Pierce Brosnan ............. James Bond
Sophie Marceau ............... Elektra King
Denise Richards ................... Dr. Christmas Jones
Robert Carlyle ....................... Renard
Judi Dench ..................... M.
Robbie Coltrane .................... Valentin Zukovsky
Desmond Llewelyn ...................Q
John Cleese .................... R
Maria Grazia Cucinotta ....................... Cigar Girl
Samantha Bond ........................ Moneypenny
Michael Kitchen ............................ Tanner
Colin Salmon ........................ Robinson
Serena Scott Thomas ...................... Dr. Molly Warmflash
Ulrich Thomsen ........................ Davidov
John Seru ......................... Gabor
Claude-Oliver Rudolph .................Colonel Akakievich
CREDITS
An MGM release of an Albert R. Broccoli's Eon Productions Ltd. presentation.
Director Michael Apted.
Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Screenplay by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein;
Story by Purvis & Wade.
Cinematographer Adrian Biddle.
Editor Jim Clark.
Second unit director Vic Armstrong.
Special effects supervisor Chris Corbould.
Visual effects supervisor Mara Bryan.
Stunt coordinator Simon Crane.
Music David Arnold.
Production designer Peter Lamont.
Supervising art director Neil Lamont.
Running time: 2 hours, 8 minutes.
PG-13, for intense sequences of action violence, some sexuality and innuendo.
Bond's Complexity More Than Enough
Los Angeles Times
Friday, November 19, 1999
By KEVIN THOMAS
"The World Is Not Enough," the 19th James Bond movie, is in the "Mission: Impossible" tradition: It presents action, adventure and romance with maximum sophistication and spectacle and minimal clarity.
Director Michael Apted and his writers admirably maintain a balance between complexity of character and special effects, only to undercut their impact with a murky narrative. This sleek, fast-paced entertainment is further evidence of a steady erosion of confidence in the power of storytelling for its own sake on the part of contemporary blockbuster filmmakers, and truth to tell, that audiences may have trouble following the plot probably won't make a dent at the box office.
A pre-credit jaw-dropping sequence is de rigueur for the Bonds, and "World" delivers big time with Pierce Brosnan's Agent 007 in a terrific speedboat chase down the River Thames that culminates with the suspect attempting to escape via balloon and Bond landing on top of London's Millennium Dome. Through a series of sequences, each one a triumph of production design and technical bravura, we gather that Bond has been sent by M (Judi Dench) to Bilbao, Spain, to retrieve a ransom payment paid by an oil tycoon, Sir Robert King (David Calder), to rescue his kidnapped daughter Elektra (Sophie Marceau) from the arch anarchist Renard (Robert Carlyle), whose only goal, it seems, is to create chaos.
But when Sir Robert comes to MI6 headquarters in London to collect his money a fiendish device blows him to bits. Bond is off to Baku, Azerbaijan, to keep a protective eye on Elektra, who is carrying on her father's ambitious and perilous task of building an oil pipeline across Western Asia to Istanbul so that, in the words of M, "the West can count on oil reserves for the next century."
As a survivor of a kidnapping, Elektra is seemingly as fearless as she is gorgeous, not welcoming Bond's presence as a protector but eager to have him as a bedmate. He tries to resist but is beguiled by this beauty who soon proves to be complicated indeed. Bond begins suspecting that she may be a victim of the "Stockholm syndrome," secretly remaining in the thrall of Renard. But what if Renard in turn has fallen in love with her? Apted is adroit in suggesting the contradictions that riddle Elektra and others that render their behavior ambiguous at best.
Similarly, he's good at evoking an aura of complicity that governs interplay between the pursuer and the pursued, revealing vulnerability in all of the film's key players, a quality that has become a must in screen heroes and villains alike. All this is to the good; Brosnan, Marceau (whose 15 movies include "Braveheart" and some prestigious French pictures) and Britain's ever-versatile Carlyle and Dench all have the talent and experience necessary in creating three-dimensional characters. But too often the filmmakers allow a concern for complexity of motivation to lapse into needless confusion.
All the elements that audiences have come to expect of Bond pictures are securely in place: fabulous gadgetry, superbly photographed exotic locales, stupendous production values, inspired action sequences, gorgeous women, considerable zingy double-entendres, a driving score that incorporates the familiar Bond theme and an overall feeling of tremendous-scale, no-expenses-spared filmmaking.
Robbie Coltrane reprises vividly bad-guy-turned-good-guy Valentin Zukovsky and John Cleese is on hand for some comic relief as R, aide to series veteran Desmond Llewelyn's Q, MI6's inventor extraordinaire. But beautiful Denise Richards draws unintended laughs for her singularly callow portrayal of a nuclear weapons whiz. "The World Is Not Enough" in fact offers not enough to add up to a fully satisfying movie.
Submarines, Balloons and a Guy Named Bond
November 19, 1999, Friday
By JANET MASLIN
''The World Is Not Enough'' was directed by Michael Apted, whose insightful glimpses of the maturing process can be seen in his latest documentary, ''42 Up.'' Doggone if Mr. Apted hasn't been able to make James Bond grow up a little too. In his third and most comfortable effort to model the Bond mantle, Pierce Brosnan bears noticeably more resemblance to a real human being. He shows signs of emotion, cuts back on the lame puns and makes lifelike conversation with fellow characters. Should he ever stop posing mannequinlike with left hand in trouser pocket, or engage in a clinch without appearing to be promoting his wristwatch, Mr. Brosnan's Bond will have entered the land of the living.
This latest film, which evokes its jolliest laugh when Bond tries to work the title phrase into a conversation, seems to be populated by more noticeable people all around. Back at initial-filled headquarters, M (Dame Judi Dench) takes a more active role in this story, while the delightful Q (Desmond Llewelyn) is now made even more so by John Cleese's R. Both men are suitably aghast whenever Bond runs off with their newly designed equipment and treats it as if he were a teenager who shouldn't have borrowed the car.
The film is off to the races with its obligatory high-octane opening. This year's model features the Frank Gehry-designed museum in Bilbao, Spain, an amphibious chase through London and a hot-air balloon. And it pits Bond against a woman in tight red leather who drives a speedboat while shooting a machine gun. (Question: Isn't it difficult to do both?) The chase ends tragically, with a cryptic line of dialogue. (Question: Will anyone know what her problem was when the movie is over?)
Still trawling for plausible villains, ''The World Is Not Enough'' pits Bond against Renard (Robert Carlyle), a rabid anticapitalist terrorist who has a bullet in his head. (Question: Is the large, mobile, computer-generated hologram of Renard's skull and brain more interesting than the actual character?) Renard was once the kidnapper of beautiful Elektra King, whose beloved father (note her first name) is blown up before this film's opening credits. When a character here explains that Elektra fell in love with her captor, the phrase ''Stockholm syndrome'' is used nervously. It's as if the movie's real goals of admiring scenery and plugging products were jeopardized by such a knotty concept.
Sophie Marceau does a smashing turn as Elektra, in a mischievously sexy performance that manages to make Bond that much more interesting. While Ms. Marceau gets the slinky costumes, gorgeous ski sequence and boudoir scenes, the film's other female star fares less well. Denise Richards seemed far more clever as the teenage vixen of ''Wild Things'' than she does as a brilliant scientist whose name (Dr. Christmas Jones) is mercifully avoided in conversation. And she's the one who gets stuck talking about plutonium and flailing away on a soggy submarine.
The plot, which often sends the audience into a pleasant fog while big machines and deadly weapons are thrown around, involves the struggle over an oil pipeline (with Robbie Coltrane as an amusing Russian gangster) and sends postcards from places as diverse as Scotland and central Asia. (Question: Is it easy to rent a shiny new BMW if you're in Azerbaijan? It is if you're James Bond.)
Published: 11 - 19 - 1999 , Late Edition - Final , Section E , Column 1 , Page 20
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Pierce's Filmography