007 - Morre Noutro Dia

After Casino Royale it’s hard just to sit down and rate previous Bond movies. Not that it was so much better. It’s more like it’s completely different. The main plus of Die Another Day is that it’s entertaining, humorous and peppered with allusions to the preceding 20 years of Bond history. But not just that. Lots of excellent sequences appear in this movie, including the captivating chase on the ice that made me drool with bliss (I always loved the gadgets in the Bond cars). The Bond girls are also great and the villain suitably repulsive. The stumbling block though are the special effects. The horribly over-CGI-ed shots spoil any joy about Bond’s escapes and about the invisible Aston Martin. Such a shame. Nonetheless, this is a dignified farewell to Pierce Brosnan will two zeros and a seven for luck. Because Die Another Day is his best Bond movie after Golden Eye. (23/12/2006)

Visually the most robust and opulent Bond film in a very long time, considering that today's trend is economical, raw, and down-to-earth filmmaking. The hazy digital effects can be survived, there aren't so many of them, but overall, it's occasionally too over the top. Pierce Brosnan delivers his lines decently and the Bond girls are a good. A number exotic locations, great action, and a loaded technical side, but it lacks charm, tension and atmosphere. A wild ride and a culmination of one decade of filmmaking. (07/05/2005)

Bond's 40th birthday party was a success, though I don't hide fact that to have the fullest enjoyment from it, you need to know the old Bond movies, noting the pleasant details that go back to the days of Dr. No, From Russia with Love or Thunderball. Brosnan's interpretation of Bond is his own - manly, charismatic, action-packed... Brosnan as 007 does not focus on being funny, but rather on movement and action (I consider the absence of really good catchphrases a big minus for the film), which sometimes exceeds the measure of good taste, but is nevertheless fun and well filmed. But I could do without the overdone finish that's as artificial as Pamela Anderson's silicones. The story of Bond number 20 isn’t amazing (satellite, diamonds, a villain with a changeable face, it's all been done before), but it's steered into an engaging stream of action that is also spiced up by Bond's humanization through suffering and the ensuing "rising from the ashes". The serious and dark tone of the film's introduction is great... The following things bother me – Halle Berry is too good an actress to play a simple Bond girl, Toby Stevens as the central villain does not have the right flair, and Lee Tamahori completely unnecessarily smuggles into the decent direction modern camera stop time and other clips that are self-serving and spoil the impression of the film... Die Another Day is a good old Bond film dressed in a modern robe, but with a heart that is pretty old-fashioned, slightly naïve but sincere. And I also have to like it... with some noticeable “buts". Edit 2012: As the years go by. First of all, the dead end in the film literally screams and is confirmed by the accompanying material from the Blu Ray. Brosnan's Bond can't be improved upon, only his surroundings can be redone into an absurd fantasy. With hindsight, this film really seems like a cry of absolute nostalgia mixed with a delayed desire to make Bond into a competitive commodity at a time of growing CGI spectacles. The film completely misses the mark, especially in the second half, whose terrible digital effects get worse as the years go by. Otherwise, as a collection of fetishes and references, I enjoy it, but Tamahori couldn't incorporate them other than as random "nostalgic objects", and that says something. But the pre-Iceland part is still more than tolerable. (09/11/2004)

A typical modern Bond film packed with technology, digital effects, and dynamic action. I find it challenging to review similar productions because I'm not a fan of the genre. On one hand, it's a high-budget film with plenty of visually appealing scenes, and both the direction and acting are decently executed. There are charming moments in the film, such as the verbal showdown between Pierce Brosnan and John Cleese. On the other hand, the same criticism applies to this film as to most Bond films. In terms of the screenplay, it's utter nonsense, although thankfully it doesn't take itself too seriously. I can't give it four stars, but it certainly deserves no less than three. By the way, they're a decent three stars. Overall impression: 65%. (29/12/2006)

As of 2002, Die Another Day was the most bombastic, most spectacular and most elaborate and flashiest Bond flick yet. It’s also the goofiest and most entertaining. Within the franchise, it’s a similar turning point as Lethal Weapon 4 was in that franchise. Bond chases two Batman-esque villains in an invisible car and when he eliminates them, the head of the American National Security Agency, Michael Madsen, contentedly lights a cigarette, referencing his Vic Vega character from Reservoir Dogs. Halle Berry gets special recognition for attractiveness, as she beautifully combines feminine fragility with the diligence and aggressiveness of an agent. Conversely, the casting of Madonna was a mistake here. For me, the only thing that keeps this exciting movie (though it is a bit drawn out in the last third) from getting the highest rating is its slightly over-the-top silliness. By the final scene, I had started seeing both of the bad guys as Power Rangers action figures. (12/12/2002)