Product Description

When his top-secret mission is sabotaged, James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) finds himself captured by theenemy, abandoned by MI6 and stripped of his 00-license. Determined to get revenge, Bond goes head-to-head with a sultry spy (OscarÂ(r) winner* Halle Berry), a frosty agent (Rosamund Pike) anda shadowy billionaire (Toby Stephens) whose business is diamonds but whose secret is a diabolical weapon that could bring the world to its knees! Bristling with excitement and bursting with explosivespecial effects, Die Another Day is an adrenaline-pumping thrill-ride with "stunts and non-stop action [that] will astonish you" (Jeffrey Lyons, WNBC-TV)! *2001: Actress, Monster'sBall

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21343 in DVD
• Brand: MGM
• Released on: 2003-06-03
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .42 pounds
• Running time: 133 minutes

Features

• 2002 - Die Another Day - MGM - Special Edition
• 2-Disc Collectible Set - Over 7 Hours of Bonus Features
• Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Judi Dench
• PG-13 - Widescreen - Best Collectible Release to Date
• Collectible - New

Amazon.com
The 20th James Bond adventure, Die Another Day succeeds on three important fronts: it avoids comparison to Austin Powers by keeping its cheesy humor in check, allows Halle Berry to be sexy and worthy of a spinoff franchise, and keeps pace with the technical wizardry that modern action films demand. Pierce Brosnan's got style and staying power as James Bond, now bearing little resemblance to Ian Fleming's original British super-spy, but able to hold his own at the box office. He's paired with American agent Jinx (Berry) in chasing a genetically altered North Korean villain (Rick Yune) armed with a satellite capable of destroying just about anything. John Cleese and Judi Dench reprise their recurring roles (as "Q" and "M," respectively); they're accompanied by weapons-laden sports cars, a hokey cameo by Madonna (who sings the techno-pulsed theme song), and enough double-entendres to keep Bond-philes adequately shaken and stirred. With clever nods to 007's cinematic legacy, Die Another Day makes you welcome the familiar end-credits promise: James Bond will return. --Jeff Shannon

DVD features
James Bond DVDs have in general been pretty loaded, but Die Another Day raises the bar with a two-disc set featuring dynamic DTS 6.1 ES and Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound that makes good use of the rear speakers. The first commentary track is by Pierce Brosnan and Rosamund Pike (who plays villain Miranda Frost). They weren't together at the time, so their comments are spliced into one track. Brosnan has a good time watching and is proud of the film but also doesn't take himself too seriously ("They don't teach you this stuff at drama school: 'OK, now you're going to be electrocuted by the bad guy.'"). Self-proclaimed "Bond novice" Pike also is proud of the film and says she's annoyed by people who question whether there's still a need for Bond. On the second commentary track, director Lee Tamahori and producer Michael G. Wilson chat about topics as diverse as casting, Bond lore, and product placements. For more Bond lore, don't overlook the trivia track, which offers pop-up tidbits about the filming and tips on the inside jokes.

The centerpiece of the second disc is the 80-minute "Inside Die Another Day" documentary, which is a set of featurettes strung together. Topics include the opening surfing sequence; the scenes set in North Korea and Cuba (including Halle Berry's bikini tribute to Ursula Andress); the ice palace; post-production elements such as computer graphics, editing, and music; the car battle (finding strong ice was the key safety issue); and the passing of the "Q" torch from Desmond Llewellyn to John Cleese. --David Horiuchi

From The New Yorker
James Bond's twentieth cinematic adventure, the fourth with the redoubtable Pierce Brosnan in the lead, gets off to an unsettling start. The pre-credit sequence sees Bond captured by the North Korean military, imprisoned, and tortured. (By the time he's set free, he bears an unfortunate resemblance to John Walker Lindh.) Many believe Bond gave away valuable information under torture, and the movie picks up speed when a revenge-seeking 007 teams up with an American agent nicknamed Jinx (Halle Berry) to clear his name. The usual irresistible Bond-film kicks are on full display, but the teaming of Brosnan and Berry never heats up-he's effortlessly in character, she's all eye candy. Her acting seems very tentative; it helps when she doesn't have to deliver a line. She does, however, have a classic Bond moment-a sexy lifting of her eyebrow before a backward dive off a cliff. The action scenes play well, the high point being a fencing duel between Bond and his nemesis, although a scene with Bond surfing an ice-strewn tsunami is a regrettable bust. Lee Tamahori keeps the film's style squarely in the range of past, personality-free Bond epics. Perhaps the most that can be said of this entertainment-in the innuendo-drenched parlance of the franchise-is that it's well tooled. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful.
An homage to the past...
By Michael D. Kelley
One thing for sure about "Die Another Day": the writers well understood (and paid tribute to) the great Bond movies of the past. The end result is a movie that, while not perhaps as great as the films it honors, certainly takes its place as one of the best modern Bond films made.

Nearly every previous Bond classic is represented here: there is, of course, the acknowledged nod of the head to Dr. No and the famous bikini sequence. But you don't have to look very hard to see many other references. There are depressuring fights on a plane ("Goldfinger"), a great car chase on ice sequence ("The Living Daylights"), Bond leaving the service as a rogue ("License to Kill"), diamond weapon in the sky ("Diamonds are Forever"), the list goes on and on (I would even venture to say there is a tribute of sorts to the foolishness that went on during Roger Moore's Bond days; the unbelievable wind surfing stunt Bond pulls about halfway through is exactly the sort of silliness that Moore did all the time).

Cynics might say this is true of any Bond film nowadays; they are so derivative they resort to stealing from themselves. But I don't think that's the case here. It's pretty clear the writers knew what they were doing when John Cleese even quotes some of the great "Q" lines from the past in his excellent sequence where he provides Bond his new Aston Martin (and now we've come full circle there as well, returning to the car that made Bond famous).

I'm not a big Halle Berry fan, but she's very good here. More to the point are the villians. Toby Stephens and Rick Yune are terrific, as so is Pierce, who ironically is hitting his stride and seems totally comfortable in a role he's soon to give up.

If you've enjoyed the great Bond movies in the past, you're sure to appreciate this one. Even those new to Bond should have fun with the action and adventure.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful.
Looks and Sounds better, BUT..........
By George W. Albertina
The second DVD of "Special Features" doesn't have near as much as the regular release on DVD. The packaging says this DVD has the "Ministry of Propaganda" with original trailers, TV Spots, and Radio Communications.

NEWS FLASH: IT DOESN'T !!!

How annoying !

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful.
Original DVD has Better Extras
By gobirds2
The first hour of DIE ANOTHER DAY is very good and we see James Bond get involved in and out of some situations we thought we would never see on the screen. Not since ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE have we seen this amount of engaging insight into the psyche of James Bond. True to the best films in the series, Bond is not infallible but he is resourceful and loyal and will not be deterred from seeing duty and justice served. The second hour reverts to the superhero version of Bond this time aided by gadgets and computer generated effects that defy all credibility. Where I felt this part of DIE ANOTHER DAY failed in the theater and on the widescreen version, it seems to work much better in Full Screen. The film certainly took a curious turn once the story shifted to Iceland. Looking at it closer I just found the action hard to follow. This Full Screen version seemed to clear a lot of that up. I also thought Toby Stephens gave an excellent performance as Gustav Graves up until the story moved to Iceland. Stephens' character faltered once the film made that shift. Halle Berry as Jinx was adequate as a Bond girl. John Cleese as the new Quartermaster looked more at home than many of the other regulars. I suppose Cleese has some of the best lines in this film. Even though his scene is brief it does make a lasting impression. Madonna's cameo as Verity the fencing coach was a pleasant surprise. Also, her main title song went appropriately well with the film's opening. As for David Arnold's score, I'm beginning to think he can't sustain an entire film on his own compositions. He deliberately seemed to stay away from emulating John Barry's style. You have to give Arnold credit for that. Arnold does seem to demonstrate moments of brilliance especially in his love scene compositions but he should follow the rule of "less is more" when it comes to scoring the action scenes. I like the deluxe packaging and since I am a James Bond fan you can give me a DVD with two discs any day. Of all the extras I thought the segment on the location filming of Spain for Cuba was excellent, as was the overview of the digital imaging process. DIE ANOTHER DAY will remain as one of the most discussed Bond films in the series. That's always good for business.