46 replies to this topic

[JimmyBond]

Well, we can pretend that they just chose not to show Bond crying over Paris later on. When he got home. In his apartment. I'm sure that after the mission was over, he took a box of Kleenex, lay down on his couch, popped in his well-worn CD of Melissa Manchester's Don't Cry Out Loud, and let himself have the good weeping he needed to have.

Nah he was probably too busy snogging Wai Lin.

[Sark2.0]

Well, we can pretend that they just chose not to show Bond crying over Paris later on. When he got home. In his apartment. I'm sure that after the mission was over, he took a box of Kleenex, lay down on his couch, popped in his well-worn CD of Melissa Manchester's Don't Cry Out Loud, and let himself have the good weeping he needed to have.

I'm quite enjoying that mental image, actually . . . Don't cry out loud, Bros. Just keep it inside. Learn how to hide your feelings.

More likely he played a this song on repeat

As has been stated before, Bond didn't really care that much about Paris or Elekra. They were just some women he'd had casual sex with. So why should he be all broken up about it? And since the comparison has already been brought up, in CR Bond was willing to quit the service to be with Vesper. So his emotionality in that instance was understandable.

Edited by Sark2.0, 04 January 2010 - 07:33 PM.

[bondrules]

Has Pierce Brosnan ever (believably) cried on screen? Not to my knowledge. I don't think he can pull it off either.

[St. John Smythe]

Has Pierce Brosnan ever (believably) cried on screen? Not to my knowledge. I don't think he can pull it off either.

Hmmm. Interesting. I'm not sure. I do think that his Bond wasn't supposed to cry or drastically emote. And honestly, Craig's Bond is the only one I can actually imagine crying. Well, at least in CR.

[Dr.Fell]

Pierce Brosnan has the same facial expression in pretty much every movie he's in. He makes Charles Bronson look like Lon Chaney.

[volante]

Pierce Brosnan has the same facial expression in pretty much every movie he's in. He makes Charles Bronson look like Lon Chaney.

After watiching The World is not Enough

I was "forced" to attend a charity do.

Here I was able to try out my full range of emotions
Thanks Pierce

[AMC Hornet]

I never bought that Bond had any feelings for Paris Carver. Perhaps I'm merely projecting because I have no feelings for that hoity-toity society cougar. Still, he was on a mission and had to 'pump' her for information. If that meant claiming that she was the one who got 'too close for comfort' so be it. His brief display of emotion upon leaving her dead could have been just an expression of regret that yet another innocent bystander suffered for becoming involved with him. At least, that's all I would have had to express for her.

And lay off Bond's affection for Elektra King. He was impressed with her courage until he came to suspect that she was still involved with Renard. He was conflicted emotionally while also frustrated with M's prohibitions. So he had to shoot Elektra ('rule #1: always call their bluff'), and all she got was the same brief moment of mourning that Paris got. Well yeah, he had a submarine to catch.

Kara, on the other hand, was such a sweetie it's no wonder Tim's Bond fell for her. He was as impressed with her pluck and her ingenuousness as he was with her musical talent. And he expressed it all with just a quiet glance. I believe Dalton was John Gardner's model for actor David Dragonpol('the man with the glass head') in Never Send Flowers.

But when it comes to expressing pain, denial and rage simultaneously, no-one beats Daniel Craig's performance in Casino Royale, when he gave up trying to revive Vesper (although I think he owed Fields a little more than she got).

The question should be, just how emotional do we want Bond to be? No-one complained when Connery casually stepped over the bodies of his friends and lovers to carry on his mission (Kerim got a little more consideration than Quarrel, but Tilly, Paula, Aki and Plenty didn't even get a second glance). George was directed not to shed tears over Tracy - a quiet sob was considered enough. Roger eulogized briefly over Lisl and Vijay, but the only friend he ever avenged was Ferarra, and even then he was pretty cas about it. Dalton's rage at the death of Saunders was quite a surprise, but how much more do we want? Bond can't function if he's constantly an emotional wreck, so he has learned - and in Craig we've witnessed the process - to shut off his emotions and to take his ego out of the equasion. In 23 we should see a Bond more like what we're used to, which is bad news for any more characters like Fields.

[bondrules]

I think the purpose of the thread is to hit on the fact that Brosnan is just a lousy actor. If you see his other work, you'll see more of the same.

[AMC Hornet]

My contention has always been that you don't need a great actor to play Bond. We've been spoiled with Sean, Tim and Dan, but George, Rog and Pierce all had the matinee idol looks and chops that the role requires.

Bond movies are not great art. Some are more artistic than others, but they are only meant to be mass entertainment. Don't get me wrong, I love the Bond movies - even the less popular or artistic ones. In my opinion EON has always cast the right actor for the time. Times and attitudes change, but the existing movies do not, so it is unfair to pass modern judgements on actors and directors whose work remains unchangeable. In a few years people will be dissing Craig's replacement for not being what he was (or perhaps dissing Craig for not being as good). That will be the attitude of the time. So just enjoy each movie for what it is in the context of the era it represents (this is easy for me to say for I have personally observed the changes in Bond and the world since 1971).

[bondrules]

My contention has always been that you don't need a great actor to play Bond. We've been spoiled with Sean, Tim and Dan, but George, Rog and Pierce all had the matinee idol looks and chops that the role requires.

Bond movies are not great art. Some are more artistic than others, but they are only meant to be mass entertainment. Don't get me wrong, I love the Bond movies - even the less popular or artistic ones. In my opinion EON has always cast the right actor for the time. Times and attitudes change, but the existing movies do not, so it is unfair to pass modern judgements on actors and directors whose work remains unchangeable. In a few years people will be dissing Craig's replacement for not being what he was (or perhaps dissing Craig for not being as good). That will be the attitude of the time. So just enjoy each movie for what it is in the context of the era it represents (this is easy for me to say for I have personally observed the changes in Bond and the world since 1971).

Even though not in the same league as Sean, Tim, and Dan, Rog and Laz are still decent actors. Brosnan really took that lack of importance to have a good actor play the part to uncharted territory. Hopefully never again one with the likes of PB will be hired to play Bond.

[plankattack]

I'm going to stick up for Brozza a little bit, but there'll be a caveat....

I don't think he's a bad actor by any stretch - he's certainly not a great one as his whole body of work shows, IMHO. I know how low TWINE is on the majority's opinion, but I put that down to not liking how Bond behaved, rather than Brozza not pulling it off. I thought he did a convincing job in TWINE.

But it's TND where I think the gaps show. I've never liked the Paris sub-plot, and I don't think Brozza is talented enough to sell it with what little screen-time it gets. We're told that they've got a past and so Brozza acts upset when she's whacked by Kaufman. But neither Hatcher (she's no Meryl Streep) nor Brozza bring enough to the interplay to convince me that it is what says on the box.

Here is the caveat.....while I don't think Brozza is Daniel Day-Lewis,he is the one who wanted scripts that showed vegetable-peeling so if anything he asked for what he couldn't deliver.

[Dr.Fell]

And lay off Bond's affection for Elektra King. He was impressed with her courage until he came to suspect that she was still involved with Renard.

How so ? She screamed and whined like an idiot when she was trapped under the snow. If anything, Bond thought her to be reckless.

So he had to shoot Elektra ('rule #1: always call their bluff'), and all she got was the same brief moment of mourning that Paris got. Well yeah, he had a submarine to catch.

Both scenes can definetly be blamed by terrible writing. Imagine in OHMSS when after Tracy dies Bond cradles her for five secounds and he has to stop Blofeld. Or in Casino Royale Bond kisses Vesper and runs off after White secounds later.

Edited by Dr.Fell, 08 January 2010 - 10:17 PM.

[Aris007]

I don't think we'll ever see Bond crying on screen! It ruins the image of the reckless, womanizer spy. We'll only get that sad moments like Lazenby's and Craig's or the necessary mourning like Brosnan's which suits Bond.

[Santa]

Of course he has emotions. He seems pretty happy while looking in a mirror or catching his reflection in a shop window. Happy is an emotion. As is smug.

[I never miss]

I thought that PB was great in the hotel-vodka drinking scene in TND. Hell, if nothing else, at least his Bond films had a sense of fun about them. They weren't perfect, but they made a decent amount of money, and PB always come across as a decent guy in my opinion - a TV movie actor who landed the part of a lifetime. He made 4 fairly decent Bond movies that possibly are out of favour at the moment due to the contrast with Craig's Bond, but maybe in ten years or so history will show PB's 4 movies in a kinder light.

[broadshoulder]

- a TV movie actor who landed the part of a lifetime.

Stands up with round of applause.

[007mission]

His bond is about to finish the job and not let his feelings get in the way like when he said in TND this is about stopping a war