Review for The World Is Not Enough

Introduction

There’s no little irony in the fact that the only Bond movies I watched in the cinema feature the James Bond that I like the least. It’s just a coincidence of timing that the Pierce Brosnan movies came out during my manic cinema going phase, when free time and cheap tickets were in abundance, and the smartphone had yet to taint the movie watching experience. The problem wasn’t with the actor, it was the producers attempting to translate the Roger Moore style for the nineties generation. I tended to come out of those cinema showings with a sense that I had just wasted my money and time. But there is an exception to every rule, and I still recall thinking that The World Is Not Enough was the Bond movie that got things mostly right. I may have given it the odd half-hearted TV broadcast viewing here and there (ads are still a literal turn-off), but I haven’t devoted my full attention to The World Is Not Enough in over twenty years now. I hope that it still stands up.


The wealthy industrialist Sir Robert King is assassinated inside MI6 headquarters, with the unwitting help of 007. That would be reason enough for James Bond to want the case, despite carrying a painful injury that should leave him off duty to recuperate. But there’s more to this case than meets the eye. King’s daughter Elektra was once the victim of a kidnapping that didn’t end well. Circumstantial evidence points to the kidnapper, an anarchist named Renard as responsible for King’s murder, and he may be targeting Elektra once again, now that she’s inherited the family oil business. The company is trying to build an oil pipeline to the West through Azerbaijan which competes with Russia’s infrastructure, but Bond’s investigation leads him to Kazakhstan, and a site used to decommission nuclear warheads.

The Disc

The World is Not Enough gets a 2.35:1 widescreen 1080p transfer with the choice of DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround English, DTS 5.1 Surround German and French, DD 5.1 Surround Czech, with subtitles in these languages and Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish. You wouldn’t expect such a recent film to offer any issues, although after the end credits you can see that the folks at Lowry took a pass at restoring it regardless. The image is clear and sharp, detail levels are excellent, colours are consistent and the grading evokes a grittier feel in comparison to other films in the series, if subtly so. There is a nice level of film grain as well. The audio is just what you’d expect, nice and immersive, making the most of the action, David Arnold’s score driving the pace of the film well, while the dialogue remains clear throughout. About the only weakness is the title song from Garbage, which is another trope following tuneless dirge. It’s odd, as I enjoyed the heck out of the Garbage albums I bought at the time. “I Think I’m Paranoid”, or “Push It” would make a much better Bond song!

Extras

You get one disc in a BD Amaray case, with a UV code as well. The disc boots to an animated menu. On the disc you’ll find the following extras.

Audio Commentary with director Michael Apted
Audio Commentary with production designer Peter Lamont, composer David Arnold, 2nd unit director Vic Armstrong


In Declassified: MI6 Vault...

Deleted and Extended Scenes with Introductions by director Michael Apted x7 (12:49)
The Boat Chase x3 featurettes (16:01)
James Bond Down River – Original 1999 Featurette (25:04)
Creating an Icon: Making the Teaser Trailer (4:26)
Hong Kong Press Conference (9:46)


That press conference is well worth a watch, a candid and open talk with Pierce Brosnan about the movies and the role.

007 Mission Control is the usual bookmark glossary, tagged with a 3:48 Exotic Locations featurette.


Mission Dossier

The Making of The World is Not Enough (15:06)
Bond Cocktail (22:52)
Tribute to Desmond Llewellyn (3:22)
“The World is Not Enough” Music Video By Garbage (4:01)
The Secrets of 007: Alternative Video Options x9 (22:31)


The Ministry of Propaganda has the 2:13 Release Trailer

Finally the Image Database has 15 categories of image gallery to peruse.

Conclusion

The World is Not Enough is the exception to the rule, the one Pierce Brosnan Bond movie that I really enjoy. It’s not perfect, but it moves away from the Moore-redux films and gives the title character back his grittier, darker edge. It also does something interesting with the story, makes much better use of the characters, and it has a stronger, emotional core to it that balances the usual extravaganza of stunts, gadgets and action. It’s still not perfect though, but it makes it easier to forgive its imperfections.


Just like Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough has caught up to current events to feel relevant once more. With the previous film it’s the tensions in the South China Sea, and with The World is Not Enough, it looks at global energy security, with an oil pipeline in Eastern Europe providing a geopolitical focus. Even in 1999, the idea of Europe having to rely on Russia for energy security was enough to inspire a film plot. This large scale story is balanced with the more personal story of Elektra King, whose father is assassinated at the start of the movie. She’s a survivor of a kidnapping, and it turns out that MI6 were involved in helping her father resolve it. The situation ended badly, and now that it seems that the kidnapper is targeting her again, M is determined to see her protected to assuage her sense of guilt over that incident, while Bond is determined to protect her having inadvertently contributed to her father’s death.


That’s where the characterisations really impress. M gets the kind of development and arc that Skyfall would later really build upon. Brosnan’s Bond is a lot more nuanced in this film, with a more obvious grit and casual cruelty, offset by a greater degree of self doubt and introspection. Elektra is very obviously damaged, a brave front covering a traumatised psyche, to the point where Bond’s conscience briefly gets in the way of his libido for once. Renard also makes for an interesting and tragic villain. After the kidnap, M put a hit on him, and the assassin put a bullet in his head. He didn’t die however, but the bullet lodged in his brain is gradually cutting off his sensation, and hastening his death. Bond’s foe doesn’t feel pain, and has accepted death, which makes for a completely different challenge for the superspy.


I don’t think that a sympathetic villain would be a detriment in a Bond movie, although your mileage may vary, but one weakness that plagued all of the Brosnan era is the misplaced humour. It’s evident here as well, although not quite as bad. It’s helped with the return of Robbie Coltrane as Valentin Zukovsky, former Russian spy boss turned businessman, who once again aids/hinders Bond on his mission. Valentin is the comic relief, but for once the comedy is in keeping with the tone of the story, with Valentin’s sardonic observations and sarcastic asides making perfect sense. But some of the dialogue can still be painful, and the character of Christmas Jones, nuclear physicist embodying Lara Croft is really quite misjudged given the tone of the story.


The World is Not Enough is the best of the Brosnan Bonds and by a fair margin. It’s not just faint praise. The Blu-ray delivers the experience that you’d want with great picture and sound, and the extras package is pretty fair as well.