I am a big 007 fan but this has to be the worse Bond movie I have seen in recent history.......

I expected it to be bad, but god not this bad, this movie simply is over the top sci fi which usually belongs to movies like Charlie's Angels.... =P

This is one of the weakest Bond films destined to sit on the shelf alongside Moonraker, Octopussey and Tomorrow Never Dies.

There is a great opening credit sequence, gritty and exciting and showing a real edge to Bond and a side of him that we haven't seen... then Madonna song comes on...it is ****ing awfull !!

The set pieces are ridiculous, the CGI is at times laughable, there is quite simply the worst CGI scene in film history in this film, it looks like a computer game -... blah

The theme of this film is too much towards sci-fi, and tooo much pop corn..... Madonnas cameo is out of place and obviously her payment for singing the theme.

take it ..... the parachute and snowboard scene.. I mean HOW the Hell does an OLD FART like Pierce Brosnan do that...?
and the final airplane fight scene was excellently over-the-top... this is not Matrix ..... this is James Bond 007, its suppose to have British elegance and character... but it has bacome an American pop corn fick/flick....

The moment I got out of the theatre I already forgot what the hell I just watched... another Bond film with a Bad guy trying to use a satellite to take over the world?... hey i think that was the same story from the last 3 Bond movies...

btw Bourne Identity 10x better than this Bond film and the next 007 is this guy (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Butler,+Gerard)

this year for me was

Die Another Day: not enjoyable nonsense.

The Bourne Identity: enjoyable nonsense.

xXx: some enjoyable nonsense.

The point of xXx was to make a 007 for todays generation.. and it works perfectly. Loved it for that. Current 007 flicks are going down in quality but I'm still looking forward to Die Another Day (seeing tomororw). 007 is trying to keep its pants on and beat xXx which is different. 007 has lost its type of genre movie... a purely spy movie. I guess some blame can go with Russian being allies now but Hollywood wants to show that but its only fiction stories and movies. U can still carry on spy stuff between the most powerful countires.

Agreed thats its too much of a popcorn flick. Mystery is what 007 is about!

hey,
i liked bond, and DAD, and the new movies, and Brosnan, they're different from the old bonds/movies, which makes it unique

waiting to see it on DVD

Originally posted by Kn'thrak
The point of xXx was to make a 007 for todays generation.. and it works perfectly. Loved it for that. Current 007 flicks are going down in quality but I'm still looking forward to Die Another Day (seeing tomororw). 007 is trying to keep its pants on and beat xXx which is different. 007 has lost its type of genre movie... a purely spy movie. I guess some blame can go with Russian being allies now but Hollywood wants to show that but its only fiction stories and movies. U can still carry on spy stuff between the most powerful countires.

Agreed thats its too much of a popcorn flick. Mystery is what 007 is about!

I disagree. xXx and 007 are totally different. While the 007 series relies heavily on convoluted plots and the same lovable old James Bond, xXx insults its viewers with action sequences that do not compliment the plot. It also insults the viewer's intelligence, while the James Bond series has always carried on coherent and sometimes very complex storylines.

Originally posted by MovieDetective
I disagree. xXx and 007 are totally different. While the 007 series relies heavily on convoluted plots and the same lovable old James Bond, xXx insults its viewers with action sequences that do not compliment the plot. It also insults the viewer's intelligence, while the James Bond series has always carried on coherent and sometimes very complex storylines.

Well stated there! :)
--Dan

Originally posted by MovieDetective
I disagree. xXx and 007 are totally different. While the 007 series relies heavily on convoluted plots and the same lovable old James Bond, xXx insults its viewers with action sequences that do not compliment the plot. It also insults the viewer's intelligence, while the James Bond series has always carried on coherent and sometimes very complex storylines.

Thats exactly what I said.... with the added that 007 is trying to be like xXx now. Big mistake!!!

If xXx was insulting... why such a huge profit and just about everyone liked it? Thats just saying, its like sticking ur head in a bucket of acid and enjoying the experience :freak: :freak: :freak:

The last good 007 was GoldenEye. It was so old style 007 it was just too good. *dreams about Tank scene*

Originally posted by Kn'thrak

If xXx was insulting... why such a huge profit and just about everyone liked it? Thats just saying, its like sticking ur head in a bucket of acid and enjoying the experience :freak: :freak: :freak:


Well xXx's target audience is generally only concerned with the special effects and music and overall "badass"ness of the movie. I'm not denying that the movie is probably very entertaining if you appreciate films like that. I can't ask everyone to think the same way I do.

Having seen all three spy movies, I'd rank 'em as follows:

1)Tie: DAD and Bourne
2)xXx

Now, I really liked all three. Bourne was a perfect old-school 007 movie, even if it wasn't Bond. DAD is a damn-near perfect modernized Bond movie, with enough plot and intrigue to satisfy spy junkies and enough solid action to satisfy those who just want a popcorn flick. xXx was 2 hours of loud, mindless action.

I've got to admit DAD is not (yet?) my favourite Bond.

For one thing technical I don't like the blue screen/green screen effect. Looks fake with blurred edges. It may work in Minority Report but not Bond.

The laser fight scene did remind me of computer game.

Mind you it's a homage to the last 19th "official" Bond film so if it's over-the-top it's a "homage to the over-the-tops".

On a five-star scale, I give a five. Four goes to the girl who'd been a good sport and went to the movie with me.

Need to see it again to make up my mind when it comes out on DVD cos I've gotta admit, I wasn't paying much attention on screen. :D

:D :big grin: :cool:

Originally posted by editman
Four goes to the girl who'd been a good sport and went to the movie with me

Girls Girls Girls ... any other hobbies besides that editman? :butt:

Originally posted by Mischa
Girls Girls Girls ... any other hobbies besides that editman? :butt:

Movies, sex and occasionally saving the world. Don't want nothing more. Don't need nothing more.

For Editman, work is play. Play is work. That is my destiny. I work hard. I play hard. Why right this moment I'm bloody working.

I had no frirends and never will have any. I am the lonelist person in the whole wide world. A lighthouse keeper at the fringe of the world standing guide for nobody. A spare part. A placebo.

Because, ultimately, I am just an ungrateful bastard.

There. You got me started.

sounds like u are the lost 009 agent :P :big grin: :D

i have a big problem with people whinging about cgi in movies, especially when the movie isnt cgi orientated.

if the film was starwars, star trek, ice age any other film where cgi plays a major part then yes your complaint is warrented and in these situations the poor effects would detract from the film.

that said, in a film series like bond since when has special effects mattered.. think back to the glory days of bond.. yes back in the 60's when cgi wasnt even invented.. think roger skiing infront of the blue screen (clearly obvious)... did it matter NO! did it matter that in moonraker bond had a laser gun, but that technology mysteriously dissapeared for the next bond movie.. (it would have definatly replaced his walther for sure!!)

xXx was horrible.. it was trash there was no excuse for it... the crap that is said that its James Bond for a new generation.. what a load of bull.. its a studio head's idea of a wet dream.. whack Vin Diesel who is popular at the moment (dont ask why.. but if you talk to any 16 year old girl its not because of his acting talent.. its all visual.. no cgi there!!) anyway i digress vin apparently appeals to a young stupid target audience.. rev heads.. and most white people trying to be black, apparently vin does not want the world to know his true genetic background for fear of loosing his confused hispanic/caucasian demographic.

CGI is overrated.. you go and rent out films like willow, neverending story, labryinth... i dare you to try and tell me that the animatronics detract from the story.. these movies still managed to create a fantasy that captured my imagination... i love and cherish these movies just as much as i do the fellowship of the ring... compare the effects in the films?? and think about what exactly CGI does contribute to the film.. all CGI is accomplishing is making audiences stupid.. part of what made some films so great is the fact that much of the effects were not there.. the audiences mind filled in the gaps, there own imagination joined the dots.. now with CGI filmmakers are getting lazy, they would rather spoon feed the new generation with effects rather than let us figure it out for ourselves.. dont believe me.. think about the classic monster horror film.. im going to use jaws as my example.. you never saw jaws for much of the film.. the threat and imagining the threat was up to you. the horror you experienced was largely contributed to your own imagination kicking in and manifesting your own shark.. now think about modern films.. think mimic 2, jeepers creepers.. the cgi is available now to create a monster and show it, does this help the movie.. NO!! the actual monster is not even half as scary as something your imagination could have thought up on its own!


anyway.. i loved die another day, i felt it was by far one of the best bond films.. i spent a good 2 hours talking with friends outside the cinema.. and then on the internet afterwards, discussing how sean and roger would be sitting by reminiscing, discussing the references hidden in the movie.. Lee Tamahori has done a fantastic job, i want him back for the next bond film.. david arnold seemed bored with this score.. he had it nailed with the score for the world is not enough.. and seemed to just recycle old cues.. especially evident in tracks from the soundtrack such as iced inc.

madonnas song is number 1! not a very good bond song, but a god damn great song to advertise a movie with, and garner interest for the film.. plus i have no doubt next time i venture out at night i will hear a bond song being played over a gigantic sub and several pairs of 6x9.. and to be honest nothing will make me happier.. if only i could have a martini to complement it with!..

Originally posted by 0Rich0
that said, in a film series like bond since when has special effects mattered.. think back to the glory days of bond.. yes back in the 60's when cgi wasnt even invented.. think roger skiing infront of the blue screen (clearly obvious)... did it matter NO!

Well, I'm not whining about the realism of blue screen effect in DAD. I just think the blur-edged blue screen effect doesn't fit into a Bond movie.

In ATOC, Minority Report the blur-edged blue screen effect kinda gives an out-of-this-world, hyper-realistic quality to the image. So it works on these films.

In DAD, however, it's Bond fighting a villian on a running tank. It's Jinx jumping into the ocean from the cliff. With blurred edges, I don't know whether I should treat them as FX shots, or just a subliminal "don't-try-this-at-home" message. Too fake (as opposed to "believable", not "realistic") to me, even for Bond.

Besides, blue screen fxs don't always look fake. Think Forest Gump. Think True Lies. I wouldn't know the terrorist jumping-on-a-plane scene is blue screen if I didn't watch the demo at the Oscar. Even the blue screen FX in The Matrix is believable.

I don't really have a problem with the blue screen work in DAD. Sure it defenitely looked fake, but it was never used in an extended action scene, just for the BOND moments. If it had been used for more than a few moments then yes, I would be the first to complain, but it wasn't. The only scenes it was used in are the end of the action scenes. The wind surfing is probably the most controversial example so I'll use that example.

We had a whole scene where Bond is in his car being chased by a beam from the satalite, and it all looks excellant. Eventually he has to drivehis car off a cliff and cling to the edges. He hooks onto the side of the cliff but the beam destroys this edge, sending Bond plummiting Bond into the ocean. As a massive wave roles and the villains think Bond dead, suddenly the Bond theme blasts out of the speakers, and Bond comes wind surfing over the wave with an extremely smug look on his face. Sure it's cheesy, sure the blue screen looks fake, but this is the moments that Bond is about. There was no way to do it without blue screen because seeing the smug look on Bonds face is essential, and damn it, the audience should be too busy chearing for Bond to notice what the blue screen looks like.

I could understand the hatred for clue screen in a film like vertical limit, but leave Bond out of this.

I was just thinking again about DOD..... and................ damn that movie really sucks.... storywise, "BONDwise", Effectwise.........

Hale Berry is FIERCE!

yup


http://home.t-online.de/home/520096932703-0001/images/swordfish.jpg

I saw D.A.D. on DVD and SFX looked so unrealistic... The movie wasn't great either.

if only movies were judged by spfx...

this movie DAD wants to be judge on its FX coz everything FX about it is over the top, but the problem is, this is a James Bond movie and James Bond movie rely on British Humor, style and Finesse and some plot... but DOD has non of these and only full of americanized pop corn plot and explotions.. :cry:


hehehe.. just had to bump this coz after watching Goldeneye .. DAD is soo much worse...

I have always been a big James Bond fan, and I personally think that Brosnan is the best yet (followed very closely by Connery, with Moore in a respectable third and Lazenby and Dalton way, way back).

I thought that the glacier surfing scene was a bit over the top, but otherwise, I thought Die Another Day was a good movie. The "car chase" scene was rather unique as well. I especially liked what happened to Bond right before and during the credits... that was something they have never done with him before.

It is not my fovorite Bond film, that probably goes to Tomorrow Never Dies (how often does Bond face someone in your line of work?), but I did enjoy the movie. The only thing is I miss the old Q. Cleese is good, but he just doesn't quite measure up. (Maybe they can use CGI to bring him back in the next movie... ha!)

As a JB fanboy it pains me to talk about this fdilm outside of the blind realm I was in when I wrote the review. Pierce Brosnan is the best Bond yet, with Dalton as close second and Connery a close third.

There was some fantastic action and car chases with the invisible car being really cool, and the hotel scene is a classic so I will be buying the DVD.

Sadly it's also one of the lesser Bonds. Halle Berry needs to die a slow painfull death and NO Jinxe spin off. She's let fame go to her head after one oscar and since then she's been appearing in everything from Sword Fish-X-Men to Bond and she's played off of her slightly pretty face throughout. She should stop being the weakest link, and her role in X2 better be minimal.

The bad guy was not distinguished, neither was the henchman, and there was very little to make this stand out in the way that Brosnans other films have. Goldeneye introduced us to the best Bond, and is Brosnans best film. Tomorrow never dies had the best Bond Girl, and The World Is Not Enough had best Villain. Die Another Day is a dissapointment when you avoid the blind fanboy status that I had when I wrote my review and when I get the DVD I'll give it a real review.

Oh edit-The inuendo has now officially gone from Bond to Austin Powers. Austin Powers was never funny so Bond's classic humour is now gone. BRING IT BACK!
***/5

sadly to say, but IMO 007 movies are just worst & worst :freak:

Sorry guys. I've watched this film again and realized I was right first time. It was more than a blind fanboy review. Die Another Day is actually really good fun, and is still the best of last years spy tripple bill (bourne Identity, XXX, DOA) but what I wrote in this thread was purely the horrible memories of Halle Berry.

I've got to admit. Over the period of time since I gave Die Another Day a glowing review I've been questioning myself. Thinking that the film was total rubbish and how could I have awarded such a high score to this film. Now though I have the DVD and I can safely say that the reasons for awarding Die Another Day a high score came flooding back, and while the bad points are as glaring as ever they are not enough to spoil what the good parts set up.

Firstly though I'm going to make a very big deal about the bad points because I have spent so many months focusing on them that I really need some closure, but thankfully this wont take that long. The problems in this film all lie in the Americans, No offense meant to all of the Americans out there, it's not your fault your nation has been represented so badly here. Unfortunately the makers of Die Another Day have tried to gain a greater audience in the States by allowing the Americans to get as much action as the British, and the American characters have been rushed badly. Gone are the days when Bond would simply go to the Americans in the character of Felix Lighter, or when Joe Don Baker would show up and save the day. No those are the glory days, what we have here is Halle, Barbie Doll, Berry in another movie damaging role. Give the girl one award and suddenly she becomes casting couch gold even though she's a terrible actress and has no charisma. In fact what is even more baffling is that she's not even that attractive. If it wasn't for Grace Jones then Berry would be the ugliest Bond Girl ever but Grace Jones at least had a personality and a purpose for the film. Berry is just there to please the American Audience and the womens lib all in one go.

No I'm not finished yet because I can't end this rant without screaming from the bushes about how Berry's character Jinx is being given her own spin off film. There's just no way a film like that would work. If you want a female Bond then use Michelle Yeoh's character, she was a brilliant female Bond. The little looks she gave Bond whenever she did anything cheeky were brilliant but Jinx is the very definition of a character who was written by someone who can't tell the difference between a Bond film and an Austin Powers film. Bond one liners are supposed to be obvious and cheesy but there's supposed to be a double meaning. They should be clever. In Jinx's opening we see her in an orange bikini and Bond is watching her through binoculars. "That's a nice view" he says, which is funny. They talk, he points to the binoculars's and says "Oh I'm here for the birds" brilliant! Then Jinx looks at him and says "Ornithologist" before she get's on her knee's sticks her head as close to his crotch as she can possibly get and says "That's a mouthful" There's just no need. It's not clever, it's not funny, and it doesn't work. This is the level of humour showed by Madonna as well, but Berry is a main character and she was so bad she even managed to corrupt Miranda Pike who other than one scene with Berry was a brilliant Bond girl.

Anyway I better stop now, this rant is getting kind of long. I'll go easy on Michael Madson because he's usually an alright actor and he wasn't given much to do other than send Jinx in to ruin, err I mean help out in the action scenes. Needless to say though, Come Back Felix, you are the true example of a Bond american as well as a strong character in your own right. Anyway the only other real problem I had was with a few of the action scenes. A sword Fight between Bond and the main villain and a scene where Bond goes windsurfing were just too over the top, but other than that the rest is actually quite good. The main villain was nothing great, just an average Bond villain but then most Bond films are about the Henchmen, and this film has a classic henchman who has the right degree of cool thanks to a bunch of diamonds embedded in his face.

On the good side though is where the real casting decisions were already made in the earlier films. Judi Dench as M, John Cleese as Q and Pierce Brosnan as Bond. This is Cleese's first time as Q, he was R in the last film and he manages to do great on his own. I can not think of nother person who could replace Desmond Llewelyn and been able to Satisfy the fans, but Cleese simply slides into the role as if he's been doing it for years. Judi Dench now seems more comfortable as M and really seems believable when she's telling off Bond, and Pierce Brosnan in the title role is simply the best James Bond ever. Even in an action movie like Bond he still manages to sneak some raw acting talent under the directors nose while not scrimping on the humour that makes Bond so great.

Of course though we all know that everything I've said so far is irrelevant. This is a Bond film and the bond films have always been about the action. Die Another Day is actually the best Bond film since Goldeneye thanks to a surprising amount of restraint in this department that most people haven't noticed. It has some of the most intense action that this character has ever been in and is the grittiest Bond in years. At the start you get the best action scene, as is usually the case as Bond and one of the Villains are involved in a hover craft chase, but when this is over something very strange happens. Bond is captured and imprisoned. Over the credits we see Silhouettes of Bond being tortured before he's finally brought back by the British government. Yes you heard that right, he was exchanged. No dramatic escape no cool Bond style invulnerability. This time Bond needs help and it's the first time that this has happened since a certain laser was used in Gold Finger. After that Bond loses his 00 status and has to go it alone, meaning some actual spying and some hilarious Bond moments like the guy in the wheel chair. I did want to go on to mention how the soundtrack helped the action too but thanks to Helle Berry this review has gone on long enough. Check the film out though if you like Bond. It's great fun.
****half

http://www.whwn.com/movies/2002/bond/DVDreview.htm

http://www.movie-list.com/forum/images/icons/icon13.gif ....dunno, this movie simply did not have any "flavor" into it.

i guess another big factor or reason I did not like any of the new Bond Films is the absence of any real "SPY" theme. The Cold WAR was a great theme to make into movies. Maybe coz this theme was very real to some degree and the Spy Game between the East the West always interested me. Now, since the Cold War is over, these movie makers are looking any idiotic theme they can find and make into a movie.....

remember they tried to recreate that with britain vs china in tomorrow never dies... that sorta worked to an extent... but.. the whole movie felt forced at times.. i have to admit though.. in retrospect i get more exctied about TND and DAD than i did with TWINE...

Having seen all three spy movies, I'd rank 'em as follows:

1)Tie: DAD and Bourne
2)xXx

Now, I really liked all three. Bourne was a perfect old-school 007 movie, even if it wasn't Bond. DAD is a damn-near perfect modernized Bond movie, with enough plot and intrigue to satisfy spy junkies and enough solid action to satisfy those who just want a popcorn flick. xXx was 2 hours of loud, mindless action.

ok, anyone who says bourne identity was a good movie must not have read the book, the people who made the movie should be shot for killing that book, that book (and the other 2 in the trilogy bourne identity, bourne supremacy, bourne ultimatum) r some of the best books ever, insane suspence, and twists thrown in everywhere. if u havent read them do