In answer to the original question, I think it has been at least a decade since everyone decided to trash anything and everything to do with DAD, and agree that it has some of the worst moments in the Bond films. Also agree that the first half of the film is decent Bond, at least until Iceland, or until introduction of the invisible car (truly a WTF moment). I love Halle Berry but think she was miscast (she never would have done it, but my personal choice would have been Angelina Jolie). Second half definitely needed a rewrite (get rid of space crap, robosuit, Iceland, etc.).
I'm also probably alone in this opinion, but I like Madonna's Die Another Day theme song, and while she's not an actress, I didn't think her cameo was that bad. Keep in mind that the song went top 10 around the world, reaching #8 in the US and #1 in several countries.
Overall I think DAD is kinda fun, kinda bad, with some laughs and cringing along the way, but okay for an occasional watch.
I have to say that I agree with practically everything you have said here (I even like the theme song!) Up until Bond leaves Cuba, I think DAD is a good, solid Bond film, and the PTS is a real standout. Brosnan does a terrific job until the movie just gets silly and falls apart. Halle Berry is one of the best looking Bond girls ever IMO, but her dialogue and line readings are terrible. She has shown that she can be a pretty decent actress, but not in this movie. Overall, it’s a Bond film and still enjoy it on that basis, and I do like it more than the Moore films. But DAD was an unfortunate swan song for Brosnan. I think he deserved better.
"Felix Leiter, a brother from Langley."
superadoRegent's Park West (CaliforniaPosts: 2,656MI6 Agent
When did the backlash begin? For me, sitting there during the opening weekend, loved the PTS, title song by Madonna, upbeat, modern and IMO fitting for Bond in an avant-garde way, Bond’s capture, very Fleming, his rehabilitation and old-school sojourn to Cuba, more classic and harkening back to Fleming’s Bond’s slight irreverent attitude. The invisible car was actually fun and per Q’s explanation was plausible, as well as the gene therapy. But the precise moment I felt shame on behalf of Bondom was the computer animated tsunami and para-sailing. The last bucket of cold water on my optimism was Grave’s Robocop armor...and I stood up feeling unsure why I clapped along with the audience...so that’s when I think for millions the backlash began!
"...the purposeful slant of his striding figure looked dangerous, as if he was making quickly for something bad that was happening further down the street." -SMERSH on 007 dossier photo, Ch. 6 FRWL.....
As far as I remember, and this may be just my own view influencing my memory, but Pierce was enormously popular as Bond. I think many people believed him to be the best since Connery, if only because they couldn't truly remember Lazenby and Dalton and thought Roger was a bit too silly.
It could be said that some prefer whoever happens to be the current actor or that they only saw the other films when they came out and that's too long ago for them to remember.
I think Daniel Craig is popular because rugged masculinity has been popular over the last few years, and some men like to think
they are cut from the same cloth. It might also be embarrassing for some such men to outwardly support Brosnan as he was so model-pretty, so it would go against the macho image they was to project.
Honestly, coming fresh off of Metal Gear Solid 1 and the whole
stealth camouflage situation, to me Die Another Day is like if video game Bond became movie Bond and those two intersected.
It's not that Bond isn't over the top but it never gets silly. It's not MGS where the two intersect right from the start, it's just a jarring moment though admittedly being a kid when I saw it I thought that it was actually kinda cool.
You can't really look at Die Another Day from any other lens other than the time it was released at, a true time capsule of its age that no other Bond movie really became because all of them have some sort of timeless aspect to them.
This just doesn't. But being nostalgic for a time I was very young at, I look back at Die Another Day fondly just because it reminds me of what early 00s, late 90s media was like. We forget that pretty much every action movie back then was trying to outdo each other. MI2? Matrix Reloaded?
I think it was doomed from the start since it's post 9/11 and this silly. I only can see it being enjoyed by people like me who want to see what that time in action movies was like or someone who can just take it as what it is.
A very flawed movie with some great moments, smeared in poo.
The very moment DAD goes off the rails is when Bond somehow stops his own heartbeat. That's so ridiculously stupid, as is everything else which follows it.
Until that point, however, it's straight and serious.
And it's not just the plot that spoils things but the dialogue - all much smut and too many quips. In my view, when other characters do that (and with far less restraint than Bond himself) something is lost between the relationship that this slightly self-aware protagonist has with the audience.
It's like when the main character breaks the fourth wall (Lovejoy, The Saint, Miranda, Fleabag, House of Cards etc): it's fine but not when someone else does it.
Still, I like the sword fight, and hope to see the film again at some point and try to enjoy it.
Still, I like the sword fight, and hope to see the film again at some point and try to enjoy it.
I wonder why nobody has mentioned the ice chase with the Vanquish. To me, that's another high point of the movie.
And the soundtrack fits in well with there too.
I dunno, it should've ended with them on that hot bath. The rest could be easily cut out to me. Nothing of use there other than to sneer at.
I think Daniel Craig is popular because rugged masculinity has been popular over the last few years, and some men like to think
they are cut from the same cloth. It might also be embarrassing for some such men to outwardly support Brosnan as he was so model-pretty, so it would go against the macho image they was to project.
Comments
I have to say that I agree with practically everything you have said here (I even like the theme song!) Up until Bond leaves Cuba, I think DAD is a good, solid Bond film, and the PTS is a real standout. Brosnan does a terrific job until the movie just gets silly and falls apart. Halle Berry is one of the best looking Bond girls ever IMO, but her dialogue and line readings are terrible. She has shown that she can be a pretty decent actress, but not in this movie. Overall, it’s a Bond film and still enjoy it on that basis, and I do like it more than the Moore films. But DAD was an unfortunate swan song for Brosnan. I think he deserved better.
It could be said that some prefer whoever happens to be the current actor or that they only saw the other films when they came out and that's too long ago for them to remember.
I think Daniel Craig is popular because rugged masculinity has been popular over the last few years, and some men like to think
they are cut from the same cloth. It might also be embarrassing for some such men to outwardly support Brosnan as he was so model-pretty, so it would go against the macho image they was to project.
stealth camouflage situation, to me Die Another Day is like if video game Bond became movie Bond and those two intersected.
It's not that Bond isn't over the top but it never gets silly. It's not MGS where the two intersect right from the start, it's just a jarring moment though admittedly being a kid when I saw it I thought that it was actually kinda cool.
You can't really look at Die Another Day from any other lens other than the time it was released at, a true time capsule of its age that no other Bond movie really became because all of them have some sort of timeless aspect to them.
This just doesn't. But being nostalgic for a time I was very young at, I look back at Die Another Day fondly just because it reminds me of what early 00s, late 90s media was like. We forget that pretty much every action movie back then was trying to outdo each other. MI2? Matrix Reloaded?
I think it was doomed from the start since it's post 9/11 and this silly. I only can see it being enjoyed by people like me who want to see what that time in action movies was like or someone who can just take it as what it is.
A very flawed movie with some great moments, smeared in poo.
Until that point, however, it's straight and serious.
And it's not just the plot that spoils things but the dialogue - all much smut and too many quips. In my view, when other characters do that (and with far less restraint than Bond himself) something is lost between the relationship that this slightly self-aware protagonist has with the audience.
It's like when the main character breaks the fourth wall (Lovejoy, The Saint, Miranda, Fleabag, House of Cards etc): it's fine but not when someone else does it.
Still, I like the sword fight, and hope to see the film again at some point and try to enjoy it.
And the soundtrack fits in well with there too.
I dunno, it should've ended with them on that hot bath. The rest could be easily cut out to me. Nothing of use there other than to sneer at.