pierce brosnan | the m0vie blog

The Six Faces of 007: Timothy Dalton

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate James Bond’s 50th birthday on screen (and the release of Skyfall), we’re going to take a look at the character and his films. We’ve already reviewed all the classic movies, so we’ll be looking at his iconic baddies, and even at the character himself.

Timothy Dalton’s tenure as Bond is almost as divisive as that of George Lazenby, the only actor to serve a shorter term in the iconic role. However, in the years since Dalton departed the franchise, I’ll admit that I’ve grown quite fond of his interpretation of the British secret agent. Between The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill, I think that Dalton portrayed the most human and most tangible of the character’s screen personas, and I think that he suffers from being cast twenty years too early in the part. Certainly, one can see a lot of Daniel Craig’s whittled-down take on the character in Dalton’s two outings as 007.

Dalton’s taken quite a beating…

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Albert R. Broccoli, bond, Dalton, George Lazenby, GoldenEye, ian fleming, james bond, James Bond in film, Living Daylights, pierce brosnan, Roger Moore, sean connery, timothy dalton | 8 Comments »

The Six Faces of 007: George Lazenby

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Darren

George Lazenby stands out as perhaps the strangest on-screen Bond. He only appeared in a single film before retiring from the role, shortly before the premiere, causing such a crisis that the studio paying a huge amount of money to re-hire Sean Connery for Diamonds Are Forever. His one film, however, stands out as one of the very few movies in the series to give the character Bond a logical character arc, and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service remains one of the most polarising films in the series. I actually think that Lazenby’s tenure is perhaps the one that lends itself best to the “multiple Bonds” theory, as he plays the version of the character harder to reconcile with the other portrayals.

And not just because of that awkward line that closes the opening sequence. There’s a lot here that never happened to the other fellas.

Washed up?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bond, George Lazenby, james bond, James Bond in film, Lazenby, Movie, on her majesty's secret service, pierce brosnan, Roger Moore, sean connery, timothy dalton | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Darren

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol reminds me – and, I feel the need to specify this, in a good way – of one of the Bond films from before Casino Royale made them all grittier and edgier. No disrespect to that fantastic film, but the relatively serious remodelling of Britain’s most famous secret agent left a bit of a gap in the market for an espionage thriller that doesn’t take itself too seriously. And while Ghost Protocol takes a great deal of pride in doing what it sets out to do with a great deal of skill, it certainly never takes itself too seriously. And that proves to be a very good thing, indeed.

Keeping me on edge...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Brad Bird, casino royale, film, Ghost Protocol, imax, Michael Nyqvist, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Movie, non-review review, pierce brosnan, review, Simon Pegg | 8 Comments »

James Bond January in Review

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Darren

It’s been a while since I’ve written one of these, and I’m not sure I should bring them back – but, hey, it might be nice to have an index of all the James Bond January shenanigans I got up to this January. Let’s start with the reviews of the 22 films – all of them:

Sean Connery
- Dr. No
- From Russia With Love
- Goldfinger
- Thunderball
- You Only Live Twice
George Lazenby
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Sean Connery, again
- Diamonds Are Forever
Roger Moore
Timothy Dalton
- The Living Daylights
- Licence to Kill
Pierce Brosnan
- GoldenEye
- Tomorrow Never Dies
- The World is Not Enough
- Die Another Day
Daniel Craig
- Casino Royale
- Quantum of Solace

I also did some James Bond related posts in the month. I wondered about the “James Bond is just a codename” theory, pondered what Bond 23 might have in store for the franchise and wondered if Bond gets away with so much because we dismiss a lot of its British nationalism as “quaint”.

Apart from all that, I wondered if the film 300 was actually racist, and dared to suggest it wasn’t. I took a look at Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming X-Men: First Class and superhero nostalgia. I also pondered what Christopher Nolan’s Bane might look like. It was a fun month, and I hope that next month will be just as exciting.

Thanks again to Paragraph Films for throwing the whole “James Bond January” thing together. It was a joy to take part.

Filed under: Months in Review | Tagged: films, George Lazenby, GoldenEye, james bond, james bond january, Movies, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film), pierce brosnan, Scotland, sean connery, the living daylights | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Casino Royale

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Darren

This post is part of James Bond January, being organised by the wonderful Paragraph Films. I will have reviews of all twenty-two official Bond films going on-line over the next month, and a treat or two every once in a while.

Casino Royale was breath of fresh air for the Bond franchise. The twenty-first film in the series, it represented something akin to a “back to basics” philosophy, pulling back from the camp excesses of Die Another Day to offer us a version of Bond which was a thriller rather than an action comedy. It’s a familiar pattern for low-key entries to follow over-the-top instalments (after all, the producers followed Moonraker with For Your Eyes Only), but arguably not to the same extent. While other movies made the pretense of operating within the same continuity (with numerous references, for example, to Bond’s marriage from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), Casino Royale was an attempt to completely start from scratch, with a new actor playing a James Bond who was new to his 00-agent status.

What’s on the cards for Bond?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: casino royale, daniel craig, eva green, GoldenEye, james bond, james bond january, mads mikkelson, Movies, non-review review, pierce brosnan, quantum of solace, quentin tarantino, review, Roger Moore, vesper, vesper lynd | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Die Another Day

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Darren

A new watch. Your twentieth, I believe.

How time flies.

– Q and Bond go all meta on us

I next joined Pierce and co at the premiere of Die Another Day in 2002, which marked the 40th anniversary of the series. When asked later what I thought of the film, I merely said “interesting”. In truth I thought it just went too far – and that’s from me, the first Bond in space! Invisible cars and dodgy CGI footage? Please! They gave the public what they wanted, though maybe they too realised there was only so far they could push it before Bond became a caricature of himself, and the funeral directors were called in.

– Sir Roger Moore, who seems like a lovely guy

Truth be told, Die Another Day doesn’t quite deserve the reputation that it has earned over the years. But, then again, I can appreciate A View to a Kill, so what do I know?

Close, but no cigar...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: British Empire, diamonds, Die Another Day, Elliot Carver, film, gustav graves, history, homage, james bond, james bond january, Movie, non-review review, pierce brosnan, reference, review, Roger Moore, toby stephens, United States | 11 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The World Is Not Enough

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Darren

The World is Not Enough is a mess of a film, even by the standards of the Bond films. It proposes some interesting ideas and has some neat concepts, but there’s also some really stupid moments thrown in as well. If Tomorrow Never Dies was Pierce Brosnan doing tribute to later Sean Connery films, this him stuck in homage to Roger Moore – a few smart and emotional moments scattered over a large serving of camp, like vanilla pods mixed into the most bland vanilla ice cream you could imagine. It’s not a terrible film, but it’s so wildly inconsistent that it’s far less satisfying than generally weaker instalments.

That's the crushing weight of expectation, right there...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Christopher Nolan, Elektra King, GoldenEye, james bond, james bond january, judi dench, m, Movie, non-review review, pierce brosnan, renard, review, robert carlyle, Roger Moore, sean connery, sophie marceau, The World Is Not Enough, tomorrow never dies | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Tomorrow Never Dies

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Darren

What the hell is he doing?

His job.

– Admiral Roebuck and M watch Bond do the impossible before the opening titles

I have a confession to make. I unapologetically love Tomorrow Never Dies. It’s the first Bond movie I saw in the cinema, with my dad and brother while on a shopping trip up North. I believe the girls went to see Titanic. It’s my first cinematic Bond experience, a perhaps that’s why I am somewhat fonder memory of the film than most – but, even on reflection, I still hold the movie in high regard. I just think it’s the perfect companion piece to the superb GoldenEye. While Martin Campbell’s film was about deconstructing the spy, showing how useless he was in times of peace and arguing he was “a relic of the Cold War” who needed updating and introspection, this Bond film was about how he can do all the cool stuff he used to, even after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Sure, it’s not as deep, smart or sophisticated as the earlier film, but it’s an unashamed throwback to the classic Bond films – and what’s wrong with that?

By the way, how telling is it that – while Bond used to drive a snazzy sports car in the sixties – he drives a family sedan in the nineties?

I'm pretty sure that the only reason Tomorrow Never Dies is because Bond never tried to kill it...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: British Empire, China, daniel craig, Elliot Carver, ernst stavro blofeld, film, GoldenEye, james bond, james bond january, jonathan pryce, List of James Bond villains, m, michelle yeoh, Movie, Nintendo, non-review review, paris carver, pierce brosnan, review, sean connery, teri hatcher, tomorrow never dies, uk, Vincent Schiavelli, war, Wii | 8 Comments »

Non-Review Review: GoldenEye

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Darren

GoldenEye saved James Bond. Bond had wallowed in obscurity for six years by the time that Pierce Brosnan’s first appearance in the role was released. As a kid, James Bond was something that was dead to me. Sure, it came on television from time to time (mostly on holidays) and they filled up a shelf at the videostore, but I always felt like they were something that had happened in the past – like the original Star Wars movies, or any Star Trek films featuring Captain Kirk. Even though I lacked the sophistication to articulate it at the time, I think I felt that the entire James Bond franchise would be reruns for me. There was nothing new happening.

And then GoldenEye was released.

Brosnan is Bond...

And it meant business.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 006, alan cumming, alec travelyn, bond, Cold War, famke janssen, films, GoldenEye, jack wade, james bond, james bond january, joe don baker, martin campbell, Movies, non-review review, pierce brosnan, revenge, review, sean bean, sean connery, Soviet Union, Tina Turner, Wii, xenia onatopp | 12 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Licence to Kill

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Darren

This post is part of James Bond January, being organised by the wonderful Paragraph Films. I will have reviews of all twenty-two official Bond films going on-line over the next month, and a treat or two every once in a while.

Licence to Kill is the Bond movie that almost killed the franchise. The gap between the release of this movie in 1989 and GoldenEye in 1995 is the longest period that the film series has been left dormant. Although the legal issues surrounding the series hardly helped ensure the British secret agent’s return to the big screen, there’s also the fact that this movie was something of a box office dud in the States. (Although it was quite successful elsewhere.) Licence to Kill is perhaps the most divisive of the Bond movies – even more so than On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Detractors see it as a poor attempt to emulate Miami Vice, indulging in ridiculously over-the-top violence and darkness for the sake of darkness. Fans argue that the movie is a lot closer to Ian Fleming’s original novels, and feels more like the recent relaunch of the franchise – it’s a perfect bedfellow with Casino Royale or Quantum of Solace. My opinion is somewhere in the middle.