Product Description

Samantha Bond, Judi Dench, Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, John Cleese Director: Lee Tamahori

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17746 in DVD
• Brand: Blu-ray Action & Adventure
• Released on: 2008-10-20
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 133 minutes

Synopsis
In DIE ANOTHER DAY--the 20th James Bond adventure--007 (Pierce Brosnan) gets off to a rough start when he's captured and subsequently tortured during an assignment in North Korea. When the suave secret agent is eventually liberated, he embarks on a dangerous mission that involves tracking a terrorist named Zao (Rick Yune) to Cuba, where 007 also encounters Jinx (Halle Berry), a highly formidable and alluring fellow spy. Soon Bond is back in England following a mysterious trail that leads to Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens), a flamboyant diamond mogul. After a rather bloody introduction, Graves invites 007 to Iceland, where he plans to unveil his enigmatic Icarus project. Before long, Bond and Jinx are reunited and battling Graves, Zao, and other villains bent on world domination. With this Bond instalment, directed by Lee Tamahori, 007 catches up with the 21st century and the results are grittier and more explosive than ever before. Although it begins as one of the darkest and most violent Bond films, the intense mood of DIE ANOTHER DAY is also counterbalanced by typically clever and funny moments. Brosnan is in fine form as the iconic hero, while Berry shines as the immediately likeable Jinx. Stephens and Yune are excellent as the two main bad guys, and the rest of the cast--including Judi Dench, John Cleese, Rosamund Pike, and Michael Madsen--provide key supporting roles. With its hi-tech gadgets and special-effects-laden set pieces, DIE ANOTHER DAY clearly has its eye on the future, but in numerous scenes it also lovingly embraces the past, placing the film in the upper tier of Bond movies.

Customer Reviews

Bond on Blu-Ray with DIE ANOTHER DAY
I'm the first to hold my hand up and admit when things are above and beyond me. All the technical stats and numbers surrounding the high-definition Blu-Ray market confuses me. What I do know, however, is that watching Blu-Ray is a far superior experience to simple DVD.

DIE ANOTHER DAY is a cracking James Bond adventure and, given the care and attention Bond films are made with, it makes a perfect candidate for the Blu-Ray experience. The picture and sound are both jaw-droppingly good, the film itself hardly mattering as you marvel at the individual hairs on Pierce Brosnan's head or indulge in the individual bullet pings during a shootout. A clever little menu also allows you to pick and choose your favourite moments from the film and watch them individually to sample the high-definition Bond experience. With a decent haul of other special features too (not as many as the original two-disc Special Edition DVD, but enough to keep fans happy) the disc presentation is flawless. For the film that introduced Bond to the 21st Century back in 2002, this is a welcome introduction to the format of the future.

The film itself shines on Blu-Ray. Those who grumbled at the use of CGI will be subdued by the fact that, in high-definition, the special effects are laden with fine details missed by the standard DVD format. During the infamous icewave surf, the tiny Bond is recognisable as Pierce Brosnan this time around, and the water and ice around him glistens with precision. Make what you will of the plot (Bond is captured in North Korea and imprisoned for 14 months, betrayed by somebody within the intelligence community, and when he is finally released he engages on a mission of revenge with or without the assistance of M and the Double-Oh Section) but there are enough bangs and plot twists to keep action, adventure and spy fans happy. This was the last hurrah of the old-style James Bond before Daniel Craig came and injected the franchise with a Bourne-style makeover. Half LICENCE TO KILL, half MOONRAKER, DIE ANOTHER DAY is literally a "Best of Bond" collection, lovingly presented with lavish production values and terrific acting on the part of Pierce Brosnan, Toby Stephens and Rosamund Pike. Even Halle Berry is tolerable, which is nice.

So full marks from me? Absolutely. In the wake of my first Blu-Ray experience, I'm left feeling rather sorry for the DVD format. Like VHS before it, the sun is setting on the humble DVD. It's okay, though, because tomorrow will be lit by Blu-Ray... and I, for one, am not complaining.

Lazy Lowry
Oh dear.... I bought this as it was one of the few I didn't have on DVD or Blu Ray. I've seen the movie a million times but thought the enhanced blu ray experience might stand it up; how wrong was I?

Ok it's clear, not sparkling but clear but there are lot of scenes where it just doesn't look like a blu ray, a DVD at best, there aren't any scenes at all with such good quality that you are dazzled.

The green screen scenes look even worse and show how good Casino Royale & Quantum on Solace actions scenes are on blu ray.

I don't agree with one reviewer that said the kite surfing scene is better, it's not it's even more awful, it looks like smurf on lollipop..

In summary if you want to add this to your 007 collection do so with the correct low expectations, if you already have it on DVD, don't bother.

The worst Bond of all time.
There are a surprising number of duff Bonds. Sadly, most of them are in the first Bond blu-ray boxset, such as Live and Let Die, Dr No and For Your Eyes Only.

DAD is a shockingly bad Bond film from beginning to end. The intro (as with many of the locations) looks like it was shot in a muddy field near Slough (and I understand it actually was). The opening theme tune (like many newer Bonds, bar Goldeneye) is ear-bleedingly awful. The opening credit sequence throws the Bond canon out the window and replaces it with something boring and simply rubbish.

The story is flaccid and boring and the effects are like some laughable amateur effort on youtube (could you imagine Connery agreeing to a storyline featuring Bond big-wave surfing or kite boarding?). The baddie has more in common with Rimmer from Red Dwarf than the likes of Blofeld or Drax. Seriously, listen to him after he parachutes into London, it sounds like Rimmer speaking. The action is yawn inducing and the gadgets childish. The whole thing feels like a Carry On... film it's so tongue in cheek and vapid (and not in a good way like Moonraker). The direction is poor with no feel for the panache and grace of the best Bonds - honestly, who uses the Clash in a Bond film to illustrate we are in London?!

It's also massively overlong (in common with so many recent Bond films). Since it is so boring, it's hard to stomach sitting through - and this coming from a big Bond fan - which is the biggest complaint I can make. Most Bond films, no matter how many times I've seen them, remain an easy pleasure to watch. Not so DAD (or QoS and Licence to Kill).

I thought nothing could touch Die Another Day, which manages to be even worse than Licence to Kill, but then they release Quantum of Solace which isn't simply a rotten movie, it's not a Bond at all. Not one iota of what we know and love about Bond features in that film. That they managed to make a film almost as rotten as DAD is truely astounding.

The blu-ray is very impressive nonetheless - the colours are punchy and saturated, the picture is smooth and sharp, and the sound is immersive; but what a terrible film.