Die Another Day [Blu-ray] [2002]

When I first saw this film I thought it was terrible with daft gadgets and plot.
On watching it again I can see that it is not too bad. It is the classic Brosnan formula that was used in the last few Bond films, which is something I missed in the Quantum of Solace.
The action is still there and is memorable unlike some of the squences in the new bond film.
This is fun film to watch if you want some entertainment on a wet Saturday night.
Not too bad at all and the end of an era for Bond!

Die Another Day was surprisingly impressive considering its terrible reputation first time round but doesn't hold up well to a second viewing for a number of reasons. The pre-title sequence is particularly strong, and the film is plot-led with a good premise that it explores far more effectively than License to Kill - Bond screws up, gets captured and finds his license to kill revoked and has to go it alone. But to many wrong choices are made in the casting of those both in front of and behind the cameras to do it full justice.

Brosnan is certainly a major problem here, getting lazier in the role far sooner than his predecessors. He takes too much for granted and doesn't seem to be putting much effort into it in the assumption that he's got it down pat, when in reality he's starting to go to seed - certainly he must be the only man to come out of 14 months of torture in a Korean prison chubbier than when he went in, something his tendency to spend much of the opening of the film with his shirt off and hidden under a bushy Monty Python castaway beard only exacerbates.

He's not helped much by his co-stars either: Halle Berry, who seems to become a worse actress with each successive film, really can't handle sass or wisecracks, which is a shame since that's almost all her part consists of, and their initial meeting exchange of innuendoes seems more like eavesdropping a married man picking up a hooker to prove he's still got it than anything else. Rosamund Pike's other fatale femme fares a little better purely on he grounds that, while an extremely one-dimensional performer, to least her limited abilities fit the part. Toby Stephens' villain is a bigger problem. While it's a neat touch that he models himself on an unflattering portrait of Bond's vanity, Stephens actually seems to be basing his performance on Rik Mayall's caricatured MP Alan B'stard from sitcom The New Statesman, and the results aren't pretty - a largely ineffectual screen actor, it's no accident that he needs to don an electronic suit of armour to become a credible foe for Bond in the final punch-up. Curiously, two of the better performances on display come from bit-players John Cleese (pleasingly restrained) and Michael Madsen as a distinctly unimpressed company man. Even Madonna's unnecessary cameo as a lesbian fencing instructor is considerably less painful than her terrible title-song, easily the series' worst. Still, the resulting overly enthusiastic swordfight is okay but would probably have been even better had they hired William Hobbs to choreograph it instead of Bob Anderson (Anderson may have coached Errol Flynn, but only in some of his worst films).

The direction adds to the problems. Lee Tamahouri is a maddeningly variable director, and too often its his weaknesses on display here. For a series that prides itself on globe-trotting, he has a very poor sense of place (aside from the Iceland scenes, this is the first Bond film that really looks like they were afraid to leave the studio backlot) and his handling of action isn't always effective - indeed, the car chase actually looks like several shots are missing. Still, at least they manage to just about get away with the science behind the invisible car more effectively than the awful CGI that undermines the series' reputation for doing daring stunts for real: along with the occasionally slo-mo or sped up scene intros, it just seems horribly out of place without ever quite ruining the film.

Another big problem is the tone. As the 20th entry in EON's series, the desire to celebrate its heritage threatens at times to overwhelm the film as it becomes increasingly self-referential. With almost every scene having an homage, a prop or an audio or visual reference to a previous movie, it stops being fun and becomes labored long before the halfway point. Bond is feeding off himself so much here that at times it reminds you of one of those animals that, when caught in a trap, gnaws its own leg off. It just about gets away with it, but it gets messy. There's fun to be had, most of it in the first half before it goes all Diamonds Are Forever, but there's still the feeling that this could and should have been much better.

It's well-worth tracking down the original 2-disc DVD release for the wealth of extra features that weren't carried over to the very underwhelming recent 'Ultimate Edition,' but if you just want the film to fill in a gap in your collection, this version or the single-disc version are good enough .

I'm the first to hold my hand up and admit when things are above and beyond me. All the technical stats and numbers surrounding the high-definition Blu-Ray market confuses me. What I do know, however, is that watching Blu-Ray is a far superior experience to simple DVD.

DIE ANOTHER DAY is a cracking James Bond adventure and, given the care and attention Bond films are made with, it makes a perfect candidate for the Blu-Ray experience. The picture and sound are both jaw-droppingly good, the film itself hardly mattering as you marvel at the individual hairs on Pierce Brosnan's head or indulge in the individual bullet pings during a shootout. A clever little menu also allows you to pick and choose your favourite moments from the film and watch them individually to sample the high-definition Bond experience. With a decent haul of other special features too (not as many as the original two-disc Special Edition DVD, but enough to keep fans happy) the disc presentation is flawless. For the film that introduced Bond to the 21st Century back in 2002, this is a welcome introduction to the format of the future.

The film itself shines on Blu-Ray. Those who grumbled at the use of CGI will be subdued by the fact that, in high-definition, the special effects are laden with fine details missed by the standard DVD format. During the infamous icewave surf, the tiny Bond is recognisable as Pierce Brosnan this time around, and the water and ice around him glistens with precision. Make what you will of the plot (Bond is captured in North Korea and imprisoned for 14 months, betrayed by somebody within the intelligence community, and when he is finally released he engages on a mission of revenge with or without the assistance of M and the Double-Oh Section) but there are enough bangs and plot twists to keep action, adventure and spy fans happy. This was the last hurrah of the old-style James Bond before Daniel Craig came and injected the franchise with a Bourne-style makeover. Half LICENCE TO KILL, half MOONRAKER, DIE ANOTHER DAY is literally a "Best of Bond" collection, lovingly presented with lavish production values and terrific acting on the part of Pierce Brosnan, Toby Stephens and Rosamund Pike. Even Halle Berry is tolerable, which is nice.

So full marks from me? Absolutely. In the wake of my first Blu-Ray experience, I'm left feeling rather sorry for the DVD format. Like VHS before it, the sun is setting on the humble DVD. It's okay, though, because tomorrow will be lit by Blu-Ray... and I, for one, am not complaining.