Die Another Day (Full Screen Special Edition) [2 Discs]

James Bond DVDs have in general been pretty loaded, but Die Another Day raises the bar with a two-disc set featuring dynamic DTS 6.1 ES and Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound that makes good use of the rear speakers. The first commentary track is by Pierce Brosnan and Rosamund Pike (who plays villain Miranda Frost). They weren't together at the time, so their comments are spliced into one track. Brosnan has a good time watching and is proud of the film but also doesn't take himself too seriously ("They don't teach you this stuff at drama school: 'OK, now you're going to be electrocuted by the bad guy.'"). Self-proclaimed "Bond novice" Pike also is proud of the film and says she's annoyed by people who question whether there's still a need for Bond. On the second commentary track, director Lee Tamahori and producer Michael G. Wilson chat about topics as diverse as casting, Bond lore, and product placements. For more Bond lore, don't overlook the trivia track, which offers pop-up tidbits about the filming and tips on the inside jokes.

The centerpiece of the second disc is the 80-minute "Inside Die Another Day" documentary, which is a set of featurettes strung together. Topics include the opening surfing sequence; the scenes set in North Korea and Cuba (including Halle Berry's bikini tribute to Ursula Andress); the ice palace; post-production elements such as computer graphics, editing, and music; the car battle (finding strong ice was the key safety issue); and the passing of the "Q" torch from Desmond Llewellyn to John Cleese. --David Horiuchi

The 20th entry in the James Bond spy thriller franchise, this fast-paced film is a slick, expensively mounted effort to hang onto the shrinking audience for 007 pictures without straying too far from the formula of guns, gadgets, and girls. Director Lee Tamahori and screenwriters Neil Purvis and Robert Wade mostly succeed in this attempt, presenting a stylish and furiously paced yarn that moves seamlessly from one set piece to the next, with a few sly winks at their protagonist's past (Bond's masquerading briefly as an ornithologist is a clever bit of business, named as the character is after a famed bird expert). Unfortunately, it all feels a bit too tailor-made for die-hard Bond fans only. Like the central characters in so many long-running film series and TV shows before him, Bond's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness: he never really changes. A prologue that hints at the creation of a tougher, meaner Bond never really bears fruit, and the character is quickly brought into line with fan expectations of a suave, imperturbable ladies' man. Inhabiting his role like a second skin, Pierce Brosnan is a terrific Bond -- arguably the best since the original -- but isn't given enough to do beyond smirking and trying to match action with his stunt double. Halle Berry has some impact as the memorably beautiful Jinx, the best "Bond girl" in a long stretch and, at long last, the hero's feminine equal in physical bravura and swaggering attitude. But even a gorgeous corporate spokesmodel in an orange bikini and brilliantly staged, elaborately captured action sequences are dulled without the sense of urgency and imminent danger that derives from emotional involvement -- and it's this crucial element that the Bond series still lacks after 40 years. Like many of the characters played by John Wayne in his heyday, Bond's appeal lies in his impenetrable superiority, but it's exactly this same cartoonish quality that dooms him to endlessly loop variations on the same theme. Bond has become a granite rock of storytelling against which the breathless thrill of surprise -- that frisson that can only come with a character's evolution -- has been too often dashed. Die Another Day (2002) is by no means a bad Bond film, but it's proof yet again that this series badly needs to be both shaken and stirred. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide