MI-6 sends James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) to look into a terrorist arms bazaar on the Russian border. Though his boss, M (Judi Dench), protests, Royal Navy Admiral Roebuck (Geoffrey Palmer) insists on ordering the HMS Chester to fire a Harpoon Missile at the bazaar. Too late to abort the launch, Bond discovers nuclear missiles mounted on an L-39 Albatross trainer jet, so he is forced to seize the jet and take off seconds before the bazaar explodes.
Media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) uses an encoder purchased by cyberterrorist Henry Gupta (Ricky Jay) to provoke war between China and the U.K. Gupta sends the frigate HMS Devonshire into Chinese-occupied waters in the South China Sea, where Carver uses a stealth ship captained by Mr. Stamper (Gotz Otto) ambush to sink the Devonshire. Carver’s henchmen shoot down a Chinese MiG that is overflying. They kill the Devonshire’s survivors in the water with Chinese ammunition. The Minister of Defence (Julian Fellowes) orders the British fleet in and demands retaliation. M has only 48 hours to avert a war.
She sends Bond to investigate Carver and his media company CMGN, since the South China Sea incident appeared on his media before MI-6 even found out about it. Bond goes to Hamburg to meet an old flame, Paris (Teri Hatcher), who is now Carver’s wife, so he can gain entry to CMGN headquarters. He defeats three of Carver’s goons and cuts Carver off the air. Carver orders both Bond and his wife Paris to be killed. This brings them together and she gets Bond into Gupta’s office. Carver’s assassin, Doctor Kaufman (Vincent Schiavelli), kills Paris and tries to kill Bond, but Bond gets him first using his remote-controlled BMW to escape.
In Okinawa, Bond teams up with Chinese Ministry of State Security agent Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) to explore the sunken ship, and they discover a missile missing, but they are captured by Stamper and taken to the CMGN Tower in Saigon. They make a spectacular escape and contact both the Royal Navy and the People’s Liberation Army Air Force to reveal Carver’s scheme to destroy most of the Chinese government with a missile, which will allow a scheming Chinese General Chang (Philip Kwok) to negotiate a truce that gives Carver exclusive broadcasting rights in China for a hundred years.
Bond and Wai Lin board Carver’s stealth ship to stop him firing a missile, but Wai Lin is captured and Bond takes Gupta hostage, but Carver kills Gupta without remorse. Bond detonates a grenade which makes the stealth ship visible. Wai Lin disables the engine but is recaptured by Stamper. Bond kills Carver and tries to destroy the warhead, but Stamper attacks him and drops a chained Wai Lin into the water. Bond traps Stamper in the missile firing mechanism and saves Wai Lin as the missile explodes, sinking the ship. Bond and Wai Lin wait together for rescue.
The film was produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay by Bruce Fierstein. There is a tribute in the end-credits to the recently deceased Albert Broccoli. It did not open at number one in the box office like most Bond films because it was released at the same time as Titanic, but it performed well anyway. The film was originally entitled Tomorrow Never Lies, referring to fake news, but a fax accidentally came out Tomorrow Never Dies and MGM liked it. Just about a third of Bond films have had the words death or live or kill in the title. There is no connection in the film with any of the works of Ian Fleming.
Terry Hatcher was picked for Paris because she made such an impact as Lois Lane on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. She was called the sexiest woman on TV and her husband had a thing for Bond girls. She was pregnant at the time. Michelle Yeoh impressed everyone. She tried to do all her own stunts but the insurance company said no. Because of her full-contact fight-training in Hong Kong films, no stuntman would fight with her until they brought in Jackie Chan’s fight team. Her riding backwards on a motorcycle at breakneck speed through a crowded street, handcuffed to James Bond, while dodging bullets from a helicopter gunship certainly impressed the hell out of me. The director told both Yeoh and Brosnan not to let the other in the driver’s seat and then filmed their struggle over it. There was talk of a series for Michelle Yeoh but nothing came of it until Star Trek: Discovery grabbed her.
Scenes were supposed to be filmed in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, but the production’s visas were cancelled, allegedly because the communist government had been offended by the opening of GoldenEye, in which nearly naked women smashed hammer and sickle emblems. John Barry could not get the salary he wanted to do the music, but he recommended David Arnold. The title song was written by Sheryl Crow and the end-tune was sung by k.d. lang. Gotz Otto, when trying out for the villainous Stamper, was told to make his case in 20 seconds. He said, “I’m big, I’m bad, and I’m German. Five seconds. Keep the rest.” The plot of a media baron starting World War III for ratings was called ridiculous, but later critics have said it’s appearing more plausible all the time.