I remember when I walked out of the cinema in 2002 I was furious. However, in time, I’ve learned to enjoy DAD. For the most part. Its first hour is perfect. If they had decided to go with plastic surgery instead of face mutation, skip the para surfing scene, VR shooting range, get rid of that silly looking Graves’ armour (save the glove), the film would’ve been much, much better. I’d be okay with Jinx, satellite and invisible car (especially with invisible car). There are many great moments in DAD: the PTS, Cuba, fancing duel. And Toby Stephens gives a really solid performance. Shame. A wasted potential.
Having said that, right now I can easily enjoy watching the movie. I suppose that’s something.
We’re getting off topic as this thread is supposed to be about The World Is Not enough, so I created a thread for Die Another Day.
Pierce gives his best performance from all his bond films.
I find it a good film and the plot is good.
The problem is the ski chase, it would have been better to replace that scene with Bond having dinner with Electra at her mansion and talking about family motto’s.
Also get rid of the Christmas Jones character, there was no need for her or to have another bond girl.
The movie should have ended once bond shoots Electra with Renard being arrested to make it different.
It had so much potential to be a classic and I think the producers learned from that mistake with Skyfall.
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Yes there is a lot of good potential in TWINE but some of Brozza’s acting is just awful: where Reynard grabs his shoulder in the bunker being particularly cringe! I absolutely loved Sophie Marceau as the villainess though and am excited for these Bond 25 female villain rumours!
I feel that like Goldeneye, the N64 game was better than the movie. The two N64 games introduced me to James Bond. This was my first 007 movie I ever saw. While there are flaws, I enjoyed it because I’m a bit biased for that reason. I noticed Dynamite Comics’ Hammerhead arguably owes some debt to The World is Not Enough. I feel that comic storyline is this movie done right! With Daniel Craig as well!
Possibly why you think it’s better than the film…not a criticism, Casino Royale is mine due to a cast I’ve loved in other things as well as the film itself, it prominently featured two hobbies (parkour and poker) and a line I find FAR more relatable than I should.
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I hope it’s “Do I look like a give a damn?” and not “your mistake will be short-lived” or “The bitch is dead.”
It’s…
“Don’t worry, you’re not my type”
“Smart?”
“Single”
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Oh, how wrong he was…
Watching bits and pieces from TWINE and I think the underwater sequences with Bond holding his breath were well done. I liked it back in 1999 and appreciate it even more if anything. The finale in the submarine gets criticism for being small scale but I think the overall concept is a good one in terms of drama. The N64 game did a good job in translating the sequence too.
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It has many qualities and great ideas, only the execution is often disappointing.
But the „I never miss“-scene alone raises it above lesser entries.
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I told my dad that I enjoyed TWINE. His response was that it was one of his least favorites, and that there were better Bond movies. He was right, and it wasn’t a generation thing. I’m a bit biased towards TWINE as it was my first Bond movie I saw. It’s similar to Carte Blanche, it was my first Bond book. I do however get fan’s frustrations with them both. Some story elements and characterizations that don’t feel like James Bond, namely. But I stand by them both, for more than one reason. Namely spoilers: female villains.
I do feel like TWINE has some great ideas, and Denise Richards was truly in a no win situation. The writing of the movie is why I enjoy the Raymond Benson novelization of it more than the final movie, same with TND. I think this review can best shape its uniqueness in Bond history: Pete Debruge of Variety wrote in 2012 that “[The World Is Not Enough] presents a conflicted persona torn between the corny antics of the Roger Moore era and the grim seriousness of where things would eventually go under Daniel Craig’s tenure. It also contains a dose of Timothy Dalton-esque toughness […] Much of what made Brosnan such a great Bond is thrust into the backseat by lame jokes and a premature attempt to mix up the formula”, concluding that it was “nothing but a reversion to the franchise’s most adolescent tendencies”.
Similar to another 1999 movie character, Jar Jar Binks, I feel fans were a bit hard on Denise and her character. The most memorable things about her for me are her name, her tank top and her bellybutton tattoo. One thing that I don’t like about TWINE was it pushed M to the front. It’s getting old, the writing for M to been sympathetic has been poor. I don’t like how EON thinks that they should be a mentor figure to Bond, when all they do criticize him for his actions. This arguably started in TWINE. The best thing about TWINE is the N64 game, which in some ways I like better than GE, and the original movie. All in all, TWINE misses a lot of great opportunities, but EON learned their lessons from it, to give us better movies. A movie ahead of it’s time, in some ways.
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I agree and felt she should never have been cast. She turned 28 shortly after filming started. She looked that age if not younger. To me they should have cast someone like Rene Russo who would have been 1) at an age (45) that was more realistic for the part and 2) more age appropriate for Bond. I know the producers have a tendency to focus on very beautiful women. I have just never understood why they can’t do that with women closer to Bond’s age. I was 31 when this movie came out and thought (and still do) that Rene was gorgeous. I guess we got the Thomas Crown Affair.
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I agree, but EON was forced by MGM to cast her.
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Jar Jar and Denise comparison. 
One of Brosnan’s best moments for sure, followed by the great dive into the water. DAF eat your heart out! I also like the torture chair sequence for the simple fact it’s his equivalent of the Le Chiffre interrogation from Casino Royale.
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I watched TWINE for its 25th anniversary. I know, I’m a bit late, but life happens! A reflection, on the first Bond movie I saw.
The Good:
We couldn’t have gotten a better farewell for Q.
Robert Carlyle is underrated as an overall actor. He did well with the material he was given.
Sophie Marceau is a high standard for female villains in James Bond in general. In movies, books and video games. Ironically, she can say that she’s been in all three, herself. Like Michael Apted said, she is the true villain. She would have the one who would have lived to benefit from getting the oil for her pipeline. Plus, she used her beauty and her body to get men to fall for her. Renard was unique in this instance. Also, she was the one who truly killed her dad for profits and her mom’s name. Yeah, she knew what she was doing, as a villain.
The Nintendo 64 game. The first Bond product that I got addicted to. A true successor to Goldeneye 007. It’s often overlooked. And like GE007, it’s better than the movie it’s based on.
It takes some creative risks. It does foreshadow some of the issues and story arcs that DC’s era would eventually. TWINE walked so SF in particular, (and to a degree SP and NTTD) could run. While also giving us ideas of where TD’s adventures could have gone.
Pierce Brosnan always nailed Bond, no matter the material he was given. No film proves this better than TWINE.
Valentin Zukovsky has more than one scene in the movie. He came back with more of a purpose than in GE.
The bank escape and the Thames boat chase is pure Bond action. And that’s a good thing.
The title sequence visuals are some of my favorites in the series.
A diverse cast of henchmen. Minor characters, but memorable.
The Bad:
M gets overused in the series starting here. She was also just as bad as the villains for not helping save Elektra from the start. Basically, the film revolves around her bad decisions. And we’re supposed to view her as a good person? Please!
Denise Richards isn’t to blame for her role. The writing did her no favors. She’s fine as she is. Not many actresses could pull off Dr. Christmas Jones any better. Doctors can be attractive as well. She should have more writing to her character.
TWINE has an identity crisis in terms of tone and story beats. It feels like a mix of Moore cheesiness, Dalton seriousness and Craig character development. All done a bit poorly. It wants to respect Bond tradition, while trying new story ideas. It just doesn’t know what it wants, in terms of writing and direction. This is why I think that Dana Stevens deserved screenwriting credit. It feels like she truly helped out.
The submarine feels too unbelievable. Namely in the drowning department. Even with all his training, there’s no way Bond could stay underwater that long! It’s ironically called too small scale for a Bond finale.
Some of the deleted scenes in Raymond Benson’s novel should have been in the movie. Namely, that Elektra’s mother’s side of the family started the oil pipeline. Also, Elektra singing as she dies. These could have made her more sympathetic, in a way, more of a tragic figure.
So in conclusion:
I still rank TWINE in my upper half of Bond movies. I’m biased as it was the first Bond I saw fully. As Carte Blanche was my first Bond novel I see a few similarities between the two. A female villain, who would arguably get to see the end result of their plan. A duo of villains. A long time character says goodbye (Q). While an old favorite returns (Mary Goodnight). Bond shares a bit of family history. Disfigured villains, Renard with Bell’s Palsy, Severan Hydt with his long fingernails. There are a few more, but I’ll let you decide what they are. I see the criticisms of both for fans. However, they both tried something different, and I have to give them both credit for that. So while not perfect, TWINE is an enjoyable Bond adventure that blends tradition and creative risks in one. As an artist, TWINE is the ultimate lesson in turning something old into new. Lessons have been learned at EON, because of the movie, it seems. My dad said that he said TWINE was one of his least favorite Bond movies. I see now that his viewpoints were not just a generational thing. He was just telling the truth. For that, I will be forever grateful.
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I have a love/hate relationship with TWINE.
I remain impressed by Brosnan‘s portrayal of Bond, I love the more intimate confrontation with the villain(s), I enjoy the PTS and admire the many great ideas in it. Arnold‘s score and song are brilliant.
Unfortunately, I think many setpieces are not well directed and shot, the villain is underused (a problem in all NewEon films) and the M arc is overused (also a problem in NewEon films). The second half loses its steam, and Elektra is revealed much too soon as the master of deception.
Still, simply for the „I never miss“-moment I will always like TWINE more than all the Craig era films.
Quite frankly, BrosnanBond not hesitating to shoot Elektra is such a superb scene, defining his Bond as just as tough if not more so in the execution of his orders than Craig.
Which moment is there for CraigBond in which he overcomes his conflicted feelings and cold-bloodedly acts in the interest of his mission?
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Not only that, which is a major issue with the film, but even before the reveal they do everything they can to broadcast that the reveal was coming and, if memory serves, it’s not really all that subtle. I remember seeing the film in theaters and not being even slightly fazed by the reveal. They had a chance to do a real gut punch of a reveal that could have had some real emotional stakes for Bond, and in a film that doesn’t really spend nearly as much time dwelling on Bond’s personal interests in the film as much as they set the groundwork for that to happen, which should also serve as some sort of proof that such a thing is possible in light of the fact that EON can’t seem to even come close to making such a thing happen in the Craig films.
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The whole “Elektra is secretly the villain” bit lands with a thud, for me. I guess on paper it seems clever (“Get this! The Bond Girl is the evil mastermind!!!”), but its not exactly unprecedented for one of Bond’s conquests to turn out to be evil – in fact it’s almost routine – and we’ll see it again in the very next film. It only works if we believe Bond feels something profound and meaningful with her, and I’m not seeing it.
By the time we learn Elektra’s bad, Bond has already acquired what is obviously the true “Bond Girl” of the piece, so neither he nor we are out anything. Maybe it wouldve had more impact if Elektra’s perfidy were only revealed towards the very end, after being the sole object of Bond’s affections throughout, leaving Bond to finish the film alone for once, and not in the arms of a lover. Maybe in a final scene at the office, M could offer him some time off, but Bond declines and asks for a new assignment immediately, taking one earmarked for 008. He heads out the door and for once we don’t follow him, but instead linger on M, who has a sad and slightly worried look on her face before closing the folder with Elektra’s name on it and dropping it in the bin to be filed away. Fade out.
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