‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ is set on the Russian borders at a terrorist bazaar in modern times. The scenery is huge mountains coated with snow. James Bond is on a previous mission trying to stop terrorists getting hold of weapons that could destroy the world. The film starts with the famous beginning of James Bond at the end of a telescope, Bonds shoots his gun and red runs down the screen. Then the picture disappears into the corner of the screen and reappears at the terrorist bazaar. The director uses wide screen. There is a point of view shot from a high-tech camera zooming in on the terrorists and then that shot appears at M.I.6 on a huge screen. This makes you feel involved in the action. In M.I.6 there is a lot of high-tech equipment e.g. computers, big screens etc. M.I.6 spot that the terrorists have American rifles and German explosives and an encoder to control satellites. One of the men is talking to James Bond through a headset, Bond’s code name is ‘White Knight’ which gives the impression he is a good person. Code names give an effect of mystery. James Bond is introduced through other people talking about him. The Admiral orders a missile to be sent at the terrorists. M tries to argue but the Admiral ignores hers. M.I.6 then realise that the terrorists have nuclear torpedoes, the music suddenly goes high-pitched making you panic. The Admiral tries to cancel the missile but it was, ‘out of range’. They order Bond to get out of there quick. We know Bond is going to appear when his theme music begins a few seconds before he enters. Bond lights a man’s cigarette then punches him and says, ‘filthy habit’, Bond has a dry, sarcastic sense of humour. Bond throws the lighter across the floor and it explodes. We see a lot of aerial shots of the site showing us this is a big, important mission. We are constantly being reminded of the time until the missile hits, this makes us tense. There are rapid changes in camera shots, from the point of view of the missile, to M.I.6 to the bazaar, this is building up the feeling of urgency. Bond attacks everyone single-handedly who gets in his way, making us think he’s invincible. James is calm and in control in life threatening situations. He makes his way to one of the helicopters and some of the men start to question his actions, but M has complete trust in him. Bond is made to make the other men look stupid. There’s only thirty seconds till the missile hits, he starts up the engine and another helicopter starts to follow him. The music is coming to a crescendo as the missile hits. Then it suddenly stops and the screens at M.I.6 go blank and you feel suspense. Then you hear the James Bond music again and see him fly out of the explosion. A man sitting in the seat behind Bond strangles him, he has to control the plane with his knees. Bond ejects the man from his seat and the theme music starts again. James says ‘Backseat driver’. He then reports back to M.I.6 that he’s been successful, everyone starts cheering, Bond never looses. The title sequence follows with a mixture of technology and ladies, for example when diamonds on a lady’s necklace turn into satellites.
Indiana Jones and James Bond contrast in many different ways. The Indiana Jones film starts in a hot, jungle in South America in 1936. James Bond starts on the Russian borders in the cold, snowy mountains in a modern time. Their missions are also very different, Indiana Jones has a little mission trying to retrieve an artefact from a tomb, and James Bond has a big mission where he ends up saving the world from terrorists. ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ has more sophisticated camera angles that are always changing but the ‘Raiders’ doesn’t. James Bond uses code names for everyone and it has a lot of high-tech equipment e.g. cameras, lighters that explode, guns, nuclear torpedoes etc. Indiana Jones doesn’t have high-tech equipment instead it has arrows, whips and artefacts. The James Bond film is a faster moving, more action filled film than Indiana Jones because something is happening every minute and ‘Raiders’ doesn’t really get moving until they get into the tomb. The ‘Raiders’ introduction is also longer than the ‘Tomorrow’ one. James Bond has a lot of explosives but Indiana Jones has traps like the rolling boulder etc. but this is because of the different eras and the different missions. James Bond and Indiana Jones have different sound effects because of the different locations. James Bond has sound effects of guns and explosions, and the missile soaring through the air etc. these are all non-diegtic sounds. And Indiana Jones has sound effects of birds and wildlife, these are diegtic sounds. The music in Indiana Jones is more natural sounding, which fits in with the jungle surroundings and James Bond music is more dramatic. The James Bond theme tune is a better-known song and is used to introduce his character. The films are also similar in many ways because they are both on previous missions, and they are both fighting against evil. Both films have a recognised theme song. The locations for the films begin in remote locations e.g. a jungle in South America and in the mountains on the Russian borders. Both characters are introduced in a mysterious way, we don’t see them properly until quite a way into the introduction. The films only have one hero. The films both effectively make you feel tension and suspense using camera angles and music. For example in ‘Raiders’ you feel tension from camera angles when Jones jumps over the drop, and you feel suspense from music when Jones is walking up to the artefact and because the music is coming to a crescendo. In James Bond you get tension from the camera angles when the scene keeps frequently changing, making you feel like there’s not enough time. You get suspense from the music when the missile is just about to hit and the music starts to crescendo.
Indiana Jones’s character is an experienced archaeologist, we can tell he has a lot of experience because he is prepared e.g. gathering a bag of sand. He is also aware of most of the traps that face him. Indiana Jones has a rugged, unshaven look. He wears bush gear. Indiana uses dry sarcastic comments such as, ‘Adios amigo’, when his companion dies this adds humour to the film. Jones is calm most of the time but he does panic sometimes, which makes his character easier to relate to because it shows he’s not perfect, for example when the natives were chasing him. One thing that we find out about Indiana Jones is hates snakes. Jones is a good-looking, adventurous, confident 1930’s action hero. Jones is adventurous because he’s going into a tomb that no one has ever come out of alive, he’s taking a big risk. Indiana is positive that he will escape alive. Jones carries a pistol and a whip. But he doesn’t use his pistol and he uses a whip, which shows us he doesn’t want to kill anyone but just hurt them enough to defend himself. The filming techniques show Jones as a mysterious character at first because you don’t see his face but you follow him.
James Bond is a modern day hero. He wears smart, sophisticated clothes, for example a brown leather coat. Bond is a typical, British hero because he is a well-spoken, smartly dressed man. Bond’s a modern day hero with license to kill. James also uses dry sarcastic comments such as ‘backseat driver’ and ‘filthy habit’. James Bond is always victorious and makes few mistakes, anyone who stands in his way usually dies e.g. when Bond was fighting all the terrorists as he was trying to climb into the helicopter. Bond is a lady’s man we can tell that from the beginning in the title sequence when there are silhouettes of ladies. James is made to make the other men look stupid, M is an example of the effect that Bond has on women. For example all the men doubt Bond, questioning his actions but M has complete faith in him the whole time. Bond is made to seem like a really important person when his theme starts playing to introduce him.
James Bond and Indiana Jones’s characters have some similarities and differences. Such as they both have a sarcastic sense of humour to make the film funny. But they both dress differently, Bond wears a suave brown leather jacket and Jones wears a battered old brown leather jacket. Bond cares about his appearance and he always has neat hair and expense clothes but Jones isn’t bothered by fashion. Jones isn’t really interested in women but Bond uses women as possessions. Both men are very focused on their jobs but Jones makes mistakes and Bond doesn’t. But they are both confident about their jobs and make huge sacrifices, entering a tomb that no one had escaped and entering a terrorist bazaar alone. Both heroes are from different backgrounds, Bond is from Britain and Jones is from America, and they are from different eras, Bond is from modern times and Jones is from the 1930’s. Indiana Jones is less violent than Bond, because Bond has a license to kill. Indiana has the choice of using a pistol or a whip, and he uses his whip because he doesn’t want to kill but Bond doesn’t think about who he kills because it’s his job.
The depiction of the action hero Indiana Jones is more realistic than James Bond, because the depiction of James Bond makes him seem invincible, for instance when he survives flying through an explosion. Bond and Jones aren’t credible and when you’re watching them you don’t take everything seriously. I enjoyed both films but I preferred watching ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, because it’s a faster-moving action film. I liked the sound effects and the special effects of the explosions. The James Bond film was better at making the feeling of suspense up to the missile exploding and used more advanced, quick camera shots.
