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<blockquote data-quote="Willie Oleson" data-source="post: 439095" data-attributes="member: 8"><p>Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]58864[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>The Janus Syndicate in <em>GoldenEye</em> still had that fantastical element of the classic Bonds, this second Pierce Brosnan film harks back to the semi-realism of <em>Licence To Kill</em>.</p><p>The scope is ambitious and perhaps it could be seen as a cautionary tale (except that people refuse to learn anything from past mistakes, and many satires are about <em>us</em>, not them).</p><p>On the whole it seems like a fresh and intriguing idea but that's not exactly how it pans out.</p><p></p><p>The plot is revealed right from the start and throughout the film the audience is being reminded of that plot in the most unsophisticated ways.</p><p>Jonathan Pryce's villain Elliot Carver is supposed to be a sinister media puppeteer and it clashes with the other side of Elliot Carver who's constantly chewing the scenery.</p><p>This time I was not very impressed with the action scenes. It's got that frenetic unfocused editing that would become the standard fare in action blockbusters, and it doesn't help that these scenes go on forever, making it a bit of a mind-numbing experience.</p><p>The shootout in the last act is very similar to the one in <em>The Spy Who Loved Me</em>, and while I appreciate the effort to stage this spectacle (the parts that I could follow anyway) there's nothing charming or cleverly Bond about it.</p><p>If Rambo Bond is your jam you're going to get a kick out of this one.</p><p></p><p>That said, there's a lot about this film that still feels very "physical". The special effects in modern films are much much better but unfortunately they make <em>everything</em> look special-effecty, sort of like an animation within animation.</p><p>I'm sure Pierce Brosnan had his stunt double but it never shows, so that's a plus.</p><p>Michelle Yeoh plays the pre-<em>Kill Bill</em> type of action woman who doesn't want any help from Bond - he needs to save her all the time - but she's also Batgirl with her own uniquely disguised hideout full of deadly techno gadgets.</p><p>Bond's remote control car is arguably the best gadget they've ever used and it's entertainingly ridiculous to watch.</p><p></p><p>Desmond Llewelyn always finds a way to have good chemistry with his Bonds, and female M gives it a bit of a personal touch.</p><p>Naturally I also need to mention Moneypenny's jaw-dropping reference to James as being a "cunning linguist".</p><p>Götz Otto plays the eurotrash henchman Stamper who exudes the menace of a fitness magazine model. My favourite special guest character is Stamper's mentor Dr. Kaufman, a very charming and funny hitman who wouldn't go amiss in a Coen Brothers crimi.</p><p></p><p>It's a tonally inconsistent Bond entry, alternating between extremely evil and boringly unconvincing, and it often looks as if they want to have their cake and eat it.</p><p>A strange mix of good, bad, very bad and so-bad-it's-good, but still essential viewing for any Bond fan. I'm going to put it at the bottom of my list, ranked between <em>The Spy Who Loved Me</em> and <em>You Only Live Twice</em>. It's a combination of those two films anyway.</p><p>The theme song by Sheryl Crow is the least appealing so far, and the only nice thing I have to say is that it will be negatively (thus positively) overshadowed by bigger stinkers in some of the subsequent Bond films.</p><p>To add insult to injury, TND has a traditionally magnificent song playing over the <em>end</em> credits. It's downright puzzling.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Willie Oleson, post: 439095, member: 8"] Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) [ATTACH type="full"]58864[/ATTACH] The Janus Syndicate in [I]GoldenEye[/I] still had that fantastical element of the classic Bonds, this second Pierce Brosnan film harks back to the semi-realism of [I]Licence To Kill[/I]. The scope is ambitious and perhaps it could be seen as a cautionary tale (except that people refuse to learn anything from past mistakes, and many satires are about [I]us[/I], not them). On the whole it seems like a fresh and intriguing idea but that's not exactly how it pans out. The plot is revealed right from the start and throughout the film the audience is being reminded of that plot in the most unsophisticated ways. Jonathan Pryce's villain Elliot Carver is supposed to be a sinister media puppeteer and it clashes with the other side of Elliot Carver who's constantly chewing the scenery. This time I was not very impressed with the action scenes. It's got that frenetic unfocused editing that would become the standard fare in action blockbusters, and it doesn't help that these scenes go on forever, making it a bit of a mind-numbing experience. The shootout in the last act is very similar to the one in [I]The Spy Who Loved Me[/I], and while I appreciate the effort to stage this spectacle (the parts that I could follow anyway) there's nothing charming or cleverly Bond about it. If Rambo Bond is your jam you're going to get a kick out of this one. That said, there's a lot about this film that still feels very "physical". The special effects in modern films are much much better but unfortunately they make [I]everything[/I] look special-effecty, sort of like an animation within animation. I'm sure Pierce Brosnan had his stunt double but it never shows, so that's a plus. Michelle Yeoh plays the pre-[I]Kill Bill[/I] type of action woman who doesn't want any help from Bond - he needs to save her all the time - but she's also Batgirl with her own uniquely disguised hideout full of deadly techno gadgets. Bond's remote control car is arguably the best gadget they've ever used and it's entertainingly ridiculous to watch. Desmond Llewelyn always finds a way to have good chemistry with his Bonds, and female M gives it a bit of a personal touch. Naturally I also need to mention Moneypenny's jaw-dropping reference to James as being a "cunning linguist". Götz Otto plays the eurotrash henchman Stamper who exudes the menace of a fitness magazine model. My favourite special guest character is Stamper's mentor Dr. Kaufman, a very charming and funny hitman who wouldn't go amiss in a Coen Brothers crimi. It's a tonally inconsistent Bond entry, alternating between extremely evil and boringly unconvincing, and it often looks as if they want to have their cake and eat it. A strange mix of good, bad, very bad and so-bad-it's-good, but still essential viewing for any Bond fan. I'm going to put it at the bottom of my list, ranked between [I]The Spy Who Loved Me[/I] and [I]You Only Live Twice[/I]. It's a combination of those two films anyway. The theme song by Sheryl Crow is the least appealing so far, and the only nice thing I have to say is that it will be negatively (thus positively) overshadowed by bigger stinkers in some of the subsequent Bond films. To add insult to injury, TND has a traditionally magnificent song playing over the [I]end[/I] credits. It's downright puzzling. [/QUOTE]
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