Film

The World Is Not Enough

Name: The World Is Not Enough
Genre: Adventure, Action, Thriller
Released: 1999
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau, Robert Carlyle, Denise Richards, Robbie Coltrane

A late-period Brosnan Bond that trades some of the franchise's trademark cool for genuine emotional stakes. Sophie Marceau elevates the material as a morally compromised heiress, and there's real tension beneath the spectacle. It's earnest when it should be, fun when it counts, and proof that even mid-tier Bond can be utterly engaging.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy big, glossy Bond caper where the pleasure lies in lavish set pieces and Brosnan's easy swagger more than in tight plotting.

Skip it if the plot runs on oil, pipelines and a tangle of double-crosses, so if you want a lean thriller you may find it baggy and overlong at over two hours.

What it asks of you: Settle in for just over two hours of brisk, bright set-piece action, with a busy, convoluted plot you mostly enjoy at a sprint rather than unpick line by line.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

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Casino Royale2006

Daniel Craig's debut stripped Bond back to desperation and vulnerability. Parkour, torture, a poker game with real stakes, and a villain who actually understands him. Changes what spy films can be.

But It's 144 minutes and the final act loses momentum. Some find Craig's interpretation too grim.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service1969

George Lazenby as Bond for one film only, making it strange and human in ways the franchise would abandon. A genuine love story, a terrifying scheme, and one of the best final moments in action cinema.

But The opening is clunky, the pacing uneven. It takes a while to find its footing.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The World Is Not Enough

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

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The Spy Who Loved Me1977

Moore's peak—he plays Bond with a wink but never loses the danger underneath. Jaws is one of the franchise's best henchmen, the locations are absurd and glorious, and it knows exactly what it is.

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Skyfall2012

Roger Deakins shot a Bond film, and it shows—every frame is gorgeous. Javier Bardem's villain is a genuine threat to Bond psychologically. Craig gets to age into the role and it suits him.

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Brosnan's second film, with Jonathan Pryce chewing scenery as a media mogul and Michelle Yeoh bringing martial arts credibility. Fast-paced, silly in the best ways, and genuinely entertaining.

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The Living Daylights1987

Dalton's debut repositioned Bond as a serious agent, not a superhero. A double-cross plot that actually works, and the film plays it straight. Tense and smart.

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Both films feature a spy navigating a geopolitical cold war, but where Bond treats danger as a game, Atomic Blonde treats it as mutilation. It's what The World Is Not Enough might have been if it had no sense of humour and absolute conviction in its own misery.

Charlize Theron as an MI6 agent in 1980s Berlin, delivering a performance of controlled fury. The action sequences are choreographed for bodies and consequence, not cartoon logic. It's a spy film that takes its violence seriously.

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The Lives of Others2006

Both films hinge on a man being played by a woman he's trying to protect, and both understand that the real danger in espionage isn't the bullet—it's the moment you realize you've already lost.

A Stasi surveillance officer monitors a playwright and falls in love with the life he's meant to destroy. Quiet, morally complex, devastating—a spy film about what spying actually costs. Ulrich Mühe gives one of cinema's great performances.

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