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THE MOVIE
Die Another Day is believe it or not the 20th film in the James Bond franchise and suprisingly received some good responses from many critics critics and fans ensuring it will certainly not be the last. Despite the predictability in plot, characters and gadjets that audiences have become accustomed to over the years there is something about the man who likes his drinks shakin not stirred that has made people flock to the cinemas for decades. Die Another Day has followed the successful format like a clone, offering plenty of action as well as the calmest and coolest secret agent ever.
One of the golden rules that every spy knows well is that should they be captured, their agency will deny all knowledge of their existence. During an assignment in North Korea things go awry and Bond's cover is blown after being betrayed by someone from his own British Secret Service. He is captured and immediately sentenced to death. He won't go out without a fight though, so he goes on a 'blowin up' rampage before being recaptured, tortured and abandoned for 14 months by MI6 to the mercies of the North Korean military. It is not until he is reluctantly traded in exchange for a Korean terrorist (Zao) he was meant to kill that Bond is freed although with his status and freedome revoked by M. His mission in now a personal one, so he sets out for revenge against the Korean terrorists.
Pierce Brosnan is without doubt one of the best if not THE best James Bond. It's as if the character was created with him in mind as he manages to elegentatly portray the sexy and smooth secret agent. Halle Berry does a fairly decent job as a Bond girl and John Cleese once again fits like a perfect glove into the role of Q, after Desmond Llewellyn's passing.
Having celebrated 40 years since the beginning of the franchise there is lots to like in this Bond flick but also a number of annoyances.Action junkies will be more than satisfied with the action in the film even if, in the tradition of the franchise, some are so over the top they will have you screaming "oh come on!" until the film's end.
THE TRANSFER
Video:
The image is presented in an anamoprhic 2.40:1 aspect ratio consistent with its original theatrical aspect ratio.
Being a blockbuster heavyweight we were expecting a supreme transfer and apart from some minor faults this is an otherwise excellent transfer. It is worthy to note that the film has undergone extensive digital colour and contrast grading to enhance the image as some of the scenes out on location were shot in subpar shooting conditions.
The detail in the image is very high, often revealing some stunning images such as in the latter part of the film in the ICE palace. The shadow detail is spot on with lots of detail even in the darkest scenes. The colours and flesh tones are toned down for many of the scenes in Korea. This is a deliberate act on the part of the film makers to paint the atmosphere in a darker and more military style.
There are some instances of very small amount of grain, a few film artefacts early on and some edge enhancement but these are relatively difficult to notice.
An excellent transfer falling JUST shy of reference quality.
Audio:
Now here is a surprise. This is the first Bond DVD to feature DTS 5.1 sound. You can select either Dolby Digital EX or DTS ES and if you have equipment capable of reading the EX and/or ES your receive will automatically take advantage of the additional channels.
There is no better way to test the sound options than to watch the long opening fight sequences over and over again. There are bullets whizzing past, explosions and engine noises all around. In a properly set up home theatre the experience is miles ahead of most cinema screens.
A super impressive soundtrack in either Dolby Digital or DTS that will have you justifiying your purchase of that new receiver.
THE EXTRAS
Well wouln't you know it, yet another 'first' for a Bond movie. This is the first Bond DVD to be a 2 disc set and its not only by choice but also by necessity as there are a lot of extras to cram in.
The first thing that strikes you is the incredibly sexy and stylish menus. Excellent and well designed although they unfortunately have only Dolby 2.0 sound compared to some other Bond DVDs which featured 5.1 sound.
DISC 1
- Audio Commentary with Pierce Brosnan and Rosamund Pike
James Bond, ahem...I mean Pierce Brosnan provides a commentary together with Rosamund Pike who doesn't start talking until her character appears on the film. The two have recorded the tracks separately as there is no interaction between them. It's a reasonably good commentary mainly because of Borsnan who shares his experiences during the shoot and the future of Bond when he eventually retires from the role.
- Audio Commentary with director Lee Tamahori and co-producer Michael G Wilson
This time we see the interesting bits from the film makers points of view although in a lot more detail. When you are making a film with a budget in the 100s of millions of dollars there is a LOT of work that goes on behind the scenes. As far as quality info goes this commentary is definitely superior to the first although it is certainly fun to hear Pierce on the other track.
- MI6 DataStream
This is a great little feature. It offers interesting production trivia info as the film plays and at a few instances during the movie, the film minimises and a special feature (eg an interview) plays. Very well done.
Disc 2
This is the disc with all the supplemental goodies.
- Inside Die Another Day
Under this section there are seven short documentaries which can be watched individually or all at once with a total duration of almost 75 minutes. They are divided into the following areas:
Intro and Surfing
Hovercraft Chase
Cuba
Quartermaster
Ice Palace
Car Battle
Post-Production and Finale
As the titles suggest, each of these takes a behind the scenes look at the creation of that particular sequence. It is quite impressive to see how boring and unexciting the scene may be and how through the camera lens and post production it turns into the exciting cinema we love to watch. Probably the best featurette is the hovercraft sequence and its quite fun to watch. The Quartermaster documentary (Quartermaster is 'Q") is dedicated to the much loved and missed Desmond Llewelyn and some of his gadjets that have made it into this film again as a tribute. There are also interviews with John Cleese, who has done an excellent job as the new 'Q'. A great featurette indeed. In car chase, probably one of the most visually impressive scenes, Tamahori explains the potential problems in trying to find a suitable spot to shoot the scene and the difficulties in filming in such cold and hostile conditions.Post Production deals with one of the most important aspects in today's film making and the eternal struggle to produce CGI effects that look as realistic as possible. While this is achieved the vast majority of the time, there are still some effects which don't look quite right.
- Shaken and Stirred - On Ice (24 mins)
This behind the scenes featurette once again focusses on the all important icelandic car chase on ice covering similar territory to the previous car chase feature.
- Mission Deconstruction (33mins)
Scene Evolutions
Interaction sequences
Title Design
Digital Grading
Scene Evolutions shows a storyboard-to-film comparison for the hovercraft chase and the car battle, Inter-action sequences provides multi-angle viewings of the hovercraft chase and the car battle as well as the swordfighting and the fight scenes towards the end of the film. Title design not surprisingly shows the process of designing the ever so clever Bond opening titles and Digital Grading is a process that digitally enhances the entire film to make it look exactly the way the film makers had intended.
- Equipment Briefing(5mins)
A short but interesting look into the world of James Bond weaponry and his favourite Aston Martin Vanquish.
- Image Database
Images of the cast, locations, special effects, gadjets and vehicles.
- Ministry of Propaganda (25mins)
As the name suggests this is a collection of promotional material for the film including the theatrical trailer (16x9), 2 teaser trailers and 8 TV spots. There is also Madonna's Die Another Day music video (16x9) and a trailer for 007 Nightfire (computer game) as well as a short 'making of' featurette of the game.
A very impressive list of extras and without doubt the most supplemental material packed Bond DVD of all twenty.
SUMMARY
Die Another Day is 'another' Bond film that follows the basic 007 formulaic plot which for some people will offer safety but for others will be uninspiring. Personally, the most memorable Bond film with Pierce Brosnan is Goldeneye although many critics hailed Die Another Day as a resreshingly good bond film. If you liked Tomorrow Never Dies then you will definitely also enjoy this one. In fact Die Another Day is much better than the previous one.
There is little debate though that the extras and audio on this DVD are indeed excellent and lets face it, unless you hated the film, this is one to add to your collection. |
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