James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) Respect Thread

I'm starting to make respect threads for James Bond, and I may end up making one for every actor. For now, though, I'm starting with the first Bond I ever saw, and the one I grew up with - Pierce Brosnan. Note that the thread is not complete yet.

Respect Bond...James Bond:

Strength

Bond casually knocks out a man:

With buildup of momentum, Bond knocks a man off his feet with one kick:

Bond pulls Alec Trevelyan against a door and then throws him over his head down a staircase:

He drives Alec Trevelyan into several metal bars, knocking them down:

He beats up Trevelyan:

Bond locks Trevelyan's arm and then drives him into a wall before briefly beating him up again:

Durability

Bond endures being headbutted by Trevelyan, smashing the back of his head into metal:

Bond endures several unarmed strikes from Trevelyan, and then is thrown across a table through numerous objects:

He is kicked in the ribs by Alec Trevelyan when the latter slides down, knocking Bond down a metal ladder (Bond's head is also banged against the metal):

Bond survives being tortured brutally by the North Koreans for over a year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoJXh88SzD8

Bond is cut by a laser and shrugs it off:

He crashes through a window without harm and immediately continues fighting:

He crashes through another window (this time, with more momentum) and lands without harm. He immediately continues to move:

He rolls down a wooden staircase without harm and immediately continues moving:

He replicates the same feat as before, except this time he rolls down a metallic staircase:

Bond endures several hits, before proceeding to fight normally and wrecking a group of enemies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70cPCr3WpTo

Speed/Agility

Bond dodges several lasers whilst fighting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2Me95Hki20#t=76

He outruns a helicopter chainsaw blade:

He dodges gunfire by rolling down a staircase:

Bond runs fast enough to avoid being hit by various people shooting at him:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbN7hXqPEWg

(0:13 - 0:40)

Fighting Skill

Bond displays talents in fencing, and he defeats Gustav Graves in melee combat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIF8qouivIU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpTUAOYrSII

Bond contends with a fellow 00 agent, Alec Trevelyan in a brawl. The fight is cut short when Trevelyan manages to get his hands on a gun:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7XzrXbTmlo

After being beaten up, Bond destroys several thugs in combat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70cPCr3WpTo

Bond easily outshoots several opponents:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?fv=TpxmbsrIosg

Another instance of Bond outshooting multiple enemies:

He casually destroys one opponent physically whilst using his gun to kill another opponent:

Casually demolishing a thug:

Gadgets

A bungee cord and grapple gun:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSvuHSqqGSw

A ski jacket which can be inflated to form a protective sphere around him:

A class 4 grenade pen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi4LmILZU0g

A sonic ring capable of shattering bulletproof glass:

A watch (Omega Seamaster) that has a laser slicer as well as a remote detonator and several other properties, such as a lighter, hidden pin explosives and a grappling hook:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5EOHw8uvPQ

Glasses that trigger a smoke bomb:

BMW 750iL

Bond's BMW 750iL is famous for being the first car in his possession with a remote control. He is able to use his Ericsson cellphone to remotely control the car's movement and gadgets with great precision and skill, enabling him to drive without even touching the steering wheel. In the first video, Q also states the car has machine guns and a GPS tracking system, though they are not seen in use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smou7nQTcis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61ppa8mBdOs

The BMW 750iL is shown to have a high-level security system, painfully shocking the hands of anybody who touches the car except those who have had their fingerprints scanned (such as Bond himself):

The 750iL's windows and chassis are both bulletproof and capable of withstanding sledgehammer impacts:

The 750iL is able to release tear gas to stun any unwanted personnel in the vicinity of the car:

The 750iL's sunroof conceals twelve rockets capable of knocking back and destroying cars:

The 750iL's rear bumper conceals dozens of caltrops capable of instantly blowing out tyres:

The 750iL is also capable of re-inflating its tyres, even after they have been blown out by caltrops:

The BMW 750iL's bonnet emblem conceals a retractable chainsaw which is capable of cutting through wires and ropes:

BMW Z8

The BMW Z8 was the second BMW under Bond's possession, and the second car to have a remote control function. Q's assistant also notes that the car has Titanium armor and features a multi-tasking heads-up display. However, these are not seen in use.

Bond's keychain can remotely start up the BMW Z8 and drive it forwards:

Integrated into the Z8's steering wheel is a targeting display system that works in tandem with surface-to-air missiles that are fired from launchers concealed within the car's side vents. The missiles are capable of destroying a helicopter:

Aston Martin V12 Vanquish

The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish was introduced as the successor to the Aston Martin Virage range. As a James Bond car, is it notorious for its cloaking device, though it also has a slew of other gadgets. Note that the Vanquish's gadget panel includes switches indicating that the Vanquish has lasers, mortars and grenades, but none of them are used.

The Aston Martin Vanquish's chassis and windows are all reinforced to withstand firearm impacts with no damage. They can also withstand smashing through glass, and can similarly withstand missile impacts with minimal or no damage:

The Vanquish is able to open its roof, and has an ejector seat, which can be used to eliminate unwanted passengers. In a creative display, Bond opens the roof while the Vanquish is flipped onto its roof, then fires the ejector seat, flipping the car upright again:

The Vanquish's hood air vents conceal a pair of target-seeking shotguns:

Concealed behind the Vanquish's front radiator grille are a pair of front-firing machine guns:

Also concealed behind the Vanquish's front radiator grille are a series of front-firing rockets:

The Vanquish's wheels are equipped with retractable spikes for additional traction in slippery conditions:

The Vanquish's most notorious mechanism, the adaptive camouflage system works by having tiny cameras on all sides of the Vanquish project what they see on a light-emitting polymer skin opposing them, which makes the car invisible to the human eye:

The Vanquish possesses a retractable LCD display, with radial thermal imaging:

The Vanquish can be remotely started and controlled by Bond's keyring, even when invisible:

Nice thread!

@transformers1024: Thanks.

The best James Bond ever.

he's good, but he's no Roger Moore

Sweet thread.

oh the 90s bond. me likey

Heh, my first James Bond films. I was a kid when I watched them. Nice thread.

I grew up with Brosnan as well, always liked all the Bond films with Connery, Moore, Dalton, Lazenby, even David Niven. And Craig does a fine job.

But anyways nice job on the thread man glad to see someone who appreciates Brosnan as Bond.

Curious though would you incorporate some driving/vehicle feats as well? Because no Bond is complete without his car.

I like this. Good job.

@mrnoital: Uhh.... that's Sean Connery, not Roger Moore.

Yeah, I will, the thread isn't complete yet. I have to add surviving Xenia Onatopp's shenanigans as a durability feat, as well as resisting the North Korean torture. Then there's also the novelizations which I could add, and, of course, his Aston Martin showings.

Thanks.

Thanks. Interesting. Have you seen any of the other Bonds?

Thanks.

@shootingnova: I have seen them all and I have every Bond movie up to "Tommorow Never Dies" on old VHS, bought about 15 years ago. I fell in love with them as a kid.

@shootingnova: I was waiting for someone to catch that, good job sir

@mrnoital: lol

Ah. You don't have The World Is Not Enough? I personally disagree with the majority of people and I'd say it's a better film than Tomorrow Never Dies. Certainly better than Die Another Day.

@shootingnova: I still watched all of them, I just don't have the rest on VHS/DVD. I really liked both "The World Is Not Enough" and "Tomorrow Never Dies" similiarly, same level for me. "Die Another Day" had an interesting concept for me, and I really loved the idea of Bond's capture and suspicions from MI6, but other than that, it was somewhat poorly executed. Bond movies were never about high realism and convincing plots, but there they took it to another level.

Albeit I still have some sort of a sentiment towards that movie. I like all the new ones with Craig, but it's a different style, "DAD" was the last of his sort.

@jkbart: DAD had too much CGI and it was too overblown, too over-the-top. And as you said, Bond is just that, but they went a bit too far with Die Another Day.

My favorite Bond films are probably still From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, and Licence to Kill. GoldenEye was good, and the best of Brosnan's run, but I don't think it's quite up to par with the ones I mentioned. Or for me, at least.

@shootingnova: Goldfinger, You Live Only Twice, Licence to Kill for me. It's hard for me to judge the newer ones. I like them, but they're a different style, more in tune with current action movies, Bourne'ish I think. It's not bad, good that they went to a different way after so many years, and actually going towards that direction went better than I would suspect, but it makes it hard to compare the elder ones.

Generally it's funny, I like Brosnan the most of Bond's portrayals, he fits the style almost perfect for me, but ironically movies with Brosnan wouldn't be in Top 3 for me.

@jkbart: Maybe I should make a ranking of Bond films as a blog.

I felt that You Only Live Twice was the weakest of Connery's performances, excluding Never Say Never Again (obviously) and Diamonds Are Forever. As I've heard, Connery was getting tired of having to pump out films every single year, which is why he quit soon after You Only Live Twice, but to me, even in the film, there was a contrast between his performances there and his previous ones. Ernst Stavro Blofeld was the best thing about You Only Live Twice.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service, to me, is one of the best Bond films, though, and despite Lazenby being decent at best (to be fair, he had no prior acting experience), the film itself is really underrated by several people. That, The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill and The World Is Not Enough are the underrated ones for me. Some of the lower-end Bond films to date would have to be A View to a Kill, Diamonds are Forever, Die Another Day, Quantum of Solace, and Moonraker.

@shootingnova: I actually like that one, but it's hard to tell why now. It's more of a sentiment I guess, it was so many years ago.

And as for Lazenby... Yeah, he kinda weakened the film by his performance actually, and he simply didn't fit into the role in any way. The film itself was still very good, but I guess it was underrated because of Lazenby. He wasn't bad, he just wasn't as good as every other Bond actor, and with the character being the primary brand here, the outcome of having a weaker depiction of Bond was disastrous to the brand.

@jkbart: You can chalk it up to a lack of acting experience, though. He should have played Bond in Diamonds Are Forever, possibly even in Live and Let Die, and he might have improved.

Then again, Dalton should have played GoldenEye. Speaking of Dalton, he's probably going to be the subject of my next Bond respect thread.

@shootingnova: Probably, but on the other hand, everyone Bond actor was starting while already an experienced actor, and that obviously paid off, so I don't know how quickly he would adapt to the role, and judging by how the film was received, it was obvious they're going to take him off. Sadly, you can't adapt on the run in such a brand, you either get it or not. Although he probably would have actually improved, he did very nice for a beginner. Playing such a character is hard.

@jkbart: He was underrated because he was immediately compared to Sean Connery, who was an older and more experienced actor, and who actually looked the part.

Then we got Roger Moore, was an experienced actor and even older than Connery, but whilst his distinctive humor made his films memorable, his actual films weren't that good (except for The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only), and he was a complete contradiction to the way Bond was portrayed in the novels. Dalton is the best reflection of Ian Fleming's original works, which is part of why he is my favorite Bond.

@shootingnova: I generally liked Moore. I rarely have something against portrayals that are largely different than the original content, and it's usually interesting for me to watch them, but it's simply risky, and depends how the "new" character is constructed.

I read the books when I was, honestly, too young to appreciate good writing. I was about 8 years old or something? I can barely remember how Bond was portrayed there actually.

@jkbart: The literature Bond was written in a similar fashion to Timothy Dalton's depiction. Quote from The Complete James Bond Movie Encyclopedia, which, for the sake of efficiency, I got from online:

Unlike Moore, who always seems to be in command, Dalton's Bond sometimes looks like a candidate for the psychiatrist's couch – a burned-out killer who may have just enough energy left for one final mission. That was Fleming's Bond – a man who drank to diminish the poison in his system, the poison of a violent world with impossible demands.... his is the suffering Bond.

Source: The Complete James Bond Movie Encyclopedia

@shootingnova: To be fair, it actually seems Craig was closer to the general concept than Brosnan for me.

@jkbart: Of course he was. Apart from Dalton, Craig is probably the closest to the original literary Bond. Apparently Timothy Dalton actually conceded that Craig was better at creating a character like Fleming's Bond, though I personally disagree with him there and would argue that he was just saying it for the sake of humbleness (or maybe it's just us having different opinions).

Pierce Brosnan was more of a modern Bond than anything else.

@shootingnova: Yeah, Brosnan was more like a typical classy badass, although he pulled out his concept perfectly. It's kinda ironic that so few people know the book origins of a character so iconic. Unlike most famous characters that are sort of popculture icons, Bond's origins seem to be poorly known. Yes, most people know he derives from Fleming's books, but they also don't anything more. Me included, I read them so far ago I now don't remember anything from them, and can't even tell which ones I've read.

@jkbart: Not sure if his origins are "poorly" known, but I agree with the rest.

@shootingnova: They probably are, actually, but no one can say for certain I guess. Most fans of the films I know have very little knowledge on the book.

@jkbart: Eh.. fair enough. I don't keep records of whether people know about the literary James Bond.

@shootingnova: Me neither, but that's at least the impression I got from people. Shame though, maybe I'll return to reading them myself after those years.

I agree, Lazenby wasn't the pure fit for Bond because he looked different, a little bigger and lighter hair, which at the time they were comparing him to Connery so it was hard for , general audiences to accept, but I do like Roger Moore and as you said his style of humor, I loved Moonraker and am pretty much the only person i know that does lol. Dalton was superb as Bond in a decade that was tough for Bond esque movies. He was close to the literary Bond's character and toughness, displaying the agent side and conflict within. Craig is too, but Craig's movies are more shoot first ask questions later, I was shocked when I saw Casino Royale, but grew to like him as Bond alot as Skyfall came out. Brosnan I believe had the "over the top" style Bond, insane stunts, similar to Transporter movies which I think borrowed a little from Brosnan Bond a tad. Lol But his movies are memorable, to me at least. Golden Eye being the Jewel, but the other were great too, showing the mantra that is Bond, style, sex appeal, class, flash, and just the overall lifestyle. I'm a big movie buff, but terrible film critic, Just as I loved all the Star Wars movies, (well except greedo shoots first edition)I love all the Bond films, all of them. Theres some that rank higher obviously but...

Well I'll stop ranting on here and derailing your thread but I'd love to discuss more Bond if we could get something going that would be great guys! :)

Anyway superb job on the thread man!

@darthmanhunter: Moonraker was good in the earlier portions, but it feels weaker and scrapped towards the end of the film. The problem with Moore is that his portrayal doesn't fit the literary character, and he was mostly enjoyed because his era of film was mostly about class and humor in contrast to physical action or dark storylines - but I do like darker stories, which is For Your Eyes Only had a bit more success with me than some of the other Roger Moore films.

Lazenby was different, probably because he wasn't from the British Isles, and because he had no films of his own before On Her Majesty's Secret Service. But if he had continued to play Bond at least again in Diamonds Are Forever, which I felt was one of the weaker Bond films, then he probably would have improved. DAF just didn't fit with the theme of OHMSS, especially since it was a sequel.

Timothy Dalton was excellent, and most people proclaim that The Living Daylights is vastly superior to Licence To Kill. I don't know why, to be honest. TLD was an excellent contrast to the Moore's era, which needed to stop because it had dragged on for long enough, but whilst Dalton himself played Bond superbly in the film, I always felt that the villains of the film had weaker character and just weren't as threatening. Whereas in LTK, Dalton's performance was just as good, if not better, the action scenes were better, the stunts were better, the story was darker, and Franz Sanchez was an excellent villain.

Brosnan was like a modernized combination of Connery and Moore to me. GoldenEye was an excellent film, but the only reason for that is the story, and it was, after all, written for Timothy Dalton. Had Dalton played it, I would probably rank it in my top 3 films, instead of ninth or tenth. It's a shame that the legal disputes took so long - I can only imagine what GoldenEye would be like with Dalton. That being said, A View To A Kill was also not a particularly strong film, because Moore was getting too old. He was about 57. They should have introduced Dalton at the time, with a few plot fix-ups, and then the film would do wonders.

Craig is good in the sense that he brought back the more realistic, less campy, darker, hard-edged Bond, but as gritty and harsh as he was, I preferred Dalton. To begin with, Dalton's films actually had more humor, but the plot was actually easier to follow, and, to be honest, more realistic. What they do have in common is that they rebooted the franchise after weaker performances from their predecessors, who I feel pretty much overstayed their welcome.

Speaking of all this, I should make a blog where I rank the Bond films.