Trailer
Plot summary
In Bilbao, James Bond collects money from the Swiss banker Lachaise on behalf of the oil tycoon Sir Robert King, and escapes with it when the meeting ends in gunfire. At MI6 headquarters in London the money proves to be laced with explosives, and King is killed. Bond chases the assassin by boat along the Thames. The recovered cash leads him to Renard, a former KGB agent turned terrorist with a bullet lodged in his brain that leaves him unable to feel pain. M sends Bond to Azerbaijan to look after King's daughter Elektra, whom Renard once held for ransom, as she builds an oil pipeline in the mountains.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Before Robert Carlyle was cast as villain Renard, the part was offered to Javier Bardem, who would later play a different Bond villain in Skyfall, and to Jean Reno.
- Sharon Stone and Vera Farmiga were both considered to play Elektra King before producer Barbara Broccoli saw Sophie Marceau's performance in the film Firelight and cast her instead.
- The World Is Not Enough was Desmond Llewelyn's final performance as gadget master Q, in which his character was already training his replacement; Llewelyn was killed in a car crash shortly after the film's premiere.
- The film's oil-pipeline plot was sparked when producer Barbara Broccoli watched a 1997 Nightline report on oil companies fighting for control of untapped Caspian Sea reserves after the Soviet collapse, and realized that controlling the only westward pipeline would make a strong motive for a Bond villain.
- Filming of the skiing chase sequence in the French Alps near Chamonix was interrupted by a real avalanche, and the film crew stopped to help with the rescue effort.
- The Daily Telegraph reported that the British government blocked the crew from filming in front of the real MI6 headquarters at Vauxhall Cross over security concerns, but a Foreign Office spokesperson denied this and said they were unhappy with the article.
- The World Is Not Enough became the first James Bond film to win a Golden Raspberry, with Denise Richards named Worst Supporting Actress at the 1999 Razzie Awards.
