Tomorrow Never Dies

Synopsis: Media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) wants his news empire to reach every country on the globe, but the Chinese government will not allow him to broadcast there. Carver doesn't take no for an answer and plans to use his media empire to fuel flames of war between the Western world and China. Thankfully, James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is on to the insane news tycoon and travels to China to stop him with the help of Chinese secret agent Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh).
Production: MGM Home Entertainment
  Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 9 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.5
Metacritic:
52
Rotten Tomatoes:
57%
PG-13
Year:
1997
119 min
926 Views


FADE IN ON:

EXT. DESOLATE MOUNTAIN RANGE - HIGH ANGLE - DAWN

Super:
THE KHYBER PASS, AFGHANISTAN

We're looking down at what used to be called "The End of the Known

World." A landscape that is both beautiful, and forbidding.

In the center of this vista, there is a deep ravine.

Pushing in on the ravine, there appears to be a giant icicle hanging

over a cliff:

AN ICE FALL. A 600 foot waterfall whose face is frozen solid.

Pushing in still closer, there is a tiny black dot inching its way up

the ice. A human figure. This is:

JAMES BOND, BRITISH SECRET SERVICE AGENT, 007.

Bond is sweating and straining, four hundred feet in the air. He has

an ice-pick tethered to each hand, ice-cleats on his boots. A black

backpack. As he climbs, spider-like, pulling himself up, he goes to

JAM A CLEAT into the ice, but -

CRACK! A 50 foot stiletto of ice breaks off, CRASHING onto the rocks

below. Regaining his foothold, Bond looks down: Certain death. He

looks up:
So very, very, far to go. Bond shakes his head:

BOND:

There has to be an easier way to earn

a living.

Still, Bond climbs. Huffing, sweating, he goes up, and up, until -

ANOTHER ANGLE -

He's 25 feet from the top. He drives a first ice pick in. Gets a

toehold. But when he slams the second pick in -

THE ICE WALL SHATTERS, FALLING AWAY IN FRONT OF HIM. IN THE SHOCK -

BOND LOSES HIS GRIP ON THE FIRST ICE PICK -

And 007 is now dangling, 575 feet in the air, staring at a torrent of

water - hanging only by the leather thread around his wrist, attached

to the first ice-pick, still embedded in the wall.

Bond pauses. Thinks. And coolly begins to swing himself back and

forth, in widening arcs, like a clock's pendulum.

At the high point of his swing, Bond reaches back to smash his other

pick into the ice - BUT MISSES. He looks up at:

THE FIRST ICE PICK, STILL EMBEDDED IN THE WALL -

Beginning to work its way out. The tether, fraying.

RETURN ON BOND -

Cautiously, 007 begins to swing a second time. Once. Twice. And on

the third arc, he swings the ice-pick viciously - but MISSES AGAIN.

ANGLE ON THE FIRST ICE PICK, STILL EMBEDDED IN THE WALL -

Now jutting downward, barely holding. The tether is almost totally

frayed through.

RETURN ON BOND -

One last chance. Bond swings. Once. Twice. He reaches back, hurls

himself at the wall, lunging - AND SMASHES THE SECOND PICK INTO THE

ICE... Just as the tether finally snaps on the first one. Still,

he's all but home: He reaches over, grabs the first pick (barely

holding in the ice,) jabs it in, and continues upward.

EXT. THE TOP OF THE WATER FALL -

Exhausted, Bond reaches up, over the edge. He drives a pick down -

through the ice, into the hard, flat, ground beneath the waterbed.

As he pulls himself up, (his full weight on the first ice-pick,) he

smashes a second pick through the ice, into the waterbed, and -

THE ENTIRE ICE FALL GIVES WAY -

Breaking off with a groan, tumbling onto the rocks below.

IN THE WATERBED -

A torrent of water crashes over 007. Fighting the oncoming deluge,

he crawls - on his belly - through the water - 25 feet inland.

NEW ANGLE - (TOP OF THE WATER FALL, INLAND)

Bond stands, walks out of the riverbed. He looks back at the cliff:

BOND'S POV - THE WATER FALL -

On either side of the water, there are two small RADAR DISHES, angled

down, scanning every inch of the area, save for the waterfall itself.

In other words:
This was the only way in.

RETURN ON BOND -

007 shrugs. From his backpack, he takes out TWO CIGAR-SIZED BLACK

CANISTERS, and an ELONGATED BLACK BOX. He presses a button on the

side of the box, and - fwap, fwap, fwap - SNOW SKIS unfold.

He presses buttons on the canisters: TELESCOPIC SKI POLES. Bond

slaps on the skis, and takes off, through the snow.

EXT. SNOW-COVERED FOREST - BOND SKIS THROUGH THE PINES -

EXT. MOUNTAIN CLIFF -

Bond hurtles over the side, going airborne, landing 100 feet below,

amidst boulders. In perfect Olympic form, he skis out, and down.

EXT. MOUNTAINSIDE -

Bond slaloms down, in and out of trees, to avoid detection. At the

bottom, where the snow thins, he comes to:

A ROCK OUTCROPPING.

Hiding behind the rock, Bond takes off his skis, knapsack. He

unpacks (and unfolds) a HIGH TECH AUTOMATIC RIFLE. Puts on a

HEADSET. He creeps up on the rock, and looks out on:

A SECRET MILITARY BASE/AIR STRIP (BOND'S POV)

50 feet down, 200 yards away: 50 MEN are unloading CARGO from a dozen

MILITARY TRANSPORT TRUCKS; there are TWO NORTH KOREAN MiG-29s on the

ground (one partially obscured by a truck,) plus FLATBEDS carrying

HELICOPTERS and SCUD MISSILES.

Near a QUONSET HUT, a TRUCK-MOUNTED RADAR DISH scans the area, with

INFRARED GATLING GUNS mounted on either side.

BOND - AT THE ROCK OUTCROPPING -

Props his rife on the boulder, and peers through the GUN SIGHT.

THROUGH THE TELESCOPIC SIGHT -

He sees a closer (but still wide) telescopic view of men bargaining

over weapons, and forklifts loading/unloading crates of munitions.

THE SAME SCENE ON A VIDEO WALL - MI-6 SITUATION ROOM, LONDON.

BOND'S VOICE

(over a speaker)

Seven, in position.

TANNER'S VOICE

Roger, Seven.

Watching this display is M, TANNER, and a handful of MILITARY BRASS,

including a RUSSIAN GENERAL, BUKHARIN, and BRITISH ADMIRAL ROEBUCK,

an aging sea-lion with no love for M, or MI-6.

M deals with the humorless Admiral by, well, humoring him:

M:

... What were you saying, Admiral?

Something about this 'not being a job

for a wine-sniffing, skirt-chasing

playboy spy?'

ADMIRAL ROEBUCK:

- I'll be sure to acknowledge 007's

'assistance' in my report to the

Prime Minister. But this is, still,

a naval operation.

M:

What do they say in Russia, General

Bukharin?

(asks questions in

flawless Russian)

The general chuckles. Translates:

GENERAL BUKHARIN

'In a joint operation, someone's nose

always gets put out of joint.'

M turns to Admiral Roebuck:

M:

I'm interested in success, Admiral.

Not who gets credit.

(turning to:
)

Mr. Tanner:
What have we got?

Tanner points to the video wall with a RED LASER PEN.

TANNER:

(ironically)

A regular terrorist swap meet. Death

at discount:
Two Chinese Long March

Scuds, a pair of Soviet A-17 attack

helicopters -

BUKHARIN:

(interrupting)

Stolen -

TANNER:

And the crates look like American M-16

assault rifles, Chilean antipersonnel

mines, six French Exocet missiles, and

75 - no maybe a hundred - kilograms of

Czech made C-4 Semtech explosive.

(beat)

Something for everyone. Fun for the

whole family.

M:

(freezing him with a glance)

What about ID's?

TANNER:

(pushes a button on a console)

One to seven:
Deal the face cards.

THE ROCK OUTCROPPING -

Bond adjusts a knob on the scope.

MI-6 SITUATION ROOM -

On the video-screen, the picture zooms to a CLOSE UP of one of the

arms traders. Tanner presses a button, and - almost instantly - the

man's bio and vitals appear on another video screen.

TANNER:

Gustav Meinholtz. Neo-Nazi, former

East German STASI agent. Ties to the

Beider-Meinhoff gang.

(pressing a button)

Aces high, seven. Bid to the east.

Rate this script:4.0 / 1 vote

Bruce Feirstein

Bruce Feirstein is an American screenwriter and humorist, best known for his contributions to the James Bond series and his best-selling humor books, including Real Men Don't Eat Quiche and Nice Guys Sleep Alone. more…

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