings a sophistication and suaveness to the role that I believe was lost with Timothy Dalton. Don’t get me wrong. Dalton isn’t horrendous, but he’s hardly the definitive Bond. Brosnan brought experience to the role having successfully portrayed a similar, secret agent (though he was secretly a swindler initially) in his five year television run as the infamous Remington Steele. Steele had a Bond air about him and perhaps this is why it was so easy for Brosnan to slip on the Bond shoes.
Die Another Day was Brosnan’s last film as Bond. This was his fourth go around as the character before the franchise moved on to a younger, blonder Daniel Craig. This film was Brosnan’s last hurrah as Bond and he plays the part well. Of course, the controversial nature of the film didn’t make for good foreign relations with the North Koreans (already sour at the western world), but this film was made all in the name of art, wasn’t it? Whether there was any truth in the portrayal of North Korea is irrelevant, since it’s just a movie. Perhaps the entire James Bond cultural movement is what made the North Koreans tense about Die Another Day, but ultimately, this movie is a work of fiction and quite fanciful at that.
While wholly entertaining and engaging, I had only one complaint with Die Another Day. The absurd gene therapy story, while necessary for the plot to make sense, is a little too far fetched for even the most devoted Bond fan. Truly, this might be possible in years too come, but the idea of gene therapy, as a whole, that was capable of such controversial experimentation was a bit too much for me. Otherwise, this movie was rockin’! I honestly believe my James Bond loving father would have approved.
Die Another Day Plot
Die Another Day starts in North Korea. James Bond (Brosnan) is undercover on a mission at the North Korean military base of Colonel Tan-Sun Moon (Will Yun Lee). Bond has discovered that the Colonel is selling weapons illegally for African conflict diamonds. Posing as someone wanting to trade weapons for diamonds, Bond sets a bomb trap for the Colonel, but not before his identity is discovered by Tan-Sun Moon’s right hand man, Zao (Rick Yune), thanks to some unknown rat who uploads the information on 007 to Zao’s PDA. The chase that ensues leaves the Colonel dead and Bond imprisoned.
The Colonel’s father, General Moon (Kenneth Tsang) has Bond tortured for 14 months. He believes he is going to be executed, but the British have just traded him for Zao, fearing that harsh torture methods have made Bond talk. This leads to a suspension of his 00 status by M (Judi Dench) and Bond ends up having to escape from the facility in Hong Kong where he is being kept and monitored.
When Bond is out, he learns that Zao is in Cuba. Wanting to take him down and find out who the rat was, Bond heads there where he meets NSA agent, Giacinta ‘Jinx’ Johnson (Halle Berry). The two have a tryst and Bond learns she’s more than meets the eye when they both end up chasing Zao from a controversial gene therapy clinic. When Zao escapes, but leaves behind conflict diamonds belonging to the billionaire, Gustav Graves, a relatively unknown Brit until recently, Bond heads home.
At the fencing club where Graves is the top dawg, Bond takes up lessons with Verity (Madonna). There he meets her protégé, Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike), who also happens to be Graves’ personal assistant, but looks can be deceiving, of course. Bond realizes he must get close to Frost in order to find out what Graves is up to, but with Jinx also on the case, this could be one vicious cat fight, between two distinctly different Bond girls. Ultimately, there are some big explosions, a hot, invisible Aston Martin, a flawlessly constructed ice palace and plenty of steamy Bond-Bond girl scenes to get you through to the next action sequence.
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Directing:
Audio/Visual:
Die Another Day looks quite nice with its its 1080p, MPEG-4 AVC, 2.35:1 widescreen transfer. This is the best release of the movie I’ve seen. It’s definitely a major upgrade from past standard DVD releases. Still, this isn’t the best that Blu Ray can do. As impressed as I was with the improvements, I want bigger, better and so much more when it comes to my Blu Ray transfers. Perhaps that makes me a bit greedy.
What’s nice is that detail is sharp with great contrast, the colors come through naturally and vibrantly. Skintones are consistently clear and realistic. The black levels are solid and the film is quite beautiful. The explosions glow and the action pops off the screen in a way it couldn’t or hadn’t in standard release. The only minor errors are some minimal amounts of grain and the occasional edge enhancement.
While I was quite impressed with the exceptionally excellent lossless sound, the English DTS HD 5.1 surround track is exceptionally dynamic, I had trouble with the sound volume. Due to the fluctuation in the sound I did have to fiddle with it throughout the movie. That was the only downside to an otherwise perfect audio track. This is the kind of audio you expect from a Blu Ray. If you can get past volume inconsistencies, you’ll hear a full, robust, surround track filled with massive explosions, sweltering, crescendoing music, and crisp dialogue. Expect to hear some well rounded, speaker action with subwoofers. The sound would have been a 5+ if only the volume wouldn’t have been an issue.
Two additional tracks, a Spanish Dolby Digital Stereo and a French Dolby Digital 5.1 are presented on this Blu Ray. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish.
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Audio:
Bonus Features:
There are multiple bonuses included on the Die Another Day Blu Ray. The major question is whether the bonuses are worth it. Ultimately, this is going to depend on two things; how much you like this movie and how much of a bonuses hound you are. To start things off, the section “The Complete Special Features Library: Mission Dossier” offers up one of two Audio Commentaries on this DVD. This commentary is with Lee Tamahori, the director of the movie, and producer Michael G. Wilson. This is pretty casual though informative, with the two discussing the film, filming, their expectations and more. While this is initially engaging, the commentary slowly becomes bland. Still, it’s worth a listen at least once.
Next up is the second audio commentary. This is with Pierce Brosnan and Rosamund Pike. This is, by far, the better commentary. Brosnan is intelligent, charming, witty and engaging. He has nice chemistry with Pike and the two truly seem to enjoy themselves as they look at the film through their role as actors within it. Overall, this is quite a fun and engaging commentary. The next feature, “From Script to Screen” moves into the “Declassified: M16 Vault”. This is a featurette that basically looks at the film’s progression from script to screen. It includes tidbits about the film’s development and the schedule of production. This is also one of the better features on this Blu Ray.
The next featurette is “Shaken and Stirred on Ice”, which is narrated by actress, Samantha Bond (Miss Moneypenny). It is a look at the Bond filming of the car chase that happened on a glacier. This was a fun chase scene and apparently the first of its kind. That means this feature is actually quite unusual and interesting. Moving on, “Just Another Day” explores life on the set in a day of the film actors and film crew. This is filmed on the day when the cast/crew shot the introduction of the movie’s major villain.
The featurette, “007 Mission Control – Interactive Guide Into the World of Die Another Day” is a still gallery. It also offers up specific information on James Bond, the gadgets his uses in the movie, the women he womanizes, the good guys and the bad guys. The MI6 DataStream is trivia that is specific to certain scenes throughout the film. The trivia pops up while the film is played.
Moving on, there is the Madonna’s “Die Another Day” Music Video. This is exactly what it sounds like and chances are, you remember the video when it first came out in 2002. It’s a nice look at what Esther is capable of song-wise. She also has a small part as Verity (in case you didn’t notice) in the movie. Miranda Frost is Verity’s protégé. There is also the “Ministry of Propaganda” Photo gallery, which is just that, a photo gallery of stills from the film.
The last two features are “On Location With Peter Lamont” and “The British Touch: Bond Arrives in London.” In the first feature, you get to go on location with Peter Lamont, the production designer of the film. I wasn’t exactly enthralled with this extra, but it isn’t horrible. Just not my cup of tea. The latter is a documentary short that was filmed in 2006. It looks at the airplane sequences that were filmed in the movie and the experience Brosnan had at Heathrow Airport.
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Bottom Line:
Though not my favorite Bond movie, Die Another Day was still worth watching. Pierce Brosnan puts his all into what has become his last moment to shine as Bond. While part of the story is a little too far fetched, if you can get past this slight absurdity then this movie is going to be right up your alley. Fans of Bond can appreciate the charisma and class Brosnan brings to Bond. If you are a fan of the series, pick up the Blu Ray. Though the sound isn’t perfect, this movie looks beautiful and the sound is at least, exceptionally dynamic. Die Another Day comes highly recommended.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: Die Another Day, Blu Ray, DVD Review, Fox, James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, 007, Halle Berry, Madonna, Ian Fleming
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Written by Dominick - Visit Website
Dominick Evans is in his late 20's. He spends his days working as a full time writer/editor and a part time musician/composer. His passions in life include music, directing films, watching movies, reading books, watching sports, wheelchair football, politics, his religion (Hellenic Reconstructionism) and spending time with his family (fiancée Ashtyn, son Robert, and shih-tzu Oliver). Other interests include being an advocate for the disability and GLBT communities.
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