Die Another Day
2002  PG-13  ACTION  2h 13min
CAST— Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike, Rick Yune, Judi Dench, John Cleese, Michael Madsen, Samantha Bond
MUSIC— David Arnold  DIRECTOR— Lee Tamahori

     The last of the Bond series (not including the newly revamped series, beginning with Casino Royale [2006]) may be a bitter experience for ardent fans. After being held and tortured for well over a year inside a North Korean prison camp, Bond is released only to be stripped of his double-0 status. It seems as though while he was in prison MI6 secrets were leaked to the enemy; the most obvious suspect appears to be Bond. Double-0 status or not, Bond begins a personal quest to find who set him up. It’s a globe-hopping mission of suspicion, for he’s set his sights on a world famous diamond tycoon, whose operations smell a little fishy. Not the best Bond in the world; Halle Berry makes for one of the weakest Bond girls in recent memory, and the absence of Q is ever so sorely missed. Take it or leave it.
OUR RATING— **
PRECEDED BY— Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), Diamonds are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985), The Living Daylights (1987), License to Kill (1989), GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999)