What Emmanuelle Movie Did You Just Watch?

[Matt]

For the record, I happen to really like Brosnan in other films. I just think that he was incredibly misused as Bond.

[Captain Russ]

How do you feel about my statements on Brosnan, though? Just curious. I'd honestly take Lazenby over him in the Bond role.

And I LIKE Pierce Brosnan. He's been great in other movies. I just don't think that Bond suited him.

If he'd put a little of his Matador persona into it, made Bond the lecherous fuckpig he should be at the 00-agent age (Where the fuck do they find these fortysomething dudes to die for queen and country? It's a babby's game.) then I think The Bros would be GOAT Bond.

Enjoyed his outings, but Die Another Dumpsterdive showed how fucking bored he was at the time. Still seemed like he was having fun in The World is Not Enough. His nonchalant bullet dodge in the library in Goldeneye was the shit. None of those other leather belts with the funny accents held a candle to that boss-ass groove.

[Matt]

Seeing Brosnan play THE MATADOR as Bond would have been amazing. As it was, he played Bond as Thomas Crown. Personally, I loved his version of THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, but that's not Bond.

[Timothy225]

Dalton is maybe questionable, but you're way off on Moore and Lazenby. Both of them have major play.

Gotta agree with "M" here - Moore was a good-looking mofo back in the day, even when he was The Saint, as was Lazenby.

As for Brosnan, I never had problems at all with him as Bond. Hell, if it wasn't for his Remington Steele commitments, he would've been Bond instead of Dalton. Dude was suave, had the gravitas Bond has in the books, and seemed to pull a lot of the best elements from the previous bonds into a solid package.

Also down with the Goldeneye love.

[Ben Thomas]

The moment in Goldeneye I was sold on Brosnan as Bond: he's hiding behind a wall in the middle of a gunfight, enemy machine gun fire bouncing off the wall beside his head while he sets a timer on a bomb (I think). And he just edges the slightest bit to the side, with an annoyed frown. Its just a lovely little moment showing that he acknowledges his ludicrous invincibility and yet sells it at the same time.

He deserved better films to showcase his take on Bond.

[Matt]

That was a good Bond moment, Ben.

[Anderson]

He deserved better films to showcase his take on Bond.

This is the underpinning of Brosnan's time with the character. One of the most fucked over actors in the legacy, yet he also the most audience friendly. In time, he'll get that Roger Moore gloss that comes with nostalgic appreciation.

Goldeneye, half of Tomorrow Never Dies and half of World is Not Enough are fucking great movies.

It's just that he had one good entry, a Spy Who Loved Me knock off, a half baked exercise going dark and then Lee Tamahori shat on his chest.

[Timothy225]

I think Ben nailed it - the films themselves could've been better, Goldeneye notwithstanding, of course. The Brosnan films do have moments of greatness, but more often than not, they're also a bit uneven.

[BillyG]

Yeah I think he's a great Bond in some fucking miserable films.

[B_Metal]

Yeah I think he's a great Bond in some fucking miserable films.

That about sums it up.

[Matt]

TOMORROW NEVER DIES.

GOLDENEYE is a better film, but TND is a better Bond film. Brosnan feels more like Bond here, performance wise. It has a lot of duff elements to it (Stamper is a boring, shitty Red Grant clone, the Vincent Schiavelli is wasted in a scene that is tonally off from the rest of the film, Pryce is over-hamming it up) but it's overall pretty solid.

[Ben Thomas]

Its totally a Spy Who Loved Me rip off, with none of the charm. I love Yeoh as a non-romantic foil in terms of Bond girls, but Pryce's character is dreadful. All the rest of the film has in its favour is a couple of decent set-pieces. Brosnan has one and a half set-pieces worth in him after TND (the pre-credits sequence of TWINE and some of the setup of DAD) before his tenure is spent.

[Martin]

Anything post-Goldeneye for the Brosnan era is pure garbage for me. Like, "sledgehammer to the dick" kind of bad.

Casino Royale, even if it felt like a Bourne wannabe, took me right back. Before losing me with Quantum of Solzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

So, if the buzz for Skyfall is correct, I should be back on board.

[PHEDG]

The opening sequence to Skyfall is amazing.

[Ben Thomas]

Agreed, one for the ages. If the film has one problem its that its never as exciting as that opening sequence again.

And I honestly think more people need to give QoS another go round. Its no classic, but I think its got a lot going for it.