After being caught on a mission in North Korea, held captive, and tortured for 14 months, James Bond begins his 20th screen adventure like we've never seen him before: sporting a Robinson Crusoe look, disavowed by MI6, and forced to go rogue to restore his good name. Hunting for the turncoat who got him captured, Bond's journey from Hong Kong to Cuba to Iceland eventually leads him to a mysterious young tycoon (slithering psychotic Toby Stephens) connected to diamond smuggling and dangerous satellites. Of course, 007 gets a little help, from a sharp, sexy NSA agent named Jinx (Halle Berry). Fresh new stunts and an awesome gadget car chase across a vast frozen lake (and through the corridors of a literal ice castle) are as stimulating and heart-racing as in any Bond thriller. But director Lee Tamahori (Along Came a Spider) blasts right past a perfectly good ending to tack on a superfluous 20-minute action-gimmick epilogue that leaks suspension of disbelief like a sieve, sending the movie into a tailspin as it tries to keep pace with over-the-top pretenders like XXX. Recommended, overall. [Note: Available in widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include an “MI6 DataStream” background info track, audio commentaries (one by director Lee Tamahori and producer Michael G. Wilson; the other by costars Pierce Brosnan and Rosamund Pike), an “Inside Die Another Day” documentary, two storyboard/shot comparisons, four multi-angle interaction sequences, featurettes on title design and digital grading, an “Equipment Briefing” breakdown of five Bond gadgets, Madonna's music video “Die Another Day” (and a making-of featurette on the video), a trailer and making-of segment for EA Games' 007: Nightfire video game, a five-section photo gallery, a multi-angle Easter Egg “Hi Jinx” segment showcasing Halle Berry's water scene reference from Dr. No, TV spots, trailers and DVD-ROM features. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a sure to be popular Bond flick.] (R. Blackwelder)
Die Another Day
MGM, 123 min., PG-13, VHS: $55.99, DVD: $29.98, June 3 Volume 18, Issue 3
Die Another Day
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