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Comments
It's more because (a) you put that unofficial TB ripoff in there and made it even worse by (b) ranking it higher than GF, CR, FYEO, and DN.
How anyone thinks NSNA (it should be SNA, one viewing is enough) rates better than any official film is pretty much insanity to me.
The films you listed there I find a bit overrated for different reasons. I won't go into those now though.
I'll have to visit England sooner than later. You guys have some good mind altering drugs ;)
You've been saying that. I'm just fine, thanks. The guys in the white coats are on their way, please be a good boy and go quietly this time ;)
Ah, that we do. But I didn't need to take any to know that NSNA is a good film :P
:))
Now I've heard everything and I don't believe a word of it.
I hate you ;)
You're right. I have to go do some drugs just to make sense of any of these comments :P
Sir Henry, please don't think these 2 are representitive of the general view in the UK. They give us a bad name.
The BO figures of SF should give you a clearer view of how fans in the UK prefer their Bond's. These 2 are clearly in the minority........
;)
Because he looks like a member of The Pet Shop Boys?
Omg. With that kind of "eye for detail" how can you even enjoy a movie?
I mean, surely being beautiful doesn't preclude someone from a career in science? Saying she doesn't 'look' like a scientist is staggeringly dumb. Okay, so she wears a tank top and tiny shorts - but in that scene we know she's stuck in a lab in the middle of *fricking* Azerbaijan! She's probably sweltering......
Anyone, just saying.
We've come a long way from "That's what keeps me alive." to Bond falling in love and being tricked by the main villain. Nevertheless, his ruthlessness at the end suggest him being extremely pissed off by the realisation he's been played.
On the other side of the spectrum I love how funny Pierce is here, the smirk at the Moneypenny-Warmflash interaction illustrates how comfortable he has become in this role over the years. Also, absolutely adore this line: "If you can't trust a Swiss banker, what has the world come to?".
If anything, Brosnan's performance in DAD really should have been definitive, because that's where I really felt he nailed the part in a way he never quite did with his previous three. It's just too bad it was ultimately his last.
Rewatching the films now, Brosnan's performance is flat and lackadaisical to the point of blandness. What once appeared to be insouciant cool now comes across as sheer laziness.
Even in GoldenEye, generally considered to be the best of Brosnan's films, his 007 is smug and smarmy in a way Connery and Roger Moore never were. The movie is only saved by a decent storyline, strong direction from Martin Campbell (later to take the reins for Casino Royale) and a decent villain in Sean Bean's multi-layered Alec Trevelyan.
Worse still, in an era where adult themes had re-permeated mainstream Hollywood to the greatest extent since the 1970s, the Brosnan Bond carries little or no physical threat. Even early Roger Moore was steely and cold-blooded enough to threaten Gloria Hendry's double-crossing Rosie Carver with her life in the underrated Live and Let Die. Brosnan 007 is a purring pussycat by comparison.
By the time 2002's Die Another Day had rolled around, with its ridiculous invisible car, video-game style special effects and terrible Madonna cameo, Bond had lost all credibility. Other crimes of the Brosnan era include The World Is Not Enough's Christmas Jones, Denise Richards' crop-topped nuclear physicist, or the not-so terrifying threat in 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies: a media baron (played by Jonathan Pryce) who mounts a cunning scheme to provoke world war three using the power of newspapers and GPS. Even Donald Pleasance in You Only Live Twice had a better plan than that.
The sad thing is that Brosnan has proven himself a more than capable actor over the years, turning in a Cary Grant-esque performance as a gentlemanly art thief in the 1999 remake of The Thomas Crown Affair and a bravura turn as a Blair-like former British PM in Roman Polanski's The Ghost in 2010. As he himself partially admits, maybe he struggled to work out why anyone was still making Bond movies long, long after the initial thrill of the series' 1960s success had dissipated.
Rewatching the films, even Brosnan fans must surely accept that he was never the new Connery, but rather a sort-of strangely flat Roger Moore – without even the charm, screen presence and natural gift for comedy that old raised eyebrow delivered in spades.
Just look at his hair!
By the time, TWINe had come about. He had matured. He was more than just a smouldering handsome leading man, he bought pathos and toughness to that role. really need to re-watch this film asap!
For the record, Brosnan was my first Bond as well during childhood, but I was never really enamored with him the way my generation seemed to be. At least, I didn't really connect with him in a way that I did with other fictional on screen heroes like Keaton's Batman and Ford as Indiana Jones. Brosnan just didn't have that dangerous quality they had. Had my first exposure to Bond films had been the early Connery films that probably would have gotten me much more hyped for Bond earlier. It really wasn't till my teens when I rented the DVDs for FRWL and TB that Bond really clicked with me, and that was around 2003.
Agreed 100%, and that comes from a huge Dalton fan.
As for the hate Brosnan gets, it's grossly overstated by his supporters. He really gets off lightly when it comes to criticism. Craig got far more hate in 2005, from Brosnan fans (they were the ones that spear-headed the anti Craig campaign afterall), that Brosnan has had from any fans of any other Bond. That might souind odd coming from me of all people, but I at least waited until I saw Craig in action first, before forming my opinion.
And while Brosnan was hadsome, he was too handsome for Bond. Sure, the book Bond was handsome, but he had that cruel smile to off-set his look. I like the way you put it, @MakeshiftPython, calculated smoothness.
Being a fan of one actor doesn't exclude appreciating another. As much as I love Brosnan as Bond, I get the same enjoyment from watching Dalton in TLD/LTK ;-)
Sadly I feel TWINE is Brosnan's worst Bond performance. He is allowed to overact (which he can still do if he's not firmly directed). He emotes, very badly in a few scenes, like when he touches the computer screen image of Electra's tear stained face, or when he challenges her in her apartment, "You knew about my arm!" as he clutches at his shoulder. Just OTT acting. I do think, with a strong director, Brosnan could deliver good moments, and I think his start in GE was very assured, but his tendency to overplay started to creep into TND - that puffing up of his body and deep intake of breath as he walks up to Mrs. Carver, trying to convey he feels anxious meeting her again after many years - it just feels like soap opera acting.
I know there are many who love Brosnan's Bond, and that's cool, but I feel he never achieved his full potential - and he wasn't helped by the writing which stranded him between Connery and Moore. And I suspect, if asked, Brosnan would now admit he never quite nailed Bond as he would have liked.
I do think Brosnan is excellent as Thomas Crown. So, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the guy, but he has always needed strong direction to get the best out of him. Campbell, who knows Bond, gave him the best start, but it went downhill after that. And Michael Apted just did not have a strong grip on Bond and sadly it shows in Brosnan's performance.
I'm not sure Brosnan ever clearly defined what 'his Bond' Was. And I don't mean that as a knock, I actually rather like it. He put his stamp on the series, but not by trying to re invent the wheel.
He simply channeled a bit of inner Connery or Moore (and more rarely a piece of Dalton) depending on what the scene called for. That isnt a bad thing. Pretty much every characterisation of Bond had already been done by the time he got the part, so he took what had worked in the past, and used it to his advantage.
I never felt he overacted really. It's not a perfect performance, but I hardly find anything jarring about it. My issue – as with several of Brosnan's films, is the films themselves. I feel like they had potential but didn't really make the most of it (as you write @ColonelSun, the writing isn't the best) – and in certain cases that also affected Brosnan's performance. But I think he carried TWINE really well (which makes me think of it as his best performance).
I think he does have a tendancy to overact at times because he's essentially a big, colourful character actor trapped in the body of a leading man. But he's cool enough and has enough real movie star presence to carry a film. I think he's great in all his Bond films and had to carry them in a way no other Bond can. I think TWINE is the only one that has really strong characterisation. Apart from that he just got handed generic, jack of all trades Bond. All the other Bonds got films that played to their strengths. I think he deserves more praise for making his films work the way he did.
Besides, while he might overact in some of the Elektra scenes in TWINE, the bankers office is probably his finest hour as Bond. And as in all his films, he's just so cool. The little nod to the people on the street after escaping the bankers office (brilliant scene and he actually uses his wits to escape instead of a gadget or brute force, that's rare in the more modern films). The bit where he pins Zukofsky's henchman to the bar with his own knife then casually sips his martini. Come on. Yeah he's not as good an actor as Craig or Dalton but I genuinely don't get how people don't love him in the same way we all love Moore.
I've always loved Brosnan as Bond. In fact I'd say that now Dalton is more respected, he's the most underrated Bond. And TWINE is by far the most underrated Bond film. It's rough around the edges but it's like an early prototype for the Craig era and does a great job balancing all that stuff (bigger role for M, more personal story, MI6 being attacked, all felt really fresh and new at the time) with the traditional, formula elements.
I was disappointed in TND. But by the end of TWINE I thought okay, we're back. The PTS not ending when you expect creates a sense of unease that builds up to MI6 being blown up, which was a real "oh sh*t" moment because we'd had 30 years of those scenes where he was on home turf feeling safe and friendly. Creates a real sense of danger right away. Then there's the brilliant boat chase and then cigar girl's suicide brilliantly sets up Renard as a villain (and then that's brilliantly subverted by the Elektra twist and their unique and interesting dynamic), then we get the great millenium dome stunt seguing into the opening bars of Garbage's underrated theme.
It's a great film imo. Even Denise Richards doesn't deserve the stick she gets. Shouldn't have ended with him shagging her but she's fun and likeable.
Well, I agree Brosnan tried very hard to make TWINE his best performance (up to that point), but he tried too hard, and, so, he over did it. His emoting is not good and it is not Bond. I still can't believe Apted did not help him dial things down.
I guess I should feel lucky that I don't get that impression from Brosnan in the film then! ;-)