Release and Reception
Die Another Day had its world premiere on 18 November 2002 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were guests of honour; it was the second premiere to be attended by the Queen after You Only Live Twice. The Royal Albert Hall had a make-over for the screening and had been transformed into an ice palace. Proceeds from the première, about £500,000, were donated to the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund of which the Queen is patron. On the first day, ticket sales reached £1.2 million. Die Another Day was the highest grossing James Bond film until the release of Casino Royale. It earned $432 million worldwide, becoming the sixth highest grossing film of 2002.
Die Another Day became a controversial subject in eastern Asia. The North Korean government disliked the portrayal of their state as brutal and war-hungry. The South Koreans boycotted 145 theatres where it was released on 31 December 2002, as they were offended by a scene where an American officer issues orders to the South Korean army in the defence of their homeland, and by a lovemaking scene near a statue of the Buddha. The Jogye Buddhist Order issued a statement that the film was "disrespectful to our religion and does not reflect our values and ethics". The Washington Post reported growing resentment in the nation towards the United States. An official of the South Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism said that Die Another Day was "the wrong film at the wrong time."
The amount of product placement in the film was a point of criticism, specifically from various news outlets such as the BBC, Time and Reuters who all used the pun "Buy Another Day". Reportedly 20 companies, paying $70 million, had their products featured in the film, a record at the time, although USA Today reported that number to be as high as $100 million. By choice, the number of companies involved in product placement was dropped to eight for the next Bond film Casino Royale in 2006.
Rotten Tomatoes listed Die Another Day with a 57% rating. Metacritic gave the film a 56 out of 100 rating, representing "Mixed or average reviews." Michael Dequina of Film Threat praised the film as the best of the series to star Pierce Brosnan and "the most satisfying installment of the franchise in recent memory." Larry Carroll of CountingDown.com praised Lee Tamahori for having "magnificently balanced the film so that it keeps true to the Bond legend, makes reference to the classic films that preceded it, but also injects a new zest to it all." Entertainment Weekly magazine also gave a positive reaction, saying that Tamahori, "a true filmmaker", has re-established the series' pop sensuality. Dana Stevens of The New York Times called the film the best of the James Bond series since The Spy Who Loved Me. Kyle Bell of Movie Freaks 365 stated in his review that the "first half of Die Another Day is classic Bond", but that "Things start to go downhill when the ice palace gets introduced." According to an ITV news poll Jinx was voted the fourth toughest girl on screen of all time.
However, Die Another Day was strongly criticised for relying too much on gadgets and special effects, with the plot being neglected. James Berardinelli of Reelviews.net said, "This is a train wreck of an action film – a stupefying attempt by the filmmakers to force-feed James Bond into the mindless xXx mold and throw 40 years of cinematic history down the toilet in favor of bright flashes and loud bangs." Gary Brown of the Houston Community Newspapers also described the weak point of the film as "the seemingly non-stop action sequences and loud explosions that appear to take center stage while the Bond character is almost relegated to second string." Roger Moore remarked, "I thought it just went too far – and that’s from me, the first Bond in space! Invisible cars and dodgy CGI footage? Please!"
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