Tomorrow Never Dies

When 007 witnesses the purchase of a military GPS encoder by a known “techno-terrorist” while on assignment spying on a Russian arms bazaar, a missile attack is launched by the Royal Navy. However, before the missile strikes, it becomes apparent to James Bond that two Soviet nuclear devices are mounted on an aircraft and, with the missiles out of range, it is too late to abort the attack.

Bond is therefore forced to hijack the aircraft in order to get it out of range of the blast but thereby letting the GPS device fall into the hands of media mogal Elliot Carver who plans on provoking a war between the UK and China to install a new Chinese government that would give him exclusive broadcasting rights for his satellite broadcasting empire.

In Carver’s first attack a Royal Naval vessel is tricked into venturing into Vietnamese waters using the GPS encoder where it is sunk by Carver’s stealth ship.  Carvers men then shoot down a Chinese jet sent to investigate, and murder the ships survivors using Chinese weapons.

Carver’s news channel immediately reports the incident as an attack by the Chinese on a British vessel and with a possible Royal Navy retaliation on the cards 007 has 48 hours to uncover the truth.

What we say

The pre-titles sequence does a fairly good job, although overlong. However, the main problem with the film is that it is difficult to follow and the villain’s motivation is just not plausible. One for a rainy day… a very rainy day.

Locations

Original release

UK Premiere: 9th December 1997 at the Odeon Leicester Square
UK: 12th December 1997
US: 16th December 1997

Principal crew

Director Roger Spottiswoode
Screenplay Bruce Feirstein
Producer Barbara Broccoli & Michael G Wilson
Music David Arnold
Editing Michel Arcand & Dominique Fortin
Production design Allan Cameron
Cinematography Robert Elswit

Cast

Pierce Brosnan James Bond
Jonathan Pryce Elliot Carver
Michelle Yeoh Wai Lin
Teri Hatcher Paris Carver
Ricky Jay Henry Gupta
Götz Otto Stamper
Joe Don Baker Jack Wade
Vincent Schiavelli Dr. Kaufman
Judi Dench M
Desmond Llewelyn Q
Samantha Bond Miss Moneypenny
Colin Salmon Chief of Staff Charles Robinson
Geoffrey Palmer Admiral Roebuck
Julian Fellowes Minister of Defence
Terence Rigby General
Bukharin
Cecilie Thomsen Professor Inga Bergstrom
Nina Young Tamara Steel
Daphne Deckers PR Lady
Colin Stinton Dr. Dave Greenwalt
Al Matthews Master Sergeant 3
Mark Spalding Stealth Boat Captain
Bruce Alexander Captain – HMS Chester
Anthony Green Firing Officer – HMS Chester
Christopher Bowen Cmdr. Richard Day – HMS Devonshire
Andrew Hawkins Lt. Cmdr. Peter Hume – HMS Devonshire
Dominic
Shaun
Lieutenant Commander – HMS Devonshire
Julian Rhind-Tutt Yeoman – HMS Devonshire
Gerard Butler Leading Seaman – HMS Devonshire
Adam Barker Sonar Operator – HMS Devonshire
Michael Byrne Admiral Kelly – HMS Bedford
Pip Torrens Captain – HMS Bedford
Hugh Bonneville Air Warfare Officer – HMS Bedford
Jason Watkins Principal Warfare Officer – HMS Bedford
Eoin McCarthy Yeoman – HMS Bedford
Brendan Coyle Leading Seaman – HMS Bedford
David Ashton First Sea Lord
William Scott-Masson Staff Officer #1
Laura Brattan Staff Officer #2
Nadia Cameron-Blakey Beth Davidson
Liza Ross Mary Golson
Hugo Napier Jeff Hobbs
Rolf Saxon Philip Jones
Vincent Wang MiG Pilot
Philip Kwok General Chang

Drinks

Cars

BMW 750IL Saloon  (1997)

Quotes

  • “You always were a cunning linguist, James.”
  • “With all due respect, M, I think you don’t have the balls for this job.”
    “Perhaps. But the advantage is, I don’t have to think with them all the time.”
  • “I used to look in the papers every day for your obituary.”
    “Sorry to disappoint.”

Buy Tomorrow Never Dies DVD/Blu-Ray from Amazon

Poster Art


Buy a Tomorrow Never Dies
poster or print.

Soundtrack


Read more about the Tomorrow Never Dies soundtrack or buy it online.

Goldeneye | The World Is Not Enough

David Leigh founded The James Bond Dossier in 2002. A fan of 007 since the age of 8, he is also author of The Complete Guide to the Drinks of James Bond. You can order a copy here if you don't own it already.


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