007 – Tomorrow Never Dies Review

Ladies and gentlemen, we all know that tomorrow

never lies. And before we get to this episode

here in the Shaken on Stard Spotlight, I wanted

to give a special shout out to two of the Movie

Week in Review and Geekcast Radio Network listeners

and fans. First off to Brad Mull for responding

to my request for the GoldenEye. Tomorrow Never

Dies, World Is Not Enough music. uh... very very

awesome send offers services i did not get his

email and sorry brad i don't know what happened

uh... i'd reached out to one of our long -time

fans jason jackson said hey i want to make the

episodes uh... for the broson era really awesome

uh... and to do that in music to under the conversation

that movie role then i had during these episodes

and jason stepped up to the plate gifted me goldeneye

tomorrow ever dies and the world is not enough

soundtracks uh... on itunes thank you so much

jason very very awesome i'm sorry i didn't get

to do this uh... little intro in the goldeneye

episode in the middle of editing that i completely

forgot i remembered at the end i'm like ahhh

fuuuuck now i gotta go back to the beginning

and edit this but i just couldn't do it. Thank

you, Jason. Thank you for the offer, Brad. Jason,

thank you so much for donating this stuff to

make the podcast even more awesome. And now,

without any further ado, James Bond. Action stations.

Aye, aye, sir. Sound the general alarm. The Chinese

pilot insists we're inside their territorial

waters and he will fire an act of violence. Torpedo,

torpedo, torpedo. It was an unprovoked attack

on a ship in international waters. The promise

of war. And instead of decisive action, all you

want to do is investigate. My goal is to prevent

World War III, Admiral. Now, the world has only

one chance for peace. When will our ships be

in position? Forty -eight hours. And just one

man for the job. Bond. James Bond. How much do

you know about Elliot Carver, 007? Worldwide

media power, newspapers, radio, satellite TV.

There's no news. Like bad news. I understand

you once had a relationship with Cobb as well.

Was it something I said? How about the words,

I'll be right back? I'm from the new China News

Agency. Looking for a new story? You could have

taken care of him. Let the mayhem begin. Your

new BMW. Do you need collision coverage? Yes.

Property destruction? Definitely. Personal injury?

Accidents do happen. Grow up, 007. The syndrome

developed a certain attachment. I get to work

with a decadent agent of a corrupt western power.

I think you've found the right decadent. The

corrupt western agent is a part now. Phase two

is underway. This holiday season, what the hell

is he doing? His job, the world belongs to Bond.

When you remove Mr. Bond's heart, there should

just be enough time for him to watch it stop

beating. I would have thought watching your TV

shows was torture enough. Sign up today to get

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on Twitter at audible underscore com And now

the latest and greatest in movies with mwire

Let the mayhem begin. Hello and welcome to Shaken,

Not Stirred, M .Y .R.'s Spotlight on the Bong

films, which is brought to you by the GeekCast

Radio Network and Audible .com. I am one of your

hosts, T .O .J. Mike, and joining me as always

is movie revolt Dan, hello. Hello, how are you?

Pretty good, pretty good, because tomorrow never

dies. Yes, we are here once again to talk about

the second entry into the Brosnan era. of Bond

and When did you first did you see this one in

theaters? I think you said you did a couple weeks

ago I didn't see it was the first Bond movie

I saw but I didn't see it in theaters actually,

it took a quite a long time before I saw a bond

movie in theaters, but it this came out around

the time of the game and when eventually hit

Home media I saw it then like right when it came

out and then I went back and saw a golden eye

kind of went out of order there, but yeah, it

was one of the first Bond movies I think I went

out and purchased myself rather than kind of

watching it with a family member or a friend.

Mm hmm. Right. Yeah. For me, I think this was

a dollar theater one. I don't think I went to

a major like I don't I don't think I went to

opening weekend. Normally for me, at least nowadays

in my, you know. old age of nearly 33 years next

year um you know I try to if I can go I try to

go see movies on opening day because normally

I go during the day to matinees um but I don't

think I I remember seeing this in the theater

but I don't think it was like an opening day

or an opening weekend or anything like that I

think it was like later when it got to I remember

seeing 97 But it was when it transitioned to

the dollar theaters. Well, of course you didn't

get opening day, because opening day you went

to go see Titanic, right? That's right. I had

to punch you right through the internet. Oh,

God. Yeah, that's the sad thing. I sat three

and a half hours for a girl for that fucking

movie. Titanic. Give me a break. And you missed

out on the Bond movie. That's just... I mean,

that's... Yeah, yeah. That's love with a capital

L right there. Yeah, the sad thing is she broke

up with me like three days later High school

romance at its worst. Yeah But no tomorrow ever

dies is the is the second of the Brosnan films

and Yeah, so we're gonna head it on over to JT

with just the facts Tomorrow Never Dies opens

with 007 spying on a gathering of terrorists

in the mountains of the Afghan -Russian border

where an illegal weapons swap meet is taking

place. Everything is on sale there, from guns

to military hardware. After Bond transmits some

images back to MI6, several of the men there

are identified and it appears that a CIA decoder

capable of reprogramming GPS devices is among

the items up for sale. Watching from London,

M and Admiral Roebuck watch intently. Robuck

decides to order a missile strike on the meat,

and M orders Bond to withdraw. He refuses, and

then shows everyone why. There's a Russian fighter

jet there that has a nuke torpedo strapped to

its belly. Robuck orders the missile and board

it, but it's too far out of range, and Bond then

makes his way across the area, knocking out thugs,

blowing up fuel barrels, generally creating chaos

as only he can. He boards the jet, knocking out

the radar operator in the backseat, and tries

to take off. With the missile closing in, Bond

takes off, just barely missing the other jet.

The base is engulfed in flames but Bond sails

clear and is on his way home when the guy in

the back wakes up. And the other jet shows up

firing on 007. Bond then shows why he is who

he is by using his knees to control the plane

while dodging enemy fire and keeping the co -pilot

from strangling him with a piece of wire. 007

then manages to position himself underneath the

other jet and injects his co -pilot into it causing

it to explode. While Bond returns to Lund, the

HMS Devonshire is on patrol in the South China

Sea when two Chinese mages do a flyover, the

Chinese claiming the ship has violated their

waters. The crew check their instruments, which

say they are still in international waters. What

neither side knows is that they are being manipulated

by Henry Gupta, a hacker who is at the weapons

sale Bond broke up and is using the CIA decoder

in its possession. The Devonshire is also being

followed by a stealth ship, captained by a German

man named Stamper. He orders a sea drill torpedo

to be fired at the British ship, which the Brits

take for a Chinese torpedo. The drill pierces

the ship, which causes the captain to order all

hands to abandon ship after sending a message

to British naval command. When the MiGs fly over

again, Stemper then has them shot down. He also

has the surviving Brit sailors shot using Chinese

ammo, all in the orders of his employer who is

working from a production studio of some sort.

A team of divers then goes down to the sunken

Devonshire to make their way to the missile room

and steal one of the cruise missiles they're

in. Stemper then calls back to his boss, media

mogul Elliot Carver, as he manipulates his empire

to create chaos throughout the world. After conversing

with Stemper about the progress of his mysterious

agenda, Carver orders his group of media trolls

to run the story of the British Navy attacking

China around clock. Bond returns to MI6's M and

Admiral Roebuck are arguing about how to proceed.

M says there was an unidentified signal that

may have led the Devonshire off course. Roebuck

would rather send the fleet in and prepare for

war, which leads M to burn the pompous Admiral

like 007 himself. Nonetheless, M urges the Minister

of Defence to be patient. But Bond arrives with

a copy of Carver's newspaper called Tomorrow,

which has a headline about the supposed murder

of the British sailors. The minister then gives

M and Bond 48 hours to defuse the situation before

the fleet is sent in. As they speed towards the

airport, M respond that the signal came from

one of Carver's satellites and that she suspects

that he may be involved, otherwise how would

his newspaper know about the killing already?

She also advises Bond to use his former relationship

with Paris, Carver's wife, if needed, to discover

what Carver is up to. Bond heads to Hamburg,

Germany and is met by Q, who gives 007 a tricked

out cell phone, complete with taser, fingerprint

scanner, and a remote control for his BMW 750.

Bond attends the opening gala for Carver's new

media network that night, passing himself off

as a banker. He finds Carver entertaining his

guests with some tall tales when he meets Wei

Lin, a Chinese reporter who has crashed the party

to meet with Carver. With the mobiles distracted,

Bond goes to talk with Paris, who is angry with

Bond about how he left her. While they reminisce,

they are observed by Gupta, while Carver gives

his inaugural speech to launch his network. Bond

is taken aside by some of Stamford's men, but

he escapes and sabotages the launch. Bond returns

to his hotel and is visited by Paris, who has

been sent there by Carver to learn what he knows.

Despite his best efforts, or lack thereof, to

send Paris home, Bond gives in to his passion

for her and they go to bed together. Back at

the studio, Carver looks over the surveillance

of Bond in Paris and realizes that his wife lied

to him when she asked her about Bond. He then

asks Hupta to set Paris up with an appointment

with The Doctor. The following morning, Bon offers

to protect Paris from her husband. She refuses,

believing that no one can protect her. She does

let Bon know of a secret lab in his studio building

that Bon later breaks into. He finds a CIA decoder

there while searching the lab. He also runs into

Weyland, who breaks into the lab through the

front door, setting off an alarm. Bon is chased

by Carver's guards as Weyland escapes, and he's

eventually cornered on a moving catwalk over

the printing press of Carver's newspaper. 007

fights off the guards, ending the scrap when

he knocks the last guard right into the printing

press. As Bond makes his way back to the hotel,

he gets a call from Carver who wants the decoder

back. He also mentions Paris is still in Bond's

hotel room. Bond rushes back there, locking the

BMW down with Q's security system, and goes to

his room, where he finds Paris dead, killed by

Dr. Kaufman, an assassin hired by Carver to kill

Bond and make it look like a suicide. Just as

he is about to do it, Kaufman is alerted by Stemper

that the other Dunes cannot get into the BMW.

Kaufman demands Bond show him how to deactivate

the security, and Bond shows him how to do it,

but really he tricks Kaufman into tasing himself

with a phone. Bond then turns the gun back on

the doctor and kills him for what he did to Paris.

With the police closing in, Bond escapes and

makes his way back to the garage, where he uses

his remote control to activate a smoke screen

and get into the backseat of the car. Speeding

off with the goons in hot pursuit, Bond uses

every gadget cue built into the car, tire shredders,

missiles and the like, to take them all out.

Bond finally escapes by dragging the car through

a wall and down into a car rental agency across

the street. Bond next heads for the South China

Sea, where he reunites with Jack Wade. Wade tells

Bond the U .S. is staying neutral for the moment,

but he has brought a specialist to examine the

decoder. It turns out he was altered to allow

Gupta to ever so slightly direct the Devonshire

off course. As part of Carver's, Wade then sends

Bond up with a halo jump that gets him near the

sunken British ship. Swimming into the wreck,

Bond discovers the theft of the cruise missile

and Wei Lin? Before you can find out anymore,

Bond and Wei Lin are trapped by an under -seen

rockslide, and they escape through an access

panel and get to the surface, only to find Stemper

and his men waiting in Wei Lin's boat. Bond and

Wei Lin are taken to Carver's new building in

Saigon, where it's revealed Wei Lin is basically

Bond's opposite number from the Chinese Secret

Service. Carver, who by now has been shown to

be a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic,

is writing their obituaries as they try to convince

him that they've been working together for months.

Harvard doesn't buy it and hands him off the

stemper, a student of Dr. Kaufman, to be tortured

for information. Despite being handcuffed together,

the pair of agents leap into action, fighting

off their captors and making a run for it. They

become trapped on the roof, but use a huge canvas

portrait of Carver to rappel down the side of

the building to a lower floor. When they get

outside, with guards hot on their tail, Bond

hotwires a motorcycle and they take off through

the streets of Saigon, going around, over, and

sometimes through everything in their path. when

they become trapped in a blind alley by a Carver

Media Group copter. Bond executes a perfect high

-speed slide under the spinning rotor blades,

and Weyland jams the rear rotor with a clothesline,

causing it to crash. Once they catch their breath,

Bond suggests they work together, but Weyland

isn't fond of the idea and handcuffs Bond to

a pipe. Bond follows her to a safe house and

arrives just in time, as a bunch of thugs sent

by a co -conspirator of Carver shows up to kill

her. Weyland handles herself easily enough, but

Bond steps in at the last moment to prevent her

from being killed. Now working together, Weyland

says that General Chang, the man who sent the

thugs, has been stealing stealth material from

his base, and this clues Bond in. He realizes

Carver must have built the stealth boat that

attacked the Devonshire, but still isn't sure

what the end game is. As Weyland sends messages

to both the Chinese and British governments,

Bond gears up, and they deduce that the stealth

boat must be harbored near an island with an

unusually high number of disappearances. Once

night falls, they covertly board the stealth

ship and begin planting mines, hoping if they

damage it enough, the British and Chinese fleets

will make short work of the ship. While they

do this, Carver fighter shots at both fleets

disturb the pot, as at the same time, M receives

Bon's message that has the fleet start searching

for the stealth ship. Stemper finds and captures

Wei Lin and brings her before Carver, who starts

monologuing. He and Chang plan to kill all the

top tier Chinese political and military personnel

who are at a meeting set up by Chang, which will

most likely start World War III. Chang will become

the new leader of China, and Carver gets exclusive

media rights to the country for the next hundred

years. You know, that old chestnut. After planting

a delayed explosive, Bond captures Gupta and

holds him hostage, trying to trade him to a somewhat

crazed Carver for Wei Lin. But as Gupta has outlived

his usefulness, Carver shoots him dead, and Bond

sets off his hidden grenade, which damages the

ship so that it shows up on British radar screens.

The two fleets begin peppering the sea with artillery

fire as Wei Lin escapes and wrecks the engines,

while at the same time Bond causes havoc with

a rocket launcher, then engages in a gun battle

with Stemper. But the British score a direct

hit on the stealth ship, and the crew starts

to abandon the boat. Carver attempts to launch

the missile when Bond captures him, and in possibly

the most gruesome but really satisfying villain

death in the entire Bond series, Bond feeds Carver

head first to the drill torpedo. Bond then tries

to disable the missile, which is still going

to launch when Stemper arrives with Wei Lin and

Chains. He drops her into the ocean after she

hands him some detonators to attach to the missile,

then goes after Bond. After a brief but vicious

struggle, Bond pins Stemper's foot with the missile,

then dives for Wei Lin. sets off the detonators

which kills Stamper and devastates the stealth

boat. Bond rescues Weyland from drowning and

we end the film with Bond and Weyland making

out as the British ship searches for them. Tomorrow

Never Dies opened during the Christmas of 1997

and was directed by Roger Spottiswoode, who also

directed such movies as Air America and Turner

and Hooch. The film was Pierce Brosnan's second

appearance in 007, and he was joined in the cast

with Michelle Yeoh as Wei Lin, Terry Hatcher

as Paris Carver, Jonathan Price as Elliot Carver,

Gotts Otto as Stemper, and Joe Don Baker and

Judi Dench reprising the roles of Jack Waid and

Em respectively. The film had a budget of $110

million, which it made back just about three

times over, clocking in at a total $340 million

worldwide. Critical reception was mixed on this

film, as it has a nearly rotten rating of 57

% on Rotten Tomatoes. Much like its predecessor,

Tomorrow Never Dies received mixed reviews from

the film critics. Echoing his review of GoldenEye,

Kenneth Turan of the LA Times said the film had

been there, done that feeling, and that little,

if anything, was changed from the previous film.

But on the flip side of that was Roger Ebert,

surprisingly, who gave the film three out of

four stars. Ebert wrote that Tomorrow Never Dies

gets the job done, often with style, and he also

said that the villain, Elliot Carver, was slightly

more contemporary and plausible than usual Bond

villains, and brought a subtle sense of social

satire to the film. Now, did you know that the

original title of the film was going to be Tomorrow

Never Lies? It was to make use of the fact that

Carver used the in -movie newspaper to distort

the truth in the course of his evil plot. In

an early script draft, someone goofed and producers

decided that Tomorrow Never Dies made a better

title. Also, Sir Anthony Hopkins was an early

choice to play Carver, but had to drop out due

to scheduling. And did you know that the stealth

ship in the film is actually loosely based on

a prototype that the Lockheed Corporation, you

know, the company that made the SR -71 stealth

jet, built it in the early 1980s? Kind of neat

that is. Also Terry Hatcher is awesome because

she took the role of Paris so that she could

fulfill her husband's dream of being married

to a Bond girl. That's a devoted wife ladies

and gentlemen. And of course the theme song Tomorrow

Never Dies was provided by Sheryl Crowe who actually

beat out several other singers and bands in a

competition to perform the song. Tomorrow Never

Dies is a decent Bond film. I'm not going to

lie, it's got some great one -liners, excellent

use of gadgetry, and two very sexy Bond girls.

But there's one thing that bothers me, and it's

probably the fact that you could replace the

Carver Media Group and Elliot Carver with Fox

News and Rupert Murdoch and you'd get the same

movie. But overall, great film. This has been

Just the Facts for Tomorrow Never Dies. I'm JT

from Saskatoon, sending it back to TFGON Mike

and MWire. Thank you as always, JT, for just

the facts on Tomorrow Never Dies. This is an

interesting entry into the Bond film franchise.

Elliot Carver is essentially a joke of Rupert

Murdoch. Yeah, it's odd to see Bond kind of have

a kind of political backdrop. It's not something

you usually associate with a Bond movie. They're

usually just kind of straightforward and fun

to kind of be a part of, you know, the politics

of the time or kind of have a political or satirical

message is not something commonly associated

with the Bond films. So, again, let's go ahead.

Even though JT talked briefly about the cast

in the in the Just the Facts, let's go ahead

and break it down for you guys. Obviously Brosnan's

back. Backseat driver. Each film that I watch

him as Bond, it just gets better and better and

better. Jonathan Price is Elliott Carter, the

media mogul. Modeled on Robert Maxwell, but analyzed

as satire on Rupert Murdoch. completely insane

and possibly even psychopathic with scant regard

for any of the lives destroyed or simply taken

as a result of his media ambition I I don't know

it's like there's a there's like strange conflict

between Bond and Carver Bond essentially makes

a joke out of Carver. Like at every turn in the

picture. And then Carver just, you know, wants

to kill those bastards. You know what I mean?

Yeah, Carver is a hard character to kind of sum

up. Like usually, you know, with Bond villains,

there's kind of a certain straightforward motivation

or you can kind of see how these characters relate

to one another but with Carver he's kind of over

the place at times and he's just like they mentioned

he's completely kind of insane and um i don't

know he's he's a strange idea for bottom villain

because he's not one he's not this you know insane

scientist or this dude who wants to take over

the world he's kind of he's a meteor mogul and

usually brazen's dealing with terrorists and

so it's it's an odd It's an honest idea. I mean,

it's one that's a little bit different, and I

appreciate them kind of going against the norm.

But in a way, it goes against what Bon did before,

but then it still stays true to what Bon always

does, but in kind of more of a negative way,

because it, I don't know, it kind of ends up

just being a basic Bon plot in the end. But yeah,

I like Jonathan Price's performance. I think

he's very charismatic, and I think he enjoys

being evil. but it's it's i don't know it's it's

hard it's a hard thing to quantify basically

yeah um and for the Bond Girls you've got Michelle

Yeoh as Colonel Wei Lin a skilled Chinese spy

in Bond's eye what is it with Bond Girls here

i i don't see the appeal of her again to me in

this film she is more so a friend than someone

he should eventually sleep with. And throughout

the entire film, you know, she even basically

says, hands off. Yeah. I mean, there's even that

line when they're on their bike. When they're

on the bike in the bike chase scene, she's like,

don't get any ideas. And he's like, I wouldn't

dream of it. You know, I don't see her as a Bond

girl. I see her as an action star. And I see

why Way -Lynn was supposedly going to get her

spinoff series. of films because of this, but

I just, I don't feel that she's a decent bond

girl at all. I can understand not seeing like

a relationship between them, but I feel like

since this is like the nineties and you, you

have, it's not like the free sex is kind of over

at this point. It's safe sex as they kind of

point out. Yeah. And I think when I'm watching

this, it's almost like what they do is they kind

of take the action style of Goldeneye, add in

a little bit of a political backdrop, and then

tie in a plot line similar to The Spy Who Loved

Me. And I kind of saw that interplay between

Bond and Wei Lin as similar to The Spy Who Loved

Me. that relationship in that movie, where it

was business first, pleasure second. And I think

why I like Raelynn, I agree that her and Bond

don't really have any type of chemistry whatsoever,

but I appreciate that she's an actual character

that I feel is one of Bond's equals. And that's

very, very rare for a Bond girl. She's not a

Bond girl in the sense that she is... The sexual

bond girl exactly, but she's a bond girl in the

sense that she can hold her own a Michelle Yeah,

I was a great actress and she can also do action

she can do both and I that's why I think I think

she's more respected for that ability more so

than her her sex appeal sexuality, yeah, you

know, it just doesn't like Again between Goldeneye

and tomorrow never dies you have two Between

the two films you have four women two each are

I wouldn't say over sexualized but kind of and

then two who aren't who are essentially under

sexualized whereas Natalia the character of Natalia

and here with Way -Lynn They're just meant to

be I mean, yes Way -Lynn obviously is better

than Natalia because she is more of an action

star feature thing And then you've got Terry

Hatcher versus Zenia Onatop, or not, Mrs. Cartman.

You've got Famke Jansen versus Terry Hatcher,

whereas Famke Jansen's Zenia Onatop is so overtly

over -sexualized in her performance and the character.

And Terry Hatcher, again, like I said last time

with Goldeneye, What I love about Brosnan Bond

is we see new backstories. We don't see him continuing

from film to film as in a serialized story, but

we see different aspects from this version of

Bond's life. And what I love about this film

is the fact that they reference that Terry Hatcher's,

you know, Paris Carver was a former girlfriend

of Bond. You know, almost. Would have been much

more believable if she was his wife other than

you know that other movie that she'll not be

named You know and I really love that about it

what I find really weird about Terry Hatcher

in this film is I believe at the time she was

pregnant so learning that having a Pregnant bond

girl, it's little little strange, but You know

overall I dug her as you know as the you know

as bonds previous girlfriend lover or whatever

I mean And the the only time anyone would have

seen her before this obviously was as Lois Lane

and Lois and Clark and Lois and Clark the new

adventures of Superman I actually saw her at

during that during Lois and Clark. I saw her

in something else with Andrew Dice Clay brain

-smasher a love story weird weird ass film I

would assume she's off the title and the cast

Yeah, Terry Hatcher was three months pregnant

when shooting started. Her publicist stated that

the pregnancy did not affect the production schedule.

Hatcher later regretted playing Paris Carver,

saying that it's such an artificial kind of character

to be playing that you don't get any special

satisfaction from it. I kind of disagree with

her thoughts on it. I thought, yes, it's kind

of like what you said earlier. Usually the first

Bond girl you see in a film is usually the one

that dies. Yeah. You know. And it's one of those

things where I Thought there was a lot to the

role, even though it was a short -lived role

No pun intended there You know, but I thought

it was great because of what it meant to bond

see, I guess I don't know I I under I felt she

was more of a like a plot of an actual character

and I guess maybe because I felt Terry Hatcher

maybe because it was because she was pregnant

at the time, which I didn't realize. I just felt

she kind of, I don't know, she felt like she

was just kind of going through the motions with

that role. I just, I don't know. You felt phoned

it in just because she didn't want to be there

maybe? Yeah. JT mentions it in just the facts,

but she kind of did it for her husband. And I

think you can kind of tell because she doesn't

seem all that invested or she kind of regrets

being there at the moment. I kind of feel like

the reason they got her was more because it's

a name and it's this idea like, okay, we know

who she is. And usually if you see someone you

recognize, they're going to be in the movie for

a long period of time, but then she dies. So

that death is supposed to be a shock based upon

the meta knowledge that we bring in. And I think

that's more of the reason why she was there than

any, any other. And I guess, I don't know. I'd

never really, I understand. I never really felt

a like, like with Wei Lin or with her, had any

chemistry with Bond, I just felt like she, I

don't know, she was just there. That's basically

all I took out from her role in the movie. And

then for the lamest henchmen, you've got Goitze

Otto as Richard Stamper, Carver's henchman who

is skilled in the art of chakra torture. Between

this guy and what's his name from license to

kill the two of them can just we can just put

them in a hole Just put them in a hole in the

ground because they both suck as henchmen Yeah,

he's a very much a knockoff of red grant But

not nearly as good not nearly as remember memorable

or not nearly as effective He he's all look in

no talk. He yeah, I agree. What are the one of

the worst bond and friend? I think you know Now,

I initially liked Ricky J as Henry Gupta until

he started saying, excuse me, excuse me, excuse

me. I was just waiting for him to say, excuse

me, princess. That's really honestly what I was

waiting for him to say. Again, you know, another

henchman that just, he's memorable for a brief

time, but that's it. Yeah, he I think we talked

about with Goldeneye that it had a really strong

cast and I think with this It's it's definitely

a step down. There are some good performances

here, but it's not nearly as deep We're not nearly

as strong as what came before like the last one.

There's good role up to good actor in this It's

kind of you have to pick and choose or a lot

of different performances that kind of leave

you cold compared to Goldeneye Yeah And then

you got Jonan Bagger coming back as Jack Wade.

This is the final film we see Wade in, right?

Yes, I don't think he comes back. Yeah, he doesn't

come back in World is Not Enough. You have Vincent

Shavelli, as I hope I said that right, as Dr.

Kaufman, professional assassin used by Elliot

Carver. Now, they could have essentially done

away with or given a smaller character role to

the guy that played Stamper and made Kaufman

the one that actually does all the stuff that

Stamper does? Yeah. I mean it's essentially the

same damn role for the two of them because as

it says in the film, Stamper is a student of

Dr. Kaufman. Well... Why would you want the fucking

student there when you can have the damn teacher?

Exactly, and I kind of I thought Kaufman was

superior in a lot of ways and I almost got a

scar among a vibe from him I don't think he was

as good as Christopher Lee, but he I felt I don't

know if that was purposeful or not But I just

this is demeanor and the way he carried himself

felt very similar to that of scar among us Maybe

they kind of went to the same assassin school.

Yeah Yeah, I mean it was Mean I I guess the way

that the plot is is laid out in the film. You

kind of need both of them I don't I died, you

know, you know looking at it now and thinking

about it I don't think that that that the Kaufman

character would do All the dumbass things that

the that stamper has to do So I understand why

they're both there but if it was just rewritten

just a little bit it would have been you know

Could have been a little bit better. Of course,

Judy didn't mean Dame Judy Dench's Dame Judy

Dent is back as M And again what I love about

M Judy Dench is M as the Brosnan films are progressing

you see her You know not always, you know having

to think with her balls You know, you know you

you you always you know You see her from film

to film progress, especially with the relationship

between her and Brosnan Bond, because it's more

of... I wouldn't say a mother -son relationship

between Brosnan and Denchizam, between Brosnan

Bond and Denchizam, but it's more of, like, not

really best friends, but over the films they

become so close that... Don't know what what

kind of vibe do you get off of their off the

relationship between? Judy Dench's em and bras

and bond and in a way it is I can see here as

a combination of both almost like a motherly

figure but also it's like a One that they kind

of look at each other as equals. Yes. M is his

bond superior, but I think M recognizes how she

needs bond and bond needs M and I think that

I feel like they feel they're two people surrounded

by incompetence sometimes. I feel like they're

the ones, they know they can trust each other

and they're allowed to work. That's a very important

part because you can't trust many people. So

I always feel like it's a mutual trust and that

relationship, it's just they confide in one another

and then challenge one another because they know

they have to in order to make sure that the job

is done. Yeah, I agree with that. Of course,

Desmond Llewellyn is Q, which this, okay, I love

the scene in GoldenEye, but this to me might

be the best funny Q scene we've gotten, possibly

in the entire franchise. I see the Q scene here.

I see Q and Bond as father and son. Because this

was and I think I think he was used the line

before but this was like the first time that

it really Resonate with me grow up 007 You know,

I think it really really resonated with me there

and then when we get to what happens in the next

film Because of Desmond's passing We'll get there

Samantha Bond once again is back is Miss Moneypenny

You know James won't be pumping her for any information

anytime soon. But no, I still love Samantha Bond

as Moneypenny, just absolutely awesome. You've

got Jeffrey Palmer as Admiral Roebuck, Em's contentious

military contact. You've got Colin Salmon as

Charles Robinson, Em's chief of staff. I love

Robinson. He's so great. It's such a great character

between him and Tanner. If you look at MI6 in

the Brosnan area, you've got M, Q, Bond, Tanner,

and Robinson, and Moneypenny. Those are the six

main MI6 characters. I love all those characters.

They're just all so great, and Colin Sammon did

an amazing job as Robinson. Yes, damn it. I can

see it. It's right in front of me on the screen.

Yeah, I completely agree It's a great continuation

of those characters that go on each film at these

a great a great combination of M and all of her

staff That were that were pretty solid in this

movie. Yeah Last one I'm gonna talk about I don't

know if you want to bring up any other ones because

they're kind of like the minister to defense,

there's a crewman, and then there's Admiral Kelly,

commander of the Royal Navy. I mean, there's

not really any. But the third, and probably the

most unique, quote unquote, bond girl, Cecily

Thompson, or yeah, yeah, Thompson, as Professor

Inge Bergstrom. To brush up on a little Danish.

Little. I love that chick. I like that it's just

one scene, but at the same time, I could almost

see her as being... I don't know if I could see

her being a mystery. I could almost see her having

a bigger role, like at some point during the

film, whether it be at the end or whatever. Well,

it wouldn't be at the end because of Wei Lin,

but I don't know. I just thought that scene could

have been just a little bit longer. Is there

any other cast members you want to talk about

before we get into anything else? No. I mean,

I guess one other thing is, I guess, I went back

and I didn't catch him. But there, Gerald Butler

from 300, and he's in a lot of stuff. He's in

this as just a throwaway extra type of character.

But he's a crewman on the HMS. Devonshire, but

I personally haven't been able to spot him maybe

because He's a lot younger during this film But

that's kind of an interesting tidbit of information

that he actually appeared as an extra in this

movie Yeah Overall, I think the cast is okay.

It's just it's definitely a step down compared

to GoldenEye Well Let's see, so we've got I Already

talked about the Terry Hatcher stuff Apparently

actress Celia Ward auditioned for the role but

lost out reportedly being told the producers

wanted her but ten years to younger At least

they were straightforward with a response Well,

the funny thing about this is Hatcher was seven

years Ward's junior. Yeah And according to Brosnan,

Monica Bellucci also screen tested for the role,

but the fools said no. The role of Carver was

initially offered to Anthony Hopkins. Now, what

would you think of Anthony, what would you think

of Hannibal Lecter as Elliott Carver? It would

probably be a far more sadistic character. Of

course, you know, I could see him playing that

role Anthony Hopkins is a talented actor. He

has a lot of range but I don't think he would

be as Cami or kind of as he would probably take

himself. Maybe a little too seriously Just knowing

knowing a type of actor he is so him I don't

I think it was probably at the end of the day

the better way to go with Jonathan price just

because I think he would probably take the role

too seriously and not be as fun as Price is.

Yeah. Apparently, Michelle Yeoh wanted to perform

her own stints for the most of the time, but

the director, Spotswood, ruled it too dangerous

and it was prohibited by insurance restrictions.

When Goetze Otto was called in for casting, he

was given 20 seconds to introduce himself, saying,

I am big, I am bad, I am blonde, and I am German.

He did it in five. That got him the role? Oh

my god. Wow, he has a lot more time to introduce

himself in this movie, and he leaves a far less

of an impression on us than he did on them, apparently.

Because I don't see what they were thinking.

I guess he looks the part, but besides that,

he's rather forgettable. You know, some other

in The Justifacts, the original title was Tomorrow

Never Lies. Now... I can see both titles being

used for for marketing because tomorrow never

lies the whole point of that title would would

have been because of Carver's newspaper and how

their news was So accurate because he may essentially

made the news And I understand why they went

with tomorrow never dies because at the same

time you can't Up until you know the end of the

film you don't really get rid of Carver in any

way impossible. So I see why that happens This

film marked the first appearance of the Walther

P -99 as Bond's pistol. It replaces the PPK that

the character had carried in every Eon Bond film

since Dr. No in 1962, with the exception of Moonraker

in which Bond was not seen with a pistol. Walther

wanted to debut its new firearm in a Bond film

which had been one of its most invisible endorsers.

Previously, the P -5 was introduced in Octopussy.

Bon would use the P99 until Daniel Craig reverted

back to the PBK, S007, and Quantum Abortum. So

that's interesting. We gotta talk about the music.

I know a lot of people hate the Sheryl Crow song,

Tomorrow Never Dies theme song. I like it. I

think it's okay. It's not the best Bon theme

ever, but it's not like nails on a chalkboard

horrible. At least to me anyway, it's not. I

don't hate it. I think it does definitely I think

the the running thread with this movie. It's

a step down from step down from from GoldenEye

song with Tina Turner. Yeah, I just don't think

Cheryl Crowell has a vocal range needed for the

coupon team because I think you need someone

with a strong, you know, voice that she doesn't

have. She's hers. She's far more like Poppy than

someone like Tina Turner or Gladys Knight or

something like that. But I don't I don't understand.

Stand that completely hatred that people call

this one of the worst bond songs I think there's

far worse like I think the living daylight song

is I would put below this song and a few others

but it's It's forgettable, but it's not one that's

gonna make me, you know freaking like You know

put a mute on the your skip over it. Yeah, it's

just it's it's serviceable and not much more

Yeah What I love about this movie Is not necessary.

I love the movie in general. I think it's a really

really cool Bond film and it's I Don't know it's

just one of those things with the the music in

this like like the music when he's when bonds

at the at When he breaks into the Hamburg thing

when he breaks into the newspaper plant You know

when he's looking for the encoder Like that that

whole instrumental. I absolutely love that. That's

just absolutely awesome And the music just the

just the instrumental in the score to this is

so so great Alright, let's let's go ahead and

get into our highlights and lowlights all that

stuff highlights for me I freaking love everything

about the beginning of the film the entire Pre

-title sequence is is absolutely amazing absolutely

love it Yeah, I agree. I like how it's a slow

reveal that Bond's the one at the location. We

kind of can assume, but it takes a little bit

for that to come forth. And it's a great combination

of both thrilling action and humor, using an

ejector seat as a weapon. I mean, something we've

seen before in a Bond movie, but not with a jet.

So that was kind of cool. But yeah, I agree.

It's a very solid beginning of the movie. an

initial reveal to the final jet chase sequence.

Yeah, yeah, I absolutely love it. No, here's

to the gun. All the quips and the funny bits

in this are just so great. Like I said earlier

about Moneypenny saying, you'll just have to

decide how much pumping is needed. The queue

lines. This film is just, it's got so many great

things about it. And all the gadgets. I mean,

best cell phone ever. Well, in 90 standards,

at least. I mean, everybody wanted that phone.

Yeah. Yeah. If it had Angry Bridge on it, it

would be the perfect Christmas gift. Yeah. I

love in the scene, as I said before about the

music, the scene where he's looking for the encoder

and then Way -Lynn breaks in and she sets off

the alarm. I love how when he goes up there,

catches her, she goes back out and the guards

start coming in. He just closes, instead of leaving

the door, he just closes the door in their faces.

I love that. This is so awesome. If you don't,

if... If you're a person who has watched this

film and you cannot appreciate the car chase

in the garage, there's something wrong with you.

That is one of the best car scenes that I have

ever seen. It really shows off the fact that

most Bond cars have a lot of gadgets. Between

the missiles between the the emblem being a saw

blade Between the re -inflating tires and you

can tell There's you I even I put it on my Facebook

page. There's a screencapped a picture of After

bond re -inflates the tires that Brosnan is in

the car just laughing and smiling You can tell

he's having fun during this scene. And then he

returns into the rental agency, although he destroys

the rental agency. Yeah, I agree. That's a really

fun scene, one of the best ones in the film.

My only issue with it, it's a small nitpick,

is they're having all this trouble breaking into

the car, shooting it, and it does absolutely

nothing. Then suddenly, then when he gets into

the car, and then they can blow out the back

window. It's like. Why did the front and back?

Why did like why did apparently when he's in

it, it's not a safe. I don't know. It was a small

nitpick. It's like they went through all that,

didn't leave a dent. But once he gets in the

car, it's the windows are now breakable. But

yeah, the reason why I don't really bother me

because it's really well executed. And like you

mentioned, seeing Brosnan is probably one of

the best at having fun with the role. And he

kind of he. He and his fun kind of trans transforms

into the audience and you can He's having a good

time and it's hard not to kind of go along with

him You know I would have thought watching your

TV shows was torture enough That was just such

a great line Banner surfing. Oh my god a banner

surfing in the Saigon scene. Oh my god That was

just nuts They essentially ripped his face off.

Now I remember at the time of this movie coming

out, I remember, because back then Letterman

was actually enjoyable to watch, I remember watching

David Letterman, a light show with David Letterman,

and I remember, I think it was Pierce that was

on. But yeah, it had to have been Pierce Brosnan

that was on. And they brought with them or somehow...

I don't know how these... I know nowadays it's

all internet -based and everything else, but

in 97, internet was still coming up. It was still

in its infancy. I don't know how a lot of those

TV shows got... I'm sure the company sent it

over reel -to -reel or whatever else, or Betamax

or VHS or whatever. I remember watching Letterman

and they showed the motorcycle sequence, motorcycle

versus helicopter. And that is one of the best

Bond stunts ever. It's just so cool. Yeah, I

mean, the fact that it's practical and what they're

able to do with both a real helicopter and and

that motorcycle, it is great. Like the action

in this, I think I've. We're talking about everything

is a step down, but I think the action is just

as good in this as it was in GoldenEye It's a

lot of fun. It's great mixture. There's nothing

ever felt as repetitive It never feels like they're

just copying copying what came before with GoldenEye

They kind of step it up a notch and that's a

perfect example because that whole chase and

that's a great finale to that chase It's it's

fantastic. It's well executed and I think a big

reason why is because a we have Verizon who can

pull off the action and a bond girl who can also

handle handle her own with the action too, so

Yeah, and again it goes to what I was saying

earlier about How they're more of a at least

to me at least to the very end of the film. They're

more of a Old married couple because they're

constantly arguing with each other Also, love

the scenes later when they're in her her base

of operations I think that was an amazing amazing

scene who's so funny always been a fan of Chinese

technology What did you like about tomorrow never

dies well you touched upon a good amount of it

again the remote control car chase. Bon has so

many great car chases, and this is easily in

the top five. A, in fact, it's remote control.

It's kind of crazy. The Bon car with all of its

different gadgets, a lot of fun. The opening,

a lot of really good, a combination of really

good action set pieces. I love Michelle Yao as

Weyland. We mentioned it. I think, again, I agree

that she's Her and bond don't have any type of

relationship besides a working one that works

But I love the fact that she can handle her own

and she never felt like a damsel in distress

she was as just as capable as bond and They're

they've tried that multiple times before they

tried it with spy love me They tried it with

even when we didn't really cover For your eyes

only and I think this is the only time they actually

nailed it they try to get in the future with

died another day and it never works as well as

Decide with Michelle yow because she is a great

actress and she can handle action. I think that's

why she works in so many other fail And Jonathan

prices is very charismatic He's too cartoonish

at times, but I find him fun and I enjoy his

performance He's not one of the best bottom villains,

but he is enjoyable enough and when he thinks

go crazy And he does make you hate him which

is a good job as a villain, and seeing him kind

of perish in the way he does was perfect. And

I like the final action sequence using that crazy

self -sub and how it looked. I mean, that was

a real prototype at the time that was kind of

crap because it didn't work as well as they wanted

it to. But it looks very futuristic, and I love

it when Bond uses real -life Effects that are

just on the cutting edge enough Like even like

in Moonraker. That's the first time we ever see

Space shuttles and this again, they're taking

stuff. That's not really well known but is real

and kind of bringing it to our eyes I love it

when they do things like that. But yeah, so yeah,

most of all the other highlights I think we've

mentioned in one way or another Yeah, I mean

The the stealth boat was just so cool What was

even cooler is how they hunt it down. I thought

that was really, really cool. You know, kind

of transitioning but not really into the little

lights. Stamper is good for one -liners. Knock,

knock. You know, what was the other one he had?

He had... and now they're wondering why it hasn't

exploded let's go upstairs like like that whole

thing i like that um but yeah carver getting

drilled in the head at the end was one way of

of just and i see the whole adversary thing here

between bond and carver but There's so many Bond

films where the There's there a number of them

where the main villain dies first and then some

other henchmen will come back. Yeah at least

in this case with this one because Bond killed

Kaufman, you know after all he's just a professional

doing a job, but You know Bond killed Kaufman

who was Stamper's You know mentor You know he

even said I was like a father to him But it's

it's just so weird so transitioning into lowlights

for me I initially didn't write anything down,

but now that I'm thinking of it I really hate

the slow motion scene with Michelle yo with Wayland.

I hate that slow motion gun scene they They make

it out to be okay She only has two bullets left

or she only has one bullet left or whatever else,

and there's like two guys that are shooting down

at her or something or other, and she's standing

there, she's brushing her hair out of her eye,

and she's like, okay. And just the whole effect

of the slow -mo, the slow -mo in this to me is

worse than the water scenes, the slow -motion

of the water scenes of her and Bon diving down

to the Devonshire. I hate that gun sequence,

it's so horrid. Yeah, Jimmy other lights no,

I can't It's all the comedy bits in this that

I enjoy it so much It's really all it is. I mean

that I can't think of anything else You know,

I mean I guess the overall plot or the the overall

plot of the villain it'd be a little oh I want

global media rights and media is the new world

war you know you know media is the new nuclear

device for you know techno terrorism or whatever

else I don't know what did you have what didn't

you like about this one kind of tying up what

you just said with the plot it's Um a bomb plot

that kind of uses a political message But it's

one that has no bite to it and it's one that

just ends up feeling like a spec because it means

vector vector was known for that type of plot

line where they would try to Get two different

countries into war and then it would like reap

the benefits and that's what it felt like But

I didn't understand why they didn't make this

political. It seems like they were trying to

make a political message Maybe they were but

if they were they weren't very successful at

it. Um We mentioned it earlier You're a stamper,

one of the worst bond henchmen. It's extremely

forgettable. Well, I agree with you about the

score. I think overall it's good. I do think

they overuse the bond theme at times. We talked

about movies that just use it appropriately.

I think at times they kind of do it too much.

And I think it's best used sparingly. And then

this went a little too overboard. We mentioned

Terry Hatcher. I didn't really like her. I think

overall when I'm watching it's a good movie and

that's just it It's good it if you look at like

more I think every time they try to do something

different and this I think they kind of settled

and they didn't try to Go big or which is understandable

sometimes going bigger ends up kind of flowing

up in your face, but it just feels good enough.

It's not as good as GoldenEye. I feel like they

just try to repeat the same success and try to

use a lot of the similar elements, but everything

was just good enough. It was fine. The cast was

okay. The action was good, but I don't think

it was as memorable. I think the plot was as

personal or as well carried out as GoldenEye.

I think that's probably the worst thing about

Tomorrow Never Dies is that it's following up

one of the best Bond movies. And it's the best

Bond movies. It's not one of the worst Bond movies.

I think it's right in the middle. It's a very

good Bond movie. I know a lot of people, when

JT and Justin Fax, you know, critically this

is really hated upon. And I don't get that. I

think that's maybe just reaction because it's

not as good as Goldeneye and they want it to

be or what have you. But personally, I think

it's very serviceable. It's fun, good action.

Good characters for the most part and overall

it's a solid entry into the Bond franchise This

film Would probably make like if I was gonna

make a top 23 list it would well, yeah 23 It

would probably be like number 13 12 13 somewhere

in there. I like it for all of its comedy bits.

I like it for the cue scene I like it for all

the different, you know fun things that bond

does But at the same time it's not top 10 material

at all. Yeah, there's nothing I can point to

it and say that's a great moment There's a lot

of good moments. There's nothing I can say that

it's great. I think that's Alright, we're gonna

take a quick commercial break and we'll come

back with our final thoughts and closing out

the show. Security announcement. Passengers are

asked not to leave their baggage unattended.

Guten Tag, kann ich Ihnen helfen? Ja, mein Büro

hat ein Auto reserviert. Ein Moment bitte. Danke

schön. If you just sign here, Mr. Bohn. It's

the insurance damage waiver for your beautiful

new car. Will you need collision coverage? Yes.

Fire? Probably. Property destruction? Definitely.

Personal injury? I hope not, but accidents do

happen. They frequently do with you. Well, that

takes care of the normal wear and tear. Do I

need any other protection? Only from BW -07,

unless you bring that car back in pristine order.

Shall we? Shall we? Your new BMW 750. All the

usual refinements, machine guns, rockets, the

GPS tracking system. Welcome. Please fasten seat

belt and obey all instructions for a safe trip.

Thought you'd pay more attention to a female

voice. I think we've met. I am not interested

in your solid escapades. Let's get on with it,

shall we? Your new telephone. Talk here, listen

here. So that's what I've been doing wrong all

these years, huh? Look, it also includes a fingerprint

scanner and a 20 ,000 volt security system. And

this I'm particularly proud of. The remote control

for your car. Tap twice. One, two. Now, draw

your finger very slowly across the pad. Divide

the car. It's surprisingly difficult to drive,

but with practice... Well, let's see how she

responds to my touch, AQ. Do we understand each

other? Grow up, 007. You can now hear the Geekcast

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cell phone opens the... No, no, no, Mr. Bond.

I do it, yeah? Recall three... A professional

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Final thoughts on Tomorrow Never Dies, sir? Tomorrow

Never Dies is a solid effort. It has issues.

There are problems that persist throughout. The

cast is weaker from what we've expected with

Bronson up to this point, but I think overall

I enjoyed it. Nothing really annoyed me to the

point of, you know, hatred or nothing in this

really bothered me an extreme amount. I thought

it was serviceable. It was good. It had a number

of really good action sequences and it's great

seeing like Brosnan Really coming to his own

s bond. I think he's even better in this Maybe

then and I is having us having one movie behind

him. I think he's even becoming more comfortable

with the role. But yeah Yeah, I agree I Still

think overall GoldenEye is a better film than

this as far as Brosnan coming into his own I

agree with that it's He is and he's he's he got

to show more of just being suave and just being

you know cool calm and collected and also being

you know funny at times, but it's It's not necessarily

a sharp wit. It's it's it's more of you know

This is you know, this is just how Brosnan is

portraying the Bond character, and I just absolutely

love it all around So, we hope you enjoyed this

Bond film review here in M .Y .R.'s Shakin' Nuts

Dirt series and wish you'll join us next time

when we'll be talking about The World Is Not

Enough. Get your twine out of my hair. For now,

I'm T .F .Gio and Michael with Movie Report 10.

Thank you for listening. Until next time. I always

wondered how I'd feel if I ever saw you again.

Now I know. Was it something I said? How about

the words, I'll be right back? Something came

up. Something always came up. And how are you,

Paris? Much better now. We're even. Something

to drink, Miss Carver? Mr. Bond will have a vodka

martini, shaken, not stirred. Miss Carver will

have a tequila. Straight shot. No. Mrs. Carver

will have a glass of Mr. Carver's champagne.

I see you've moved up in the world, Paris. And

tonight you're a banker, as all the guests list.

Tell me, James, do you still sleep with a gun

under your pillow? Backseat driver. White knight

or white rook? I've evacuated the area. Ask the

admiral where he'd like his bombs delivered.