General Information
Storyline (contains spoilers)
The 19th in the James Bond series of films, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the suave sophisticated British secret agent, The World Is Not Enough (TWINE) sees Bond sent on one of the more personal missions, when Sir James King, oil tycoon and close University friend of 'M', is murdered whilst visiting MI6 to retrieve the £5,000,000, exactly the same amount as he paid in ransom money for the safe return of his daughter Elektra previously. Could it be that someone was sending him a message? Bond soon discovers that the person responsible for King's death is the evil 'Renard', an anarchist who after a previous encounter with MI6 has a bullet lodged in his brain slowly killing him, but also making him immune to pain. It also turns out that Elektra was kidnapped by Renard, so M dispatches Bond to protect both her and the oil pipline started by her father that she is completing.
It doesn't take Bond long to track Renard down, only to discover he is intending to steal a nuclear warhead, which is being decommissioned by Dr. Christmas Jones. Part of the warhead turns up in the oil pipline, and Bond and Jones are sent to disarm it. The pair remove the nuclear material, but the explosive charge goes off, leaving everyone else believing that the two of them are dead. The duo use this to their advantage and visit Zukovsky in his casino, only to learn of Renard's plan to create a nuclear meltdown near Istanbul, where he intends to insert the remainer of the warhead into a submarine's nuclear reactor. Bond finds the sub, and also works out that Elektra is working in league with Renard, to take advantage of the fact that the nuclear contamination would leave her pipeline as the only one which could be used to carry oil from the Middle East. Bond kills her, and then confronts Renard in a spectacular fight sequence on the sinking submarine.
In my opinion TWINE is the best Bond film that Brosnan has appeared in so far. The action sequences are up to their usually high standard, including a ski chase where Bond is pursued by Parahawks, and initial chase scene on the Thames around the Millenium Dome, which is one of the best out of all 19 films so far. Robert Carlyle is a wonderful Bond villian, and Robbie Coltrane reprises his GoldenEye role, Valentin Zukovsky, who takes another step closer to becoming a modern day Felix Leiter, albeit a Russian one. Brosnan himself brings a more brooding element to the character, one that hasn't been seen since the days of Sean Connery.
One of the main areas of weakness is in the choice of Denise Richards as the nuclear scientist and Bond Girl. Whilst she looks fabulous, I found her to be embarassingly unbelieveable in her allegedly technical role.
Fast paced throughout, this film is a fine example of the Bond formula, not at all believeable, but more than made up for by the stunning action scenes, the cheesy one-liners, and the funky gadgets. One to watch when you're after an entertaining no-brainer.
Gadgets.
Q's Jetboat - By far and away the most impressive gadet used in TWINE is the boat used in the opening chase scene. It was allegedly designed to be Q's retirement fishing vessel, though it is never explained why he'd need torpedo laden, bulletproof, jet powered stealth boat, equipped with flood tanks to allow a limited diving ability, to perfom a relatively peaceful hobby like fishing.
Avalanche Ski Jacket - Another 'Q' gadget is the ski jacket which deploys an airbag like cocoon around the wearer to stop them being buried in an avalanche, which saves Bond and Elektra at the end of the Parahawk chase scene.
Zukovsky's Cane pistol - As befits an ex-KGB agent, Zukovsky's walking cane contains a single shot pistol, which is used to good effect in the film
Bond's Credit Card - conceals a well disguised skeleton key, used to get into Elektra King's portable office
Bond's Sunglasses - Essentially a pair of X-Ray specs, which enable him to spot guns through peoples clothes, but surprisingly enough seems to highlight all the casino girls underwear in blue .......
Trivia.
An interesting piece of 'trivia' associated with the film is that it was to feature cameo appearances from every Bond Girl from the previous 18 films. Unfortunately this never came to pass.
'Orbis non sufficit' or The World is not Enough first appears in the 1969 Ian Fleming novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service, is actually the motto of the Bond family, and isn't just a made up plot device.
One shot, showing the 'oil' pipeline, allegedly situated in the hills Azerbaijan, actually shows the water pipeline situated halfway up Mount Snowdon in Wales, which moved water from the reserviors of Wales to the rest of the country . I was in the cinema with my North Walian housemate who lives at the foot of Snowdon, who almost leapt out of his seat when the pipe which is situated 15 minutes walk from his back door showed up on screen..
Sadly, this was the last time Desmond Llewelyn, who has played 'Q' in 17 of the 19 Bond films,appeared in the series, as he was killed in a car crash shortly after filming was completed.
Quotations
Elektra King - I could have given you the world!
James Bond - The world is not enough
Elektra King - Foolish sentiment.
James Bond - Family motto.
Valentin Zukovsky - I'm looking for a submarine! It's big and black and the driver is a good friend of mine!
James Bond (whilst in bed with Dr. Jones) - And I thought Christmas only comes once a year....
Valentin Zukovsky(after a helicopter kitted out with a circular saw demolishes his caviar factory) - The insurance company are never going to believe this.........
Cast
Sources include:
http://www.jamesbond.com/bond19/prod_notes/prod_info.html
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0143145
http://www.bond.00go.com/films/the_world_is_not_enough.htm#gadgets
My memory, after watching the film a few dozen times