20 Things You Didn't Know About The World Is Not Enough (1999)

13. There’s No Point In Living...

Since The Living Daylights (1987), every James Bond theme song has been edited in some way to meet the running time of the opening credits, either by speeding the song up slightly or by chopping parts out of it.

For The World Is Not Enough, the latter approach was chosen and a small, but quite crucial segment was removed from the song: “People like us know how to survive. There’s no point in living if you can’t feel alive”. This latter part is a key line of dialogue spoken by Elektra King in the film, linking the song both to her ambitions and also to her love triangle with James Bond and Renard.

Even though it can be heard in the official release of the song from Garbage and on David Arnold’s soundtrack for the film, it was likely removed both for timing purposes to better fit Daniel Kleinman's memorable oil-inspired titles sequence and because it might risk giving away vital plot points.

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I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.