Die Another Day is a 2002 spy film and the twentieth film in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. The fourth and final film starring Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond, it was also the only film to feature John Cleese as Q, and the last with Samantha Bond as Miss Moneypenny. In the film, Bond attempts to locate a traitor in British intelligence who betrayed him and a British billionaire who is later revealed to be connected to a North Korean operative who Bond seemingly killed.OK, on to the ratings;
Bond- 87 out of 100. Pierce Brosnan’s last film as Bond, and he does really good work. I don’t think he has as interesting a story to tell as in other movies, but does a good job with what he’s given.
Villain- 86 out of 100. Toby Stephens is a very good foil for Bond, as the snobbish, sneering Gustaz Graves / Colonel Tan-Sun Moon. They carry off really good action scenes together as well as acting scenes.
Bond Girls- 93 out of 100. Halle Berry gives a great turn as Jinx, and she gives homage to Dr. No’s Ursula Andress with her “emerging from the water” entrance. And Rosamund Pike is given a great role as the MI-6 double agent Miranda Frost, which she totally delivers on. Madonna also has a cameo, unremarkable but there nonetheless.
Theme Song- 61 out of 75. I like Madonna’s song much more than her cameo.
Henchman- 45 out of 50. Ricky Yune is an imposing, convincing henchman, and a better actor than most. He’s given a fully realized character and inhabits it well.
M, Q, Moneypenny and misc.- 10 out of 25. Samantha Bond’s last turn as Moneypenny and John Cleese’s only appearance (full time) as Q. She is fine, and John Cleese is quite good and I would love to have seen him in a few more films. As stated above, Madonna doesn’t really add much in her role and there is a Michael Madsen sighting as a CIA boss, but he doesn’t really add anything to the story. And the “parasail through the tidal wave” scene is ridiculous, even on the Bond scale.
Total – 382
Scoreboard;
- Spectre-397
- Casino Royale / Die Another Day- 382
- The World is not Enough- 367
- License to Kill- 321
- Octopussy- 255
- The Living Daylights- 228
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