Bond Revisited

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Bond 18

Pierce Brosnan leaps into action as Agent 007 in the 18th film of the highly popular Bond movie series. The unstoppable action hero must prevent a tremendous disaster ripped from tomorrow's headlines. Someone is pitting the world's superpowers against each other - and only James Bond can stop it. When a British warship is mysteriously destroyed in Chinese waters, the world teeters on the brink of World War III - until 007 zeros in on the true criminal mastermind. Bond's do-or-die mission takes him to Elliot Carver, a powerful media mogul who manipulates world events as easily as he changes headlines from his global media empire. After soliciting help from Carver's sexy wife, Paris, Bond join forces with a stunning yet lethal Chinese agent, Wai Lin, in a series of explosive chases, brutal confrontations and breathtaking escapes as they race to stop the presses on Carver's next planned news story: global hilarity.

Trivia: James Bond has a new gun in this film. It is the Walther P99, which is the replacement for his trademark Walther PPK. He picks up the gun in Wai Lin's apartment. Though well-known to British audiences, it probably escaped the notice of most others that Dame Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer, whose characters feud in this movie, played a happily-married couple in the British TV program "As Time Goes By." During the pre-credits opening sequence, Admiral Roebuck's (Geoffrey Palmer) code name was Black King; the Captain of the HMS Chester's code name was White Bishop; M's code name was White Rook whilst James Bond's code name was White Knight. The film made particularly heavy use of gadgetry because some fans thought there was too little of it in GoldenEye (1995). Just before shooting the scene where Bond and Wai-Lin get on the motorcycle, Roger Spottiswoode took Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh aside - each without the other's knowledge - and told each of them not to let the other get in the driver's seat. The result is in the final film: Bond and Wai-Lin fight over who gets to drive before getting on the bike.

The original title of the film was "Tomorrow Never Lies", which makes sense when you consider media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) was creating the next day's headlines in advance, then causing those events to happen. But a typo on an early script draft was adopted by the producers, and "Tomorrow Never Dies" was used instead. Not counting the regular characters of Bond, Q, M and Moneypenny, this is the first Bond movie to contain absolutely no Ian Fleming references (GoldenEye (1995) was named for Fleming's estate; Licence to Kill (1989) used elements from several Fleming stories).

The Characters:

• James Bond - Pierce Brosnan returns as Bond for the second time.
• Elliott Carver - Jonathon Pryce. Carver is an international media baron who planned to start a war between the British and China so that his television network, the Carver Media Group Network, could secure exclusive broadcasting rights in China. After learning his wife, Paris, was once Bond's lover and helped him recover a GPS encoder used to send ships off course, he had her killed by his personal assassin, Dr. Kaufman. Paris' murder ignited in Bond a rare emotional attachment to his mission. Carver runs his operations on a stealth boat that can move undetected by radar. Bond and Chinese People's External Security Force agent Wai Lin infiltrate his boat and learn he's going to fire a missile at China so as to start a war.
• Richard Stamper - Gotz Otto. Stamper is the henchman of Elliot Carver and protege of Dr. Kaufman, a professional assassin. Kaufman trained him in the many methods of torture, especially chakra torture, which involves inflicting the maximum amount of pain on the body's most vital areas. A towering presence at 6 feet 6 ½ inches, his size alone is enough to send fear into the hearts of his intended victims. Kaufman was "like a father" to Stamper, so when Bond killed him, Stamper was determined to get his revenge.
• Paris Carver - Teri Hatcher. Paris was a beautiful brunette who was a once a lover of Bond's (Pierce Brosnan). He left her behind, however, because his job was too dangerous for a real relationship. She later married TV and news magnate Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), who led a conspiracy to concoct a war between the United Kingdom and China — a war that his news divisions would have exclusive coverage of, sending his ratings into the stratosphere. MI6 sent Bond to investigate, and he eventually crossed paths with Paris. M had instructed him to seduce her and learn some of Carver's plans. When he saw her again, her beauty was not lost on him, but she was not exactly pleased to see him. When he came up in conversation with her husband, Paris lied that he had dated her roommate and that she barely knew him. Suspecting that the man she had married was up to something nefarious (and out of a need to be with Bond again) Paris went to him after her husband's henchmen tried to kill him. At first he tried to send her away, but they were too strongly drawn to each other. They made love, and Bond confessed that he had left her because she had gotten too close. Paris gave Bond the information he needed, but Carver, who had been spying on his wife, sent his personal assassin, Dr. Kaufman to her room hours later to kill her. Paris' murder ignited in Bond the desire for revenge, shaking his usual professional detachment and clouding his judgement. His eventual partnership with Chinese Intelligence agent Wai Lin brought him back to his senses, however, as well as provided him another lover. Teri Hatcher says that she accepted her role in this movie to fulfill her then husband's lifelong dream of being married to a Bond girl.
• Wai Lin - Michelle Yeoh. Wai Lin, a spy for the Chinese People's External Security Force, is a formidable opponent, a fierce warrior with incredible skill in martial arts. She first encounters Bond when she is sent to investigate media mogul Elliot Carver's plan to start a war between China and the United Kingdom, a plot he was also sent by MI-6 to foil. The two initially believe they have been ordered to kill each other, but eventually develop a wary mutual trust when they are both captured and imprisoned by Carver's secret partner, General Chang. Bond especially grows to respect her when she playfully, but firmly, rejects his attempts at seduction- the first Bond girl to do so. Carver brings them both aboard his private ship to gloat that he will control the world's media after he gets exclusive coverage rights to the impending war, which will begin when the ship launches missiles at a British craft. At the last minute, however, Wai breaks free and creates a distraction that allows Bond to disable the missiles, kill Carver, and escape with her as the ship self-destructs. She and Bond then give in to the mutual attraction they had both been fighting during the mission, and become lovers.

The Theme Song:

David Arnold composed the score of Tomorrow Never Dies, his first full Bond soundtrack. Arnold came to the producer's attention due to his successful cover interpretations in Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project — which featured major artists performing classic James Bond title songs. The theme tune was chosen through a competitive process. There were approximately twelve submissions; including songs from Pulp, Saint Etienne, Marc Almond, Sheryl Crow and David Arnold. Sheryl Crow's song was chosen for the main titles while David Arnold's song "Surrender" featuring k.d. lang was used for the end titles. "Surrender," written by Arnold with lyrics by Don Black is a bold, classic-style James Bond theme song. Both songs have the phrase "tomorrow never dies", making this the only film with two legitimate theme songs. The score itself follows John Barry's classical style in both composition and orchestration, together with modern electronic rhythms present in most cues. In addition, themes from "Surrender" appear in various places throughout the score, mainly in the action cues, but it can also be heard in the dramatic "All In A Day's Work" track.

The Vehicles & Gadgets:

• BMW R1200 motorcycle — Stolen in Saigon, Vietnam, for a chase, ridden by both James Bond and Wai Lin.
• BMW 750i — Used in Germany, the car has a security system allowing access to no-one, without it first being disarmed via the mobile telephone; the glove box security system is fingerprint-controlled. Armament includes sunroof rockets, deployable caltrops (out of rear bumper), re-inflatable tyres, and a wire-cutter hidden under the BMW logo on the hood. The car may be remotely operated via Bond's mobile phone.
• Ericsson JB988 mobile telephone — Has several functions: a stun gun, a fingerprint scanner, an electronic lockpick, and a remote-control for the BMW 750i, with a small LCD screen for seeing the roadway when operating remotely.
• Omega Seamaster diver's wristwatch — Taken from a Chinese safehouse, used to remotely break a glass jar holding a hand grenade.
• Walther P99 — Taken from the same Chinese safehouse, Bond replaces his trademark Walther PPK with the Walther P99. Since Tomorrow Never Dies Bond has used the Walther P99 in every subsequent film.
• Gerber Mark 1 — A boot knife that Bond wears on his upper left chest as a backup. He stabs Mr. Stamper with it shortly before Stamper's foot becomes lodged in the firing chamber of the onboard missile. [Source]

The Pretitle Sequence:

The film begins at a terrorist arms bazaar "somewhere on the Russian border." MI6 has sent 007 into the field to survey trades and purchases by the terrorists. One man identified, Henry Gupta, has purchased an American GPS encoder. Upon viewing the evidence of these transactions taking place, Admiral Roebuck overrules M's insistence of further examination of the situation and orders a missile strike upon the position. However, it is discovered moments later that the terrorists have two Soviet nuclear torpedos mounted on a plane which threatens a disastrous radioactive contamination of the area. Bond, using diversionary tactics, steals the plane with the torpedo and escapes before the missile hit, as does Gupta with the GPS encoder.

I still like Brosnan's Bond. He was better then Timothy Dalton. The Bonds are getting more high tech and special effects heavy. The problem is that after 18 of these movies they are really starting to run together and it is hard to come up with original witty things to say. So in that vain...It's a Bond movie, it is what it is.

Up Next: The World Is Not Enough, Bond 19, James Bond protects an oil tycoon's daughter while battling her former kidnapper, a terrorist who can't feel pain.