The World Is Not Enough (1999) is the nineteenth film in the James Bond 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.[1] It was produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. The title is taken from a line in the 1963 novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
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, Azerbaijan, Turkey and the UK, with interiors shot at Pinewood Studios. Despite mixed critical reception, The World Is Not Enough earned $361,832,400 worldwide. It was also the first Eon-produced Bond film to be officially released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer instead of United Artists, the original distributor.
Plot
MI6 agent James Bond meets a Swiss banker in Bilbao, Spain to retrieve money for Sir Robert King, a British oil tycoon and friend of M. Bond tells the banker that King was buying a report stolen from an MI6 agent who was killed for it, and wants to know who killed him. The banker is killed by his assistant before he can reveal the assassin's name. Bond escapes with the money, but it is revealed to be booby-trapped; Sir Robert is killed by an explosion inside MI6 headquarters back in London. Bond gives chase to the assistant/assassin on a boat on the Thames to the Millennium Dome, where she attempts to escape via hot air balloon. Bond offers her protection, but she refuses, then causes the balloon to explode, killing herself.
After getting cleared by the doctor, Bond traces the recovered money to Viktor "Renard" Zokas, 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, against Renard, who had previously abducted her. 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 snowmobiles.
Afterwards Bond visits Valentin Zukovsky at a casino 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. He poses as a Russian nuclear scientist, meets American nuclear physicist Christmas Jones, and enters the silo. Inside, Renard is removing the GPS locator card and weapons-grade plutonium from a nuclear bomb. Before Bond can kill him, Jones blows his cover. Renard drops a hint that he and Elektra are collaborating and flees with the plutonium, while Bond and Jones 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. An alarm sounds while he is handing M the locator card as proof of the theft, which reveals that the stolen bomb from Kazakhstan is attached to an inspection rig heading towards the oil terminal. Bond and Jones enter the pipeline to deactivate the bomb, and Jones discovers that half of the plutonium is missing. They both jump clear of the rig, a large section of pipeline is destroyed, and they are presumed killed. Back at the command centre, Elektra reveals she and Renard are conspirators and that she killed her father as revenge for using her as bait for Renard. She abducts M, whom she resents for advising her father not to pay the ransom money, and imprisons her in the Maiden's Tower.
Bond accosts Zukovsky at his caviar factory in the Caspian Sea, which is then attacked by Elektra's sawing helicopters. Later, Zukovsky reveals his arrangement with Elektra was in exchange for the use of a submarine, currently being captained by Zukovsky's nephew, Nikolai. The group goes to Istanbul, where Jones realises 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. Bond then receives a signal from the locator card M has activated using a clock battery, just before Zukovsky's underling, Bullion blows up the command centre. Bond and Jones are captured by Elektra's henchmen. Jones is taken aboard the submarine. Bond is taken to the tower, where Elektra tortures him with a garrote. Zukovsky and his men seize the tower, but Zukovsky is shot by Elektra, freeing Bond with his cane gun with his last act. Bond frees M and kills Elektra.
Bond dives after the submarine, boards it, and frees Jones. Following a fight, the submarine hits the bottom of the Bosphorus, causing its hull to rupture. Bond catches up with Renard and kills him after a lengthy fight in the submarine's reactor. Bond and Jones escape from the submarine, leaving the flooded reactor to detonate safely underwater.
Cast
- Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, 007.
- Sophie Marceau as Elektra King, an oil heiress who is seemingly being targeted by Renard, the world's most wanted terrorist. Bond is tasked by M to protect her at all costs, although he suspects that there is more to her than meets the eye.
- Robert Carlyle as Victor "Renard" Zokas, a former KGB agent turned high-tech terrorist. Years ago, Renard kidnapped Elektra King in exchange for a massive ransom demand. The ordeal resulted in a failed assassination attempt by MI6 and left Renard with a bullet lodged in his brain which renders him impervious to pain as well as slowly killing off his other senses. Renard now seeks revenge on both the King family and MI6.
- Denise Richards as Dr. Christmas Jones, an American nuclear physicist assisting Bond in his mission.[2] 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".[3] Richards stated that a lot of viewers "made fun of" the character's attire but that "These Bond girls are so outrageous and if I did really look like a scientist, the Bond fans would have been disappointed."[4] Writer Ben Bussey stated in a Yahoo! Movies article that "it's clear that Eon were never aiming especially high with this character" since the company "reportedly" auditioned Geri Halliwell and Tiffani Thiessenfor the role.[5]
- Robbie Coltrane as Valentin Zukovsky: A former Russian mafia boss and Baku casino owner. Bond initially seeks out Zukovsky for intel on Renard and is subsequently aided by him when Zukovsky's nephew falls into Renard's captivity. Coltrane reprises his role from GoldenEye.
- Judi Dench as M: The head of MI6.
- Michael Kitchen as Bill Tanner: M's Chief of Staff.
- Colin Salmon as Charles Robinson: M's Deputy Chief of Staff.
- Desmond Llewelyn as Q: 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 was not 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 Cleese 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 Moneypenny: M's secretary
- Serena Scott Thomas as Dr. Molly Warmflash.
- John Seru as Gabor: Elektra King's bodyguard who is seen accompanying King wherever she travels.
- Ulrich Thomsen as Sasha Davidov: Elektra King's head of security in Azerbaijan and Renard's secret liaison.
- Goldie as Bull: Valentin Zukovsky's gold-toothed bodyguard. Although listed as 'Bull' in the credits, Zukovsky refers to him as 'Bullion' in the film.
- Maria Grazia Cucinotta as Giulietta da Vinci, credited in the film as "Cigar Girl": An experienced assassin working for Renard.
- David Calder as Sir Robert King: Elektra's father and an oil tycoon who is later killed during a bomb attack on MI6 headquarters.
- Sean Cronin as Renard's Henchman (uncredited)
Theatrical Trailer
The World Is Not Enough (1999) Official Trailer - Pierce Brosnan James Bond Movie HD-0