Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33179 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-05-16
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 128 minutes

Amazon.com
In his 19th screen outing, Ian Fleming's superspy is once again caught in the crosshairs of a self-created dilemma: as the longest-running feature-film franchise, James Bond is an annuity his producers want to protect, yet the series' consciously formulaic approach frustrates any real element of surprise beyond the rote application of plot twists or jump cuts to shake up the audience. This time out, credit 007's caretakers for making some visible attempts to invest their principal characters with darker motives--and blame them for squandering The World Is Not Enough's initial promise by the final reel.

By now, Bond pictures are as elegantly formal as a Bach chorale, and this one opens on an unusually powerful note. A stunning pre-title sequence reaches beyond mere pyrotechnics to introduce key plot elements as the action leaps from Bilbao to London. Bond 5.0, Pierce Brosnan, undercuts his usually suave persona with a darker, more brutal edge largely absent since Sean Connery departed. Equally tantalizing are our initial glimpses of Bond's nemesis du jour, Renard (Robert Carlyle), and imminent love interest, Elektra King (Sophie Marceau), both atypically complex characters cast with seemingly shrewd choices, and directed by the capable Michael Apted. The story's focus on post-Soviet geopolitics likewise starts off on a savvy note, before being overtaken by increasingly Byzantine plot twists, hidden motives, and reversals of loyalty superheated by relentless (if intermittently perfunctory) action sequences.

Indeed, the procession of perils plays like a greatest hits medley, save for a nifty sequence involving airborne buzz saws that's as enjoyable as it is preposterous. Bond's grimmer demeanor, while preferable to the smirk that eventually swallowed Roger Moore whole, proves wearying, unrelieved by any true wit. The underlying psychoses that propel Renard and Elektra eventually unravel into unconvincing melodrama, while Bond is supplied with a secondary love object, Denise Richards, who's even more improbable as a nuclear physicist. Ultimately, this World is not enough despite its better intentions. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews

God Bless This Movie
"Goldeneye" was great. "Tomorrow Never Dies" was good. "The World Is Not Enough" was excellent. Pierce Brosnan, no matter what cranky critics say, is a fantastic Bond, who is sort of like a melting pot of the past actor's best attributes. Connery's vicious edge, Moore's amusing wit, and Dalton's brutality. Another thing that makes Brosnan a keeper is that, like Connery and Moore, he has fun with Bond. Dalton and Lazenby made the mistake of taking this as a serious acting job. It isn't. TWINE does have a great script which is understandable (I guess a lot of people who complained just weren't attentive, since very few modern movies require that.) Renard may have been a lame bad guy, but Carlisle did play him well and believably - isn't that all that counts? Denise Richards, however laughable she was as Christmas Jones, did well with her material. And, the way I look at it, she wasn't evne the main Bond woman this time around. Sophie Marceau is perhaps one of the sexiest Bond women ever to grace the silver screen. There was no doubt that she was the perfect choice for Elektra King, playing the good-girl gone bad to a tee. I hope she is more visible in future years.

Middle ground Bond
Pierce Brosnan's third 007 outing, "The World Is Not Enough" has all the ingrediants die hard fans of the series love, explosions, cool action, gorgeous women and of course Bond himself played by Brosnan, but somehow the film skips a beat. First off, this 19th Bond epic begins with a bang. Before the title sequence even starts, Bond has escaped capture from crooked bankers, survived a massive explosion which guts out MI6 headquarters and pursues a really attractive female assasin in what must be the most suped up jet boat in cinema history. It's just a shame that the rest of the film can't top the exciting first ten or twelve minutes.

The plot is Bond appropriate, Agent 007 is sent to protect a heiress to an oil industry who has been targeted by a super terrorist who is impervious to pain, he has a bullet lodged in his brain. Before long, Bond embroiled in a complicated (and hard to follow) plot to rule the oil industry and then the world. What is disappointing about this installment is the films sometimes slow pace and final battle scene.

The climax of the film takes place on a submarine and is too reminiscent of the end of "Tomorrow Never Dies". However, the strengths of the film are in the suprisingly strong performances (excluding Denise Richards). M has a more prominant role in this round which makes sense because she's played again by Oscar winner Judi Dench. Her M character is for more empathetic this time and you can tell that she is concerned about Bond's safety. This is a welcome plot development and I hope that Brosnan and Dench have more dramatic scenes with each other in future Bond films.

While just a tad disappointing, "The World Is Not Enough" is entertaining enough.

Bond......James Bond
Pierce Brosnan's third outing as James Bond and a slew of controversy if it will be his last.

Feeling responsible for the death of a British oil tycoon and a friend, who died in an explosion in MI6 headquarters, James Bond takes position as bodyguard to the tycoon's daughter, Elektra (Sophie Marceau), who has a mysterious past and hidden agenda.

In recent weeks, Brosnan has gone on record saying he wants more revealing and sexier love scenes in Bond and he would love to see Bond killed off. He has also said he wouldn't mind leaving Bond behind. Are these the greatest things to be saying upon the opening of the film?

It would be such a shame when he seems to be playing Bond right and having a script that wants us to see more Bond.

I guess the next question to ask is who or what is Bond? And why that element makes a good Bond film. A superior Bond film is always in the script and the intrigue associated with a spy. In the latest film the script always has two levels going on coupled with a pain within Bond himself. These play off each other as the perpetual hero shows the signs of being human. In the past 5 Bond films they have been trying to make him more human and it really isn't till this one that they seem to have located the angle they sought. Betrayed, injured, and scorned are just some of the emotions I haven't seen in Bond in years. And that's exactly why this one works and why it's the best Bond in ten years.

With this revelation, director Michael Apted's action sequences and locales seem to be fleshed out and in the highest of Bond form. Apted pushes the envelope with a great Bond finale which pivots Bond and the villain dueling in a submarine spiraling towards the bottom of the ocean. This sequence is true Bond and reminds me a lot of the great climaxes of the 80's pictures.

Within the cast is the always brilliant Sophie Marceau who's innocent but brutal Elektra is going to be a fondly remembered Bond girl. Wasted is 2nd Bond girl Denise Richards who seems to be quite out of her element and made me thinking that these two could be father and daughter instead of lovers. Richards looks like a teen and is supposed to be a "Lara Croft type nuclear expert"? Rounding out the rest of the cast is "the man who can feel no pain" Renard played deviously by Robert Carlyle. Carlyle reminded me a lot of Sean Bean's 006 in "Goldeneye".

With this entry into the Bond vault I hope Brosnan comes back for at least two or three more. Connery and Moore did over six each why can't Brosnan. So here is to the continuation of the franchise. I hope the DVD release is every bit as good as the film and the previous Bond DVD releases.