Barnes & Noble

The James Bond franchise got a much-needed shot in the arm with this superlative series entry, the best 007 adventure in years. Pierce Brosnan's fourth outing as Ian Fleming's unflappable secret agent is initially darker than the others: Early on, Bond is captured by North Korean terrorists, tortured, and imprisoned for well over a year. Upon being released, he's discredited and stripped of his license to kill. And that's when the plot really kicks into gear. While trying to clear his name, Bond discovers a connection between some nasty North Koreans and millionaire thrill seeker Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens), whose financial empire is backed by stolen South African diamonds. The Neal Purvis script hits all the beats expected by Bond fans, and director Lee Tamahori (The Edge) gets some extra oomph out of his action sequences by combining impressive stunt work with digitally enhanced special effects. Pierce Brosnan, now 50 years old, has grown into the role nicely, and his flippant one-liners don't seem as forced or juvenile as those in earlier films. Day's real innovation, however, is the pairing of Brosnan with glamorous Halle Berry, whose sly, sexy Jinx Jordan is the feistiest "Bond girl" ever. Jinx isn't just a foil for 007 (although, like all the others, she winds up in his bed), she's a whip-smart character with an ambitious agenda and the skills necessary to pull it off. Cool, blonde Rosamund Pike is perfectly cast as a British agent working undercover with Graves, Madonna has a nifty cameo as a fencing instructor, and Judi Dench shares her screen time with Brosnan in several testy, well-written exchanges. The Bond films couldn't just keep getting bigger; they had to evolve in other ways and move in different directions. Die Another Day does this -- in spades -- and as a result makes better entertainment than the previous three entries put together. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Pierce Brosnan makes his fourth appearance as suave super-spy James Bond in this espionage thriller, the 20th film in the official Bond series. While on assignment in North Korea, Bond is captured by government agents, where he's imprisoned and tortured for over a year. When Bond finally wins his freedom, not everyone is certain 007 is still capable of doing the job, but after Zao (Rick Yune), the North Korean operative who snared Bond, is discovered to be in cahoots with unscrupulous entrepreneur Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens), Bond is back on the case, and he finds the two men have sinister plans which could decide the fate of the world. As Bond hops from England to Cuba to Korea to Iceland in pursuit of his quarry, he (as usual) makes the acquaintance of two beautiful and mysterious women, Jinx (Halle Berry) and Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike). Judi Dench and John Cleese return in Die Another Day as, respectively, Bond's superior M and gadget-master Q; Madonna contributes the film's theme song and makes a cameo appearance as a fencing instructor. Mark Deming

Chicago Sun-Times

This movie has the usual impossible stunts ... But it has just as many scenes that are lean and tough enough to fit in any modern action movie. Roger Ebert

Hollywood Reporter

This is a sharper, edgier Bond, in which first-time Bond director Lee Tamahori allows a smidgen of character work to creep in. Kirk Honeycutt

Product Details

• UPC: 883904116677
• Source: MGM (VIDEO & DVD)
• Region Code: A
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled, Dubbed
• Time: 2:07:00
• Sales Rank: 20,253

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• James Bond Ultimate Edition, Vol. 2
• James Bond Blu-ray Volume 1

Features: