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File:Rsz 422px-tomorrow-never-dies 6019.jpg

The 18th James Bond film, starring Pierce Brosnan. After a British ship is sunk off the shore of China, James Bond is sent to investigate media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) who is believed to be tied to it. Bond uncovers Carver's scheme to turn Britain and China against each other in World War III for his broadcasting and newspaper benefit, and gets a new partner in the person of Chinese agent Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh).

After the more serious tone of Goldeneye, TND eases back into the Connery-esque "classic Bond" formula beat-for-beat, with one-liners galore, a Large Ham villain, and plenty of action setpieces that make full use of the Theme Music Power-Up trope. It was moderately well-received by the fanbase and critics, and further cemented Brosnan into the role, who began to carve his niche as the suave Bond.


This movie contains examples of:[]

  • Action Girl: Wai Lin, maybe one of the best examples in the whole franchise. And for double cool points, played by Michelle Yeoh. Sadly, romance isn't one of her strong points.
  • Anonymous Ringer / No Celebrities Were Harmed: Elliot Carver is a thinly disguised Rupert Murdoch.
    • Alternately, Carver is also widely considered a veiled Ted Turner, being the movie came out after the producers and the media mogul had a bit of a falling out.
    • The writer said he actually based him on Robert Maxwell. This is made very obvious at the end, when M devises a cover story for his death involving him falling off his yacht and drowning, while the public speculates he committed suicide, echoing Maxwell's death.
    • There's also significant elements of William Randolph Hearst, whose propaganda is sometimes credited for getting the US to launch the Spanish-American war. Carver even quotes him.
  • As You Know: The first stealth-ship scene starts with a literal Captain Obvious reminding his men that the British will believe they're in international waters due to the manipulated GPS signal. Anyone who at this point in the operation didn't know that very definitely had no business knowing it - but then again, a penchant for summarizing and giving exposition at every possible opportunity may have been an entrance requirement for a job in Carver's corporation.
    • Of course, Carver later indulges in it himself.
  • Arms Fair/Auction of Evil: The film opens with one.
  • Awesome but Impractical: The drilling torpedo thing. A regular torpedo would have actually worked even more spectacularly, but would be less cool.
    • A real torpedo could have caused more damage than needed (and Carver needed the ship and its missiles intact). Puncturing holes through the hull to sink it, however, does the job nicely.
    • The car's miniature wire cutting saw. Yes, it saves Bond during the chase scene but there is no other possible scenario where it would have been of any use. If the wire were just an inch higher or lower it would have been completely useless.
  • Bond One-Liner: "They'll print anything these days," after shoving a Mook into a printing press.
    • *ejects attacker from the back set of a jet into enemy jet above them* "Backseat driver..."
    • Even Carver gets off a clever one when he thinks Bond is dead.
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  "Even if they were looking for me, we're on a stealth boat! They can't see me. Or you. Or even your friend, the late Commander Bond, who is, I believe, at this moment, on his way to the bottom of the South China Sea. (Beat) He's my new anchorman.

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 Q: It's the insurance damage waiver for your beautiful new car. Now, will you need collision coverage?

James Bond: Yes.

Q: Fire?

James Bond: Probably.

Q: Property destruction?

James Bond: Definitely.

Q: Personal Injury?

James Bond: I hope not, but accidents do happen.

Q: They frequently do with you.

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  • "Hey You!" Haymaker: Bond pulls this on a thug about to shoot Wai Lin.
  • Hey, It's That Guy!: Elliot Carver seems to pull double duty as Governor of Jamaica.
    • I'm sure Vincent Schiavelli (Dr. Kaufman) and Ricky Jay (Henry Gupta) qualify for this distinction
  • Hollywood Silencer: Averted on the stealth ship, where Bond's suppressed Walther P99 sounds probably just a little less loud that it would without the suppressor.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: You wanted a headline, Carver? You got it, courtesy of MI 6! Something about a boating accident...
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  • Incredibly Long Note: k.d. lang's epic finish during the closing credits.
  • Irrevocable Order:The Royal Navy launches a Tomahawk missile to destroy a terrorist arms depot. They quickly find out that there are nukes at the camp. But the missile is already out of radio range, requiring James Bond to go in and remove the bombs.
  • Lampshade Hanging: Bond lets Carver know that starting World War III for ratings' sake is really quite insane.
  • Large Ham: Jonathan Pryce's magnificently over-the-top villain is one of the most memorable things about this movie.
  • Malevolent Mugshot: Carver loves his banners. Bond gets in a good dig at his expense for it.
  • Milkman Conspiracy: The Carver Media Group blackmails the President, is implied to orchestrate global floods, riots and plane crashes, sells buggy software (to force people to upgrade it for years), sinks a British Destroyer, massacres the survivors, steals one of its cruise missiles, plans to use said missile on Beijing to set up a new Chinese government friendly to its interests (ie. broadcasting rights) after bringing Britain and China to the brink of nuclear war, and employs terrorists, torturers and professional assassins, plus the average Carver Media Group employees, based on the evidence, are Always Chaotic Evil. All for the sake of its ratings. Carver also faked the Mad Cow disease scare of 1997 because a British beef baron owed him money (from a poker game, a mere £10,000) and refused to pay....then the French paid him to run the stories for another year.
  • Mook Lieutenant: The captain of Carver's Stealth Boat.
  • New Era Speech: Elliot Carver gives one to Bond.
  • New Old Flame
  • NGO Superpower: Carver Media Group Network, which already influences most of the world. But since its led by a megalomaniac, the organization takes the extra step forward of forming a small army, build a stealth ship, and stir up a war between Britain and China.
  • One-Scene Wonder: Vincent Schiavelli gets only one scene as Dr. Kaufman but his wonderfully hammy performance and comically exaggerated German accent makes it one of the highlights of the movie.
  • Precision F-Strike: Delivered by the normally cool and in-control Carver.
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 Carver: Mr. Stamper, would you please kill those bastards!

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 Carver: *scoffs* Pathetic.

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