TOMORROW NEVER DIES | The Bond Film Years Ahead of its Time | An In-Depth Review

HOLD THE PRESSES! This JUST in!

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[CraigPomeroy]

I always thought the reason Carver suddenly wants his wife dead when he hears the "Tell me James, do you still sleep with a gun under your pillow?" recording wasn't about her having been intimate with Bond before. It was already strongly implied Carver guessed that. Mention of the gun tells him that Paris knows Bond is either a mercenary or a spy and withheld that from him. It was not so much "my wife used to sleep with this dude" or even "my wife used to sleep with this dude and lied about it" -- it was "my wife used to sleep with this dangerous spy and didn't tell me that's who he was and is now at his hotel as likely betraying me to him as him to me".

[andykey]

"What's he doing!?"
"His job."
That line elevates the pre-title sequence for me and it cements M's comments from GoldenEye about how she views Bond's role and there's a through line all the way to "take the bloody shot" in Skyfall...she will send Bond to his death but not on a whim.

[pauloloughlin]

I love this film. That remote control car chase is one of my favourite moments of all 25 films.

[paulgeorge]

I entirely agree with you about Dr Kaufman. He's one of my favourite characters in the entire series, a perfect blend of menace and camp. Having said that, I must report that at one screening I attended, two Germans sitting in front of me practically fell out of their seats laughing at his accent.

[dirtyguava]

This is my comfort Bond. It doesn’t try to break the mould or reinvent the genre. It comfortably ticks off all the boxes of a Bond film and is the most perfectly paced out of all of Brosnan’s tenure.

[davidjames]

Micheal G Wilson is the Stan Lee of the Bond films. He is actually a 'Watcher' assigned to keep an eye on Bond and different aspects of his missions. And his secret powers include being able to traverse different realities where different Bonds exist. It was explained in a Post-Credits scene in James Bond: Into The Bondverse

[mikeysorrentino]

I think this and Licence To Kill handled their production issues much better than Quantum of Solace and for me they hold up better to this day

[doctorvanya]

A few bits of trivia that I find interesting:

1. The arms bazaar scene was originally convinced for the Living Daylights and would have been at the Khyber Pass.
2. Vincent Schiavelli and Teri Hatcher had previously worked together in an episode of MacGyver where Schiavelli's character was also trying to kill Hatcher's character.
3. Nicholas Meyer did some uncredited rewrites. Meyer worked on several Star Trek films including VI, which also featured a villain called General Chang.
4. Hugh Bonneville narrated an audiobook of Goldfinger which also contained an interview with the actor. He said he accepted his role in TND thinking he'd spend a few weeks in the South China Sea but in reality filmed all his scenes on a simulator in Plymouth.

[nethaendafendr]

“Wait, I’m just a professional doing a job!”

“Me too.”

One of my favorite moments of the series to this day.

[PatIreland]

Using Carver, a mash-up of Robert Maxwell and Rupert Murdoch (but more so from the former), was an inspired villain choice. Makes this film timeless.

[damienfenton]

TND was the first Bond film I saw in the cinema and I've always loved it. It'll always be top 10 Bond for me.

[samuelbarber]

Definitely one of the most underrated Bond films. Tomorrow Never Dies really is a solid action blockbuster. It’s got a great Bond, great action scenes, a great villain, a great Bond girl in Wai Lin and even some good emotional investment. If you gave me a choice I’d probably watch it over even Goldeneye. It’s just a good gooey Pizza kind of movie. It’s even more impressive given the production issues.

Also, it’s got a great ensemble of villains. Vincent Schiavelli, Ricky Jay, Gotz Otto, all awesome.

[EntropicDecayGaming]

Without repeating all the points you made, I think the reason I love TND so much is because its elements really make it feel like modernized classic Bond: Pre-title sequence that has little to do with the rest of the film, proper briefing scenes, gadget-laden car chase, over-the-top villain and henchmen. In fact, there was a time when not only would I have cited TND as my favorite Brosnan film but possibly even my overall favorite Bond film. Now, it's just outside of the top 10 but I still hold it in high regard.

[FromVadimWithLove]

Also, couldn't resist mentioning this "Backseat Driver" through-line, connecting these three major action set-pieces.

- Bond saying the line after dispatching the guy in the co-pilot seat.
- Bond driving the car from the backseat, being the Backseat Driver quite literally.
- Bond and Wei Ling arguing while driving the motorbike handcuffed.

So neatly done 👌👌👌

[bensneb]

Tomorrow Never Dies is one of the most underrated Bond movies, I watched it tons of times as a kid, I love the action and sleek style.

[sandyforbes]

“Tell me James, do you still sleep with a gun under your pillow?” Such an iconic line, I loved Teri Hatcher in this

[loganwilkinson]

Tomorrow Never Dies is such a recent delight to me. As a kid it was sorta the forgettable other Brosnan bond flick, and was often what I called a fine but unexciting movie.

It finally flipped when I went back and rewatched all the bond films last year and watched TND for the first time again in years and I fell so in love with it.

Such a classic James Bond adventure with such a confident performance by Brosnan. Went from one of my bottoms to now sneaking into my top 10. Has gotten into my lazy day Bond movie rotation now.

Love your enthusiasm for it. Really gets to just what makes it special both overall and as a fellow 90’s Brosnan loving Bond kid. Great stuff!

[adamoconnor]

A. Is it a coincidence that this video was uploaded on Michelle Yeoh's birthday?

B. Calvin, you're the kind of reviewer I aspire to be like; you make really good points and provide some solid analysis, but you also have a very relatable everyman quality that makes you very easy to connect with. Keep up the excellent work sir. You make Sundays worth it

[Dohsoda]

"Tomorrow Never Dies" is the ultimate Saturday night, beer, and pizza Bond film. Its just pure fun and follows the formula to a T. As Calvin points out, its probably the last in the series where Bond does not go rogue or become personally impacted emotional journeys. He is given a mission, he succeeds, and the credits roll. Also, the best car chase in the entire series and one of the best musical scores is found in TND. Yes, it could have benefited from 10-15 more minutes of plot and character development, but so could have "Quantum of Solace" for that matter. TND is not an all around great movie, but its a greatly entertaining movie with high rewatch value. "GoldenEye" and "Tomorrow Never Dies" make a fantastic weekend double feature.

[doctorvanya]

I've been on quite the journey with this film. It was the first Bond I saw in the cinema and it delivered everything I wanted from the time. Over the years it slipped a little in my estimation and became the lesser follow up GoldenEye. But this film has aged remarkably well and the story about media manipulation is more timely than ever. I know people used to laugh at the villain 'starting a war for ratings' but that feels more plausible now than ever.