The film's plot revolves around the murder of billionaire businessman Sir Robert King by theterrorist Renard, and Bond's subsequent assignment to protect King's daughterElektra, who was previously held for ransom by Renard. During his assignment, Bond unravels a scheme to increase petroleum prices by triggering anuclear meltdown in the waters ofIstanbul.
InBilbao, MI6 agentJames Bond meetsSwiss banker Lachaise to retrieve money for Sir Robert King, a British oil tycoon and friend ofM. Bond interrogates the banker to identify the assassin of an MI6 agent, but Lachaise is killed before revealing this information, and Bond is forced to escape with the money. At MI6 headquarters in London, the money is revealed to be laced with explosives that kill King. Bond chases the assassin by boat on theThames to theMillennium Dome, where she attempts to escape viahot air balloon. Bond offers her protection; she refuses, fearing he would not be able to protect her, and blows up the balloon at the cost of her life.
Bond traces the recovered money to Renard, aKGB agent turnedterrorist. Following an earlier attempt on his life by MI6, Renard was left with a bullet embedded in his brain, which makes him immune to pain but will eventually kill him. M assigns Bond to protect King's daughter Elektra, whom Renard had previously abducted and held for ransom. Bond flies toAzerbaijan, where Elektra oversees 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 insnowmobiles.
Bond visitsValentin Zukovsky at a casino to acquire information about Elektra's attackers. There, Bond grows suspicious as Elektra immediately loses $1 million on a game of high card draw, and discovers that her head of security, Sasha Davidov, is secretly in league with Renard. Bond kills Davidov and boards a plane bound for an ex-SovietICBM base inKazakhstan. Posing as a Russian scientist Bond meets Americannuclear physicist Dr. Christmas Jones cooperating with Russian armed forces in overseeing the dismantling of the site. Renard removes theGPS locator card and weapons-gradeplutonium core from a nuclear warhead. Before Bond can kill him, Jones exposes his cover. Renard steals the bomb and flees, leaving everyone to die. Bond and Jones escape the exploding silo with the locator card.
In Azerbaijan, Bond warns M that Elektra may not be as innocent as she appears, and may have succumbed toStockholm Syndrome under Renard's capture. He hands her the locator card as proof of the theft. An alarm sounds, revealing that the stolen bomb is attached to apipeline inspection pig 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 jump clear of the rig and a section of pipe is destroyed. Bond and Jones are presumed killed. Back at the command centre, Elektra reveals that she killed her father as revenge for using her as bait for Renard. She abducts M, whom she resents for having advised her father not to pay the ransom money.
Bond accosts Zukovsky at hiscaviar factory in theCaspian Sea and they are attacked by Elektra's helicopters. Zukovsky reveals his arrangement with Elektra was to accept a payoff via bets in his casino in exchange for the use of an old nuclear Soviet-erasubmarine captained by Zukovsky's nephew in theBlack Sea Fleet. The group goes toIstanbul, where Jones realizes that if Renard were to insert the stolen plutonium into the submarine's nuclear reactor, the resultingmeltdown would destroy Istanbul, sabotaging the main alternative oil pipelines passing through theBosphorus. Elektra's pipeline, planned to go around Istanbul, would increase in value. Bond gets a signal from the locator card at theMaiden's Tower before Zukovsky's henchman Bull blows up the command centre. Zukovsky is knocked unconscious, and Bond and Jones are captured by Elektra's henchmen. Jones is taken aboard the submarine, which was seized by Renard's men. Bond is taken to the tower, where Elektra tortures him with agarrote and reveals that she cut off part of her ear to make her kidnapping look more believable. Zukovsky and his men seize the tower, but Zukovsky is shot by Elektra. Before dying, Zukovsky uses hiscane gun to free Bond, who frees M and kills Elektra.
Bond dives after the submarine, boards it and frees Jones. The submarine's hull ruptures as it sinks into the Bosphorus. Bond fights Renard and impales him by firing the plutonium rod into his chest. Bond and Jones escape from the submarine, leaving the flooded reactor to detonate underwater. Later, they celebrate the New Year and have sex in Istanbul, while being monitored by MI6 satellites. M is appalled at Bond's conduct with Christmas, but "R", the successor toQ, Bond'squartermaster, dismisses their sexual activity as a glitch on the satellite screen.
Sophie Marceau asElektra King, an oil heiress who is seemingly being targeted by Renard, the world's most wanted terrorist. M gives Bond the task of protecting her at all costs, although he suspects that there is more to her than meets the eye.Sharon Stone andVera Farmiga were also considered for the role before Broccoli saw Marceau's performance inFirelight.[4]
Robert Carlyle as Victor "Renard" Zokas, a formerKGB agent turned high-tech terrorist who previously kidnapped Elektra. After a failed assassination attempt he has a bullet lodged in his brain, rendering him impervious to pain as well as slowly killing off his other senses, and ultimately killing him as well. Before the casting of Carlyle the role was offered toJavier Bardem (who would later portray the Bond villain inSkyfall) andJean Reno.[4]
Denise Richards as Dr. Christmas Jones, an American nuclear physicist assisting Bond in his mission.[5] 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".[6] 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."[7] Jones was originally written as aFrench-Polynesianinsurance investigator before but the studio insisted on changing her nationality after the casting of Marceau.[4]Tiffani Thiessen also auditioned.[8]
Robbie Coltrane as Valentin Zukovsky: A formerRussian mafia boss andBaku 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 fromGoldenEye.
Desmond Llewelyn asQ: 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 acar crash shortly after the film premiered.
Maria Grazia Cucinotta as "Cigar Girl": An experienced hitwoman working alone, who appears as an assistant who supplies Bond and Lachaise with cigars during their meeting in Bilbao but tries to kill Bond in London. Inthe novelisation, the character is given the name Giulietta da Vinci.
Serena Scott Thomas as Dr. Molly Warmflash, an MI6 agent and doctor assigned to examine Bond, as well as describing Renard's seeming invincibility due to the terminal bullet in his brain that will kill him when it reaches the center of his brain.
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 and gold-haired bodyguard, secretly working for Elektra and Renard. Although listed as 'Bull' in the credits, Zukovsky also refers to him as 'Mr. Bullion' in the film.
John Seru as Gabor: Elektra King's bodyguard who is seen accompanying King wherever she travels.
Claude-Oliver Rudolph as Colonel Akakievich: The leader of the Russian ICBM base in Kazakhstan.
Yacht used in the opening boat chase, on display atboot Düsseldorf in spring 2000
In November 1997, a month prior to the release ofTomorrow Never Dies,Barbara Broccoli watched a news report onNightline detailing how the world's majoroil companies were vying for control of the untapped oil reserves in theCaspian Sea in the wake of theSoviet Union's collapse, and suggested that controlling the only pipeline from the Caspian to the West would be an appropriate motivation for a potentialBond villain.[9] She andMichael G. Wilson hired screenwritersNeal Purvis and Robert Wade to work on the film following their work onPlunkett & Macleane; Purvis and Wade would eventually write or co-write all of the following Bond films up toNo Time to Die.[10] The screenwriters incorporated material from the abandoned Bond screenplayReunion with Death, which had been conceived in 1993 withTimothy Dalton as Bond.[11][12][13] Broccoli was especially impressed by the writers' suggestion of a female main villain, stating that "With Elektra, Bond thinks he has foundTracy, but he's really foundBlofeld".[9]
Joe Dante, and laterPeter Jackson, were initially offered the opportunity to direct the film. Barbara Broccoli enjoyed Jackson'sHeavenly Creatures, and a screening ofThe Frighteners was arranged for her. She disliked the latter film, however, and showed no further interest in Jackson. Jackson, a lifelong Bond fan, remarked that as Eon tended to go for less famous directors, he would likely not get another chance to direct a Bond film afterThe Lord of the Rings.[14] Barbara Broccoli also was in talks withAlfonso Cuarón to direct, who nearly accepted.[4] Hoping to find a director capable of eliciting strong performances from women, the producers eventually hiredMichael Apted, as his work withSissy Spacek inCoal Miner's Daughter,Sigourney Weaver inGorillas in the Mist andJodie Foster inNell has earned all three actressesOscar nominations (with Spacek winning). Apted's then-wifeDana Stevens did an uncredited rewrite, primarily to strengthen the female characters' roles, beforeBruce Feirstein, who had worked in the previous two films, was hired to work on Bond's role.[9][15]
Initially the film was to be released in 2000, rumoured to be titledBond 2000. Other rumoured titles includedDeath Waits for No Man,Fire and Ice,Pressure Point andDangerously Yours.[16] The eventual titleThe World Is Not Enough is an English translation of theLatin phraseOrbis non sufficit, themotto of Bond's supposed real-world ancestorSir Thomas Bond. In the novelOn Her Majesty's Secret Service and itsfilm adaptation, it is first claimed to be James Bond's family motto as well.
The phraseOrbis non sufficit is thought to originate from thePharsalia byLucan. It appears twice, both with uncomplimentary associations: the first reference is to a group of villainous mutineers, and the second is to the ambitiousJulius Caesar.[17] It was then applied toAlexander the Great byJuvenal in his collection of satirical poems, theSatires: "The world was not big enough forAlexander the Great, but a coffin was". Phrased asNon sufficit orbis, it became the motto of theSpanish kingPhilip II after ascending the Portuguese throne in 1580.[18]
Crime novelistDonald E. Westlake wrote an early draft of the film, which was later scrapped because of difficulties in filming in the script's original setting in China. Westlake adapted the script into the novelForever and a Death, which was published posthumously in 2017 byHard Case Crime.[19]
The pre-title sequence begins inBilbao, Spain, featuring theGuggenheim Museum. After the opening scene, the film moves to London, showcasing theSIS Building and theMillennium Dome on theThames. The sequence lasts for about 14 minutes, making it the longest pre-title sequence in the series untilNo Time to Die in 2021.The Daily Telegraph claimed that the British Government prevented some filming in front of the actualMI6 Headquarters at Vauxhall Cross, citing a security risk. However, aForeign Office spokesperson rejected the claims and expressed displeasure with the article.[20] Following the title sequence,Eilean Donan Castle in Scotland is used byMI6 as a location headquarters. Other locations includeBaku, Azerbaijan, the AzerbaijanOil Rocks andIstanbul, Turkey, whereMaiden's Tower andKüçüksu Palace are shown.[21]
The filming occurred a few months before the BMW Z8(unit pictured) was released
The interior (and single exterior shot) of L'Or Noir casino in Baku, Azerbaijan, was shot atHalton House, the officers' mess ofRAF Halton.RAF Northolt was used to depict the airfield runway in Azerbaijan.[21]Zukovsky's quaysidecaviar factory was shot entirely at the outdoor water tank at Pinewood. The exterior of Kazakhstan nuclear facility was shot at theBardenas Reales, inNavarre, Spain, and the exterior of the oil refinery control centre at theMotorola building inGroundwell,Swindon.[25] The exterior of the oil pipeline was filmed inCwm Dyli,Snowdonia,Wales,[26] while the production teams shot the oil pipeline explosion onHankley Common,Elstead, Surrey.Istanbul, Turkey, was used in the film, also using the famousMaiden's Tower which was used as Renard's hideout in Turkey. Exteriors for Elektra King's Baku villa were shot atKüçüksu Pavilion in Istanbul, and interiors were shot atLuton Hoo in Bedfordshire, England. The underwater submarine scenes were filmed inthe Bahamas.[27]
TheBMW Z8 driven by Bond in the film was the final part of a three-film product placement deal with BMW (which began with the Z3 inGoldenEye and continued with the 750iL inTomorrow Never Dies) but, due to filming preceding release of the Z8 by a few months, several working mock-ups and models were manufactured for filming purposes.
Rock bandGarbage (pictured in 2012) sang the film's title song.
The soundtrack toThe World Is Not Enough is the secondBond soundtrack to be composed byDavid Arnold.[28] Arnold broke tradition by not ending the film with a reprise of the opening theme or, as with the previous three films, a new song. Originally, Arnold intended to use the song "Only Myself to Blame" at the end of the film; however, Apted discarded this and the song was replaced by a remix of the "James Bond Theme".[29] "Only Myself to Blame", written by Arnold andDon Black and sung byScott Walker, is the 19th and final track on the album and its melody is Elektra King's theme. The theme is heard in "Casino", "Elektra's Theme" and "I Never Miss".[29] Arnold added two new themes to the final score, both of which are reused in the following film,Die Another Day.
Another theme song was made by English post-Britpop bandStraw, which was also entitledThe World Is Not Enough but was rejected in favor of Garbage's song.[38] The song is unique as the lyrics contain references to several of theIan Fleming novels, including references toGoldfinger,You Only Live Twice,On Her Majesty's Secret Service, andLive and Let Die.[39]
The World Is Not Enough premiered on 19 November 1999 in the United States and on 26 November 1999 in the United Kingdom. Its world premiere was 8 November 1999 at theFox Bruin Theater, Los Angeles, USA.[40] At that time MGM signed a marketing partnership with MTV, primarily for American youths, who were assumed to have considered Bond as "an old-fashioned secret service agent". As a result, MTV broadcast more than 100 hours of Bond-related programmes immediately after the film was released, most being presented by Denise Richards.[41]
The film opened at the top of the North American box office with $35.5 million earned during its opening weekend. It remained in that spot until it was handed toToy Story 2 during its second weekend.[42] Its final worldwide gross was $361.7 million worldwide, with $126 million in the United States alone.[2] It became the highest grossing James Bond film of all time (not adjusting for inflation) until the release ofDie Another Day.[43] The film was also selected for the first round of nominations for theAcademy Award for Best Visual Effects but did not make it to the final nominations.[44] The film was nominated for a Best Action/Adventure/Thriller FilmSaturn Award, Pierce Brosnan won both theEmpire Award and theBlockbuster Entertainment Award as Best Actor, and David Arnold won aBMI Film Music Award for his score. The film became the first in the Bond series to win aGolden Raspberry when Denise Richards was chosen as "Worst Supporting Actress" at the1999 Razzie Awards. Richards and Brosnan were also nominated for "Worst Screen Couple" (lost toWill Smith andKevin Kline forWild Wild West).[45]The initial release of the DVD includes the featurette "Secrets of 007", which cuts into "making of" material during the film; the documentary "The Making of The World Is Not Enough"; twocommentary tracks—one by director Michael Apted, and the other by production designer Peter Lamont, second unit director Vic Armstrong, and composer David Arnold; a trailer for thePlayStation video game, and the Garbage music video.[46] The Ultimate Edition released in 2006 had as additional extras a 2000 documentary named "Bond Cocktail", a featurette on shooting the Q Boat scenes, Pierce Brosnan in a press conference in Hong Kong, deleted scenes, and a tribute toDesmond Llewelyn.[47]
Denise Richards (pictured at the film's premiere) was widely criticised for her performance.
Reception was mixed. OnRotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 51% based on 147 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10, the lowest of the Brosnan Bond films. The site's critical consensus reads: "Plagued by mediocre writing, uneven acting, and a fairly by-the-numbers plot,The World Is Not Enough is partially saved by some entertaining and truly Bond-worthy action sequences."[48] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100 based on 38 critics, indicating "mixed and average reviews".[49]
Chicago Sun-Times criticRoger Ebert said the film was a "splendid comic thriller, exciting and graceful, endlessly inventive", and gave it three-and-a-half stars out of four.[50] On the other hand, Eleanor Ringel Gillespie ofThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution disliked the film, calling it "dated and confused".[51] Nathan Rabin fromThe A.V. Club opined that "enough fun moments are scattered throughout to make it a decent Bond entry. But the series still needs a massive shot of fresh ideas if it wishes to become anything more than a nostalgia-fueled commercial sure thing".[52] Antonia Quirke fromThe Independent said that the film "is certainly less definitively feeble than other recent Bond offerings, with an at least two-dimensional female character in the bold and oval Marceau. But my reaction is much the same as to a newRolling Stones album: I'm just grateful that it's not embarrassing".[53] Negative criticism was focused on the execution of the plot, and the action scenes were considered excessive.[54]
Richards was widely criticized for not being credible in the role of a nuclear scientist, withVariety calling her "the least plausible nuclear physicist in the history of movies, who makes even the electrochemistElisabeth Shue played in 1997'sThe Saint sound like a Nobel laureate"; Nathan Rabin panned her performance and called it "so laughably awful that the film comes to a dead stop whenever she's on screen".[55][56][57][52] She was ranked as one of the worstBond girls of all time byEntertainment Weekly in 2008.[58]
In contrast,Sophie Marceau was praised for her role as Elektra, with most critics agreeing that she was a better Bond Girl than Denise Richards' Christmas Jones and a better Bond villain than Robert Carlyle's Renard.[59] Peter Bradshaw fromThe Guardian called her "terrific: sexy, stylish, with a really beautiful face entirely innocent of the cosmetic surgeon's art".[60]
Pete Debruge ofVariety wrote in 2012 that "[The World Is Not Enough] presents a conflicted persona torn between the corny antics of theRoger Moore era and the grim seriousness of where things would eventually go underDaniel Craig’s tenure. It also contains a dose ofTimothy Dalton-esque toughness [...] Much of what made Brosnan such a great Bond is thrust into the backseat by lame jokes and a premature attempt to mix up the formula", concluding that it was "nothing but a reversion to the franchise's most adolescent tendencies".[57]Entertainment Weekly picked it as the worst Bond film of all time in 2006, saying it had a plot "so convoluted even Pierce Brosnan has admitted to being mystified".[61] Norman Wilner ofMSN chose it as the third-worst film, aboveA View to a Kill andLicence to Kill,[62] whileIGN chose it as the fifth-worst, both in 2007.[63]
Bond novelistRaymond Benson wrote his adaptation ofThe World Is Not Enough from the film's screenplay. It was Benson's fourthBond novel and followed the story closely, but with some details changed. For instance, Elektra sings quietly before her death and Bond still carries hisWalther PPK instead of the newer P99. The novel also gave the cigar girl/assassin the name Giulietta da Vinci and retained a scene between her and Renard that was cut from the film.[64]
In 2000, the film was adapted byElectronic Arts to create twofirst-person shooters of the same name for theNintendo 64 andPlayStation. The Nintendo 64 version was developed byEurocom and the PlayStation version was developed byBlack Ops.[a] Versions ofThe World Is Not Enough for thePC and thePlayStation 2 were planned for release in 2000, but both were cancelled.[65] These versions would have used theid Tech 3game engine fromQuake III Arena. Although this game marks Pierce Brosnan's fifth appearance in aBond video game, the game includes only his likeness; the character is voiced by Adam Blackwood.[66]
^abcdField, Matthew (2015).Some kind of hero : 007 : the remarkable story of the James Bond films. Ajay Chowdhury. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press.ISBN978-0-7509-6421-0.OCLC930556527.
^Lisanti, Tom; Paul, Louis (2002).Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962–1973. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.ISBN978-0-7864-1194-8.
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