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Die Another Day

Producers: Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson
Director: Lee Tamahori
Scriptwriters: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade
Title Song: Madonna
Locations: Pinewood Studios, Spain, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Iceland
Running Time: 132 min.

Players:
James Bond- Pierce Brosnan
Jynx- Halle Barry
Miranda Frost- Rosamund Pike
M- Judi Dench
R- John Cleese
Gustav Graves- Toby Stephens
Zao- Rick Yune

     Die Another Day was released November 22, 2002. This year is the 40th anniversary of the James Bond movies, and Die Another Day keeps the tradition going strong. This movie takes Bond into the 21st century, with a slightly updated flavor. Even small innovations were made to give this movie a fresh feel. From the first five seconds of the movie the viewer is surprised. During the usual gun-barrel scene, a bullet now actually flies out at the audience. The theme song is innovative, in that it shows scenes from the movie during the song. Also, more CGI was used in this movie than any other Bond movie. Yet, it was not overused.
  The start of the movie has more drama than usual Bond films, as Bond is captured after being betrayed, and tortured for 14 months. He is then traded for a North Korean terrorist, Zao. He was set up again, so that everyone thinks he cracked under torture and started spilling secrets. When his Double-O status is rescinded, Bond escapes, and with the help of a friend from Chinese intelligence, tracks down Zao in Havana, were he is getting gene therapy to change his appearance.
  Bond also meets Jinx, an American NSA agent, who is also after Zao. Despite both of there efforts, Zao escapes, but not before Bond discovers a connection between Zao and Gustav Graves, a self made millionaire. Bond goes to Iceland to see Graves' demonstration of Icarus, a space satellite that reflects the sun's rays and redirects it.
  With Jinx's help, Bond learns that Graves is actually Zao's old boss, Colonel Moon, whom Bond thought was dead. Graves (Moon) wants to use Icarus to destroy the mine field between North and South Korea, so that the North can attack the South. Bond and Jinx get aboard the plane Graves is on, and between the two of them they stop the plan.
My Grade- A   The start of this movie is very good. In fact, everything up to the Ice palace scene is perfect. However, this movie doesn't get an A+ because after that it has a few slightly hokey moments. The most noticeable is when Bond falls into a HUGE wave and para-surfs to safety. The scene reeked of CGI. Even though Bond movies are supposed to be on a huge scale, a few parts at the end of this movie required more suspension of disbelief than usual. However, it is still fun to watch.
Best Moment- The best scene in the movie is the sword fight between Graves and Bond. The action was extremely well choreographed, and it's pretty much the only sword fight scene in any Bond movie.
Also Notable- The scene with John Cleese as the new Q was very well done. I'm sure many Bond fans are feeling the loss of Desmond Lewellyn, but Cleese did an outstanding job. Pierce didn't miss a beat either, having just as witty banter with Cleese as with Lewellyn. Cleese was eased into the role as well. Bond starts out calling him Quartermaster, which is what Q stands for. Then Cleese quotes the old Q, and only at the end of the scene does Bond call Cleese Q.
  The VR training scene was also cool. Seeing Money Penny and Robinson killed was surprising, but Q stepping in from nowhere quickly revealed it was fake. Later on, Moneypenny and James finally show there love for each other, even if it is just Moneypenny in the VR room.
Did Your Know-This movie has many, many references to Bond's past. The ones I've noticed so far are below.
* In Havana, Bond picks up a book entitled Field Guide to Birds. He also claims to be an ornithologist. Fleming took the name James Bond from a real life ornithologist who wrote a book Field Guide to Birds of the West Indies
*Jinx's emergence from the sea is a nod to Honey Ryder coming out of the sea. They even wore the same belt with dagger.
*Bond talks to Jinx about predators. This could be a reference to the fact that in the books, Bond's field code name is Predator.
*When Hally Barry's character introduces herself, she says "My friends call me Jinx." Bond replies, "Mine call me James Bond." This is almost exactly like when Tatiana Romanova and Bond meet in From Russia With Love.
*On the plane to England, Bond reads an article about Gustav Graves. At the bottom is the line "Diamonds are Forever..."
*When Graves parachutes to the press conference, he has a parachute with the Union Jack on it, just like Bond's parachute in The Spy Who Loved Me.
*The Q scene is filled with gadgets from old Bond movies. The ones I noticed are the survival briefcase given to Bond and the poisoned tipped shoe used by Rosa Klebb in From Russia With Love. The jet packed Bond used in Thunderball. The submersible alligator and mini-plane from Octopussy. Also, Q gives Bond a watch which he says is his 20th. (There have been 20 official movies.) The watch has a laser, like in Goldeneye. Q also quotes the old Q saying "As I learned from my predecessor, I never joke about my work." The car also has an ejector seat, like in Goldfinger
*Bond brings his gun to bed, which is referenced many times in the Bond books.
*Bond uses a rebreather, very similar to the one in Thunderball.
*The lasers used when Jinx is caught are a reference to Goldfinger.
*The chandelier falling into Zao, killing him, reminded me a lot of when the dish fell on Trevelyan in Goldeneye.
*Bond and Jinx escape from the plane by dropping out the back in a helicopter. This is sort of like when Bond drops out of the back of a plane with a car in The Living Daylights
*Also, did you know that Madonna has a cameo as the fencing instructor.
*Also, the Icarus satellite got its name from the mythological character Icarus, who flew to close to the sun.
*The working title for this movie was Beneath the Ice.

Bond would never really order his martini this way

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