This scene from Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) has to be one of the weakest a Bond villain has ever looked. Who signed off on having the end of this scene? Cringe!
I’ve always thought that Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) Tomorrow plot in TND is one of the most realistic/plausible villain plots of the entire series – controlling information and the media is a very powerful thing (hat-tip Elon Musk/Twitter). I’ll give credit to the double-entendre anchorman quote to Carver, but his end “imitation” of Wai-Lin’s (Michelle Yeoh) fighting skills is nothing short of the “pathetic” word he elicits himself. Gross!
Cannot abort the missile aboard the HMS Chester! From Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
This is one of those frustrating James Bond movie chases where there are a hundred different scenarios where it could have been stopped or made less dangerous by some better decision making. For starters, why did the baddies here decide to use their mode of transportation as part of their strategy to kill Bond? Surely they knew, and would of course eventually find out, they had a death wish if anything disturbs the helicopter rotors.
And why doesn’t Bond and Wai Lin just stop? Get off the bike, disappear in the crowd?
I may be biased since TND was the first James Bond movie I saw in theaters, but the remote control BMW scene is nothing but fun from start to finish. I distinctly remember smiling ear-to-ear just as Brosnan does at the end of the scene, and the theater’s collective ooh’s and aah’s as each new gadget appeared on screen. This was nothing short of action movie magic, and is a top-tier action scene in all of the James Bond movies. Who wouldn’t want to drive a car (BMW, nonetheless) remotely and look as cool as James Bond doing it?!
The title card from Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
…whathappenedtothespaces?!?!
“James Bond Will Return” is a signature phrase splashed at the end of (almost) every James Bond movie that promotes 007’s never-give-up/against-all-odds attitude and shows a sense of pride in the world’s longest running movie series.
Throughout the years, it has been used to reveal the movie title of the forthcoming James Bond movie, albeit sometimes in error. It has also not been used at all. Some quick facts:
- It does not appear at the end of any of the unofficial movies (Casino Royale (1954), Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again (1983)
- It does not appear in Dr. No or Thunderball
- It has been bland with just words (The World Is Not Enough), has had a fancy backdrop (The Living Daylights), and has had a custom image to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the James Bond movies (Skyfall)
- The incorrect next movie is listed at the end of The Spy Who Loved Me as For Your Eyes Only – the next movie is in fact Moonraker (thanks, Star Wars)
- The title of A View To A Kill is incorrect at the end of Octopussy, adding “From” to the beginning of the title
Regardless, below are all of the instances where “James Bond Will Return” appears in the credits from all of the movies:
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of From Russia With Love (1963)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of Goldfinger (1964)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of You Only Live Twice (1967)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of Live And Let Die (1973)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of Moonraker (1979)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of For Your Eyes Only (1981)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of Octopussy (1983)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of A View To A Kill (1985)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of The Living Daylights (1987)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of Licence To Kill (1989)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of GoldenEye (1995)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of The World Is Not Enough (1999)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of Die Another Day (2002)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of Casino Royale (2006)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of Quantum Of Solace (2008)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of Skyfall (2012)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of Spectre (2015)
-
- “James Bond Will Return” from the end of No Time To Die (2021)
Which is your favorite?
