Customer Reviews
Successful twist on the formula of Bond - By: Mr. Stephen Kennedy, 14 Feb 2008 
TWINE is definitely a step up from its predecessor - more plot, more character, more realistic. Scriptwriters Purvis & Wade have brought a much needed dose of fresh thinking to the series, while never taking away from the elements we expect. Indeed, the requisite elements - chases (boat on Thames, on skis, in BMW, etc), Bond girls (two - Denise Richards & Sophie Marceau), Bond music (David Arnold reallly settling into the position as master of Bond music with a great score) & so on, alll are well up to par. Plus a few new notes... Bond is injured for almost the entire movie, & `M' gets out into the field (and proves her mettle) - alll great new twists on the formula. Indeed the villain himself comes across less like a two dimensional villain & almost more of a tragic figure in the end.
If there is a minor flaw to this one, it is the direction - workmanlike at best, the director seems to have found himself at the helm of something unstoppable, & hasn't tried to make much in the way of course corrections. Good thing too, as things take a decent route to the end. There are a few wrong turns - Denise Richards is saddled with some of the most exposition heavy dialogue ever, & the finale to what has been a pretty good story is a little bit dud - not least because about ¾ of the dialogue is exposition & not drama. However it's so much fun to be in the company of Brosnan hitting his stride as Bond (- with character touches!) & everyone else clearly enjoying themselves, it's easy to overlook the staginess of a couple of scenes, & forgive the cheesiness of John Cleese's introduction as `Q's successor - made alll the more embarrassing by how touching Desmond Llewellyn's departure as `Q' is.
All in alll, one of Brosnan's more inventive & enjoyable outings.
The worst Bond movie? - By: HUNTER, 13 Jan 2008 
Apart from a brilliant pre-credit sequence this must be the worst Bond movie made. The film is utterly tedious & unexciting, something about gas pipelines. There is an awful sense of deja vu too, as old sequences from older & better movies are recycled. How many more snow chases?
The acting is unconvincing, the music forgettable & the whole film is badly directed & paced. The basic problem with a THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH? it is a tedious & overlong film. Casino Royale reallly showed how weak the Brosnan era films were.
Bond back on good form - By: Trevor Willsmer, 08 Dec 2007 After the disappointment of Tomorrow Never Days, it perhaps shouldn't have been too surprising that, as per the usual EON pattern of alternating good & bad Bond films, The World is Not Enough turned out rather well. It helps that it has a stronger plot this time round as well as some attempt at an element of mystery - along with For Your Eyes Only this is the only Bond where the identity of the real villain is withheld for the first half of the movie. It's also more character-based than usual, with some interesting dialogue that takes on a different dimension once you know who's on the side of the angels & who isn't. The Maguffin is an oil-based variation on Goldfinger's big scheme, but the execution is very different & rather more grounded. Brosnan has the best character writing of his tenure but isn't always up to it: the moments of ruthlessness convince but he's one of those actors who can't stand still & just be & always has to do something, making him seem somewhat ADDS in some scenes & leads to a couple of strange bits of gurning. Yet it can still lay claim to being his best performance in the role, & the presence of Sophie Marceau & Robert Carlyle helps raise the acting bar enough so that even Denise Richards' hot pant wearing nuclear scientist - in-joke casting at its finest - isn't quite as bad as she's been painted.
There's a slightly schizoid feel to Michael Apted's direction at times seeming a tad uncertain & stylisticallly very different from Vic Armstrong's action scenes. It's certainly not difficult to tell who shot what, & not just because Armstrong seems better at hiding the significant height difference between Brosnan & Carlyle. While still variable (the opening boat chase has a few too many sight gags & the helicopter/chainsaw sequence doesn't work as well as it should), the action scenes are much better handled this time round & much better integrated into the story. Despite some awful wisecracks, this feels less like an attempt to hang plenty of setpieces on a flimsy plot & more like the action is being dictated by the story. Definitely one of the better modern Bond outings.
There's not much new in the two-disc Ultimate Edition to justify an upgrade though. While the extras from the previous release have been carried over, there's only a Hong Kong press conference & a few deleted & alternate scenes. Of these - including Renard's very unimpressive original entrance, more tomfoolery in Q's lab & a line about madmen in hollowed out volcanoes filled with large breasted women threatening the world with nuclear war ("It only takes one") among them - only a visuallly striking scene in the abandoned oilfields seems good enough to have kept.
A cut above the regular Bond - By: Mr. J. W. Southby, 19 Mar 2007 
1999's The World Is Not Enough pitches James Bond 007 (Pierce Brosnan) into an intensely personal mission, & gives the character more depth & dimension than had been seen in years before.
After being unable to prevent the assassination of a British oil tycoon, James Bond is assigned to protect his daughter, the enigmatic & complex Elektra King, & to draw out & take down the assassin, the ever-dangerous Renard.
Complete with a solid & believable plot, with more realistic action & more than one good plot twist, this is an excellent grown-up Bond. The script & dialogue are well-written, with some outstanding moments, including the farewell to Q & Bond's cold-blooded killing of Elektra. This scene shows how far this woman has gotten under Bond's skin, & offers a brief glimpse into what lies beneath his cold, hardened exterior.
With great action sequences & a compelling story, this is for my money one of the best Bonds of the old order, with only 2006's Casino Royale offering more action, emotion & story. At the end of the day, a far better Bond film than many give it credit for.
"There's No Point Living If You Can't Feel Alive!" - By: C. M. Gelderd, 04 Aug 2006 His name is Pierce Brosnan & his number is 007. The James Bond of the 21st Century takes us into the new millennium with plenty of thrills & spills in this 19th entry to the Bond series.
Boasting the most exciting pre-title sequence for decades across the River Thames & the Millennium Dome, 007 is pushed to the limit of his tolerance for the job when protecting a wealthy oil heiress from assassination cause him to re-think his attitude to the mission when the danger hits too close to home.
With sexy & sugary support from the likes of Denise Richards, Sophie Marceau & Robert Caryle, this Bond movie is at times forgettable but always keeps up the pace with the action packed thrills & shocking surprises around every turn.
