Rent Die Another Day (2002)

One of the worst Bond films of all time, despite the incredible potential of all the elements - Die Another Day review by TB

This film makes me so angry. I hate it because firstly it ended up being Pierce’s last film, which is a stain to have on your CV, considering the brilliance of his previous adventures. From Goldeneye (a masterpiece,) then Tomorrow Never Dies (very good,) through to The World is Not Enough (excellent despite some negative reviews,) up to Die Another Day (DAD) things were in very good shape.

I had seen in the media how the film was taking shape. Whether it was the cars, the locations or the cast, things looked amazing. I had seen Toby Stephens in Cambridge Spies (excellent BBC drama,) so when he was cast, that was a big boost, then in the middle of the production, Halle Berry also won her Oscar, which raised the stakes even further and genuinely made me excited for what was to come. Finally, this was also the 1st Bond film I’d seen in the cinema, so as I sat in my seat, I was pumped.

It starts great. The opening chase is brilliant and then the direction the story goes in is both unexpected and shocking. We see Bond literally as we had never seen him before: tortured, scared & broken, but still refusing to give up. Brosnan was in many ways also allowed to really flex his dramatic muscles and shown how good an actor he was. It was also a point at which North Korea had been in the news for their provocations, so was absolutely a current event. Once he is freed, then he is determined to track down who set him up & stop the nuclear war.

Everything was going well, things were set up brilliantly and then Bond goes to pick up his gadgets...

And given a car that can go completely invisible...

I sat, along with probably most of the audience, thinking “You aren’t seriously going to do this? You can’t be prepared to believe that people will accept something so stupid which in 2002 was impossible & even 21 years later is probably nigh-on (to the level that is shown in DAD.) And in that moment, for me this movie was a complete & utter write-off. Nothing it could do after that point would have saved it. Bond has always been ludicrous, never stupid, and that is the vital point which this movie totally miscalculated.

Things then just get more stupid. We have ice palaces & planes that fly through the power of the Sun’s rays just two examples in this absolutely wreck of a film. And whilst this was all happening, the thing I felt most was sad. I love James Bond, it is a part of my childhood & it’s films have had a profound influence on me. I never want a Bond film to be rubbish & I hate that this was considered in any way acceptable. Even today, DAD is still one of the most hated films when Bond fans are polled.

But the total waste of everything extends to all elements of this film. I mean, it looks horrific in parts, with terrible CGI giving it an eye-hurting, garish look. The sound is also terrible. And the waste of actors almost criminal. This film featured many of the actors who today are among the best in their field: Halle Berry, Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike, Judy Dench & of course Pierce. Any good work they do is just lost in the total ruin of what was vomited onto screen.

And finally, as referenced earlier, this ended up being Pierce’s last film, probably in part due to the backlash against this movie, despite it becoming the highest grossing film until Skyfall. Ironically, in many ways, we had to have DAD in order to get the rebooted Casino Royale. But I do wish that he had been allowed one more film, to right the wrongs of this film and go out on a high. Sadly, apart from Timothy Dalton, every Bond has finished on a rubbish film. Let's hope whoever is the new Bond can buck this trend...