Is the world is not enough Brosnan's best performance ???

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  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,804
    Getafix wrote: »
    Bring back Dalton!
    Pull a NSNA on him & offer him stupid money!
  • My favourite Brosnan film is GE, though think his best performance is TND though the film itself has a lot of problems.
  • Posts: 11,425
    Directed by who?
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,804
    Getafix wrote: »
    Directed by who?
    Martin Campbell, of course.
  • Posts: 7,653
    While DAD was OTT, Brosnan's performance was his best in DAD. Too bad EON decided not to go the FYEO direction in Brosnans 5th instead which would have easily been even better.
    With his fourth movie you can see how comfortable.Brosnan felt with the part.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited November 2014 Posts: 12,480
    I think he's great in TWINE. The bankers office sequence might be his best moment as Bond, he's fantastic in the bit where he kills Elektra, he's great in the Q scene (he seems genuinely sad at the thought of Q retiring but it's subtle, he doesn't overdo it) and, as usual in a Brosnan Bond film, there are lots of little moments where he's just so cool.

    That being said, it's not his best performance imo. He does overact in a few scenes, people have mentioned the whole "hurt me" bit with Elektra and I agree that it is pretty cringey.

    I think his best performance is DAD. In GE he's not as settled, in TND he's good but it's a pretty lightweight film and in TWINE he does overact at times. In Die Another Day though, he's perfect. He's effortlessly cool and confident as always but there are also some great dramatic moments in the first half of the film where he's really good, there's more challenging material than in TND. He sells the Korea stuff really well (EG- when he's being traded for Zao and he thinks he might be executed he seems genuinely scared) and he's great on the bit on the boat with M. Even later on when the film has gone to shit and fallen apart he has some great moments (like when Miranda asks him about Korea and you can tell he doesn't like remembering it, and when he tries to kill Miranda when she turns out to be a traitor). And I like the bit where he saunters into the hotel, all beaten up, scruffy and in his pyjamas, and asks for his usual suite. I couldn't see Dalton or Craig pulling that off but Brosnan does.

    There are still some dodgy moments in his DAD performance (like when Jinx is unconcious after being in the freezing water and he's trying to wake her up), but overall I think that's probably his best. He was really good there. Shame the film around him was so terrible.

    I do think Brosnan was a fantastic Bond who deserved at least one more, to go out on a high note.

    Oh, and the people who think TND is his best performance: he calls his mobile a cell phone. James Bond, British secret agent, does not speak American English. It's unforgivable and for that reason alone, his DAD performance is better :P

    Very well said and I agree with nearly everything you said. I do find his TND performance his best, but DAD second. I don't fault him much at all though with GE and it is close to DAD. There is so much crap in DAD it is easy to miss the ease, confidence, and solemnity Pierce brought to that portrayal. There are very stupid moments (walking sopping wet into the hotel, for example) and the tone of the story changed abruptly and went downhill at the speed of light at that point. And Pierce had to act with Jinx's lines and Halle's interpretation being thrust at him (I'm sure he got the point, but kept acting anyway, more to his credit). :D
    I enjoy a good deal of Pierce in DAD, and mostly the first 1/2 of the film.

    TWINE is not his best performance; it was uneven. Love him in the PTS, all the interaction with Zukovsky, he's so wonderful with Q, and a very good kill shot for Elektra. Other parts were a let down. Uneven does not make best.

    Are you saying that Brosnan adlibbed "cell phone"? Surely it was in the script. Take it up with the writers, director, and producers then. :P
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    I think he's great in TWINE. The bankers office sequence might be his best moment as Bond, he's fantastic in the bit where he kills Elektra, he's great in the Q scene (he seems genuinely sad at the thought of Q retiring but it's subtle, he doesn't overdo it) and, as usual in a Brosnan Bond film, there are lots of little moments where he's just so cool.

    That being said, it's not his best performance imo. He does overact in a few scenes, people have mentioned the whole "hurt me" bit with Elektra and I agree that it is pretty cringey.

    I think his best performance is DAD. In GE he's not as settled, in TND he's good but it's a pretty lightweight film and in TWINE he does overact at times. In Die Another Day though, he's perfect. He's effortlessly cool and confident as always but there are also some great dramatic moments in the first half of the film where he's really good, there's more challenging material than in TND. He sells the Korea stuff really well (EG- when he's being traded for Zao and he thinks he might be executed he seems genuinely scared) and he's great on the bit on the boat with M. Even later on when the film has gone to shit and fallen apart he has some great moments (like when Miranda asks him about Korea and you can tell he doesn't like remembering it, and when he tries to kill Miranda when she turns out to be a traitor). And I like the bit where he saunters into the hotel, all beaten up, scruffy and in his pyjamas, and asks for his usual suite. I couldn't see Dalton or Craig pulling that off but Brosnan does.

    There are still some dodgy moments in his DAD performance (like when Jinx is unconcious after being in the freezing water and he's trying to wake her up), but overall I think that's probably his best. He was really good there. Shame the film around him was so terrible.

    I do think Brosnan was a fantastic Bond who deserved at least one more, to go out on a high note.

    Oh, and the people who think TND is his best performance: he calls his mobile a cell phone. James Bond, British secret agent, does not speak American English. It's unforgivable and for that reason alone, his DAD performance is better :P

    Very well said and I agree with nearly everything you said. I do find his TND performance his best, but DAD second. I don't fault him much at all though with GE and it is close to DAD. There is so much crap in DAD it is easy to miss the ease, confidence, and solemnity Pierce brought to that portrayal. There are very stupid moments (walking sopping wet into the hotel, for example) and the tone of the story changed abruptly and went downhill at the speed of light at that point. And Pierce had to act with Jinx's lines and Halle's interpretation being thrust at him (I'm sure he got the point, but kept acting anyway, more to his credit). :D
    I enjoy a good deal of Pierce in DAD, and mostly the first 1/2 of the film.

    TWINE is not his best performance; it was uneven. Love him in the PTS, all the interaction with Zukovsky, and killing Elektra. Other parts were a let down. Uneven does not make best.

    Are you saying that Brosnan adlibbed "cell phone"? Surely it was in the script. Take it up with the writers, director, and producers then. :P

    I can almost live wih 'cell phone' compared to the crime against humanity that is 'time for a station break'. What the actual f**k? Has anyone British ever said this in history?
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited November 2014 Posts: 12,480
    Why were they writing that in the script? I never caught it because I'm American. They say that on tv plenty in America. But why is it in a Bond film?! I don't know!
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    edited November 2014 Posts: 9,117
    Why were they writing that in the script? I never caught it because I'm American. They say that on tv plenty in America. But why is it in a Bond film?! I don't know!

    Thing is 90% of the crew is British, Brozza, MGW and Babs lived in England half their life but literally no one stood up on the set and said 'hang on that's bolllocks'?

    If it's coming down from the studio that the gormless American audience won't understand it unless they say it in American why can't they shoot two versions for different territories? Or just redub it? Pretty sure for station break Bond has his back to camera as he fiddles with the fuse box and in the cell phone scene you could just cut to a shot of Kaufman. But no EON prefer to just spit in the face of who Bond is by having him speak in American.

    The day Bond says 'you do the math' is the day I go round to EON's offices and commit a Columbine style massacre.

    Thankfully I doubt this will happen on DC's watch as he has the clout to stand up to EON and Brozza always was Mr Midatlanic anyway - he probably sees nothing wrong with it.

    Mind you 'I gotta go' in CR was pretty dismal.
  • Posts: 11,189
    Why were they writing that in the script? I never caught it because I'm American. They say that on tv plenty in America. But why is it in a Bond film?! I don't know!


    The day Bond says 'you do the math' is the day I go round to EON's offices and commit a Columbine style massacre.

    or when Bond says"hey" in greeting to Felix :))
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited November 2014 Posts: 12,480
    Hey now ...! I did not even realize those were all Americanisms. Geez!
    How many times are there Americanized expressions in Bond films? I don't know. You do the math. So basically you are preaching to the choir, honey, because I do think Bond being British means he should speak Brit-speak. Hang on, I'll get back with you in a jif 'cause right now I gotta go - I'm outta here!

    (gag! Even I am gagging!)
  • Posts: 11,425
    chrisisall wrote: »
    Getafix wrote: »
    Directed by who?
    Martin Campbell, of course.

    Ah, the great Dalton-Cambell collaboration we never got to see. One of the great historical missed opportunities.
  • edited November 2014 Posts: 11,189
    In Britain its MATHS, not "Math".

    "Hey" has been a product of the Friends culture that Americans (and English) have adopted.

    I must admit even as an Englishman I wasn't too bothered by the "stationbreak" line. Maybe I'm just used to growing up with Americanisms. The "cellphone" remark in CR stood out for me more actually. MOBILES are around all the time and no Englishman calls their MOBILE a cellphone.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited November 2014 Posts: 12,480
    Do you say "mo-bill" or "mo-bile"? I think it is the latter.
    Which, being from Florida, makes me laugh; but then so does "maths." That just sounds so utterly wrong.

    But then I do say "toh-may-toh". Oh, let's call the whole thing off. ;)
  • Posts: 11,189
    It's "Mo-bile"

    Mobill?? :-&

    We say "Tom-Mar-toe" :p
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited November 2014 Posts: 12,480
    I thought you said "toh-mah-toh" "toh" = "toe" in sound

    I never heard an "r" from a British person in that word before. Interesting!

    And yeah, in Florida mostly it would be a "mo-bill" phone. Or a "mo-bill" home.
    If from the deep South, like JawJah (Georgia) or Bama (Alabama) it may well be "mo-beel" just like "eel" in there.

    I guess this really needs its own thread. Sorry ya'll! :D
  • edited November 2014 Posts: 11,189
    This is how "tomato" is normally said in the UK (0.26):


    Sometimes I suppose people would say "to-mah-toh" if they are from the North.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    Ok. Maybe it is my hearing; I'm still not hearing an "r" in there.
    I had a British boss the last 2 years (from Devon), so I'm basing it on that too.
  • Posts: 11,425
    Ok. Maybe it is my hearing; I'm still not hearing an "r" in there.
    I had a British boss the last 2 years (from Devon), so I'm basing it on that too.

    If your boss actually has a proper Devon accent then that should have been very amusing. It is proper farmer country.
  • Posts: 15,125
    Boy we are drifting off topic. I think while GE was not Brosnan's best performance, it was the one I enjoyed the most and when his shortcomings actually benefited the movie. TWINE might have been his best, at least by moments. I love the bank scene and by the way it should have been the PTS, not the boat chase afterwards.
  • edited November 2014 Posts: 11,425
    After TND, which I felt was a marked improvement on GE, I had high expectations for TWINE. I actually remember really enjoying the opening bank scene in TWINE. In tone and style it feels very much like a continuation of TND. And then it just turns into a total crud fest. A shame. Makes me think they should have got ‎Roger Spottiswoode back to direct.

    That bit of American eye candy they cast as the nuclear physicist was an unforgiveable piece of casting - harking back to the lamest Bond girls of the Moore era. Morceau was not bad, but the plot was dire (although good enough apparently to be rehashed for SF) and Brosnan's acting attrocious. And to top it all they have M taking up way too much screen - should have seen where that was all heading.

    TND was definitely the high water mark in terms of Brozzer's performances, and also the best of his four outings.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,804
    Getafix wrote: »
    After TND, which I felt was a marked improvement on GE, I had high expectations for TWINE.
    Me too, until I found out the director was gonna be Michael Apted. Coal Miners Daughter... Gorillas In The MIst... I just didn't see it. And yep, we got us a very uneven Bond. They saw fit to go deeper down the rabbit hole with Tamahori.
    Spottiswoode should have done TWINE & DAD.
    :-\"
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I thought Brosnan was very good in TWINE.
  • Posts: 11,425
    chrisisall wrote: »
    Getafix wrote: »
    After TND, which I felt was a marked improvement on GE, I had high expectations for TWINE.
    Me too, until I found out the director was gonna be Michael Apted. Coal Miners Daughter... Gorillas In The MIst... I just didn't see it. And yep, we got us a very uneven Bond. They saw fit to go deeper down the rabbit hole with Tamahori.
    Spottiswoode should have done TWINE & DAD.
    :-\"

    But Spottiswoode wasn't an obvious choice either, was he? Still, I actually think he did the best directing work of the Brosnan era. I actually think GE is really quite bad on multiple levels - not as bad as TWINE and DAD, but still not very good at all. I was actually really surpised that Cambell did such a good job with CR. I think CR still has faults, but it's as if it was from a different director to GE IMO.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited November 2014 Posts: 23,883
    Me too, until I found out the director was gonna be Michael Apted. Coal Miners Daughter... Gorillas In The MIst... I just didn't see it. And yep, we got us a very uneven Bond. They saw fit to go deeper down the rabbit hole with Tamahori.
    Spottiswoode should have done TWINE & DAD.
    :-\"

    Agreed about Apted. What a shame! That scene with the BMW & the helicopters was such a missed opportunity. No tension at all, despite a great premise. It just had Bond running around a lot. Same with the ski scene (such a great premise but lousy direction, especially compared to the great stuff we saw when Bond was last in skis in FYEO some 18 long years prior). Same with the mining scene (infamously remembered for Bond running, jumping & twirling his machine gun like a cheerleader's baton). Apted should have realized he was out of his depth and resigned, for the sake of the series. It just felt to me that he was shoehorning these action sequences/set pieces into the plot....they did not seem integral.

    Agreed too about Spottiswoode. His effort was much better. However, from what I remember, TND was a very difficult production with tensions with Hatcher, Brosnan getting injured etc. that it likely was just a bad experience all round.

    I just want that rumoured ski sequence in Bond 24 to recapture the greatness of FYEO, OHMSS or TSWLM (I prefer to forget AVTAK & TWINE).
  • Posts: 11,425
    bondjames wrote: »
    Me too, until I found out the director was gonna be Michael Apted. Coal Miners Daughter... Gorillas In The MIst... I just didn't see it. And yep, we got us a very uneven Bond. They saw fit to go deeper down the rabbit hole with Tamahori.
    Spottiswoode should have done TWINE & DAD.
    :-\"

    Agreed about Apted. What a shame! That scene with the BMW & the helicopters was such a missed opportunity. No tension at all, despite a great premise. It just had Bond running around a lot. Same with the ski scene (such a great premise but lousy direction, especially compared to the great stuff we saw when Bond was last in skis in FYEO some 18 long years prior). Same with the mining scene (infamously remembered for Bond running, jumping & twirling his machine gun like a cheerleader's baton). Apted should have realized he was out of his depth and resigned, for the sake of the series. It just felt to me that he was shoehorning these action sequences/set pieces into the plot....they did not seem integral.

    Agreed too about Spottiswoode. His effort was much better. However, from what I remember, TND was a very difficult production with tensions with Hatcher, Brosnan getting injured etc. that it likely was just a bad experience all round.

    I just want that rumoured ski sequence in Bond 24 to recapture the greatness of FYEO, OHMSS or TSWLM (I prefer to forget AVTAK & TWINE).

    Absolutely. Bring on some quality skiing scenes. Amazing that an amateur with a digital camera strapped to their forehead can capture more exciting apline footage than what Apted managed in TWINE. I remember watching it and thinking 'how do you actually make skiing this dull?'
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,804
    Getafix wrote: »
    But Spottiswoode wasn't an obvious choice either, was he?
    He'd done Air America & was experienced with action, so right there he was a better choice than Apted or Tamahori.
  • Posts: 11,425
    chrisisall wrote: »
    Getafix wrote: »
    But Spottiswoode wasn't an obvious choice either, was he?
    He'd done Air America & was experienced with action, so right there he was a better choice than Apted or Tamahori.

    I know you won't agree, but even in TND I can almost sense Spottiswoode struggling with this huge vacuum in the middle of the movie - where James Bond is supposed to be, you have a preening, pain-facing catalogue model. The problem just seems to become more evident as the Brosnan era goes on. Unlike with Moore, where you had the option to bring things back to a lower key when necessary, the only possible option with Brosnan was to keep on ramping up the sillyness, with the inevitable conclusion being DAD.
  • Posts: 11,189
    Spottiswode was a lightweight director who'd done Turner and Hooch and Stop or My Mom will Shoot.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,804
    BAIN123 wrote: »
    Spottiswode was a lightweight director who'd done Turner and Hooch and Stop or My Mom will Shoot.
    Ha ha, oh, yeah, @BAIN123 tell me YOU never had a stupid job.
    :))
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