I am going to start with the strengths of this Bond entry. It is for me one of the better-looking Bonds, both the cinematography and locations are truly inspired, and I loved the Icelandic snow palace. The pacing is relentless and the direction is done with fluid style, while the incidental music is good enough. The script has some nice moments too apart from some cringe-worthy one liners, while the action is very intense. In terms of acting, Pierce Brosnan is on fine form as the betrayed and vengeful secret agent. Bond is still charming and witty in some ways, but also tough and angry, Brosnan portrays this excellently. Halle Berry is a nice addition, and Judi Dench and John Cleese are solid too as is Toby Stephens as villainous Graves and especially beautiful Rosamund Pike as chillingly frosty Miranda Frost. However, the plot is quite familiar and quite preposterous in a sense in the second half, and there is an overload of CGI and sadly it's awful. My two main problems though are both to do with Madonna. One is that her theme song is truly grating and one of the more forgettable theme songs. The other is that her cameo as a fencing instructor is truly dire. In conclusion, a mostly solid if slightly disappointing entry in the series. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Pierce Brosnan's last outing as James Bond takes place in Die Another Day which finds 007 trying to stop a rogue North Korean general from starting the Korean War all over again with the attending consequences. The North Koreans must have been watching Plan 9 From Outer Space because the gimmick they've come up with sounds remarkably like what those aliens were warning the Earth against developing.

The power of the sun itself is brought into play here. There's a giant mirror in space which seeks to focus and concentrate the sun's energy for peaceful power purposes. But it sure can be an effective weapon of war as we see towards the film's end as Brosnan and his American counterpart agent Halle Berry.

Part of the charm of the James Bond series is that you don't take it too seriously, but there are times that it becomes more like Indiana Jones and his narrow escapes than a modern espionage story. Die Another Day takes this point to the extreme.

The year before Halle Berry won her Oscar for Monster's Ball and Die Another Day was her next film. Of course she's forever in the record books as the first black woman to win a Best Actress Oscar. But that's for history. I wonder if film fans remember her better as a Bond girl.

There's another Bond girl as well, another MI6 agent played by Rosamund Pike. She's one deadly female and most resourceful. Toby Stephens, son of Maggie Smith plays a wealthy industrialist with a mysterious past and a cunning adversary for Pierce Brosnan.

One thing I really liked towards the end was Ms. Moneypenny fulfilling her fantasy with James Bond. She's engaged in an early version of the Star Trek holograph deck. The poor woman has been carrying a torch for 007 for almost 50 years now, you'd think one of the Bonds would have given her a tumble already. Poor lovelorn Lois Maxwell now Samantha Bond ain't that ironic casting.

Die Another Day is not as good as some of the other Brosnan entries in the Bond series, but should satisfy the cult of fans out there.

Bond is brought smack-bang into the 21st century with DIE ANOTHER DAY. It's a long way from the likes of Sean Connery and DR. NO, but still holds true to the formula that made the films work in the first place: a powerful and creative hero, not superhuman but just very very good; lots of attractive female companions who can hold their own against the guys; some truly memorable villains, and a thin storyline over which plays out tons of action and excitement. Forget the non-excitement of the passable but uninteresting THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH and instead sit down to watch an action-packed ride through danger, thrills, spills and fun.

The story isn't the best that Bond has seen but it will do for the film. The first hour is the main set-up whereas the last is the payoff, basically consisting of one long set-piece that unfolds into another, altogether more gripping set-piece. Nothing wrong with that in my mind. True, things start off a little oddly. First is the title song, this time some ridiculous techno-funk nonsense performed by a down-on-her-luck Madonna (who cameos pointlessly later on in the proceedings). It wins the award for worst theme song hands down and doesn't bode well for the rest of the movie. But things pick up for the opening, which sees Bond expertly extract himself from a sticky situation and engage in another ferocious chase, this time on hover crafts. Expect to see plenty of heavy weaponry and firepower in this splendid opening battle which follows the classic Bond trend. After this things go a little strange again, with Bond incarcerated for over a year in prison and systematically tortured and beaten. A first for the series, scenes which attempt to give some grit and darkness to the franchise. Why, I'm not too sure.

Thankfully things straighten out soon afterwards as a go-it-alone Bond tries to find an enemy to extract some very personal revenge. Judi Dench is back as M, this time sharing some heated arguments with a Bond whom she now feels is useless. There are some other returning faces, including John Cleese who has now taken over the role of Q since the sad demise of Desmond Llewellyn, as well as a few new ones – it's nice to see Michael Madsen in a major film role again, even if he is totally wasted as the American adviser. Bond finds himself caught up in the clutches of Halle Berry and Rosamund Pike to spread more of the witty one-liners and suggestive double-entendres which are more cringe-worthy than ever. Nothing new on that front, then. Sadly, both actresses are at their very worst here. Pike seems frightened and unsure of herself, while Berry is just irritating and a definite contender for 'worst Bond girl' award.

The one thing that DIE ANOTHER DAY has over its predecessors is the villains. Two of them to be exact. Succeeding where Robert Carlyle failed in the last film (and who really remembers his scarred, bald villain?),Rick Yune plays an unstoppable bad guy in the same class as Oddjob and Jaws. His bald, blue-eyed, diamond-scarred Asian is a superior villain, a powerhouse of brimming muscle and sheer evil and one of the best bad guys we've had for a long time. Hooray then that Bond has some exciting battles with this undefeatable foe, including an incredibly tense fight in a hospital and a fantastic car chase later on in the movie. Toby Stephens is the lead villain Gustav Graves, younger and more athletic than the likes of Curt Jurgens and Donald Pleasence. He gives the best performance in the movie, and with his smug smirking and unlikable face he more than succeeds at creating a villain you love to hate. Watch out for that classic fencing scene he has with Brosnan, the best scene of the film.

Bond films are primarily about the outlandish action and stunts more than anything else and here it succeeds. Fun is had with a laser satellite capable of protecting the rays of the sun down to a specific point on Earth. There are surfing spies, violent punch-ups between villains, lasers, face-swapping technology and more firepower than is decent for one movie. The car chase in the melting ice palace is original and the special effects used to create the illusion are passable. As is the final ruckus on board a damaged aeroplane that provides a setting for the fraught and hectic (although a little too conventional) climax. The only negative side is some majorly dodgy CGI work (including a CGI Bond surfing a CGI wave – not too realistic then) that takes the viewer out of things amid the sheer destruction, violence and excitement.