MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Roger Spottiswoode (Air America) directed this film, the 18th chapter in the 35-year-old James Bond series (excluding Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again). James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) learns billionaire media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) is manipulating world events via an exclusive flow of information through his satellite system reaching all corners of the planet. With a stealth battleship sinking a British naval vessel, Carver sees that the Chinese are blamed. Crashing Carver's party in Hamburg, Bond meets "journalist" Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh), later revealed as a Chinese agent. In a brief tryst, Bond renews his past relationship with Carver's wife Paris (Teri Hatcher). Carver dispatches Stamper (Gotz Otto) and other goons to cancel Bond, who eludes attackers with some of his new gadgets. In Southeast Asia, after Bond and Wai Lin scuba dive into the sunken British ship, they are captured by Stamper, handcuffed, and taken to Saigon where they make a motorcycle escape. To thwart Carver's plans for WWIII, the two agents head for Carver's stealth ship where a cruise missile is aimed at Beijing. Principal photography began April 1, 1997 in the new Eon Productions studio facility at Frogmore, northwest of London, and on the 007 stage at Pinewood Studios. Locations included the UK, Hamburg, Southeast Asia, Mexico, and off the Florida coast. The trademark Bond pre-title sequence was filmed in the French Pyrenees snowfields, centered around one of the few high-altitude operational airfields in Europe. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Cinemascope)
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Features:
  • Feature film with frame-by-frame digital restoration and DTS 5.1 audio
  • Audio commentary featuring Vic Armstrong and Michael G. Wilson
  • Audio commentary featuring Roger Spottiswoode and Dan Petrie Jr.

AWARDS

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Original Song - 1997 (Mitchell Froom, Sheryl Crow)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Pierce Brosnan - James Bond
       Jonathan Pryce - Elliot Carver
       Michelle Yeoh - Wai Lin
       Teri Hatcher - Paris Carver
       Joe Don Baker - Wade
       Ricky Jay - Henry Gupta
       Götz Otto - Stamper
       Judi Dench - M
       Desmond Llewelyn - Q
       Vincent Schiavelli - Dr. Kaufman
       Geoffrey Palmer - Admiral Roebuck
       Colin Salmon - Robinson
       Samantha Bond - Moneypenny
       Gerard Butler - Seaman

• Director:

  Roger Spottiswoode

• Producer:

  Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli

• Screenwriter:

  Bruce Feirstein, Jonathan P.B. Taylor

• Cinematographer:

  Robert Elswit

• Songwriter:

  Mitchell Froom

• Composer (Music Score):

  David Arnold

• Songwriter:

  Sheryl Crow

• Editor:

  Michel Arcand, Dominique Fortin

• Production Designer:

  Allan Cameron

• Art Director:

  Ken Court, Tony Reading, Stephen Scott, Giles Masters, Jonathan Lee

• Set Designer:

  Peter Young

• Costume Designer:

  Lindy Hemming

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Chris Munro

• First Assistant Director:

  Gerry Gavigan

• Casting:

  Debbie McWilliams

• Production Manager:

  Callum McDougall

• Second Unit Director:

  Vic Armstrong

• Stunts Coordinator:

  Vic Armstrong

• Line Producer:

  Anthony Waye

• Stunts Coordinator:

  Dickey Beer

• Special Effects Supervisor:

  Chris Corbould

• Musical Performer:

  Sheryl Crow, Don Lusher

REVIEW:

• This 18th James Bond film returns the character to his usual behavior following the more politically correct Goldeneye. The double-entendres and smarmy sexual innuendos are back, as is Pierce Brosnan, this time battling a crazed media mogul (Jonathan Pryce) intent on starting a war between England and China so he can cover it on his global satellite network. Michelle Yeoh scores points as a beautiful Chinese agent, Pryce is wonderfully nutty, and the stunts are a lot of fun. This entry should please Bond fans who enjoy the campier films in the series (The Man With the Golden Gun, for example) more than those looking for high tension, as Roger Spottiswoode directs with tongue firmly in cheek. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi