Release Details - Credits - Music - Cast - Notes

release details

Date of release: 26 November 1999 (UK), 19 November 1999 (US) Running time: 128 mins Aspect ratio: 2.35 : 1 Classification: 12 (UK), PG-13 (US)

credits

Presented by: Albert R Broccoli's EON Productions Directed by: Michael Apted Produced by: Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli Screenplay by: Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein Story by: Neal Purvis & Robert Wade Associate producer: Nigel Goldsack Production designer: Peter Lamont Director of photography: Adrian Biddle BSC Second unit directed by: Vic Armstrong Additional unit directed and photographed by: Arthur Wooster BSC Editor: Jim Clark Special effects supervisor: Chris Corbould Stunt co-ordinator: Simon Crane Main title designed by: Daniel Kleinman

music

Music by: David Arnold Orchestrated and conducted by: Nicholas Dodd Main theme: "The World Is Not Enough" Performed by: Garbage Written by: David Arnold (music) and Don Black (lyrics) Highest chart position: 11 (UK), 13 (US) End theme: An arrangement of the Bond theme. Musical notes: The soundtrack album contains an additional song, "Only Myself To Blame" performed by Scott Walker, written by David Arnold and Don Black, but this does not feature in the movie. The soundtrack album also features incidental music with a vocal by Natacha Atlas (who had previously performed "From Russia With Love" on David Arnold's "Shaken Not Stirred" tribute album), which was not heard in the film itself.

cast

James Bond: Pierce Brosnan Elektra Vavra King: Sophie Marceau Renard (Victor Zokas): Robert Carlyle Dr Christmas Jones: Denise Richards Valentin Dimitreyevech Zukovsky: Robbie Coltrane M: Judi Dench Q: Desmond Llewelyn R: John Cleese Cigar Girl: Maria Grazia Cucinotta Moneypenny: Samantha Bond Tanner: Michael Kitchen Charles Robinson: Colin Salmon Bull: Goldie Sir Robert King: David Calder Dr Molly Warmflash: Serena Scott Thomas Davidov: Ulrich Thomsem Gabor: John Seru Colonel Akakievich: Claude-Oliver Rudolhp Lachaise: Patrick Malahide Foreman: Omid Djalili Dr Mikhail Arkov: Jeff Nuttall Coptic Priest: Diran Meghreblian Helicopter Pilot: John Albasiny Pilot: Patrick Romer Pipeline technician: Jimmy Roussounis Captain Nikoli: Justus Van Dohnanyi Doctor: Hassani Shapi Trukhin: Carl McCrystal Newscaster: Martyn Lewis Russian Radio Operator: Kouroush Asad Nina: Daisy Beaumont Verushka: Nina Muschallik Casino Thug: Daz Crawford Casino Dealer: Peter Mehtab Uncredited: Submarine Crewmen: Marc Cass, Gary Powell, Lee Sherward, Tom Struthers Renard's Men: Jamie Edgell, Paul Heasman, Mark Henson

notes

The gunbarrel: The GoldenEye footage is again used. The arrangement of the James Bond theme is the same as Tomorrow Never Dies, except the orchestration is somewhat different with more of a synthesizer sound. The main difference is that after Bond shoots, the dot drifts upward to the upper right of the screen and opens up on a shot of Brosnan's face. This is the first time that a Bond film's first shot has been of Bond himself. Using the title: When Elektra tells Bond that she could have given him the world, he responds with the movie's title. Elektra doesn't appreciate the sentiment and Bond notes that it is just his family motto. The novel approach: The only direct Fleming influence on the movie is its title, and even this can be taken as a continuity reference to the movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service. In the book of that name, "the world is not enough" is given as the motto of one Sir Thomas Bond, although there is no evidence that this is one of Bond's descendents. The literary Bond notes says somewhat sarcastically that he will adopt the motto, although in the movie version Bond seems to accept it without question. However, the movie does include M being kidnapped, an element which formed the basis for the first non-Fleming novel, "Colonel Sun" by Kingsley Amis (writing as Robert Markham), although in a different context. As with Tomorrow Never Dies, the movie was novelised by Raymond Benson. On Her Majesty's Secret Service: MI6 and its personnel play an important part in the movie, with M featuring as a major character. It is revealed that she studied law at Oxford, where she became friends with Robert King. It is also retiterated that she has children (as mentioned in GoldenEye). As usual, Moneypenny appears and there is additional welcome continuity with the return of both Tanner (played by Michael Kitchen, as in GoldenEye) and Charles Robinson (from Tomorrow Never Dies). This is ironic, given that the character of Robinson was only created when Kitchen was unavailable for the previous movie. The movie does feature another new MI6 character in the shape of Dr Molly Warmflash, the Service's medical officer, who has had a liaison with Bond previously, which she renews here. Of course, The World Is Not Enough has become notable for being the last appearance of Desmond Llewelyn as Q. Fortunately, he gains a touching send-off with Q being seen to prepare for retirement and grooming his successor in the shape of a "young man" played by John Cleese, who Bond jokingly calls R. The scene is cleverly written to allow for Llewelyn's return,, but sadly that was not to be. According to the sign on the glass door to Q's laboratory seen in the teaser, it appears that the Special Ordnance Section is now known as Q Division, rather than Q Branch. As in GoldenEye, MI6 is based at the real SIS headquarters in South London. When it is damaged by the bomb blast, the organisation relocates to a secondary base in a Scottish castle. MI6's cover name of Universal Exports is used for the first time since Licence To Kill, when Bond tells Davidov that this is who he works for, and he is seen to have an identity card for the company. The Double 0 Section: M sent 009 to kill Renard after Elektra King's kidnapping and it is his bullet that is responsible for Renards's condition. At the start of the movie, it is mentioned that the Russian report that King had purchased had been stolen from an MI6 agent who was killed for it. In Raymond Benson's novelisation this agent is identified as 0012 (taken from the an earlier version of the script), but this designation was not ultimately used on-screen. Following the death of Sir Robert King, M holds a briefing. Benson's novelisation identifies the other people present as Double 0 agents, but this is again not confirmed on screen. Locations: Bilbao, Spain; London; Scotland; Baku and rural Azerbaijan; Kazakstan; Istanbul, Turkey. The villain: The movie produces a clever about turn with its villains. We are initially lead to believe that the villain of the piece is international terrorist Victor Zukos AKA Renard. Several years previously he had kidnapped Elektra, the daughter of British industrialist Sir Robert King. The kidnapping took place in Cyrpus and a ransom of 5 million dollars was demanded. King had turned to his old friend, M, who advised him not to pay the ransom and sent one of her agents to kill Renard. This left Renard with a bullet in the medulla oblongata, in his brain, rendering him without feelings and the ability to feel pain, but still gradually killing him. At the time of the movie, Renard is 37 years old and is 5 ft 7 tall. He previously operated with the KGB in Afghanistan until he was deemed to be a liability and cut him loose to operate freelance. He was operating in Moscow in 1996 and before that he was sighted in North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Beirut and Cambodia. It now appears that Renard is taking revenge on King, killing the industrialist and turning his attention Elektra again and the King pipeline, one of several rival schemes to bring oil through the Caspian Sea. However, it is soon revealed that Elektra is the real villain. Feeling betrayed by her father both during the kidnapping and for his actions towards her mother and her Azerbaijan heritage, she kills King taking control of his empire. She manipulates Renard to help her, with an ultimate plan of creating a nuclear explosion in Istanbul, destroying the competing pipelines. Of course, Bond eventually learns what is going on and shoots Elektra, before going on to prevent the nuclear explosion and kill Renard. According to MI6 files, Elektra's middle name is Vavra. She is 28 at the time of the movie, her height is 5 foot 7 and she weighs 59.5 kilos. As a result of her kidnapping she suffered from claustrophia and was missing her right earlobe. The latter she actually removed herself when Renard refused to do so. The girl: Dr Christmas Jones, an American nuclear physicist from the International Decommisioning Agency (IDA) who is assisting in the decommisioning of former Soviet nuclear weapons in Kazakhstan. She speaks Russian. And that's all that we learn about her. Bond's conquests: Three - Dr Molly Warmflash, Elektra King and Christmas Jones. Gadgets: An exploding Walther P99, activated by a transmitter in some glasses. A Q-boat, featuring rocket propulsion, the ability to submerge and torpedoes. A BMW Z8 sports car that has titanium armour, a multi-tasking head up display system, the ability to be remote controlled (like the BMW in Tomorrow Never Dies), fires rockets and has 6 beverage cup holders. The BMW has a British registration (V354 FMP), but strangely is a left hand drive. Bond also uses X-Ray sunglasses, a ski-jacket that inflates into an igloo and a credit card containing a lockpick (shades of A View To A Kill). His Omega Seamaster watch fires a small grappling hook and contains a torch. Zukovsy's cane contains a pistol. We also see Q-Branch testing some bagpipes that contain a machine gun and a flame thrower! Recurring characters: As noted above, Tanner and Robinson return from GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies respectively. They are also joined by Robbie Coltrane reprising ex-KGB agent Valentin Zukovsky from GoldenEye. Zukovsky is ostensibly now a legitimate businessman with a casino in Baku (called L'Or Noir, meaning Black Gold) and manufacturing caviar under his own name. However, he still has some connections with the arms trade and is helping to supply Elektra, who ultimately kills him. Continuity: In a lovely touch, a painting of the original M (as played by Bernard Lee) can be seen on the wall in MI6's Scottish headquarters. As noted previously, Bond's family motto was revealed in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It has also been suggested that Elektra is intended to remind Bond of his wife Tracy from that film. Indeed, Elektra's ski-ing outfit is very similar to that worn by Tracey. There is even an implied reference to Tracy when Bond fails to respond when Elektra asks him if he has ever lost anyone that he loved. There are also shades of From Russian With Love when Zukovsky takes Bond to the SVB (Russian Federal Security Bureau) headquarters in Istanbul, which used to be the KGB building as seen in the earlier film. When R's thermal imaging locates Bond's car at the end of the movie this is supposed to be his Aston Martin, as featured in the previous two films, although this is not obvious on screen. A more usual appearance of the car never made it to the final version of the movie (see Cuts). Cameos: Producer Michael G Wilson makes his usual appearance - he can be seen standing in the doorway to the private gaming room at Zukovsky's casino. He gives Elektra something to sign before she enters. Cuts: A scene was cut from the pre-credits sequence where the Cigar Girl reports to Renard in Bilbao, idenifying Bond as the agent who has caused them problems. This makes it clear earlier on that Renard is the sniper who saves Bond by shooting the guard. In addition, an establishing shot was filmed in which Bond's Aston Martin (as seen in GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies) drives towards MI6's Scottish headquarters, but was not used. I didn't catch the name?: Bond gives his trademark introduction when he meets Elektra King and revealing his true identity to Christmas Jones. In the latter case there is a longer than usual pause between the "Bond" and "James Bond" due to the motion of the lift that Bond and Christmas are travelling on. Vodka Martinis: Bond orders a Vodka Martini, shaken not stirred, in Zukovsky's casino. Gambling: Elektra appears to lose one million dollars playing one card high draw at Zukovsky's casino, although this is just the elaborate way in which she pays him for provision of a Russian submarine, ostensibly for a smuggling operation. Although Bond visits ths casino he is not seen to gamble. Bond bits: Bond uses a Walther P99 throughout the movie, rather than his traditional PPK, picking up on his use of that gun in the final part of Tomorrow Never Dies. In a rare move, Bond is injured for much of the movie, suffering from a dislocated collar bone. When he first meets Christmas Jones he is pretending to be Dr Mikhail Arkov from the Russian Atomic Energy Commission while infiltrating Renard's team. Bond is initally able to maintain this pretence through his ability to speak Russian. Anything else?: The pre-credits sequence is 14 minutes long, making it the longest in the history of the series. The traditional "James Bond will return" caption appears at the start of the end credits, rather than right at the end as previously. When Bond is reviewing details of Elektra's kidnapping he watches a news report read by Martyn Lewis, a real BBC newsreader. The filming of this bulletin involved recreating the correct BBC news set which had recently been replaced. During the Thames boat chase Bond inadvertently soaks a pair of wheelclampers. One of these is Ray Brown, a real parking attendant who had become a minor celebrity in the UK following his starring role in a BBC "docu-soap" about wheelclampers.

The Bond Film Informant was compiled by Matthew Newton. © Copyright MJ Newton. No part of this site may be reproduced without permission unless otherwise stated.