The World Is Not Enough

UK/USA 1999

Reviewed by Jos Arroyo

Synopsis

Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.

Superspy James Bond retrieves a suitcase of money for oil magnate Sir Robert King in Bilbao and returns it to him at MI6 headquarters in London. A remote-controlled booby trap hidden in King's lapel pin explodes, killing King. At King's funeral in Scotland, Bond meets the deceased's daughter Elektra, who was once kidnapped by Renard, a terrorist. Renard has a bullet lodged in his skull that's slowly killing him, but which renders him impervious to pain. Bond's boss M sends Bond to the Caucasus to protect Elektra and discover who killed King. After escaping an attack while skiing, Elektra and Bond visit a local casino run by Valentin Zukovsky, a Russian mafioso, and then make love. Soon after, Bond is led to an atomic-test facility in Kazakhstan.

There Bond meets scientist Christmas Jones and discovers Renard stealing an atomic missile, but Bond is unable to stop him. Bond follows Renard to Istanbul and discovers the missile has been inserted into Elektra's pipeline. Realising it's not atomic, Bond and Christmas let it explode so the culprit might think them dead. Bond discovers Renard and Elektra are lovers, working together; she is the real mastermind and her father's murderer. Her targets are rival pipelines. They have kidnapped M and intend to kill her. Bond kills Elektra, saves M, and with Christmas follows Renard to a submarine where they finally defeat him.

Review

Inherent in the notion of a film sequel is the lure of an intensified repetition of previous pleasures. After close to four decades of changing socio-sexual mores, competition from satires and rip-offs such as the Austin Powers and Matt Helm films, and the obvious difficulty of engaging the public with five different incarnations of an iconic character, the very existence of The World Is Not Enough, the nineteenth official Bond movie, is proof that Bond's makers have mostly been delivering the goods.

James Bond is the icon other icons look up to. When Arnold Schwarzenegger thought his cyborg turn needed uplift, he merged Bond with his Terminator persona for True Lies. Singer Robbie Williams says he wants to be Bond in the new millennium, as does openly gay actor Rupert Everett. Yet although Bond obviously represents an enduring masculine ideal, on the evidence of The World Is Not Enough the film-makers don't seem to understand why this might be so, and seem to feel licensed to kill off what made Bond iconic.

Bond films are formula film-making, and the production machinery behind them is so extensive and expert the movies are almost director-proof. The World Is Not Enough duly follows the traditional blueprint with nifty gadgets and cars, beautiful and available women and a couple of superb set pieces (the pre-credit sequence and the skiing scene). However, an equally important part of the Bond formula is cartoonish style, a light tone and two-dimensional characterisation. Many of us like it that way - we care more about what Bond wears and drives than what he feels.

The makers of The World Is Not Enough, of whom director Michael Apted should be singled out for blame, have attempted to depict all-too fleshy characters who desire, lack and feel. It's what is valued in a Ken Loach film, but it acts as an explosive and unsettling expulsion from the fantasies Bond films invite us to. One can't name a patricidal character Elektra and then expect the audience not to giggle at the film's attempts to psychologise her; one can't have Denise Richards play a nuclear physicist and make any claims to conventional believability. Robert Carlyle striving to imbue a character with truth and depth is almost always a good thing, but when that character is a Bond villain who wants to conquer the world, one has to ask what the director was thinking of. Worst of all they've done the same to Bond, not understanding that deep feelings don't go easily with nonchalance, suavity, elegance or cool, much less with killing people as a profession.

Intending to turn Bond and his world into what they can't be, these attempts to create emotional depth reveal an underlying contempt for what the Bond movies actually are. They imply realism is not just one mode among many but the superior, most culturally worthy and difficult mode. By that logic, of course, to make Bond films better is to make them more -realistic', like Apted's Nell, presumably. Thank God for action, production values and the second unit. They're what make The World Is Not Enough still worth watching.

Credits

Director

Michael Apted

Producers

Michael G. Wilson

Barbara Broccoli

Screenplay

Neal Purvis

Robert Wade

Bruce Feirstein

Story

Neal Purvis

Robert Wade

Director of Photography

Adrian Biddle

Editor

Jim Clark

Production Designer

Peter Lamont

Music

David Arnold

©Danjaq LLC and United Artists Corporation

Production Company

Albert R. Broccoli's Eon Productions Limited presents

Line Producer

Anthony Waye

Associate Producer

Nigel Goldsack

Production Executive

David Pope

Production Supervisors

Philip Kohler

Janine Modder

Hugh Harlow

Production Co-ordinators

Eléna Zokas

Paige Wingrove

Bi Benton

Patricia Reid-Douglas

Joyce Turner

Anna Cassina

Unit Managers

Iris Rose

Location:

Alex Sutherland

Gilles Castera

Trevor Ingman

Location Production Managers

Terry Bamber

John Bernard

Tim Lewis

Ali Akdeniz

Yousaf Bokhari

Carlos Taillefer

Location Managers

Richard Sharkey

Russell Lodge

Javier Balaguer

David Boardman

Salva Yague

Simon Marsden

Joanna Beckett

Liz Roberts

Bahadir Atay

Post-production Supervisors

Michael Solinger

Jatinderpal Chohan

2nd Unit Director

Vic Armstrong

Additional Unit Director

Arthur Wooster

Assistant Directors

Gerry Gavigan

Terry Madden

Paul Taylor

Mark Layton

Keith Young

Geoff Dibben

Additional:

Julia Waye

Jésus Delgado

Kieron Phipps

Simon Emanuel

Elliott Meddings

Christopher Brosnan

Carlos Fidel

John West

Manuel López Cañizares

Inma Cabrero

Marco Aguilar

Script Supervisors

Nikki Clapp

2nd Unit:

Sharon Mansfield

Casting

Debbie McWilliams

US:

Linda Lowy

John Brace

Additional:

Kate Dowd

Risa Kes

Additional Photography

Robin Vidgeon

Martin Kenzie

John Palmer

2nd Unit Photography

Jonathan Taylor

Miniature Photography

Paul Wilson

Additional Unit Photography

Arthur Wooster

Underwater Photography

Tim Wooster

Additional:

Mike Valentine

Pete Romano

Camera Operators

David Worley

Peter Field

Gary Spratling

Martin Hume

Mike Frift

Aerial:

John Marzano

Simon Werry

Dave Arnold

Ski:

Jean-Pierre Bassin

Dan Ferrer

Visual Effects Supervisor

Mara Bryan

Visual Effects Editor

Andrew Macritchie

Visual Effects Producer

Sharon Lark

Visual Effects Cameraman

Stefan Lange

Visual Effects

Cinesite (Europe) Ltd

Digital Effects Producer:

Alex Bicknell

Compositor Supervisor:

John Lockwood

Co-ordinator:

Clare Norman

Paint Artists:

Keith Devlin

Alex Smith

2D Lead Compositors:

Lisa Moore

David Williams

2D Compositors:

Chris Gibbons

David Man

3D Animation:

Sheila Dunn

Hayden Jones

Digital Imaging:

John Benn

Pete Williams

Roland Watson

Visual Effects

The Moving Picture Company

Head of Production:

Michael Elson

Senior Producer:

James Lamb

Line Producer:

Kristin Emblem

Software Development:

Jonathan Stroud

Senior Compositors:

Tom Wood

Ed Hawkins

Paul Conway

Compositors:

Simon Terry

Gavin Digby

Gregory Salter

Jelena Stojanovic

Animation Supervisor:

Nigel Hardwidge

Animators:

Chas Jarrett

Richard Morris

Jake Mengers

Visual Effects

Magic Camera Company

Supervisor:

Angus Cameron

Producer:

Angie Wills

Film Controller:

Andrew Jeffery

Film Scanner:

John Grant

2D Artists:

Helen Ball

Robin Huffer

Ed Plant

Chris Harding

Sean Danischevsky

Richard Little

3D Supervisor:

Gary Coulter

3D Animation:

Iain Anderson

Caroline Garrett

Royston Wilcox

Special Effects

Supervisor:

Chris Corbould

Floor Supervisors:

Steve Hamilton

Andy Williams

Senior Technicians:

Ian Biggs

Richard Brown

Paul Clancy

Pascal DeClerq

Grégoire Delage

Dave Eltham

David Eves

Darrell Guyon

John Holmes

Dave Knowles

Steven Lewis

Stephen Lloyd

James Machin

Peter Notley

Steve Onions

Andy Smith

Richard Todd

John Vanderpool

Brian Warner

Leslie Wheeler

Tim Willis

Wire Effects Supervisor

Steve Crawley

Workshop Supervisors

Nick Finlayson

Paul Knowles

Roy Quinn

Model Unit

Co-ordinator:

Rohese Richardson

Effects Floor Supervisor:

Digby Milner

Workshop Supervisor:

Nigel Brackley

Senior Technicians:

Paul Stephenson

Peter Aston

Jolyon Bambridge

Nigel Blake

Terry Bridle

William Dawson

Don Joce

Barry McQueary

Gregory Morgan

Nigel Nixon

Brian Smithies

Richard Thompson

Paul Whybrow

Technicians/Engineers:

Anthony Phelan

Matthew Harlow

Marcus Richardson

Peter Seymour-Howell

Sculptors:

Fred Evans

Bryn Court

John Blakeley

Modellers:

James Barr

Mark Beverton

Jason Chalmers

Sander Ellers

Kevin Gilmartin

Chris Hayes

Supervising Model Construction:

Steven Brown

Keith Dyett

Charlie Muspratt

Graham Pearce

Peter Wells

Art Director Supervisor:

Michael Lamont

Art Director:

Mike Boone

Dive Supervisor:

Gavin McKinney

Action Boats Supervising Modeller

Peter Bohanna

Miniatures

John Richardson

Graphic Designer

Carol Kupisz

Videographics

Useful Companies

Supervising Art Director

Neil Lamont

Art Directors

Andrew Ackland-Snow

Steve Lawrence

Fred Hole

Simon Lamont

Mark Harris

Jim Morahan

Set Decorators

Simon Wakefield

Additional:

Richard Roberts

Sharon Cartwright

Draughtspersons

Stephen Bream

Peter Dorme

James Hambidge

Patsy Johnson

Steve Morahan

Mike Bishop

Storyboard Artists

Martin Asbury

Temple Clark

John Greaves

Concept Illustrators

Dominic Lavery

Robert Cowper

Chief Sculptor

Pierre Bohanna

Costume Designer

Lindy Hemming

Wardrobe Supervisor

John Scott

Wardrobe Masters

Dan Grace

Colin Wilson

David Croucher

Wardrobe Mistresses

Jane Petrie

Helen Mattocks

Make-up Supervisor

Linda De Vetta

Make-up

Jane Royle

2nd Unit:

Rebecca Lafford

Make-up/Hair

3rd Unit:

Barry Richardson

Hairdressing Supervisor

Colin Jamison

Hairdresser

Jan Jamison

2nd Unit Hair

Hilary Haines

Main Title Design

Daniel Kleinman

Main Titles

Spectre Vision

Producer:

David Botterell

Digital Effects:

Smoke & Mirrors

Opticals

General Screen Enterprises

The James Bond Theme

Monty Norman

Orchestrations/Conductor

Nicholas Dodd

Music Editors

Dina Eaton

Associate:

Dominic Gibbs

Programming

Steve Hilton

Score Recordist/Mixer

Geoff Foster

Soundtrack

"The World Is Not Enough" by David Arnold, Don Black, performed by Garbage

Sound Mixers

Chris Munro

2nd Unit:

Ian Munro

Sound Re-recording Mixers

John Hayward

Graham Hartstone

Richard Pryke

Michael Carter

Supervising Sound Editor

Martin Evans

Dialogue Editor

John Cochrane

Effects Editors

Peter Bond

Andy Kennedy

ADR

Editor:

John Ireland

Foley

Walkers:

Pauline Griffiths

Ruth Sullivan

Mixer:

Ed Colyer

Editor:

Peter Holt

Ski Photography Consultant

Stefan Zürcher

Aerial Co-ordinator

Marc Wolff

Marine Co-ordinators

Chris Livett

Chas Newens

Dive Co-ordinator

Dave Shaw

Dive Supervisor

Peter McClue

Balloon Co-ordinator

Caroline Coward

Action Vehicle Co-ordinator

Darren Litten

Stunt Co-ordinator

Simon Crane

Stunt Supervisor

Sean McCabe

Armourers

Charles Bodycomb

Paul Stentiford

Marc Cauvy

Felix Sepúlveda

Weapons

Baptys

Helicopter Pilots

Francis Coz

Bernard Seguy

Jean-Yves Le Caijne

Camera:

David Arkell

Sunseeker Pilot/Driver

Jamie Baker

Aircraft Pilots

Eric Nicholas

Jeff Ronzevalle

Mark Vella Tomlin

Joseph Aquilina

Flying-Cam Pilot

Emmanuel Previnaire

Balloon Pilots

Simon Askey

Sue Cardin

Alan Jones

Powered Parachute Pilots

Tim LeBlanc

Julian Spencer

Allan Hewitt

John Rix

Pete McLaughlin

Cast

Pierce Brosnan

James Bond, 007

Sophie Marceau

Elektra

Robert Carlyle

Renard

Denise Richards

Christmas Jones

Robbie Coltrane

Valentin Zukovsky

Desmond Llewelyn

Q

Maria Grazia Cucinotta

cigar girl

Samantha Bond

Moneypenny

Michael Kitchen

Tanner

Colin Salmon

Robinson

Serena Scott Thomas

Dr Molly Warmflash

Ulrich Thomsen

Davidov

Goldie

Bull

John Seru

Gabor

Claude-Oliver Rudolph

Colonel Akakievich

Judi Dench

M

John Cleese

R

Patrick Malahide

Lachaise

Omid Djalili

foreman

Jeff Nuttall

Doctor Arkov

Diran Meghreblian

Coptic priest

John Albasiny

helicopter pilot

Patrick Romer

pilot

Jimmy Roussounis

pipeline technician

Justus von Dohnányi

Captain Nikoli

Hassani Shapi

doctor

Carl McCrystal

Trukhin

Martyn Lewis

newscaster

Kouroush Asad

Russian radio operator

Daisy Beaumont

Nina

Nina Muschallik

Verushka

Daz Crawford

casino thug

Peter Mehtab

casino dealer

Certificate

12

Distributor

United International Pictures (UK) Ltd

11,522 feet

128 minutes 1 second

Digital DTS sound/SDDS/Dolby digital surround EX

Colour by

DeLuxe

Anamorphic [Panavision]