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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997)
is Pierce Brosnan's second outing as James Bond
and the least memorable film in his tenure. Bond
is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a
British vessel in Chinese waters. Along the way he
comes in contact with egotistical media baron,
Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), whose empire of
satellite and cable networks cover the globe --
everywhere except China. Carver has decided that
he will exploit his communications apparatus to
launch WWIII -- just because he can. In the
meantime, aware that the British ship contains
valuable cargo, China dispatches its own
undercover agent, Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) to Hong
Kong where she and Bond find themselves
increasingly becoming the subjects of a murder
plot. The film's narrative is somewhat
complicated, though only superficially, when Bond
realizes that his old love, Paris (Teri Hatcher)
is married to Carver. The cast also includes Ricky
Jay and Gotz Otto as a pair of sadistic Carver
stooges: the sycophant Henry Gupta and muscle
bound menace, Stamper.
Despite a fairly cut and dry story, director Roger
Spottiswoode really doesn't know what to make of
the material he's been given. The first half plays
more like a downgraded and retrofitted knock off
of Se7en, with Bond investing far too much time in
sneaking under Carver's radar and getting
reacquainted with Paris. The latter half is more
on par with the expectations of a Bond
action/adventure. Yet, despite an adrenaline
pumping motorcycle/copter chase, in which Bond and
Lin are handcuffed together as they jump over
rooftops to escape assassins, the rest of the
film's action sequences only come to life in fits
and sparks. And then there is the issue of Lin
herself; she's a Bond girl only in definition;
meaning she's female and she's working with Bond.
But there's no sexual chemistry going on. Worse,
Lin seems to take over for Bond on more than one
occasion, leaving one with the question -- is this
a Kung-Fu flick with Caucasian testosterone thrown
in on the side?
There are no less than three versions of Tomorrow
Never Dies floating around the marketplace; the
MGM bare bones/movie only, the deluxe silver cased
special edition that came out shortly thereafter,
and a repackaged Bond Collection edition that
contains most of the Special edition's special
features. Transfer wise -- MGM has reissued the
same transfer for these three separate occasions.
It is anamorphic widescreen, with a sharp and
pleasing visual characteristic. Colors are rich
and saturated. Blacks are generally solid and
deep. Whites are pristine. There is a definite
grain structure to this film that is stylistic on
the part of filmmakers, but on the whole works
against the grain of smooth and slick film making
that one has come to expect from the Bond
franchise. Fine details are fully realized
throughout. Minor edge enhancement does not
distract from the presentation. The audio is 5.1
surround and very much an exercise for the bass of
one's speakers.
Extras on the latter two editions include one
documentary, one featurette, two audio
commentaries, and the film's theatrical trailer.
In the Special Edition there is a very handsome
collector's booklet. In the Bond Collection
edition there is a fold out that is in keeping
with what the other Bond films in this collection
have been allotted. |
