53 replies to this topic

[4 Ur Eyez Only]

I think if they got Brolin he would have been a 1 or 2 movie stop gap! ..at best:rolleyes:

[DLibrasnow]

He was all wrong for the part of James Bond....Just look at the Octopussy DVD documentary and you can clearly see this. Seriously, the only things I remember Brolin in was the television show "Hotel" and the movie "High Risk".

[Blofeld's Cat]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow
Seriously, the only things I remember Brolin in was the television show "Hotel" and the movie "High Risk".

The best thing I've seen him in is Capricorn One. A top movie that.

[Triton]

Don't forget Westworld! It's dated, but it still is a fun movie.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Blofeld's Cat

The best thing I've seen him in is Capricorn One. A top movie that.

Yes, I have that on DVD, it is a good movie!

[Moore Not Less]

I have Westworld and Capricorn One on VHS. I really enjoy them and James Brolin is very good in both films, but he would have been unsuitable for the role of James Bond. As DLibrasnow stated, you only have to look at the Octopussy DVD documentary to see this.

[Triton]

Would anyone who has a copy of Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli's autobiography When The Snow Melts please share with us the reason or reasons why Cubby wanted to hire James Brolin for Octopussy? Does John Glen discuss James Brolin in his book For My Eyes Only?

[Turn]

I was watching Pee Wee's Big Adventure the other night and forgot that Brolin played P.W. Herman, a suave spy guy based on Pee Wee in the film-within-a-film at the end of it. I couldn't help but laugh thinking this was as close as Brolin was ever going to playing a suave spy.

[Wade]

Originally posted by Xenobia


To me Loomis, it really was a matter of unfortunate timing.  If Cubby hadn't been so stubborn, and agreed to push things back just a little more, Brosnan could still have been able to do it, and Broccoli would have won out in the end, because they wound up cancelling the series anyway.

C'est la vie.

-- Xenobia

I never saw it that way, Xenobia. Seems to me NBC, knowing that Brosnan was going to be playing Bond, merely renewed the series to capitalize on that fact. It was NBC that played fast and loose with Brosnan. Cubby was just protecting his investment. Ask any producer. You don't show people something in a movie that they can see free at home on TV.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Originally posted by Turn
II couldn't help but laugh thinking this was as close as Brolin was ever going to playing a suave spy.

The closest thing Brolin is (or was) ever likely get to be Bond are his initials.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Wade


I never saw it that way, Xenobia. Seems to me NBC, knowing that Brosnan was going to be playing Bond, merely renewed the series to capitalize on that fact. It was NBC that played fast and loose with Brosnan. Cubby was just protecting his investment. Ask any producer. You don't show people something in a movie that they can see free at home on TV.

You are correct Wade. NBC, EON and even Pierce Brosnan himself have stated this in numerous interviews.

[Triton]

Leaving the Pierce Brosnan casting constroversy, I discovered the following information from the alt.fan-james-bond FAQ version 6.07 concerning James Brolin:

[quote]
James Brolin

[Turn]

Originally posted by Triton
Leaving the Pierce Brosnan casting constroversy, I discovered the following information from the alt.fan-james-bond FAQ version 6.07 concerning James Brolin:



alt.fan-james-bond FAQ 6.07

Has anyone been able to locate passages in When the Snow Melts or For My Eyes Only about James Brolin?

Was this entire episode just a stunt to get Roger Moore to sign for Octopussy? Is James Brolin exaggerating or did he misunderstand Broccoli?

Maybe just as importantly, who is Richard Ashton and why is this guy the only one who has ever brought this story, now five years old, to the attention of fans. I find it an incredible stretch to believe this claim, especially that he would not use any type of accent.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Triton

Has anyone been able to locate passages in When the Snow Melts or For My Eyes Only about James Brolin?

Was this entire episode just a stunt to get Roger Moore to sign for Octopussy? Is James Brolin exaggerating or did he misunderstand Broccoli?

I have no problem believing Brolin on this issue...Searching for a home in London would seem to be quite solid evidence.

[4 Ur Eyez Only]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow


Yes, I have that on DVD, it is a good movie!

I love that kind of SCi Fi!!!! That is the best kind

70's Sci Fi is my favorite.. when the IDEA is more important then the FX.

Hey does that DVD have a special edition section?

[DLibrasnow]

Speaking from memory I don't recall any special edition material.

[Spoon]

On today's "AFI Top 100 Movie Quotes" show, Brolin was a commentator, and they showed a very brief clip of Brolin's Bond screentest.

It wasn't nearly as terrible as I would have expected, to be honest. But, I don't see why an American ever needs to be the choice. Britain has always produced tons (tonnes?) of great actors, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

[Qwerty]

On today's "AFI Top 100 Movie Quotes" show, Brolin was a commentator, and they showed a very brief clip of Brolin's Bond screentest.

It wasn't nearly as terrible as I would have expected, to be honest.  But, I don't see why an American ever needs to be the choice.  Britain has always produced tons (tonnes?) of great actors, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

If I recall right, that clip isn't on the Octopussy DVD.

[Blofeld's Cat]

On today's "AFI Top 100 Movie Quotes" show, Brolin was a commentator, and they showed a very brief clip of Brolin's Bond screentest.

It wasn't nearly as terrible as I would have expected, to be honest.  But, I don't see why an American ever needs to be the choice.  Britain has always produced tons (tonnes?) of great actors, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

If I recall right, that clip isn't on the Octopussy DVD.

Isn't or is, Devin? There's another screentest of Brolin as Bond!?

[Qwerty]

I think it may just be an extended part of the screentest. If I recall right, the Octopussy DVD features the scene where he meets Maud Adams in bed.

AFI showed a section where he was...speaking on the phone ordering breakfest like Connery does in From Russia With Love, I think. I'm trying to remember exactly how the scene went.

[Blofeld's Cat]

I think it may just be an extended part of the screentest. If I recall right, the Octopussy DVD features the scene where he meets Maud Adams in bed.

Yes, it's the scene in which Bond meets Tatiana for the first time in From Russia With Love.

AFI showed a section where he was...speaking on the phone ordering breakfest like Connery does in From Russia With Love, I think. I'm trying to remember exactly how the scene went.

I'd really like to see this.

[Qwerty]

Maybe someone else caught it and knows the scene I'm speaking of.

[Bonita]

The closest Brolin ever got to Bond was back in the 60s, when he was nailed by James Coburn in one of the Flint movies...I think it is In Like Flint, but memory is hazy...

And I think had Brolin actually been in Octopussy, we'd still all be here. I don't think he would have killed the Bond series. I just think it would have been different for a few films.

Keep dancing,
Bonita

[David Schofield]

He also commented about his American accent by suggesting that Broccoli did not intend to hide it and hoped audiences would see Brolin's physical presence and ignore the issue. Eventually Moore returned and Brolin was left aside. (Submitted by Richard Ashton <mailto:[email protected]>)
[/quote]


I think this would just about have torpedoed Bond in the 80s: can you image Brolin saying "Bond, James Bond" or "I work for the British government" in an American accent? It would have been as part as Costner in Robin Hood's first line "this is English courage"!

And, crucially, just what gave Brolin the notion - after a TV career - that he would have been so good as Bond the audience would have overlooked his American accent?

Thank God we were spared this complacency.