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- 1997
- PG-13
- United Artists
- 1 h 59 m
- 1997
- PG-13
- United Artists
- 1 h 59 m
Summary When a media mogul (Jonathan Pryce) pits superpowers against each other to further his own agenda, James Bond must step in to prevent global pandemonium.
Directed By: Roger Spottiswoode
Written By: Bruce Feirstein, Ian Fleming
- 1997
- PG-13
- United Artists
- 1 h 59 m
- 1997
- PG-13
- United Artists
- 1 h 59 m
Tomorrow Never Dies
52
7.2
Where to Watch
Summary When a media mogul (Jonathan Pryce) pits superpowers against each other to further his own agenda, James Bond must step in to prevent global pandemonium.
Directed By: Roger Spottiswoode
Written By: Bruce Feirstein, Ian Fleming
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 38 Critic Reviews
52
45% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
45% Mixed
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
11% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 38 Critic Reviews
52
45% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
45% Mixed
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
11% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
From its explosive opening sequence at a terrorist arms bazaar on the Russian border to a knockout climax on a stealth ship on the South China seas, Tomorrow Never Dies delivers what 007 aficionados demand: dynamite action, sharp one-liners and edgy style. [19 Dec 1997, p.4G]
Tomorrow Never Dies is convincing proof that there's life yet in fiction's most famous cold warrior. In fact, because the film shifts the focus from Evil Empires to crazed terrorists, it's possible to walk away with a double good feeling: Not only does good triumph over evil, but countries of differing ideologies are able to work together.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 191 User Ratings
7.2
63% Positive
121 Ratings
121 Ratings
28% Mixed
54 Ratings
54 Ratings
8% Negative
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 191 User Ratings
7.2
63% Positive
121 Ratings
121 Ratings
28% Mixed
54 Ratings
54 Ratings
8% Negative
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
Certainly one of the best 007 Films, with easily the most powerful heroine of all the 007 movies in Michele Yeoh's Wei Lin, who is for once a true equal to Bond. The movie has a nice balance of everything you expect in a 007 film.
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I wouldn't bother with the critic's ratings, but this had got to be one of the best action adventure movies ever, especially for a Bond movie. With seven non-stop action scenes and limited drama, this movie was a blasting thrill in 1997. No other action movie later than 1997 was as performing, predictable and as great as this one.
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Brosnan has toughened up emotionally for his second outing. He's been teamed with Asian action star Michelle Yeoh as Chinese agent Wai Lin, and he's been given a script that provides more fun than the lethargic "GoldenEye." [19 Dec 1997, p.11E]
Tomorrow is propelled by relentless action. Chase scenes are interrupted not by witty conversation or sexy conquests but by the rattle of machine gun fire.
Tomorrow Never Dies works too hard to keep the James Bond franchise going, sacrificing Bond's signature light comedy and stylish playfulness to become just another hectic action movie. [19 Dec 1997]
If more can't be found in Bond than this, I wouldn't object, in principle, to that tuxedo's being hung up in the closet for good.
You can see most of the plugs in the trailer. As most fans of the early, better Bond films know, the only life left in the series is in the gadgets....As for humor, Brosnan can deaden a double-entendre faster than he can change outfits.
Surely this movie is better than Goldeneye, somehow the pace was right. I liked also the villain, who was a media master and the story around him. Brosnan as Bond is very good and now even better. I also liked some other characters like Michelle Yeoh as Wai Lin or the character Dr. Kaufman.
As usual many action scenes were ridiculous, but some action scenes were great.
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“Tomorrow Never Dies” is a serviceable entry in the 007 franchise that excels in setting up an interesting scenario for James Bond to navigate; placing him in the crosshairs of a looming world war in opposition to an influencial madman. Though it stumbles a bit with a number of contrivances, the presentation as a whole draws in a fair measure of intrigue due largely in part to the on screen chemistry between the actors and the concise pacing of the story. Concerning the plot, the film introduces a curious angle wherein the main antagonist, Elliot Carver, weaponizes his news organization to spread misdirection and fallacies in the hopes of sparking a war between China and the Western world. With time running short before both sides are at each other’s throats, Bond is tasked with gleaning information from Carver’s wife; coincidentally an old flame of his. After her demise at the hands of Carver’s henchmen, however, Bond must swiftly alter his plans to accommodate this film’s “Bond Girl” Wai Lin, an agent of similar status within the Chinese government who crops up whenever the story decides that she should. After the two eventually team up to take down Carver and his lackeys aboard his formidable stealth ship, a final act occurs that is satisfactory overall. The greatest strength to the story overall is its palatable narrative and smooth pacing, as Bond’s romantic flings are kept to a reasonable minimum with some logical merit within the story. The greatest weaknesses, however, are the aforementioned contrivances that riddle the plot. These primarily include the character of Wai Lin showing up inexplicably multiple times with no direct through line, and a lack of consistency with Bond’s car’s armor and performance, alongside it happening to contain some abstract gadgets that would have stopped the agent cold in their absence. Though they didn’t destroy the tone completely, they were distracting nonetheless and begged further questions that could have been avoided with better writing.
As for the characters, Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond brought an enjoyable level of wit and humor alongside his debonair mannerisms that fit the role like a glove. Furthermore, this meshed well when placed against the eccentric and megalomaniacal tendencies of Jonathan Pryce’s Elliot Carver, who managed to hold up an intimidating (albeit stereotypical) villainous presence whose greatest downfall stemmed from his penchant for monologueing. Michelle Yeoh’s Wai Lin was fun and competent in equal measure, though could have used a dose of polish to fully flesh out her role within plot, which goes the same for the head goon - Stamper - whose Schwarzenegger-esque performance was only undercut by his lack of backstory. As always, gadget maker “Q” was a treat in his brief appearance, and Bond’s boss “M” was serviceable in her balance of intellect and responsibility for her position without appearing overreaching.
In conclusion, “Tomorrow Never Dies” is a solid entry within the franchise that lends enough plausibility for its streamlined plot and dynamic action sequences to work well alongside each other. Though a tolerable degree of suspension of disbelief is required to enjoy the film for what it is, it doesn’t detract too much from the experience being fulfilling for fans of series and newcomers alike.
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"Tomorrow Never Dies" is filled with some of the worst elements that can be associated with the James Bond franchise: the lazy bricolage, the product placement, the annoying political correctness, the emphasis on action rather than espionage or mystery, while much of what is supposed to be associated with it is frequently absent: the locations are frequently dull or urbane, the cars are uninspiring, and the women are too hard-bodied. It has a glossy, computerised sheen to it; there are almost no plot points and laser shows are sprinkled throughout the encounter.
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I watched all 25 from **** to Spectre (including Never say Never again), I would place Tomorrow Never dies at 22nd (4th worst).
This movie can roughly be summarised like this: it's a somewhat decent action flick with some of the worst acting (Brosnan was the worst Bond), dialogues, and storyline of the franchise.
Plot:
A British ship is in the South China sea, being told by Chinese fighters that it's in Chinese waters. The british ship thinks it's in international waters because its GPS has been hacked by some EEEEVUL force. The EEEEEVUL force then sinks the british ship, and one of the two Chinese fighters.
Then, because Britain thinks that China just randomly decided to torpedo one of their ships, they send the entirety of the Royal Navy to China in 48 hours. Nevermind the unrealistic timeframe, Bond has that much time to find what really happened before the war starts.
So Bond says "well, we can ask the Chinese where THEY think that the ship was, and search the sea bed, and if it's there, we've been bamboozled."
Then the movie ends after they find the ship exactly where the Chinese thought it was.
I'm kidding.
No instead, Bond, who starts off in London:
Goes to Hamburg for a party.
Spends the night in Hamburg.
Infiltrates a factory.
Goes back to his hotel.
Has a chase scene.
Arrives (somehow) on an aircraft carrier (somewhere).
Gets paradropped in the middle of the South China Sea.
Finds and searches the British Ship.
Gets captured and taken to Vietnam.
Escapes and has another chase.
Tells a Chinese agent to "contact both their governments and let them talk it out" despite having physical proof that there is a ploy.
Goes back to the sea in a dinghy and finds the EEEEEVUL ship.
Has a big final fight and wins.
Now I do not really mind this plot. It's obviously very, very stupid, and there are a ton of ways the entire movie's main thread could unravel at every moment.
But it's not the first Bond to have really nonsensical stuff and even if it is pretty bad even for Bond, it's passable.
But the dialogues is where this movie crashes and burns beyond words.
Scene where Bond is gonna get executed by some goon:
"I must kill you Mr Bond"
*Bond gets the drop on him*
"WAIT, I'M JUST A PROFESSIONAL DOING A JOB!"
- "Me too"
.........what?
Did the murderous goon seriously try to save himself by saying "wait I'm just doing my job to kill you"?????
Scene where Bond is suspicious that the EEEEVUL villain is using GPS hacking to create the crisis:
"Tell me Villain, I was just wondering about your satellites"
- "They are merely tools for information Mr Bond"
- "Or disinformation"
"Say if you wanted to manipulate the course of governments"
"Or a ship"
I mean at this stage, just walk up to the guy and tell him "hello i'm the agent sent to find out why your satellite misplaced one of our warships and is starting a war"!
The dialogue is so bad, so forced and nonsensical that I don't think the franchise goes lower than that. Only maybe Thunderball(worst movie), and I'm not even sure.
Along with the terrible dialogue, the villain, who is supposed to be a media man, a man of words and manipulation, is one of the most petty, uncharismatic and poor villains of the franchise. No fault of the actor IMHO, simply his dialogue and character were just terrible. I however do have a personal love for his gigantic, Big Brother-style self-portrait in Saigon, that makes the movie drop into so bad it's good territory with gusto. I always burst out laughing at that scene, it's so silly.
As a beer-and-chips stupid action flick, it can be an enjoyable time, but it is a movie that I love to hate more than anything. Worth watching drunk, with friends, to laugh it together.
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Piss poor follow up to Goldeneye that aged terribly. The first of 3 bad sequels where they made Pierce Brosnan into an Irish Steven Seagal who was also imitating Roger Moore, something that didn’t suit the series or him. Unless you’re doing a marathon or are a solid fan and want to see all the 007 movies, this one is one to skip. Goldeneye is the only one he did worth seeing. He tried, but Pierce Brosnan couldn’t rise above the increasingly awful scripts and direction the series took before they wisely rebooted with Daniel Craig who’s been the best and most convincing 007 since Sean Connery despite what some fans claim.
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Production Company
Eon Productions,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),
United Artists
Release Date Dec 19, 1997
Duration 1 h 59 m
Rating PG-13
Tagline The Man. The Number. The License...are all back.
Website
https://www.007.com/
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Nomination
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
MTV Movie + TV Awards
• 2 Nominations
