• DarthDimi July 2012

  Posts: 5,872

  Please write your fan reviews of TND here.
• Aziz_Fekkesh April 5

  Posts: 179

  Here's my review, straight from IMDb.
  
  "GoldenEye" proved that James Bond could not only survive the Cold War, but can be updated for the current generation (Even though I personally feel this reinvention is unnecessary). So for the next film, originally called "Tomorrow Never Lies", producers decided that they would continue down the path paved by Pierce Brosnan's first outing, amplify it, and add more Roger Moore innuendos. While this worked for his second film, later titled "Tomorrow Never Dies" and the next one, it all culminated in the disaster known as "Die Another Day".
  
  Many critics have slammed "Tomorrow Never Dies" for having too many one-liners, too much action, and for being an all together bad film. True, while some lines are cheesy, there are some definite witty ones. The motorcycle chase, the kung fu fights, and the ending (which is far too clichéd) are pretty bloated, but everything else works fine. And the movie has an infectious energy to it, especially the early scenes, and even though it doesn't have the flair of "The Spy Who Loved Me", it's first and foremost a Bond film.
  
  The movie puts a nice spin on the "madman plans to gain power by any means necessary" plot line and combines it with the "start WWIII between two countries" idea first used in "You Only Live Twice". Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) is a wealthy, but obviously insane, media baron. He has the power to reach any one on the Earth, except China, who has refused him broadcast rights. To get to the Chinese, he sends a British ship, the HMS Devonshire, off course into Chinese Territorial Waters. Carver's stealth ship then sinks the Devonshire and destroys one of the two MIG's that were circling 'round the ship.
  
  Bond is sent in, and after poking around, naturally finds out that Carver was behind the attack and tries to stop the villain's next move, which is to launch a missile into Beijing, killing foreign heads-of-state, which would in turn guarantee a huge war. Then an ally of Carver would take power of the country and give him the airtime that he so desperately needs. All this sounds far-fetched, but it's handled in an interesting and unique way, not to mention it's clear and easy to follow.
  
  While the movie follows "GoldenEye"'s example of action and humor, the dark realism is ditched in favor of a lighter, flashier, and more colorful atmosphere. This is demonstrated in the use of more gadgets, stunts, and jokes. None of this is inherently bad, like I mentioned before, but the final 45 minutes teeters on overload, and that's the part of the film where the fresh energy disappears and the plot becomes more and more frantic, as if even the filmmakers don't know how to top everything that came before it. This is partly true, because the script was actually being rewritten as the movie was being shot.
  
  Brosnan is much more comfortable than he was in his previous outing, but there's still the sense of trying to find his own identity. This can unfortunately be said of all his films, but for "Tomorrow Never Dies", he brings us a competent Bond that also has some demons, shown in the scene where he drinks alone in his hotel room. Pryce chews up the scenery in an enjoyable way, but it's also hard to take him seriously as a threat to Bond, and we know that his fate will be decided by the end of the film.
  
  One standout performance is, ironically, almost a cameo appearance. Vincent Schiavelli, who plays Dr. Kaufman, lends a creepy presence to his one scene and his look would have been perfect as the central villain. Even Judi Dench's M is more tolerable, and stands as a strong authority figure, while Hong Kong star Michelle Yeoh plays Bond's love interest, Wai Lin, and proves to be one of the better "Bond equals". Unfortunately, Götz Otto as Stamper and Teri Hatcher as Carver's wife, Paris, don't have a lot to do and don't leave a memorable impression in the Bond series.
  
  Continuing with the cons of the movie, the role of Carver's ally, General Chang, isn't clearly defined and it's almost as if he was forgotten about late in the shot. The martial arts, while capturing Yeoh abilities nicely, don't add to the plot and scream "overkill". They don't seem to have worked in any other Bond film, and "Tomorrow Never Dies" is no exception. Finally, the second half loses focus when compared to the rest of the movie, with the last shoot-out aboard the stealth ship being fairly uninspired, even though the special effects are top-notch throughout.
  
  The movie can still boast David Arnold's best and most distinct score, hearkening back to John Barry's earlier successes . The gadgets don't call attention to themselves, being inventive and fun, while two action scenes, the pre-title sequence and the remote-controlled chase in the parking garage, are highlights of the series. All-in-all, the film is more fractured than the early classics, but the quick pace makes up for it, causing "Tomorrow Never Dies" to become an enjoyable film to watch. Don't expect "From Russia With Love", but it's not "A View To A Kill", either. 7/10
• Soundofthesinners April 8

  Posts: 227

  It is Bond by numbers. A few passing nods to modernity following Goldeneye, but obviously vastly turned down. Scores #13 out of 23 on my Bond list. A respectable, fun entry in the vein of Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, and Octopussy, but nothing overly spectacular.
• bondboy007 April 8

  Posts: 149

  TND is one of those films that I feel always gets lumped into the thinking that since the Brosnan era was overall underwhelming, then all of TND is bad. The first half of TND is in my opinion, very good. Its a great movie that balances out the action, women, one-liners, and emotional tension very well up until Bond kills Kauffman. I love that entire scene and feel its the best scene in the Brosnan era (even though I love GE), but after that the movie goes waaaaay downhill. The car chase isn't terrible, but its where the movie starts to go into mindless action territory with stuff like the rocket launcher in the parking deck, helicopter/motorcycle chase, entire stealthboat sequence, etc.
• DarthDimi April 8

  Posts: 5,872

  I'd like to remind our good members that the review threads are meant to collect sufficiently voluminous and well-structured reviews, frozen without the possibility of debate. Our 'Bond Movies' section is overflown with discussion threads but this one here is more like an active archive where members with great writing skills - and we have many of those - can post brilliants review texts. Please go and have a look at some of the other review threads, like DN and FRWL, where downright amazing reviews are posted. Also, @Aziz_Fekkesh has posted an impressive one here. So, short posts will, I regret to say, be deleted here because our aim is to score proud collections of great reviews.
  
  Well then, @Soundofthesinners, @bondboy007, why don't you put your back into it, huh? ;-) Sit down for an hour or so per film and right the best damn review in your life. Anyone who drops by here will be able to read your thoughts on the films. :-)

^ Back to Top

The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.