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I find it ironic that in the first batch of six Bond films released to Blu-ray Disc, MGM represented Pierce Brosnan’s portrayals with the silliest of all his Bond films. As I mentioned in my review of the Thunderball BD, I believe this was the most gimmicky, the most outlandish, the most incredibly unlikely of all his Bond efforts. It’s not Brosnan’s fault; I lay the blame exclusively at the feet of screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, and director Lee Tamahori. To the credit of the producers and screenwriters, they must have realized that they had gone too far. They pulled back when they reinvented the series with the casting of Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, and delivered a much more serious and dramatic film, but that discussion will have to wait for a different review.

Die Another Day film opens promisingly enough. The pre- title sequence finds Bond (Pierce Brosnan) infiltrating North Korea with a small team. Their mission is to trace the smuggling of millions of dollars worth of polished blood diamonds. They are on their way to Colonel Moon (Will Yun Lee), illegally dealing arms on the black market in exchange for the jewels. Bond usually gets away cleanly in these opening little adventures, but not so this time. He may have taken out Colonel Moon, but not only does he let Zao (Rick Yune), Moon’s fierce accomplice, escape, but Bond is captured by General Moon (Kenneth Tsang), the Colonel’s enlightened father, and thrown into a barren prison.

If you’re expecting Bond to pull off a miraculous escape, you’ll be disappointed. The North Koreans are too thorough, too cautious, too brutal. But after being tortured for fourteen months and refusing to give up any information the North Koreans might find useful, he’s returned to the British in a prisoner exchange. Bond is less than enthused when he passes the exchanged Zao on a bridge that separates North and South Korea. Bond is quickly taken into custody and isolated; his service can’t take any chance that he might have been infected with a dangerously infectious disease or was brainwashed to assassinate, perhaps M. But Bond is now pissed off. He desperately wants to puts things right, take out Zao, complete his assignment, and have his revenge. He escapes and goes rogue.

Having spent decades as a British operative, he’s made friendships and acquaintances all over the world. They will serve him well as he follows the diamonds, discovers a clinic that can change a criminal’s identity right down to the genetic level, and makes the intimate acquaintance of Jinx Johnson (Halle Berry). He will soon discover that Jinx is more than she seems; she’s a field operative of the National Security Agency (and I always thought the NSA was only a highly secretive communications and signal processing organization).

Bond will connect Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens in a Richard Branson-like role) with the blood diamonds and will confront the man in a very public and outrageous manner. It will fall to Graves’ assistant and fencing master, Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike), to set things right with the club that the two men demolish. The action quickly shifts to Iceland, where Graves has invited guests and the media to witness his contribution to improving the planet. What everyone does not yet understand is that his technological marvel represents a huge threat. It falls to Bond and, interestingly, to Jinx, to stop a dire plot that could change the world’s balance of power.

As I alluded to earlier, I’m deeply disappointed with the silliness. I’ll put aside the unlikely genetic manipulations that are so vital to a major plot device, and I’ll ignore the explosive reaction of the Earth’s surface to an energy weapon (it should simply have incinerated), but I cannot forgive some of the other plot points. There was no reason whatsoever for Graves to invite people to Iceland for a demo of a system that was actually a weapon best left secret. An ejector seat will not have enough energy to right an inverted car. Plausible technology aside, an invisible car with a revealing exhaust note as prominent as the Aston Martin’s is just silly; the ears work just fine. There is no reason for Zao to be walking around with diamonds stuck in his face; they would have fallen out months ago. The energy weapon could have been used to destroy the capital and armed forces of the invaded country without a single casualty among the invaders. And since a path was cleared for invasion, what happened to the forces waiting to invade?

Sloppy writing and silliness were ignored so that the spectacle of a bigger and better Bond could be brought to the screen. Thank goodness for the new approach that takes us back to a more human Bond, a more vulnerable Bond.

Watch for an uncredited cameo by Madonna as Verity, the mistress of the club where Bond and Graves draw swords. John Cleese is back briefly, droll and barely tolerant, as Bond’s armorer. Dame Judi Dench is as effective as ever as M, a suspicious and hard taskmaster. Brosnan is a fine Bond. I’m not quite used to a blond Bond, so as good an actor as Daniel Craig may be, I’m not quite there yet. Brosnan remains my second favorite Bond after Sean Connery. Hally Berry is a surprise as Jinx, more physical than I’d expect her to be, even after such roles as Storm in the X-Men series. And I’ve admired the lovely Rosamund Pike in other roles; she has limited screen time, but she’s very effective in her role.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in a great looking high definition transfer compressed with the AVC video CODEC. I was very surprised to find that this newest of the first six Bond films to be released on Blu-ray Disc has subtle but visible halos. Look at the outlines of the British team and the North Korean soldiers, virtually silhouettes against a gray morning sky, in the opening of the film; thin halos are quite evident. Other than that, I admire the transfer. The chroma is wonderfully conveyed, from natural flesh tones to the colorful streets of Havana. Small object detail is very good, but not great. And I’d have to say the same about finely grained textures. Neither excels. Regardless, this transfer is a vast improvement over the standard definition DVD.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The lossless TrueHD 5.1 is excellent. The surrounds are very active, immersing the viewer in the action. Enable EX dematrixing to enjoy the best possible aural presentation. Deep bass is present; the numerous explosions pummeled my chest. Gunfire has a pleasant visceral impact. In fact, all the sound effects are very well conveyed. David Arnold’s enthusiastic score is presented with persuasive timbre across a broad soundstage. And despite all the sonic fireworks, the spoken word is always eminently understandable.

The optional subtitles are in English SDH, English, and French.

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Alas, none of the supplements are in high definition. They were culled from previous DVD releases and are presented in standard definition, compressed with the MPEG-2 CODEC, and contaminated with halos.

We begin with the Script to Screen documentary (51:40, 1.78:1) that introduces us to Cubby Broccoli’s daughter, Barbara, and stepson Michael G. Wilson, who took over the Bond film legacy when the original producer died in ’96. They act as co-producers and bring us into the scripting stage, a process that had to start from scratch since Fleming’s novels had long since been exhausted. Screenwriters Neil Purvis and Robert Wade participate. The silliness of some of the details found in this over-the-top Bond jaunt should be placed at their feet. It’s a great shame, because they had the larger issues right: casting some fanatical element within North Korea as the threat; and, the technological weapon seems almost plausible. But it’s in the details… As we see these people sitting around a table discussing the storyline; one comes away with the impression that they care about the plotline, but there is an utter disregard of physics, military tactics, and simple logic, all motivated by spectacle. Ironically, director Lee Tamahori is heard to say, “The devil is in the details.” As the featurette progresses through the preproduction, I was left with the impression that everyone was so focused on the details of how the script could be executed that no one was looking at the big picture. Sigh. Storyboards, special effects, publicity, rumor central, action set pieces designed and choreographed, production design, location scouting, casting, costume design… all are covered. We then segue into principal photography, ice lake problems, an injured Brosnan requiring knee surgery, and bad weather on location. Informative and entertaining, this is a reasonably thorough overview of the production’s history.

Shaken and Stirred on Ice featurette (23:35, 1.78:1) is a detailed look at the action set pieces in Iceland. Four Jaguars and four Aston Martins were converted to four wheel drive and outfitted with practical effects weapons in anticipation of inevitable damage. And when some of that damage was caught on film, for this car enthusiast, it was heartbreaking. The Ice Palace mine was influenced by the Eden project, housing a closed ecosystem in a dome structure. Lapland’s Icehotel was the inspiration for the ice interiors of the Palace. The impressive set was designed to support the cars for another climactic action sequence, quite amazing. Vic Armstrong guides us through the automotive choreography. Weather conditions in Iceland were absolutely terrible for both man and machine. And we learn about the all too obvious CGI. Interesting stuff.

Just Another Day (22:39, 1.78:1) is the stunt featurette. It concentrates on one gag, skydiving onto the roundabout in front of Buckingham Palace. We learn about the understandable security considerations, both on the ground and in the air. There were three skydivers in the helicopter, but only two were needed. The crew then switches to the crane for a controlled landing. And the dialog scenes on the ground complete the sequence. Since the filmmakers were on a very restricted schedule, it was fascinating to watch cast and crew deal with the limitations. This short is considerably more interesting than you might expect.

The British Touch: Bond Arrives in London (3:32, 1.78:1) is the production’s connection with and support from British Airways. BA provided two 747s to accommodate the aircraft interior shoots. Short and not very informative.

On Location With Peter Lamont (13:51, 1.78:1) is another collection of home movies provided by the production designer. It’s really just a collection of personal recollections, but it provides an insight into the tedium that is the reality of a motion picture shoot. Of interest is the footage of Havana, some of which looks like it’s in desperate need of restoration.

As with the other Bond BDs, there is a section with random access to iconic moments from the film. I still don’t get the value of this particular feature.

And once again an Image Database offers gobs of stills organized into five sections. Brief text introductions lead to automatically sequencing of photos and art.

The 127-minute film is organized into sixteen chapters.

Final Thoughts

Leave your brain at the door and enjoy Pierce Brosnan’s last outing as 007. A respectable transfer, a very fine audio track, and a wealth of supplements make this an easy recommendation.