Page 1 of Die Another Disappointing Day ****SPOILER ALERT****

I went to see what I thought would be the best Bond yet, after really liking The World Is Not Enough, surely it had to be a little better, if not as good as Bond 19, right?

I don`t know about anyone else, but I sorely wanted a half decent story with more of the characterisation of Bond 19. It started off well with Bond being captured and tortured, but it then played it by the numbers. Lots of explosions, some okay stunts, nice Aston Martin...too many crass quips and a muddy plot. I was lost at the start.

I guess it`s too much to ask for something a little more sophisticated while being entertained at the same time. It would have been cool to see what effects the torture would have on Bond after he`s released. But no, he`s too hard for that. Especially after seeing some of his frailties in The World Is Not Enough, I thought writers Purvis and Wade would give more to the Bond character, but then I`m sure Eon/MGM would have something to say about that.

And the film was a bit long too at 132 mins. I should add that I did like some bits. I thought John Cleese was good while Halle Berry looked good.

In contrast, The Bourne Identity, was hugely more entertaining fare.

I`ve read lots of positive noise about Die Another Day so am I the only one who won`t be buying this film on DVD? What does anyone else who`s seen it think?

This item was edited on Monday, 25th November 2002, 20:40

I had to sit second row from the front, it sucked, my neck hurt and I couldn`t see the whole screen.

Some of the stuff was a bit far fetched even for Bond, but overall I enjoyed it, better than The World Is Not Enough.

Halle Berry was *divine* but even more so Rosamund Pike. :)

Smiler

I also found it disappointing (I left p***ed off, now it is a bit better in my opinion)...I will put all my thoughts, and thoughts on the Bond anthology in my next column update: should be within the next 2 weeks hopefully.

I couldn`t believe it either. I was really looking forward to this, as I`m not really a Bond fan, but I was sure this was going to be great. Don`t get me wrong, its Brosnan`s second best Bond film, but it just took the believability scale to an all new level.

James Bond surfing was great, but I just couldn`t comprehend Bond being some kind of surfer dude. CGI wasn`t that hot either, and the whole Ice Building that was in it was beyond a joke. I mean I know there are such things as Ice Hotels and stuff but Halle Berry was walking around in nearly next to nothing!

Invisible car????? FOR GOD`S SAKE! If they can make his car invisible, why the hell don`t they stick tiny cameras on Bond and make him invisible?

For me it almost didnt feel like a bond film! It was almost like watching xXx again! The stunt sequences were clearly done with computers, and while you expect this from other action films, the bit I liked about previous bond films was they they try to do as much of the action as possible for real. I guess they felt they had to keep up with the other action films, and the only way they saw to do that was using computers. For me I would prefer slightly less unreal stunts (I mean come on, the kite surfing bit... please) but that you knew had really been done.

I also felt that alot of it we had seen before, the union jack parachute (OK this time it wasnt bond, but...), the cutting people up with lasers (again, not bond but....)....

I liked the bit with Money Penny at the end, took me a moment to realise what was going on, and sat there thinking "you cant do that...."
The opening credits were up to standard, the whole fire and ice theme.

I agree about character development, or lack of it here, but not sure if that is what you expect from a bond film...

I am thinking I will go buy the box set, and not worry about leaving space for this one!

Tom

I completely agree with everone so far. The film was just there saying "look at all this cool stuff, you must be impressed! - right?", but I really wasn`t, it was better than XXX which was completely unbelievable, but then thats not really saying a lot.

If any of us look back through our Bond collections (come on we`ve all got one) we`ll see films that captivate us and hold our attention eager to see what will come next. But this was just a nothing film which is a very sad thing to say about a Bond movie.

In my mind they have to up the rating to a 15 and make it more edgy, but then that will never happen cause it`ll affect takings. Saying that (and correct me if i`m wrong) The Bourne Identity and Sum of All Fears were both 12`s (12A`s) and they both gripped me and throughly entertaining me, so perhaps a new direction for Bond is needed?

All in all a wasted oppourtunity and it`s back to Bonds 1 to 18 for me (notice no 19 - God don`t get me started on that !!)

Reading other website (mainly www.imdb.com) It seems this is the first bond film to use CGI to do the stunts, which as I said above, for me is a real spoiler.

The references to previous bond films were nice, and they handled the Q part nicely, but generally I am disappointed with this bond film, which is not something I ever expected to say!

It seems to me that they have the mindset of having to top everything else before - so it has got to the stage that the stunts have to be massive and thus lifethreating so they have to resort to CGI - which in turn isn`t perfect so we don`t believe it.

It`s a vicious circle because if the stunts are massive and CGI then we`ll be unhappy, but then if they made a really tight spy thriller then the `masses` would be dissapointed because as we all know it`s not a Bond movie without massive stunts !!

What can be done ?? Ideas please.

I enjoyed this Bond Movie. It was a 2 hr break from real life and one hell of a thrill ride. The opening sequence was great and the way the title sequence appeared was fantastic, very unconventional. The plot to me was pretty straight forward.

Bond goes out to get Zao cos he feels guilty that Zao was let go in exchange for himself and also to find the insider whos been leaking the info) This takes him from hong kong to cuba to london to iceland.

The locales are really breathtaking. Especially Cuba and Iceland. Lots of fun and action on the way. There are a few minor twists in the plot but we dont see a bond movie for twists, we see them for guns gadgets and girls of which there were plenty

The Ice falling into the water was awesome and very vivid although it was obvious from the editing that bond wasnt really there surfing in the water, It was a great treat for the eyes. The car chase scene was also magnificent. The Ice Hotel also was really fantastic although unbelievable. The VR glasses were really cool and also the Aston Martin looked class. Ok so invisible cars arent real but if u relax ur brain for a bit then they could be real for the duration of the film. The fight sequences were well choreographed. you could see that there was a little oriental influence to them. Overall a great action flick and proud member of the Bond franchise. I will be getting this dvd.
My rating 6.9/10

Was looking forward to watching this too