World Is Not Enough

by Iain Johnstone

"The World is not Enough" is the 19th James Bond film in which 007 races to defuse an international power struggle that is threatening the world's oil supply. This companion book contains interviews and colour photographs and sketches.

Hardcover

First published November 26, 1999

About the author

Iain Johnstone is an English author and broadcaster.

Reviews

[Jorge Walsh]

Bit of a generous score, but I love ‘The World is Not Enough’, so any insight is of interest.

[Mark]

Iain Johnstone, a respected film critic and writer, was given unrestricted access to the production of “The World Is Not Enough” and this slim hardcover (173 pages in total, though there’s quite a bit of white space) is the end result. More indepth than some books (especially the terrible Gareth Pearce “Goldeneye” one) but nowhere near as solid as Sally Hibbin’s “Making Of Licence To Kill”) this is still relatively lightweight for a behind the scenes tome and could have been so much more. Yes, it interviews all the major players and covers all of the production process but it doesn’t go into too much detail and isn’t as thorough as I’d have liked (plus it blows 28 pages recounting the story in detail). It also suffers - strangely, for a major publisher - with more than its fair share of typos and some of them are quite odd (what does ‘bosky Buckinghamshire’ mean?). Having said that, it’s nicely illustrated, with some good colour inserts (behind the scenes shots, production art and storyboards) and Johnstone keeps your interest (and if you didn’t know he wrote “Fierce Creatures” fear not, he will keep reminding you), so it’s well worth a read if you like making-of books.

[Nick]

Book is basically a fluff piece for the film. With very basic interviews with the actors and production crew. The book does shed some light on the writing process for the film such as that Apted's wife Dana Stevens worked some on the screenplay for The World Is Not Enough. The reason for Desmond Llewelyn discussion of retirement was because he didn't feel like his health would last for the next Bond film and John Cleese originally had a 3-4 picture deal to play R in the films. Besides these small facts the book does not really provide any new details about the film or the series.