Happy Birthday Mr. Brosnan….Day 136 of Bond 365

I was out and about today and after enjoying Stuart Gibbs’ Spy School, I had to pick up the second and third books, Spy Camp and Evil Spy School. Ben Ripley returns for both books. And, I had the good fortune that the bookstore actually stocked the British version of GQ, which features an in depth article and cover of Austrian Christoph Waltz. I thought I was going to have to search eBay for a copy and now I don’t have to – yay! Anyway, reviews coming soon!

Pierce Brendan Brosnan

Born this day in 1953

James Bond in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (video game)

His likeness for James Bond 007: Nightfire (video game)

It’s birthday wishes to Mr. Pierce Brosnan who donned James Bond tuxedo for four films that spanned across two decades. If things had worked out between the producers at Eon Productions and the NBC television show Remington Steele, Brosnan’s reign as the suave British secret agent would have started with The Living Daylights (1987) when Timothy Dalton was originally not available. It would have been interesting to see what Brosnan brought to the table and the tone he would have set with those storylines. I don’t think we would have had the darkness of Dalton, but I believe that Brosnan would have tempered the over-the-top humor that defined Sir Roger Moore’s era.

We could speculate all day, but in the end, Brosnan came to Bond with GoldenEye (1995), which was his best outing. The actors collected for the film coupled with the story, worked well, however, I don’t think there was chemistry between Brosnan and his Bond Girls in the film. I actually turn to Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and his on-screen chemistry with Michelle Yeoh, as Wai Lin, as the best Bond/Bond Girl relationship of the four films. Personally, I thought the storyline for Die Another Day derailed the franchise and unfortunately, Brosnan as Bond.

 Looking at the rest of Brosnan’s filmography, I realized that I had not seen very many of his movies. And, I never watched Remington Steele. I did see November Man and it was an entertaining film. It was great seeing Brosnan back in action, however I felt Olga Kurylenko’s ability to do action was missing, which she was capable of holding her own in Quantum of Solace (2008). Instead, she was relegated to portray an inept, damaged woman, who looks hot in a little party dress and wig. Of the films I haven’t seen, Seraphim Falls (2006) the western starring Brosnan and Liam Neeson looked intriguing, because I like westerns and I’m fascinated by Civil War storylines.

Anyway, there are several projects in the hopper for Brosnan for the rest of year, so there will be many opportunities to see our former James Bond at our local cinema house in the coming months.

Bond Trivia: Goldfinger (1964) was the first Bond film that Brosnan saw in the cinema. This film, along with Lawrence of Arabia (1962), greatly influenced him and inspired him to pursue acting.

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