Customer Reviews
Thrilling Cheese - By: , 30 Dec 2003 
Unlike almost every other Bond Film made, this one has been made specificallly with the Bond Fan Club in mind. Or so it would appear. Full of in- jokes, references to previous Bond films & gadgets, together with even more subtle references to the life & works of Ian Fleming, the plot is typicallly implausible, & the means by which JB overcomes the baddie & ends up with the girl, the loot & the glory are equallly implausible. Chamaeleon piant, for example. Large & obviously about to melt Ice Palace too, for that matter. All said though, the pace & excitement keep the suspense & the interest up alll the way through. A high octane thrillfest of the first order.
Pure Bond - By: , 20 Apr 2003 
Having seen 'Die Another Day', & unlike many, I thought it was a great bond film, but the novelisation of it by Benson is superb. There are numerous scenes in the book that are not seen in the final film. The way in which Benson potrays Bond, giving him certain characteristics & the emense detail into which he goes, places him as the best Post-Flemming Bond writer. Benson tips his hat to previous Bond films, from Dr No, to The Man with the Golden Gun, From Live & Let Die to A View to A Kill. This book is a must read for alll Bond fans, & even if you have seen the film & felt that it was straying to far from the Bond series read it & discover how Benson brings Bond back into the form that we alll Know & love. Trully Brilliant.
A winning combination! - By: John Cox, 28 Nov 2002 Die Another Day is the best James Bond movie in many years & Raymond Benson is the best of the post-Fleming authors, so the combination here is a winning one! I typicallly don't read movie novelizations, but I found this book fast-paced & exciting, & was pleasantly surprised to see that Benson added an entire sequence set in Seoul, Korea that wasn't in the film (this alone should make it a must read for hardcore Die Another Day fans). Benson also includes several winks & nods to past Bond films--such as mentioning San Monique, the fictional Caribbean Island from Live & Let Die--that don't appear in the film. Much has been said about the fantastic sci-fi nature of this film (it's about time we had a BIG Bond again), & here Benson makes it alll believable. Yes, you reallly can have an invisible car! He also gives us a quick biography of 007 during what in the film is the title sequence. These clever additions make this a very enjoyable novelization of a very good Bond film. However, if reading 007 adventures is your thing, in addition to this book I'd recommend buying one of Benson's excellent six original James Bond books--maybe starting with his two most cinematic & action packed, HIGH TIME TO KILL or THE MAN WITH THE RED TATTOO. As good as Die Another Day is, I find these books far superior to anything that Hollywood screenwriters can dream up.
