DIE ANOTHER DAY review

by David Blackwell

DIE ANOTHER DAY has to be the best James Bond movie Pierce Bronsnan has starred in. The movie combines the feel of the Bond movies that starred Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Pierce Bronsnan. DIE ANOTHER DAY opens with James Bond going into North Korea to assassinate a Colonel Moon, but Moon does appear to be dead after a fall off the waterfall and Bond is captured. Bond is tortured in a North Korean prison for 14 months until he is exchanged for North Korean prisoner Zao who killed some people at some summit. Bond is declared useless by M and confined to s hip where he is to be transferred to a hospital in the Falklands. Bond escapes and goes to Cuba with the help of Chinese since Zao killed three people from China at that summit.



Bond tracks Zao to some Island off Cuba where Zao is receiving DNA manipulation therapy to change his appearance. Bond bumps into an NSA agent Jinx (Halle Berry) while he is there. Needless to say, things go wrong and bond gets hold of some diamonds that link to Gustav Graves who got rich overnight . Graves is being taught fencing lessons by an undercover MI6 agent Miranda Frost. Graves is testing some new space mirror called Icarus and inviting people to Iceland for a demonstration. Bond becomes useful again and M wants him to go to Iceland to investigate Graves.



DIE ANOTHER DAY is great Bond movie that moves along at a fast pace with plenty of action and Bond gadgets that enhance the story. The only two things that really bug me about this movie is the Madonna title song has to be the worst Bond song ever that even Elton John said so and composer David Arnold cant make any musical sense out of it (Arnold is the composer of DIE ANOTHER DAY and the two Bond movies before that) and the CGI for the sky surfing sequence is horrible. Halle Berry is competent as Jinx and sometimes the interplay between Jinx and Bond reminds me of the interplay between Bond and Goodhead in MOONRAKER. There are plenty of cool action sequences that may not be as spectacular as sequences in other Bond movies such as the boat chase sequence in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, but this is one of the better Bond movies. There are other things to enjoy about this movie including the two sequences using VR glasses (the second one is just funny) and a scene where Bond is playing around with gadgets from old Bond movies to Q's dismay. John Cleese fits as the new Q in his second appearance in a Bond movie.



If you have been looking for a good James Bond movie or something to enjoy for two hours, go see DIE ANOTHER DAY because Bond is better than ever.