Tomorrow Never Dies (PG, 1997)

Hoping to give his new cable news network a considerable ratings boost, power-mad media tycoon Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) uses his expensive-looking Stealth boat to sink a British warship, then prepares to fire one of its nuclear warheads at China and start World War III. As luck -- or the law of averages --would have it, Carver's wife (Teri Hatcher) is a former lover of James Bond (Pierce Brosnan), who wastes no time renewing his acquaintance in order to gain information. Mrs. Carver's sudden death puts a damper on 007's lead and sets her husband's men after him in full force. Luckily for Bond, Chinese agent Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) is also after Carver, and the two join forces to infiltrate his floating fortress and pull the plug on his media empire.

In TOMORROW NEVER DIES, Pierce Brosnan is back in the driver's seat (of a rocket-spewing BMW 750) as dashing agent 007, out this time to stop a ratings-hungry media baron from instigating World War III. Michelle Yeoh adds plausible chemistry and spectacular stunts to this action-packed thriller full of wild chases and some very nifty spy gadgets. At $100 million, this is the slickest, most gadget-happy 007 film to date. Bond seems most pleased with his fully loaded, remote-controlled BMW 750, a near-rival of his silver Aston Martin in Goldfinger.

A dramatic -- but not overzealous -- score puts Monty Norman's James Bond theme to good use. And Tomorrow Never Dies has something that the Bond movies have lacked since the cold war ended -- a worthy adversary. Not only does autocrat Elliot Carver like to create and write his own headlines (as well as certain obituaries), but he's also got some very capable cronies. Vincent Schiavelli's brief scene as a would-be torturer is the film's comedic high point. Nevertheless, this one's for mature eyes only.