For Fresh Eyes Only: The World Is Not Enough & Die Another Day

“I’m not done yet, but the finish line is in sight and feels more attainable than ever…. Things are looking up for old Marcus, folks. Thank goodness for that. And thank goodness for these movies! The ones with James Bond in them!

Marcus Irving will return to discuss The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day”

These words were published on this website on March 2nd, 2020. They came at the end of the last entry in my ‘Before Times’ column, For Fresh Eyes Only, where I was chronicling my first-time viewings of every movie in the James Bond franchise leading up to the release of No Time To Die on April 10th of that year. 

After that article was published, I was reading it while on my morning commute and I accidentally wandered into a construction site and a big bucket of paint fell on top of my head. Unable to see, I stumbled on as various moving girders and other pieces of machinery seemed to perfectly guide me through the chaotic worksite. I luckily left unscathed and, thanks to some friendly critters, got the bucket off of my head and decided to return to my commute. On my walk I noticed that there was a tunnel leading through the mountains that would have taken me to work faster. I should have known better as I had never seen this tunnel before, but I was running late and against my better judgment I ran headfirst into what turned out to be a dastardly tricky perspective painting and I fell into a coma for 576 days. 

I’ve finally woken up, and it sounds like some pretty wild stuff happened while I was out cold. I’ll have to keep reading up on all of that stuff, but I obviously was most interested in figuring out what happened with No Time To Die. In a move that shocked me as much as it did flatter me, I found out that the Broccoli family themselves demanded that the movie be delayed multiple times due to the ailment that befell me, the biggest James Bond fan in the world. I’m so sorry for the wait everybody, but the movie is finally releasing on October 8th, so I really gotta get going on finishing this series!

I’m going to be honest and say that I watched Pierce Brosnan’s final two films as Bond, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day, just before my mishap and my memory of that time is still a little hazy so I don’t remember them all that well and I have No Time To rewatch either of them so I’m not going to have all that much intelligent to say about either. 

I remember that The World Is Not Enough felt like the weakest of Brosnan’s efforts. According to my notes there was a pretty cool boat chase and a hot air balloon blew up. That sounds like it was cool. The main plot and the villains were easily forgettable, but at the base level the movie was well-made enough to keep me entertained for a while. Again, the weakest of Brosnan’s Bond movies, but it’s still much easier for me to watch than 80% of the older ones.

Die Another Day, on the other hand, absolutely kicked ass and may have supplanted Goldeneye as my new favorite Bond movie. The car chase through the weird ice castle is something I remember well, even after all of this time. That scene is equally as extravagant as it is silly and felt like it could fit right in in the latest Fast and Furious film. Halle Berry and Rosamund Pike sword fight while Bond is fighting a guy in a mech suit aboard a fiery, out of control plane. What more could you want out of an action movie? 

My next article will be my final one before No Time To Die. I will cover Casino Royale through Spectre (I promise I will have more to say. I’m watching them now, not a year and a half ago). It feels weird and kinda bad that I have to rush through the Craig era, the films that I have heard nothing but universal praise for, but a lot about this past year and a half has been weird and kinda bad. Or so I’ve heard. 

Marcus Irving will return in For Fresh Eyes Only: Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre.