23 Years Ago Today, the Worst Movie of a Fan-Favorite Franchise Came to Theaters

The James Bond franchise is one of the most enduring sagas in cinema history. Spanning over six decades, the series includes 25 films and has seen six actors take on the iconic role of Agent 007. This longevity has allowed the series to explore a remarkable range of tones and stories. From the gritty espionage of Daniel Craig’s era to the globe-trotting spectacle and camp humor of Roger Moore’s tenure, the franchise has continually reinvented itself. Consequently, fans often have wildly different preferences, with some championing the serious installments and others favoring the more lighthearted adventures. Yet, despite this diversity of opinion, there is a rare consensus on the series’s lowest points. It is almost unanimous among fans that Die Another Day, released around this time 23 years ago, is one of the worst movies to ever bear the 007 designation, if not the absolute worst.

Positioned as a landmark event celebrating the 40th anniversary of the film franchise, Die Another Day held its world premiere in London on November 18, 2002, before its wider UK release on November 20. As the 20th installment of the James Bond franchise, expectations were high, and the movie was a significant commercial success, ultimately grossing more than $431 million worldwide.

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Die Another Day’s reception from critics and audiences, however, was a different story. While some praised Lee Tamahori’s direction, the movie was widely criticized for its over-reliance on CGI, nonsensical plot, and excessive product placement. The film’s reputation has only soured over time, cementing its legacy as a creative misstep that took the series to a place of absurdity from which it would need a hard reboot to recover.

Why Is Die Another Day So Disliked?

The central problem with Die Another Day is a severe tonal imbalance that begins with a genuinely intriguing premise and descends into utter self-parody. The film starts with James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) captured and tortured in North Korea for 14 months, a dark opening that promised a more serious adventure. This compelling start is quickly abandoned in favor of increasingly ludicrous plot elements. The story involves a villain undergoing gene-replacement therapy to change his ethnicity, a gigantic space laser, and a sprawling ice palace in Iceland. These narrative choices pushed the boundaries of audience disbelief far beyond the established norms of the franchise. 

The final act of Die Another Day is undone by notoriously poor CGI, particularly an infamous sequence where Bond para-surfs away from a melting glacier. This is accompanied by gadgets that felt more like science fiction, chief among them an Aston Martin that could turn invisible, a feature that became a symbol of the movie’s creative excess. This spectacular failure makes for a bitter farewell for Brosnan, who took his final bow as the secret agent in this film. 

Brosnan’s tenure had begun on a massive high note with 1995’s GoldenEye, a movie that successfully revitalized the character for a post-Cold War world. Directed by Martin Campbell, GoldenEye received positive reviews, was a box office smash, and proved that Bond was still relevant in a changing geopolitical landscape. The film masterfully blended the classic suave persona with modern action sensibilities, giving Brosnan a perfect vehicle to make the role his own. After headlining one of the franchise’s best entries, it was a profound disappointment for his run to conclude with its absolute worst. Brosnan deserved a far better send-off, but instead, his time as Bond ended with a film that prioritized hollow spectacle over coherent storytelling.

Do you believe Die Another Day is truly the worst James Bond film, or does another entry deserve that title? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!