Die Another Day (Repackaged) (2002)

"The real-deal, packed with more excitement, vigor and fortitude than an unfaltering Magnum.  Clint Morris, Film Threat
"The savviest and most exciting Bond adventure in years!  Entertainment Weekly
"Tamahori pumps a tremendous amount of energy into his Bond movie, and it's an electrifying ride.  Gregory Weinkauf, Dallas Observer
"A lot smarter than your average Bond.  John Anderson, Newsday
"The first Bond movie in ages that isn't fake fun.  Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Editor's Note In DIE ANOTHER DAY, the 20th James Bond adventure, 007 (Pierce Brosnan) gets off to a rough start when he is captured and subsequently tortured during an assignment in North Korea. When the suave secret agent is eventually liberated, he embarks on a dangerous mission to Cuba that involves tracking a terrorist named Zao (Rick Yune). There, 007 encounters Jinx (Halle Berry), a formidable and alluring fellow spy. Soon Bond is back in England following a mysterious trail that leads to Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens), a flamboyant diamond mogul. After a rather bloody introduction, Graves invites 007 to Iceland, where he plans to unveil his enigmatic Icarus project. Before long, Bond and Jinx are reunited and battling Graves, Zao, and other villains bent on world domination. With this Bond installment, directed by Lee Tamahori, 007 catches up with the 21st century, and the results are grittier and more explosive than ever before. Although it begins as one of the darkest and most violent Bond films, the intense mood of DIE ANOTHER DAY is counterbalanced by typically clever and funny moments. Brosnan is in fine form as the iconic hero, while Berry shines as the immediately likeable Jinx. Stephens and Yune make excellent bad guys, and the rest of the cast--including Judi Dench, John Cleese, Rosamund Pike, and Michael Madsen--provide key supporting roles. With its hi-tech gadgets and special-effects-laden set pieces, DIE ANOTHER DAY clearly has its eye on the future, but in numerous scenes it also lovingly embraces the past, placing the film in the upper tier of Bond movies.

	Toby Stephens
	Pierce Brosnan
	Michael Madsen
	Rosamund Pike
	Rick Yune
	Samantha Bond
	Will Yun Lee
	Judi Dench
	John Cleese
	Halle Berry
	David Arnold - Composer
	Michael G. Wilson - Producer
	Robert Wade - Screenwriter
	Ian Fleming - Creator
	Madonna - Cameo
	Neal Purvis - Screenwriter
	Barbara Broccoli - Producer
	Lee Tamahori - Director

New York Times
"...The most satisfying Bond movie since THE SPY WHO LOVED ME..." 11/22/2002 p.E1

USA Today
"...Brosnan is ever suave and dashing in his fourth effort as Bond....Berry's sleek beauty is well-suited to the role..." 11/22/2002 p.5E

Entertainment Weekly
"...DIE ANOTHER DAY is the sexiest and most exciting Bond adventure in years....Tamahori gets the true trick of Bond..." 11/29/2002 p.74

Rolling Stone
"...Brosnan, in his fourth time up at the Bond bat, hits this one out of the park..." 12/02/2002 p.106

Los Angeles Times
"...Tamahori springs a few surprises in DIE ANOTHER DAY..." 11/22/2002 p.C1

Variety
"...Brosnan once again proves more than up to the task of filling bond's shoes and, especially in the early going, gives the character some dark and nasty shadings that reveal a welcome desire to take Bond back to Ian Fleming-based basics..." 11/18/2002 p.23-6

ReelViews 6 of 10
Imagine, if you will, the dispiriting experience of listening to an awful cover of one of your favorite songs. That's how I felt sitting through Die Another Day, the 20th official outing for Ian Fleming's super-spy. This is a train wreck of an action film -- a stupefying attempt by the filmmakers to force-feed James Bond into the mindless XXX mold and throw 40 years of cinematic history down the toilet in favor of bright flashes and loud bangs. Since XXX is a Bond wannabe, that makes Die Another Day a second generation knock-off. What's missing from this movie? Any real sense that we're watching 007 rather than a generic spy in a tuxedo...Director Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors, The Edge) may be to blame. Even though this anniversary movie supposedly contains something from each of the previous 19 outings (many of which appear as props in Q's lab), one gets the sense that Tamahori either doesn't understand Bond or has miscalculated the nature of his appeal. It's not enough to throw all of the Bond elements together and hope that they somehow work. A little more precision and craftsmanship are necessary (and a better script wouldn't have hurt things). Let's hope this represents an aberrance, not a trend...Whether played by Pierce Brosnan or someone else, James Bond will return. Let's just hope that when he does, he's the 007 we have come to love and admire, not the impostor that inhabits Die Another Day. - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
I realized with a smile, 15 minutes into the new James Bond movie, that I had unconsciously accepted Pierce Brosnan as Bond without thinking about Sean Connery, Roger Moore or anyone else. He has become the landlord, not the tenant. Handsome if a little weary, the edges of an Irish accent curling around the edges of the Queen's English, he plays a preposterous character but does not seem preposterous playing him...This movie has the usual impossible stunts, as when Bond surfs down the face of a glacier being melted by a laser beam from space. But it has just as many scenes that are lean and tough enough to fit in any modern action movie. It also has a heroine who benefits from 40 years of progress in the way we view women...The film has been directed by Lee Tamahori (whose credits include "Once Were Warriors" and "Mulholland Falls"), from New Zealand, who has tilted the balance away from humor and toward pure action. With "Austin Powers" breathing down the neck of the franchise, he told Sight & Sound magazine, it seemed like looking for trouble to broaden the traditional farcical elements. "Die Another Day" is still utterly absurd from one end to the other, of course, but in a slightly more understated way. And so it goes, Bond after Bond, as the most durable series in movie history heads for the half-century. There is no reason to believe this franchise will ever die. I suppose that is a blessing. - Roger Ebert