With Timothy Dalton choosing not to return as James Bond,
the honor went back to the producers’ first choice prior to Dalton, Pierce
Brosnan.
Despite losing out the role initially because NBC’s chose
not to cancel “Remington Steele”, the next season only aired five episodes
before it was cancelled anyway. Brosnan
career continued though as he did several films including “The Lawnmower Man”
and “Mrs. Doubtfire”.
Brosnan would play 007 in four films. With his characterization of James Bond, much
of the humor and focus on gadgets would return to the series. Due to legal issues involving MGM/UA and Eon
Films, the six years between Dalton and Brosnan is the longest in the series.
Goldeneye (1995) –
This was the first Bond film to be made after the fall of the Berlin Wall. With a changing world, it was time to seek
out a new villain, and who better than a rogue agent attempting to steal a
satellite weapon from the former Soviet Union.
There are some great characters in this movie, particularly Robbie
Coltrane as Russian mob and former KGB-agent Valentin Zukovsky, Sean Bean as
baddie Alec Trevelyan, Alan Cumming as Boris Grishenko, and Famke Jannsen as
the sexually violent Xenia Onatopp.
Yes, this was Brosnan’s first Bond, but it was also the first
Bond film with a woman as M, and how quickly she made the role her own. Dame Judi Dench becomes the definitive M, and
one of my favorite actresses in the series.
Despite how you feel about Brosnan’s Bond, I’d watch these films over
and over for Dench. This is also the
debut of Samantha Bond as Miss Moneypenny, a role she would continue through
the Brosnan era.
It has an amazing stunt at the beginning of the movie that
became the highest bunjee jump off a fixed structure. It also has a great opening sequence that
tells about the fall of Communism through some great elements of Soviet era
images being destroyed by bikini clad women (which actually caused some controversy
at the time. The theme song was written
by Bono and the Edge and performed by Tina Turner.
“Goldeneye” had the highest box office tally at the point
for a Bond film (not accounting for inflation), taking in more than $350
million worldwide.
Tomorrow Never Dies
(1997) – When the world’s only other super power goes belly up, it’s time
to set your eyes on corporate villains who have the real power? Jonathan Pryce (who originated the role of The
Engineer in “Miss Saigon”) plays a Rupert Murdoch-esque media mogul who is
willing to start World War III to get the broadcasting rights in China. Bond must expose Carver and stop a global
fight. Brosnan does a solid job in this
outing, but though the film had a higher domestic box office than “Goldeneye”,
the world-wide box office was the lowest of the Brosnan era.
Pryce is brilliant as the villain; he just deserved a better
role – a Blofeldian character rather than a Richard Murdoch clone. Joe Don Baker reappears as Jack Wade, and
look for a young Gerard Butler among the crew of the Devonshire.
Bond girls included an incredibly bland Teri Hatcher, but
Michelle Yeoh kicked as a Chinese agent who teams up with Bond. My favorite stunt has to be the remote
control car chase. It was evidently
achieve by refitting the car (a BMW) with a steering wheel in the back seat.
“Tomorrow Never Dies” did better here in the States than “Goldeneye”,
but world-wide, it was the lowest box office of the four Brosnan films.
The World Is Not
Enough (1999) – With oil playing such a huge part in the world’s problems
and the economy, it can’t be any surprise that the theme gets tackled by Bond
franchise. The plot involves oil
pipelines and the stealing of nuclear material from the former Soviet Union
with the intention of causing a nuclear catastrophe in Istanbul. Brosnan is good, but the real star of the
film is Robert Carlyle as Renard, a ruthless terrorist unable to feel any
pain. Carlyle is definitely my favorite
villain of the modern era.
Bond girls are a mixed bag in this film. We have Sophie Marceau, who is incredibly
beautiful and portrays innocence with perfection, yet has a dark and dangerous
side as well. The other side of the coin
is my vote for worst (and most unbelievable) Bond girl in franchise history –
Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist.
Her character Christmas Jones is laughably bad, and a low point in an
otherwise great Bond film.
The titular theme song performed by Garbage is one of the
better theme songs, and the effects are top notch, particularly a boat chase at
the beginning of the movie.
This Bond film is also the only one that literally makes me
shed a tear or two. Desmond Llewellyn
portrayed Q in 17 films(more than any other actor) – all of the Bond movies up
to this point but “Dr. No” (the character wasn’t called Q yet, but he was
portrayed by Peter Burton) and “The Man with the Golden Gun” (in which Q did
not appear). This would be his last
film. Well into his 80’s while the movie
was filming, Q introduces his heir (John Cleese) who will take over when he
retires. Bond states that he hopes it
won’t be anytime soon. As Llewellyn
lowers into the floor, he tells Bond to remember what he’s taught him – “always
have an escape plan.”
Although this was never intended to be his last Bond film (Llewellyn
himself stated he would play the character “as long as the producers want me
and the Almighty doesn’t”), Llewellyn died in a car crash shortly after the
movie premiered.
Die Another Day
(2002) – Although it was not intended to be, this would be Brosnan’s last
film as 007. Bond goes up against a North
Korean terrorist who intends to use a mirror satellite to harness the power of the
sun to destroy the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea in order
to allow North Korea to invade the South and reunite them by force.
The movie, featuring gene therapy to completely change one’s
appearance, an invisible car, and bad CGI was so cartoonish it prompted Roger
Moore to say, “"I thought it just went too far – and that’s
from me, the first
Bond in space! Invisible cars
and dodgy CGI footage? Please!"
It’s too bad, too, because
it has a pretty good cast. Halle Berry
stars as Bond’s CIA equivalent Jinx; her character was so popular that there
was talk that there would be a series spin-off for her character. Rosamund Pike is also very good as Miranda
Frost. Toby Stephens does an adequate
job as the big bad for the movie, but he pales in comparison to Robert Carlyle
and Jonathan Pryce.
The theme song was written
and performed by Madonna. It divided
critics and filmgoers alike. Personally,
I’ve never been a fan of Madonna’s electronica phase. The song was nominated for a Golden Globe and
a Grammy, but it was also nominated for a Golden Raspberry for Worst Original
Song. Madonna lost out to Britney Spear’s
“I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” (from “Crossroads”). Madonna didn’t go home empty handed
though. She “won” several Raspberry
Awards that year – most for “Swept Away”, but she did get a Raspberry for “Die
Another Day” as Worst Supporting Actress for her cameo as a fencing instructor.
John Cleese assumes the role of Q, and there's a fun scene where we see a room full of old props from Bond's previous adventures. Q also alludes to the fact that this is the 20th Bond film when he gives him his standard issue watch and implies it is his twentieth. Cleese is great as Q; it's too bad this is the only movie he gets the chance to portray the role.
John Cleese assumes the role of Q, and there's a fun scene where we see a room full of old props from Bond's previous adventures. Q also alludes to the fact that this is the 20th Bond film when he gives him his standard issue watch and implies it is his twentieth. Cleese is great as Q; it's too bad this is the only movie he gets the chance to portray the role.
Despite becoming the highest
grossing Bond film at that time (it would be beaten by Daniel Craig’s debut),
the movie pretty much prompted the current rebooting of the franchise, as it
was decided it was time to focus more on characters and less on special effects.
*****
For
two years after the release of this film, it was expected that Pierce Brosnan
would shoot a fifth movie. In 2004, and
again in 2005, Brosnan stated he was finished with the role. Later in 2008, Brosnan told UK magazine Metro
that he thought he’d be asked to do a fifth Bond. While Brosnan definitely still had the chops,
with trying to reboot the franchise, it made sense to go with a younger actor.
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