Alright folks, the first really complete BOND 19 review... I've been waiting for a real Bond fan to get their grubby paws upon this film, and I can't wait to see it. I've done the whole trip with Bond this year. At first I could just care less... but then as the film has been getting closer and closer... my interests have been escalating. Recently I talked with a friend of Michael Apted about the shooting upon the Thames, looking at the second unit footage... and he seemed quite jazzed about the movie. But... hell's bells, you don't want to listen to me.... read on....

Oh Informative One,

Dude...long time reader, first time contributor.

So, like, last night, after managing to escape my own institute (not as
expansive as Moriarty's, but still as productive), busy with the analysis of
how the Milky Way Galaxy was conquered by submicroscopic aliens after Earth
barely survived the Y2K debacle, I managed to motor on down to the WAY POSH
MGM screening room last night to catch an advance screening of the new James
Bond film "The World is Not Enough." The film was completely
finished...including the GLORIOUS David Arnold score...which I MUST OWN RIGHT
NOW!!! Unbelievable. He outdoes himself...the best Bond score since "On Her
Majesty's Secret Service..."

Now, in true AICN fashion, before I get into what I thought, it's
probably advisable to give readers a glimpse into my own Bond psychohistory.
First off...I LOVE JAMES BOND MOVIES. All of them...even the really BAD Bond
movies (like the snoozefest "A View to a Kill"). However, as a discerning
viewer of motion pictures, I'm willing to admit Connery was the first and
obviously one TRUE Bond...but hey...he stopped being Bond the year "A
Clockwork Orange" came out, so why even bother to bring him up, right?
Everyone already knows that...including Cubby's EON PRODUCTIONS...but that
doesn't stop them from making BOND movies... Also...I LOATHED the last Bond
"Tomorrow Never Dies." Sure, Michelle Yeoh was in it, but BIG DEAL...she
wasn't given anything to do...and aside from running from bullets, Pierce
Brosnan wasn't given anything to play, either...all the Bondisms were cut for
time because of stupid teenage test audiences in Pasadena...(of course, it
STILL turned out to be the biggest-grossing Bond...so, what the Sam Hill do I
know???)

Which brings me to the new film, the EXCELLENTLY titled "The World is
Not Enough," which everyone knows is the Bond family motto. Quite simply...I
most certainly LOVED IT. By FAR the best Brosnan Bond. Now, I predict most
viewers will really HATE IT, saying it's BORING, because it's not the
masturbatory Bullet Ballet of the last film, but that's only because
audiences these days equit Bond with John McClaine, which is a big
mistake...Bond was always the coolest not because he could take any
Megalomaniac with plans of world domination (like that ruffian Moriarty) out,
but because he always knew not only the best Champaign to order, but the
proper temperature in which to serve it at...and after enjoying the best life
has to offer...THEN he kicks ass...

Without spoiling the plot, which takes many twists and turns, I'd have
to say the tone of the film most closely resembles "From Russia with Love."
A slow, intricate build, much character development and the action never
overshadowing character. The teaser sequence, the LONGEST in Bond history,
is OUTSTANDING, really serving to set up the film...and the Swiss Banker
jokes are priceless, as is most of the banter in the film. You'll never look
at a Cigar Girl the same way again...

Sofie Marceau ranks right up there with Honor Blackman's Pussy
Galore...wow...she ROCKS...HARD. Robert Carlyle's Renard is also good...but
does he rank right up there with Blofeld? Who's the villian and who's the
henchmen here...? Well...that would be telling...Suffice to say...things
aren't always what they seem to be in this film, which is GREAT. And
finally, people TALK to each other in this film...Apted does a GREAT job of
giving us back the witty, smart and charming Bond we all know and love.
Thank god they gave Brosnan a chance to act...and act extremely well. He's
not as good as Connery, but he's the best successor to the roll...and that
new scar, or indent, or whatever above his lip on the left side of his face
makes him even cooler...

And Judi Dench as M...LOVE HER...! Sigourney Weaver at sixty. Bond
should do her, even if she is old enough to be his mother...what a great
bounce SHE'D be...

So...all in all...I really loved this film...

But...and this is for the makers of Bond as much as your
readers...here's what I thought needs to be improved upon...

Unfortunately, the action sequences, with the exception of the teaser,
are rather generic...the best Bond action sequences BUILD...Layer upon
layer...like the car chase in "Spy who loved Me." First, a missile-firing
motorcycle...then a helicopter...then plunging into the ocean. The ski
sequence in "For Your Eyes Only..." skiers...then motorcycles...then the
bobsled course...nothing like that here...in fact...the most disappointing
aspect of "The World is Not Enough" is the LAME ski sequence...sure...there
aren't any process shots, but there's none of Willy Bogner's exhilarating POV
camera shots either...and the Paragliders are frickin' SLOW...easy to get rid
of. Note to evil henchmen...DON'T fly parachutes into the woods... Not a
good choice. This is the second unit's fault...not Michael Apted's...

And when are the filmmakers gonna' figure out they need an EPIC BATTLE
between MI6-friendly forces and the villains...there's a moment in this film
which CRIES OUT for a massive "Goldfinger"-"Thunderball"-"You Only Live
Twice"-"Spy Who Loved Me"-"Moonraker" battle...Robbie Coultraine should have
showed up with an ARMY. But, it's not to be...maybe in Bond Twenty.

Also...the locations in the Brosnan Bonds simply aren't GLAMOROUS. As a
viewer, I DON'T want to go there...sure, we've never seen oil fields in
Kazakhstan before...but THERE'S A REASON FOR THAT. I WANT to go to Monte
Carlo, or the Bahamas, or Greece and shack up with a beauty-marked babe. I
don't want to go to a frozen oil field. While this film does Globe-trot...it
only does so in the former Eastern Block...only getting as far as
Turkey...and I'm GLAD i've never been there...bring back the palm trees...!

Finally, this Bond is a pastiche of all other Bonds. Attentive viewers
will notice an overall passing resemblance to "A View to a Kill" (but MUCH,
MUCH better) and scenes from many other recent Bond films, which isn't the
best thing in the world...

What appears to be Q's final scene for all time is also WAY TOO
SHORT...he should've exited the way Han Solo descended into the Carbon
Freezing chamber in Empire Strikes Back...but John Cleese is a fine
successor...

But...despite the caveats, Bond is finally back to being the MAN he
always used to be...he gets LAID, kills in cold blood, kicks much
behind...then gets laid again...! He just needs to drink more...but all in
all...a FINE return to character for Bond...and he even says he works for
Universal Exports...whoo-hoo...!

Oh yeah...and Denise Richards is in the film too...pretty ridiculous,
like Tanya Roberts, but SMOKING to look at...she's in a tee shirt the whole
time (even in the frozen Russian outback) and in the end it finally gets WET!
(But Denise...what is UP with the implants? They never MOVE. You are
already such a righteous babe...you don't NEED them...they're the WORST
special effect in the whole movie...like a bad matte painting...)

All in all, a smart, very entertaining Bond film. Plus the very FIRST
end credit says "James Bond will return." YESSSSSSSS. Check it out...twice.

Oh...I almost forgot...I just checked out out the special edition DVD of
the third best William Shatner movie of ALL TIME, "Free Enterprise" (the
other two are Trek II and The Intruder) and in the HUGE deleted scenes
supplement there's this AMAZING French "Goldfinger" poster hanging on one of
the character's walls...Connery punching out Oddjob...Gotta' have it...

Best regards,

Foundation founder Heri Seldon

The Seldon Institute for Psychohistory