Die Another Day

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Template:Infobox Film Bond Die Another Day is the twentieth James Bond film made by EON Productions and the fourth and final film to star Pierce Brosnan as Ian Fleming's James Bond. It was released in 2002 and produced by Bond veterans Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. It is the first film not to feature Desmond Llewelyn as Q since Live and Let Die (1973), due to his death in December of 1999. It is also the only 007 film starring Brosnan not to have a video game adaptation.

Die Another Day, being the twentieth Bond film and also being released the year of the Bond film franchise's "40th Anniversary," pays homage in some sort of way to every previous official James Bond film.[1] It also additionally references several Fleming novels as well as novels by other official Bond authors.

Overview

Die Another Day departs from the traditional Bond formula in a number of manners. The film's opening action sequence concludes with Bond being imprisoned and tortured for fourteen months by the North Korean People's Army, in contrast to the comical conclusion in the majority of Bond films.[2]

The film elicited poor opinions across the Korean peninsula, with the North unhappy with its portrayal as a brutal, war-hungry state, while many South Koreans were offended by a romantic scene conducted in a Buddhist temple and a scene where an American officer issues orders to the South Korean army in the defence of their own homeland.[3]

The amount of product placement was also a point of criticism, specifically from various news outlets such as the BBC, Time and Reuters who all used the pun "Buy Another Day". Reportedly 20 companies paying $70 million had their products featured in the film, a record at the time, [4] although USA Today reported that number to be as high as $100 million. [5] By choice the number of companies involved in product placement was dwindled to only eight for the next Bond film Casino Royale in 2006. [6] Due to one product tie-in there are two versions of Die Another Day. In the United States, one scene has Bond shaving with a Norelco Spectra shaver and in some prints outside the U.S. Bond uses a Philishave Sensotec shaver.

Despite these criticisms Die Another Day was, until the release of Casino Royale, the highest grossing James Bond film without adjusting for inflation. It took in $160,942,139 in the United States and $456 million in sales worldwide.

Although the basic plot and the title do not derive from any James Bond novel, this is the first film since 1989's Licence to Kill to include notable elements from the Bond books, In particular, the Korean villain, Colonel Tan-Sun Moon, has a similar name to that of Colonel Sun, the villain in Kingsley Amis' Bond novel of the same name. A number of elements from Fleming's original novel Moonraker are also included. In that novel, a Nazi adopts a new identity and becomes a popular British multi-millionaire. He then donates millions to create a "Moonraker" missile which is supposed to be for Britain's protection but is actually meant to destroy London. The parallels between that plot and Die Another Day's plot are apparent. In addition, the club called Blades, a fencing club in this film, was featured as a card club in Moonraker. The character of Miranda Frost was originally named Gala Brand, the same name as the Bond girl in the original Moonraker novel.

Die Another Day was the first movie since Live and Let Die not to feature Desmond Llewelyn, who had died in 1999 just after the release of The World Is Not Enough. John Cleese, formerly of Monty Python's Flying Circus and Fawlty Towers, took over the role of Q. It is, however, clear that he is playing a different character (who had been introduced as Q's assistant "R" in The World Is Not Enough). Cleese's Q refers to "his predecessor" in one scene.

Plot summary

Template:Spoiler The film opens with Bond infiltrating the organization of Colonel Tan-Sun Moon, a North Korean army officer who is illegally selling military weaponry in exchange for African conflict diamonds. Bond is betrayed by an agency mole, resulting in a massive shootout/chase around the area. Colonel Moon is apparently killed after falling over a waterfall, and Bond is captured by the North Korean military, where he is tortured for fourteen months. Disavowed by his superiors upon his release, and his status as Double-0 Agent suspended by M, Bond sets out to find the mole on his own. Uncovering evidence that overtakes his personal vendetta, M restores his Double-0 status and offers MI6 assistance to help him uncover what he's found. After receiving equipment from Q, he sets out to where this evidence would lead. His search eventually leads to billionaire businessman Gustav Graves, who is actually Colonel Moon surgically altered via gene therapy (the film's title, Die Another Day, refers to Colonel Moon surviving his first encounter with 007. Upon meeting him later in the film Bond comments, "So you lived to die another day.").

Graves' scheme, reminiscent of Diamonds Are Forever, Moonraker and GoldenEye, involves the construction of Icarus, an orbital mirror system made of diamonds that will supposedly focus solar energy on a small area to light the Arctic nights and, if the investment goes well with buyers, provide year-round sunshine for crop development. In truth, the orbital mirror system is actually a superweapon. It is first used to clear a path through the minefield in the demilitarized zone that separates North Korea from South Korea. North Korea would be able to invade South Korea, Japan, and other surrounding nations. Icarus would also be used to defend North Korea while it invades, by destroying any ballistic missile or nuclear warhead fired on North Korea or their troops, thus foiling any large scale retaliation from their enemies.

Bond, with the aid of NSA agent Jinx (played by Halle Berry), defeats Gustav Graves, whose other major techno-toy is an exoskeleton equipped with a high-voltage electric weapon, and prevents global catastrophe. Frost, Graves' assistant, who is purportedly working for MI6, is eventually revealed to be the mole within the agency.

Cast & characters

Crew

Vehicles & gadgets

Main articles: List of James Bond vehicles and List of James Bond gadgets
Zao's Jaguar XKR
  • Aston Martin V12 Vanquish — The car is equipped with all the usual refinements including foward-firing rockets concealed behind the grille, hood-mounted guns with automatic targeting, and passenger ejector seat in homage to the original Aston Martin DB5 driven by Bond in Goldfinger. The car was also equipped with an adaptive camouflage system that allowed it to become invisible to the naked eye at the push of a button (although it could still be detected in infrared). Q jokingly (but still in a deadpan tone) referred to the car as the 'Aston Martin Vanish'. Q suggested that Bond read through the Vanquish's dictionary-sized instruction manual but much to Q's annoyance, he simply tossed the book in front of the car to be obliterated by the hood-mounted guns.
  • Jaguar XKR — Not technically a Bond car, this car was driven by the villain Zao. It was equipped with a rear-mounted minigun, missiles concealed behind the front grille and in the sides of the car, a retractable battering ram, and it could launch mortar shells from the trunk.
  • Ford Thunderbird — Although only in the movie for a short period of time, the vehicle was marketed as a Bond car. Jinx drives the 2002 Ford Thunderbird up to Graves Ice Palace.
  • 1957 Ford Fairlane convertible — When Bond departs Raoul's villa, he borrows his convertible when 007 requests a "fast car."
  • Switchblades — The Switchblade is essentially a one-man glider shaped like a fighter jet. It features retractable wings that control the speed and trajectory of the craft. Fitted with the same material that makes a stealth bomber radar-invisible, the switchblade allows Bond and Jinx to enter North Korea undetected. The switchblade is based on a workable model called "PHASST" (Programmable High Altitude Single Soldier Transport).[7]
  • Glass Shattering Ring (AKA, "Ultra-high Frequency, Single-Digit, Sonic Agitator Unit" according to Q) — This ring, given to Bond by Q-Branch, emits a high-pitched frequency that shatters any glass in its range.
  • Rebreather — Seen only briefly (when Bond is swimming under the ice), the rebreather is based on the same design as the one in Thunderball, allowing the user a short supply of oxygen.
  • Omega Seamaster watch — Seen first in the pre-title sequence, the watch included a concealed explosives detonator, activated by turning the bezel. Later in the movie he receives another watch (his "20th" according to Q, a reference to this being the 20th official Bond film), which is revealed to contain a laser powerful enough to cut a hole in the frozen surface of a lake.
  • Surfboard — Also seen in the pre-title sequence, Bond's surfboard includes a hidden compartment housing a Walther P99 (and silencer), two bricks of C4 explosive and a GPS equipped knife.
  • GPS knife — Bond uses this gadget in North Korea. When the knife is driven blade-first into the ground a small satellite transmitter unfolds from the handle, sending a false homing signal to an enemy helicopter.

Locations

Jokulsarlon

Locations Depicted in the Film

Shooting locations

Italics indicate the locations in the movie portrayed by each shooting location.

Soundtrack

File:007DADsountrack.jpg
Original Die Another Day soundtrack cover

The title song for Die Another Day was written and sung by Madonna. Madonna also had a small cameo in the movie as Verity, a leather-clad fencing instructor.

The soundtrack was composed by David Arnold, his third outing as the composer for a James Bond movie. Arnold again made use of electronic rhythm elements in his score, and included two of the new themes he created for The World is not Enough. The first, originally used as Renard's theme for the previous film, is heard during the mammoth "Antonov" cue on the recording, and is written for piano. The second new theme, most easily described as Bond's romance theme, was used in the "Christmas in Turkey" track on the The World Is not Enough soundtrack, and is heard here on the "Going Down Together" track. The soundtrack was released on Warner Brothers Records, which is also Madonna's label. Prior to Madonna's title song being chosen, Arnold, along with lyricist Don Black began work on their own title track titled "I Will Return". It was never finished.

Although the Bond films have a long-standing connection with the pop music world, the choice of Madonna's song, coupled with the use of The Clash's "London Calling," proved controversial with some fans who felt the two pieces of music were inappropriate for a Bond movie. "London Calling" was used briefly in the film as Bond returns to England via British Airways. At the time, the airline was using the song in American radio and television commercials.

Madonna's theme song was unusual in that it was presented in a credit sequence that actually moved the film's plot along (as opposed to all previous Bond film titles which are standalone set pieces — an exception being the third segment of the Dr. No titles). The concept of the song/title sequence was that it represented Bond trying to keep his sanity during 14 months of torture at the hands of the North Koreans. The divided opinion over the "Die Another Day" theme is evidenced in that it was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song as well as for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song (2002). However in a MORI poll for the Channel 4 programme "James Bond's Greatest Hits" it was voted 9th out of 22 and was voted an "overwhelming number one" by under-24 year olds.[8]

Track listing

  1. "Die Another Day" - Madonna
  2. "James Bond Theme (Bond Vs. Oakenfold)" - Paul Oakenfold
  3. "On The Beach"
  4. "Hovercraft Chase"
  5. "Some Kind of Hero?"
  6. "Welcome to Cuba"
  7. "Jinx Jordan"
  8. "Jinx & James"
  9. "A Touch of Frost"
  10. "Icarus"
  11. "Laser Fight"
  12. "Whiteout"
  13. "Iced Inc."
  14. "Antonov"
  15. "Going Down Together"

Novelisation

File:DieAnotherDayBook.jpg
2002 British Coronet Books paperback edition.

The novelization to Die Another Day was written by the then-current official James Bond writer, Raymond Benson based on the screenplay by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. Like the movie, the novel has many references to past Bond movies and novels. Months after its publication, it was announced that Benson was retiring as the official James Bond novelist, and Ian Fleming Publications (owner of the literary franchise) announced that the series was on hiatus. A new series of James Bond novels, by Charlie Higson was launched in 2005, although it focuses on Bond's adventures as a teenager (Young Bond).

As a result, Die Another Day, the novel, is for the time being the final literary adventure featuring Bond as originally conceived by Ian Fleming, although the publisher is reportedly planning another "adult Bond" novel to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Fleming's birth in 2008.

Template:Bondbook

Jinx spinoff

Berry's performance was heavily criticized by many reviewers and fans, though she won an Academy Award for Best Actress (for Monster's Ball) in the midst of filming, making her only the second actor after Christopher Walken to be an Oscar-winner at the time of their appearance in an official Bond film (Judi Dench also won an Oscar in 1999 as well as Benicio Del Toro in 2000, but this was after their debut in the series). Regardless of these criticisms, the character of Jinx was nonetheless considered popular enough for MGM to announce plans for the first-ever James Bond spin-off movie based upon the character and starring Halle Berry. Stephen Frears was attached to direct and actor Colin Salmon was set to portray his Bond character, Charles Robinson, as Jinx's mission director. MGM abruptly cancelled production in late 2003 to focus on the next James Bond film, Casino Royale. Some film critics have speculated that the cancellation may have been connected to the box office underperformance of several female-led action films in 2003, most notably Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. Berry's own 2004 flop, Catwoman, most likely did not help matters.

Trivia

  • A number of items inside Q's lab appeared in previous James Bond films, including such memorable gadgets as the rocket belt, shoe with poison-tipped blade, Acrostar minijet, the alligator boat, and the field briefcase among many others. Q provides an in-joke when he gives Bond his new watch and quips, "Your twentieth, I believe." Die Another Day is the twentieth Bond film in the series.
  • Bond activates a jetpack stored in Q's lab, asking "Does this thing still work?" This is a playful homage to a similar jetpack used by Bond in the movie Thunderball.
  • The character Wai Lin, played by Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies, was originally supposed to make her return, aiding Bond in Hong Kong, but no arrangement could be worked out with the actress and she was replaced by Chinese Intelligence agent (and hotelier) Chang. Wai Lin's presence is confirmed by an extra on the DVD release concerning the writing of the script: Barbara Broccoli is shown leafing through an early script, and it clearly contains lines for Wai Lin.
  • The magazine with the picture of Gustav Graves which Bond is reading on his flight to London is actually the real November 2002 in-flight magazine for British Airways. The magazine does in fact have an interview with Toby Stephens about playing the role of Graves.
  • The director, Lee Tamahori, wanted Sean Connery to film a cameo appearance in the movie, however, the producers rejected the idea because they didn't want to have two actors who were James Bond on screen at the same time.
  • During many parts of the movie (most notably the action sequences, e.g. the fight scene at the Cuban clinic) some of the bars of John Barry's theme from On Her Majesty's Secret Service can be heard repeatedly intertwined with the other background music.
  • The "flesh wound" comment during Bond's training at the abandoned Underground station refers to the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which John Cleese co-wrote and starred in.
  • The sword Graves picks up in the fencing club after throwing his first sword at Bond is actually a Korean version of a katana, thus hinting at Graves' origins. Also, in the fencing scene, Pierce Brosnan is holding his sword with his right hand, but is wearing a left-handed fencing jacket.
  • Jinx's first appearance in the movie is reminicient of the diver girl Honeychile Rider (played by Ursula Andress) from the first bond movie, Dr. No. Jinx is wearing a similar knife on her hip as well as a similar costume.

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246460/trivia
  2. ^ Other exceptions include You Only Live Twice, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The World is Not Enough, and Casino Royale.
  3. ^ "Both sides of the DMZ irked by James Bond". Northwest Asian Weekly. Retrieved 2006-11-18.
  4. ^ "New Bond film 'a giant advert'". BBC News. Retrieved 2006-03-23.
  5. ^ "Bond reunites with Smirnoff". USA Today. Retrieved 2006-07-24.
  6. ^ "Bond reunites with Smirnoff". USA Today. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
  7. ^ "Bond Flies PHASST". Kinetic Aerospace Inc. (news release). Retrieved 2006-11-18.
  8. ^ Geoffrey Palmer (Narrator) (2006). James Bond's Greatest Hits (Television). UK: North One Television.

External links

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