Whatt's the problem with The World is Not Enough? (1 Viewer)

[Seth Paxton]

Of all the problems pointed out, none hurt it as bad as the writing in the last act. Too many pieces of expository dialog.

"I will now open this because it is important that I do so"
"James, you have done it. We have escaped."

Not the real dialog of course, but roughly a lot like it. Ugh.

This is not to say that those other problems don't matter as well.

 

[Jim_K]

TWINE is a mixed bag for me.

On one hand I loved the deeper more mature characterization of Bond and the villains.

On the other hand the action set-pieces (not including the opening) were some of the dullest ever filmed for a Bond movie. It also had the lamest climax since A View To A Kill.

In the hands of a competent 2nd unit stunt director like the late/great Peter Hunt and this could've been one of the great bond films IMO.

 

[Steve Christou]

TWINE had one of the best pre-credit action sequences of the series, but the rest of the film was pretty routine for a Bond film, the villain Renard was naff and the climax in the submarine was feeble, WTF?
But the girls were gorgeous, Sophie was effective and it was meant to be a visual joke that Denise was playing a nuclear scientist, maybe to appease you guys the Bond producers should consider Meryl Streep as the next Bond girl.
Die Another Day was a welcome return to huge sets, lengthy spectacular action sequences, mad villains, gadgets and supercars.
My favorite Brosnan Bond flick remains the action-packed Tomorrow Never Dies, I liked Jonathan Pryce as the insane supervillain and Michelle Yeoh is the best Bond girl of them all.

 

[Holadem]

On one hand I loved the deeper more mature characterization of Bond and the villains.

I have only watched a handful of Bonds, but the above is why I really liked TWINE, making it probably my favorite.

The bad guy was my main problem with this one: The fearsome aspect of a man who is immune to pain was not exploited at all.

I never understood what was so great about Tomorrow Never Dies.

--
Holadem

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I never understood what was so great about Tomorrow Never Dies

Nothing in TND really stands out as being bad. It had a great Bond girl in Michelle Yeoh, a supervillian who was powerful, wealthy, and greedy, and an ACTUAL threat to the world. The concept of a bad guy creating horrible disasters in order to put them on the covers of his newspapers to generate sales was very clever, and the title is also a little ingenious (something that the last two Bond movies kind of lacked; The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day are pretty self-explanatory titles). The action sequences were also very well done and creative.

In other words, it's a prime example of a modern Bond movie as it should be done.

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

The helicopter set piece in Tomorrow Never Dies was just awful. You don't have to have a degree in aerospace engineering to call "bullshit" on a helicopter hovering just above the ground while tilted forward at an extreme angle.

 

[Iain Lambert]

My problem with TWINE is that it is so close to being a great Bond. Far better characterisation than your average action movie, not bad script all round, acting generally above par, and my favorite Bond song and score since The Living Daylights.

What let it all down for me was the terrible technical work. The direction, lighting, editing and sound editing turned what should have been great action sequences into dull ones. Arnold's brilliant score is drowned out in a sea of motor drone, as are bullet twangs etc. Everything looks flat and boring. The pacing is all over the shop.

Basically, everything you deserve for hiring an acclaimed director of a documentary series, not an action expert.

Oh, and Bond shouldn't get injured. Getting hurt means its real, and Bond has always been too busy with fun to deal with that.

 

[Steve Christou]

The helicopter set piece in Tomorrow Never Dies was just awful.

Oh dear than I'd stay well clear of the mad but hugely entertaining Die Another Day if I were you, invisible cars and helicopters dropping out of burning airplanes abound.
The only 'bullshit free' Bond film I can recommend is From Russia With Love,
Sean Connery's favorite by the way.

 

[Chris Atkins]

I just watched FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE again the other day...what a stunningly good spy movie.

 

[Steve Christou]

It is Chris, and the only Bond film that is remotely realistic, Robert Shaw was one of Bond's best ever adversaries.
But the huge success of Goldfinger made that the template for all future Bonds.

 

[Chris Atkins]

I like Goldfinger too.

The first film in the series that doesn't measure up, in my opinion, is YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. But OHMSS is real good, then another downer with DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER...then....well....hit or miss up to the present.

 

[Ken Chan]

invisible cars and helicopters dropping out of burning airplanes

Maybe this belongs in the DAD thread, but the invisible car certainly could not work as described, because it can't be invisible from all angles.

Now the helicopter: supposing you were lucky enough to have it stay upright as it first pops out of the plane and then falls, would the rotors start to auto-rotate, or would they be locked while the motor is off? Or would they just snap off?

//Ken

 

[Steve Christou]

Ken this is Bond 2002, the stunts and gadgets have to get more ingenious or outrageous otherwise people will feel that they've seen it all before, and that will be the end of the franchise.
We've had rockets swallowing space capsules, an oil tanker swallowing nuclear submarines, a car turning into a submarine and an extinct volcano as Blofelds hidden lair etc etc, the problem with World is Not Enough is that it didn't top the previous one, it could easily have been made in the 80's.
Die Another Day will probably turn out to be the most successful Bond yet, invisible cars and some very dodgy cgi isn't stopping audiences from seeing it again and again.
I think in the US it grossed $100m in its first 10 days, not bad for the 20th Bond film.

 

[Joe D]

Money Penny is M's secretary. I don't know about everyone here, but I don't feel that being a secretary is the key to moving up in the business or intelligence world.

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

Nor should being a secretary mean that a secretary is all that you'll ever be.