Tomorrow Never Dies

"The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success."

The British HMS Devonshire is patrolling in the South China Sea.  Their satellite says they are fine, but they come under attack by the Chinese.  In the scuffle, their boat is damaged by a third ship, which kills the entire crew of the Devonshire.  The third ship belongs to media mogul Elliot Carver (Price), who uses the knowledge to publish the story before the competition.

MI-6 believes Carver is involved in the incident and sends James Bond (Brosnan) to investigate.  Bond used to date Carver's wife, Paris (Hatcher), and they want to use that connection to get information.  Paris is still bitter about the way their relationship ended and refuses to help.  Carver is planning something big, with cyberterrorist Henry Gupta (Jay), which is being carried out by his assassin Richard Stamper (Otto).  The Chinese and Americans are also looking for answers.  China sends Colonel Wai Lin (Yeoh) to infiltrate Carver's team, while the Americans send CIA agent Jack Wade (Baker) to help Bond.  Can Bond and Lin prevent war between China and Britain?


This is the 18th James Bond film, and Pierce Brosnan's second film as Bond.  It is both a timely and dated story.  The villain owns a media empire which is the main source of news for most of the characters (and the world) in the film... and in that way, it is very true to now: most people get their news from 24-7 news channels (like CNN, which is name checked in the film).  But some of the techniques are dated, 10+ years later.  This is an original story, and was the first Bond film that does not take anything (except the names of the Bond regulars) from Ian Fleming's novels or life.  The story was written by Bruce Feirstein, he also co-wrote the screenplays for GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough.

The music for this film was composed by David Arnold.  John Barry turned down the film after he learned that someone else would write the opening credits song.  Arnold did write the song "Surrender" which k.d. lang performs during the closing credits.  The theme song "Tomorrow Never Dies" was written and performed by Sheryl Crow.  The song is not memorable and did not chart in the U.S.

The action in this film is good, especially the motorcycle scene (pictured above).  Michelle Yeoh is great as Wai Lin and apparently she performed many of her own stunts.  Pierce Brosnan returns for his second of four turns as Bond.  He continues to do a good job as Bond.  Judi Dench returns as M, but does not have a huge role in this film.  And Joe Don Baker returns as CIA agent Jack Wade, with a similar role as in GoldenEye.  Jonathan Price is a good villain, but not as memorable as other villains in the franchise.  Apparently Teri Hatcher was pregnant while making this film, but you can't tell.

Overall, it is a decent Bond outing... but again, not my favorite (and not the best of the Brosnan Bond films).

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) 119 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence, sexuality and innuendo
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Starring: Pierce Brosnan as James Bond
Jonathan Price as Elliot Carver
Michelle Yeoh as Colonel Wai Lin
Teri Hatcher as Paris Carver
Joe Don Baker as Jack Wade
Ricky Jay as Henry Gupta
Gotz Otto as Richard Stamper
Desmond Llewelyn as Q
Judi Dench as M