The World Is Not Enough
Encyclopedia
The World Is Not Enough (1999) is the nineteenth spy film
in the James Bond film series
, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan
as the fictional
MI6
agent James Bond
. The film was directed by Michael Apted
, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis
, Robert Wade
and Bruce Feirstein
. It was produced by Michael G. Wilson
and Barbara Broccoli
.
The film's plot revolves around the assassination of billionaire Sir Robert King by the terrorist Renard
and Bond's subsequent assignment to protect King's daughter, Elektra
, who had previously been held for ransom by Renard. During his assignment, Bond unravels a scheme to increase petroleum
prices by triggering a nuclear meltdown
in the waters of Istanbul
.
Filming locations included Spain
, France
, Turkey
and the United Kingdom
, with interiors shot at Pinewood Studios
. Despite mixed critical reception, The World Is Not Enough earned $361,832,400 worldwide.
. The banker threatens Bond, but is overpowered. The banker reveals the money was taken from the late agent 0012, but is killed by his assistant before he can reveal the assassin. Bond escapes with the money.
Back in London
, Sir Robert is killed by the booby-trapped money inside MI6. Bond gives chase to the assassin - the assistant again - by a boat on the Thames
to the Millennium Dome
, where the assassin attempts to escape via hot air balloon
. Bond offers her protection, but she refuses. She detonates the balloon, killing herself.
Bond traces the recovered money to Renard
, a KGB
agent-turned-terrorist
. Following an earlier attempt on his life by MI6, Renard was left with a bullet in his brain which is gradually destroying his senses, making him immune to pain. M assigns Bond to protect King's daughter, Elektra
; as Renard previously abducted and held her for ransom, MI6 believes that he is targeting her a second time. Bond flies to Azerbaijan
, where Elektra is overseeing the construction of an oil pipeline. During a tour of the pipeline's proposed route in the mountains, Bond and Elektra are attacked by a hit squad in armed, paraglider
-equipped snowmobile
s.
Afterwards Bond visits Valentin Zukovsky to acquire information about Elektra's attackers; he discovers that Elektra's head of security, Davidov, is secretly in league with Renard. Bond kills Davidov and boards a plane bound for a Russian ICBM base in Kazakhstan
. There, Bond, posing as a Russian nuclear scientist, meets American nuclear physicist
, Dr. Christmas Jones
and enters the silo. Inside, Renard removes the GPS locator card and a half quantity of weapons-grade plutonium
from a bomb. Before Bond can kill him, Christmas blows his cover. Renard steals the bomb and flees, leaving everyone to die in the booby-trapped missile silo. Bond and Christmas escape the exploding silo with the locator card.
Back in Azerbaijan, Bond discloses to M that Elektra may not be as innocent as she seems, and hands her the locator card as proof of the theft: an alarm sounds, revealing that the stolen bomb from Kazakhstan is attached to an inspection rig heading toward the oil terminal. Bond and Christmas enter the pipeline to deactivate the bomb where Christmas discovers that half of the plutonium is missing. They both jump clear of the rig and a large section of the pipe is destroyed, with the pair presumed killed. Back at the command centre, Elektra reveals that she killed her father out of revenge for using her to bait Renard, and abducts M.
Bond accosts Zukovsky at his caviar
factory in the Caspian Sea
- which is then attacked by Elektra's helicopters. Later, Zukovsky reveals their arrangement was in exchange for a submarine
, currently being captained by Zukovsky's nephew, Nikolai. The group goes to Istanbul
, where Bond and Zukovsky think that if Renard were to insert the stolen plutonium into the submarine's nuclear reactor, the resulting nuclear explosion
would destroy Istanbul, sabotaging the Russians' oil pipeline in the Bosphorus. Elektra's pipeline is planned to go around Istanbul, dramatically increasing the value of her own oil. Bond then gets a signal from the locator card from the Maiden's Tower - just before Zukovsky's underling, Bullion blows up the command centre. Zukovsky is knocked unconscious, and Bond and Christmas are captured by Elektra's henchmen.
Christmas is taken aboard the submarine, which was seized by Renard's men. Bond is taken to the tower, where Elektra tortures him in a garrote
. Zukovsky and his men take control of the tower and when Zukovsky reaches the room where Elektra has Bond he is shot by Elektra. Dying, Zukovsky uses his cane gun
to free Bond, who then frees M and kills Elektra.
Bond then dives after the submarine, boards it and frees Christmas. Following a fight, the submarine starts to dive, and hits the bottom of the Bosphorus, causing its hull to rupture. Bond catches up with Renard and fights and kills him. Bond and Christmas escape the submarine, leaving the flooded reactor to detonate safely underwater.
and then Peter Jackson
were offered to direct. Barbara Broccoli
had enjoyed Jackson's Heavenly Creatures
, and a screening of The Frighteners
was arranged for her. She disliked the latter film, however, and showed no further interest in Jackson. Jackson, a lifelong Bond fan, remarked that EON tended to go for less famous directors and he would certainly not be entitled a chance to direct after The Lord of the Rings
.
The pre-title sequence lasts for about 14 minutes, the longest pre-title sequence in the Bond series to date. In the "making of" documentaries on the Ultimate Edition DVD release, director Michael Apted said that the scene was originally much longer than that. Originally, the pre-credits sequence was to have ended with Bond's leap from the window and descent to the ground, finishing as Bond rushes away from the area as police cars approach. Then, after the credits the sequence in MI6 headquarters would have been next, with the boat scenes the next major action sequence. However, the pre-credits scenes were viewed as lacklustre when compared to ones from previous 007 movies, so the credits were pushed back to after the boat sequence and thus the longest pre-titles sequence in the series was born. The Daily Telegraph
claimed that the British Government prevented some filming in front of the actual MI6 Headquarters
at Vauxhall Cross, citing a security risk. However, a Foreign Office
spokesperson refuted the claims and expressed displeasure with the article.
Initially the film was to be released in 2000, rumoured to be titled Bond 2000. Other rumoured titles included Death Waits for No Man, Fire and Ice, Pressure Point and Dangerously Yours. The title The World Is Not Enough is an English translation of the Latin
phrase Orbis non sufficit, which in real life was the motto of Sir Thomas Bond
. In the novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service and its film adaptation
, this is revealed to be the Bond family motto. The phrase originates from the epitaph of Alexander the Great.
Writers Neal Purvis
and Robert Wade
were hired after their work in Plunkett & Macleane
. Dana Stevens did an uncredited rewrite before Bruce Feirstein
, who worked in the previous two films, took over the script.
The pre-title sequence begins in Bilbao
, Spain, featuring the Guggenheim Museum
. After the opening scene, the film moves to London
, England, showcasing the SIS Building
and the Millennium Dome
on the Thames. Following the title sequence, Eilean Donan castle in Scotland
is used by MI6 as a location headquarters. Other locations include Baku
, Azerbaijan
, the Azerbaijan Oil Rocks
and Istanbul
, Turkey
, where Maiden's Tower
is shown.
The studio work for the film was shot as usual in Pinewood Studios
, including Albert R. Broccoli's 007 Stage. Bilbao, Spain
was used briefly for the exterior of Swiss bank and flyover-bridge adjacent to the Guggenheim Museum
. In London
outdoor footage was shot of the SIS Building
and Vauxhall Cross with several weeks filming the boat chase on the River Thames eastwards towards the Millennium Dome
, Greenwich
. The canal footage of the chase where Bond soaks the parking wardens was filmed at Wapping
and the boat stunts in Millwall Dock
and under Glengall Bridge were filmed at the Isle of Dogs
. Stowe School
, Buckinghamshire
, was used as the site of the King family estate on banks of Loch Lomond. Filming was then shot in Scotland at the Eilean Donan Castle to depict the exterior of MI6 temporary operations centre at "Castle Thane". The skiing chase sequence in the Caucasus was shot on the slopes of Chamonix
, France. Filming of the scene was delayed by an avalanche
, but the crew wasted no time by helping the rescue operation.
The interior (and single exterior shot) of L'Or Noir casino in Baku, Azerbaijan, was shot at Halton House
, the Officer's Mess of RAF Halton
, and RAF Northolt
was used to depict the airfield runway in Azerbaijan.
Zukovsky's quay-side caviar factory was shot entirely at the outdoor water tank at Pinewood.
The exterior of Kazakhstan nuclear facility was shot at the Bardenas Reales
, in Navarre
, Spain, and the exterior of oil refinery control centre at the Motorola
building in Groundwell, Swindon
. The exterior of oil pipeline was filmed in Cwm Dyli
, Snowdonia, Wales
, while the production teams shot the oil pipeline explosion in Hankley Common
, Elstead
, Surrey
. Istanbul
, Turkey
, was indeed used in the film and Elektra King's Baku villa was actually in the city, also using the famous Maiden's Tower which was used as Renard's hideout in Turkey. The underwater submarine scenes were filmed in The Bahamas.
The BMW Z8
driven by Bond in the film was the final part of a three-movie product placement deal with BMW (which began with the Z3 in GoldenEye
and continued with the 750iL in Tomorrow Never Dies
) but, due to filming preceding release of the Z8 by a few months, several working mock-ups and models were manufactured for filming purposes.
. Arnold broke tradition by not ending the film with a reprise of the opening theme or, as with the previous three films, a new song. Originally, Arnold intended to use the song "Only Myself to Blame" at the end of the film; however, Apted discarded this and the song was replaced by a remix of the "James Bond Theme
". "Only Myself to Blame", written by Arnold and Don Black and sung by Scott Walker
, is the nineteenth and final track on the album and its melody is Elektra King's theme. The theme is heard in "Casino", "Elektra's Theme" and "I Never Miss". Arnold added two new themes to the final score, both of which are reused in the following film, Die Another Day
.
The title song, "The World Is Not Enough
", was written by David Arnold with Don Black and performed by Garbage
. It is the fifth Bond theme co-written by Black, preceded by "Thunderball
", "Diamonds Are Forever", "The Man with the Golden Gun
", and "Tomorrow Never Dies
". Garbage also contributed to the music heard during the chase sequence ("Ice Bandits"), which was released as the B-side to their single release of the theme song. IGN
chose "The World Is Not Enough" as the ninth-best James Bond theme of all time. The song also appeared in two "best of 1999" polls: #87 in 89X's "Top 89 Songs of 1999" and #100 in Q101's "Top 101 of 1999".
, primarily for American youths, who were assumed to have considered Bond as "an old-fashioned secret service agent". As a result MTV broadcast more than 100 hours of Bond-related programmes immediately after the film was released, most being presented by Denise Richards.
The film opened at the top of the North American box office with $35.5 million. Its final worldwide gross was $361 million worldwide, with $126 million in the United States alone. It became the highest grossing James Bond film of all time until the release of Die Another Day
. The film was also selected for the first round of nominations for the Academy Award for Best Special Effects but failed. The film was nominated for a Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film Saturn Award
, Pierce Brosnan won both the Empire Award and the Blockbuster Entertainment Award as Best Actor, and David Arnold won a BMI Film Music Award
for his score. The film became the first in the Bond series to win a Golden Raspberry when Denise Richards was chosen as "Worst Supporting Actress" at the 1999 Razzie Awards
.
The film was released on DVD
and VHS
on 16 May 2000, and sold over 5 million copies. The initial release of the DVD includes the featurette "Secrets of 007", which cuts into "making of" material during the movie; the documentary "The Making of The World Is Not Enough"; two commentary tracks
—one by director Michael Apted, and the other by production designer Peter Lamont, second unit director Vic Armstrong, and composer David Arnold; a trailer for the video game
, and the Garbage music video
. The Ultimate Edition released in 2006 had as additional extras a 2000 documentary named "Bond Cocktail", a featurette on shooting the Q Boat scenes, Pierce Brosnan in a press conference in Hong Kong, deleted scenes, and a tribute to Desmond Llewelyn
.
Reception was mixed to positive. Chicago Sun-Times
critic Roger Ebert
said the film was a "splendid comic thriller, exciting and graceful, endlessly inventive", and gave it three-and-a-half stars out of four. On the other hand, Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
disliked the film, calling it "dated and confused". Rotten Tomatoes
gave The World Is Not Enough a 51% "rotten" rating, and Metacritic
gave the film a score of 59 out of 100. Negative criticism was drawn at the execution of the plot and action scenes which were considered excessive. Entertainment Weekly
picked it as the worst Bond film of all time, saying it had a plot "so convoluted even Pierce Brosnan has admitted to being mystified". Norman Wilner of MSN
chose it as the third worst movie, above A View to a Kill
and Licence to Kill
, while IGN
chose it as the fifth worst.
Richards was criticised as not being credible in the role of a nuclear scientist. Her outfit comprising a tank top and shorts also met a similar reaction. She was ranked as the worst Bond girl
of all time by Entertainment Weekly
in 2008.
wrote his adaptation of The World Is Not Enough from the film's screenplay. It was Benson's fourth Bond novel and followed the story closely, but with some details changed. For instance, Elektra sings quietly before her death and Bond still carries his Walther PPK
instead of the newer P99. The novel also gave the cigar girl/assassin the name Giulietta da Vinci and retained a scene between her and Renard that was cut from the film (this scene was also retained in the card series).
In 2000, the film was adapted by Electronic Arts
to create a first-person shooter
of the same name
for the Nintendo 64
and PlayStation
. Incidentally, The World Is Not Enough was the last Bond title to appear on either console. The Nintendo 64 version was developed by Eurocom
and the PlayStation version was developed by Black Ops. Versions of The World Is Not Enough for the PC
and the PlayStation 2
were planned for release in 2000, but both were cancelled. These versions would have used the id Tech 3 game engine
. Although this game marks Pierce Brosnan's fifth appearance in a Bond video game, the game includes only his likeness; the character is voiced by someone else.
Spy film
The spy film genre deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy . Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, including works by John Buchan, John Le Carré, Ian Fleming and Len Deighton...
in the James Bond film series
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
as the fictional
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
MI6
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
agent James Bond
James Bond (character)
Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games...
. The film was directed by Michael Apted
Michael Apted
Michael David Apted, CMG is an English director, producer, writer and actor. He is one of the most prolific British film directors of his generation but is best known for his work on the Up Series of documentaries and the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.On 29 June 2003 he was elected...
, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis
Neal Purvis
Neal Purvis is a screenwriter best known for co-writing the last five James Bond films with his long-time collaborator Robert Wade.-Selected written screenplays:*Let Him Have It *The World Is Not Enough...
, Robert Wade
Robert Wade (screenwriter)
Robert Wade is a screenwriter best known for co-writing the last five James Bond films with his long-time collaborator Neal Purvis.-Selected written screenplays:*Let Him Have It *The World Is Not Enough...
and Bruce Feirstein
Bruce Feirstein
Bruce Feirstein is an American screenwriter and humorist, best known for his contributions to the James Bond series and his best-selling humor books, including Real Men Don't Eat Quiche and Nice Guys Sleep Alone. Real Men Don't Eat Quiche was on the New York Times best seller list for 53...
. It was produced by Michael G. Wilson
Michael G. Wilson
Michael Gregg Wilson, OBE is the producer and screenwriter of many modern James Bond movies.-Background:Wilson was born in New York City, New York, the son of Dana and actor Lewis Wilson. His father was the first actor to play the DC Comics character Batman in live action, which he did in the...
and Barbara Broccoli
Barbara Broccoli
Barbara Dana Broccoli, OBE is an American film producer.-Life and career:Broccoli was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of the famous James Bond producer Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and actress Dana Wilson Broccoli...
.
The film's plot revolves around the assassination of billionaire Sir Robert King by the terrorist Renard
Renard (James Bond)
Viktor Lavrentievich Zokas, better known by his alias of Renard, the Anarchist, is a fictional character and a main antagonist in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. He was portrayed by Scottish actor Robert Carlyle.-Biography:...
and Bond's subsequent assignment to protect King's daughter, Elektra
Elektra King
Elektra Vavra King is a fictional character, and primary antagonist in the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. She is played by Sophie Marceau.- Fictional character history :...
, who had previously been held for ransom by Renard. During his assignment, Bond unravels a scheme to increase petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
prices by triggering a nuclear meltdown
Nuclear meltdown
Nuclear meltdown is an informal term for a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term is not officially defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency or by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission...
in the waters of Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
.
Filming locations included Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, with interiors shot at Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
. Despite mixed critical reception, The World Is Not Enough earned $361,832,400 worldwide.
Plot
MI6 agent James Bond - '007' - meets a Swiss banker to retrieve money for Sir Robert King, a British oil tycoon and friend of MM (James Bond)
M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
. The banker threatens Bond, but is overpowered. The banker reveals the money was taken from the late agent 0012, but is killed by his assistant before he can reveal the assassin. Bond escapes with the money.
Back in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Sir Robert is killed by the booby-trapped money inside MI6. Bond gives chase to the assassin - the assistant again - by a boat on the Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
to the Millennium Dome
Millennium Dome
The Millennium Dome, colloquially referred to simply as The Dome or even The O2 Arena, is the original name of a large dome-shaped building, originally used to house the Millennium Experience, a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium...
, where the assassin attempts to escape via hot air balloon
Hot air balloon
The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air...
. Bond offers her protection, but she refuses. She detonates the balloon, killing herself.
Bond traces the recovered money to Renard
Renard (James Bond)
Viktor Lavrentievich Zokas, better known by his alias of Renard, the Anarchist, is a fictional character and a main antagonist in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. He was portrayed by Scottish actor Robert Carlyle.-Biography:...
, a KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
agent-turned-terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
. Following an earlier attempt on his life by MI6, Renard was left with a bullet in his brain which is gradually destroying his senses, making him immune to pain. M assigns Bond to protect King's daughter, Elektra
Elektra King
Elektra Vavra King is a fictional character, and primary antagonist in the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. She is played by Sophie Marceau.- Fictional character history :...
; as Renard previously abducted and held her for ransom, MI6 believes that he is targeting her a second time. Bond flies to Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, where Elektra is overseeing the construction of an oil pipeline. During a tour of the pipeline's proposed route in the mountains, Bond and Elektra are attacked by a hit squad in armed, paraglider
Paragliding
Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure...
-equipped snowmobile
Snowmobile
A snowmobile, also known in some places as a snowmachine, or sled,is a land vehicle for winter travel on snow. Designed to be operated on snow and ice, they require no road or trail. Design variations enable some machines to operate in deep snow or forests; most are used on open terrain, including...
s.
Afterwards Bond visits Valentin Zukovsky to acquire information about Elektra's attackers; he discovers that Elektra's head of security, Davidov, is secretly in league with Renard. Bond kills Davidov and boards a plane bound for a Russian ICBM base in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. There, Bond, posing as a Russian nuclear scientist, meets American nuclear physicist
Nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the building blocks and interactions of atomic nuclei. The most commonly known applications of nuclear physics are nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons technology, but the research has provided application in many fields, including those...
, Dr. Christmas Jones
Christmas Jones
Dr. Christmas Jones is a fictional character from the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough. She was portrayed by Denise Richards. The character also appears in the novel The World Is Not Enough and the video game The World Is Not Enough....
and enters the silo. Inside, Renard removes the GPS locator card and a half quantity of weapons-grade plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
from a bomb. Before Bond can kill him, Christmas blows his cover. Renard steals the bomb and flees, leaving everyone to die in the booby-trapped missile silo. Bond and Christmas escape the exploding silo with the locator card.
Back in Azerbaijan, Bond discloses to M that Elektra may not be as innocent as she seems, and hands her the locator card as proof of the theft: an alarm sounds, revealing that the stolen bomb from Kazakhstan is attached to an inspection rig heading toward the oil terminal. Bond and Christmas enter the pipeline to deactivate the bomb where Christmas discovers that half of the plutonium is missing. They both jump clear of the rig and a large section of the pipe is destroyed, with the pair presumed killed. Back at the command centre, Elektra reveals that she killed her father out of revenge for using her to bait Renard, and abducts M.
Bond accosts Zukovsky at his caviar
Caviar
Caviar, sometimes called black caviar, is a luxury delicacy, consisting of processed, salted, non-fertilized sturgeon roe. The roe can be "fresh" or pasteurized, the latter having much less culinary and economic value....
factory in the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
- which is then attacked by Elektra's helicopters. Later, Zukovsky reveals their arrangement was in exchange for a submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
, currently being captained by Zukovsky's nephew, Nikolai. The group goes to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, where Bond and Zukovsky think that if Renard were to insert the stolen plutonium into the submarine's nuclear reactor, the resulting nuclear explosion
Nuclear explosion
A nuclear explosion occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from an intentionally high-speed nuclear reaction. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission, nuclear fusion or a multistage cascading combination of the two, though to date all fusion based weapons have used a fission device...
would destroy Istanbul, sabotaging the Russians' oil pipeline in the Bosphorus. Elektra's pipeline is planned to go around Istanbul, dramatically increasing the value of her own oil. Bond then gets a signal from the locator card from the Maiden's Tower - just before Zukovsky's underling, Bullion blows up the command centre. Zukovsky is knocked unconscious, and Bond and Christmas are captured by Elektra's henchmen.
Christmas is taken aboard the submarine, which was seized by Renard's men. Bond is taken to the tower, where Elektra tortures him in a garrote
Garrote
A garrote or garrote vil is a handheld weapon, most often referring to a ligature of chain, rope, scarf, wire or fishing line used to strangle someone....
. Zukovsky and his men take control of the tower and when Zukovsky reaches the room where Elektra has Bond he is shot by Elektra. Dying, Zukovsky uses his cane gun
Cane gun
A cane gun is a walking cane with a hidden gun built into it. Cane guns were used as last-resort emergency weapons. Cane guns now are very rare to find and are mostly in the hands of private collectors and museums...
to free Bond, who then frees M and kills Elektra.
Bond then dives after the submarine, boards it and frees Christmas. Following a fight, the submarine starts to dive, and hits the bottom of the Bosphorus, causing its hull to rupture. Bond catches up with Renard and fights and kills him. Bond and Christmas escape the submarine, leaving the flooded reactor to detonate safely underwater.
Cast
- Pierce BrosnanPierce BrosnanPierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
as James Bond 007James Bond (character)Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games...
: A British secret agent. - Denise RichardsDenise RichardsDenise Lee Richards is an American actress and former fashion model of Croatian and Welsh descent. She has appeared in films including Starship Troopers, Wild Things, and The World Is Not Enough...
as Dr. Christmas JonesChristmas JonesDr. Christmas Jones is a fictional character from the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough. She was portrayed by Denise Richards. The character also appears in the novel The World Is Not Enough and the video game The World Is Not Enough....
: a nuclear physicist assisting Bond in his mission. The name follows in the tradition of other Bond girls'Bond girlA Bond girl is a character or actress portraying a love interest, of James Bond in a film, novel, or video game. They occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as "Pussy Galore", "Plenty O'Toole", "Xenia Onatopp", or "Holly Goodhead"...
names that are double entendreDouble entendreA double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
s. Richards stated that she liked the role because it was "brainy", "athletic", and had "depth of character, in contrast to Bond girls from previous decades". - Robert CarlyleRobert CarlyleRobert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor. He is known for a variety of roles including those in Trainspotting, Hamish Macbeth, The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes, The 51st State, and 28 Weeks Later...
as RenardRenard (James Bond)Viktor Lavrentievich Zokas, better known by his alias of Renard, the Anarchist, is a fictional character and a main antagonist in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. He was portrayed by Scottish actor Robert Carlyle.-Biography:...
: One of the film's two main villains; a Soviet terrorist, Elektra's kidnapper and her father's killer. - Sophie MarceauSophie MarceauSophie Marceau is a French actress director, screenwriter, and author. She has appeared in 38 films. As a teenager, Marceau achieved popularity with her debut films La boum and La boum 2 , receiving a César Award for Most Promising Actress...
as Elektra KingElektra KingElektra Vavra King is a fictional character, and primary antagonist in the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. She is played by Sophie Marceau.- Fictional character history :...
: One of the film's two main villains; an oil heiress who wants to make her mark on the world by sealing an oil trade route with a nuclear explosion. - Robbie ColtraneRobbie ColtraneRobbie Coltrane, OBE is a Scottish actor, comedian and author. He is known both for his role as Dr...
as Valentin Zukovsky: A Russian mafiaRussian MafiaThe Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
boss and BakuBakuBaku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
casino owner who aids Bond in order to rescue his nephew from Renard's captivity. - Judi DenchJudi DenchDame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
as MM (James Bond)M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
: The head of MI6. - Colin SalmonColin SalmonColin Salmon is a British actor best known for playing the character Charles Robinson in three James Bond films.-Personal life:...
as Charles RobinsonCharles Robinson (James Bond)Charles Robinson is a fictional character in the James Bond films Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. He is portrayed by actor Colin Salmon.-Biography:...
: The Chief of Staff of MI6 - Desmond LlewelynDesmond LlewelynDesmond Wilkinson Llewelyn was a Welsh actor, famous for playing Q in 17 of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1999.-Early life:...
as QQ (James Bond)Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. Q , like M, is a job title rather than a name. He is the head of Q Branch , the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service...
: MI6's "quartermaster" who supplies Bond with multi-purpose vehicles and gadgets useful for the latter's mission. The film would be Llewelyn's final performance as Q. Although the actor wasn't officially retiring from the role, the Q character was training his eventual replacement in this film. Llewelyn was killed in a car accident shortly after the film's premiere. - John CleeseJohn CleeseJohn Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
as R: Q's assistant and successor. The character is never formally introduced as "R" - This was simply an observation on Bond's part: "If you're Q....does that make him R?" - Samantha Bond as Miss MoneypennyMiss MoneypennyJane Moneypenny, better known as Miss Moneypenny, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M, who is Bond's boss and head of the British Secret Service...
: M's secretary - Serena Scott ThomasSerena Scott ThomasSerena Harriet Scott Thomas is an English actress.-Family and personal:Scott Thomas was born in Nether Compton, Dorset. Her mother, Deborah , was brought up in Hong Kong and Africa, and studied drama before marrying Scott Thomas' father...
as Dr. Molly Warmflash: An MI6 physician who gives 007 "A clean bill of health." - John SeruJohn SeruJohn Seru is an actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known as "Vulcan" in the Australian version of TV series Gladiators, as well as joining the British Gladiators team in Seasons 7 and 8. He is also known for his part in the James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough, where he plays...
as Gabor: Elektra King's silent bodyguard who is seen accompanying King wherever she travels. - Ulrich ThomsenUlrich ThomsenUlrich Thomsen is a Danish actor.Thomsen was born in Fyn, Denmark and graduated from the Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance in 1993, after which playing on several theatres in Copenhagen, such as Dr. Dantes Aveny, Mungo Park and Østre Gasværks Teater.His film debut was in...
as Sasha Davidov: Elektra King's head of security in Azerbaijan. - GoldieGoldieClifford Joseph Price, better known as Goldie is an English electronic music artist, disc jockey, visual artist and actor. He is well known for his innovations in the jungle and drum and bass music genres, having previously gained exposure for his work as a graffiti artist...
as Bullion: Valentin Zukovsky's gold-toothed bodyguard. - Maria Grazia CucinottaMaria Grazia CucinottaMaria Grazia Cucinotta is an Siciian/Italian actress who has featured in many films and television series since 1990, she has also worked as a producer, screenwriter and model....
as Giulietta da Vinci, credited in the film as "Cigar Girl": An experienced assassin working for Renard.
Production
Joe DanteJoe Dante
Joseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and science fiction content....
and then Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
were offered to direct. Barbara Broccoli
Barbara Broccoli
Barbara Dana Broccoli, OBE is an American film producer.-Life and career:Broccoli was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of the famous James Bond producer Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and actress Dana Wilson Broccoli...
had enjoyed Jackson's Heavenly Creatures
Heavenly Creatures
Heavenly Creatures is a 1994 film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his wife Fran Walsh, about the notorious 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case in Christchurch, New Zealand. Filmed on location in Christchurch, it features Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in their screen debuts...
, and a screening of The Frighteners
The Frighteners
The Frighteners is a 1996 comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with his wife, Fran Walsh. The film's cast includes Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace, Jake Busey and Chi McBride...
was arranged for her. She disliked the latter film, however, and showed no further interest in Jackson. Jackson, a lifelong Bond fan, remarked that EON tended to go for less famous directors and he would certainly not be entitled a chance to direct after The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
.
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
claimed that the British Government prevented some filming in front of the actual MI6 Headquarters
SIS Building
The SIS Building, also commonly known as the MI6 Building, is the headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service . It is known within the intelligence community as Legoland and also as "Babylon-on-Thames" due to its resemblance to an ancient Babylonian ziggurat...
at Vauxhall Cross, citing a security risk. However, a Foreign Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
spokesperson refuted the claims and expressed displeasure with the article.
Initially the film was to be released in 2000, rumoured to be titled Bond 2000. Other rumoured titles included Death Waits for No Man, Fire and Ice, Pressure Point and Dangerously Yours. The title The World Is Not Enough is an English translation of the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
phrase Orbis non sufficit, which in real life was the motto of Sir Thomas Bond
Sir Thomas Bond, 1st Baronet
Sir Thomas Bond was an English landowner and Baronet, Comptroller of the household of Queen Henrietta Maria.- Life :The son of another Sir Thomas Bond , by his marriage to Catherine, daughter of John Osbaldeston, Bond was born about 1620 at Peckham. The exact dates of his birth, death and marriage...
. In the novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service and its film adaptation
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. Following the decision of Sean Connery to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby...
, this is revealed to be the Bond family motto. The phrase originates from the epitaph of Alexander the Great.
Writers Neal Purvis
Neal Purvis
Neal Purvis is a screenwriter best known for co-writing the last five James Bond films with his long-time collaborator Robert Wade.-Selected written screenplays:*Let Him Have It *The World Is Not Enough...
and Robert Wade
Robert Wade (screenwriter)
Robert Wade is a screenwriter best known for co-writing the last five James Bond films with his long-time collaborator Neal Purvis.-Selected written screenplays:*Let Him Have It *The World Is Not Enough...
were hired after their work in Plunkett & Macleane
Plunkett & Macleane
Plunkett & Macleane is a 1999 British historical action comedy film directed by Jake Scott, and starring Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Liv Tyler. It follows the story of Captain James Macleane , and Will Plunkett , two men in eighteenth century Britain who are both struggling to survive...
. Dana Stevens did an uncredited rewrite before Bruce Feirstein
Bruce Feirstein
Bruce Feirstein is an American screenwriter and humorist, best known for his contributions to the James Bond series and his best-selling humor books, including Real Men Don't Eat Quiche and Nice Guys Sleep Alone. Real Men Don't Eat Quiche was on the New York Times best seller list for 53...
, who worked in the previous two films, took over the script.
Filming
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
, Spain, featuring the Guggenheim Museum
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art, designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The...
. After the opening scene, the film moves to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England, showcasing the SIS Building
SIS Building
The SIS Building, also commonly known as the MI6 Building, is the headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service . It is known within the intelligence community as Legoland and also as "Babylon-on-Thames" due to its resemblance to an ancient Babylonian ziggurat...
and the Millennium Dome
Millennium Dome
The Millennium Dome, colloquially referred to simply as The Dome or even The O2 Arena, is the original name of a large dome-shaped building, originally used to house the Millennium Experience, a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium...
on the Thames. Following the title sequence, Eilean Donan castle in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
is used by MI6 as a location headquarters. Other locations include Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, the Azerbaijan Oil Rocks
Oil Rocks
Neft Daşları is an industrial settlement in Baku, Azerbaijan. The settlement forms part of the municipality of Çilov-Neft Daşları in Əzizbəyov raion. It lies away from the Azeri capital Baku, and from the nearest shore in the Caspian Sea...
and Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, where Maiden's Tower
Maiden's Tower, Istanbul
The Maiden's Tower , also known in the ancient Greek and medieval Byzantine periods as Leander's Tower , sits on a small islet located at the southern entrance of Bosphorus strait off the coast of Üsküdar in Istanbul, Turkey.-History:Maiden's Tower was first built by the ancient Athenian general...
is shown.
The studio work for the film was shot as usual in Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
, including Albert R. Broccoli's 007 Stage. Bilbao, Spain
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
was used briefly for the exterior of Swiss bank and flyover-bridge adjacent to the Guggenheim Museum
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art, designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The...
. In London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
outdoor footage was shot of the SIS Building
SIS Building
The SIS Building, also commonly known as the MI6 Building, is the headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service . It is known within the intelligence community as Legoland and also as "Babylon-on-Thames" due to its resemblance to an ancient Babylonian ziggurat...
and Vauxhall Cross with several weeks filming the boat chase on the River Thames eastwards towards the Millennium Dome
Millennium Dome
The Millennium Dome, colloquially referred to simply as The Dome or even The O2 Arena, is the original name of a large dome-shaped building, originally used to house the Millennium Experience, a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium...
, Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
. The canal footage of the chase where Bond soaks the parking wardens was filmed at Wapping
Wapping
Wapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets which forms part of the Docklands to the east of the City of London. It is situated between the north bank of the River Thames and the ancient thoroughfare simply called The Highway...
and the boat stunts in Millwall Dock
Millwall Dock
Millwall Dock is a dock at Millwall, south of Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs, in London.-History:The Millwall Dock was constructed by John Aird & Co. to a design by Sir John Fowler and opened in 1868....
and under Glengall Bridge were filmed at the Isle of Dogs
Isle of Dogs
The Isle of Dogs is a former island in the East End of London that is bounded on three sides by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames.-Etymology:...
. Stowe School
Stowe School
Stowe School is an independent school in Stowe, Buckinghamshire. It was founded on 11 May 1923 by J. F. Roxburgh, initially with 99 male pupils. It is a member of the Rugby Group and Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school is also a member of the G20 Schools Group...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, was used as the site of the King family estate on banks of Loch Lomond. Filming was then shot in Scotland at the Eilean Donan Castle to depict the exterior of MI6 temporary operations centre at "Castle Thane". The skiing chase sequence in the Caucasus was shot on the slopes of Chamonix
Chamonix
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc or, more commonly, Chamonix is a commune in the Haute-Savoie département in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It was the site of the 1924 Winter Olympics, the first Winter Olympics...
, France. Filming of the scene was delayed by an avalanche
Avalanche
An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
, but the crew wasted no time by helping the rescue operation.
Halton House
thumb|right|300px|Halton House, BuckinghamshireHalton House is a country house situated in the Chiltern Hills above the village of Halton in Buckinghamshire, England. It was built for Alfred de Rothschild between 1880 and 1883...
, the Officer's Mess of RAF Halton
RAF Halton
RAF Halton is one of the largest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom, located near the village of Halton near Wendover, Buckinghamshire.HRH The Duchess of Cornwall is the Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Halton.-History:...
, and RAF Northolt
RAF Northolt
RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station situated in South Ruislip, east by northeast of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. Approximately north of London Heathrow Airport, the station also handles a large number of private civil flights...
was used to depict the airfield runway in Azerbaijan.
Zukovsky's quay-side caviar factory was shot entirely at the outdoor water tank at Pinewood.
The exterior of Kazakhstan nuclear facility was shot at the Bardenas Reales
Bardenas Reales
The Bardenas Reales is a semi-desert of some 42,000 ha in southeast Navarre . The soils are made up of clay, chalk and sandstone and have been eroded by water and wind creating surprising shapes, canyons, plateaus, tabular structures and isolated hills, called seamounts...
, in Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
, Spain, and the exterior of oil refinery control centre at the Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
building in Groundwell, Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
. The exterior of oil pipeline was filmed in Cwm Dyli
Cwm Dyli
Cwm Dyli is the location of a hydro-electric power station on the southern flank of the Snowdon range in North Wales. The station was built in 1905 by the Porthmadog, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway company, backed by North Wales Power and Traction Co Ltd to supply electricity to its own...
, Snowdonia, Wales
Snowdonia
Snowdonia is a region in north Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three National Parks in Wales, in 1951.-Name and extent:...
, while the production teams shot the oil pipeline explosion in Hankley Common
Hankley Common
Hankley Common is a common near Elstead, Surrey, England. It is an area of heathland with sandy infertile soil. The dry areas are covered in common heather and bell heather with patches of bracken Hankley Common is a designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest .-Atlantic Wall...
, Elstead
Elstead
Elstead is a village in Surrey, England, with shops and cottages mainly clustered around a central green, close to the River Wey. Neighbouring villages include Gatwick , Puttenham, Charleshill and Peper Harow...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, was indeed used in the film and Elektra King's Baku villa was actually in the city, also using the famous Maiden's Tower which was used as Renard's hideout in Turkey. The underwater submarine scenes were filmed in The Bahamas.
The BMW Z8
BMW Z8
The BMW Z8 was a roadster car produced by German automaker BMW from 1999-2003. It was given the E52 BMW model code.The Z8 was the production variant of the 1997 Z07 concept car, which was designed by Henrik Fisker at BMW's DesignworksUSA in Southern California. The Z07 originally was designed as a...
driven by Bond in the film was the final part of a three-movie product placement deal with BMW (which began with the Z3 in GoldenEye
GoldenEye
GoldenEye is the seventeenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Martin Campbell and is the first film in the series not to take story elements from the works of novelist Ian Fleming...
and continued with the 750iL in Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies is the eighteenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Bruce Feirstein wrote the screenplay, and it was directed by Roger Spottiswoode. It follows Bond as he tries to stop a media mogul from engineering...
) but, due to filming preceding release of the Z8 by a few months, several working mock-ups and models were manufactured for filming purposes.
Music
The soundtrack to The World Is Not Enough is the second Bond soundtrack to be composed by David ArnoldDavid Arnold
David Arnold is an English film composer best known for scoring five James Bond films, the 1994 film Stargate, the 1996 film Independence Day, and the television series Little Britain.-Film and television career:...
. Arnold broke tradition by not ending the film with a reprise of the opening theme or, as with the previous three films, a new song. Originally, Arnold intended to use the song "Only Myself to Blame" at the end of the film; however, Apted discarded this and the song was replaced by a remix of the "James Bond Theme
James Bond Theme
The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since Dr. No. The piece has been used as an accompanying fanfare to the gun barrel sequence in almost every James Bond film....
". "Only Myself to Blame", written by Arnold and Don Black and sung by Scott Walker
Scott Walker (singer)
Scott Walker, born Noel Scott Engel on January 9, 1943 is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and the former lead singer of The Walker Brothers. Despite being American born, Walker's chart success has largely come in the United Kingdom, where his first four solo albums...
, is the nineteenth and final track on the album and its melody is Elektra King's theme. The theme is heard in "Casino", "Elektra's Theme" and "I Never Miss". Arnold added two new themes to the final score, both of which are reused in the following film, Die Another Day
Die Another Day
Die Another Day is the 20th spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond; it is also the last Bond film of the original timeline with the series being rebooted with Casino Royale...
.
The title song, "The World Is Not Enough
The World is Not Enough (song)
"The World Is Not Enough" is a 1999 orchestral rock song performed by alternative rock group Garbage, and was the theme single of the James Bond film of the same name. The song and accompanying soundtrack were released internationally by Radioactive Records as the feature film premiered in theaters...
", was written by David Arnold with Don Black and performed by Garbage
Garbage (band)
Garbage are an alternative rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1994. The group consists of Scottish singer Shirley Manson and American musicians Duke Erikson , Steve Marker and Butch Vig . All four members are involved in songwriting and production...
. It is the fifth Bond theme co-written by Black, preceded by "Thunderball
Thunderball (soundtrack)
Thunderball is the soundtrack for the fourth James Bond film of the same name.The soundtrack was released by United Artists Records in 1965. The music was composed and conducted by John Barry, and performed by the John Barry Orchestra. This was Barry's third soundtrack for the series...
", "Diamonds Are Forever", "The Man with the Golden Gun
The Man with the Golden Gun (soundtrack)
The Man with the Golden Gun is the soundtrack for the 9th James Bond film of the same name.The theme tune was performed by Lulu, composed by John Barry, and the lyrics to the song were written by Don Black. Alice Cooper claims his song The Man With The Golden Gun was to be used by the producers of...
", and "Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies (song)
Entertainment Weekly music critic Jim Farber negatively reviewed the song, explaining "While Crow's music has the right swank and swing, her brittle voice lacks the operatic quality of the best Bond girls and boys, like Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, or even Melissa Manchester...
". Garbage also contributed to the music heard during the chase sequence ("Ice Bandits"), which was released as the B-side to their single release of the theme song. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
chose "The World Is Not Enough" as the ninth-best James Bond theme of all time. The song also appeared in two "best of 1999" polls: #87 in 89X's "Top 89 Songs of 1999" and #100 in Q101's "Top 101 of 1999".
Release and reception
The World Is Not Enough premiered on 19 November 1999 in the USA and on 26 November 1999 in the UK. At that time MGM signed a marketing partnership with MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, primarily for American youths, who were assumed to have considered Bond as "an old-fashioned secret service agent". As a result MTV broadcast more than 100 hours of Bond-related programmes immediately after the film was released, most being presented by Denise Richards.
The film opened at the top of the North American box office with $35.5 million. Its final worldwide gross was $361 million worldwide, with $126 million in the United States alone. It became the highest grossing James Bond film of all time until the release of Die Another Day
Die Another Day
Die Another Day is the 20th spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond; it is also the last Bond film of the original timeline with the series being rebooted with Casino Royale...
. The film was also selected for the first round of nominations for the Academy Award for Best Special Effects but failed. The film was nominated for a Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
, Pierce Brosnan won both the Empire Award and the Blockbuster Entertainment Award as Best Actor, and David Arnold won a BMI Film Music Award
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
for his score. The film became the first in the Bond series to win a Golden Raspberry when Denise Richards was chosen as "Worst Supporting Actress" at the 1999 Razzie Awards
1999 Golden Raspberry Awards
The 20th Golden Raspberry Awards were held on March 25, 2000 at the Sheraton Hotel in Santa Monica, California to recognize the worst the film industry had to offer in 1999....
.
The film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
on 16 May 2000, and sold over 5 million copies. The initial release of the DVD includes the featurette "Secrets of 007", which cuts into "making of" material during the movie; the documentary "The Making of The World Is Not Enough"; two commentary tracks
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
—one by director Michael Apted, and the other by production designer Peter Lamont, second unit director Vic Armstrong, and composer David Arnold; a trailer for the video game
The World Is Not Enough (video game)
The World Is Not Enough is a 2000 first-person shooter video game based on the James Bond film of the same name. The game was published by Electronic Arts and released for the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation console systems in 2000. The Nintendo 64 version was developed by Eurocom and the PlayStation...
, and the Garbage music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
. The Ultimate Edition released in 2006 had as additional extras a 2000 documentary named "Bond Cocktail", a featurette on shooting the Q Boat scenes, Pierce Brosnan in a press conference in Hong Kong, deleted scenes, and a tribute to Desmond Llewelyn
Desmond Llewelyn
Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn was a Welsh actor, famous for playing Q in 17 of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1999.-Early life:...
.
Reception was mixed to positive. Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
said the film was a "splendid comic thriller, exciting and graceful, endlessly inventive", and gave it three-and-a-half stars out of four. On the other hand, Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and its suburbs. The AJC, as it is called, is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta...
disliked the film, calling it "dated and confused". Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gave The World Is Not Enough a 51% "rotten" rating, and Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the film a score of 59 out of 100. Negative criticism was drawn at the execution of the plot and action scenes which were considered excessive. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
picked it as the worst Bond film of all time, saying it had a plot "so convoluted even Pierce Brosnan has admitted to being mystified". Norman Wilner of MSN
MSN
MSN is a collection of Internet sites and services provided by Microsoft. The Microsoft Network debuted as an online service and Internet service provider on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of the Windows 95 operating system.The range of services offered by MSN has changed since its...
chose it as the third worst movie, above A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the fourth Bond film after The Spy Who Loved...
and Licence to Kill
Licence to Kill
Licence to Kill, released in 1989, is the sixteenth entry in the Eon Productions James Bond series and the first one not to use the title of an Ian Fleming novel. It marks Timothy Dalton's second and final performance in his brief tenure in the lead role of James Bond...
, while IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
chose it as the fifth worst.
Richards was criticised as not being credible in the role of a nuclear scientist. Her outfit comprising a tank top and shorts also met a similar reaction. She was ranked as the worst Bond girl
Bond girl
A Bond girl is a character or actress portraying a love interest, of James Bond in a film, novel, or video game. They occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as "Pussy Galore", "Plenty O'Toole", "Xenia Onatopp", or "Holly Goodhead"...
of all time by Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
in 2008.
Adaptations
The film was adapted into a trading card series which was released by Inkworks. Bond novelist Raymond BensonRaymond Benson
Raymond Benson is an American author best known for being the official author of the adult James Bond novels from 1997 to 2003. Benson was born in Midland, Texas and graduated from Permian High School in Odessa in 1973...
wrote his adaptation of The World Is Not Enough from the film's screenplay. It was Benson's fourth Bond novel and followed the story closely, but with some details changed. For instance, Elektra sings quietly before her death and Bond still carries his Walther PPK
Walther PPK
The Walther PP series pistols are blowback-operated semi-automatic pistols.They feature an exposed hammer, a double-action trigger mechanism, a single-column magazine, and a fixed barrel which also acts as the guide rod for the recoil spring...
instead of the newer P99. The novel also gave the cigar girl/assassin the name Giulietta da Vinci and retained a scene between her and Renard that was cut from the film (this scene was also retained in the card series).
In 2000, the film was adapted by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
to create a first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
of the same name
The World Is Not Enough (video game)
The World Is Not Enough is a 2000 first-person shooter video game based on the James Bond film of the same name. The game was published by Electronic Arts and released for the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation console systems in 2000. The Nintendo 64 version was developed by Eurocom and the PlayStation...
for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
and PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
. Incidentally, The World Is Not Enough was the last Bond title to appear on either console. The Nintendo 64 version was developed by Eurocom
Eurocom
Eurocom is a British video game developer founded specifically to develop games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Since then Eurocom has expanded to several other platforms including handheld game systems and most major video game consoles.The company was once famous for its arcade to console...
and the PlayStation version was developed by Black Ops. Versions of The World Is Not Enough for the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
and the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
were planned for release in 2000, but both were cancelled. These versions would have used the id Tech 3 game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
. Although this game marks Pierce Brosnan's fifth appearance in a Bond video game, the game includes only his likeness; the character is voiced by someone else.