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This article is about the film Tomorrow Never Dies for the video game see Tomorrow Never Dies (video game)
Tomorrow Never Dies is the eighteenth James Bond film made by EON Productions, and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. It was released in 1997, by producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Tomorrow Never Dies, was, on release, the most successful film in the series' history. It is also the first Bond film made after the death of veteran producer Albert R. Broccoli. The film is dedicated to his memory, and beginning with this production and in each subsequent Bond film, the first credit reads: "Albert R. Broccoli's EON Productions presents..."
Film plot summary
Evil media mogul Elliot Carver tries to start a war between the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom to promote his world-wide television network by sending a British frigate off course in the South China sea and sinking it from his stealth ship, while downing a Chinese fighter sent out to investigate the stray warship. When the survivors of the sunken frigate are found to have been killed using Chinese ammunition, the Royal Navy is sent to the region. As tensions between the two countries mount, Bond is sent to investigate Carver when MI6 identify a spurious signal sent from one of Carver's communications satellites around the time the warship is sank. During the investigation, Bond seduces Carver's wife, Paris Carver, which leads to her death on the orders of her husband. Meanwhile, Bond is both rivaled and assisted in his mission by the Chinese secret agent Wai Lin. It has been suggested that the character of Elliot Carver is (very loosely) based on a combination of Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation exerts power across many continents, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. The script of Bruce Feirstein continues the Bond tradition of classic tongue-in-cheek lines.
Cast & characters
Crew
Soundtrack
Original Tomorrow Never Dies soundtrack David Arnold composed the score of Tomorrow Never Dies, his first, full Bond soundtrack. Arnold came to the producer's attention by the successful cover interpretations in Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Projectwhich featured major artists performing classic James Bond title songs. Sheryl Crow sings the main theme, "Tomorrow Never Dies", and the end titles feature k.d. lang. singing "Surrender," a bold, classic-style James Bond theme song. Both songs have the phrase "tomorrow never dies", making this the only film with two, legitimate theme songs. Aficionados are split in opinion about which song would have been the better opening theme.
Track listing
- Tomorrow Never Dies — Sheryl Crow
- White Knight
- Sinking of the Devonshire
- Company Car ListenMusic
- Station Break
- Paris and Bond
- Last Goodbye
- Hamburg Break In
- Hamburg Break Out
- Doctor Kaufman
- *-3-* Send
- Underwater Discovery
- Backseat Driver
- Surrender — k.d. lang
- James Bond Theme — Moby
Vehicles & gadgets
- BMW R1200 motorcycle - Stolen in Saigon, Vietnam, for a chase, ridden by both James Bond and Wai Lin.
- BMW 750i - Used in Germany, the car has a security system allowing access to no-one, without it first being disarmed via the mobile telephone; the glove box security sytem is fingerprint-controlled. Armament includes sunroof rockets, deployable tacks (out of rear bumper), re-inflatable tires, and a wire-cutter hidden under the BMW logo on the hood. The car may be remotely operated via Bond's mobile phone.
- Ericsson mobile telephone - Has several functions: a stun gun, a fingerprint scanner, and a LCD remote-control screen for the BMW 750i, and for seeing the roadway when operating remotely.
- Omega scuba diver's wristwatch - Taken from a Chinese safehouse, used to remotely break a glass jar holding a hand grenade.
- Walther P99 - Taken from the same Chinese safehouse, Bond replaces his trademark Walther PPK with the Walther P99. Since Tomorrow Never Dies Bond has used the Walther P99 in every subsequent film.
See also
Locations
Film locations
Shooting locations
Trivia
- When filming began the script wasn't finished.
- The film was originally titled Tomorrow Never Lies, a reference to Elliott Carver's newspaper Tomorrow. However, it was then the subject of a typo and the producers liked the alternate title so much they adopted it.
- This was the final Bond film-to-date to be released directly through United Artists; parent company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would assume co-production and distribution beginning with the next film.
Novelization
British paperback edition. Tomorrow Never Dies was the first of three Bond films to be adapted into books by then-current Bond novelist, Raymond Benson. Benson's version of Bruce Feirstein's screenplay is suitably expanded, and includes some nods to past Bond films, including the suggestion that Bond was lying when he said he had taken a course in Oriental languages in the movie You Only Live Twice.
External links
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