In the opening scenes Bond recovers a quantity of money but when it is returned to tycoon Sir Robert King it explodes and kills him. Chief suspect is psychotic terrorist Renard; who had previously kidnapped King's daughter Elektra. She had managed to escape but Bond is convinced that she is still in danger. Having taken over her father's business, Elektra is in Azerbaijan when Bond catches up with her and it isn't long before an attempt is made on her life by attackers using para-gliders which bear the markings of a Russian security agency. A consultation with former KGB officer Valentin Zukovsky, previously seen in 'Goldeneye' leads him to an old Soviet missile site in Kazakhstan where weapons are being decommissioned. Here he finally meets Renard
before he can escape with a stolen warhead. He also meets up with scientist Dr Christmas Jones who joins Bond to hunt down the weapon before Renard can detonate it and engineer an oil crisis.
This is a fairly average Bond film but even average Bond is quite entertaining. The story is obviously far-fetched but it is still entertaining and has a good twist part way thorough. As one would expect there is plenty of fairly spectacular action; the best being when the para-gliders attacked Bond and Elektra as they were skiing Bond films do seem to like featuring great action scenes on the ski slopes! The pre-title boat chase is also pretty spectacular. Robert Carlyle was quite menacing as Renard although he is nowhere near as frightening as when he played Begby in 'Trainspotting'. By this, his third film as Bond, Pierce Brosnan is clearly comfortable in the role and does a decent job even if by this point in the series the character has become a bit of a caricature. Sophie Marceau makes Elektra an interesting and seductive character but I couldn't believe in Denise Richards as a nuclear scientist this is largely the fault of the costume department she may look great in a tight singlet and hotpants but she doesn't look like a nuclear expert! Overall this is a fun but ultimately forgettable Bond film; worth watching but by no means a classic.
This is a fairly average Bond film but even average Bond is quite entertaining. The story is obviously far-fetched but it is still entertaining and has a good twist part way thorough. As one would expect there is plenty of fairly spectacular action; the best being when the para-gliders attacked Bond and Elektra as they were skiing Bond films do seem to like featuring great action scenes on the ski slopes! The pre-title boat chase is also pretty spectacular. Robert Carlyle was quite menacing as Renard although he is nowhere near as frightening as when he played Begby in 'Trainspotting'. By this, his third film as Bond, Pierce Brosnan is clearly comfortable in the role and does a decent job even if by this point in the series the character has become a bit of a caricature. Sophie Marceau makes Elektra an interesting and seductive character but I couldn't believe in Denise Richards as a nuclear scientist this is largely the fault of the costume department she may look great in a tight singlet and hotpants but she doesn't look like a nuclear expert! Overall this is a fun but ultimately forgettable Bond film; worth watching but by no means a classic.