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DIE ANOTHER DAY: First 30 minutes perfect?
While the 50th anniversary buzz clams down, it may be right to focus our attention briefly back to another important anniversary happening this year. As it has been 10 years since Die Another Day graced this earth.
I recently went back to re-watch the film to celebrate its birthday. The film has a special place in my heart, as I was 12 when I first saw it and was a rather excited. It had it all; the Aston chase on the ice, the opening action scene, Halle Berry in a bikini, etc. It’s safe to say my 12 year old self was deeply satisfied. But how in a post-reboot Bond world would the film sit?
What is most interesting to me about DAD is that the film really retreats into the fantasy after a very promising opening act. Here the story throws all the elements at Bond and really forces the character to his knees. He’s given a real bashing and the initial revenge thriller seems like fresh ground. But the film begins to deter from this path and slowly begins to become more fantastical. The first signs that the film has lost its way come when Berry comes into the movie. Bond and Jinx’s meeting is a strange scene, it seems that the pair are simply using each other for sex, and for that purpose the scene works. The problem is thought the movie wants to use Jinx as a lead character and effectively her opening doesn’t successfully allude to that. So Halle Berry seems to just turn up wearing pretty outfits until about 3/4th of the way through when the story decides to deal with her.
Soon after this the slow hints that the film has left any real world issues or character development begin the come through. The clinic is an odd touch but not entirely unforgivable, the sword fight is also too long and slightly out-of-place, but its pleasant spectacle, so we forgive it. The M and Q scenes in the abandoned station are also great, and seem to put the move right back on course. However, the Frost/M scene is the last moment it would seem before the film deters fully into the path of fantasy.
Here’s the issue: DAD is far too fantastical, we seem to depart fully from the real world and into something more pronounced than anything close to escapism. The film literally becomes one set piece upon another. We have the laser fight, the ice dragster chase, the silly cgi surfing, the car chase and the final plane scene. In the most part its’ all rather well done, and only occasionally dripping into the ridiculous (enough has been written about the dodgy cgi surfing, however I think the stupid Mr. Kil laser fight hasn’t been given nearly as tough a time as it deserves). It’s even more of shame because the first 30-40 minutes of DAD are really rather good and set up the promise of a great movie. Bond’s capture and torture is a truly brave move. Furthermore the scene with M on the boat is fantastic; the idea that she was happy for him to die in N.Korea, but had to pull him out because they thought he had cracked under torture is a great concept. Furthermore, I’d love to know if Bond did crack under torture, M seems to think he may have, (“With the drugs they were giving you, you wouldn’t know what you were saying.”) it’s a great premise, pure espionage if you will. But the film forgets to explore this. It’s made even more interesting thanks to Pierce Brosnan’s performance, who is a real revelation in the first half of the movie. He gives a great turn, those moments where we see Bond in his cell are rather harrowing, but never milked. I think in these opening moments his Bond has never been better, he even makes good of Bond’s Russell Brand makeover.
It’s because of this that it seems such a shame that DAD retreats so fully into the fantasy. A more delicate balancing act should have been conducted, and maybe Lee Tamahori wasn’t the right match for that. As the 2nd half of the film plays out, we are greeted with awful dialogue, dodgy character development all equalling a generally poorly executed piece of work. In particular the film has several unintentional laugh-out-loud moments (Bond and Graves fight on the Antavov, the odd Korean generals who keep turning up and serving no purpose, Graves turning dramatically to confront his father wearing RoboCop’s suit, etc).
Moreover, the performances are not just bad, there awful. Halle Berry and Toby Stephens are hammy to the point of distraction. Stephen’s is particularly cringe-worthy, he is up against the walk though; playing a genetically deformed Korean Colonel would have been a difficult part for any actor to pull off, not to mention the terrible dialogue that seems to be reserved exclusively for him (“Global warming, such a terrible thing”). Furthermore when Stephens stops being Graves and plays Moon, he gets worse, sneering and taking awkward unnecessary beats.
Berry is just as bad and equally unconvincing, two moments that hit this point: the scene where Graves electrocutes her (her face is gold here) and the scene where she realises she is locked in the ice palace (slamming her hands on the door to really cement that point). Rick Yune is no better, Rosamund Pike is the only member of the secondary cast on form. The film is saved by Brosnan’s sure-footed turn in the character, but he never really gets the materially he serves after the first half of the film; nevertheless he is still solid throughout. His Bond, for me, will always be the most charismatic and suave version of the character we have had. The saving grace for Berry is that through her chemistry with Pierce she is saved slightly, but this is more a testament to Pierce than her, who just seems to be a terrible likable bloke. His scenes with Judi Dench particularly sparkle.
DAD is pure spectacle-driven fantasy. However, despite my rather condemning (and lengthy...sorry about that) analysis the film sorta works. The action is great to witness (hovercraft chase/car chase/ finale), even if the editing is trying its best to tarnish this, but that’s all you do; witness it. You don’t really engage with the action, you don’t care about the character or relate to the villain’s plot. But a lot of the time that’s exactly what you need, a check-brain-in-at-the-door action film and DAD delivers it. Not every film needs to be a ‘Skyfall’ or a Nolan Batman film, DAD serves a purpose. It’s fun, the Marvel movies these day seems to be doing effectively what DAD does well, which is to provide pure spectacle, who cares about the characters and their ‘journeys’? Save that for the auters, this is a fun film. The only reason the film disappoints is that in its opening it seems to be promising to be something different in its attempts to humanize Bond. If anything DAD is very similar to last year’s Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, it’s a silly action movie, and if anything DAD is better than that film. At least it actually has a villain, even if he is Gustav Graves. Furthermore DAD ’s pacing zips back so quickly that you don’t really get the opportunity to feel any real great loss.
So there you have it: DAD never really lives up to promise it establishes for itself, but is nevertheless a distracting enough spectacle. The acting’s bad, the directing’s weak, but it has enough bang-for-your-buck to keep you entertained. Maybe I’m just sympathetic because I can still remember how excited that 12 year old boy was when he saw it at that day. I’m possibly being to easy on it, and forgiving it too readily. So if you’re been able to keep with me this long enough, I’d encourage all of you to seek out for copies of DAD on DVD and give it another watch, it’s time to celebrate another anniversary.
I recently went back to re-watch the film to celebrate its birthday. The film has a special place in my heart, as I was 12 when I first saw it and was a rather excited. It had it all; the Aston chase on the ice, the opening action scene, Halle Berry in a bikini, etc. It’s safe to say my 12 year old self was deeply satisfied. But how in a post-reboot Bond world would the film sit?
What is most interesting to me about DAD is that the film really retreats into the fantasy after a very promising opening act. Here the story throws all the elements at Bond and really forces the character to his knees. He’s given a real bashing and the initial revenge thriller seems like fresh ground. But the film begins to deter from this path and slowly begins to become more fantastical. The first signs that the film has lost its way come when Berry comes into the movie. Bond and Jinx’s meeting is a strange scene, it seems that the pair are simply using each other for sex, and for that purpose the scene works. The problem is thought the movie wants to use Jinx as a lead character and effectively her opening doesn’t successfully allude to that. So Halle Berry seems to just turn up wearing pretty outfits until about 3/4th of the way through when the story decides to deal with her.
Soon after this the slow hints that the film has left any real world issues or character development begin the come through. The clinic is an odd touch but not entirely unforgivable, the sword fight is also too long and slightly out-of-place, but its pleasant spectacle, so we forgive it. The M and Q scenes in the abandoned station are also great, and seem to put the move right back on course. However, the Frost/M scene is the last moment it would seem before the film deters fully into the path of fantasy.
Here’s the issue: DAD is far too fantastical, we seem to depart fully from the real world and into something more pronounced than anything close to escapism. The film literally becomes one set piece upon another. We have the laser fight, the ice dragster chase, the silly cgi surfing, the car chase and the final plane scene. In the most part its’ all rather well done, and only occasionally dripping into the ridiculous (enough has been written about the dodgy cgi surfing, however I think the stupid Mr. Kil laser fight hasn’t been given nearly as tough a time as it deserves). It’s even more of shame because the first 30-40 minutes of DAD are really rather good and set up the promise of a great movie. Bond’s capture and torture is a truly brave move. Furthermore the scene with M on the boat is fantastic; the idea that she was happy for him to die in N.Korea, but had to pull him out because they thought he had cracked under torture is a great concept. Furthermore, I’d love to know if Bond did crack under torture, M seems to think he may have, (“With the drugs they were giving you, you wouldn’t know what you were saying.”) it’s a great premise, pure espionage if you will. But the film forgets to explore this. It’s made even more interesting thanks to Pierce Brosnan’s performance, who is a real revelation in the first half of the movie. He gives a great turn, those moments where we see Bond in his cell are rather harrowing, but never milked. I think in these opening moments his Bond has never been better, he even makes good of Bond’s Russell Brand makeover.
It’s because of this that it seems such a shame that DAD retreats so fully into the fantasy. A more delicate balancing act should have been conducted, and maybe Lee Tamahori wasn’t the right match for that. As the 2nd half of the film plays out, we are greeted with awful dialogue, dodgy character development all equalling a generally poorly executed piece of work. In particular the film has several unintentional laugh-out-loud moments (Bond and Graves fight on the Antavov, the odd Korean generals who keep turning up and serving no purpose, Graves turning dramatically to confront his father wearing RoboCop’s suit, etc).
Moreover, the performances are not just bad, there awful. Halle Berry and Toby Stephens are hammy to the point of distraction. Stephen’s is particularly cringe-worthy, he is up against the walk though; playing a genetically deformed Korean Colonel would have been a difficult part for any actor to pull off, not to mention the terrible dialogue that seems to be reserved exclusively for him (“Global warming, such a terrible thing”). Furthermore when Stephens stops being Graves and plays Moon, he gets worse, sneering and taking awkward unnecessary beats.
Berry is just as bad and equally unconvincing, two moments that hit this point: the scene where Graves electrocutes her (her face is gold here) and the scene where she realises she is locked in the ice palace (slamming her hands on the door to really cement that point). Rick Yune is no better, Rosamund Pike is the only member of the secondary cast on form. The film is saved by Brosnan’s sure-footed turn in the character, but he never really gets the materially he serves after the first half of the film; nevertheless he is still solid throughout. His Bond, for me, will always be the most charismatic and suave version of the character we have had. The saving grace for Berry is that through her chemistry with Pierce she is saved slightly, but this is more a testament to Pierce than her, who just seems to be a terrible likable bloke. His scenes with Judi Dench particularly sparkle.
DAD is pure spectacle-driven fantasy. However, despite my rather condemning (and lengthy...sorry about that) analysis the film sorta works. The action is great to witness (hovercraft chase/car chase/ finale), even if the editing is trying its best to tarnish this, but that’s all you do; witness it. You don’t really engage with the action, you don’t care about the character or relate to the villain’s plot. But a lot of the time that’s exactly what you need, a check-brain-in-at-the-door action film and DAD delivers it. Not every film needs to be a ‘Skyfall’ or a Nolan Batman film, DAD serves a purpose. It’s fun, the Marvel movies these day seems to be doing effectively what DAD does well, which is to provide pure spectacle, who cares about the characters and their ‘journeys’? Save that for the auters, this is a fun film. The only reason the film disappoints is that in its opening it seems to be promising to be something different in its attempts to humanize Bond. If anything DAD is very similar to last year’s Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, it’s a silly action movie, and if anything DAD is better than that film. At least it actually has a villain, even if he is Gustav Graves. Furthermore DAD ’s pacing zips back so quickly that you don’t really get the opportunity to feel any real great loss.
So there you have it: DAD never really lives up to promise it establishes for itself, but is nevertheless a distracting enough spectacle. The acting’s bad, the directing’s weak, but it has enough bang-for-your-buck to keep you entertained. Maybe I’m just sympathetic because I can still remember how excited that 12 year old boy was when he saw it at that day. I’m possibly being to easy on it, and forgiving it too readily. So if you’re been able to keep with me this long enough, I’d encourage all of you to seek out for copies of DAD on DVD and give it another watch, it’s time to celebrate another anniversary.
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Comments
DAD is a film where the franchise looks like it wants to commit suicide. I would love to be nice and considerate but there is no excuse with the budget. Indie film makers can make fine films for a few million. They spent $100 million on garbage and an impotence of ideas.
You are confusing QoB with DAD.
QOS is a masterpiece compared to Done And Dusted with ideas or anything really interesting. At least Quantum Of Superiority does not insult the franchise with bad acting or an insult to our intelligence.
DAD is Bond not realising it is justifying films like Austin Powers. The joke was on Bond and Bourne took the lead by miles.
Up until the Antonov climax, I really, really enjoyed it, well not the ice dragster bit, but anyway. During the Antonov climax…meh. (Have any of you seen James and the Giant Peach? When the ice dragster goes off the glacier, that’s what it reminds me of. Anyway, I digress). ((They just have well used a carrot, attached to a bit of string for that sequence!))
Where was I? Ah yes… It’s still rooted at No 20 in my rankings, but like Moonraker before it, it’s gone up in my expectations.
The Bad
• Corny dialogue “psychedelic light mask!”
• Zao is an appalling henchman. There have been weak henchman, Scarpine springs to mind, but not this bad, plus he’s in an awful lot of the movie.
• Bad CGI (CGI should not be in a Bond movie, period. Even if it’s done well)
• Bad puns
• Speed up editing. I think they called it speed ramping; stop it!
• Halle Berry degenerates into one of the most disappointing Bond girls.
• Invisible Cars
• The plot is circa 1971
The Good
• Berry starts up with an intriguing character.
• The Pikelet
• The first half an hour is up there with the best of the series, and the first half is up there with the rest of the Brosnan tenure,
• The production values
• The music. I know its techno driven, but it gives a certain chutzpah to the film. (I used to listen to “Hovercraft Chase” before 5-a-side football, at school, to get me in the mood).
• Bond going rouge in a novel fashion, trying to redeem himself.
• Main titles given us a glimpse of Bond torture.
• Raoul is a great little ally, and General Moon gives some presence to his character.
• The action is kick ass.
• Especially the sword fight, which isn’t ruined by some bud puns. Classic 007
• Sentimental scene with the Quartermaster.
• The scenes with Bond and M crackle with tension.
• Graves’ sneering villainy. Previously I’d have said this was a pastiche, a parody on Bond villainy, but as Graves’ comments Bond made a lasting impression on him, so really it was Moon/Graves imitation of Bond persona.
• The Moonraker novel provided inspiration for the screenplay.
• “I’m just here for the birds”. Love Brosnan’s delivery of this line. (I always used to say the dialogue between Jinx and Bond was a poor attempt of the flirtatious banter, a’la the 1960’s. But lets take it in context; Bond has just gotten out of prison, he’s desperate for some, um, female companionship, should we say. He implies his chats up lines were too strong, but Jinx says she could like it.
• Last, but not least, Pierce Brosnan, who at his fourth attempt, seemed to have nailed his performance. He’s got a swagger in this film; he seems much more comfortable in the role. I felt he had one more film in him, so it’s a shame to end his tenure of such a bad line; “Especially when you’re bad”. Oh Pierce…
Die Another Day has a great first half, and sub-par second half, symptomatic with the rest of Brosnan’s era. The first half of his movies had so much potential, but played it safe with loud bangs and not very good boner gags.
More than anything else, it eloquently demonstrate how much of a disaster DAD has become.
NSNA with Connery was Goldfinger in contrast to DAD. I hated NSNA until I saw DAD.
SO YOU NOW SEE MR BLOUND.
you cant kill my dream......
AND MY DREAMS WILL KILL YOU!
"time to face gravitas!!!!"
I took the freedom to correct what you should have actually said. ;)
DAD? DN! Die Another Day? Die Now!
:((
In the end, we end up with something that's nothing like a Bond film. Rename the characters, take out the GF reference, gunbarrel and title sequence and we're left with a generic action film with bits of Bond influence (eg, the opera scene).
But if you rename the characters, take out the GB and titles and take out the references in DAD we'd be left with a cheesey, OTT Bond rip off.
Its pretty applicable.
I think DAD caused me psychological trauma in the sense that I had to drop my intelligence to the level of the movie and it hurt so bad.
Connery called NSNA a toilet, which means I need to think of something worse for DAD ; A film that seemed to want to emulate music video styles and keep up with the demands of the lowest possible denominator.
Turning out? It has been for the last decade. :P
That's awesome. :))
Having viewed it for the first time in years a couple of weeks back, DAD I find is oddly quite watchable in a can't-take-your-eyes-off-a-car-crash sort of way, until the utterly ludicrous Antonov climax, which is unforgivable blockbuster action movie indulgence.
Hey-ho, I guess if there weren't DAD there'd have never been CR, so it's all karma. Or kismet. Or something like that... ;)
You make an interesting point, when watching DAD you know it is essential pants, but its compelling nonetheless, I guess the audience are just sticking around to see what else Lamahori and the producers think they can get away with after the cgi surfing scene.
QOS is not a masterpiece in fact its worse than DAD- Die Another day has some redeeming qualities- it has a good PTS, Pierce Brosnan gives a good performance, Rosumund Pike is a good bond girl (if i was the producers i would make sure Halle Berry got killed off first), Judi Dench and Brosnan have some great scenes together and Zao while the genetherapy is a bit naff he does come across Meanicing and probarly the last decent henchman in the bond series
QOS suffers like DAD from a bad story, the villian Dominc Greene is the worst bond villian in the 50 years franchise- he is just a silly little french pansy who just wants a few extra dollars on a countries water bills- i mean Gustav Graves despite looking like a Tron Villian in the final 3rd part of DAD looks more meancing, the bond girls in QOS are boring as hell- alright Fields was okay but she got killed off and covered in oil (such a tribute to GF -_-) and the other is a depressing dull girl who should have been shot and compared to DAD the editing sucks more- im pretty sure that Marc Foster had a secret agenda to give motion sickness to audiences everywhere and why for the love of god does the action cut from bond chasing a mi6 rogue to a horse race which has nothing to do with the plot- they basically cut 3 frames from every second of footage
DAD despite its bad Cgi, cast and story is far more entertaining than that vomit inducing disgrace of a Bond bourne film QOS.. and lets not forget QOS had the worst henchman in the series....Elvis
Ehhh.....I'd beg to differ. At one time, about two and a half years ago, I would agree with you, because TWINE used to be my least favorite Brosnan Bond. However, I re-asserted my beliefs on that, and found that TWINE was actually better than DAD, and that Brosnan's movies, for me, simply rank in order of appearance. TWINE easily beats DAD in characters, performance from Brosnan (though both were excellent), plausability, plot line, and action sequences. Soundtrack and locations I'll give to DAD, but everything else goes to TWINE.