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STEPHEN'S MOVIE GUIDE

The World is Not Enough (1999)  

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND ON The World is Not Enough (1999)



The World is Not Enough (1999)

Tomorrow Never Dies had cemented Pierce Brosnan as the 90’s Bond, and MGM were pushing for the next in the series - with the clock ticking to the Millenium there was time to get one more Bond in the 20th century. The spurt of enthusiasm, Bond-mania if you will, that Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies had created, had a couple of side effects that the EON production team had to consider. In 1999 “The Spy Who Shagged Me” was released.. would this boost or harm interest in Bond movies? In the end, the Bond producers decided on a live and let live attitude, and let them use the title despite its obvious copyright flirting origins, on the condition the movie was released with trailers for the new Bond film. Meantime, an old foe of EON had resurfaced. Kevin McClory, producer of and owner of the rights to the story of Thunderball, had resurfaced and in 1997 announced a partnership with Sony to produce a new Bond movie titled Warhead 2000. Columbia / Sony had fallen on hard times, and were looking to create a franchise of their own to act as the sort of cash cow Bond had been for United Artists and then MGM.


The World is Not Enough (1999)

Rather than leave it at that, McClory joined with Sony to sue MGM, alleging they had made their money based on characters he had at least partial ownership of. MGM countersued. By 1999, no movie had yet appeared, and the public were not clamouring for a rival movie. Sony recognized that their reputation would not be enhanced by competing against a critical and industry success story – in 1999 they agreed to settle. They would agree never to pursue a Bond movie, and MGM would gain the distribution rights of the 1967 Casino Royale. It was a true landmark moment in the history of EON productions and the Bond movies. It didn’t make Kevin McClory go away though – he and his estate was subsequently acquired in 2013 by the Bond producers, finally putting the 50 years of legal issues that had been a thorn in the side to EON productions, to an end.



The World is Not Enough (1999)

Against this backdrop, and after considering candidates such as Joe Dante and Peter Jackson as director, Sony hired Michael Apted. This was sort of an odd choice, since he was best known for his acclaimed documentaries (though he also directed movies such as Extreme Measures, Gorky Park and Gorillas In The Mist), and the end result is slick but one could argue it lacks a sense of authorship as a director. It was hoped he would add value to the character moments which were so critical to the success of the story, and for the rest be supported by long time Bond veteran Peter Lamont as production designer, and legendary Vic Armstrong as second unit director doing the action scenes.



The World is Not Enough (1999)

Self confessed Bond fans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (Plunkett and Maclean) wrote a script, and this time the story was intended to show more range in Bond’s character. Sophie Marceau was cast as the leading lady, written in a non traditional way that brings out some emotion from Bond that we haven’t seen for a while. In contrast, Denise Richards was hired to play the least plausible nuclear scientist imaginable, dressed in Lara Croft-like outfits, to the delight of horny teenage boys and derision of critics – she was the first Bond character to win a Raspberry Award. Robert Carlyle (Begby himself!) was hired as a nemesis for the movie – though his build up as “his goal is chaos” is hardly brought to life, and his role seems to have been restrained to bring out Marceau’s character. The writers were asking a lot from viewers in this movie – an ambiguous leading lady, claustrophobic rather than grand final set piece and the biggest role yet for M, who gets well and truly out from behind her desk. Judi Dench in the role had been a huge success and the producers wanted to capitalize on having an Oscar winning actress in the role.



The World is Not Enough (1999)

Sophie Marceau screws Pierce Brosnan





The World is Not Enough (1999)

Denise Richards As Christmas Jones





The World is Not Enough (1999)

Judi Dench as M



By the time of TWINE, Desmond Llewellyn was in his mid eighties, and John Cleese appears in the movie as ‘R’, a fairly obvious but appallingly badly executed attempt to have a replacement in the wings for Desmond’s retirement. When Llewellyn was asked at the US premiere how many more Bond’s he intended to do, he said “Well, that’s up to God!”. Sadly, 4 weeks after that premiere he was in a high speed car accident and died of his injuries. With his passing the last link to the very earliest Bonds was lost.



The World is Not Enough (1999)

RIP, Desmond Llewellyn





Filming took place in Spain, France, Azerbaijan and Turkey – although protests and unrest in Turkey meant that the actors never went there and alternatives and blue screen backdrops were used for establishing the location. Likewise, very few scenes were actually shot in Azerbaijan except for one or two establishing shots, although the shot of the Absheron oilfields makes for a novel new setting for Bond. In that scene he uses his new BMW Z8, in the final movie in BMW’s 3 movie tie-in deal. The Z8 was not yet production ready at the time of filming, and a preproduction replica was used. Maiden’s Tower also makes an appearance as Renard’s hideout. Pinewood Studios was used once again for the interiors.





The World is Not Enough (1999)

Filming in Chamonix for the skiing scenes was considerably delayed, when shortly after arriving there was a huge avalanche which partially covered a nearby village. The production was stopped and the producers added all their resources to the rescue efforts until the rescue was completed. The music was once again handled by David Arnold, who this time also got to co-write the theme song with Don Black, which was sung by Garbage.

Critics did not reach a consensus for the movie, with some such as Roger Ebert praising it as endlessly inventive and “a superb comedy thriller”, and yet others calling it “dated and confused”. At 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, critics appear to be evenly divided. However, the marketing blitz was intense, with millions spent on an MTV tie in to lure in the younger punters. The result was the most lucrative Bond movie to date at US$361 million worldwide. Was it a successful attempt to bring some character to Brosnan’s tenure as Bond? Was it a flawed attempt to bring in a younger generation? A successful lead in to a 21st century Bond, or a disappointingly lackluster farewell to the 20th? Watch it again and make up your own mind…



Trivia

Zukovsky saves Bond's life with a bullet from his modified walking cane. In GoldenEye (1995) it was revealed that Zukovsky walked with a cane because 007 shot him in the leg during the Cold War. This means that if Bond hadn't shot him, Zukovsky would never have been able to save him.



The World is Not Enough (1999)

The boat chase took 7 weeks to shoot, as the Thames' 9-MPH boat speed limit had to be factored in. The filming of the boat chase sequence was broadcast live over the Internet via webcam set up at specific points over the River Thames. The scene was not originally intended to be part of the opening sequence, until test audiences said that the jump-from-the-window opener was anticlimactic. As such, it was brought forward and had to be shortened. As it is now, this 14-to-15-minute opener is still the longest pre-credits sequence ever in a James Bond movie.

The Q boat can achieve 80mph on the water. During the making of the film, it was discovered only by accident that its 350 horsepower engines could literally force the bow of the boat under water. The move was written into the film.


The World is Not Enough (1999)

The World is Not Enough (1999)

Serena Scott Thomas did her love scene with Bond herself, turning down the offer of letting a body double do it for her

The film's title, "The World is Not Enough" is the translation of the Latin motto, "Orbis non sufficit", given to George Lazenby's Bond when he researches his own coat of arms in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).

All the pipes representing Elektra's pipeline are made of cardboard.

Before the shoots even begun, a set was being built in Turkey and it was almost done. One day when the director of the movie was touring around Istanbul, a bombing event took place. Therefore the shots that included the cast were never shot in Istanbul, according to the director, due to security reasons. Not a single cast member actually went to Istanbul. The shots of Robert Carlyle and his men getting off the boat on the jetty at Elektra's palace were shot in the tank at Pinewood against a blue/green screen.

The first Bond film to be shot in Pinewood Studios since The Living Daylights (1987).

In the Scottish Headquarters castle, a portrait of Bernard Lee (the original M) hangs behind the current M's desk.

The tying of the tie underwater by James Bond was an idea conceived by Pierce Brosnan.

The soundtrack album of this film includes a song titled "Only Myself to Blame" sung by Scott Walker. Originally, David Arnold intended to use this song during the end credits, but a techno remix of the James Bond theme was used instead.

The first James Bond film that was not released or co-produced by United Artists. Instead, UA's parent company MGM released and co-produced the film.

This is Don Black's fifth Bond theme song after Thunderball (1965), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).

Cameos:

Ray Brown: The bespectacled wheel clamper soaked by Bond during the Thames boat chase. His cameo was a topical 'revenge' gag for the public, as he had been the most prominent star of a BBC fly-on-the-wall series called 'Clampers', where his over-zealous behavior and apparent enjoyment of clamping illegally parked cars had made him a figure of popular hate.

Michael G. Wilson (the producer): a man at the casino, who opens the door for Elektra and James Bond.

Spoilers !!! On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) provided the phrase "The World Is Not Enough" as Bond's family motto. This film is the first in the series since OHMSS to end with a reprise of the James Bond theme rather than a specialized song. Producer Barbara Broccoli has also summarized the parallel between the two plots: "With Elektra, Bond thinks he has found Tracy but he's really found Blofeld."

clapper




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