537 replies to this topic

[bryonalston]

Thanks Bondian. I would also like to add that Visnjic is a Bond-esque characrer OFF-SCREEN as well. A few pages back, it lists his personal hobbies and credentials. I could see a modern James Bond as having very similar interests as Goran does, and Visnjic served in the Croatian Military, is a trained paratrooper, etc., so he should be a more physical Bond than Brosnan.

[Bondian]

You're very welcome my friend.

Yeah. He's has many "special skills" as an actor, and any actor worth his salt can do accents or dialects. As far as I can tell, he mainly speaks with an American accent.

I have an interview with him on the "Late Late Show", but I would need to get the OK to be able to link it here.

I was very impressed with him when he was interviewed on the "Jonathan Ross Show" here in Limeyland, and he just looked and sounded like a realistic replacement for Pierce.

Cheers,


Ian

Thanks Bondian. I would also like to add that Visnjic is a Bond-esque characrer OFF-SCREEN as well. A few pages back, it lists his personal hobbies and credentials. I could see a modern James Bond as having very similar interests as Goran does, and Visnjic served in the Croatian Military, is a trained paratrooper, etc., so he should be a more physical Bond than Brosnan.

[Loeffelholz]

'Xenophobia?' 'Goran-phobes?'

My goodness. Mr. Visnjic does have his champions. Good for him. May there be tens of millions of them, and may all of them pay to to see 'Casino Royale' three times each---and purchase double quantities of overpriced popcorn, candy and watered-down fountain soda...

If he is the only man on God's Earth who can play James Bond for Sony/Eon, in A.D. 2006, I certainly wish him all the best...and I hope he is up to the task. There is no member on this site...or ANY OTHER site...who is a bigger and/or more loyal fan of James Bond---as a literary figure, as a film character, as a cultural icon---than myself. If the Croat is the Chosen One, I fervently want my reservations to be drastically misplaced.

Presumably, we are posting messages here with regard to a character originally imagined by Ian Fleming, a man named James Bond, Commander, RNVR...a member of the British Secret Service, a subject of Her Majesty, the Queen...a man whose father was a Scot and whose mother was Swiss, but a man undeniably raised as a Brit. In my own humble, increasingly lonely opinion, Goran Visnjic looks Slavic...granted, I am only one of perhaps eight or nine Americans who have not seen his E.R. performances on weekly television, but I am---pehaps irrationally---concerned that a Slavic-looking fellow whose voice I have never heard may be about to assume the role of (arguably) the most famous fictional British character of all time.

Why not cast a Texan, or a Russian, as Sherlock Holmes?

By the way: I will happily meet you all right here, on CommanderBond.Net, if Goran Visnjic triumphs as 007 in CR, and becomes the next generation's James Bond. At that time, I will unabashedly admit my folly for ever having doubted him. If he is truly 'It,' I desperately want him to succeed.

Edited by Loeffelholz, 27 July 2005 - 02:29 AM.

[Bondian]

Good post Loeffelholz.

This is my point. We all know what James Bond should be according to the Ian Fleming novels, but that was in the 1950's.

I'm not saying that we should see a total diversion with the part, but who in all honesty can you say is a natural choice to replace Pierce?.

We're all clutching at straws voting for our choice, but I'm sure EON will come up with someone that we're not aware of.

Cheers,


Ian

'Xenophobia?'  'Goran-phobes?'

My goodness.  Mr. Visnjic does have his champions.  Good for him.  May there be tens of millions of them, and may all of them to to see 'Casino Royale' three times each---and purchase double quantities of overpriced popcorn, candy and watered-down fountain soda...

If he is the only man on God's Earth who can play James Bond for Sony/Eon, in A.D. 2006, I certainly wish him all the best...and I hope he is up to the task.  There is no member on this site...or ANY OTHER site...who is a bigger and/or more loyal fan of James Bond---as a literary figure, as a film character, as a cultural icon---than myself.  If the Croat is the Chosen One, I fervently want my reservations to be drastically misplaced.

Presumably, we are posting messages here with regard to a character originally imagined by Ian Fleming, a man named James Bond, Commander, RNVR...a member of the British Secret Service, a subject of Her Majesty, the Queen...a man whose father was a Scot and whose mother was Swiss, but a man undeniably raised as a Brit.  In my own humble, increasingly lonely opinion, Goran Visnjic looks Slavic...granted, I am only one of perhaps eight or nine Americans who have not seen his E.R. performances on weekly television, but I am---pehaps irrationally---concerned that a Slavic-looking fellow whose voice I have never heard may be about to assume the role of (arguably) the most famous fictional British character of all time.

Why not cast a Texan, or a Russian, as Sherlock Holmes?

[Loeffelholz]

Good post Loeffelholz.

This is my point. We all know what James Bond should be according to the Ian Fleming novels, but that was in the 1950's.

If you think about it, the cinematic Bond has varied only slightly---in a nationalistic sense---dating from 1962 to present.

Think about it. On the silver screen, we have had: a Scot, an Aussie, a Scot (same one, one last time), a Brit, a Welshman and an Irishman.

Maybe Sony's stockholders (now regrettably a part of the equation) are dying to go with a Croatian this time around. I don't know. I have already gone half mad, in my lifetime, attempting to anticipate the corporate mind-set.

Edited by Loeffelholz, 27 July 2005 - 03:03 AM.

[Bondian]

That's fine, but the movies have changed considerably.

I would rather a Croatian with years playing James Bond than a spotty ( no offence to men of that age ) 22 year old playing the part.

If we're going to get a change in Bond, Goran is the only contender out of the alleged last four that's credible.

Good post Loeffelholz.

This is my point. We all know what James Bond should be according to the Ian Fleming novels, but that was in the 1950's.

If you think about it, the cinematic Bond has varied only slightly---in a nationalistic sense---dating from 1962 to present.

Think about it. On the silver screen, we have had: a Scot, an Aussie, a Scot (same one, one last time), a Brit, a Welshman and an Irishman.

Maybe Sony's stockholders (now regrettably a part of the equation) are dying to go with a Croatian this time around. I don't know. I have already gone half mad, in my lifetime, attempting to anticipate the corporate mind-set.

[bryonalston]

If they are going to make a change to the series, they might as well do it now, even though the movie won't be in that much financial danger if the Bond actor is non-British, and it's not as big a risk as people think. You're forgetting that a large chunk of the Bond gross comes from America (that's right, the same country where the people were supposedly too stupid to know what 'Revoked' means.) I'll probably be able to count the amount of people who boycott CR because of a non-British Bond on one hand. Now in the UK, there might be some initial outrage, but on this side of the pond, no one is going to care for more than two nanoseconds.

[Loeffelholz]

That's fine, but the movies have changed considerably.

And not, in the most part, for the better.

[Mr. Somerset]

I've been trying to catch ER for the past few weeks. I finally caught a quick glimps of him at the end of one. It made me reconsider as he looked quite suave...........

[Bondian]

I think we should have a poll ( if it hasn't been done before ) whether we fans would accept a non-Commonwealth Bond?.

[Bondian]

For the worst I would say.

And not, in the most part, for the better.

[bryonalston]

An administrator should add that poll onto here.

[tdalton]

so he should be a more physical Bond than Brosnan.

That wouldn't take much. Just kidding.

I can't say that I'm against Visnjic (sp?) as Bond, but I can't necesarilly say that I'm for it, either. I still think that Clive Owen and Daniel Craig are far and away the two best candidates for the role. I know that I've said that I'd rather see Pierce back than have anyone on this list become Bond, but I think I'd exclude Visnjic from that statement now having time to reflect back on it a bit.

I would, however, rather see Pierce than the other three on the list. Cavill is just too young for the role, but he should be considered as Bond #7. The other two just aren't right for the role.

[bryonalston]

I'm with you on the fact that Clive Owen is the best candidate for Bond right now by far, but it's been made almost crystal clear that Owen doesn't have much of a chance of becoming Bond. I see Visnjic as a younger form of Clive Owen. They possess many of the same characteristics, only Owen is simply too old for EoN's slow movie schedule. At this pace, we'll only get like 2 or 3 movies in with Owen before the whole "too old" thing is brought back up. Visnjic will have more of a chance to blossom as Bond since he's the optimal age right now.

[tdalton]

I'm with you on the fact that Clive Owen is the best candidate for Bond right now by far, but it's been made almost crystal clear that Owen doesn't have much of a chance of becoming Bond. I see Visnjic as a younger form of Clive Owen. They possess many of the same characteristics, only Owen is simply too old for EoN's slow movie schedule. At this pace, we'll only get like 2 or 3 movies in with Owen before the whole "too old" thing is brought back up. Visnjic will have more of a chance to blossom as Bond since he's the optimal age right now.

I'm not really sure what to think of Visnjic as a possible Bond candidate. I'm sure that he must be at least halfway decent since he's supposedly made it this far through the auditioning process for Casino Royale, although nobody really knows for sure whether or not he's been auditioning for the role of James Bond. I would give him a chance, though.

Since Clive is obviously out of the picture, I would really like to see Daniel Craig get the role. I think that this supposed "final four" list is a hoax, but if the real one were to get put out there by EON, I'm sure that we'd find Daniel Craig's name as one of those on the list. I'm sure that Visnjic would also be on the real final four list as well, along with Butler and an unknown actor.

[bryonalston]

I think that Craig has the right personality, but he's simply too ugly to play Bond. His skin is really bad and his face is too saggy. I think that if he got a facelift, some plastic surgery and dyed his hair Brown, I might consider him as Bond, evenn though Visnjic is at the top of my "practical list," while Owen is on top of my "hope and pray list"

[tdalton]

I think that Craig has the right personality, but he's simply too ugly to play Bond. His skin is really bad and his face is too saggy. I think that if he got a facelift, some plastic surgery and dyed his hair Brown, I might consider him as Bond, evenn though Visnjic is at the top of my "practical list," while Owen is on top of my "hope and pray list"

Having seen Daniel Craig in The Jacket (in which he had dark hair), I think that he could pull of the physical aspects of Bond very well. There were several times in that film when they did close ups on him that I thought that, with a shave (because his character had a great deal of stubble in The Jacket), he could look a little like Timothy Dalton. I think that the biggest problem for Daniel Craig is that he's never been in a role where he's had to be "Bondlike".

I think that, however, if EON is going to a more realistic approach to the Bond films, that taking a risk on Daniel Craig could pay off very well for them. Sure, he would have to undergo some work on things like dyeing (sp?) his hair and some other things, but he could be turned into James Bond very easily.

[bryonalston]

I suppose. Craig just doesn't seem to be the one of the standout candidates right now, or at least as big as Owen, Butler and Visnjic.

[Joyce Carrington]

My two cents:

- Personally, I love Dr. Luka Kovac on ER because he's such a tortured soul and he's very brooding... which is indeed a bit Bondian.

- I don't think his face is too 'Slavic' at all.

- Though I have yet to hear his English accent, in the past few days, to my own surprise, I've been beginning to think I wouldn't mind seeing him as Bond.

- Let's just wait and see how much truth there is to these rumours.

[tdalton]

I just watched Goran Visnjic in Elektra, and I have to say that after seeing the film, that I wouldn't be upset if he got the role. My main reservation about him was the accent, but it wasn't that apparent in Elektra, so all I would need to be convinced would be to hear him with a British accent.

Having said that, Goran is still not my first choice. That distinction still belongs to both Clive Owen and Daniel Craig. However, Goran has significantly moved up my list now that I have actually seen him in a film rather than on ER, which really just isn't that great of a show for anyone to showcase their talent on to try to move on to bigger and better things.

I think that Goran could do a good job as Bond. It certainly would be interesting to see which direction he would take the character if he got the part, but I doubt that he does get it. I wouldn't at all be surprised if he got the role of Le Chiffre, though.

[ACE]

Macphisto whispered in my ear and said:

James Bond being British is old hat. Old those stuffy nosed guys hanging around in suits. Why not have Bond just hang. Why can't Goran play him in a Ukrainian accent? Easier to understand than those posh guys. Do we need all that English stuff. Just make Bond CIA or give him an office in NY.

[Seannery]

I just watched Goran Visnjic in Elektra, and I have to say that after seeing the film, that I wouldn't be upset if he got the role.  My main reservation about him was the accent, but it wasn't that apparent in Elektra, so all I would need to be convinced would be to hear him with a British accent.

Having said that, Goran is still not my first choice.  That distinction still belongs to both Clive Owen and Daniel Craig.  However, Goran has significantly moved up my list now that I have actually seen him in a film rather than on ER, which really just isn't that great of a show for anyone to showcase their talent on to try to move on to bigger and better things.

I think that Goran could do a good job as Bond.  It certainly would be interesting to see which direction he would take the character if he got the part, but I doubt that he does get it.  I wouldn't at all be surprised if he got the role of Le Chiffre, though.

That's funny I saw him in Elecktra and was not impressed at all.

[Forever007]

I saw it too and was not impressed at all either

[Bondesque]

I still don't understand the logic....why cast anyone from the final four list when Butler is out there wanting the job badly!

Each of the reported final four has MAJOR flaws:

too young
too slavic/accent non british
too old and chubby
too inexperienced as an actor (and looks like Chevey Chase)

Even without writing the actors names down anyone can match the name to the flaw.

Butler has no major flaw in becoming James Bond. He may not be everyones perfect choice, but that is a matter of taste not a matter of what nationality he is , how old he is, how handsome he is, or what age he is.

There is no major reason why he hasn't been cast and he would be perfect in the role in comparison to the above mentioned (or non mentioned) actors.

I am praying that that final four list is a hoax and that EON is considering Butler or someone legitimate for the film.

[Pussfeller]

I'm hoping that Butler is their hidden choice. He seems to me to be the most logical option. Still, I wouldn't mind if Visnjic or O'Lachlan ended up with the part.

[DLibrasnow]

I just watched Goran Visnjic in Elektra, and I have to say that after seeing the film, that I wouldn't be upset if he got the role.  My main reservation about him was the accent, but it wasn't that apparent in Elektra, so all I would need to be convinced would be to hear him with a British accent.

I thought he was quite good in Elektra also.

[bryonalston]

I don't know so much about O'Lachlan, since I'm not too familiar with his acting and I don't just like people for Bond based on their pictures. I haven't seen anything that Butler has been in that just screams "BOND" to me, and if he is cast as Bond, I don't feel that he'll bring anything original to the role that hasn't already been brought by Connery, Moore, Dalton or Brosnan. With Visnjic, we'll possibly get a new performance instead of a mere rehash or meshing of ones from other actors (i.e., Brosnan) What we need now is a NEW BOND, NOT A NEW ACTOR.

[fatima]

Macphisto whispered in my ear and said:

James Bond being British is old hat. Old those stuffy nosed guys hanging around in suits. Why not have Bond just hang. Why can't Goran play him in a Ukrainian accent? Easier to understand than those posh guys. Do we need all that English stuff. Just make Bond CIA or give him an office in NY.

Sarcasm
Sarcasm
Everyone knows James Bond is an English old Etonian and Royal Navy Officer. How can he be played by a :

1) Scottish ex-coffin polisher who 'looks like a gypsy!'
2) An Aussie secondhand car salesman in a kilt
3) A camp ex TV star from Bow
4) A welsh man
5) An Irish man

come on, actors act and create charactors - even Croatian actors

[bryonalston]

Sarcasm
Sarcasm
Everyone knows James Bond is an English old Etonian and Royal Navy Officer. How can he be played by a :

1) Scottish ex-coffin polisher who 'looks like a gypsy!'
2) An Aussie secondhand car salesman in a kilt
3) A camp ex TV star from Bow
4) A welsh man
5) An Irish man

come on, actors act and create charactors - even Croatian actors

Precisely! None of the previous Bond actors were James Bond previous to being cast in the roles. All of them were ACTORS who became James Bond during their tenure. That's what an actor does. All of you are just expecting EoN to cast someone who is James Bond basically, which is something you shouldn't get your hopes up for. There are plenty of actors who might not seem Bondesque in real life, but would probably do a good job with the role, and Visnjic is one of them. The icing on the cake with Visnjic is that he does hold very similar credentials as James Bond and has many hobbies and interests that you would expect James Bond to have. Even though Owen is the perfect candidate, Visnjic is not far behind.

[luciusgore]

I wonder about his name on the marquee

Goran Visnjic IS James Bond

in

Ian Fleming's

CASINO ROYALE