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How "Die Another Day" could have been better. Your opinions?
Ok, so I've seen all the reviews of Die Another Day claiming it's the worst Bond movie out there with it's over the top CGI, crappy story and that Pierce Brosnan is the worst Bond actor ever and got what he deserved after the film came out. At first I totally agreed with these opinions excluding Pierce Brosnan being the worst Bond ever as I love him in Goldeneye and enjoy watching him in TND and TWINE (well maybe not the parts where he's all emo with Elektra "He knew where to hurt me" an stuff) But then I watched DAD again for the first time in years, and I have to say I actually enjoyed it, Especially the first half. This got me thinking on how it could have been a better movie and possibly a great send off for Brosnan or a great tribute to the 40th anniversary of Bond on screen (Like Skyfall was for the 50th anniversary) Here are my top 3 changes to make Die Another Day a better movie...
1) The Plot: Honestly I really love the whole Bond assassinating Colonel Moon story in North Korea and then Bond getting betrayed and captured and the upon being released is going to go after whoever betrayed him in NK. So pretty much the first half of the movie minus the whole Iracus Laser shit and the silly gene therapy. Instead it could have been a more serious plot with less over the top crap and something that was more down to earth. (Like FYEO for example) The whole diamonds thing could have stuck with Gustav Graves being a figure head for Colonel Moon's operations kind of like Mandarin in Iron Man 2 without being silly. So instead of going to Cuba and Iceland (which had the stupid Ice Hotel/Castle crap) Bond would be going to places like North Korea, Hong Kong, Sierra Leone. Places that would set a darker tone for the film. I think that's the script that would show that Brosnan had a darker side (something like GE or TWINE when he is going to kill Renard in cold blood, well before Renard says that stupid quote and pinches his shoulder) IDK, just an idea of mine that I would have loved to see but can only dream of. :(
2) CGI: JUST GET RID OF IT. Get rid of the invisible car and stupid stunts that they shouldn't have even executed if they knew they couldn't do it in real life. The laser effects were stupid and the scene where Halle Berry dives off the cliff is so horrid it makes me want to puke. Ok, you can use CGI if it's not too obvious and helps with the plot somehow but don't overuse it and just make half the movie with it, that's just shit.
3) Director: Change the director. Lee Tamahori is not a suitable director for the Bond films. Get someone like Martin Campbell or Sam Mendes and you got a beautiful film that will be talked about for years to come. I mean at times, his directing was OK but those awkward slow-motion shots in fight scenes and fast-forwards in the car chase almost ruined it for me. Like c'mon this ain't no Matrix. It's Bond, so when you film a fight scene it has to be fast a dirty. Quick and to-the-point. I mean it doesn't have to be Jason Bourne stuff but take the fight scene from GE between Bond and Alec, brutal, quick and realistic. Just two men going at it until one of them bleeds. Awesome stuff from Martin Campbell.
So those were pretty much my top 3 changes to make Die Another Day a better movie. IMO it had so much potential to be a good film, but wrong choices were made and looked what happened. It's such a shame that we'll never get to see Brosnan's darker side of character as I think he had it in him, he just didn't get the opportunity to show it due to poor scripts and poor directors. Needless to say DAD is not the worst Bond film in my books. (That award goes to QOS or DAF especially DAF because it bores me to death whenever I watch it) At least DAD had a great 1st half of a film and a good performance from Brosnan IMO. It also has a freaking awesome score that makes good use of the Bond theme, adding a techno vibe to it while not sounding too 90s like some of David Arnold scores did. I really love the score for the surfing scene after the gunbarrel and the score that comes after when they go onto the beach.
So tell me guys and gals... do you agree or disagree?? What would you have changed in the movie if you were in charge??
1) The Plot: Honestly I really love the whole Bond assassinating Colonel Moon story in North Korea and then Bond getting betrayed and captured and the upon being released is going to go after whoever betrayed him in NK. So pretty much the first half of the movie minus the whole Iracus Laser shit and the silly gene therapy. Instead it could have been a more serious plot with less over the top crap and something that was more down to earth. (Like FYEO for example) The whole diamonds thing could have stuck with Gustav Graves being a figure head for Colonel Moon's operations kind of like Mandarin in Iron Man 2 without being silly. So instead of going to Cuba and Iceland (which had the stupid Ice Hotel/Castle crap) Bond would be going to places like North Korea, Hong Kong, Sierra Leone. Places that would set a darker tone for the film. I think that's the script that would show that Brosnan had a darker side (something like GE or TWINE when he is going to kill Renard in cold blood, well before Renard says that stupid quote and pinches his shoulder) IDK, just an idea of mine that I would have loved to see but can only dream of. :(
2) CGI: JUST GET RID OF IT. Get rid of the invisible car and stupid stunts that they shouldn't have even executed if they knew they couldn't do it in real life. The laser effects were stupid and the scene where Halle Berry dives off the cliff is so horrid it makes me want to puke. Ok, you can use CGI if it's not too obvious and helps with the plot somehow but don't overuse it and just make half the movie with it, that's just shit.
3) Director: Change the director. Lee Tamahori is not a suitable director for the Bond films. Get someone like Martin Campbell or Sam Mendes and you got a beautiful film that will be talked about for years to come. I mean at times, his directing was OK but those awkward slow-motion shots in fight scenes and fast-forwards in the car chase almost ruined it for me. Like c'mon this ain't no Matrix. It's Bond, so when you film a fight scene it has to be fast a dirty. Quick and to-the-point. I mean it doesn't have to be Jason Bourne stuff but take the fight scene from GE between Bond and Alec, brutal, quick and realistic. Just two men going at it until one of them bleeds. Awesome stuff from Martin Campbell.
So those were pretty much my top 3 changes to make Die Another Day a better movie. IMO it had so much potential to be a good film, but wrong choices were made and looked what happened. It's such a shame that we'll never get to see Brosnan's darker side of character as I think he had it in him, he just didn't get the opportunity to show it due to poor scripts and poor directors. Needless to say DAD is not the worst Bond film in my books. (That award goes to QOS or DAF especially DAF because it bores me to death whenever I watch it) At least DAD had a great 1st half of a film and a good performance from Brosnan IMO. It also has a freaking awesome score that makes good use of the Bond theme, adding a techno vibe to it while not sounding too 90s like some of David Arnold scores did. I really love the score for the surfing scene after the gunbarrel and the score that comes after when they go onto the beach.
So tell me guys and gals... do you agree or disagree?? What would you have changed in the movie if you were in charge??
This discussion has been closed.
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Comments
http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/1290/fix-a-bond-film/p1
http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/3182/improve-a-bad-movie/p1
Surprisingly, DAD gets a mention in both ;)