The World Is Not Enough is a 1999 spy film, the nineteenth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Michael Apted, from an original story and screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Bruce Feirstein.[3] It was produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. The title is the translation of the motto on the Bond family coat of arms, first seen in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
The film’s plot revolves around the murder of billionaire businessman Sir Robert King by the terrorist Renard, and Bond’s subsequent assignment to protect King’s daughter Elektra, who was previously held for ransom by Renard. During his assignment, Bond unravels a scheme to increase petroleum prices by triggering a nuclear meltdown in the waters of Istanbul.
Filming locations included Spain, France, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the UK, with interiors shot at Pinewood Studios. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, with the plot and Denise Richards’ casting frequently targeted for criticism, The World Is Not Enough earned over $361 million worldwide, becoming the eighth highest grossing film of 1999. It was also the first Eon-produced Bond film officially released by the mainline Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer label instead of United Artists, the franchise’s original owner and distributor.
The World Is Not Enough was followed by Die Another Day in 2002.
Plot
In Bilbao, MI6 agent James Bond meets Swiss banker Lachaise to retrieve money for Sir Robert King, a British oil tycoon and friend of M. 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 the Thames to the Millennium Dome, where she attempts to escape via hot 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, a KGB agent turned terrorist. 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 to Azerbaijan, 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 in snowmobiles.
Bond visits Valentin 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-Soviet ICBM base in Kazakhstan. Posing as a Russian scientist Bond meets American nuclear physicist Dr. Christmas Jones cooperating with Russian armed forces in overseeing the dismantling of the site. Renard removes the GPS locator card and weapons-grade plutonium 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.