Die Another Day

Die Another Day (2002) is the twentieth spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond; it is also the last Bond film of the original timeline with the series being rebooted with Casino Royale. In the pre-title sequence, Bond leads a mission to North Korea, during which he is found out and, after seemingly killing a rogue North Korean colonel, he is captured and imprisoned. More than a year later, Bond is released as part of a prisoner exchange, and, surmising that someone within the British government betrayed him, he follows a trail of clues in an effort to earn redemption by finding his betrayer and learning the intentions of Gustav Graves, who in typical Bond fashion, is not all that he seems.

Die Another Day, produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and directed by Lee Tamahori, marks the franchise's 40th anniversary. The series began in 1962 with Sean Connery starring as Bond in U.K.'s Dr. No. Die Another Day includes references to each of the preceding films and also alludes to several Bond novels.

The 2002 film received mixed reviews—some critics praised Lee Tamahori's work on the film, while others claimed the plot was damaged by excessive use of CGI. Thus lauded by some and despite criticism, it was the highest-grossing James Bond film to that date.
Contents
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* 1 Plot
* 2 Cast
* 3 Production
o 3.1 Filming
o 3.2 Music
* 4 References to other films
* 5 Marketing tie-ins
* 6 Release and reception
* 7 Novelization
* 8 References
* 9 External links

[edit] Plot

James Bond infiltrates a North Korean military base belonging to Colonel Tan-Sun Moon, and poses as an arms dealer trading African conflict diamonds for weaponry. Bond attempts to assassinate Moon, but has his true identity revealed by Zao, Moon’s assistant, during the transaction when someone transmits Bond's top-secret MI6 personnel file to Zao. A hovercraft chase results in the disfiguring of Zao’s face and the apparent death of Colonel Moon after Bond runs him off a cliff. Bond is captured and imprisoned by the Colonel’s father, General Moon, and subsequently tortured.

After fourteen months of captivity, Bond is traded on the Korean border for Zao in a prisoner exchange. Bond is informed by M that his 00 status has been suspended. His freedom was a result of the Americans and MI6 believing he was hemorrhaging sensitive information to North Korea during his torture and they wanted to get him back under their control before he was able let out any more information. Bond, knowing that he never revealed any information, instead surmises that someone within MI6 betrayed him, first by revealing his identity to Moon and Zao, and then by revealing the identities of deep-cover operatives who were subsequently assassinated, attributed to his "breaking" under torture.

Nonetheless, M explains he is to be transported to the Falkland Islands where he will be detained indefinitely until he is no longer a threat. By intentionally stopping his heart rate through meditation, Bond manages to escape his recovery room off the shore of Hong Kong and learns through a Chinese Intelligence contact that Zao is in Havana, Cuba. While in Havana, Bond meets and has sex with NSA agent Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson, although at the time neither are aware of the other's profession.
Bond and Jinx meet in Cuba.

Bond follows Zao and Jinx to a gene therapy clinic where patients can have their appearances altered through DNA restructuring. Jinx is posing as a client to find information on Zao, but Bond finds him first. Zao escapes Bond and Jinx, but leaves evidence of several conflict diamonds bearing the laser signature of British tycoon Sir Gustav Graves. Bond later encounters Graves at a London fencing club along with his assistant Miranda Frost, also an undercover MI6 agent. Bond is invited to Iceland for a scientific demonstration after showing Graves one of his diamonds.

At the demonstration in Iceland, Graves unveils a new orbital mirror satellite (dubbed “Icarus”) the ostensible purpose of which is to harness solar energy and focus it to areas of earth to provide day and year-round sunshine for crop development. Jinx, who is at the ceremony now posing as a journalist, infiltrates the command center of the Iceland mansion and locates Zao, who is using the same gene therapy equipment found in Cuba. She is shocked unconscious and thanks to Bonds intervention avoids being tortured using a laser. Bonds rescue attempt sees the death of Mr. Kil. After seeing Zao, Bond realizes that Colonel Moon survived their original encounter and is using the technology to assume the identity and appearance of Gustav Graves.

Bond confronts Graves, but Frost arrives to reveal herself as the traitor and the one who exposed Bond in North Korea. Frost has also tampered with Bond’s gun when they slept together the night before. Bond escapes onto the ice and is pursued by the solar beam of the Icarus satellite, controlled by Moon. Bond returns to the facility to rescue Jinx, where he is discovered and chased by Zao. Zao dies after Bond tricks him into crashing his car into a flooded portion of the facility and causing a chandelier to fall on him. Bond then revives a drowned Jinx in the hot water pool in Graves' biodome.
From left: Gustav Graves, Miranda Frost, Verity, James Bond.

Bond and Jinx then pursue Graves and Frost to the Korean peninsula and stow away on Graves' cargo plane. Graves reveals his true identity to his father, General Moon, and the purpose of the Icarus satellite. He plans to cut a path through the Korean Demilitarized Zone with concentrated sunlight, allowing North Korean troops to invade South Korea and reunite the countries through force. General Moon disapproves of the plan, and is murdered by his son.

Bond engages Graves in a fist fight to stop the attack while Jinx attempts to regain control of the plane although Frost finds and subsequently engages Jinx in a sword fight. During the simultaneous fights the plane passes through the Icarus beam and is severely damaged. Jinx kills Frost, and Bond is able to pull a ripcord from Graves' attached parachute (which draws him closer to the door) and then electrocute him, which sends him flying out the plane, only to be ingested by the engine. Bond and Jinx escape the disintegrating plane via a helicopter in the cargo hold along with a stash of Graves’ diamonds. They take shelter and use the diamonds as part of sexual play, but state that they will return them eventually.
[edit] Cast

* Pierce Brosnan as James Bond 007, an MI6 agent who is betrayed during a mission and subsequently dismissed under accusations that he leaked information to North Korea. Once reinstated with MI6, he tracks down Zao and uncovers a plot to reunite North and South Korea using military force.
* Halle Berry as Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson, an NSA agent who collaborates with Bond to track Zao and find his connection to the mysterious Gustav Graves. Berry described her character, Jinx, as "more modern" than her counterparts from previous films, "fashion-forward", and "the next step in the evolution of women in the Bond movies."[2] According to an ITV news poll, Jinx was voted the fourth toughest on-screen girl of all time.[3]
* Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves, Main antagonist. A British entrepreneur, though actually is Colonel Moon, who changed his appearance with the assistance of gene therapy technology and creates a satellite that uses diamonds to bring sunshine to the world at night. His real aim, however, is to assist North Korea's conquest of South Korea by destroying a mine field along the DMZ and taking out nuclear warheads fired by North Korea's enemies.
* Rick Yune as Zao, a North Korean who helps Graves implement his plans. Yune described Zao as one of the most "extreme" looking Bond villains; Yune's makeup—which included the implantation of real diamonds—required three hours.[4]
* Rosamund Pike as Miranda Frost, a double agent who initially poses as Bond's ally but later reveals herself to be an affiliate of Graves. Of filming her scenes with Brosnan, Pike said "We had pretty fantastic sex." But movie producers decided much of the footage was "too hot" and the sex scenes were trimmed.[5]
* Judi Dench as M, the strict head of MI6 who revokes Bond's licence to kill when he is released from prison, but later re-enlists him to help foil Graves' scheme.
* Will Yun Lee as Colonel Moon, a rogue North Korean army colonel who, though Bond thinks him dead after their first encounter, is found to be alive, and has altered his appearance to take on the identity of British tycoon Gustav Graves.
* Kenneth Tsang as General Moon, Colonel Moon's father. He is a strong advocate of North Korea's peaceful reunion with the South. He opposes his son's plan for reunification through violent conquest and is killed by his son for what the ex-colonel perceives as a lack of vision.
* John Cleese as Q, MI6's "quartermaster" who supplies Bond with multi-purpose vehicles and gadgets which prove useful in the latter's mission. Having previously played the role of Q's protege "R" in The World Is Not Enough, Cleese takes over the role of Q following Desmond Llewelyn's death. He pointedly refers to his predecessor when discussing some of his own work.
* Rachel Grant as Peaceful Fountains of Desire, a Chinese agent working for Mr Chang, undercover as a masseuse.
* Emilio Echevarría as Raoul, the manager of a Havana cigar factory, and a British sleeper. He helps Bond find Zao in Cuba.
* Samantha Bond as Miss Moneypenny, M's secretary.
* Lawrence Makoare as Mr. Kil, one of Gustav Graves' henchmen.
* David Decio as Mr. Kil's PA, Mr. Kil's personal assistant.
* Michael Madsen as Damian Falco, a high-ranking official in the NSA. In a 2002 interview Madsen remarked that "It's not a big role, but it's somewhat pivotal in that it introduces a new recurring character."[6]
* Madonna as Verity, Bond's fencing instructor.

[edit] Production