The People's Bond

Active: 1995-2004
Appearances: Goldeneye (1995) Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) The World Is Not Enough (1999) Die Another Day (2002) Everything Or Nothing (2004) (Videogame)

2012 saw the fiftieth anniversary of the James Bond movie series, coincidentally, it was also ten years since the fifth actor to portray 007, Pierce Brosnan, had last appeared on the silver screen in the role.

I grew up watching Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton ply their trade as Britain's top secret agent/murderer on home video (remember that?) but Brosnan was the first Bond I ever saw at the cinema, and the moment is permanently affixed in my cranium.
I distinctly remember seeing the trailer for Goldeneye, (one of my favourite movie trailers of all time) and despite its hyper kinetic editing and soundtrack, it was all but confirmed there and then that Brosnan was the man for the job.

It had been a tough time for Pierce. Brosnan had been originally cast to debut in 1987s The Living Daylights, but a literal last minute renewing of cheese-fest Remington Steele crushed his hopes and the role went to Timothy Dalton instead. Then a few years later in 1991, Brosnans wife and former Bond Girl in her own right, Cassandra Harris, sadly passed away.
Around this time, the Bond series was in a dangerous hiatus, and for a while it seemed that Licence To Kill was to be 007s swansong.

Fortunately, one day word came back to Brosnan, it was on and he was in, and the rest is history.

Pierce Brosnan debuted as James Bond in 1995s Goldeneye, and with a gritty determination to prove the series was still relevant and bankable alongside with a good cast and a director (Martin Campbell) who had made it a personal mission to make the movie a complete success, Brosnan instantly took to the role he was born for and brought it blazing into the modern age. Goldeneye was an incredible critical and financial success.

"Campbell said to me: 'You better be fucking good, you better be good, you better be fucking good. Sharp as a knife' "

After Goldeneys runaway success, Brosnan went on to star in a further three films in the series. Unfortunately none of which received the same critical acclaim as his debut film, but this is where the Brosnan magic shows. Y'see, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough are both flawed Bond entries, and Die Another Day may be the worst Bond film of all time, if not just the worst film of all time.

But Brosnan never sucks.

Fully understanding the characters psyche, wit, emotions, skills and mindset, Brosnan coasts through the films with an excellent portrayal of Bond despite, not because of, the flaws in the surrounding movie. Brosnan is a fantastic 007 in bad 007 movies.
Whats more, his personal portrayal of Bond has less of an "armour" than the other versions of the character. Brosnan is likeable, amiable, and witty. Brosnan's Bond is without a doubt the most relatable to the man in the street, appearing to be real enough that he could be your drinking buddy, but still maintaining that untouchable air of sophistication, class and arrogance that are the characters trademarks.

Physically, Brosnan is spot-on. The right age for the role but still great looking, he has a very believable physical presence in fight scenes and I've gone on record to friends that no-one in any movie ever "Runs-whilst-wearing-a-suit-and-firing-a-gun" better than Pierce. When it comes time to bed down with hot dames like Famke Janssen and Sophie Marceau, Brosnan is totally believable as a man that women would be head over heels for. As opposed to Tanya Roberts going gooey-eyed for 57 year old Roger Moore. Brosnan is arguably the best looking and most stylish 007 actor to this day.

Bond and megabitch Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) A great villainess and the best thing in TWINE.

Whilst a lot of the above could be construed as opinion, there is one level of Pierce' performance that's pretty much unarguable.

In those films, Brosnan clearly loves being James Bond. He is having an absolute blast, he is proud of the character he is playing without being too po-faced about it,. He's busting his ass to make the character and the film work despite some of the horrible dialogue and scenes he is working with and not once do you get the feeling that he's bored or regretful of the role. Brosnan, more so than the previous actors, cares what the fans think about Bond himself.

A trademark flash of glee from Brosnan in TNDs great car park chase.

James Bond is a dark, vicious, arrogant and aloof son of a bitch. Brosnan manages to display these qualities whilst still being an approachable, sympathetic and vulnerable hero.
Even when he's fucking kite-surfing with Playstation-era CGI.

Oh shit, son...

Brosnan revealed in recent documentary Everything or Nothing that he was let go for numerous reasons, one of which being a need to reinvent Bond to fit a post-9/11 society. The producers feeling that people couldn't really buy the sneery toff with a fucking battlesuit as a modern day villain in the wake of real world terrorist atrocities.

Brosnan explains what a hard call it was to take, and you can read that between the lines, he really would have liked to get a couple more Bond films in the can. I personally believe that he would have adored and jumped at the opportunity to segue into the brutal, conflicted Bond we see today in Daniel Craig, but sadly for Brosnan, this wasn't to be.


Pierce Brosnan had a tough run as Bond. The films weren't terrible (apart from DAD) but had a lot of terrible things in them, but Brosnan always rose above these flaws to make sure his mark on the characters legacy was indelibly stamped, and surely it was.
Brosnan's 007 was a cool-headed, warm-hearted, sexy motherfucker of a Bond who harnessed the best aspects from his predecessors and amalgamated them into his own personal portrayal, one to be remembered fondly throughout the next fifty years.

As a fellow Bond fan once said:
"Six men became Bond but it was always Pierce Brosnan’s destiny."