Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)


 

Mission
A deranged media mogul is staging international incidents to pit the world’s superpowers against each other. Now 007 must take on this evil mastermind in an adrenaline-charged battle to end his reign of terror and prevent global pandemonium.

Release Data
UK: 12th December 1997 (12)
USA: 19th December 1997 (PG-13)
World Premiere: 9th December 1997 (Odeon Leicester Square, London, UK)
UK TV Premiere: 13th October 1999, ITV
US TV Premiere: 14th January 2001, CBS

Running Time: 123 minutes
Classification: 12 (UK), PG-13 (US)
Budget: $110m
Worldwide Box Office: $335.3m
US Box Office: $125.3m
US Admissions: 26.7 million
UK Box Office: £19.9m


Cast & Characters
James Bond
Pierce Brosnan
Wai Lin
Michelle Yeoh
Elliot Carver
Jonathan Pryce
Paris Carver
Teri Hatcher
Stamper
Gotz Otto
Jack Wade
Joe Don Baker
Dr. Kaufman
Vincent Schiavelli
Prof. Inga Bergstrom
Cecile Thomsen
Henry Gupta
Ricky Jay
Carver’s PR Girl
Daphne Deckers
M
Dame Judi Dench
Charles Robinson
Colin Salmon
Miss Moneypenny
Samantha Bond
Q
Desmond Llewelyn
 

Production
Producers: Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Screenplay: Bruce Feirstein
Composer: David Arnold

Locations
Terrorist Arms Bazaar, The Kyber Pass; South China Sea; Oxford and London, UK; Hamburg, Germany; Okinawa and Saigon, Vietnam; Halong Bay, South China Sea

Pre-Credits Sequence
007 sets up a cruise missile strike on a terrorist arms bazaar near the Russian border. Upon spotting nuclear torpedoes loaded on jet, Bond charges through the market to commandeer the plane and fly it to safety before the missile hits, preventing radioactive plutonium being spread across the area.

Title
The title is not used directly in the film, but "Tomorrow" is the name of Elliot Carver’s newspaper. The film was originally titled "Tomorrow Never Lies" before a typing error in a fax inadvertently suggested the change.

 

 

Cut Scenes & Alternate Versions
One cut scene involved Bond returning his rental car. At the end of the car park chase saw Bond remarking "the keys are in the car" to the Avis lady.

Reportedly toned down for a 12 cinema certificate in the UK, a further 6 seconds of cuts were required to retain this rating for the video version. All use of shurikens (throwing stars) and a bad guy having his face stamped on were removed, and most of the fight sound effects were reduced.

The UK terrestrial television broadcast by ITV in October 2001 included the "shuriken" and "face stamping" shots that were removed from the UK VHS and DVD releases.

Full details on the cuts made and later restored in the Ultimate Edition DVD can be found here.

Best Line
Roebuck: "With all due respect, M, sometimes I don’t think you have the balls for this job."
M: "Perhaps. But the advantage is that I don’t have to think with them all the time."

Best Mistake
Helicopters can not physically perform the movement used to trap Bond and Wai Lin in dead end of the alleyway.

Distinguishing Feature
Bond ‘meets his match’ in Wai Lin, the first time Bond performs a jump on a motorcycle and the fabulous car chase in the hotel car park.

Vital Statistics
Conquests: 3, Martinis: 1, Kills: 25, "Bond, James Bond": 1

MI6 Rating

Fan Rating

As voted in MI6’s Fan Verdict poll

"James Bond Will Return" [The World Is Not Enough]

DVD cover image courtesy Amazon Associates