Taglines: “Bond… James Bond”
James Bond is assigned to a rendezvous with a North Korean army officer, Colonel Moon, in his investigation of a North Korean terrorist, Zhao, but the mission is betrayed and despite a spectacular escape attempt, Bond is captured and subjected to vicious North Korean torture, before being released in an exchange of prisoners. MI6 work him back to health but James is relieved of all duties because he is blamed for leaking information leading to several agents’ deaths while in custody.
Determined to clear his name and avenge himself on Zhao, James escapes and extracts information from a known Chinese intelligence officer on Zhao, leading to Cuba and a meeting with a mysterious diver known only as Jinx, and eventually to a meeting with mysterious British billionaire Gustav Graves, who has perfected a spaceborne mirror designed to beam solar light and heat anywhere in the world for peaceful purposes.
But James uncovers mysterious genetic conversion equipment and also finds the solar mirror is in reality a laser cannon that can destroy almost anything in its path on Earth. James now must rescue Jinx (who is conducting her own, identical, investigation of Graves) and learn the truth about Graves’ laser cannon, leading to a violent showdown as the weapon is fired onto Earth and begins slicing open a gigantic line of destruction.
Die Another Day (2002) is the twentieth spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and final film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film follows Bond as he leads a mission to North Korea, during which he is betrayed and, after seemingly killing a rogue North Korean colonel, is captured and imprisoned. Fourteen months later, Bond is released as part of a prisoner exchange. Surmising that someone within the British government betrayed him, he attempts to earn redemption by tracking down his betrayer and killing a North Korean agent he believes was involved in his torture.
Die Another Day, produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and directed by Lee Tamahori, marked the James Bond franchise’s 40th anniversary. The series began in 1962 with Sean Connery starring as Bond in Dr. No. Die Another Day includes references to each of the preceding films.
The film received mixed reviews. Some critics praised the work of Lee Tamahori, while others criticised the film’s heavy use of computer-generated imagery, which they found unconvincing and a distraction from the film’s plot. Nevertheless, Die Another Day was the highest-grossing James Bond film up to that time if inflation is not taken into account.
Principal photography of Die Another Day began on 11 January 2002 at Pinewood studios. The film was shot primarily in the United Kingdom, Iceland, and Cádiz, Spain. Other locations included Pinewood Studios’ 007 Stage and Maui, Hawaii, in December 2001. Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, and Darrick Doerner performed the pre-title surfing scene at the surf break known as Jaws in Peʻahi, Maui, while the shore shots were taken near Cádiz and Newquay, Cornwall. Scenes inside Graves’ diamond mine were also filmed in Cornwall, at the Eden Project. The scenes involving the Cuban locations of Havana and the fictional Isla de Los Organos were filmed at La Caleta, Spain.
The scenes featuring Berry in a bikini were shot in Cádiz. The location was reportedly cold and windy, and footage has been released of Berry wrapped in thick towels between takes to avoid catching a chill. Berry was injured during filming when debris from a smoke grenade flew into her eye. The debris was removed in a 30-minute operation.
Gadgets and other props from every previous Bond film and stored in Eon Productions’ archives appear in Q’s warehouse in the London Underground. Examples include the jetpack in Thunderball and Rosa Klebb’s poison-tipped shoe in From Russia with Love.[10] Q mentions that the watch he issues Bond is “your 20th, I believe”, a reference to Die Another Day being the 20th Eon-produced Bond film.
In London, the Reform Club was used to shoot several places in the film, including the lobby and gallery at the Blades Club, MI6 Headquarters, Buckingham Palace, Green Park, and Westminster. Svalbard, Norway, and Jökulsárlón, Iceland were used for the car chase on the ice with additional scenes filmed at Jostedalsbreen National Park, Norway and RAF Little Rissington, Gloucestershire; Manston Airport in Kent was used for the scenes involving the Antonov cargo plane scenes. The scene in which Bond surfs the wave created by Icarus when Graves was attempting to kill Bond was shot on the blue screen. The waves, along with all the glaciers in the scene are computer-generated.
Die Another Day (2002)
Directed by: Lee Tamahori
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike, Rick Yune, John Cleese, Judi Dench, Samantha Bond, Colin Salmon, Michael Madsen
Screenplay by: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade
Production Design by: Peter Lamont
Cinematography by: Chris Brock, Philip Kohler
Film Editing by: Christian Wagner
Costume Design by: Lindy Hemming
Set Decoration by: Ute Bergk, Simon Wakefield
Art Direction by: James Hambidge, Mark Harris
Makeup Department: Mary Burton, Sterfon Demings
Music by: Mirwais Ahmadzaï, David Arnold
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for action violence and sexuality.
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (United States), 20th Century Fox (International)
Release Date: November 22, 2002
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