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Die Another Day. Two films in one?

Master_DaharkMaster_Dahark
edited March 2011 in Bond Movies Posts: 4,813
One good movie and one ridiculous movie, that is.
How recently have you all watched this movie? I hadn't seen it since theatres and finally just watched it this week with my girlfriend (who hasn't seen it at all)
With the film fresh in my mind, here are my thoughts:
The movie is SOLID riiiiiight up until the transition from Bond and M at the abandoned Cross station to Bond in his MI6 office (virtual reality scene). From then on the movie is just TERRIBLE- it's actually hard to know what could have happened to make a film do such a 180 on us!

What a missed opportunity.... this was an 'anniversary film' (and while we didn't know it at the time, the LAST 'official' entry of the series) filled with little homages to the old films. In the beginning of the film, I LOVED that they were trying new things (Bond captured for a LONG time, Brosnan's first time going rogue, etc)

Having just watched it, I'll admit the movie isn't as bad as I remember....I even kind of liked the title song (better than Another Way to Die....) I might actually like this movie a bit more than TWINE now, though that's not saying much.

Extra tidbit that got me thinking:
the part near the very end when Moneypenny and Bond finally 'hook up', my girlfriend was extremely disappointed that it was just a virtual reality gag. She's not a Bond nut like me and isn't as familiar with the history, but she thought it would have been better if they HAD ended up together. I thought about it and- being the 'anniversary movie' that it is, I agreed it might have made more sense! Sort of like 'FINALLY after 40 years of teasing', lol

What are your thoughts?

Comments

  • PrinceKamalKhanPrinceKamalKhan Monsoon Palace, Udaipur
    edited March 2011 Posts: 3,262
    I agree with a lot of your opinion. I think DAD is the most entertaining(Jinx's dialogue aside) Brosnan film for a little bit longer than the first hour, up to about the point where it's revealed that Miranda is the traitor, the glass floor shatters and the film turns into a videogame. The first half is a lot grittier than one might think. It's kind of like the first half is an homage to a FRWL/TLD type Bond film with the 2nd half, a MR/DAF type Bond film. Your girlfriend's wanting Bond and Miss Moneypenny together at the end might've been a good end to DAD since in retrospect EON rebooted with the next film. DAD easily beats TWINE(I prefer spy-Bond and even sci/fi-Bond to soap opera Bond).
  • JBFan626JBFan626
    Posts: 1,497
    This is exactly what Purvis and Wade said back in 2007 on hmss.com:

    "We agree DAD is a film of two halves. The first we thought was great - but still veering close to comic book-like. In the second half the comic book took over. Could you have done the same story in a different way? Who knows? It was certainly (again) different to the one we shot in our heads. But it was extremely successful and liked by a lot of people (perhaps not the hard core Bond fans). We wanted to make a YOLT-type story but even we were surprised how 'big' it became."
  • AgentJamesBond007AgentJamesBond007 Vesper’s grave
    edited March 2011 Posts: 2,632
    I do agree that this film was two movies in one. One involving an ok action sequence in North Korea, and one involving excessive CGI. I understand how Pervis and Wade wanted a YOLT-esque story but don't make it seem like a bad virtual reality game.
  • saunderssaunders Living in a world of avarice and deceit
    edited March 2011 Posts: 987
    It certinally did feel like two movies, unfortunately two bad ones! I feel I must defend DAD's reputation for being completley rubbish after AgentJamesBond007 slur that it had a 'great action sequence'' (let me just be absolutely clear, his words not mine!) I personally hated the PTS in North Korea with Pierce's unlimited ammo machine pistol and the locations 'exotic' authentic Hampshire look. Second unit director Vic Armstrong promised so much with the hovercrafts saying that it was going to be a modern take on the classic stagecoach action sequences from westerns, though I'm guessing the 'homage' was just by poorly executing the scenes with bad back projection and lame and unrealistic fight sequences. Also how long was he chased for, Moon's camp is obviously filmed in the depths of winter yet the foliage in the waterfall sequence is clearly in the height of summer, and come to think of it looks rather like Cornwall (maybe they chased down the North Korean version of the A303). I didn't even like the punchline when Bond is hanging on the bell, in fact it's quite ironic that you have Bond saved by a bell end while clearly also being directed by one! ;-)
  • dragonskydragonsky
    Posts: 2,491
    yea i agree.first time i watched i really had bad opinion about it.when i watched it second time my opinion about this movie improved.i still think TWINE is best movie so DAD is million years behind it.
    first half a hour is good and it was promising but then it failed.altough by the time it will end it improves a little still first half hour is much more better than the rest of the movie.about the end and Moneypeny ending with Bond in virtual reality or whatever it was i think that they were trying to do something like preparing for 21st century when all will be smart.like stealth cars,mask for virtual reality and so on.i think we see this by the end of TWINE when Q (or it is R? i really didnt understand this after Desmond retired as Q) is saying that there is early form of milenium bug
  • Master_DaharkMaster_Dahark
    edited March 2011 Posts: 4,813
    You know the only thing worse than a bad movie? DRAGGING IT OUT. One simple thing that would have helped the movie considerably is if they found a way to wrap it up at the Ice Palace- Bond should have just killed everyone there; by the time we got to that sniper scene and fight on the plane, I REALLY didn't give a damn anymore :)
  • RogueThunderballRogueThunderball
    Posts: 306
    While DAD will never be at the top of anyone's list I've never considered it to be as bad as most people seem to. I find the first half to be really enjoyable, especially the sword fight. Brosnan gives a great performance and all the other characters do their part. The CGI gets out of hand in the second half which is what bothers me most. It's still a fun ride though even if it is one great half and one sub-par half.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited March 2011 Posts: 15,718
    Quoting RogueThunderball: While DAD will never be at the top of anyone's list
    Chanandler Bong, calling Chanandler Bong, over.
  • Mr_SterlingMr_Sterling
    Posts: 99
    Excuse me Dahark but you mention that DAD was the last 'official' film in the series but we didn't know it at the time.

    Care to clarify that, as im pretty convinced they've made a few more since.
  • BondBond
    Posts: 503
    Quoting Mr_Sterling: Excuse me Dahark but you mention that DAD was the last 'official' film in the series but we didn't know it at the time.
    Pretty sure he means before the reboot. So the last official film of the original continuity.
  • Master_DaharkMaster_Dahark
    Posts: 4,813
    Right. Don't get me wrong- I LOVE the new ones! I wasn't disregarding them or anything :)
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    Posts: 4,325
    2 films in one - agreed.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    Yep, by the end it feels like a completely different film to the beginning.
  • ThighsOfXeniaThighsOfXenia
    Posts: 1,596
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    Yep, by the end it feels like a completely different film to the beginning.

    Absolutely, which I find very interesting.

  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,187
    Isn't this the case with a lot of the Bonds though?

    I mean, look at AVTAK for example. The first half is about horse racing in Europe and Sir Godfrey, the second about flooding Silicon Valley and trying to stop Zorin with the help of the CIA and to some extent the KG-used to-B.

    What about TLD? First it's all about Koskov's defection near the Sovjet border; then we enter an arms deal situation in Afghanistan.

    Not to mention CR, a film that spends its first half vesperless, in the Bahamas and Miami, only to suddenly go 'classic' in Montenegro with arguably the strongest Bond girl ever at Bond's side.
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    Posts: 4,325
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Isn't this the case with a lot of the Bonds though?

    I mean, look at AVTAK for example. The first half is about horse racing in Europe and Sir Godfrey, the second about flooding Silicon Valley and trying to stop Zorin with the help of the CIA and to some extent the KG-used to-B.

    What about TLD? First it's all about Koskov's defection near the Sovjet border; then we enter an arms deal situation in Afghanistan.

    Not to mention CR, a film that spends its first half vesperless, in the Bahamas and Miami, only to suddenly go 'classic' in Montenegro with arguably the strongest Bond girl ever at Bond's side.

    I think you make some good points there @DarthDimi. I think those all feel natural though in the context of those films - it's just the plotting taking us further into the story, a bit like the arc they always used in 24 where there would be a threat which played itself out in maybe the first 4-6 episodes and then a bigger threat would emerge - a bit like Season 5 where the terrorists take hostages and Jack sees in CCTV footage after that one of the terrorists passes something to one of the hostages which then sets up the next arc of the story. The difference for me with DAD is that is tonally feels like two different films - it starts off wanting to be a serious gritty Bond and then, whilst it is a narrative arc that takes us there, it goes into being a different type of Bond film. I feel that there is always this pendulum swing in the Bond series between the serious and gritty and the camp, silly and humorous. DAD just did it all in one film.
  • AceHoleAceHole Belgium, via Britain
    Posts: 1,731
    No. It is '0' film for the price of 1. Now that I think of it, I'd like my money back, if not the two hours I lost...
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