The Brosnan era was actually more fun for Bond fans

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  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,026
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    peter wrote: »
    It’s strange: I think Dalton is a head and tails a better Bond than Brosnan, BUT, I do think Brosnan c. 1986/7 would have been a kick ass Bond; the one early role Brosnan had that I loved was The Fourth Protocol. He was stone-cold and believable. If that actor played Bond I think he would have been tremendous. I also think his youth would have made him somewhat fearless in the role.

    Yeah I think that's bang on- the cold Protocol Brosnan would have worked very well in this. I think we'd also have got the comedy squinty Pierce of Remington Steel and the Diet Coke ads as well, but I don't think that's a bad thing as people loved all that and the audience would have most probably connected with him better. And in Daylights he would have landed a few of the gags better than Tim did- I think even his greatest fans acknowledge that he wasn't at his most comfortable with the laughs.

    Yeh, and of course we all go to see Bond movies for the comedy!

    A great many people see the humour as part of the Bond package, so yes.

    It wouldnt be the top reason for many, certainly not for me!

    Well, to be fair, nobody claimed it was the "top reason". It's just one of the many reasons.
  • Leon12Leon12 England
    Posts: 16
    Everyone will have their own favourite Bond and era, some of it will be down to your age and what you grew up with other, others because they liked a particular actor over another, each to their own, there is no right or wrong answer. Personally Daniel Craig is my favourite Bond and his films my favourite Bond films. Why, because he made what had become increasingly a comic book fantasy character real, or certainly humanised him and tried to look at what it would do to the psyche of a person if they killed people for a living and lived in a world in which you could not trust anyone. The films were also of better quality with better actors and writers and directors. He also modernised the character, I know some people won't like this, but the world has changed since 1962 and even more so since the 50's when the books were written, attitudes change and the films have to reflect that.
  • MSL49MSL49 Finland
    Posts: 395
    Good candidates in 86 brosnan dalton neill.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 2,923
    True: a hardcore choice (Dalton), a populist choice (Brosnan) and some good outliers. Can't see any obvious counterparts today, but no one saw foresaw Craig either, so...
  • Posts: 372
    Just to be fair, I also wish that Timothy had come back up to DAD. He would have made the Brosnan films much more violent.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,894
    I don't think Dalton would have stayed on as long that, up to 2002. He still looked the part, even with that shorter hair he had in Possessed (2002). 4 is the number of films I imagine Dalton doing. 1987-93. I wouldn't be surprised if Brosnan were still cast in 1995, he'd already tested for the part. His first film wouldn't have had the benefit of the 6 year gap, but I think it still could have worked.
  • FeyadorFeyador Montreal, Canada
    edited November 2021 Posts: 735
    Venutius wrote: »
    It's quite marked how often people have looked at Brosnan in other roles and said they wished he'd played Bond more like that, though, no? Ok, no one thinks he had anything like Craig's ability, but it does suggest that he actually might've been capable of giving it a bit more depth if he'd been given the chance. Painface notwithstanding, obvs. ;)

    It's funny ... but while not his best, obviously, as it's just a couple of scenes, my favourite Brosnan performance has always been his (literally) walk-on part as the silent, smirking, gum-chewing IRA killer in The Long Good Friday.

    I first saw the film in the early '80s, long before any Bond connection (it was made before FYEO) or, indeed, any knowledge of what he would become, and those scenes stayed with me. Perhaps it was the shock ending, but its clear that Brosnan's babyfaced smirk in the film grows just a little wider as Bob Hoskins slowly becomes reconciled with the inevitable fate awaiting him in the back of that car.

    Maybe just a hint, but that's Brosnan as one cold SOB ...


  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 2,923
    That was the first time I saw Brosnan too. Didn't realise it at the time, though, only when I saw it again years later!
  • BirdlesonBirdleson Moderator
    edited November 2021 Posts: 2,161
    What constitute fun, I guess, is the question. I haven't seen an audience enjoy a Bond film with genuine unified gusto since the '70s. That palpable feeling that we're all in this together , with the laughs and gasps and applause. SF was a good deal more audience friendly than any Bond film in years, but it still lacked that rollicking sheer sense of joint adventure that I used to feel in an audience. Maybe it's cell phones, or just that fans are used to watching these films alone at home now, but that matinee feeling of excitement left in the early '80s. Those old enough to remember, do you agree? Because I have never felt that audience rush since the days of Hamilton and Gilbert. I guess you had to be there, but the early STAR WARS films were fun in the same way (nowadays, with that franchise, you just get hoots from the diehards when a reference that they recognize is mentioned, no spontaneous joy, not the same thing). The '60s films I cannot attest to, I saw most of them at the drive-in, where there is little to no audience vibe. But in response to the original post, I don't think Bond films have been genuinely "fun" since the '70s. But yes, I would agree that the Brosnan years were more fun for fans than today's fare, if for no other reasons the regularity of product, and the lack of heavy continuity to bog things down.
  • Posts: 526
    peter wrote: »
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    The first time I even saw a photo of Dalton in the papers, I knew immediately that he was Bond. Don't think they could've found anyone else at that time who embodied it so completely.

    Completely agree! When I sat in the cinema in Summer 1987 watching TLD , and that first dramatic shot of Dalton as he turned to camera, I knew I was in for something special! Was elated coming out at the end!
    He is still, ( Sorry Daniel!) James Bond to me!

    One helluva PTS…. And a great intro.

    I think he did nail so many parts of Bond and I still, to this day, love when he spies on Pushkin from his car, and then when he confronts him in the hotel room. Just a perfect sequence.

    Big Dalton fam here too. I got the same feeling when I first Daniel Craig in the pts of Casino. It was like “wow,” this is going to be amazing. “The second is ...” ....bang! “Yes....considerably.”
  • KenAustinKenAustin United States
    Posts: 226
    The Brosnan era arguably breathed life back into the franchise. I'm a big fan, I personally thought Brosnan fit the mold of what Bond was supposed to act and look like...at least since the Connery era. Dalton was close but there was something about the writing that just didn't sell me at that time.
  • Brosnan like Moore were good Bonds for their respective eras but I prefer grittier acting
  • KenAustinKenAustin United States
    Posts: 226
    Brosnan like Moore were good Bonds for their respective eras but I prefer grittier acting

    Can't disagree with preference...I think the acting has less to do with the actor to an extent and more to do with the writing and direction...Brosnan could have easily performed a more grittier role in Goldeneye as Craig did in CR had it been written and directed that way
  • DeathToSpies84DeathToSpies84 Haydock, England
    edited January 2022 Posts: 254
    peter wrote: »
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    The first time I even saw a photo of Dalton in the papers, I knew immediately that he was Bond. Don't think they could've found anyone else at that time who embodied it so completely.

    Completely agree! When I sat in the cinema in Summer 1987 watching TLD , and that first dramatic shot of Dalton as he turned to camera, I knew I was in for something special! Was elated coming out at the end!
    He is still, ( Sorry Daniel!) James Bond to me!

    One helluva PTS…. And a great intro.

    I think he did nail so many parts of Bond and I still, to this day, love when he spies on Pushkin from his car, and then when he confronts him in the hotel room. Just a perfect sequence.

    Same here. The PTS to TLD is easily the best in the series. And the interrogation scene showcases Dalton at his most intense.
  • Posts: 54
    TLD’s PTS is the best one, yeah - such a good shift from intrigue to exhilerating action with an amazing new Bond actor reveal and a top notch transition to the title sequence. Which includes a top notch title song!

    It’s a perfect 12ish minutes.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,526
    Geno wrote: »
    TLD’s PTS is the best one, yeah - such a good shift from intrigue to exhilerating action with an amazing new Bond actor reveal and a top notch transition to the title sequence. Which includes a top notch title song!

    It’s a perfect 12ish minutes.

    And then straight into pure Fleming, if I'm not mistaken? Is the first scene after the titles sequence the sniper scene? It's been awhile for me.

    But I agree with you; people must have been absolutely stoked in the theatre after the beginning of this film.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 3,985
    Geno wrote: »
    TLD’s PTS is the best one, yeah - such a good shift from intrigue to exhilerating action with an amazing new Bond actor reveal and a top notch transition to the title sequence. Which includes a top notch title song!

    It’s a perfect 12ish minutes.

    And then straight into pure Fleming, if I'm not mistaken? Is the first scene after the titles sequence the sniper scene? It's been awhile for me.

    But I agree with you; people must have been absolutely stoked in the theatre after the beginning of this film.

    I remember watching it at the cinema for the first time and thinking, 'now this is my kind of Bond film!'

    It had seemed so long since we'd had some serious Fleming in the film series.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,026
    That reminds me....

    I came across this a few weeks ago. Thought it was very well put together.

  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 2,923
    Now I'm pining for two more DaltonBonds again, goddamnit!
  • BirdlesonBirdleson Moderator
    Posts: 2,161
    I would have been happy with one more follow up, where they finally got the balance correct for the guy. Each entry contains some of my favorite scenes in the series, and both have sections that I struggle to get through (Afghanistan, the Barrel Bar, to mention one from each). To take some of the more somber, traditional aspects of Tim's portrayal in TLD, and just the right amount of intensity and darkness (and horror) from LTK, jettison the last vestiges of Moore antics and slapstick humor and cornball fights and chase scenes, and place all of that in the context of a grander, global adventure, yet still steeped in real world espionage. That would make the entire trilogy shine in retrospect.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited January 2022 Posts: 2,923
    Birdleson wrote: »
    take some of the more somber, traditional aspects of Tim's portrayal in TLD, and just the right amount of intensity and darkness (and horror) from LTK, jettison the last vestiges of Moore antics and slapstick humor and cornball fights and chase scenes, and place all of that in the context of a grander, global adventure, yet still steeped in real world espionage.

    Nailed it. 👍 That's literally everything I hoped for from a third Dalton, even though I couldn't have articulated it anywhere near as perfectly as that at the time!
  • Posts: 1,001
    Because the Moore years were so popular, I suppose they were duty bound to include slapstick bits, (most of which worked for me, 'salt corrosion' etc).
    There was one 'magic carpet scene that didn't make it. I can't remember the reason why not, but I seem to remember the reason being it was too slapstick for the Dalton era.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 2,923
    I imagine Dalton gave the carpet the silent glare and it flew off forthwith...
  • edited January 2022 Posts: 3,279
    Feyador wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    It's quite marked how often people have looked at Brosnan in other roles and said they wished he'd played Bond more like that, though, no? Ok, no one thinks he had anything like Craig's ability, but it does suggest that he actually might've been capable of giving it a bit more depth if he'd been given the chance. Painface notwithstanding, obvs. ;)

    It's funny ... but while not his best, obviously, as it's just a couple of scenes, my favourite Brosnan performance has always been his (literally) walk-on part as the silent, smirking, gum-chewing IRA killer in The Long Good Friday.

    I first saw the film in the early '80s, long before any Bond connection (it was made before FYEO) or, indeed, any knowledge of what he would become, and those scenes stayed with me. Perhaps it was the shock ending, but its clear that Brosnan's babyfaced smirk in the film grows just a little wider as Bob Hoskins slowly becomes reconciled with the inevitable fate awaiting him in the back of that car.

    Maybe just a hint, but that's Brosnan as one cold SOB ...



    My all time favourite number 1 film. And yes, Brosnan plays the ice cold killer perfectly in this.

    I've just rewatched all the Brozza films and they are better than I remembered them. Probably the one I was least impressed with was TWINE. Even DAD I can now find parts to enjoy (basically the first half).

    I did this in light of my disappointment with NTTD. In fact I've been doing this with some of the Moore ones that I also overlooked for many years. OP is much better than I remembered.

  • Posts: 6,799
    Geno wrote: »
    TLD’s PTS is the best one, yeah - such a good shift from intrigue to exhilerating action with an amazing new Bond actor reveal and a top notch transition to the title sequence. Which includes a top notch title song!

    It’s a perfect 12ish minutes.

    And then straight into pure Fleming, if I'm not mistaken? Is the first scene after the titles sequence the sniper scene? It's been awhile for me.

    But I agree with you; people must have been absolutely stoked in the theatre after the beginning of this film.

    I remember watching it at the cinema for the first time and thinking, 'now this is my kind of Bond film!'

    It had seemed so long since we'd had some serious Fleming in the film series.

    Ditto, Mate. Absolutely loved every moment of it when I saw it in a packed cinema in Summer 87!
    And after seeing it, when I read the novels now, its Dalton I always picture!
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 3,985
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Geno wrote: »
    TLD’s PTS is the best one, yeah - such a good shift from intrigue to exhilerating action with an amazing new Bond actor reveal and a top notch transition to the title sequence. Which includes a top notch title song!

    It’s a perfect 12ish minutes.

    And then straight into pure Fleming, if I'm not mistaken? Is the first scene after the titles sequence the sniper scene? It's been awhile for me.

    But I agree with you; people must have been absolutely stoked in the theatre after the beginning of this film.

    I remember watching it at the cinema for the first time and thinking, 'now this is my kind of Bond film!'

    It had seemed so long since we'd had some serious Fleming in the film series.

    Ditto, Mate. Absolutely loved every moment of it when I saw it in a packed cinema in Summer 87!
    And after seeing it, when I read the novels now, its Dalton I always picture!

    I saw it in Leicester Square during a week off work. Never forgot seeing it there for the first time.

    Left the cinema and went straight to buy the soundtrack 😁
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,930
    The TLD opening is pretty perfect. It's a lovely intro to a new Bond: action commando gear stuff with Bond doing all the Milk Tray man business in the PTS, cliff stunt into the titles; then post-titles pop him in a cool European location in a dinner suit.
    It worked so well they did it again for Pierce in GoldenEye! :)
  • Posts: 3,279
    mtm wrote: »
    The TLD opening is pretty perfect. It's a lovely intro to a new Bond: action commando gear stuff with Bond doing all the Milk Tray man business in the PTS, cliff stunt into the titles; then post-titles pop him in a cool European location in a dinner suit.
    It worked so well they did it again for Pierce in GoldenEye! :)

    TLD is one of my favourite openings, filmed in my soon-to-be new hometown Gibraltar, followed by one of the best John Barry songs, then goes into a proper full adaptation of a Fleming short story.

    Bond doesn't get much better than this for me.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,526
    All the eras were fun in their own ways.
  • Posts: 7,500
    We should change the name of the thread to "The Dalton was actually ore fun than the Brosnan era for Bond fans". ;)
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