JAMES BOND 007 MAGAZINE | BILLION DOLLAR BOND!

Moving onto safer territory, the climactic fight between Bond and Trevelyan is smashing in its physicality. Brosnan is fast, strong and believable in the fight atop the satellite tower in a scene that was timed out to mirror the Sean Connery/Robert Shaw train fight in From Russia With Love.

By the end of the film it was apparent that Pierce Brosnan was up to the challenge of being James Bond. Brosnan looked good in the clothes, he moved well and he was a decent enough actor. All of these elements are essential in making a good James Bond.

Pierce Brosnan in action as James Bond in GoldenEye (1995)

Contrasting Brosnan’s debut with the ‘unsuccessful 007s’; George Lazenby looked good and moved well but couldn’t really act, while Timothy Dalton could act up a storm but appeared uncomfortable in the clothes. Plus Dalton took the role too seriously (Sean Connery’s criticism) which hearkens back to an English critic’s comment, ‘that with James Bond, we do not want to see Laurence Olivier in a crocodile pit’.

On all fronts Pierce Brosnan fulfilled his brief as James Bond with GoldenEye. A moribund series was revived and both the critics and cinema-going public accepted him in the role. In fact, GoldenEye became the top grossing Bond film in the series up to that point.

Bond was definitely back – but where could it go from there?

Yesterday Never Lies

Having met his marks in GoldenEye, Pierce Brosnan returned as James Bond in the 1997 film Tomorrow Never Dies. Bowing to some criticism that he was too slighter build, Brosnan purportedly gained 20 pounds to give himself a fuller face and a weightier presence.

Having established James Bond’s place in a 1990s landscape the new film could spend more time being a grand slam action film. As such, Tomorrow Never Dies is perhaps the best Pierce Brosnan James Bond film because it is structured along classic Bond lines. There is a middle-aged villain (Jonathan Pryce), a souped-up car (BMW 750iL) and a race against time to stop a nefarious scheme to ferment a war between Britain and China.

The biggest departure for the James Bond character in Tomorrow Never Dies is the back-story relationship with Paris Carver played by Teri Hatcher. An awkward situation is set up by having the villain’s wife being one of James Bond’s past romances. The meeting between Bond and Paris is noteworthy for the way she slaps his face during the opening moments of their conversation. In the best Cary Grant style, Brosnan shrugs it off with a pithy comeback. There is however a glint of vulnerability in Brosnan’s eyes. Does Brosnan/Bond regret playing with the emotions of his many conquests? Trevelyan mocked Bond for this in GoldenEye, and maybe the criticism has stuck.

Pierce Brosnan and Teri Hatcher in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

All of Brosnan’s best scenes in the film occur with or around Teri Hatcher’s character. The encounter between Bond and Paris in his hotel room stands out. Brosnan is cool yet vulnerable, testy yet alert. A dark undercurrent of longing and desire infuses both Bond and Paris in this scene.

The sequel to this is Bond’s encounter with Paris’ murderer, Dr. Kaufman (played by Vincent Schiavelli), in the same hotel room. Brosnan registers pain and regret on seeing Paris dead on his bed. His confrontation with Kaufman elicits some wry laughter before the tables are turned and Brosnan gets the upper hand. When Kaufman pleads for mercy Bond dispatches Kaufman by invoking his professionalism. It is perhaps Brosnan’s best moment as James Bond.

Pierce Brosnan despatches Dr. Kaufman (Vincent Schiavelli) in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

The rest of the film is a highly enjoyable action romp in the best Bond tradition but alas left little room for drama. Elements of the Brosnan touch are evident throughout though; the Conneryesque grace as Brosnan breaks into Carver’s lab, Brosnan’s facial expressions as he contemplates Jonathan Pryce’s ravings about ‘having his divisions’ and especially managing to look cool handcuffed to Michelle Yeoh on a motorcycle, another situation in which Roger Moore or Timothy Dalton would have looked foolish.

Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

As such it’s inaccurate to say that Brosnan grew into the James Bond role in Tomorrow Never Dies because his take on the role was fully formed by the end of GoldenEye. Brosnan had some great opportunities in his second film to illustrate what made the Brosnan/Bond successful. The desire to have more ‘acting’ to do as James Bond would lead to changes in his next film, but the results were a mixed bag.

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