Is Tomorrow Never Dies Underrated?

FelixLeiter ♀

I watched this last night for the first time in a very long time. It was on VHS and when I opened the box I found I hadn't even taken it out the cellophane which shows just how inspired I was to watch it when I first got it )

I couldn't really remember much about it but watching it, I found that it felt like nothing actually happened. There didn't seem to be much plot. It was just action sequences linked together with bits of loose plot. Admittedly I enjoyed them all enormously, particularly the one in the car park. I also quite like Jonathan Pryce as Carver. I feel I shouldn't as he isn't really all that menacing and yet I like his more, well 'subtle' menace I suppose.

There are a few nice quotes that have always stuck with me:

"The difference between insanity and genius is measured only by success"

"Oh and Mr Stamper - would you please kill those bastards!"

"Tell me James, do you still sleep with a gun under your pillow?"

The last one mainly sticks as after hearing it aged 8, I slept with a toy gun under my pillow for about 2 or 3 years )

chrisisall

Am I the only one here who felt Michelle Yeoh was a great Bond girl? No one but me ever seems to even mention her... ?:)

Blackleiter

I'm with you, friend.

chrisisall wrote:

Am I the only one here who felt Michelle Yeoh was a great Bond girl? No one but me ever seems to even mention her... ?:)

Peppermill

Blackleiter wrote:

I'm with you, friend.

chrisisall wrote:

Am I the only one here who felt Michelle Yeoh was a great Bond girl? No one but me ever seems to even mention her... ?:)

I think she was a great Bond ally in the likes of Kerim and Felix, but I never thought there was any believable Bond/Bondgirl chemistry between them.

chrisisall

Peppermill wrote:

I never thought there was any believable Bond/Bondgirl chemistry between them.

But... but... she uttered "Oh James"... )

Blood_Stone

The main problem with TND is that Elliot Carver sucked as a main villain.

chrisisall

Blood_Stone wrote:

The main problem with TND is that Elliot Carver sucked as a main villain.

You forgot to add 'IMO', however, I assumed it. )
I liked him as a villain very much. Different is sometimes good IMO.

BIG TAM

The Dr. Kaufman/Bond scene seems oddly unbalanced. Pierce Brosnan plays it effectively straight whereas Vincent Schiavelli goes for laughs. As a result the two styles seem to cancel each other out. Either Brosnan should play it more light-hearted (difficult when cradling a dead woman!) or Schiavelli should inject more menace. Or is it just me who thinks this?

DTReinsma

BIG TAM wrote:

The Dr. Kaufman/Bond scene seems oddly unbalanced. Pierce Brosnan plays it effectively straight whereas Vincent Schiavelli goes for laughs. As a result the two styles seem to cancel each other out. Either Brosnan should play it more light-hearted (difficult when cradling a dead woman!) or Schiavelli should inject more menace. Or is it just me who thinks this?

You are right on

chrisisall

BIG TAM wrote:

The Dr. Kaufman/Bond scene seems oddly unbalanced. Pierce Brosnan plays it effectively straight whereas Vincent Schiavelli goes for laughs.

It was effectively twisted enough for me. Kaufman was a a sick puppy.

Loeffelholz

I actually rather enjoy TND. Ticks a lot of the necessary Bond boxes for me, despite some flaws. Kaufman was a highlight for me, as was the car park chase, the HALO jump and the PTS. A good time.

chrisisall

Loeffelholz wrote:

I actually rather enjoy TND. A good time.

My favourite part is where he saves Wai Lin from drowning... that's the girl Bond should marry :x (and in my imagination, he will end up with her living somewhere on a remote beach...
with a really short manservant...)
)

Thunderpussy

I don't think the size of Bond's manservant, is a suitable subject for discussion )

chrisisall

Thunderpussy wrote:

I don't think the size of Bond's manservant, is a suitable subject for discussion )

Virgil37

ZorinIndustries wrote:

I always feel that TND never gets its credit for the good film it is. I always enjoy it and I feel Jonathan Pryce does an excellent job playing Carver and the storyline is very intriguing. David Arnold's score also contributes to the film immensely. It may be a little far-fetched, but it's a James Bond film and should be taken as one. What do you guys think about the film?

IMHO, TND is the worst Bond film ever. If anything, it´s overrated by (quite a lot of posts praising it in ajb007). But that´s just me.

Colonel Shatner

I would certainly say Jonathan Pryce was among the most underrated actors playing a Bond villain (like GE's Gottfried John).

Peppermill

Although I do not rate TND very high on my top 23 list (I think it is somewhere near the bottom) it does have the quote in it that I use most often out of all the Bond quotes in real life.

"Stop shouting in my ear, ja!"

Silhouette Man

Yes. I'd that it's criminally underrated - although it is too much of an action movie, even for a Bond film, IMHO!

chrisisall

Endless automatic gunfire aside, I think it's really one of the better Bond movies (cinema, not literary).

Thunderpussy

I know I enjoy it, easy to watch with some great action pieces. -{
Sad though that Brosnan never got to play the darker Bond he
wanted. I remember at an early press call he said he wanted to
show Bond dealing with his Inner demons etc
It wasn't untill the reboot that the producers seemed to listen
to an actor, and let D Craig deal with the human side of Bond.
I really do feel Brosan gets a lot of flack over things he had
no control over.

Colonel Shatner

Thunderpussy wrote:

I really do feel Brosan gets a lot of flack over things he had
no control over.

The same could be said of Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton to a certain extent. GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies now come across as mindless camp in comparison to Craig's movies, but were necessary and successful in their own time, and helped the Bond franchise catch up with contemporary action movies. The World is Not Enough is when they attempted to add more deph to the proceedings, but with very mixed and lacklustre results. Then they tried to pep things way up and appeal to the "hip" crowd with the desperate Die Another Day. DAD on hindsight was like dad dancing at disco, with some abysmal model/greenscreen/CGI effects (the dated visual effects in 1996's Eraser looked better), and laughable stunt casting (nice super car duel though).

Thunderpussy

Up until DC NO actor seemed to have much imput into the character.
IMHO if Dalton had of got the same kind of Backing that Craig gets from
the Producers he'd have many more fans, as I already think he was the
Best. B-)

L Jones

I don't think that "TOMORROW NEVER DIES" is underrated. Aside from a few dark moments in the middle of the film, I found it rather generic and unoriginal.