Movie Series Review - James Bond 007 (Pierce Brosnan era)

So until Daniel Craig came along, Pierce Brosnan was next in line to play James Bond and as the first Irish actor to do so, he was met with a more mixed to positive reception. In my personal opinion, he was the one that got me into James Bond in the first place and looking at his films today, all I can say is that they are not perfect and probably lose the realism that previous films had with some really bizarre storylines, some even going beyond realism and entering fantasy (especially with Die Another Day). So let's complete this series (at least until the next film comes round or until I review the non Eon films) by looking at his films:

GoldenEye

So this is another film where most people know of the theme song that goes with it. Not only that, but in a similar fashion to Gold Finger, this one managed to be so big that it managed to get Bond into the video game market with arguably one of the best games to come from Rare (unfortunately, it wasn't part of Rare Replay for licensing reasons, but oh well). So in Brosnan's first outing as Bond, Bond recounts his time working alongside a former MI6 agent (played by Sean Bean and for the sake of spoilers, I will not say anything about whether he dies or not). Years later, he finds out that this ex-MI6 agent has emerged and gone rouge to use a satellite to cause global financial meltdown in London and of course Bond has to stop him. I think its safe to say that after the last Bond film, the film series clearly needed some much needed work and its just great that this film was successful. I will say that Judi Dench has always been my favourite actress to play the role of M as she does the role very well, hence why she plays it for 7 films in the series. Samantha Bond (ironic that) as Miss Moneypenny, I thought only worked because of the age that Brosnan and her were at, at the time of these films. So I think the film makers did well to get the films back up and running with a great film that's full of action, suspense and drama, the result of which has made the franchise to be able to expand onto other media such as video games which is great. 9/10

Tomorrow Never Dies

Is it just me or is the villain in this film meant to resemble the late Steve Jobs if he was a villain? That's the impression I get every time I see this film. So in this one, Bond is sent to stop this power mad media nutcase (played by Jonathan Pryce, well known actor) from initiating events that would trigger WW3 as a result. Given the role that Pryce was given, if I was in charge, I would've gone with a more younger actor because the role he's doing, I just think a younger actor would be better. But as it is, Its not too bad of a Bond film despite that. I mean its not great, but there is enough things to enjoy in it so I'm happy. 7/10

The World is Not Enough

This one, I was for a while, confused with, but it kind of makes sense as it goes forward. Interestingly, this was the first film to be officially distributed by MGM rather than United Artists and its also the last film to feature the former Q, Desmond Llewelyn who had played the role for the majority of the series before his death in a car accident and would subsequently be replaced by John Cleese who is his Q in training as it were in this film and then properly Q in the next film to follow, and then the role would then be taken over by Ben Whishaw in Skyfall. But lets get back to the film at hand. So when a billionaire gets assassinated by terrorists, Bond is then assigned to protect the late billionaire's daughter who has been held ransom by the head of these terrorists. However a scheme regarding nuclear weapons comes to the attention of Bond and its up to him to prevent these weapons from being unleashed onto the world. You know its funny. Peter Jackson who we all know as the guy who  made New Zealand become Middle-Earth in his films, was recently offered the chance to do a Doctor Who episode (which we will probably not be getting this year from what I've been hearing) and before this film was made, he was offered to direct this film. But this obviously didn't happen, but even though his Hobbit films were not very good, I would always be up for seeing any one of his films any day. Despite this, the film is not very good. Its confusing, far too much action for there to be any drama and it just wasn't very good. Fortunately however, this isn't the film that I hate in all of Bond films. 6/10

Die Another Day

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you what I call, the worst Bond film ever. Now I know some of you may disagree with me, but hear me out. So in Brosnan's final film as Bond, Bond goes on a mission in North Korea where he witnesses the death of a colonel and is captured. 14 months pass and a bearded Bond is released as part of a prisoner exchange and sets out to find the person who he claims to have betrayed him. So here's what's wrong with this film. Halle Berry is not a great Bond girl in my opinion, the whole idea of the villain being a North Korean and then a British person through the means of intense surgery is beyond real and makes no sense, the film has a over usage of CGI which gets old and dated over time and Madonna's song is one of the worst Bond themes I have ever heard, not to mention that her acting in my opinion is not very good in many of her films. There is nothing that I like in this film and given it was released on the franchise's 40th anniversary, the film in general could've been done better. Its just bad, really, really bad. Disagree if you will, but it is the worst of the Bond films in my opinion. The worst. 1/10

So Brosnan's time as Bond may not have been an entirely great ride, but he got Bond into modern times and made the franchise more popular than ever before so you got to give him that. But as the films continue, I am glad to have been a part of the fandom that this franchise has. Every long time film series have their good and bad films. Its the way it is. Nothing can be flawless. But for what its worth, I've enjoyed most of these films and I will continue to enjoy them for many years to come. But as Bond says, my martinis must be shaken, not stirred if I ever drank anything like that. 7/10