The World Is Not Enough (1999)

one of my absolute favorites!

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Movie Review: "007: The World Is Not Enough" (1999)Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson retreat to the classic "007" machinery with a late 1990s winter release, starring Pierce Brosnan for the third time with the "Licence To Kill", portraying the legendary MI6-spy with drive, wits and cold-blooded executions if necessary in another original screenplay by Bruce Feirstein, who gets succeeded by screenwriter duo Robert Wade & Neal Purvis. Together they manufacture on over two hour long action movie that contains major reprising scenarios from "007" history as an attack from the air with machine gun and grenades in a downhill skiing adventure, where Bond engages the leading actress Sophie Marceau, perfoming as the double-crossing Elektra King, who inherited an Oil empire from her deceased father, making fatal encounters along the way with shady business deals at casino gambling tables under instructions of a "GoldenEye" recurring character of Valentin Zukovsky, given face by actor Robbie Coltrane, who's character has his own way of dealing with "007" over a mutual drink in steamy offices."The World Is Not Enough" directed by competent as veternary Michael Apted, who navigates the visual image system executed by cinematographer Adrian Biddle (1952-2005) in a non-risky, more traditional fashion, making this Bond movie fair motion picture entertainment with minor surprises mostly achieved by the well-written twisting relationship between Elektra King and James Bond, who nevertheless takes his time to have the usual "Q" for quartermaster MI6-meetings with the final appearance of lifetime-achieving actor Desmond Llewelyn (1914-1999) who states with concluding words "Always have an escape plan at hand, 007". A statement that will follow the master spy / assassin to a tough decending-submarine confrontation with a no-pain-feeling Bond nemesis character in shapes of a menacing man called Renard, portrayed by actor Robert Carlyle, as further inclusion of last minute escape from an interior mine explosion, meeting love-spreading scientist Dr. Christmas Jones, performed by action-engaging actress Denise Richards, when Bond & Jones need to dismantle another timebomb in an highlighted highspeed pimpline chase scene.What is left of "Bond 19" in retrospective in reminiscence to Zeitgeist-confronting motion pictures as "The Matrix" and "Fight Club" directed by David Fincher out the same year of 1999, comes the wish to find exceeding production design measures, a leaner editorial in order to do one of the best mission briefings in "007" history justice, featuring iron-lady "M" portrayed by another fulminate performance by Dame Judi Dench with a beautifully captured balance between an audience-promising nemesis exposure, a thrilling plot dialogue and Bond's light-hearted medical exam statement as dessert. © 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

The 19th James Bond Adventure, and the 3rd starring Pierce Brosnan as 007, The World Is Not Enough finds a comfortable balance between all the familiar Bond elements. The locations are exotic, the girls are beautiful, the gadgets are cool, and the action is a lot of fun. At this point in the franchise, both the producers, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, and Bond himself, Pierce Brosnan, had settled into a nice rhythm, and The World Is Not Enough shows all of them at their most assured. This is a confident piece of Bond-flavored entertainment, and for someone who loves the popcorn action side of 007, The World Is Not Enough is one of my favorite Bonds of them all.The story of Bond 19 is much like the story of Bonds 1 through 18. A madman wants a nuclear bomb, Bond is sent to stop him, excitement ensues. The script from Robert Wade and Neal Purvis does exactly what you would hope a Bond script would do. It sticks to the tried-and-true formula while adding its own spin to the various elements. The villain of this story is quintessential Bond; A terrorist named Renard (Robert Carlyle) whose gimmick is that he has a bullet lodged in his brain that renders him stronger than the average man and unable to feel pain. As far as gimmicks go, that's a darn good one. The script also gives an interesting twist to the traditional Bond Girl role. While Dr. Christmas Jones (Denise Richards) gets the typical spunky ally part, Sophie Marceau's Elektra King has a much juicer role as an oil heiress who we find out has much bigger plans than just bedding Mr. Bond. Her role is a nice change of pace for the franchise, allowing for a more personal bend to the plot, and ample opportunity for Brosnan and Marceau to do some real acting.Brosnan is more than up to the task in his 3rd go-round as James Bond. He's supremely comfortable in the role, and he sharpens the suaveness and danger of the character a notch further than his previous two movies. This is his best performance as Bond, and I think with this movie, he solidifies himself as the best of the post- Connery Bonds. Plus, he looks great in a suit. The supporting cast is great as well. Carlyle and Marceau strike just the right note as the villains, and Robbie Coltrane and Denise Richards provide ample humor and eye candy. Which one provides which is up to you, I suppose. After all, Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist is pretty funny.The biggest strength of The World Is Not Enough is not in its plot, or even the cheeky, innuendo-laced dialogue peppered throughout, but in its action scenes, which come early and often. Director Michael Apted gives us a couple of really thrilling stunt sequences including a ski chase, a shootout in an underground weapons facility, and a nifty little finale aboard a submarine. The best action scene, however, comes before the titles even start. The boat chase on the River Thames is just flat-out spectacular. Like the rest of the action in The World Is Not Enough, its imaginatively staged and clearly shot. However, the Thames scene has a real punch, a Bondian flair that the rest of the movie never quite matches. I think the film really could have used a big, standout action sequence in the middle of the film, just to bolster a middle section that sags compared to the great opening and closing action scenes, but on the whole, Apted does very well maintaining an inventive sense of fun. There's nothing revolutionary here, but the stunts and shootouts are about as entertaining as they could be.The World Is Not Enough goes down smooth. It's a comfortable and confident Bond movie with good performances all-around and more than enough of the classic Bond elements to satisfy any 007 fan. The word to describe Bond 19 is "solid". For me, the best Bond movies are not the ones that defy the Bond formula, but the ones that embrace it. The World Is Not Enough sticks to what makes Bond, Bond, and it does it all well. Polished, vibrant, and entertaining throughout, The World Is Not Enough is classic James Bond.78/100

Standard Bond with all the bells and whistles. This movie is a trifle long and I was looking at my watch the last hour or so. Sort of thing you will forget an hour after watching it.Car chases boat chases gizmos....double entendres in every other line delivered. ??? Fun stereotypes and evil people this has them all I suppose. If you have nothing else to do it is tolerable as all these bells and whistles are kind of low brow and not that exciting. Maybe I am too jaded at 64 for these things.An atom bomb that is set to go off (actually a nuclear reactor).... This Bond movie doesn't have Spectre as the foe but a sadistic nut and a crazed Stokholm syndrome female protagonist anti- heroine.Recommend?? Only if you are bored.

The latest James Bond outing is a fun, if stale, formula piece which offers up little originality and yet has such a polished, flawless sheen that you can't help like it to a degree. Ideas were very thin on the ground here and the plot is a very loose one involving various traitorous characters swapping sides and shouting at each other a lot. It's all very confusing and to be honest not very interesting - mainly because none of the actors and actresses on screen appear to be getting into their roles, instead looking simply bored.Pierce Brosnan has settled into the role nicely, but his portrayal here is nothing short of lazy. He is also let down by his supporting cast - although to be fair the script isn't really interested in giving depth to our characters, instead preferring to have them as one-dimensional stereotypes. Sophie Marceau was hyped up as the newest femme fatale yet I think she seems out of place and miscast here - she's too sophisticated to be a realistic villainess. Robert Carlyle makes the most of his over the top villain, but he is barely on screen and the script gives him only a few lines.Various other supporting characters pop up, including Judi Dench, who looks even more out of place than usual when she gets trapped behind bars; Desmond Llewellyn is as mischievous as ever as Q, poignantly in his final role, and Robbie Coltrane overacts for all he's worth as a greasy Russian swine. The usual familiar British actors also pop up, including Michael Kitchen and John Cleese. But it's Denise Richards who stands out, for all the wrong reasons, as one of the most wooden Bond actresses out there - until Gemma Arterton came along in QUANTUM OF SOLACE, at least.What this film does benefit from are a couple of show-stopping action sequences, especially the opening boat chase over the River Thames which is the best that Bond has ever been. Unfortunately, things lose their way a bit with a terribly clichéd and unbelievable ski chase and a silly moment where Bond and co defuse a bomb while flying down a pipe (!). Thankfully a moment where helicopters with circular saws demolish Bond's car and a building makes up for these minor mishaps. The ending feels rushed but is pretty good too. Altogether, this is not the best Bond I've seen, and I'd rate it alongside something like THUNDERBALL.