Exactly. It feels like a second-tier Joel Silver production from the era, right down to the Michael Kamen score and the presence of Robert Davi and Grand L. Bush, the kind of thing that might have starred Steven Seagal early in his career.
I try to give every Bond film it’s due (especially the ones I don’t particularly like), so I’ll say I think Die Another Day started out VERY strong, but went downhill starting with the virtual reality scene. If I could split the film in two I’d say the first half is an above average Bond film and the second half is the absolute bottom of the worst. It’s quite a difficult film to rank on my Bond film list since it does have such an excellent beginning, to the point that I think I’d say it’s pros make it more come-back-to-able than both Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough.
I love Tomorrow Never Dies as well. Big fan of it. I didn’t realize all of the production issues it had. Anthony Hopkins waked after a couple of days?
I think Spectre got weirder and weirder as it went, but I totally mean that in a good way. It feels like it was trying to do the Die Another Day thing of having references/allusions of all the previous Bond films, but I think Spectre pulled it off in a much better way. I would rank Casino Royale and Skyfall above it for sure, but I liked Spectre a LOT. Quantum of Solace was problematic, but I see a good film in there among the mess. I believe it was also a “troubled production” Bond film. I guess it’s a rule that every Bond actor’s SECOND Bond film must have production problems.
Somehow I only just recently heard of Hopkins’s almost casting as Carver. May be for the best since Jonathan Pryce gave a delicious performance. One of the best aspects of TND.
