Review of Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) by Allan C — 25 Apr 2015

I remember being really unimpressed with this Bond picture when I saw it in theaters, but then Bond was brought to an all-time low with the follow-up film, "The World Is Not Enough" where Denise Richards is a nuclear scientist.

I did remember that Michelle Yeoh was good as tough Hong Kong agent who partners with Bond, but I'd totally forgotten that Teri Hatcher was a Bond girl. I'd also forgotten that Jonathan Pryce was the villain, but did remember that Vincent Schiavelli has a scene stealing one scene performance as a hitman out to kill Bond (though I really wasn't sure if it was this film or the Denise Richards one).

Roger Spottiswoode executes the action with a tough no nonsense style. I'll always a bit of admiration for Spottiswoode after reading about him being one of the few people to stand up to Sam Peckilnpah's abuse of everyone around him when he was an editor on "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid.

" But back to this film, There are some solid action set pieces, though the best one unfortunately comes in the middle of the picture involving a helicopter. Ricky Jay and Joe Don Baker are welcome supporting players, but the decision to go with yet another blond chop top henchman was a pretty dull choice when compared to Jaws, Odd Job or even Grace Jones.

Despite the terrible material he had to work with, Pierce Brosnan remains my second favorite Bond and does a great job to elevate this weak material. I really wish he had gotten more than just two good films out of this series ("Goldeneye" and "Die Another Day").