This training scene from Die Another Day (2002) was pretty sweet. Not often do we get insight into 007’s training regimen, but here the audience is immersed in it perfectly. I remember thinking this was a dream sequence when I saw it in the theater, and aside from the jarring image of a dead Moneypenny at her desk with a gunshot wound to the head, I knew it was a farce when Bond’s bullet hit M’s hostage-taker’s arm and did no damage.

I particularly remember the audience in my theater enjoying the “reveal” at the end, with an (as usual) smartass R (John Cleese) molding into the scene and turning Bond’s glasses off. I also can’t help but think Bond’s “flesh wound” is a subtle nod to the famous quote from Cleese’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It’s also funny to here the banter trail off at the end with R insulting bond as “double-oh zero” – which makes me wonder if that agent number exists in MI6. 🙂

James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) with his virtual reality training exercise glasses in Die Another Day (2002)