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Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
9/14
9/14:
Tomorrow Never Dies is a catchy title, but what it should've been is Mindless Action Never Dies.
GoldenEye was the type of action-adventure picture that stuck with the basics: tell a good
story, show some nice action, and come up with good dialogue. But Mindless Action Never Dies is the antithesis of this
tried-and-true formula.
From start to finish, it's been a long train of do-or-die situations that are simply impossible, only to rely on luck
to survive them all. Thousands of bullets fly everywhere, yet not single one hits James Bond.
Does he ever have the time to take a break and get something to eat, drink, or relieve himself? James Bond continues to look
dashing and handsome while he's free of dirt and bruises. Amazing...why, he must be a robot.
Meanwhile, James Bond has wooed and bedded thousands of women, so what does Paris' death matter? She's replaceable because
he evidently forgot about her minutes afterwards. One trademark of Bond films is the archvillain tends to be a
memorable, worthy opponent for James, but Jonathan Pryce as Elliot Carver is the equivalent of somebody walking
into a crowded room but nobody pays attention to him.
Throughout are numerous factual errors and leaps in logic. When asked how fast a person could go airborne while parachuting,
they said 200 mph. No, wrong...the terminal velocity of a human body is roughly 120 mph. Notice how the helicopter
tilts down perfectly at a certain angle? Impossible. When the men tried to break into a car by using
various heavy tools, why not use a tiny piece of porcelain to smash the windows? Later, somebody shot at the car and
the bullets went through the windows, but was it supposed to be bulletproof?
Here's a cool trivia about the blond-haired, tanned German when he won the role: "When Götz Otto was called in
for casting, he was given twenty seconds to introduce himself. Saying, 'I am big, I am bad, and I am German,' he did it in five."
All in all, Mindless Action Never Dies should've adhered to the adage: "Less is more."