In its 13-minute pre-credits sequence, the opening titles and about 20
minutes more of what follows, “Die Another Day” seems as though it’s
breaking with 40 years of James Bond tradition and doing something new
with the franchise – and not just because we see a bullet come at us
through that iconographic gun barrel at the beginning. We’re used to
Bond in all his personas – Sean Connery, Roger Moore, George Lazenby
(once), Timothy Dalton and now Pierce Brosnan, who’s in his fourth gig
as the character – being captured and tortured, but we don’t expect it
to bleed through the opening credits or to go on for 14 months in story
terms. Furthermore, 007 doesn’t effect his own escape, but is rather
released into the custody of the British government, for once in
seriously bad shape and seriously in need of rest and even grooming.
Whether the Bond formula is due for a revision is a good question. Lots
of other films have tried to copy this particular style of spy film and
have blown it. If movies bearing the Bond brand name turn away from the
expectations of this very specific subgenre, the form may die out
altogether. Then again, the alterations suggested in the beginning of
“Die Another Day” hold genuine fascination. We are primed for a look at
what happens when a classic hero has to face his demons – but this is
just what we do not get.
As soon as Bond slips from the clutches of his own side (they think
he’s cracked under torture, but the information leak turns out to be
someone else, of course) and tidies himself up, we are back to Bondage
as usual. In “Die Another Day,” this takes the form of Bond’s quest to
satisfy both professional duty and personal vengeance against North
Korean renegade operative Zao (Rick Yune), and his investigation into
the dealings of enigmatic diamond merchant Gustav Graves (Toby
Stephens), a publicity-hound philanthropist who seems to have sprung up
from nowhere. While working both these cases, Bond crosses paths with
fast on (and faster off) her feet CIA agent Jinx Johnson (Halle Berry)
and Graves’ icy but beautiful publicist Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike).
Apart from the intriguing first act, the script by Neal Purvis &
Robert Wade is more or less by the numbers Bond, with events occurring
more or less how and when we expect them – big action, sexual innuendo
followed by PG-13 depictions of the act, and lots of super-cool
super-agent cars and gadgets. It’s all perfectly satisfying and
agreeable in its Bond way (well, the puns seem a little more awful and
sometimes out of place than usual), but apart from one good character
surprise, it also feels very comfortable, which is either an asset or a
flaw depending on what the viewer wants from James Bond in 2003.
Director Lee Tamahori has a good eye, with a flair for thrilling shots.
Amid all the spectacle, one of the best action sequences is a non-tech
swordfight between Bond and Graves, where they manage to trash an
entire fencing salon. Viscerally, though, “Die Another Day” doesn’t do
much, which is really a shame after the melodramatic but involving
fireworks of its predecessor, “The World Is Not Enough.” Brosnan does a
great job, especially in the early sections where we see in his face
the regrets he will not share with his captors as he believes he’s
about to be executed. However, once he’s back in the regular plot flow,
the character goes into superspy mode and Brosnan proficiently goes
with it.
The two-disc DVD set contains a reference-quality rendition of the
film. The widescreen imagery is beautiful, utilizing a deliberately
grayed-down ‘60s look for the early sequences set in North Korea
(actually, a mixture of Hawaii, Cornwall and London’s Pinewood
Studios), then brightening to vibrant color and crisp blacks and whites
as we return to Bond’s more customary glittering world.
DTS sound is beautiful, starting in Chapter 1, with the traditional
Bond opening gunshot zinging from front to rears. We are then aurally
planed smack in the center of a gigantic wave, so that we feel like
we’re one of the three surfers surrounded by the ocean as we ride onto
the beach. By coincidence, a real-life helicopter was hovering above my
street at the same time a helicopter hovers over Bond’s rendezvous
point in Chapter 2 – the onscreen sound was so realistic that the only
way I could tell the real and DVD sounds apart was by their location (I
don’t have speakers above my balcony railing). In Chapter 3, the
discrete sounds of a shootout are exquisite, with individual bullets
ricocheting in mains and rears, and pieces of debris kachoinging from
left to right and front to back following an explosive crash. Chapter 4
continues with more discrete machine gun effects. James Barry’s
horn-laden oh-so-familiar Bond theme zooms through and around the
conflict, spicing it up without crowding the sound effects.
Chapter 5’s title sequence features brilliantly glowing figures along
with Madonna’s title track – interspersed with Bond being brutalized.
In Chapter 6, the first relatively quiet section, the dialogue track
turns out to be comparatively low – unless you’ve been listening to all
of the shooting and blasting at neighbor-complaint levels, you may want
to turn the sound up for the discussions, especially as the characters
tend to be soft-spoken.
Chapter 11 introduces Jinx in what the filmmakers acknowledge is an
homage to Ursula Andress’ first appearance in “Dr. No.” The sight of
Berry rising from the water in an orange bikini prompts Brosnan to
suggest on his commentary track, “Freeze frame, rewind, freeze frame …”
Chapter 14 provides another huge explosion with wonderful, subtle
effects that create a sense of spatial reality, with distant alarms,
screams and sprinklers giving us a feel of how far the damage spreads
beyond the frame line. Chapter 15 has a full-bodied blast of the
Clash’s “London Calling” on the soundtrack, while Chapter 16 features a
cameo by Madonna and some very nice, authentic clashes and whooshes as
Bond and Graves take each other on with rapiers. Chapter 22 boasts
gorgeous whites, blacks and blues for a party sequence set in an ice
cavern, though Jinx’s glittery dress does create a bit of visual jitter.
In a Bond film, an ice palace can be almost guaranteed to come apart at
some point, and in Chapter 26, there are plenty of crashes and yet
another wonderfully discrete and specific gun battle. Chapter 28
features a very nifty visual ripple effect with a not-quite-invisible
car (it’s like the camouflage effect in “Predator”), and Chapter 31 has
explosions that detonate in the mains, with fallout in each of the
rears.
There are a lot of good extras here. On Disc One, there’s a choice of
audio commentary tracks. Director Tamahori and producer Michael G.
Wilson are articulate and informative, talking about how various
sequences were shot, while Brosnan has some good yarns, including a
pretty funny one about bringing his five-year-old son to the set. He is
joined by actress Pike when her character appears – Pike comes across
as charming, bright and downright fannish about Madonna (who plays
Pike’s character’s mentor). The film also comes with an onscreen trivia
track, which carries the helpful warning that the sound format must be
chosen first. Apparently it’s not possible to activate both the trivia
track and either of the commentaries to run simultaneously. Sound on
the commentaries is in the center channel, with normal audio rising
whenever the observations pause (which happens more often with the
actors than with the filmmakers).
Disc 2 has a seven-part making-of documentary, including some comments
from star surfer Laird Hamilton (who doubles Brosnan in the opening
sequence). There are nice explorations of five different gadgets. The
“Ministry of Propaganda” section contains not only trailers for the
film, but both the actual Madonna music video for “Die Another Day” (in
which she triumphs above abuse similar to the type heaped on Bond in
the film) and a making-of for the music video, which features Madonna
being pretty down to earth and funny as she talks about what they’re
doing. The disc also contains a trailer and a making-of featurette on
the CGI game “007: Nightfire.”
“Die Another Day” fulfills our expectations of a James Bond movie –
enormous, complex and perfectly-executed action, breathtaking sets,
gorgeous performers, a story with paint-by-numbers twists and almost no
moral ambiguity. It is, in the end, what a Bond film is predestined to
be – with just a few hints that it could have been something more.
more details
sound format:
English DTS 5.1 ES Surround; English Dolby 5.1 EX Surround; French Stereo Surround; Spanish Stereo Surround
aspect ratio(s):
2.40:1 (original aspect ratio, enhanced for widescreen TVs)
special features:
Audio
Commentary by Director Lee Tamahori and Producer Michael G. Wilson;
Audio Commentary by Actors Pierce Brosnan and Rosamund Pike; Trivia
Track; Seven-Part Making-Of Documentary; Storyboard Comparisons;
Multi-Angle Scene Comparisons; Title Design Featurette; Special Effects
Featurette; Gadgets Featurettes; Madonna’s “Die Another Day” Music
Video; Making Of “Die Another Day” Music Video; Photo Gallery; Making
Of “007: Nightfire” Game; Photo Gallery; Theatrical Trailers; TV Spots;
English, French and Spanish Subtitles; English Closed-Captioning;
DVD-ROM Features
comments:
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reference system
DVD player:
Kenwood DV-403
receiver:
Kenwood VR-407
main speakers:
Paradigm Atom
center speaker:
Paradigm CC-170
rear speakers:
Paradigm ADP-70
subwoofer:
Paradigm PDR-10
monitor:
27-inch Toshiba
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