Fan Reviews - The World Is Not Enough
Fan Reviews of the James Bond films can be submitted to MI6 via
the Contribute page, or on
the Reviews board of the "Keeping
The British End Up" discussion forums. The views expressed
on this page are those of the individual and not mi6-hq.com.
"The World Is Not Enough" by Luds
After two very successful outings in the 1990s (1995's GoldenEye
and 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies), there was very little doubt that
the Bond franchise was healthy again. The public seemed to respond
positively to new Bond movies and fans accepted Pierce Brosnan
as the fifth James Bond. Once again, Bond producers Michael G.
Wilson and Barbara Broccoli decided to bring a new director in
Michael Apted. The script would mainly come from Bruce Feirstein,
Neal Purvis and Robert Wade in Brosnan's third outing as Bond.
The World Is Not Enough (TWINE) starts off in a positive way
as the pre-credit sequence may not be one of the best, but definitely
above average when Bond escapes from a meeting with a banker,
recuperating briefcase full of money. Back at Vauxhall Cross,
Bond uses an incredible miniature boat engineered by Q to hunt
down a killer near MI6 headquarters an explosion that kills briefcase
owner Sir Robert King, a close friend of M. The sequence is one
of the most exhilarating and memorable chase in the series. An
injured Bond later learns that M is worried about sending him
to protect King's daughter Elektra (Sophie Marceau) who escaped
a kidnapping at the hands of Renard (Robert Carlyle). Carlyle
certainly was well cast as villain Renard, and Marceau as King
who is later revealed as villain when Bond learns that she arranged
her father's killing having charmed Renard is a great choice.
The coup is well executed as Marceau usually plays the typical
"good girl" and is quite believable as villainess. Unfortunately,
her counterpart, the actress who up to this point usually played
"bad girls" and is a "good girl" in TWINE,
the untalented large breasted American bimbo Denise Richards was
cast as Nuclear Physicist Doctor Christmas Jones. It leaves very
little doubt as to why she was cast in the role, Richards was
very popular amongst "sexy women" polls all over America
at the time. It is very disappointing that such a terrible actress
be chosen for the role. Revenue must have gone up with her casting,
but believability and quality took a severe plunge. Viewers had
to endure her dreadful line delivery, such as her introduction
to Bond. "I'm a New-Kewl-ar Fizz-iss-isst" was Richard's
line delivery...
Users who happen to drool over Richards probably don't have any
problems over her shameful performance and might very well enjoy
this movie. It certainly had many of the key ingredients for a
memorable Bond flick. Other members of the cast were the returning
Robbie Coltrane as Valentin Zukovsky, John Cleese as Q's assistant
(jokingly referred as R) and Maria Grazia Cucinotta as the assassin
in the boat. On a sad note, TWINE marks the great Desmond Llewelyn's
last performance as Q as he died of a road accident on December
19th, 1999.
The cast of henchmen was disappointing as none of them are memorable
in any way and the same can be said about David Arnold's lacklustre
score, his second for the Bond series, and the stale theme song
by questionable one hit wonder band Garbage. Overall, TWINE is
a pretty decent addition to the Bond franchise who gets a lower
mark than expected due to the tarnishing performance from Denise
Richards. It certainly was refreshing not to have another "Bond
equal" or "female Bond" in TWINE like Michelle
Yeoh's Wai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies and the appalling Halle
Berry's Jinx in the nightmare and despicable movie that would
be later be known as Die Another Day. But in 1999, Bond fans didn't
know what was going to happen. The future was looking quite promising.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by Darth
Dimi
TWINE would have been the perfect sequel to GE, but instead they
chose the action packed TND. Anyone who thought the latter would
represent the style of the Bond films to come was wrong, as TWINE
returned to the more serious and character driven – much
rather than action driven – approach.
The story is another attempt to capture that nostalgic cold war
feeling that in reality had gone lost. It also works very hard
to crawl under the skin of the characters this time and give each
an interesting story. Emotions are not just good enough for an
appointment with 'The Doctor'. This time, we explore what drives
the people in this story, how they are connected and how painful
decisions have to be made because of that ("I never miss").
Even M comes closely involved.
There are loosely two parts in this story. One part deals with
the evil plot to use terror as a tool of propaganda, or so it
would seem at first. In that respect, the character of Renard
is an interesting one and his physical condition turns him into
the regular Bond film creep that we like so much. The film starts
with a loaded file on Renard, with things that happened in the
past. That means we can immediately point him out as an evil doer,
we're hunting down an already legendary bad guy and that opens
perspective to add even more to his record during the film. When
we discover that even Renard has a weakness – Elektra –
the story definitely becomes interesting. The terrifying bad guy
is in fact himself a puppet in the hands of a women who uses her
most powerful weapon: sex. Ian Fleming would have loved this.
He's prepared to speed up his inevitable demise by working out
an large scale nuclear disaster that will satisfy Elektra's desires
to restore the harmony within her mother's oil legacy. Elektra's
coldness towards her father sometimes makes her even more frightening
a villain than Renard. She even fooled Bond who had no alternative
but to shoot her. We get the feeling that he loved this girl to
the limited extent that he allows love in his heart, but it did
not prevent him from killing her. Thus, the final fight is with
Renard, who at that point was little more than the messenger.
The second part of the story is about the personal involvement
of certain individuals. Perhaps the filmmakers went a bit too
far there. It's okay for Bond to act in personal matters of M,
as we've read in Moonraker, but having M kidnapped by Elektra
was probably a bit over the top. As a real MacGuyver she fixes
a piece of technology so Bond could find her. Also, Zukovsky's
presence is always a pleasure, but why does it have to be a distant
nephew who comes to the rescue when the script writers are out
of inspiration? Nothing can be more insulting to our intellect
than a 'deus ex machina' in a Bond film. What a coincidence. And
furthermore, the story at one point shifts towards Zukovsky's
rescue of this nephew of his… Maybe some of this stuff is
a bit farfetched.
That said, the film has some powerful elements. Zukovsky's final
act of giving Bond a window of opportunity is almost spine chilling
and the film's finale in the submarine is a little less extravagant
– and thus far more credible – than some of the large-scale
climaxes we've seen in previous Bond films. The pre title sequence(s)
are amongst the very best in the history of the Bond film with
both the bank scenes and the Thames hunt being nearly perfect.
Not one scene in TWINE looks stolen from another (Bond) film.
This film is original from top to bottom. The acting is great
too, with Brosnan giving us a very convincing performance as the
slightly tormented 007, Kitchen and Salmon presenting the finest
of Britain's actors and Carlyle showing off an unseen flamboyance
that makes you truly believe every word he says. Of course Sophie
Marceau is female elegance combined with great acting skills and
even Denise Richards brings a solid performance on-screen, which
is a hard thing to do if you are labeled in advance as a brainless
package of T&A.
Musically, TWINE could have been better. The title theme is good
but the score lacks a few things here and there. The emphasis
on synthetic remixing of otherwise good orchestral material combined
with a lack of inspiration brings it down to only an average Bond
score. The opening music is very good and so is the casino music,
but everything else looks a bit too perfumed in terms of computer
mixing and that's too bad because Arnold can pull off quite a
good job. Still, it works in the film and perhaps that's the most
important element.
Action is narrowed down to only a few scenes, which is precisely
what some Bond fans want. However, when you do an action scene
in a Bond film, you should really make it very good. Obviously,
director Michael Apted isn't your average day action freak as
camera work on these action scenes and the events that take place
are hardly worth to be called exciting. Nevertheless, this film
is about other things: it's no TND.
Commenting on TWINE is a matter of perspective. What criteria
will one use? Compared next to TND it's a soft core Bond film
with an attempt to be a grown-up thriller but a lack of excitement.
Compared next to GE it's a fine tragedy packed in the usual 007
outfit. Let's choose option number 3: TWINE, like nearly all other
Bond films, is a stand alone experience, and one that would have
made Ian Fleming proud. The film has it's weaknesses but it made
a lot of money and is considered by many Bond fans today as one
of Brosnan's best. It's a human film and it's original. TWINE
should be accepted for what it is: a fine Bond film!
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by Bond.
James Bond
After the success of Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies, along
came Pierce Brosnan’s third 007 epic in the form of Michael
Apted’s The World Is Not Enough.
The opening of The World Is Not Enough (TWINE) is probably one
of the best of the series, with the action being well directed
and beautifully filmed. Of course we are talking about the infamous
boat chase on the river Thames and the jump out of the window
in Spain. But the whole sequence is so mind blowingly spectacular
that you don’t realise that this is still the opening sequence
and the opening titles haven’t even appeared yet.
Right, to the story, which as brief as I can - Bond is assigned
to protect oil heiress Elektra King, whose father was killed and
that the person responsible is out to kill her next, only for
Bond to realise that she’s the bad guy (or gal) too! Now
the story does de-rail often in the movie however, where entertainment
value is concerned, it is on top. Director Apted, who wanted to
make the film show a more emotional side to Bond, does a good
job on the film, however, the idea of a different side of Bond
being shown is only clearly shown in the odd couple scenes, particularly,
the ‘torture chair sequence’ which I will come to
later.
Down to the cast. Brosnan does a good job as usual, however he
feels a little too settled into the role and still does not top
his performance in Goldeneye. Sophie Marceau fits so brilliantly
into the role of Elektra, you really cannot see anyone else who
would fill her shoes. Robert Carlyle as Renard is also memorable,
but it feels like there could have been more for him to do. Then
there’s the welcome return of Robbie Coltrane as Zukovsky
who feels much different than his Goldeneye character, yet his
humour is used perfectly well giving him the best lines in the
film. The imprisonment of M gives Dame Judi Dench the perfect
opportunity to expand the character of M and give the story much
more depth. However when it comes to Dr. Christmas Jones, the
role is completely miscast by using Denise Richards. It feels
the only reason she was used was down to looks and not believability
as a nuclear physicist.
That aside, there are many scenes that keep the story flowing.
The torture chair sequence is particularly powerful, where Bond
cannot rely on gadgets to save him but results in Bond ‘begging’
Elektra not to kill 8 million people (which doesn’t work
anyway and Zukovsky comes to the rescue). Again, there are also
many well coordinated action set-pieces which flow so smoothly,
and feels so involving that you almost feel jealous that Bond
is doing all these ice cool moves that you want to do them yourself!
David Arnold’s score for the film matches, if not excels
his score for Tomorrow Never Dies, particularly the music from
the opening boat chase. Garbage’s TWINE theme is also memorable,
and one of the best for a long time.
I must also add the fact the film contains the last appearance
of the much missed Desmond Llewelyn, whose character Q has remained
one of the film industries most loved characters in cinema.
Anyway, back to the review at hand, TWINE is a brilliant action
film. In fact, if you want a prime example of the action/adventure
genre, then TWINE is perfect. As a Bond film, I find it stands
out as one of best of the modern era, perhaps not the greatest
Bond movie, however, the film as a whole is one of the most enjoyable
to watch, and although there was no chance it would win any major
awards, for entertainment value, it is a clear winner.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by Disco
Volante
James Bond has to fight against Renard, a terrorist who can't
feel pain, when when he's planning to destroy Istanbul. The other
main character in the plot is Elektra King, who in the past got
kidnapped by Renard but managed to escape. She's a woman who seems
innocent, but is it really that way?
This is the 19th Bond film, the third for Brosnan. In TWINE,
Brosnan plays very well and it's his best performance as James
Bond together with DAD. TWINE is not a great Bond film though.
It has many highlights such as Brosnan as Bond, Robbie Coltrane
as Valentin Zukovsky, Sophie Marceau's Elektra King, the serious
tone of the film, the pretitle sequence among a few other things.
Personally I think Sophie Marceau acts great and she's one of
the best (bad) Bond girls!
Denise Richard and Robert Carlyle aren't as good in their roles.
Robert is a very good actor but there's something about Renard
that I don't like. The tempo is pretty slow and the plot is a
bit boring sometimes, which aren't very good.
"The World Is Not Enough" is Brosnan's best Bond film
after "GoldenEye", but it's still not great.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by alec_006
It was the dawn of a new millennium and the world had settled
in to the Brosnan Bond era. We'd all seen the most gadget based
car chase scene and the biggest motorbike scene in any bond film.
Now it was a time for things to change with the times.
The story centres around Elektra King and her oil pipeline through
Turkey. After her father was killed and terrorist Renard is blamed
Bond is assigned to protect her. Yet she is not all she seems.
She betrays M and all of MI6; turning out to be the holder of
Renard's leash with a plot to flood the sea with oil and her pipeline
is the only way to get it all out. It's a big scale plot with
the discovery of Elektra being the main villain being the hook.
The movie explores the way Bond acts once the mission hits too
close to home with the capture of M. First he was betrayed and
now his boss is in danger. He put stopping Elektra at the top
of his list and with the aid of Nuclear physicist Christmas Jones
and old friend Valentin Zukovsky, he tracks down M and stops Elektra.
The final battle against Renard inside the nuclear submarine is
a well played out scene.
The Story is solid enough and the acting on most parts is right
on the money. Brosnan's return as Bond showed a man comfortable
in the role. He settled in nicely and portrayed it very well on
screen. His minor exploration into Bonds emotional side is not
the most convincing but it worked well. He acted how Bond would
and he said what Bond would say. He was Bond in this movie. Sophie
Marceau however was brilliant as Elektra King. She was seductive
and innocent yet evil. She played it well and almost convinced
us that she was the victim. She was the most well cast Bond girl
of the Brosnan era.
Robert Carlyle portrayed Renard just as he expected for him to
turn out. A sadistic man with a vendetta against M and all of
MI6. He acted as a man who was dying. With no fear of death and
a slight sense of immunity to all forms of punishment.
On this note we turn to the worst casting choice. Denise Richards
is by far the second worst Bond girl choice behind Halle Berry.
She didn't sound smart enough to be a nuclear scientist. She was
fairly attractive but it showed how much the producers wanted
to sell Bond to the American audience. It was a desperate ploy
that failed miserably.
The movie has some well played out action sequences. The helicopters
at the Caviar factory is a well paced sequence and ended on a
funny note with Zukovsky line, 'the insurance company is never
going to believe this'.
The Q boat chase was a little long but had some high points. The
submarine based ending was well presented but the skiing against
the parahawk's was too overdone.
In closing The World Is Not Enough is Brosnan's best Bond portrayal
in my opinion. The cast was almost good minus one or two major
downsides but the movie trudged along well.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by James
Bond [007]
James Bond
This movie captures the character of James Bond in a way that
only the minority of the Bond films have captured him and that
is the Fleming way Bond has a 'deeper persona' in this film. Pierce
Brosnan's acting was his best performance in a Bond film. James
Bond: 10/10
Bond girls
In this movie there are two main Bond girls they are Elektra King
and Christmas Jones. Electra is a very good Bond girl she is the
best bad Bond girl yet. She seems very innocent at start but don't
judge a book by its cover. Sophie Marceau's acting was excellent.
The other Bond girl Christmas Jones was not the best Bond girl.
The character altogether is not very convincing she is a nuclear
doctor but she doesn't really seem that. Denise Richards acting
was the thing that didn't make the character convincing the character
was too smart for she to play it. Bond girls: 7/10
Villain
The villain in this film is Renard he is a terrorist that cannot
feel pain. He is out to destroy Istanbul and is out to get revenge
on the people that were involved in the kidnapping of Electra
King. He almost achieves his plan but was stopped by James Bond.
Robert Carlyle's acting was excellent. Villain: 10/10
Plot
The plot in this film starts out very simple Bond is sent to retrieve
the money of Sir Robert King a man who has an oil pipeline in
Azerbaijan. When Bond returns with the money Sir Robert King dies
by an explosion caused by a detonator in his pin. After this unfortunate
event Bond is sent to protect Oil heiress Electra King daughter
of Sir Robert King and this is when the mission starts getting
interesting, Bond later finds out that Electra King is an ally
of Renard and they are out to destroy Istanbul.Plot: 10/10
Locations
This film has some good locations Bond travels from Bilbao, Spain
to London, UK and from there to Scotland, UK. From Scotland he
travels to Azerbaijan and then to Istanbul. Locations: 10/10
Film
The film altogether is fantastic, for not being a Fleming novel
based film it is a very good film. The plot and most of the characters
are very good and the film is filled with surprises and adrenaline
pumping action.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by Nic Nac
The third James Bond film featuring Pierce Brosnan, and his first
to lay claim to being a more 'character driven' piece. In an attempt
to prove the point, Barbara Broccoli hired British director Michael
Apted, known for helming thoughtful biopics like 'Gorillas In
The Mist', 'Agatha', and 'Coalminers Daughter', and the acclaimed
TV series '7 Up'.
Apted was given a strong cast to work with, but his lack of experience
with large scale action movies slipped through all too often.
A sequence with murderous paragliders crashed more heavily than
the villains themselves, and the destruction of a caviar factory,
whilst amusing and expensively staged, was more reminiscent of
Buster Keaton, than James Bond. The opening sequence, played out
in two stages was engaging, exciting and loads of fun. It gave
an early crash course in what Bond is all about, and the appearance
of the much maligned London Dome was a small, amusing cherry on
top of the cake.
Apted does a workmanlike job with the drama, but there is a sense
that Brosnan, a likeable if limited actor, tries to press too
many 'heavy drama' buttons, or at least more than is necessary.
His intense scenes with Sophie Marceau lie uncomfortably among
the set pieces. Brosnan with his traditional movie star looks,
relishes this part, but that relish is all too often faintly evident.
His easy charm and sly wink to the camera reminds me of Roger
Moore, even though Brosnan himself would prefer to be seen as
a descendent of Sean Connery. Having said that, Brosnan makes
a decent fist of the role, and his confidence has grown enormously
since GoldenEye, his debut film.
The film needless to say, was a box office hit.
With Robert Carlyle as Renard, Robbie Coltrane reprising his
GoldenEye role of Russian Mafiosa Zukovsky, Denise Richards as
the unlikely Nuke expert Christmas Jones ( a badly forced Flemingesque
name), Judi Dench as M, John Cleese as R, and most poignantly
of all, Desmond Llewelyn bowing out as the loveable Q.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by BondBoy007
CASTING/WRITING: Brosnan was an actor that really got robbed
of his Bond years. TND and TWINE could've been great movies but
just weren't. While TWINE improved on TND it still faced some
of the same problems. The pre title sequence was good but a bit
too long. The casting again had some problems, Elektra King was
wonderfully cast and written. Very deep character with a wonderful
actress to pull it off. Renard was cast well but we don't see
enough of him to really make us believe that he can be as menacing
as Elektra was. Jones was horribly cast and written. A staple
of the Brosnan movies was the big name star they bring in who
can't act like Yeoh, Richards, Berry, etc. There are two story's
going on at the same time. Bond trying to stop Renard/King from
blowing up Istanbul and Bond trying to rescue M. Renard is a guy
who has been shot in the head but has survived and now cannot
feel pain, pleasure, anything. This makes him very menacing but
at the same time we see he's weak, his weakness is Elektra but
one of the writing problems in TWINE is that it makes Elektra
almost the real head villain.
STORY: Bond goes to meet Elektra and attempt to protect her after
they feel she may be next after he father was killed. Bond really
begins to fall for Elektra as TWINE begins to morph into one of
the most character driven films in the series. As he leaves Elektra's
bed he must tail Davidov (security man) and sees him doing some
questionable things. This leads to one of the most cold murders
in Brosnan's films (something that there should've been more of).
Over the span of a few days where he met Renard in a wonderful
action scene in a testing facility underground and finds out more
about Elektra he becomes suspicious of her. This all builds up
until Bond is presumed dead and M comes to comfort Elektra. Bond
is actually though suspicious enough of Elektra that fakes his
death (similar to YOLT) to allow him some breathing room and allow
Elektra to show her bad side. Once he finds M has been taken by
Elektra he goes back to his old friend Valentin who he sees earlier
in this film and knows he lied to him. This time he confronts
Zukovsky at his caviar factory and the sequence is a great scene
where Bond mentions Q, uses his car a bit and must avoid helicopters.
Once he deals with the choppers he finds Zukovsky and gets the
help of Valentin to find M.
Once he is able to get M's location off of her homing device
that M cleverly re-enables, he finds that Zukovsky's assistant
Bullion is dirty. As the bomb that Bullion left goes off Bond
races outside and is captured. Bond is taken to Elektra, cleverly
escapes with a little help from his friend Zukovsky in one of
the most heart warming scenes in the series. Bond goes after Elektra
and again must dispatch of her in a cold manner. Bond, after finding
and rescuing M, goes after the sub in which he finds Renard is
attempting to blow up Istanbul. This is where the film goes downhill.
Earlier Jones is captured by Elektra and put in the sub with Renard.
Bond finds Jones and in one of the most odd ending scenes he finds,
fights and defeats Renard in a sequence that really has great
build up but is overall a let down. The film ends in a clever
and witty Bond moment. Kind of tongue in cheek as Bond is found
'hot' with Christmas Jones. This was an example of one of the
times Brosnan's tongue in cheek Bond really shines because of
good writing.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by MI6 Agent
004
The World Is Not Enough, the nineteenth official MGM/EON series
entry and Brosnan's third outing as James Bond 007, secret agent
extraordinaire Ah, what a hard film to judge...
The Bond: Pierce Brosnan returns for a third time in this 1999
thriller and all aspects of Brosnan's performance is above par.
Fantastic line delivery, body language nailed, emotions shown
fantastically and Bond in full, with the usual wit, charm, smoothness,
skill and proficiency usually shown. Definitely one of Brosnan's
best performance's, with him being the only Bond to be given a
larger perspective when in Elektra-cal situations. 9.75/10
The Plot: Bond is taken into a Swiss banker's office, his weapon
confiscated and a (for the moment) confusing pair of glasses.
Five minutes later, the beautiful Cigar Girl is gone and the guards
are down with the banker at gunpoint. THUD! A dart emerge's from
the banker's throat. Using a make-shift rappel out, he emerges
relatively unscathed. A few days later, Bond is back in London,
managing to alienate Moneypenny slightly with a weak presentation
of a cigar. M and her long-time friend Sir Robert King are having
drinks and King leaves, thanking Bond for taking his money back.
A quick drink between M and Bond reveals the money is covered
in an as of yet unknown substance. Thirty seconds later and a
gigantic hole is torn in the MI6 building. Bond quickly commandeers
the Q Boat (with Q proclaiming 'Stop, it is'nt finished!') to
chase the Cigar Girl down the Thames and through the streets of
London in a exciting chase. Finishing up at the Millennium Dome,
the two hang on tight as a commandeered hot air balloon rises
over London. Bond offers protection, Cigar Girl says no- and promptly
blows herself up, leaving Bond to fracture his shoulder on the
Dome. 7.5/10
The girls: Denise Richards and Sophie Marceau are this years
Bond girls and boy is it mixed. Marceau portrays a seductive,
sultry temptress millionaire woman who had been kidnapped by the
suspected killer of King and employer of Cigar Girl, Victor 'Renard'
Zokas as a young child. Denise Richards portrays Dr Christmas
Jones. However, even though she's supposed to have a degree in
nuclear theory, she still can't think for herself much. At least
she can swim, is all I have to say on her. 8.5/10
The gadgets: The new BMW Z8 is shown in this film, controlled
remotely from a small keyring, equipped with missiles and other
probable gadgets we never get to see. X-ray glasses provide a
laugh and a ski jacket a la Zorb is quite well presented. A new
addition to the Omega Seamaster is added: a piton wire strong
enough to hold Bond. A credit card lockpick is also well in evidence,
only used once however. To cover up this slight excess of gadgets,
a fantastic performance is given by Q and Cleese's character R.
9.5/10.
Quite a mixed bag really, filled with highs and lows. A must
see for Brosnan fans but not a must-see for Bond fans.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by Vesper
For a period of time I was a strong defender of the nineteenth
Bond film, basically, when I first viewed it at an age of being
able to comprehend the plot. After three or four viewings I soon
realised that everything here is dull and disappointing. The story
does not deliver, despite potential that should have been drawn
upon instead of pushed into the background, things were over-sensationalised
that should not have, such as the Elektra-Bond relationship.
The cast, generally speaking is great, Robert Carlyle, Sophie
Marceau, Robbie Coltrane and Judi Dench. All of them are let down
by the poor material and the weaker performances of Brosnan and
Richards (admittedly the former is still far above the latter)
The pace is the spear through the already bleeding barracuda.
Places and scenes that should be action scenes are talking scenes,
and scenes that should be talking scenes/development scenes are
used as action scenes. Additionally, the plot builds up around
a single plot twist, revealing the victim to be the villain. This
twist falls flat when the villain's pawn/henchman outlives the
villain in traditional Roger Moore style. Fortunately for Roger
Moore's films, the henchman never survived to be the objective
in a major drawn out action set piece. As such the ending of the
film is the place where you start to hear/experience snoring.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by collister007
With Pierce Brosnan now settled into the role of 007, the producers
opened up their wallets to create what they hoped to be the best
adventure yet – The World Is Not Enough.
The film begins with a scene with a swiss banker in Bilbao, which
ends in murder, before Bond escapes out the window in one of those
“how does he do it” moments. This is followed by the
racketeering boat chase, bond chasing the Cigar girl, who ultimately
commits suicide, leaving Bond to fall to a broken collarbone on
the Millennium dome. A great opening after the sub-par opening
of Tomorrow Never Dies.
The plot suddenly becomes a touch unbelievable. After our final
glimpse of Desmond Llewelyn and an unnecessary encounter with
Dr. Warmflash, Bond is sent to Azerbaijan, to protect Elektra
King. Bond suddenly picks up on the scent of people like Davidoff,
and travels to a former Russian base, where Renard is stealing
a nuclear weapon and an American doctor named Christmas Jones
is avoiding those sorts of questions. From here the plot turns
into a double cross, before the plan is discovered that Renard
is going to blow up Istanbul from a submarine. Unlike other Bond
movies, The World Is Not Enough keeps enough sense of reality
then some of it’s predecessors.
Most performances are great, Robbie Carlyle is fantastic as Renard,
the main who feels no pain. Robbie Coltrane puts in an even better
performance than Goldeneye, and he and Bond’s friendship
seems real and warm. But the real star is Sophie Marceau, as the
almost psychotic Elektra King, a seductive temptress who plans
to destroy the Russian pipelines.
But the performance of Pierce Brosnan is a disappointment, along
with Denise Richards. Brosnan seems too aware, too comfortable,
his scene with Elektra after he comes back from the air base is
frankly awful. Richards seems too fake in the role of a nuclear
scientist, it just doesn’t fit.
With both positives and negatives, The World is Not Enough is
not terrible, but does not excel either.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by JobeGDG
I don't know by what process writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade were inducted into the inner circle of EON Productions, but going by their first effort for the franchise, it feels as though they were hired after submitting a detailed plot summary of the Bond film they had in mind, and if I had been in the producer's chair at EON and read a summary of The World Is Not Enough, I would've hired them on the spot. The story and the central characters in it are those of a global-scale neo-noir. The plot summary's Elektra King is a true femme fatale—a seductress who keeps her cards very close to the low-cut vest—its Renard is the classic sucker wrapped in the guise of a terrorist. Its unfortunately-named supporting girl Christmas Jones is a character reminiscent of Fleming—a cold woman who's professional circumstances have caused her to swear off those of the male persuasion, only to have her resolve broken down by our handsome, experienced, but ultimately suckered detective, James Bond.
Unfortunately, for every great idea that seems to be buried in the core concepts of this film, there is a gross misstep in its execution. While the story is strong, it's pacing is unpleasantly jerky due to a few action sequences too many (the boat chase and and the caviar factory in particular drag the story to a halt rather than push it forward), and the script itself is crude rather than clever.
And for the most part, the performances of the actors don't help (in fact, they often hurt) the final product. Robert Carlyle is the notable exception, and his Renard is the only character who really lives up to the promise I suspect he originally had. Pierce Brosnan offers up his best performance as James Bond—though while in this film he does seem to be the jack-of-all-Bond-traits so many of his supporters claim he is, he is just as much the master-of-none his detractors claim he is. The female line-up is where the cast really falls apart, though. While Denise Richards—who proves herself utterly ill-equipped to play a generic nuclear physicist, let alone the (admittedly unfulfilled, even in the script) Fleming-esque character the character (probably) once was—is the most obvious thorn in the film's side, Sophie Marceau is every bit as incapable of playing a three-dimensional character as Richards is of playing a two-dimensional one. Judi Dench's M is easily the best performed female character, which makes the fact that her character is a fifth wheel in an already-dangerously-underdeveloped script all the more tragic.
Ultimately, the quality of a film is gauged by how well it accomplished what it set out to do in the first place. Through careful consideration of the creative process, a dedicated viewer can figure out exactly what that was, but the difficulty of the task indicates just how spectacularly this film failed.
Unfortunately for this film, the phrase "an A for effort" is only an expression rather than an actual practice—or a basis for enjoyment.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by thegiantcookie
The best way to describe 'The World is Not Enough' is to say that it would make a great stand alone feature film, but the film is weighed down by having to include all of the James Bond concepts. The film ultimately doesnt manage to get the two working together, and what the final product is one that wouldnt make a good stand alone film and one that isn't a James Bond film, either.
The plot of the film isn't overly complicated, but it does try and develop its characters and their motivations, but ultimately, due to some shockingly bad dialogue, never manages to do this. Case in point, Electra's reasoning for blowing up Istanbul is because of family honor, and how her father betrayed his wife and subsequent family. Its a poor excuse at best and isnt portrayed in the film very well.
Other issues I have in regards to plot is that its boring. A lot happens in TWINE, but the vast majority is just so uninteresting that it makes you loose faith in the bond franchise. The more serious moment are underwritten, and therefore poorly acted by one of the more talented casts a bond film has had, and the action sequences are so dull and so frequent that it does little to reinvigorate life into the film.
So, shoddy, misguided script!? Anything Else?
Whilst TWINE has a decent cast, Carlyle and Marceau, along with regulars Brosnan and Dench, theres no denying the fact that Denise Richards was seriously miscast as Dr Jones. Again, this is a fault with the script, but she was written, at least initially, as more feminist, independent bond girl, and as the film progresses, she becomes more reliant on Bond. This is fine, but it required a more, how shall I put it, serious actress. Richards is hot, I find Richards likeable enough in other films Ive seen her in and I can understand the reason why she was there, but she shouldnt have been, and it drags the film down that little bit more. She doesnt have the acting ability to pull such a role off.
David Arnolds score also underwhelms. Its very clinical and safe. The action cues are dull and lifeless, made up mostly of techno sounds, and the serious cues are just mediocre. I do like Garbage's song, though. I think its one of the rare cases where a modern bond song actually can be concidered a proper bond song. Arnold and Co's lyrics work within the context of the film and the band pull it off. Combined with Kleinman's beautifully designed titles, its definately one of the plus points of the film.
Brosnan is Bond in safe mode. The script tries to make Bond more emotionally attatched, especially in regards to his relationship with Electra, and whilst they try to show this, especially atop Maidens Tower, the poor dialogue meant that I never bought into it. Also, all of the scenes with Renard and King. I never bought their relationship. Its not the actors fault, its the script. Brosnan looks most Bondian in TWINE, and has the right physical buld and the right look. Not too keen on his blue attire during the thrid act, but that would be nitpicking.
The last main point I want to talk about is the Director. I never understood why people concider Micheal Apted to be a decent film director. Granted, I havent seen all of his films, but Ive seen enough to say that his direction is not great, better amongst non action films. Which makes me wonder why he signed up to do TWINE. Perhaps he felt he could expand the emotional core of the film. Whatever the case, I always got the feeling that Apted was never truely in charge of the film. To me, nearly all of it seems to be directed by Vic Armstrong and the second unit, which, again, is down to the relentless addition of too many, busy and boring action scenes.
I really dislike TWINE because it so clearly failed to achieve what it set out to be, which was to be a more serious film with an emotional core, betrayals and character development. It saddens me to think that they wanted to do it, but ended up doing it so half-assedly that it brings the whole film crashing down.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by Louis Armstrong
As Dr. Christmas Jones once put it: 'The world's greatest terrorist running around with 6 kilos of weapons-grade plutonium can't be good.' And it isn't.
The World is Not Enough fails both as a Bond film, and as anything else it tries to be. There is nothing here that pushes the boundaries of sexuality or violence in the best Terence Young tradition; there are no exotic or romantic locales, no breathtaking stunts; there's no good-natured camp, no edge.
A lot of the film takes place on dreary TV movie sets (like the hazy interior of a Scottish castle, or a surveillance room bathed in red light) and in barren, sterile areas such as a nuclear testing zone. The action plays out with a lot of explosions, video-game 'Bond moves' (like the lame insert shot of Bond puncturing a parachute when he flies over it on skis) and childish destruction (such as Bond tearing through a cafe in his Bat-Boat). Other set-pieces are underwhelming; the climax's fisticuffs are sluggish and the small, monochrome submarine interior could've come from any action flick. Likewise with the bit where Bond hurtles down a dark tunnel trying to disarm a small bomb, with many strips of red light passing across his face. The whole affair's just as dull as it sounds.
The movie's humour is childish, with lines like 'Welcome to my nuclear family' and 'You wanna put that in English for those of us who don't speak spy?' sounding like they came out of Batman Forever or Rush Hour 3. Other writing throughout is almost completely one-liners, including conversations. The first exchange between Bond and villain Renard consists of the pair throwing melodramatic lines like 'You forget I'm a leper, so I'm already dead' / 'Not dead enough!' / 'That bomb is going to explode, whether you like it or not' / 'So are you!' back and forth. And look forward to Bond coming up with flimsy puns for pretty much every situation.
If Connery in Dr No is the closest we've been to Ian Fleming's hero on the big screen, I'd say Brosnan in this one is the closest we've had to John Gardner's version of the man. He is a well-moussed sap who allows himself to be manipulated emotionally, never questioning Elektra sufficiently when he becomes suspicious of her. I don't like the performance, either. Why does he smirk when he sends a big steel thingamabob clean through Renard's abdomen (probably the most affecting moment in the movie)? Brosnan shaking uncontrollably with faux-intensity as he constantly repositions his feet and gun aim becomes funny quickly, too.
A lot of promises are made over the course of the film that are never followed through with. Any writer who thinks having characters simply state 'Renard is the world's greatest terrorist' or 'Elektra King can have any man she wants' is enough to convince an audience on these things has seriously lost the plot. In the end, this is a film that is both incapable of evoking an emotional response in me and of making me smile.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by Mr. Brown
Pierce Brosnan's third James Bond outing proves to be one of his finest. But is that saying much?
The story for "The World Is Not Enough" had plenty of potential. But, the way that Purvis and Wade handled the story was quite poor; helicopters with buzz-saws attached to them made for quite a laugh (no more than an invisible car, though -- but that's for another review). The funny part is that Eon Productions still hires these men to write Bond films for them.
Before my viewing, if I had read a brief description of each character in this film, I would've been optimistic. But after seeing how under-developed and poorly played they were in this film, I was disappointed. I will say that Elektra King and James Bond are the two most interesting characters of this film. Sophie Marceau's portrayal of Elektra King is fantastic. At first, she plays the character as an absolute victim, causing the audience to sympathize with her and the loss of her father. However, it is later revealed that she is quite a sadistic villain, bent on getting revenge by teaming up with her former captor, Renard. Though, I think the filmmakers wanted Renard to be the central villain of this film, Marceau's character really took that title. To me, it's a shame that Marceau's talented could not have been put to use in a better Bond film.
Pierce Brosnan also excels in this film. While I admired his performance in "GoldenEye", I think this film showed his true colors. Not only was Brosnan looking fantastic in this film, but he also captured the essence of Ian Fleming's James Bond. This wasn't the "I'll fight off an entire army in a steath boat"/generic action-hero James Bond that we had seen in the previous film. Unfortunately, Brosnan never had the chance the reprise the role like this again -- his following Bond film was a complete atrocity that left him playing a character that para-surfed on tidal waves. After that, he was dropped for Daniel Craig. His most Fleming-esque scene had to be Elektra's demise. Bond was able to put his feelings aside and carry on with the mission, even if this meant putting a bullet in his lover's head.
The other Bond girl in this film was played by Denise Richards. Her performance was terrible and, in my book, goes down as the worst in the history of the James Bond franchise. Luckily this film had Sophie Marceau to make up for it in both beauty and acting ability. The other characters and performances were all rather limited. Robert Carlyle's Renard was supposed to be a main villain of the film, but it more or less seemed that he just sort of hung out in the background. To boost his Bond baddie appeal, they gave him the inability to feel pain. This still didn't do anything for me. Judi Dench really didn't take M to another level from the last film, but Colin Salmon boosted the appeal of the Mi6 staff/cast. We also see Valentin Zuckovsky return, portrayed by Robbie Coltrane. I didn't mind Zuckovsky's appearance in "GoldenEye", but in this film, it bugged me. He left too much room for the writers to add in more ridiculous one-liners and jokes.
While the cast of "The World Is Not Enough" may not seem too promising, I have to say that it does hold some historical significance within the Bond franchise. Desmond Llewelyn graced our screens as the beloved Q for the last time in this film. Sadly, shortly after the release of the film, he died in a car accident.
David Arnold's score for this film was mediocre, at best. More orchestrations infused with synthetic sounds and beats really made for music that doesn't go easy on the ears. Garbage's theme song was well-done for an altertnative rock song, but I much prefer Tina Turner's "GoldenEye" and even Sheryl Crow's "Tomorrow Never Dies".
The locations in this film were promising. Bond goes from Spain, to Scotland, to Azerbaijan, to Turkey. As a matter of fact, one of the greatest scenes of the film included Bond driving his BMW Z8 to Baku, Azerbaijan. Arnold's music and the camera work just worked well together, believe it or not. I also enjoyed part of the pre-titles sequence that took place in the bank at Bilbao, Spain.
Overall, this film had quite a bit of potential, but was thrown off by poor pacing, uninspired action sequences, a shoddy Purvis and Wade script with poorly-written characters, and some bad performances. I place this film at the bottom of my Bond rankings.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by Lazenby
The Script Is Not Enough... And, sadly, nor is much else in this, one of the weakest and most ill-judged films of the entire 007 franchise. The film's problems begin almost immediately as a hugely promising pre-title sequence delivers plenty of spectacular excitement but forgets to keep it's eye on the clock. By the time this neverending sequence comes to an end, it's actually a huge surprise to see the first titles hit the screen as it's very easy to forget we haven't even had the titles yet due to the ridiculous overlength of the pre-title sequence. The film feels about a quarter into both it's running time and it's plot development by the time the credits arrive. We've also had such spectacular action that the rest of the film unsurprisingly fails resoundingly to match it later on.
After a box-tickingly mediocre title track navigates it's way awkwardly through a sea of garish colours and highly unseductive murky CGI oil dribblings, the film's next big problems arrive soon to hand: the characters. Having already established that she considers men who buy stolen reports for £3 million to possess great integrity, we next see Judi Dench's M shouted down by her own agent after locking an important personal file. Her agent comes off no better in these moments, rather inexplicably caressing a computer screen like an adolescent at the sight of a beautiful girl's image. A portrait of the late, great Bernard Lee adorns the walls of the Headquarters as these events unfold. God only knows why this portrait should be used in a film which treats the character of M with such childish attention-seeking inadequacy.
Having been given medical clearance by Dr Molly Warmflash (the result of two fanboy writers playing "let's pretend we can make up names like Ian Fleming", a game which they unthinkably become even worse at playing once our Bond girl is introduced), Bond now finds himself inexplicably demoted to little more than a bodyguard to a beautiful woman (oil heiress Elektra King) at the behest of his boss, who hammers home the absolute ridiculousness of such a notion with her laboured warning that "shadows remain in front or behind... never on top", surely fully aware that five minutes later her agent will have indulged the woman via all three of these positions. The most potent womaniser in MI6 being sent to watch over possibly the most beautiful and vulnerable woman on the planet - top marks writers, we must invite you back to do three more for us.
The film does deliver one moment of sincere emotion and warmth as the series bids a fond farewell to the much-loved Desmond Llewellyn, playing the role of Q for the final time here. Although, appropriately enough for this film, Q sends Bond off with some advice he's "always tried to teach" Bond, yet over the course of 18 films we've never heard him mention it until now. Again, top marks go to the writing team on that one.
The next problem with this film emerges shortly afterwards: forced action sequences. Bond and Elektra fly all the way to God knows where just to look at a pipe. Oh wait, we can't even see the pipe, it's under a load of snow. Still, great excuse for a ski chase and an incredibly convenient way to deploy the most seemingly pointless gadget ever bestowed upon MI6's finest: a coat which inflates into what looks like a giant golf ball. "See you back at the lodge" our hero "deadpans", whilst I begin to wonder just how much lodging I'll be doing myself of the complaints variety by the time this film is over. Oh my God, we're still not even half way through the film yet.
Next stop is our old chum Valentin Zukovsky from Goldeneye. Since our last meeting, he's rather inexplicably become merely a comedy buffoon overnight and now conveniently turns up in every single place Bond needs him to be during this mission. Turns out he just happens to be involved with Elektra in some capacity or other.
Then, quelle surprise, our hero ends up in bed with Elektra: we don't see how they end up there, we don't see Bond's resolve being broken having made clear his intention solely to do his job as protector without complications, and absolutely nothing suggests that Bond can, will or has loved this woman in any capacity other than having just shagged her after a night at the casino. They can't have even been intoxicated, Elektra spent all of two minutes in the casino before leaving. The magic sunglasses were a great touch too, this also really helps us take the whole thing seriously which, as this all unfolds straight-faced, is what we're being asked to do.
Bond then puts on his best Russian accent to track down our terrorist friend Renard (played well by Robert Carlyle, who is unfortunately short-changed in screentime at the expense of greatly inferior characters and acting talent), who is about to set off a chain of explosive underground events lifted almost wholesale from John Woo's Broken Arrow.
Bond, accompanied by his newly-acquired, suitably-attired (a hot-panted, bust-bulging, non-acting - nice one again, writers) nuclear scientist named Dr Christmas Jones, escapes the imminent underground explosion via a ridiculously feeble-looking winch gadget in his watch which incredibly not only holds two adults but also winches them twenty feet into the air, having failed to stop Renard's plan via a mixture of weaponry, pain-faces and having the arse acted off him by our diminutive villain who utterly owns the first confrontation between the two.
To quote the great Roger Moore in The Man With The Golden Gun, "What will they think of next?" You wouldn't believe it if you saw it, and indeed you don't when you do. M, ever-trusting of her finest agent, completely ignores Bond's warnings about Elektra, not only heading off into the field on a whim to meet Elektra against the advice of her staff, but also managing to leave herself vulnerable and exposed to being kidnapped. At this point, I'm even going as far as to consider digging up dear old Bernard Lee (God bless you, Sir) as even his bones in a casket as M would be better than this.
With Elektra now installed as the villain of the piece, we stop off for some lame puns at a destroyed oil pipeline and a spot of tomfoolery with CGI helicopter blades, another gadget-ridden supercar, another pile of David Arnold Bond theme techno and a now-beyond-repair Zukovsky flailing around "drowning" in a pool of caviar. I'll skip the henchman with the gold teeth as it's all he deserves.
Bond and his girl are subsequently captured by Elektra, Bond enslaved in a rather unlikely strangulation chair straight out of the more outlandish Bond capers of times gone by. Elektra found the chair whilst digging around somewhere or something, odd that it looks brand spanking new then.
The villainess comes badly unstuck in the key sequence which follows, as Sophie Marceau completely fails to convince in a lame rant about oil, as Bond finds a convenient way to hamfistedly work the film's title into the exchange. His neck about to break (we know this due to the ever-useful, now infamous "pain face"), Bond is rescued by Zukovsky and his gadget walking stick gun.
After some unfathomable fuss over the mere hat of a seaman, Elektra conveniently finds the means to shoot Zukovsky dead as Bond breaks free from the chair to pursue Elektra up a staircase which our villainess uses to dramatic effect to lean over bannisters shouting more unconvincing "emotional" dialogue. The film's key problems all unfold in one scene as Bond cold-bloodedly shoots Elektra, delivers a one-liner then inexplicably caresses the corpse afterwards. The look on the face of the now-free M says it all: if ever a face had "WTF?" written all over it, it's this one.
An unconvincing "dive" later, Bond takes on Renard aboard the villain's submarine. A bit of close range gunfire gives way to the familiar scenario bestowed upon us in the last film: the Bond girl is stuck underwater as Bond scraps it out with the final villain. The physical inadequacy of Brosnan's Bond is exposed again as the tiny Renard gets the better of our man, leaving Bond yet again in need of a conveniently-placed button by which to dispatch him.
With the best actor in the film now safely dead, the film is now free to be just as bad as it wishes to be, a promise/threat it makes spectacularly good on with it's final scene: a lame Moore-era "homage" scenario gives way to the cringeworthy ultimate use of the Bond girl's ridiculous name. Even if Christmas did come twice a year, rest assured a copy of this film wouldn't be on either of my Christmas lists.
A Bond film which asks to be taken seriously and has somewhat emotional and character-driven aims, The World Is Not Enough ultimately has neither the key acting talent nor the standard or consistency of writing required to deliver the film somebody somewhere wanted this to be.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by royale65
The World Is Not Enough is one of the finest James Bond films.
The titular reference to the classic 1969 film indicates the ambition of this, the nineteenth Bond opus, to immerse Bond in an emotionally complex thriller.
Previously the Bond producers had tried this with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Licence To Kill, only for both films to post below par box office. However the dramatic potential within the Bond character had been toyed with in the previous four films, and Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli were now sure that audiences would be more receptive to this more complex vision of Bond.
It is a gamble that pays of handsomely. TWINE is one of the most richly characterized Bond films, boasting some of the series finest acting talent.
In a key piece of casting, revered French actress Sophie Marceau is an ideal choice for the role of Elektra King, the most dynamic female lead since Diana Rigg’s Tracey. Indeed Elektra is a powerful reminder of that powerful heroine; a fact that is irresistible to Bond who is instantly drawn to her vulnerability and resolve.
Elektra is seemingly an “angel with a wing down”, in the best Fleming tradition, and despite his better judgement in light of his assignment, Bond cannot resist becoming emotionally attached.
Tragically for Bond, Elektra turns out to be the villain of the piece, more Blofeld than Tracey, coldly manipulating and possessing the men she needs in her quest for power. Bond, despite his romantic involvement, still finds the resolve to eventually kill her.
The final confrontation between the two is superb; Elektra gambles her life on Bond loving her; 007 responds by shooting her through the heart. The pain of Bond’s face upon doing so is an encapsulation of the moral conflicts that often tormented Fleming’s character, and is a powerful highlight of the series.
Pierce Brosnan’s utterance of “I never miss” is a heartbreaking admital to the predicament he finds himself in. In another wonderful touch, 007 turns himself away from Elektra’s corpse, and steels himself to chase after the bad guy and save the world again. As he does the Bond theme kicks in, representing 007 once more shielding his heart.
Sophie Marceau’s sublime turn as the sensual but deadly Elektra, skilfully captures the different facets to her character, convincing the audience that this is a woman whom Bond could fall for.
Robert Carlyle makes for a harrowing villain as Renard the anarchist. Something of a pitiful character, Carlyle manages to evoke this unique angle without ever compromising the considerable air of malevolence that surrounds the part.
Ultimately though, he is little more than a toy in the hands of Elektra, a fate he has resigned himself too; probably because he and Elektra make such a fascinating pairing; she revels in her sexuality yet is emotionally dead, while Renard is devoid of physical sensation, yet hurts emotionally.
Pitted against this unique pairing is Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond, who in his third appearance has matured beautifully into the role.
Similarly Sean Connery and Roger Moore had both perfected their interpretations of Bond by their third films, and so it is the case with Brosnan, who makes Bond much more three dimensional than ever before.
With deadly elegance Brosnan makes the part his own, embellishing the role with an authority that stems from his ever increasing confidence. Clearly he relishes the extra depth required of him and it’s a consummate performance.
Other casting efforts are notable too with Judi Dench demonstrating her formidable acting talents in an enlarged role as M, who, just like Bond, is drawn emotionally into the plot, thus causing even her to make mistakes; she becomes a captive in a twist to the role.
This enlarged role does include a moment of uncomfortable melodrama as Bond and M discuss “What happened” with Elektra, flouting the golden rule that less is more when it comes to drama in a Bond film. Moreover the scene represents an unacceptable instance of over-familiarity between the two, something the literary Bond would never dare.
Such fallibility affects Bond. His feelings for Elektra compromise his mission, whilst a shoulder injury sustained in the films pre-titles sequence hinders him throughout the rest of the mission; a timely reminder that Bond is no superhero.
The only real dud note on the casting front is the choice of Denis Richards as Dr. Christmas Jones, a highly improbable nuclear physicist. It is a cynical decision obviously done so for assets that are other to her acting ability.
Tragically TWINE would prove to be the final film for the beloved Desmond Llewellyn. Fittingly his final scenes (imagined as Bond bidding farewell to his Merlin) are a superb tribute to this Bondian legend.
A lot of the success of TWINE can be attributed to the direction of Michael Apted; an unusual choice for Bond given his C.V includes films such as Gorillas in the Mist, and The Coal Miner’s Daughter.
It is this dramatic background, however, that allows Apted to elicit such strong performances from his principal actors.
Apted also crafts a well paced and exquisite looking film that is layered with all the Bondian trappings of locales, intrigue, suspense and romance.
Bruce Feirstein is joined by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade in screenwriting duties, the resulting effort being more balance than its immediate predecessors; the numerous action set pieces advancing the narrative rather than interrupting it a’ la Tomorrow Never Dies.
Examples of this include the thrilling Para hawk attack which leads to Zukovsky, while the pipeline bombing allows Bond to force Elektra’s hand.
David Arnold returns providing a very solid follow up to his debut score, which benefits tremendously from his collaboration with title track artists Garbage, whose likeable theme is memorably woven into the score.
Released in December 1999, TWINE quickly established itself as the most successful Brosnan Bond film yet, closing the era of Bond’s adventures in the nineties in fine fettle.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by FieldsMan
Whilst Tomorrow Never Dies was screening in cinemas and was understandably well received by the general public and fans alike in 1997, producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli were already planning the next James Bond epic, The World Is Not Enough (TWINE) – and epic it was.
Pierce Brosnan returns as James Bond in TWINE and really shines. His portrayal closely reflects Ian Fleming’s literary version of the character. He’s suave, yet ruthless. However, there is the cinematic Bond blended in. He’s smooth, he’s witty, he’s James Bond. He redefines the coolness Sean Connery had in the first four movies of his tenure. Pierce Brosnan remarkably mixed these traits together to convincingly portray the most famous spy of all time. And this portrayal was only complimented by the other actors and actresses in the film.
The beautiful Sophie Marceau as the innocent Elektra King worked admirably. She made it her own. The actress played the complex character convincingly and displayed a great amount of class. But what about the other Bond girls? Dr. Christmas Jones, whilst not cast as good as one would expect from a Bond movie, was played by American bombshell Denise Richards. Whilst being recently voted as the worst Bond Girl, I honestly wouldn’t believe so, and I think she did a good job playing the character. It’s not like previous Bond movies had great Bond girls that were poorly acted. Honey Ryder wasn’t the best acted girl in Dr.No (1962), neither was Domino in Thunderball (1965)or Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) – and like Dr. Christmas Jones, they are all very easy on the eye. ‘Cigar Girl’ was another minor babe in the film as was the wonderfully named Dr. Molly Warmflash who had one of the best banters with Bond. All in all, TWINE has probably the best array of girls since Thunderball (1965).
The rest of the cast is top notch though. Robbie Coltrane returns as the good humoured Valentin Zukovsky, this time with a welcomed and well deserved expanded role, as does Judi Dench as M, with an elongated part, personally involved in the plot. As for the other allies, Samantha Bond returns as the ever efficient Miss Moneypenny as does Desmond Llewellyn, for the last time. His last scene was touching and rather memorable. He introduced a young fellow Bond jokingly refers to as ‘R’ (played by John Cleese) who Q hopes to take over. However, with plans to return in the next Bond film, Desmond Llewellyn tragically died in a car accident in late 1999. ‘R’ would later return to fill his shoes in Die Another Day (2002).
Renard, played by Robert Carlyle, is convincingly cold, but what’s interesting about this villain is that he cannot be harmed physically. He cannot feel physical contact, which, obviously has a negative impact on both him and Elektra. It hurts him emotionally, and Carlyle portrays this commendably. He had some very memorable scenes including Bond’s first encounter with him and his introductory scene at the Devil’s Breath. His allies are worth mentioning too. The Bull is there with light comic relief in the rather dark film, providing menace and humour. Gabor, whilst being a blueprint for Die Another Day’s Mr Kil, was underused, but was memorable as Elektra’s body guard. Davidov was a well written character - a desperate man, rendering him as a realistic villain – someone who could exist. These characters are all highlights, amongst other things.
The locations proved to be inspired choices. The decision to house the spectacular boat chase in the pre-credits sequence in London was a bold move, particularly being outside the real-life SIS building. The boat chase is one of, if not the best action sequence I have ever seen. But just before this was a small, but suspenseful, tense scene in a banker’s office in Bilbao. A well acted, well directed and well scripted scene, with the cast and crew, as mentioned before, convincingly mixing both the cinematic and literary elements of the James Bond character. Istanbul, my personal favourite in the film looks very exotic and beautiful, having staged the final third of the film largely in that area. Baku and Scotland also feature in this movie, but the exoticness and beauty of all locales is only aided by the wonderful cinematography which I had only fully noticed in my recent viewing.
Overall, The World Is Not Enough is a truly memorable Bond film. Like some of its predecessors, it has memorable scene after memorable scene, Bondian scene after another. It has everything one could want in a Bond film – a convincing amount of fantasy and realism, a truly terrific Bond soundtrack and score, and just fun escapism. The mix of action, sex, espionage and drama blended commendably, letting this film explore different areas of intrigue that really engages the audiences. Like many 007 films, this is an instant classic.
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by James Clark
The 19th Bond adventure, released in November 1999, allowed Pierce Brosnan's Bond and his audience to say goodbye to the century that saw the birth of our fictional hero and 37 years of the Bond films. The promise over the end titles was for Bond to inevitably return in the new Millennium (in foresight we now know that Bond's 20th adventure left a lot to be desired and kind of made us wish we could just have The World Is Not Enough on repeat!) but onto the film itself.
Brosnan actually feels at home with the character in his third outing. It's a fairly tight story but with enough fluidity and creativity to allow for movement. There are some well rounded characters, a thrilling extended pre-credits sequence (to date, still the longest in the series' history and probably will remain that way) and some superb action sequences and final bows for a couple of characters, including one obvious stalwart who made his first appearance back in 1963 in From Russia With Love; the beloved and dearly missed Desmond Llewellyn.
It was Barbara Broccoli who realised the plot elements - oil tycoons in the East. The story dominated the news in the late 1990s and would seem to provide a different and complex narrative for the latest Bond adventure. The film is a game of cat and mouse - Bond trying to work out whether the captive and the captor are in alliance or whether Renard is actually out to get Elektra. Carlyle and Marceau in that respect are probably the best villain roles in any of Brosnan's Bond films. The idea of a character feeling no pain until the day he dies seems fairly unique for this franchise and most of all it seems believable in the Bond macrocosm.
There are some negative elements. Though far from the worst Bond girl in the series, Denise Richards' aptly named Christmas Jones is one little present you would only want to unwrap once a year. To have her around you for too long would drive you insane with her screeching accent and her nonsense dialogue - if she is supposed to be a nuclear scientist then I could be the next James Bond! Goldie playing Zukovsky's side man is also another highly superfluous character who is a waste of screen time when you'd rather be seeing more of the wonderful Judi Dench, who incidentally has the most to do here than in any of Brosnan's Bond films.
Whilst this isn't amazing Bond fare, it's also far from the worst as some have described it. We have an often taut and intelligent Bond film with some eye candy, exotic locations, good humour and once again some of the finest actors working in the business. However, as regrettable as it sounds, before the reboot with Casino Royale we have to watch Brosnan's swansong in Die Another Day. Suddenly, TWINE seems like a masterpiece!
Rating
"The World Is Not Enough" by MOOREDIFINITVE
The opening scene in The World Is Not Enough sticks with me...it's the saving grace to an otherwise mundane flick.
In the Swiss Bank sequence, Brosnan captures the essence of what James Bond is all about. He keeps your eyes glued to the screen; you can almost smell the polished brass and old bank notes in the room. The camera catches all the right angles and 007 is a statue standing among mere mortals. He pulls off the perfect escape and the movie begins. A stellar performance in the upper echelons of From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and other top notch Bond outings.
If only the rest of the film delivered the same performance.
From here we move into a world of psychological despair; a young women falls in love with her capturer. It's believable but weak as a Bond plot. I find Elektra's performance lacking in all the wrong places...too childish, a bit misguided and ill suited to Bond's style.
In For Your Eyes Only, we had all the right actors with a weak script. The reverse happens in TWINE. Good writing hindered by sub-par acting. Even my famed "M" fails to impress, kidnapped and held hostage in a tower. She just can't make the scene work. Renard, Elektra's kidnapper, raises the monotony to even higher levels. He has little to offer in terms of villainy besides an insensitivity to pain...only if the audience could share his ailment.
We can only hope the Big Wigs on the 007 series have learned a valuable lesson: Just because it has solidified itself as a successful series with a true and tried formula doesn't mean the ingredients can be put together hastily. Denise Richards failed miserably. Only a first time Bond viewer could fall for such a poor performance.
We see the Return of Valentin Zukovsky, a Russian Entrepreneur who has not yet come to terms with a capitalist Soviet Union. He adds to the movie in that we hope to see a little Goldeneye in his performance. Well done Mr. Coltrane.
All in all, The World Is Not Enough falls short in every category and fails to hold its spot in my all time Top Ten Bond outings.
Rating
