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You know I can't imagine Sir Nov without his delectable and iconic facial furniture.
@mtm I wonder if Fleming knew Niven as a Commando?
Thanks! :)
PIERCE BROSNAN
Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in
GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002).
Pierce ended up in only one top 3, which was however a first place, making him the lowest-ranked in general who is also someone's absolute favourite 007.
He did complete six more top 5's, with two 4th and four 5th places. Five 6th places and, crucially, three penultimate places sealed the deal though. To put things in perspective, that's three members preferring at least one non-EON Bond over Pierce.
The only Bond that had no Fleming material to work with did bring in some excellent box office figures and was, and I think still is, very popular amongst general audiences. Children of the 90's will also remember his era as a succesful videogame period for 007.
Unfortunately for Pierce, the distinct academy that makes up this particular game, decided that was not enough to end up higher in the overall ranking.
In total Pierce Brosnan obtained 71 points.
(I'm afraid I totally forgot to enter my ranking so I'm here purely as an observer)
Still, a bit of controversy keeps things interesting!
So far, my ranking 100% agrees with this game.
Personally, I think he is excellent at being a good-looking, fun-loving, action and humour-oriented 007. I'd say the more dramatic moments might not have been his forte, but his 007 is elegant and funny in my book, a Bond one would very much like to be.
His non-Bond work (apart from that ABBA thing) has been excellent as well I think, and while we're not rating that here, I thought it fair to mention it.
Overall he's my 5th favourite Bond, by no means because I don't like him, on the contrary, it's just that I like four others even more.
I personally rate his performance in GE very highly. Actually I’d argue it was a stronger, more confident screen effort than either of Dalton’s. I consider it one of the best Bond performances. I really like him in TND too, and despite a few odd moments and the material he had to work with, I actually think he’s generally good in DAD.
Easily, yeah.
There is so much an actor can do with the material he's given and Brosnan certainly wasn't to blame for the mostly dire dialogue he was gifted.
Definitely a fine actor, but the trademark smugness which may be appealing in a character like Remington Steel, is much less befitting a character like Bond in my opinion.
As for Lazenby, he can be derided till kingdom come, but for my money he exceeded Brosnan in just about every department, except for looks.
I ranked Brosnan 5th. In GE, his performance is appropriately stoic, but I can't really think of any defining feature or moment for his Bond in the film.
In Tomorrow Never Dies Brosnan turns up the charm and his Bond performance reaches the Connery-Moore averageness that he's generally known for. There are some serious moments, and Brosnan does well with them, but he also does well with the lighter moments, giving a more well-rounded performance than Goldeneye.
TWINE is a mixed bag. Sometimes Brosnan does too much, but he still balances serious and light relatively well.
DAD is perhaps his best performance. He makes some of the sillier lines and scenes a bit more serious, and he gives quite a good performance across the first hour when the material demands his credulity.
Unfortunately, I couldn't push him higher than fifth. Lazenby was carried quite a bit by his film, and Brosnan was a better ambassador regardless, so he got into 5th comfortably. With the other four, you had the two biggest icons of Bond (Connery and Craig), and two actors who I really enjoy in their Bond films (Moore and Dalton). Even though he was great, and probably deserved higher, I couldn't make any space for him.
For what it's worth, my impression is he can be a bit of a marmite Bond. Obviously many fans and casual viewers love him, but I've also had conversations with some who are much more lukewarm on him or don't seem to like him/his later films. To be honest, I can sort of understand perhaps not finding him the most convincing Bond and not liking many of his films (I'm sure many people would say the same about Roger Moore). I do rate him highly though (even though I wouldn't personally rank the actors I think there's a very good case to say he was a better Bond than Dalton, or at least put in more natural performances. You can say the same when comparing him to Lazenby. Honestly, if we were to rank actors on individual performances, I'd say his TND and GE ones would outrank a few of Connery and Moore's, and I'd prefer them to some of Craig's too).
Again, I think he's similar to Moore in many ways. Taken with wide voters/polls, are either generally ranked as the best Bonds? Probably not. Then again I suppose it's always Connery by default (which, as much as I like Connery, is a bit of a cop out in its own way, especially when you consider/hone in on his individual performances. Let's be honest, him as number one will most likely be the outcome of this one anyway). But both Bonds have their fans, and both are very important actors for the series.
For me it's just a simple case of liking other Bonds more, I still genuinely like Pierce in the role and did not enjoy putting him so low.
I suppose another reason some might not take to Pierce as much has to do with what his Bond does during some of the films. Much as I love his take on the character, there are a few moments where he becomes a bit too similar to a generic action hero and less similar to James Bond - Masterspy. For example the various shootouts he’s in - particularly Goldeneye where he’s mowing down Russian guards who are more than likely innocent to the whole proceedings. That doesn’t really scream “James Bond” but as someone who spent countless hours on Nightfire and Everything or Nothing as a kid it felt par for course.
I have to say that even after GE it felt like the filmmakers lightened up his Bond in more ways than one - he does sort of lose that edge and wouldn’t fully regain it until DAD of all films haha. I’d have to agree with you for the most part though - my first exposure to the Bond films was Pierce in both GE and TND and I hold those two performances in high regard as being my favorite iteration of the character. Just wish he was ranked a bit higher that’s all but oh well.
That’s understandable - you already know the rest of my rankings but I felt the same way when it came to putting some of the other actors on here. I can’t say I’ll be looking forward to any potential backlash when I reveal my choices but I’m very proud of how far I came along with my Number 2 and 3 picks - I felt it made for a nice unique ranking of the actors.
I'm far from a Brosnan hater, but no-no-no! That barnet is way too bouffant for my liking! :D
Put me down as more of a TWINE-style fan. Maybe this can be GoldenGun's next ranking: the hairstyles of Bond :)
I don't know one way or the other. Maybe. I mean, as someone who loves Bond infiltrating the ship in TND with his machine guns and bullet proof vest (very 90s action hero) perhaps it's just something I'm ok with. I've also played NF and EON when I was younger so there's that! Honestly, for all my criticisms of NTTD I kind of love Bond going in guns blazing into Safin's lair as if he's in a video game.
I know what you mean. I think with TND onwards they simply played to the naturally strong qualities of Brosnan, as they did with other actors in their second or third films. I think he's got some great dramatic moments in TND though (honestly, I think one of the most Fleming-esque images of the cinematic Bond series is Brosnan's 007 waiting up all night for assassins to enter his hotel room while drinking straight vodka. Dalton could have done with a scene like that frankly! Love how he plays that later scene with Paris too).
I guess it's the nature of ranking actors individually. The consensus, whatever it is and indeed however big it is, will rank some lower. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if Roger Moore came next in these rankings (although that's less likely, but he could come lower than, say, Dalton in fan rankings as we have here, which is a somewhat unusual result on a wider basis). Ah, whatever way Brosnan's has his legacy as Bond. For many he's their favourite. That's all that matters.
Awh I love his style in GE haha. I'll admit it most certainly looks as if it required lots of time and maintenance - too much for a secret agent perhaps but I'd give an arm and a leg to steal his set of hair. I like his TWINE cut too but I prefer how it looks in DAD with just a little more length on the top. It looks great here in this photo!
I'd most certainly be up for a discussion or game about the hairstyles of Bond - though for some it might be a bit of an unfair game ;)
Oh yeah I love the stealth boat shootout in TND too - and Brosnan really sells the look of the tactical outfit and always looks badass when firing a machine gun. And I loved watching Craig get to do the same thing in NTTD. I remember watching that final stairwell shootout and feeling like I was transported back in time to watching the Brosnan films and I liked that. Craig had a pretty awesome tactical outfit too during that final set piece - one of his best looks as Bond imo.
Another great moment too - especially when he's dealing with Paris walking in and how he chooses to act to her. Brosnan did a great job at selling those "Flemingesque" moments it just felt as if they were too few and far between really. I would've loved to see how he would have fared in a more "down to earth" story. Not necessarily Casino Royale because I'm glad we have the film as we have it and I think Craig was the perfect actor for it (much like how Pierce was the perfect actor for GE or Connery for DN, or Moore for LALD) but my mind always wanders to the hypothetical "5th" Brosnan film that never was. In many ways it could've been his FYEO - which I find fascinating. But things worked out for the best.
If Moore came in the next position in these rankings then I'd have my hands in the air fully! Joking aside ranking these actors is not an easy task - I can see why you and others have opted not to join the game. It was incredibly tough for me to come up with a ranking for the actors (the EON ones at least) - and I'll have an even tougher time justifying some of my other picks. That's the best thing about Bond though isn't it? There isn't a right and wrong answer for who is the definitive Bond (unless we bring Fleming's Bond into the mix) nor for what the Best Bond film is. It's all in service of keeping this wonderful legacy going - and that's what makes it all fun!
I like Brosnan's haircuts in Bond. Looks fantastic in some of those GE promo photos with the coma of hair (very Fleming).
Connery's DN style is another one of my favorites even though it is really just a toupee. It did go over everywhere when they didn't have it brushed and held down though. Compare this shot.
To this;
I like it when Bond has a bit of length on his hair - I kind of wish Craig went for a style a bit more like this but I also think the haircuts he was given suit his take perfectly. Really I'd be okay with any style as long as we don't get another "Count Dracula" haircut like the one they gave Dalton.
Need a happy middle with the next Bond I suppose! Not as short as Craig's, but not quite as 'put together' as the others. Something that can look ruffled up convincingly between fight sequences and shots/the editing process... although I'm not sure any lead's hairstyle can truly withstand the editing process (not that anyone should notice ideally).