The PIERCE BROSNAN Appreciation thread - Discuss His Life, His Career, His Bond Films

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  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited January 2016 Posts: 23,883
    @ClarkDevlin, I agree on Petrofsky in The Fourth Protocol. I forgot to mention that one. Great performance from Brosnan there too.

    Just to clarify my thoughts - I think for me at least, with Bond the key is to demonstrate the controlled tension. The sort of I don't give a 'f' coiled spring that hides beneath the (for the most part) cool exterior. That's what is difficult to bring to screen subtly, and with Bond, I think the key is to portray it within the personality, rather than on the exterior. It's hidden more than overt.

    Despite many seeing him as playing it for laughs (and he did) I think Moore was able to bring that to the table many times, most notably in the scenes many reference regularly on this forum, including OP at the train tracks with Orlov, FYEO with Loque, TMWTGG with Scaramanga at the dinner table & even in AVTAK with Zorin ("killing Tibbet was a mistake"). He could do it very easily, but chose not to enough, and that was a mistake. Craig of course can do it in his sleep (and should have been given far more opportunity to demonstrate it in SP). Connery as well (it's part of his DNA). I found Dalton leaned a bit towards the emotional/expressive side at times, but it was there as well. Lazenby is given far more credit than he deserves in my view, because I didn't see it once in his portrayal.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Yes, you're right, @bondjames.

    Brosnan was more of erm... like @suavejmf points out, a screen presence, the beam of a leading man, given the role of acting like a hero and not focus on the emotional bits. What can you do? It was the demand of the time, I gather. His Bond felt like a combination of 85% Thomas Crown and %15 Valery Petrofsky. But, if we do admit properly, in the Bilbao Bank segment, Brosnan did act his part of controlled tension out when he intimidated the Swiss Banker. But, he failed to deliver that with Renard and Carver ("You forgot the first rule of Mass Media", didn't feel convincing enough). However, his confrontation with Gustav Graves and his sidekicks (Miranda and Zao) was a very good scene. Held at a gunpoint, eyes burning with rage, but never for a moment he lost that smooth cynicism of his, especially when he taunted Zao with "You know? I missed your sparkling personality," which was sort of an 'F-You' to whom he directed it at.

    All in all, The World Is Not Enough comes off as the weakest of all the Brosnan's, because the direction was misled in it. They didn't know what to do or where to go. Drama or Light Escapism? Brosnan was given the wrong role there.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited January 2016 Posts: 23,883
    All in all, The World Is Not Enough comes off as the weakest of all the Brosnan's, because the direction was misled in it. They didn't know what to do or where to go. Drama or Light Escapism? Brosnan was given the wrong role there.
    That is my view as well @ClarkDevlin, and for the same reasons. It's a film pulled in two directions, and to me, it shows. Re: The banker scene, I agree that the intimidation is done very well, but I didn't like the lines during the buildup (I found them wincingly bad...."never trust a swiss Banker"..."hidden assets"....staring at cigar girl's boobs, which recalled Moore's similarly awful OP camera zoom etc.). I thought "You seem to have had a small reversal of fortune" was an excellent line though, which I'd like to use myself one day.

    Another Brosnan performance which I found superb was in Ghost Writer (or Ghost) by Roman Polanski, where he plays a Tony Blair type prime minister. He got to play both the smooth operator and also release the anger during a pivotal scene in a plane.

    He was also very convincing in last year's No Escape, where he has a small part as an Osnard (his character in ToP) type character.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    edited January 2016 Posts: 15,423
    I couldn't have said it better myself. And I love that "reversal of fortune" line, too. I believe I used it against someone years ago. As for the build up with the cigar girl's presence and delivery of lines, I don't take them seriously, because I know it's not a possibility to go with it in real life. Then again, it's what Purvis and Wade wrote. The "reversal of fortune" line came with Feirstein's polish of the script. The first draft is available somewhere in one of the threads in this forum, which is easy to track down.

    Ghost Writer is a very good conspiracy film. Brosnan's performance was brilliant in there, too. Just as you described.

    I haven't seen No Escape yet, but I do hear from a few friends of mine he's misused in the film.
  • SzonanaSzonana Mexico
    Posts: 1,130
    doubleoego wrote: »
    I thought that was a fantastic scene in ToP. I didn't find it disturbing to the point of being bothered by it. Brosnan's character was a real a-hole and he was perfect. I thought it actually showed that Pierce, with the right material could have been a truly legitimate great Bond. Dark, nasty and a bit of a mean streak.

    The scene itself is not that disturbing, ive seen m uh worse I.e the The girl with the dragon Tattoo.

    What disturbed was Pierce doing this type pf scenes since i was more used to charming, suave and sexy Pierce examples :Thomas Crown, James Bond and Max( After the sunset) not that complete in your face a-hole.

    He was an SOB in Shattered but the twist makes us a little sympathetic towards him. In the tailor of Panama he had no reediming qualities.

    @Bondjames and @clarckdevlin
    Pierce's Bond was UA artist version of Bond not Fleming's Bond and that's why inthink he was perfect.
    He made a great ladies man Bond who occasionally can fight and do some action and that's what what separates UA Bond to Fleming's Bond

    Connery was only Fleming's Bond in From Russia with love and in Dr No's last part when gets out of the prison and gets all dirty and his shirt is scratched the whole first part of Dr No he was Young's version of Bond.


    Till now we have only gotten two Fleming's bond Daniel Craig and Timothy Dalton





  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Apparently, Brosnan and Martin Campbell will team up again for another film, this time an adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel, Across The River and Into The Trees, which will start shooting in October later this year. Brosnan will play Colonel Cantwell, the protagonist of the story.

    http://www.movies.com/movie-news/39goldeneye39-star-director-to-reteam-for-ernest-hemingway-war-movie/20046?wssac=164&wssaffid=news
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    A winning combination right there. :)
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    You said it, mate. :)
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    edited February 2016 Posts: 1,984
    bondjames wrote: »
    Just to clarify my thoughts - I think for me at least, with Bond the key is to demonstrate the controlled tension. The sort of I don't give a 'f' coiled spring that hides beneath the (for the most part) cool exterior. That's what is difficult to bring to screen subtly, and with Bond, I think the key is to portray it within the personality, rather than on the exterior. It's hidden more than overt.

    Despite many seeing him as playing it for laughs (and he did) I think Moore was able to bring that to the table many times, most notably in the scenes many reference regularly on this forum, including OP at the train tracks with Orlov, FYEO with Loque, TMWTGG with Scaramanga at the dinner table & even in AVTAK with Zorin ("killing Tibbet was a mistake"). He could do it very easily, but chose not to enough, and that was a mistake. Craig of course can do it in his sleep (and should have been given far more opportunity to demonstrate it in SP). Connery as well (it's part of his DNA). I found Dalton leaned a bit towards the emotional/expressive side at times, but it was there as well. Lazenby is given far more credit than he deserves in my view, because I didn't see it once in his portrayal.

    I know this is an old post but I couldn't agree more with this. Moore also displayed this when he was in the chair talking to Mr Big in Live And Let Die, and at times in The Spy Who Loved Me as well. Basically the only movie that he doesn't demonstrate this is Moonraker.

    Dalton's emotions were always ready to burst out - he still usually had a calm exterior, but the seething emotions/uncomfortable interior were pretty visible in Licence to Kill.

    Regarding Craig and Connery, definitely. That's probably why they're number 1 and 2 as Bond actors.
  • SzonanaSzonana Mexico
    Posts: 1,130
    bondjames wrote: »
    All in all, The World Is Not Enough comes off as the weakest of all the Brosnan's, because the direction was misled in it. They didn't know what to do or where to go. Drama or Light Escapism? Brosnan was given the wrong role there.
    That is my view as well @ClarkDevlin, and for the same reasons. It's a film pulled in two directions, and to me, it shows. Re: The banker scene, I agree that the intimidation is done very well, but I didn't like the lines during the buildup (I found them wincingly bad...."never trust a swiss Banker"..."hidden assets"....staring at cigar girl's boobs, which recalled Moore's similarly awful OP camera zoom etc.). I thought "You seem to have had a small reversal of fortune" was an excellent line though, which I'd like to use myself one day.

    Another Brosnan performance which I found superb was in Ghost Writer (or Ghost) by Roman Polanski, where he plays a Tony Blair type prime minister. He got to play both the smooth operator and also release the anger during a pivotal scene in a plane.

    He was also very convincing in last year's No Escape, where he has a small part as an Osnard (his character in ToP) type character.


    I disagree with both of you on the world is not is not as a weak film.
    Id say its my favorite from Pierce tenure's as Bond

    1st because it has the great balance of having a great plot with its very Bondian moments but finally written with Pierce in mind and it gave him much nore confidence in his performance.

    Its a film tailored for his abilities as an actor with some dramatic moments and some more lighthearted and that Balance is what Pierce does the best.




  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2016 Posts: 23,883
    @Szonana I'm afraid I disagree with you on TWINE. Given this is an appreciation thread, I'm going to bite my tongue, but it is firmly planted at #24 out of 24 for me and there are specific reasons for that from my perspective. However, I can appreciate that others have a different view. After all, I like TMWTGG, and it is highly reviled in this forum. To each their own.
  • SzonanaSzonana Mexico
    Posts: 1,130
    bondjames wrote: »
    @Szonana I'm afraid I disagree with you on TWINE. Given this is an appreciation thread, I'm going to bite my tongue, but it is firmly planted at #24 out of 24 for me and there are specific reasons for that from my perspective. However, I can appreciate that others have a different view. After all, I like TMWTGG, and it is highly reviled in this forum. To each their own.


    Heheh everyone has their favorites for many reasons and i like how youbrespect Pierce even though he is not your favorite Bond actually one of your leats favorites.

    And i do try to the the same with my least favorites.

    I don't mind the man with the golden Gun its a huge improvement over Live and let die and its pre tittle sequence was the most original.


  • Any word on a UK DVD release for November Man?
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Any word on a UK DVD release for November Man?
    @valentinzukovsky:
    Here it is, mate.
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/November-Man-Region-English-audio/dp/B00WE2GNJE
  • Any word on a UK DVD release for November Man?
    @valentinzukovsky:
    Here it is, mate.
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/November-Man-Region-English-audio/dp/B00WE2GNJE
    Thanks for that , just ordered it . Still annoys me that i've had to buy a foreign release though. Whoever handled the DVD/Blu Ray release of this film needs their arse kicking.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    917282_249937008671060_205194128_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTE4Njc0MDkzMzAwMzgxMzk3Ng%3D%3D.2

    It appears Brosnan and Chan are really getting the kick out of this film. Two good lads having a good time working with each other. :D
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    Man I can't wait to see this film!
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Neither can I. Word has it it'll come out later this year. It's a good thing when you think about it for an independent film production.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    Yeah you can't go wrong with Brosnan, Chan and Martin Campbell directing. Depending on how well it does it's possible it could pave the way for November Man 2.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    One can only hope. I wonder which novel in the series will they adapt next. Man, I'd so love to see Martin Campbell directing The November Man 2.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    One can only hope. I wonder which novel in the series will they adapt next. Man, I'd so love to see Martin Campbell directing The November Man 2.
    That would be a dream come true. And here's something extra controversal, Have Eric Serra compose the score. :D
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Murdock wrote: »
    One can only hope. I wonder which novel in the series will they adapt next. Man, I'd so love to see Martin Campbell directing The November Man 2.
    That would be a dream come true. And here's something extra controversal, Have Eric Serra compose the score. :D
    GoldenEye 2.0 !! ^:)^
  • Posts: 4,325
    Gosh, Pierce looks old in the photo above, I thought it was MGW before I scrolled up!
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    They made him look like Sinn Fein's leader.
  • SzonanaSzonana Mexico
    edited February 2016 Posts: 1,130
    tanaka123 wrote: »
    Gosh, Pierce looks old in the photo above, I thought it was MGW before I scrolled up!


    Its the beard.
    Beards have never been nice to him lol.
    Maybe a bit scruffy like in After the sunset and Some kind of beautiful it's fine and give him a very manly bad aas look but the fool on beard doesn't su it him.

    Even Kayle agrees with me when he was with Jay Leno promoting the matador he said Kayle didn't like his mustache so we his fans are not alone his wife supports our point of view 100%

    So I give her permission to send Pierce to the couch of he doesn't shave that beard
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    I think facial hair doesn't suit Brosnan at all. Dalton, yes. But, not the other Bonds.
  • SzonanaSzonana Mexico
    edited February 2016 Posts: 1,130
    I think facial hair doesn't suit Brosnan at all. Dalton, yes. But, not the other Bonds.

    I agree with this.
    The little scruffy look fits him in after the sunset and Some kind of beautiful but not the full on beard nor mustache
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Szonana wrote: »
    I think facial hair doesn't suit Brosnan at all. Dalton, yes. But, not the other Bonds.

    I agree with this.
    The bitter scrufy look looked nice in after the sunset and Some kind of beautiful
    Although I do like his trimmed beard and sharp ends mustache in Seraphim Falls and I've attempted to grow a beard like that myself. Guess what, it doesn't suit me either. :))
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    I may have said it earlier but with that look, Pierce looks like my college math teacher. :))
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    Posts: 10,591
    Murdock wrote: »
    I may have said it earlier but with that look, Pierce looks like my college math teacher. :))
    Lol. I quite like the beard. Looks distinguished.
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