Whose idea was it to cast Brosnan as Bond?

Grant

Brosnan may not be the strongest of actors but I would put him in the same league as Moore if he does not actually have the edge on Moore.

As for looks, again, I would say Brosnan and Moore are on a par. Moore was an extremely handsome man in his prime and I think it contributed awfully to his roles in Ivanhoe and the Saint and certainly with Hollywood's courting of him in the late fifties and early sixties.

The_Reaper

Shoreline said:
Yeah.... it`s not like Connery ever sounded Scottish, or Dalton Welsh.
Terrible. Just terrible. ;)

But he's Connery. He can get away with much more than almost any other actor alive. He's Connery.

Shoreline

Ha! Yes, well, I might give you that....!
Poor old Brozzer is critacised for everything he ever did with Bond!
Maybe it is because he is the Bond most people here grew up with?
If we are all honest, all the Bonds have had dodgy moments, even Connery.
DAF? please.....it is a long way from FRWL or TB!

Getafix

Shoreline said:
Yeah.... it`s not like Connery ever sounded Scottish, or Dalton Welsh.
Terrible. Just terrible. ;)

Brozza's very occasional hint of an Irish accent is the very least bad thing about him. I always thought Dalton sounded more Northern than Welsh though.

jaguar007

Grant said:
Brosnan may not be the strongest of actors but I would put him in the same league as Moore if he does not actually have the edge on Moore.

As for looks, again, I would say Brosnan and Moore are on a par. Moore was an extremely handsome man in his prime and I think it contributed awfully to his roles in Ivanhoe and the Saint and certainly with Hollywood's courting of him in the late fifties and early sixties.

I would give Moore the edge. Moore had the ability of prefect timing, something Brosnan could not do. Moore could take a bad one liner and pull it off where with Brosnan they could fall flat.

Getafix

jaguar007 said:

Grant said:
Brosnan may not be the strongest of actors but I would put him in the same league as Moore if he does not actually have the edge on Moore.

As for looks, again, I would say Brosnan and Moore are on a par. Moore was an extremely handsome man in his prime and I think it contributed awfully to his roles in Ivanhoe and the Saint and certainly with Hollywood's courting of him in the late fifties and early sixties.

I would give Moore the edge. Moore had the ability of prefect timing, something Brosnan could not do. Moore could take a bad one liner and pull it off where with Brosnan they could fall flat.

Exactly. No comparison. Any one who thinks Brozza measures up to Rog needs to rewatch and pay more attention to timing and general screen pressence.

identigraph

Always loved the bit in LTK where Dalton suddenly sounds like he's from Yorkshire "Things could turn nasteee"

Getafix

He does that quite a lot in LTK. Sounds quite odd.

Looking at the guy's CV it's clear he was a total idiot to drop out of Bond in '94. His career since then has been awful. I can only guess he actually lost interest in the role and/or doesn't care what he appears in now. Bit sad really.

identigraph

I'm not sure if he ever really craved big stardom, probably just wanted to be a working actor. I have always assumed that he has done a lot of theatre work since Bond and popped up in the odd film and TV show, I don' think finding work as been a big problem for him?

Getafix

Just looked at his IMDB profile and it's pretty thin. Mostly dross.

By comparisson Brozza has done much better and more interesting work post Bond.

identigraph

I guess as Dalton never really caught on that well with the public and his stint being so short that his Bond reign didn't really make him in demand after.

Getafix

Sad but true. Not sure he's that savvy when it comes to careers either. Considering he had previously turned the part down umpteen times it was a miracle we ever got to see him in the part.

Weird how he was so choosy about not wanting to play Bond in the 70s because he thought the films were too light and then after Bond has just appeared in an endless stream of crud. The guy appears to take himself a tad to seriously in interviews as well. Bit of an odd bod.

Contrast with Roger who also mainly did rubbish outside of Bond but knew how lucky he was to have the part and therefore kept on coming back for until he was ready for a zimmer frame.

identigraph

It' s funny how everyone goes on about replacing Connery being an impossible job and Dalton said he would never have taken over from Connery, do you think all concerned underestimated replacing Rog?

Getafix

identigraph said:
It' s funny how everyone goes on about replacing Connery being an impossible job and Dalton said he would never have taken over from Connery, do you think all concerned underestimated replacing Rog?

Definitely. I always liked Rog but to be totally honest have only given him full credit in light of what happend after Dalton left. He now stands as an acting colossus.

Sean did quite well outside of Bond- the rock, indiana jones, finding forester
Roger didnt too quite well- unless you want to think of Spice Girls
Timothy didnt do well post bond but he did do a great job with Hot Fuzz, The Rocketeer, Toy Story 3 and ofcourse appearences in Chuck and Doctor Who
Pierce managed to try diffrent movies like After The Sunset, The Greatest, The Ghost Rider and returned to Tv to do the frankly crappy Stephen King Bag of Bones..

Getafix

I think in some respects although Sean did some great post-Bond work, overall his output was slightly disappointing. I say this mainly because I hold him in such high regard. For every The Hill or Name of the Rose, there was quite a bit of rubbish. Any way, should be grateful for what we have I suppose. Of course I love the Rock too.

By way of contrast, Brozza's output is impressive because he's such a lesser screen pressence. Despite this he's done some decent movies and has an impressive on-going career.

identigraph

I don't think Connery really became "Connery" the brand until the mid 80's when he just played himself in some big popular films, 70's and early 80's I believe is stock had fallen quite a bit!?

Getafix

Getafix said:
I think in some respects although Sean did some great post-Bond work, overall his output was slightly disappointing. I say this mainly because I hold him in such high regard. For every The Hill or Name of the Rose, there was quite a bit of rubbish. Any way, should be grateful for what we have I suppose.

By way of contrast, Brozza's output is impressive because he's such a lesser screen pressence. Despite this he's done some decent movies and has an impressive on-going career.

identigraph said:
I don't think Connery really became "Connery" the brand until the mid 80's when he just played himself in some big popular films, 70's and early 80's I believe is stock had fallen quite a bit!?

True. The come-back began with the Name of the Rose and the Untouchables.

The_Reaper

Getafix said:

Getafix said:
I think in some respects although Sean did some great post-Bond work, overall his output was slightly disappointing. I say this mainly because I hold him in such high regard. For every The Hill or Name of the Rose, there was quite a bit of rubbish. Any way, should be grateful for what we have I suppose.

By way of contrast, Brozza's output is impressive because he's such a lesser screen pressence. Despite this he's done some decent movies and has an impressive on-going career.

identigraph said:
I don't think Connery really became "Connery" the brand until the mid 80's when he just played himself in some big popular films, 70's and early 80's I believe is stock had fallen quite a bit!?

True. The come-back began with the Name of the Rose and the Untouchables.

Yes. And he won an Oscar. I think as time has gone on, the two Bond Titans, Connery and Moore, have gone up in the public's eye. Now that we've seen the changing of the guard so often, it puts into light how incredible it was for Moore to hang on for as long as he did and still have the success he did. And how important it was for Connery to establish the cinematic version of Fleming's creation.

Remember, when Moore took over, and then even after his first two films, there were many that thought Bond was done for. It was only after Spy where he established himself in the role and proved the series could continue after Connery left.

The producers are always looking for the next Connery or the next Moore or whomever they believe the public will accept as the real Bond. Hence they chose Brosnan b/c they felt the public already saw him as Bond. Why do you think they offered Craig another contract worth five more films after SF? They want him to be the Big Bond, the man with the most movies, a grand total of 8, so he can supplant the Titans as the real deal.

Getafix

It's doubtless a sign of my own cultural ignorance, but I had never really heard of Brosnan or seen him on TV prior to GE. For me he was a total unknown quantity before walking into the cinema. I guess if I'm honest part of my resentment of him stems from the fact that I soon felt like he had been foisted on us due to his anticipated popularity with audiences in the US. By the same token, Dalton was deemed a failure because the US audiences didn't like him. Fortunately with the growth of other cinema going publics around the world, the US does not have quite the same sway it once did.

jaguar007

Brosnan was a well known TV face because of Remington Steele prior to Bond, that is what basically got him the part.

As for Connery, people are forgetting some of the great movies he made during the 70s. The Man Who Would be King, Robin and Marion, Murder on the Orient Express. Of course there was also Zardoz, Cuba etc.

BAIN123

Getafix said:

Getafix said:
I think in some respects although Sean did some great post-Bond work, overall his output was slightly disappointing. I say this mainly because I hold him in such high regard. For every The Hill or Name of the Rose, there was quite a bit of rubbish. Any way, should be grateful for what we have I suppose.

By way of contrast, Brozza's output is impressive because he's such a lesser screen pressence. Despite this he's done some decent movies and has an impressive on-going career.

I think Brozza's got a relitively decent presence. True he's not as commanding physically as Dalton but he's handsome as hell and I don't believe he wouldn't be noticed if he came into a room. My mate works at Heathrow and recently he came walking through the airport. Apparently people were turning their heads like mad.

Baltimore_007

I don't watch Bond actors on screen simply on the premise that they are good looking or anything such. I look for plausible qualities associated with the Fleming Bond character and Brosnan did possess this on occasion. At the risk of further Brosnan sniping I found his portrayal of 007 a little sticky sometimes. This is not a green light for subsequent Brosnan bashing I'm merely saying Yes he was good and believable at times but by the same token simply inappropriate for the part, i.e. sometimes it worked, sometimes it did not for Mr Brosnan, if he came through an airport in my direction now I dare say I wouldn't feel too indifferent too it perhaps

BAIN123

If he came into an airport walking towards me I'd probably go insane and turn into a quivering wreck ;) (and I'm a straight male). I almost did as such when I shook Roger Moore's hand.

Baltimore_007

I'd like to see Brosnan do a 'Bob Hoskins type entrance at Heathrow airport' such as in The Long Good Friday. (Brosnan was in that of all things)

BAIN123

I liked his walk to the pool in The Matador :-)) :-)) (or how he walked into the office at the start of The Thomas Crown Affair). Smarmy b***ard ;)

Getafix

Watch out Bain, you wouldn't know it but apparently there's a no-swearing rule in place, although the mods apply it randomly.

When given the right part Brozza is more than capable of holding his own. Tailor of Panama being a case in point. I think an earlier post knocked his performance in The Ghost Writer, but again I'd say that he was pretty decent in that.

Kennon

Getafix said:
Watch out Bain, you wouldn't know it but apparently there's a no-swearing rule in place, although the mods apply it randomly.

When given the right part Brozza is more than capable of holding his own. Tailor of Panama being a case in point. I think an earlier post knocked his performance in The Ghost Writer, but again I'd say that he was pretty decent in that.

Brosnan can be quite extraordinary when given the right part. The Blair-type character in The Ghost and the smarmy agent in Tailor are two parts that really let him shine. I daresay there's an actor in Brosnan that was damaged by his conventional good looks and a part that was so much larger than life. He's no Olivier but he could have been a fine actor in his own right.

Getafix

As much as I disliked him as Bond, I am more than happy to see him in other parts. Brozza actually has hidden depths as an actor. A shame the Bond producers never saw his true potential, which was as a flawed/corrupted Bond. Instead they made him the blandest of the all the screen incaranations.

BAIN123

I think the biggest irony is that, whatever you may think of Brozza as Bond, he probably has more in common with bond in the real world than any of the other actors (except perhaps Laz). He's cocky, he's arrogant, he seems a bit quick tempered at times, he's handsome as hell, he's a widower and he spent most of his childhood away from his family.

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