The beginning is excellent, with its hovercraft chase scenes and Bond ending up in a North Korean prison – it’s grittier than most Bond films, and it’s a nice change of pace to see Bond more disheveled than he’s ever been. Unfortunately, the rest of the story doesn’t match the excitement level of the beginning. Bond’s journeys to Cuba and Iceland seem more perfunctory than anything else, and Halle Berry gives a truly uninspired performance as Jinx.
The climax, which takes place in a burning airplane hurtling towards Earth, finally picks up the pace that was sucked out during the boring ice castle sequence, but it’s too little too late to make Die Another Day that memorable.
The Blu-ray Disc:
Honestly, for a film as recent as this one, I expected better from the Blu-ray transfer. Like the movie, the quality is variable depending on the scene. The colors and blacks usually look great, but the clarity wavers, and there is far too much noticeable grain in many shots near the end of the film.
Sound-wise, the disc delivers as the DTS mix sounds superb with the right balance finally being found among all the tracks.
Special Features:
The features are pretty typical fare by today’s standards – a couple of featurettes, a couple of commentary tracks and some still images. The highlight for me is a trivia track that plays with the movie, displaying facts on the screen. Some people will find this obnoxiously obtrusive I’m sure, but I prefer it to an audio commentary if I’m not that interested in a film.
The Bottom Line:
Right now, no one’s in a rush to convert their DVD collection to Blu-ray because there is little danger of the DVD format becoming obsolete anytime soon. If you don’t own the most recent DVD releases of the Bond films, then Blu-ray is the way to go, but otherwise waiting can’t hurt. The picture and sound quality just don’t necessitate an upgrade at this point.
Each Bond Blu-ray is available separately, in three-packs (Volume 1 has Dr. No, Die Another Day, and Live and Let Die and Volume 2 has For Your Eyes Only, From Russia With Love, and Thunderball)m and in a single six-pack with all the films.
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
I still can't quite bring myself to make the jump. :-(
2 - Dusty Somers
Can't blame you there Phillip - it's the right decision.
3 - Phillip Winn
I know eventually I'll go HD, but I'm putting it off for as long as possible. Eventually it'll be "cheap," right?
4 - El Bicho
just wait until you need to replace a DVD player or until they get ridiculously cheap
5 - Mark Saleski
i'm never going hd. i still look at my viewmaster every night.