007 Tomorrow Never Dies Review

Rated PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Action Violence, Sexuality and Innuendo)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 59 Minutes

Cast-

Pierce Brosnan-007, James Bond

Jonathan Pryce-Elliot Carver

Michelle Yeoh-Colonel Wai Lin

Teri Hatcher-Paris Carver

Judi Dench-M

Desmond Llewelyn-Q

Samantha Bond-Miss Jane Moneypenny

Colin Salmon-Chief of Staff Charles Robinson

Joe Don Baker-Jack Wade

Götz Otto-Richard Stamper

Ricky Jay-Henry Gupta

Vincent Schiavelli-Dr. Kaufman

Geoffrey Palmer-Admiral Roebuck

Julian Fellowes-Minister of Defense

Directed by Roger Spottiswoode

Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh proved to be a strong pairing in "Tomorrow Never Dies."

Thanks to director Martin Campbell and Pierce Brosnan, 1995’s “GoldenEye” made James Bond relevant once more, injecting some much needed life back into this venerable franchise. Unfortunately, the producers didn’t keep up the momentum and it was back to business as usual with “Tomorrow Never Dies,” the eighteenth Bond film released in 1997. The action is loud and the villains are evil but the film is let down by a rushed script and a ridiculous premise.

007, James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is infiltrating a terrorist arms bazaar on the Russian border with M (Judi Dench) and Charles Robinson (Colin Salmon) providing communications support. Before he can finish his reconnaissance British Admiral Roebuck (Geoffrey Palmer) orders a missile launch to take out all the terrorists in one strike. Bond discovers Soviet nuclear warheads mounted on two L-39 Albatros fighter jets, which would cause untold radioactive contamination if destroyed. With the missile launch unable to be aborted, Bond hijacks the jet and escapes just before everything is blown up. Unbeknownst to him, one of the terrorists has escaped with a GPS encoder made by the American military. Elsewhere, a stealth ship sinks the HMS Devonshire off the coast of China and shoots down a Chinese J-7 fighter jet sent in to investigate. MI6 suspects media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), head of CMGN, as behind the attack and Bond is sent to Hamburg, Germany to investigate. He seduces Carver’s wife Paris (Teri Hatcher), who happens to be an ex-girlfriend, for information and manages to steal back the GPS encoder at CMGN’s newspaper headquarters. During the ensuing gun fight, Bond crosses paths with a Chinese agent named Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh). Together, they discover that Carver wants to dominate the world’s media by instigating a war between the United Kingdom and China.

“Tomorrow Never Dies” does not deviate from the usual Bond formula but there are a few wrinkles, especially with the villain, Elliot Carver. He’s still a megalomaniac but instead of world domination, he wants to have…higher ratings. Since China refused to grant exclusive broadcasting rights to his media company CMGN, he intends to make up the news by sparking World War III! Honestly, it’s ludicrous, even for a Bond film, and comes dangerously close to rivaling 2002’s “Die Another Day” in absurdity. All that was missing is a satellite shooting giant beams of sunlight. There’s a weak attempt to explore Bond’s loneliness and how he keeps all the women he sleeps with from getting too close but eventually this is pushed aside in favor of the action. Despite the abundance of explosions and gunfire, I found the action scenes strangely lacking. As always, Q grants Bond a new car, a BMW 750i, equipped with rockets and can be remote-controlled through a touchpad cell-phone. Later, Bond and Wai Lin find themselves captured by Carver at his Saigon headquarters (actually filmed in Thailand) and escapes by leaping off the roof while holding onto a large banner. A big chase ensues with them on a motorcycle with a pursuing helicopter, explosively brought down when a clothesline gets caught in one of the rotors. The script was subject to numerous rewrites and was originally set during the July 1997 transfer of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule. This was dropped in order to avoid a ‘life imitating art’ fiasco and rewrites continued even as filming began in January, 1997. Surprisingly, it all ends up coherent, if a little paper-thin. Although it rarely breaks any new ground, “Tomorrow Never Dies” remains an enjoyable affair.

Pierce Brosnan settles in comfortably into his role as James Bond, charming with the women but cold-hearted with the villains. Played by Hong Kong action star Michelle Yeoh, Wai Lin is a nice change of pace from other Bond girls. She’s not a helpless damsel-in-distress and being a secret agent herself, can more than hold her own against a group of bad guys. Yeoh and Brosnan have great chemistry and have an enjoyable repartee. Lin is also one of the few Bond girls who do not sleep with Bond, at least not until the very end right before the end credits roll. Unfortunately, Teri Hatcher disappoints and even admits she wasn’t happy with her role. Jonathan Pryce goes way over-the-top as insane media mogul Elliot Carver, a not-so-subtle satire of Rupert Murdoch. He would feel quite at home in a 60’s comic book. Götz Otto is Carver’s right-hand man Richard Stamper, who is the very definition of Übermensch. Bond stabs him multiple times and it doesn’t even slow him down. This time the theme song is sung by Sheryl Crow but it’s very low-key and lacks a feeling of grandeur. I wasn’t enamored with the opening credits which had women covered in circuitry and television screens hovering around. David Arnold also begins his long relationship with the Bond franchise, taking over the score and he does not disappoint, making liberal use of the Bond theme.

“Tomorrow Never Dies” was released on December 19, 1997, going up against James Cameron’s “Titanic.” As a result, it didn’t open at number one at the domestic box office and had a lower worldwide gross with $333 million, which is still impressive. Reviews were mixed with 57% on Rotten Tomatoes. After “GoldenEye,” Brosnan’s run as Bond in the next three installments devolved into formula and loud action, which is a shame since the actor was handicapped by less-than-stellar scripts. Still, ridiculous premise aside, “Tomorrow Never Dies” is an enjoyable if unremarkable entry.

Final Rating: 3 out of 5

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