Before Spectre: Which Film Was Each James Bond Actors Best?
Pierce Brosnan - Goldeneye
By the time that Pierce Brosnan made it to screen as James Bond in 1995, many questioned as to whether Britain's greatest cinematic export was relevant any more given that in the six years of legal proceedings that had followed the release of License To Kill, the Cold War, which had been a backdrop to every film to date, had ended. Any questions about the series' future were quickly shattered by the opening sequence of Goldeneye, admittedly set during the Cold War, which saw Brosnan's Bond team up Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean) to infiltrate a Soviet chemical weapons facility. Re-introducing audiences to the character in an exhilarating fashion, it set the standard high for the rest of the film, which sees Trevelyan, seemingly killed during the mission, re-emerge several years later as the head of a Russian crime faction, seeking revenge on the United Kingdom for the death of his Cossack parents' during World War II. Though the female lead, computer programmer Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco), is largely forgettable, the central conflict between Bond and his former ally drives the film and adds a personal touch to proceedings. The supporting cast, meanwhile, is greatly enhanced by the addition of Judi Dench as the series' first (and only, to date) female M, replacing Robert Brown's rather feeble take on the character. Initially disliking Bond (who she assesses as a 'sexist misogynistic dinosaur' in an eyebrow-raising moment), their relationship adds another dimension to the plot and is developed further in Brosnan's subsequent outings. Sadly, none of these outings came close to the first. Tomorrow Never Dies certainly had its moments, pitting Bond against a ratings-obsessed media tyrant that was part Rupert Murdoch, part Robert Maxwell, but The World Is Not Enough veered completely into the realm of ridiculousness with its 'impervious to pain' villain, not to mention the suspension of disbelief required to take Denise Richards seriously as a scantily-clad nuclear scientist. Die Another Day then went one step further, besmirching the 40th anniversary of the series with both a nonsensical plot that was largely a rehash of Diamonds Are Forever, an invisible car and poor CGI stunts, the latter of which offended purists used to witnessing real, high quality stuntwork in previous films. Goldeneye therefore stands as the clear pinnacle of the Brosnan era, having successfully brought the franchise back on track in excellent fashion following several years in the wilderness. The legacy of the Irish actor in the role may be tainted somewhat by the distinctly average or downright terrible sequels that followed it, but his debut showed an interpretation of the character that blended elements of Connery, Moore and Dalton and he could be much more fondly remembered today had more scripts in the vein of Goldeneye been written.
