Die Another Day [Blu-Ray]

Much like its predecessors, Pierce Brosnan’s final outing as the promiscuous British spy proved entirely cheesy, laden with action, double entendres, creative gadgetry, inexplicable sexual unions and an overly simplistic battle for democracy. What made Die Another Day a little different were some dreadful CGI and some seriously incompetent direction from XXX: State of the Union visionary Lee Tamahori. He genuinely seemed to miss the tongue-in-cheek memo that the actors and screenwriters received, choosing instead to play it straight and insert bizarre slow-motion sequences along with some occasionally lethargic action. Thankfully, the pacing is solid and the majority of the actors bring their "A” game — even the uptight female spies who randomly transform into spandex tank top wearing vipers after bumping groins with DNA-altered North Korean radicals. The plot follows Bond (Pierce Brosnan) after a botched mission in North Korea leaves him in a cell being tortured for months until his feisty handler M (Judi Dench) exchanges him for Korean baddie Zao (Rick Yune). Once out, Bond learns that he may have leaked intelligence at some point during his incarceration, which leads to a quest for personal redemption. This search takes him to Cuba where he meets NSA agent Jinx (Halle Berry) and finds some conflict diamonds that lead him to billionaire Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens) and undercover British spy Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike). The Blu-Ray, aside from looking and sounding amazing, features an abundance of special features, which are all available on the DVD releases. Commentary with Brosnan and Pike proves informative and amusing, while commentary with Tamahori and Wilson is dry and technical. The MI6 Trivia track is essentially a pop-up video throughout the film that proves more distracting than beneficial. Featurettes include "From Script to Screen” (an hour-long "behind the scenes” with interviews), "Shaken and Stirred on Ice” (filming on ice), "Just Another Day” (the helicopter stunt) and "British Touch” (airplane stunts). Collectors can currently do no better than Bond on Blu-Ray since it truly is a shallow visual treat.